Archive for October, 2018


Stories to make you think

October 31st, 2018 by Roger Darlington

There are about 200 sections to my website, but one of the most popular is one which I call “Stories to make you think”. Here you will find no less than 79 thoughtful stories, motivational tales, and pieces of wisdom from around the world. I’ve justed added a new story to the collection and you […]

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Why Peterloo was so important and why you’re going to hear so much more about it

October 29th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

On 16 August 1819 in St Peter’s Field in central Manchester, around 60,000 pro-democracy reformers gathered in a peaceful protest that turned savage when it was attacked by armed cavalry, resulting in 18 deaths and over 600 injured.  Until recently, the only public commemoration of this historic event was a plaque on the  wall of […]

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Remembering the creation of Czechoslovakia 100 years ago

October 28th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

Exactly 100 years ago today, the new state of Czechoslovakia was created. This new country had a chequered history. It was dismembered by the infamous Munich Agreement of 1938, it was occupied by Nazi Germany from 1939-1945, it was controlled by the communists from 1948-1989, and it was deviderd into the Czech and Slovak Republics […]

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The vital role of UK Biobank

October 27th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

UK Biobank is a major national and international health resource, and a registered charity in its own right, with the aim of improving the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of serious and life-threatening illnesses – including cancer, heart diseases, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, eye disorders, depression and forms of dementia. UK Biobank recruited 500,000 people aged […]

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A review of the novel “Prague Fatale” by Philip Kerr

October 26th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

Kerr – who died in March 2018 – was a writer of both adult fiction and non-fiction who is known for the Bernie Gunther series of historical thrillers set in Germany and elsewhere during the 1930s, the Second World War and the Cold War. “Prague Fatale” is the eighth novel in the Gunther series and […]

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A review of the new space movie “First Man”

October 25th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

The ‘Space Race’ between the USA and the USSR took place in the 1960s when I was an impressionable teenager and I followed avidly every exciting development. NASA’s Apollo 11 mission – the concluding segment of this movie – was in July 1969. At the time, I was president of my students’ union at university […]

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Word of the day: the fear of long words

October 24th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is one of the longest words in the dictionary — and, in an ironic twist, is the name for a fear of long words. Sesquipedalophobia is another term for the phobia.

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Word of the day: the longest in the English language

October 24th, 2018 by Roger Darlington

The longest word in any of the major English language dictionaries is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, a word that refers to a lung disease contracted from the inhalation of very fine silica particles, specifically from a volcano; medically, it is the same as silicosis.

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Visit to Rome (4)

October 22nd, 2018 by Roger Darlington

On our third and last full day in Rome, again we had a theme: this time, the papacy. Again we were out all day but this time the weather was cooler and generally overcast. We decided not to visit the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel (I’ve been three times before) since 11 year old Joshua […]

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Visit to Rome (3)

October 21st, 2018 by Roger Darlington

On our second day in Rome, we had a clear theme: the Roman era. Again we were out for a full eight hours. We started by spending the morning at the Colosseum where we had a male guide who told us horrific stories of the slaughter of Christians, prisoners and gladiators for the pleasure of […]

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