Tag: English History
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A Brief Moment of History: The Day a Bus Jumped Tower Bridge
There are lots of interesting small moments in history that often slip by people – after all, much of history focuses on the big battles, the big people, the defining moments of how we got to where we are today. But many of the smaller moments can bring us joy, amusement, and interest, and so…
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New Year, New Me: A History of Calendars
So the New Year is here, and I’m sure many of you will have made resolutions or goals for how you’re going to make this year better than the last. As humans in a modern world, we are ruled by time. Minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years dictate our lives – what we are…
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When The Thames Froze Over: The ‘Little Ice Age’ Thames Frost Fairs
Between roughly 1300 – 1850, the world experienced the ‘Little Ice Age’, where there was significant cooling in global temperatures. Temperatures and the effects varied from region to region and year to year, but there were 3 significant intervals of particular cold, c. 1650, c. 1770, and c. 1850. In England, this resulted in particularly…
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Gunpowder, Treason, and Plot: Who was Guy Fawkes?
Remember, remember the Fifth of November, The Gunpowder Treason and Plot, I know of no reason Why the Gunpowder Treason Should ever be forgot. If you live in the UK, or possible elsewhere in the world, this weekend you probably had fireworks, bonfires, and sparklers to celebrate the 5th November. This holiday remembers the failed…
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Royal Mistresses: Alice Perrers, The Lady of the Sun
It’s time for a new blog series! This is one that I’ve been wanting to do since creating the blog, and have finally got around to starting. It is well known that many kings across Europe had mistresses; when you’re king, you could largely do what you want. Many of these women (and sometimes men)…
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A tour through History: Just History Posts Top 10
Today’s post is a very special one, as Just History Posts turns one year old today! I don’t know where the time has gone, and certainly didn’t think I would manage to keep it going for much more than a few months (even if posts have been slightly slacking over summer). So, if you’ve ever…
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Historical Fashion: Georgian Women’s Hairstyles
I recently tweeted the following picture, showing a fashion plate from France, 1778, showing a huge elaborate hairstyle that was often popular with French and English women of this time period. These hairstyles are very evocative of the period, and significantly different from many other time periods, so I thought I would explore what types…
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The Great Fire of London: A Baker’s Tragedy
On this day, 5th September, 1666, the disaster that was the Great Fire of London finally drew to a close. It had burned for 3 days and completely destroyed the medieval part of the city within the old Roman walls. By the time the fire died out, 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, most of the…
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Legendary People: Lady Godiva
This is the first post in a new series I’ve been wanting to start for a while now. With medieval history in particular, there are lots of figures who have taken on legendary status. Some of these may have had real, historic roots, whilst others were purely fictional, but in the centuries since people have…
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The Spanish Armada of 1588
The Spanish Armada is one of the most famous events in English history, and a story that many can recount. The terrible Spanish tried to invade to depose the beloved Elizabeth I, but due to English ingenuity and British weather it failed spectacularly. Of course, the story is never as clear cut as that, and…
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