Medieval

The Battle of Hastings depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry

The Battle of Hastings is considered to be one of the most important battles of England's history. Often taken as the definitive point when England stopped being Anglo-Saxon and instead became Norman - with all the associated changes in…

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Fact of the Day

Henry I kept lions, leopards and camels at Woodstock in the 12th century.

Quote of the Day

"The Americans cannot build aeroplanes. They are very good at refrigerators and razor blades. "

~ Hermann Göring

On This Day

1559 King Henri II of France was injured in a jousting accident when a lance shattered on his shoulder, sending splinters into his eye. He died 10 days later, leaving the throne of France to his son Francis II, husband of Mary Queen of Scots.

1688 The Immortal Seven - a group of seven politicians, religious leaders and nobles who were upset with the rule of James II - sent a letter to William of Orange, stadholder of the Netherlands, inviting him to invade England. The invitation provided William - later William III - with the cover of legitimacy he needed to effect the 'Glorious Revolution'.

1837 Punishment by pillory was finally abolished in Britain.

1882 Charles Guiteau, an American writer and lawyer, was executed by hanging almost exactly a year after he shot President James A. Garfield, who died of his wounds two months later.

1934 Hitler's political opponents and the leadership of the SA were either murdered or imprisoned in the Night of the Long Knives.

1937 The world's first emergency telephone number "999" was introduced in London.

1940 German military forces began their occupation of the Channel Islands, the only British territory to be occupied by the Nazis in Europe. They remained in control of the four islands - Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney and Sark - until May 1945.