ON THIS DAY: 17 November 1950 – 15-year-old Tenzin Gyatso officially became the 14th Dalai Lama. Tibetan Buddhists believe that the Dalai Lamas are manifestations of Avalokiteshvara, also known as Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and the patron saint of Tibet. Amongst many Buddhists, there is the belief that Avalokiteśvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, intervenes … Read more
A Scottish fleet of five ships put ashore on the Darién Gap, on the Isthmus of Panama, with 1,200 people. Bent on establishing a Scottish colony, New Caledonia, in the impenetrable rainforest, the settlers christened their capital New Edinburgh. In the seventeenth century, Scotland’s economy was small, its exports were limited, and the nation was … Read more
ON THIS DAY: 30 October 1938 – The War of the Worlds radio play caused mass hysteria across America. Twenty-three-year old Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre on the Air, based in New York, adapted H.G. Wells’ novel The War of the Worlds into a series of fake news bulletins describing a Martian invasion of … Read more
ON THIS DAY: 23 October 1998 – Several thousand people assembled at Khulile, a small village near Debe Nek in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Nontetha Nkwenkwe, a Xhosa prophetess, healer, and black nationalist, was officially buried 60 years after her death. Nontetha had died 600 miles (960 km) away in 1935 while incarcerated in … Read more
ON THIS DAY: October 15, 1666 – Samuel Pepys recorded in his diary that King Charles II was wearing a vest. This new garment was described by Pepys as ‘a long cassock close to the body, of black cloth, and pinked with white silk under it, and a coat over it…’ This marked the first … Read more
John Bacon Curtis from Hampden, Maine, USA, produced the first commercially available chewing gum, calling it ‘The State of Maine Pure Spruce Gum’. Chewing gum has been enjoyed in Central and North America for thousands of years. The Mayans and Aztecs used chicle, a natural tree gum, and the Native Americans chewed on a resin … Read more
Britain adopted the Gregorian calendar, which had first been introduced 170 years earlier by Pope Gregory XIII in February 1582. As a result of this change, Britain lost 11 days from the calendar as the country fast-forwarded from early to mid-September in a matter of hours. Prior to this, Britain had been using the Julian … Read more
Michelangelo’s magnificent sculpture of David was unveiled in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence. Sculpted from a massive block of marble, it took Michelangelo nearly three years to complete—at which point he was still only 29 years old. Intended as an image of the boy who defeated the giant Goliath, it has become a symbol … Read more
Genghis Khan, originally named Temüjin, died in Xingping, Western Xia, in present-day Ningxia, an autonomous region of China. Rising from humble beginnings, he established the largest contiguous empire in history, the Mongol Empire. Known for his innovative military tactics and psychological warfare, he conquered much of Asia and extended his domains into Europe. The name … Read more
One of the most famous paintings in the world, the Mona Lisa, was stolen from the Louvre in France. Painted by Leonardo da Vinci in the early 1500s, it was acquired by King François I of France after Leonardo moved to the Loire Valley in 1516. After the French Revolution in the late 18th century, the … Read more