Europe
George III 1760 – 1820
George III was the son of Frederick the Prince of Wales, his mother being Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. He was born at Norfolk House in London on the 4th June 1738 and was therefore the first Hanoverian king to be born and bred an Englishman. He acceded to the throne on 25th October 1760 and was…
Read MoreBefore the first English Kings c500 AD
How the English monarchy emerged after the Romans left
Read MoreKing of the Anglo Saxons c860 AD
The first ‘King of England’ emerges out of the Dark Ages
Read MoreDefining the English Yard 1824
The unit of measurement ‘the yard’ has been in English usage for hundreds of years. Quite how it’s length came to be a unit of measurement is lost but various theories abound, it roughly equates to a man’s stride or it has been suggested that it is the girth of a man. The need to…
Read MoreThe Athenaeum Pall Mall
The Athenaeum is a club in London’s Pall Mall. It was founded in 1824 by a chap called John Crocker. He encouraged scientists, writers and artists to join the club and amongst it’s notable members are Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, T.S Eliot, J.M.W Turner and Keats to name but a few. The importance of ‘the…
Read MoreEdmund Halley died 1742
Halleys Comet Astronomer who again is contributing to the observations of the natural world and universe that free-up and discard old thinking , creating the climate that would foster the period of enlightenment that was to follow.
Read MoreRobert Walpole died 1745
Robert Walpole survived for three years after his resignation in 1742 but he had been very ill with kidney disease for a number of years. His last few months were spent in great pain and eventually under heavy sedation. He died on 18th March 1745.
Read MoreHandel’s Messiah
Handel’s first performance of the Messiah was not in London but in a music hall in Fishamble Street in Dublin. The performance took place on 13th April 1742 and although he struggled to find enough performers and to convince the clergy to allow him to perform a sacred piece of music in a secular building,…
Read MoreGeorge II reigned 1727 – 1760
George II reigned over 33 years of rapid change in the political and economic circumstances of Britain
Read More1824 Patent for Portland cement
The 1824 patent for portland cement, an immensely important patent that allowed us the docks, the sewers and tunnels under the Thames.The importance of Portland cement in the development of English towns and cities cannot be underestimated.
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