System of medieval land management. A hide was a land-holding considered sufficient to support a family; a hundred consisted of a hundred hides; and a shire was originally a subdivision of a county.
Hides, hundreds, and shires
Fact of the Day
Black Monday was the name for rent day in 1880s, when belongings were pawned to pay the landlord.
Quote of the Day
"You will live to have your bellyful of parliaments.
"
~ James I to his son, Charles
On This Day
1701 The deposed James II (or VII of Scotland) died in exile from a brain haemorrhage. He was the last Catholic king of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
1982 The massacre of hundreds of Palestinian men, women and children began in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon. It continued for two days.
1992 The British government was forced to withdraw the pound from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) on what became known as 'Black Wednesday'.
1994 The BBC lifted a ban on the voices of Sinn Fein and other Irish republican and loyalist representatives being broadcast.
