… in 1847 the inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The first sentence ever spoken on the telephone occurred on 10th March, 1876, when Bell said to his assistant: “Mr Watson, come here, I want you.”
Author Archives: Holly Hewlett
Did Films Reflect or Shape Gender Roles in the Second World War? Part 1
Categories of social difference are identified by how they juxtapose each other. Women are women because they are not men; masculine is masculine because it is not feminine. Gender is perceived in binary terms and this relationship is highlighted in … Continue reading
On This Day…
… in 1848, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published a pamphlet called The Communist Manifesto. It advocated the abolition of private property and emphasised that “the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”
Arguably one of the most influential works ever, the Manifesto influenced everything from literary theory to politics – notably being adopted (and, quickly, distorted) during the Russian Revolution and under Stalin’s rule in the early twentieth century.
Ancient Greek Tragedies, The RMS Titanic and Cultural Immortality
Nearly two and a half thousand years ago, c. 429BC, Sophocles’ Oedipus the King was first performed at the Athenian Dionysia. Audiences listened with morbid fascination as a messenger revealed the awful suicide of Oedipus’ wife and mother, Jocasta, and … Continue reading
Every Academy Award Winner For Actress In A Leading Role
To celebrate the 87th Academy Awards, here is a complete list of every woman who has taken home the Oscar for Leading Actress over the years. Katharine Hepburn holds the record for this category, having taken home four Academy Awards for Leading Actress … Continue reading
Do You Hear The People Sing? The History Behind Les Miserables
This week, my boyfriend took me to see Les Miserables at the West End. Despite being a huge fan of the film adaptation and having sung all the songs in my high school choir, I had never been able to see the show on stage. It didn’t disappoint. But, before this turns into a review of the musical or – worse – a lengthy love letter to the musical that is Les Mis, I wanted to look into the history behind the story – and the tragic events that inspired the novel it’s based on.
Winter Landscapes For A Wintry Day
It’s freezing outside (and inside – did I mention I’m in a super old, steel boat?) so I thought I’d share some of my favourite winter landscapes from the late 18th Century to help make the cold weather feel a bit more beautiful and a bit less brutal.
Ivan Shishkin (1832–1898) – Winter
On This Day…
… in 1649 King Charles I of England was beheaded for treason by order of Parliament, under the direction of the leader of the Puritan Revolution, Oliver Cromwell.
On This Day…
… in 1945 the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by the Allies. Of the 1,300,000 Jews, homosexuals, Poles and other perceived ‘enemies’ of the Nazi state sent to Auschwitz, 1,100,000 never left.
May we never forget nor trivialise the sheer brutality of war and the darkest extremities of human nature.
Q-ships: The Ultimate Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing
For a Titanic-obsessed, WW1-enthusiast, you can imagine how delighted I am to find myself currently working on a World War One battleship. Not that I am doing anything nautical in my job, I should add, but the digital agency I work for happens to have its office onboard the HMS President.
Naturally, I did a bit of investigating…
My History Cafe 