Oliver Cromwell led the Parliamentarian forces to victory in the English Civil War. As a result, King Charles I was beheaded on Jan. 30, 1649. Cromwell became ruler of England and was proclaimed Lord Protector in 1653. This was ironic because although Cromwell was anti-monarchy, he basically was a king Read more
Simon was a black and white cat found in the dockyards of Hong Kong in 1848 by a 17-year old British sailor named George Hickinbottom. He was a crewman on the frigate HMS Amethyst. The kitty was undernourished and unhealthy, but Hickenbottom Read more
Do nonviolent protests work, even in a fascist country? A protest in 1943 Nazi Germany did work despite it butting heads with the SS. In Hitler’s Germany, being Jewish was often a death sentence. By 1943, many Jews had already been killed in death Read more
Once upon a time, during the Crimean War, the British army participated in the Siege of Sevastopol in Russia. It took two years for the city to fall and by the end people were starving. When British soldiers entered the city, on September 9, 1855, they found civilians weak Read more
Sir Francis Bacon was one of the greatest scientific minds of the 17th Century. He encouraged the use of the scientific method which calls for experimentation and observation to reach a conclusion. He was one of the leaders of the Scientific Revolution. He is credited with saying “knowledge is power.” Read more
Marcus Crassus became the richest man in Rome partly through real estate. He created the first fire department in Rome. Sometimes he paid arsonists to set fire to a house and then he would wait around the corner with his fire fighters. When the fire was underway, Crassus and Read more
Once upon a time, a mummified cat was found between two walls in the Reformed Protestant church called Grote Kerk in Breda, Netherlands. It was determined that the cat most likely was what was called a “foundation sacrifice” or a “building sacrifice”. In the Middle Ages cats were associated with Read more
Attempts to identify soldiers go back to ancient warfare. Some Spartan warriors put their names on sticks which were tied to their wrist. After a Roman legionary was enrolled, he was given a “signaculum” which was an identification disk worn around the neck Read more
Cats do not really have nine lives, but there once was a cat that had four. Oscar was a black and white feline who patriotically went to war for Germany in WWI. She was on board the mighty battleship Bismarck when it was sunk by the Royal Navy on Read more