| History
| History
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As you may or may not know much of my research work is undertaken in the Outer Hebrides – miles away from Cheltenham! One small sideline I have become interested in over the last few years has been the ways…
On 31 December 1991, the Soviet Union was officially declared dissolved. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was officially created on 30 December 1922, following the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. The USSR was not immediately recognised by many countries…
The surprise pre-emptive air attack by the Japanese on the American Pacific Fleet in their base at Pearl Harbor in Oahu, Hawaii, on December 7th 1941 had momentous consequences. In a day which President Franklin Roosevelt said would “live in…
The Bolshevik Revolution of 25 October 1917 had a profound impact not only on the Western world but also on the global history of the twentieth century. During the Soviet period, the revolution was celebrated on 7 November following the…
28 July 1914. Now there’s a date that changed the world! Or was that 11 November 1918? I guess it is the whole four years, isn’t it really? And the impact is so obvious that I’m not even going to…
Can a single book change the world? In 1859, Charles Darwin’s On The Origin of the Species became an instant bestseller – and swiftly took its place as the lightning rod for controversy it has been ever since. Positing his…
On 4th of July 1776 the Declaration of Independence, a document drafted by Thomas Jefferson and other ‘framers,’ declared that the 13 former British colonies now formed the first independent nation of the Western world. Alongside the Constitution, the Declaration…
Oh dear; dates are funny things aren’t they – as this series has already demonstrated. Just when you think that you have hit on a genuine ‘game-changer’ then you are forced to think again. And so it is with 1707.…
1688 is not the most visible of British constitutional landmarks. Especially in this 800th anniversary year, 1215 often gets more love, and Magna Carta is more often enthused about by politicians and historians alike than the Glorious Revolution. Likewise, 1649,…