Hit The CityTo complete the Wyre Valley Line Railway Stations Walk, I need to plot a short walk between the Jewellery Quarter and Moor Street, via Snow Hill Station. A short city walk, with plentiful distractions. To avoid turning it to a lengthy pub crawl, I'll combine my investigations with the latest History West Midlands Podcast. The political dynasty of the Chamberlains is the topic, with my walk concentrating on Joseph.The Chamberlains were one of Birmingham’s most influential political…

On October 19, 1876, wedding bells rang in Wabash county, Indiana, for William Madison McClure (1849-1887) and his bride, Margaret Jane Larimer (1859-1913). They were my husband's great-grandparents. Redoing my newspaper research, I found that the weekday wedding was reported in the Goshen Times (Indiana) newspaper with this short item:Mr. Wm M. McClure, late of Wabash, Ind., and Miss Maggie [Margaret] Larimer, of Millersburg, this county [Elkhart], were married at the latter place on Thursday…

Empty and showing its age, it might be the creepiest house ever photographed in New York. For roughly 50 years, this fortress of a mansion was the lone occupant of a thickly wooded island off the Bronx’s Oak Point, now known as Hunts Point, where the East River intersects with Long Island Sound. With more than 100 rooms, five stories, and a double-pitched mansard roof, the unsettling house had none of the elegance of the other estate homes owned by elite families that dotted the bucolic…

Last week-or-so, I mentioned that the Polish Ambassador to Ireland had been cutting a ribbon in Glenties Co Donegal. I was on account of a) the commemoree was born in what's now Poland b) for the second half of 2026, during Ireland's Presidency of the EU, each Irish County has been paired with one of the members states of the EU But wait and, like, whoa! are there not 26 counties but 27 members of the EU. That was my gotcha and I had to download the two lists and cross reference to see which EU…

Replica of “first thing ever printed in Worcester.” Replica of “first thing ever printed in Worcester.” Recently author Caroline Linden & I paid a visit to the American Antiquarian Society. I’m one lucky Nerdy History Girl: It’s only a short drive from my house. The place is like the Tardis: bigger on the inside, although it’s pretty big on the outside, too—which it needs to be, since it’s the home of “the world’s largest and most accessible collection of books, pamphlets, broadsides,…

This is Philippe, Belgium’s seventh king (and seventh monarch) since the country’s independence from the Netherlands in 1830. Like most European monarchs,1 Philippe is a constitutional monarch with a symbolic role and mostly ceremonial authority. Unlike most monarchs, however, Philippe’s isn’t official titled after his kingdom. Instead of “King of Belgium”, Philippe is “King of the Belgians” – and for the Belgians, this isn’t just a semantic distinction. Belgium’s monarchy is the sole current…

Ich war schon auf vielen Almen. Ich bin hin gewandert, geradelt oder auch mal mit Sessellift oder Gondel gefahren. Aber ganz sicher bin ich noch nie mit einem Schiff zu einer Alm gelangt. Aber für… Der Beitrag Lecker Stopp: Gaisalm am Achensee erschien zuerst auf Sternestulle.

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. II, Chapter 23, § 273 (tr. Adrian Del Caro and Christopher Janaway): The thinking minds, the people of proper judgement and the people who are serious about things are all only exceptions; everywhere in the world the scum are the rule, and they are always at hand and busily at work to corrupt and 'unimprove' in their way anything said by thinkers after mature consideration. Therefore whoever wants to inform himself about a subject…

A spiral in stone can stop you in your tracks. Follow its curve and the questions arrive almost immediately. What lived inside? Why the ribs? And how can a shell tell us anything about the age of a rock?Ammonites reward that curiosity. Their fossils preserve clues to ancient animals, vanished oceans and the passage of geological time. Here are ten questions to start your exploration, with a

On 18 October 1910 Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen’s trial commenced, for the murder of his wife Cora. Lasting only 5 days, the jury took just hours to reach a verdict of guilty. He was executed at Pentonville Prison on 23 November. His notoriety stems from being the first suspect apprehended with the aid of wireless telegraphy as he made his escape to Canada. Cora’s body was found under the basement floor of 39 Hilldrop Crescent. On 18 October 1660, a proclamation forbidding Hackney carriages to ply…

When Emperor Heraclius died on 11 February 641, he left two of his sons in charge. Each was from a different mother.Constantine, his son by his first wife, Fabia Eudokia, had been crowned co-emperor on 22 January 613, when the child was only eight months old. This honorary title was a way to ensure succession in the event of the father's death, but did not give him the emperor's authority while his father lived. (The illustration shows a gold solidus with father and son displayed.)Heraclonas,…

Each year, Nonomiya Shrine hosts a reenactment of the departure of the Saigu, an unmarried imperial princess sent to serve as high priestess at the Grand Shrine of Ise (Ise Jingu). The tradition dates to the Heian era. Here, the Saigu has stepped down from her palanquin and is making her way to the river for purification rituals. More about this historical reenactment... 野宮神社では毎年、平安時代に皇女（内親王）が斎宮として選ばれ、伊勢神宮へ旅立った様子を再現しています。この写真では、斎宮が輿から降り、川での禊の儀式に向かうところです。 この歴史再現イベントの詳細については……

In the late 19th century, Whitby was a town shaped by the sea, where fishing boats crowded the harbor, narrow streets wound between old buildings, and generations of local families made their living from the water and surrounding countryside. Beyond its growing reputation as a seaside resort, Whitby remained a working community with a distinct […]

Piccadilly Gardens Market Street St Anne's Square St Anne's Square Victoria Tap New Cathedral Street Oldham Street Market Street

Orginal post: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks James Cram, son of James and Dorcas (Woodman) Cram, was born probably in Montville, Lincoln County, Maine (now Waldo County) in March 1825 and died probably in Burt County, Nebraska after the census was taken on 7 June 1900.1 He married say 1846, Lousia Bailey, daughter of Thomas Turner and Harriet (Turner) Bailey. She was born in Pittston, Kennebec County, Massachusetts (now Maine) 13 February 1815 and died in Nebraska 5 January 1886.2 After a few years…

The War Above

For a century (610 - 711), Heraclius and his descendants were emperors of the Eastern Roman Empire, ruling over the Byzantines from Constantinople. To get these descendants, he had two marriages.The first was to Fabia Eudokia, betrothed to him before he became emperor. She and her mother were kidnapped by the previous emperor, Phocas, to try to prevent Heraclius from attacking Constantinople. They were released by members of the Greens, who favored Heraclius in his revolt. Once they were safely…

Click here to book for The Gentle Author’s Tours Favourite illustrator Alice Pattullo has just completed two projects on the subjects of fire and ice in the history of the City of London. One is a series of coloured drawings for an exhibition of the history of fire insurance after the Great Fire of 1666 and the other is an advent calendar illustrating the Frost Fayre that took place on the frozen Thames centuries ago. AFTER THE FIRE is a free exhibition that runs until 27th November at the Bank…

Six jours sur la Côte d’Azur.

In der Sendung Corso vom 16. Oktober ging es um Videospielmashups und -reimplementierungen, die mithilfe von “KI” erstellt werden. Ich konnte ein paar Gedanken beisteuern dazu, darauf verweisen, dass einige der Erzählungen vielleicht nicht ganz so sind wie dargestellt und auch darauf, dass hier natürlich auch potentiell diverse Gesetze gebrochen werden. Das Interview kann unter https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/reverse-engineering-durch-ki-wie-videospiele-gerade-frei-im-netz-landen-100.html…

Vratislav died pretty much on schedule in 1094, living 2 years longer than historical Vrat. He was in the middle of conquering Lower Silesia, expanding the Bohemian kingdom eastward as planned. His younger brother, Ota, took the throne. He invaded Anhalt and was promptly granted East Franconia – an unexpected expansion to the west. He drove northward to the Baltic, taking over Nordmark in a holy war. Why a holy war? Because he'd gained claims on each county, but never on the duchy. FFS.…

Opus 6: The Taming of the Shrew

Byzantine Emperor Heraclius (reigned 610 - 641) was mentioned here when he tried to make the whole empire follow Monothelitism. The idea that Jesus had only a single "energy" and not two (the human and the divine) was not well-received by everyone. That was not the only issue of Heraclius' reign.Born c.575 in (we think) Armenia, his father (Heraclius the Elder) was a general under Emperor Maurice during g the time of Bahram Chobin's revolt against the Iranian emperors Hormizd IV and his son,…

Some 60 years ago this week. The County-class destroyer HMS Glamorgan (D 19) looking very Cold War-ready at her commissioning ceremony, 14 October 1966. Note her giant Type 901 director and triple Seaslug GWS2 launcher. Carrying up to 39 beam-riding SAMs theoretically capable of hitting targets at 50,000 feet, Seaslug proved ineffective, never successfully hitting an enemy aircraft in combat despite plenty of opportunities. However, that did not stop Glamorgan from galloping to history in the…

The future USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) marked a milestone on October 13 (the Navy’s official birthday) by recovering her first aircraft, an F-35C Lightning II assigned to the “Salty Dogs” of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23. A U.S. Navy F-35C Lightning II, attached to the “Salty Dogs” of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23, makes an arrested landing on the flight deck aboard PCU John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), marking the first time an F-35C lands on a Ford-class aircraft carrier. John…

Corpus Parisinum 246 (tr. Denis Searby): Nothing is more wretched than a ruler who does not in any way benefit his subjects. Ἄρχοντος µηδὲν τοὺς ἀρχοµένους ὠφελοῦντος οὐδὲν ἀθλιώτερον.

In Illinois, the National Road appears to be one of the earliest roads to be improved at the dawn of the automobile era. I’ve found pavement on this road dating to the 1910s, for example. In 1913, Illinois chartered a State Highway Department and gave it funding for road construction. Interestingly, it wasn’t until 1918 that Illinois began assigning numbers to the highways it was building. If you look at the 1917 official Illinois highway map at this site, you’ll see that the map shows named…

Two Bridges Up Sidings (OO) is close to home – somewhere on the Brighton main line near Three Bridges, I assume. Usually lots of third-rail EMUs to be seen, but today there was an impressive lineup of diesel traction. Wolfstatt (HO) is set in the Austrian Alps. Well presented OO9 on Hexworthy. And larger (O-16.5) narrow gauge on Bowaters Paper Mill. Lochty (EM), a model of the goods only terminus operated by the North British Railway. Smalldale Quarry (N). Part of the Buntingford branch (GER)…

Click here to book for The Gentle Author’s Tours Now that Whitechapel Station has been completely rebuilt and the new Elizabeth Line is fully operational, few remember how it used to be half a century ago but photographer Philip Cunningham recorded the vanished streets and yards that once occupied this lost corner Winthrop St “I first started taking photographs of Winthrop St and Woods Buildings in Whitechapel in the mid-seventies. I remember the first time I went to Winthrop St on a cold…

Bild: Radweg-Bauprojekt Zeppelindamm (L651). Straßen.NRW, Oktober 2026. Der Zeppelindamm ist Teil der Städteverbindung Gelsenkirchen – Hattingen, die komplett über Bochumer Stadtgebiet verläuft. Alle vom Bauprojekt betroffenen Straßen – Zeppelindamm, Munscheider Damm, Wattenscheider Hellweg, Berliner Straße, Varenholzstraße – sind Teil des Radverkehrsnetz NRW. Für den Radverkehr ist diese Verbindung praktisch alternativlos.Und für den motorisierten Verkehr ist die Verbindung aus Gelsenkirchen…