ON THIS DAY: 26 July 1919 – One of the most remarkable, yet largely forgotten, episodes in British history took place when nearly 1,800 officers, soldiers and civilian camp followers of the Indian Army arrived at Hampton Court Palace. For the next two months, they lived in a specially constructed tented camp in Home Park … Read more
ON THIS DAY: 12 July 1827 – John Wroe, a self-proclaimed prophet, wandered the streets of Bradford, Yorkshire, dressed in torn rags that deliberately exposed his buttocks. Far from an act of madness or public indecency in his own mind, Wroe believed God had commanded him to become a living prophecy, following the example of … Read more
ON THIS DAY: 4 July 1882 – The ‘Last Great Buffalo Hunt’ began on the northern Great Plains near Hettinger, North Dakota. Thousands of Lakota and Yanktonai Sioux accompanied by their families left reservation lands near the Standing Rock Agency to join the hunt. For centuries, the buffalo (American bison) had been the foundation of … Read more
ON THIS DAY: 27 July 1866 – History was made when the first working transatlantic telegraph cable came ashore at Heart’s Content, Newfoundland. While this original telegraph cable has long since become obsolete, its legacy lives on in the modern transatlantic cables that now carry telephone and internet data between continents. The journey to success … Read more
ON THIS DAY: 10 July 1962 – Swedish engineer Nils Bohlin was granted U.S. Patent No. 3,043,625 for the three-point seat belt, a life-saving invention that would go on to revolutionise automotive safety. It’s estimated that Bohlin’s design has reduced the risk of death in car crashes by 45%—a remarkable impact for such a simple … Read more
ON THIS DAY: 2 July 1839 – a courageous act of resistance took place aboard the Spanish slave ship La Amistad (whose name means, ironically, ‘friendship’). Fifty-three Africans who had been abducted from their homeland and sold into slavery in Cuba rose up against their captors in a bold bid for freedom. The captives had … Read more
Dutch painter Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, after years of living well beyond his means, declared insolvency. Rembrandt was a brilliant artist but a stubborn, argumentative, and a hopeless spendthrift. He became embroiled in over 20 legal disputes, fighting with his neighbours over his house renovations and with clients over the late delivery of commissioned work. … Read more
Henry VIII watched from Southsea Castle as his favourite warship, the Mary Rose, sank in the Solent, off the south coast of England, with the loss of up to 700 lives. Launched in 1511, the Mary Rose saw service in wars against France and Scotland. In 1545, tensions with France came to a head, and King Francis I … Read more
The 29-year-old English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, an experienced sailor, drowned in a storm in the Gulf of La Spezia, off the west coast of Italy. Accompanying Shelley in his boat, the Don Juan, were his friends: Edward Williams, a retired army officer; naval officer Daniel Roberts; and their 18-year-old boat boy, Charles Vivian. All perished, … Read more