Bronze Age

The Bronze Age was a time between the Neolithic and the Iron Age, which is characterised by the use of the alloy bronze. In Britain it lasted from about 2500BCE until about 800BCE.

Fact of the Day

In 1385, London appointed its first sanitary officer, the serjeant of the Channel, to keep the streets free of rubbish.

Quote of the Day

"Shoot, you devil! Shoot, in the devil’s name! Shoot, or it will be worse for you! "

~ William II reportedly speaking to the renowned bowman Walter Tirel on a stag hunt, just before Tirel missed and killed the king

On This Day

1266 The siege of Kenilworth Castle, one of the longest and largest sieges ever to occur in England, ended when the garrison inside the castle surrendered.

1545 The first meeting of the Catholic Council of Trent was held in response to the Protestant Reformation.

1577 Drake set sail to circumnavigate the globe, again. His first attempt had run into bad weather.

1784 Samuel Johnson, giant of the English language, died. Among many other works, he spent just over eight years writing a 40,000-word dictionary.

1916 Avalanches killed 10,000 men on World War One's most extreme battlefield in the Dolomites.

1939 The first naval battle of World War Two, the Battle of the River Plate, happened

1973 Prime Minister Edward Heath announced plans to introduce the Three Day Week in response to the oil crisis and strike action.