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Q&A
Was there ever an execution where rain saved someone from being burned at the stake?
St Thecla of Iconium (died early first century AD) was supposedly saved from burning by a miraculous downpour. Or there’s Lassi Didriksson, sentenced to burning for sorcery in Iceland in 1675, whose fire was put out by rain three times. The most famous rained-off burning wasn’t an execution, but a trial by fire in which the Italian preacher Girolamo Savonarola (1452–98) would...
What was the ‘Music Hall War’?
In January 1907 tensions between management and artistes in London music halls worsened when theatre owners tried to introduce extra matinee performances without extra pay. Many of the performers...
Why didn’t the Germans attempt to seize the vital Russian harbour of Murmansk during the Second World War?
The truth is that the Germans tried hard to capture Murmansk in 1941. When that failed, they concentrated on attempting to destroy the port from the air and to sink the fabled Arctic convoys, which...
When and where was the last workhouse closed?
This is one of those ‘it all depends…’ questions. Officially, the word ‘workhouse’ was replaced in 1913 by the phrase ‘Poor Law Institution’, reflecting the...
Who was Gustavus Katterfelto?
In 1782, a series of advertisements appeared in many London newspapers, all headed, “Wonders! Wonders! Wonders!” They were the work of an itinerant Prussian showman who called himself...
At what point during the Second World War did large-scale German bombing raids (excluding V1 and V2 rocket attacks) on Britain cease?
Large-scale aerial bombing of the UK is generally considered to have ended more or less with the conclusion of the Blitz in the early summer of 1941. Thereafter, as most of Hitler’s offensive...
When did the Welsh principalities become one country called Wales?
From the fifth century to the late Middle Ages, the area we know as Wales was a loose collection of separate kingdoms. The most powerful ruler, usually the king of Gwynedd or Powys, could exert...
Did Cleopatra build Cleopatra's needle?
Cleopatra's needle has nothing to do with Cleopatra. The needle, which is one of a pair (the other now being in New York), was commissioned by Pharaoh Tuthmosis III, 1,400 years before Cleopatra was...
What was the Pneumatic Despatch Railway?
The Scottish engineer William Murdoch developed a system in the early 19th century which used compressed air to propel cylinders through a tube but it was only in 1859, twenty years after his death,...
What were the Cinque Ports?
This question should really be “What are the Cinque Ports?” as the organisation still exists. It is a confederation of ports around the south-east coast of England. It was formed in 1155...
What was a Carbolic Smoke Ball?
In the late 19th century, the Carbolic Smoke Ball Company marketed their product as a cure for flu. The smoke ball was filled with powdered carbolic acid and, when squeezed, it sent a puff of acidic...
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Fancy seeing something a little bit different this year?
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- Edward VIII, Mexico cave art, Richard III and The Beatles all feature in this week's look at history in the headlines http://t.co/TRD77xHcTN — 22 hours 28 min ago