… in 1919 the American-born Lady Astor became the first woman to sit as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons in Britain.
Tag Archives: history
Why Was Murder Preferrable to Marriage in the Case of Cleopatra?
It is the year 308 BC; fifteen years after the death of Alexander the Great. During this time, his empire has been unofficially divided between his closest companions: Ptolemy, a Macedonian general and one of Alexander’s oldest friends, has control of Egypt; the one-eyed general Antigonus has Asia Minor and Syria, and Cassander – son of the late great general Antipater – has forcefully taken over as regent of Macedonia and the Greek city states. This arrangement, however, is far from secure and intermittent, bloody war rages throughout Alexander’s lands.
In Sardis, the capital city of Lydia (situated in modern-day Turkey), Cleopatra of Macedon plots her escape. She has been living as a guest-prisoner with Antigonus for more than ten years. She is a princess – the full sister of Alexander the Great. By now she is about fifty years old. Most of her family is dead – mother, father, brother and half-siblings all having met untimely deaths. Somehow, word has reached her that Ptolemy, ruler of Egypt and a childhood friend of her brother’s, has asked for her hand in marriage. Despite having rejected the proposals of many of Alexander’s other generals, she accepts. This is where we find her, attempting to make her way south to Egypt.
She never makes it. Antigonus’s men find her and she is brought back to Sardis, imprisoned and killed. The question is, why?
On This Day…
… in 1947 the ‘Hollywood Ten’ – a group of film producers, directors and screenwriters – were blacklisted by the majority of Hollywood Studios for their rumoured Communist affiliations.
These men included Alvah Bessie, Lester Cole, Herbert Biberman, Edward Dmytryk, John Howard Lawson, Ring Lardner Jr, Samuel Ornitz, Albert Maltz, Adrian Scott and Dalton Trumbo. Most were never employed in Hollywood again, so great was the fear of Communism in the west at this time.
Interestingly, the German writer Bertolt Brecht was originally among this group, but he fled the country the day after the inquest.
Jack The Ripper: Our Obsession With Serial Killers
I’m currently having a bit of a Jack the Ripper phase. Despite previously knowing very little about the grisly east end murders of 1888, now – I confess – I’m hooked. Tempted as I am to try my hand at a bit of armchair detective work, I am actually more interested in why myself and most people are fascinated with serial killers, rather than actually who Jack the Ripper was. After all, if I told you that the Ripper was ‘Joe Bloggs’, a 43 year old butcher who lived in Whitechapel, would that really satisfy your curiosity? Would the ‘who’ without the ‘why’ bring us any sort of closure?
Just to clarify, I’m pretty sure there was no 43 year old butcher in the Whitechapel area called Joe Bloggs at the time of the murders. If there was, then it looks like I’ve found a new and lucrative career as a psychic.
A contemporary engraving depicting the discovery of a Ripper victim.
On This Day…
… in 1928 Mickey Mouse made his debut in Steamboat Willie.
On This Day…
… in 1558 Queen Elizabeth I of England ascended the throne. She was the fifth and last Tudor monarch and reigned for forty-five years.
Sainsbury’s Christmas Ad Exploits The Great War
I’m anticipating a fair amount of backlash here, but this is something I feel strongly about and am keen to express.
I don’t like the Sainsbury’s Christmas advert.
There, I said it.
It left me feeling deeply uncomfortable and disappointed, for three reasons.
My Great Grandpa In The Great War
My great grandpa, Norman George Dale, was born on 7th March 1896 to Frederick Dale, a farmer, and his wife Martha. He was one of ten children, three sisters and seven brothers and the family lived happily at Oxheys Farm in Cheshire.
When the war broke out in 1914, two brothers, Harry and Fred, stayed at home to maintain the family farm; even when conscription was introduced in 1916 they was exempt from service as a result of their occupation.
The remaining brothers Sidney, Walter (32), Albert (23), Frank (21) and Norman (18) all fought in the war. While Norman was technically too young to serve overseas – the minimum age for this being nineteen – he lied about his age so he could fight beside Frank, as the two youngest brothers were inseparable. Walter, Albert, Frank and Norman all joined the Manchester Regiment; Albert in the 22nd Battalion, Walter in the 2nd/5th and Frank and Norman in the 2nd/6th.
Norman George Dale
New College, Oxford In World War One
I was on Facebook today and came across a post from my old university college. Unbeknown to me, it turns out that New College, Oxford actually looked after convalescent servicemen and septicemia cases during the Great War. These men were sent to the college from the military hospital that had been established in the Examinations School on the High Street (where my Historian friends and I sat our dreaded Finals exams).
On This Day…
… in 1938 Nazi party officials and SA paramilitary forces took to the streets of Germany to ransack, raid and demolish thousands of Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues.
My History Cafe 