The Restoration

The restoration of the monarchy and the return to a pre-civil war form of government in 1660, following the collapse of the Protectorate.

Fact of the Day

In 1576, the Bishop of London threatened to deal with puritans by sending them to 'Lancashire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, and such like barbarous places'.

Quote of the Day

"The Englishman can tolerate a significantly greater dose of anarchy [than the Prussian]. "

~ Highly-decorated WWI and WWII veteran Ernst Jünger

On This Day

1830 The Manchester to Liverpool train line opened, and caused the first train death (of MP William Huskisson).

1859 The great engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel died.

1916 Tanks were first used on the Somme. They weren't ready for use in combat and many broke down.

1935 The Nuremberg race laws were introduced, stripping German Jews of their citizenship and forbidding them to marry Aryans.

1940 Hitler indefinitely postponed his invasion of Britain following a massive defeat of the Luftwaffe.

2008 The financial services firm Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, the biggest such filing in US history, causing the Dow Jones to drop more than 500 points in a day.