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The Tunguska Event
On the morning of June 30, 1908, a fireball, that has been estimated to have been up to 30 million degrees Fahrenheit in the center, was seen roaring across the sky. At 7:17 A.M. in Russia, the flying object exploded above the Earth creating shock waves that registered 5.0 on the Richter scale and an air blast that was so strong that it sent waves across the globe, twice. It was reported that there was not one single explosion but a series of explosions that occurred which could be heard 745 miles away. Once the explosions were over, dust clouds rose up miles into the atmosphere. The sun reflected off…
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Dick Turpin – Stand and Deliver
On the 7th April 1739, notorious highwayman Richard Turpin was hanged for his crimes, most notably horse, cattle and sheep stealing, robbery with violence, and murder at the Knavesmire in York. Turpin was documented to have been born in the Blue Bell Inn, Hempstead, the son of John Turpin who has been accredited with trades including butchery, farming and inn-keeping, and Mary Elizabeth Parmenter in c1705, the fifth out of their six children and as a young man completed an apprenticeship as a butcher, in Whitechapel. He set up in business for himself in the Essex area. Some sources claim that his father had links with smuggling and as a…
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War breaks out in American colonies
In 1774, following the infamous Boston Tea Party the previous December, when residents had dumped a cargo of imported tea into the Harbour at Boston, Massachusetts, the British governor to the state had been ordered, using amendments to the Massachusetts Colonial Government Charter, to disband the locally elected councils in favour of members appointed by the Governor. In retaliation, a shadow patriot government, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress was set up by the dissenters. They compiled their objections, the Suffolk Resolves, named so after Suffolk County, where Boston was the main city, to refuse to obey the Massachusetts Government act and threatened to boycott imported goods from Britain, unless the ‘Intolerable…
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Gargoyles
The name gargoyle is derived from the French word “Gargouille” and the Latin “Gurgulio”, both meaning throat. When most people think of Gargoyles they imagine hideous carved stone creatures, usually situated on the top edges of medieval buildings, mostly churches and other places of worship to ward off evil spirits. However, they originally had a much more practical use. The use of Gargoyles actually dates back to Ancient Greece or before where they were used as waterspouts to funnel rain water off the roof and out and over the edge of buildings, keeping it clear of the sides of the building in the process, in order to prevent it from…
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The French Revolutionary Calendar
It is of no surprise that the French Revolution was a turbulent time, not only for French history but for all the world. The events that occurred between 1789 (the revolutionary movements started earlier in 1787) and 1799 shaped the course history for the entire world. But it was not until 1792 that the French adopted a new way to measure time; the French Revolutionary Calendar or better known at the time as the French Republican Calendar. The first day of the first Republican year f [...]
