Pope John XII was rumoured to have turned an entire wing of the Lateran into a brothel, and was in the habit of drunkenly toasting Satan.
Quote of the Day
"No-one loves armed missionaries
"
~ Robespierre, 1792
On This Day
1135Henry I died, quite possibly of lamprey (horrible, often parasitic, jawless fish) poisoning
1851Edmund Campion, Jesuit priest, was hanged, drawn and quartered
1887Sherlock Holmes was introduced to the world when Arthur Conan Doyle's A Study in Scarlet was published in the Beeton's Christmas annual.
1942The Beveridge Report was published. This landmark document became the blueprint for the modern British welfare system.
1955Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat so white people could sit down in Montgomery, Alabama. Although her actions sparked protests and eventually the integration of the bus system, she was also jailed for that initial refusal.
1990The last rock separating Britain and France was removed in the Channel Tunnel, connecting the two countries for the first time since waters had rushed over the connecting land-bridge thousands of years previously.
