Professors
Art critic
Pandora's Inbox
Make a wish
Get a job
The Fall of the Onomatopoeian Empire
Robert De Nero
Rome 1582
Barbarians
Night of the long knives
The Pedants' Revolt
King Tut
History repeats
Boston 1876
Alternative gladiator
Aethelred the Oven Ready
Siren

Fact of the Day

The man who built the town stocks in Boston, Massachusetts charged so much that he became the first man to be put in them.

Quote of the Day

"If your estate be not sufficient for you; be sufficient for your estate. "
~ Henry Slingsby's advice to his second son while awaiting his execution,1652

On This Day

1814 Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, the doctor who gave his name to the guillotine but who didn't invent it, died aged seventy-five. His family were so embarrassed by the connection that they ended up changing their name.
1827 One of the greatest composers of all time, Ludwig van Beethoven, died during a thunderstorm, aged fifty-six. The autopsy showed severe liver damage, probably caused by excessive drinking.
1945 After a month of fighting, American forces captured the strategically-important island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese.
1971 Bangladesh declared its independence from Pakistan.
1973 Women were first allowed on the floor of the London Stock Exchange.