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Category Archives: History
Pantomime and the Six-Foot Christmas Cracker
Pantomime is a largely a peculiarly British tradition. If you are a Doctor Who fan you will probably be familiar with them, thanks to their links with the show in the 1980s. As part of his casting announcement, Colin Baker … Continue reading
Posted in Christmas, Doctor Who, Entertainment, History
Tagged Christmas crackers, Pantomime
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A History of Yeti Sightings
If you’re a fan of classic Doctor Who, you’ll probably love the two Patrick Troughton stories featuring the Yeti, from 1967 and 1968. It’s not hard to see why Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln might have been inspired to write … Continue reading
River Monsters
At the end of the 7th Century, an abbot of Iona Abbey on the Isle of Iona, named Adomnán, wrote Life of Columba, which contains the first ever mention of the Loch Ness Monster, albeit in the River Ness rather than … Continue reading
Ghost Ships
At the risk of being accused of having poor taste, I have to admit that one of my favourite horror films is Ghost Ship from 2002. Think what you like of that film, the opening sequence of the massacre on board … Continue reading
Dracula: Contemporary Reviews
On 26th May 1897 the first edition of Dracula, by Bram Stoker, was published. It went on to become one of the most popular books ever written, but what did contemporary reviewers think of the book at the time? Lloyd’s Weekly … Continue reading
Alice’s Adventures Underground
On this day in 1865, one of the most remarkable books ever written was first published, but its genesis can be traced back to the summer of 1862. On 4th July that year, Dodgson went on one of his many … Continue reading
Posted in Books, History
Tagged Alice in Wonderland, Alice Liddell, Charles Dodgson, Lewis Carroll, Russia, Travel
6 Comments
Discworld and Flat Earth Myths
Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels captured my imagination from an early age, and one of the reasons for that was the idea of a flat world flying through space on the back of four elephants, on the back of a giant … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Entertainment, History
Tagged Discworld, Flat Earth, Larry Niven, Ringworld, Steven Hawking, Terry Pratchett, Windows into History
10 Comments
Board Game Tour of Britain: Exeter
Exeter. We have a mission: to follow the route of an old 1940s board game around Great Britain, sticking to the instructions as closely as we possibly can. Along the way we will look at the history of the places … Continue reading
Posted in History
Tagged Board Game Tour, Exeter, Exeter Cathedral, Exeter Guildhall, Holidays
3 Comments
Momotaro: Sacred Sailors (Review)
In 1945 the first ever Japanese feature-length animated film was released, funded by the Japanese Naval Ministry as a tool for propaganda. As an anime fan with a keen interest in history, I couldn’t resist purchasing this as a special … Continue reading
Posted in Anime, Entertainment, History, Movies, Reviews
Tagged Japan, Momotaro: Sacred Sailors, Second World War, Seo Mitsuyo, World War II
2 Comments
Abroad for Christmas #3
Alfred Basil Lubbock was a maritime author who fought in the Boer War, and wrote about his experiences in Round the Horn Before the Mast, published in 1902. However, before being sent to the war, his ship was heading to … Continue reading
Abroad for Christmas #2
The following quote is from Travels in Greece and Russia by the frankly magnificent author Bayard Taylor, published in 1859. This man certainly knew how to live his life, and spent one Christmas Day in Lapland, travelling 40 miles across the … Continue reading
Abroad for Christmas
American Quaker William Savery (1750-1804) was a notable abolitionist who travelled through Europe between 1796 and 1799. His journal of travels was published posthumously, as A Journal of the Life, Travels, and Religious Labors of William Savery. He spent one … Continue reading
The First Trick or Treat
The origins of “trick or treating” are debatable, but can probably be dated back to one of various festivals and traditions from the middle ages in Britain. However, something strikingly similar and almost certainly unconnected can be found in the … Continue reading
Posted in History, Poetry, Random Chatter
Tagged Athenaeus, Deipnosophists, Halloween, Ornithology, Theognis, Trick of Treat
2 Comments
A Pioneering Film
In the very early days of silent film, France and Italy were the big hitters in the industry, with British filmmakers struggling to compete. In the 1st April 1909 issue of The Bioscope, the editor welcomed a production that could … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment, History, Movies
Tagged Bioscope, Cinema, James Williamson, Silent Cinema, Silent Film, The Big Swallow, The Tower of London
1 Comment
Board Game Tour of Britain: Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight. We have a mission: to follow the route of an old 1940s board game around Great Britain, sticking to the instructions as closely as we possibly can. Along the way we will look at the history of … Continue reading
Posted in History
Tagged Appuldurcombe House, Board Game Tour, Holidays, Isle of Wight, The Needles
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Cthulhu and UFOs at the Nativity
UFOlogists over the years have pored over the finer details of Renaissance art, looking for evidence to support their cause, and recently I have been having fun taking a scalpel to their findings. The example I am going to look … Continue reading
Posted in Art, History
Tagged Cthulhu, Florence, Madonna and Child with the Infant St John, Palazzo Vecchio, UFOs
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Spaceships at the Crucifixion
Once again I am indebted to a good friend for bringing another interesting painting to my attention, one that has fascinated UFO enthusiasts who went looking for historical evidence. So here we have a 1350 fresco from the Visoki Decani … Continue reading
The Original Foley Artists
Until the late 1920s films were all silent, with musical accompaniment generally provided live by a pianist. You might have seen clips of silent films with some very clichéd music playing on a hideous honky-tonk piano, such as Mysterioso Pizzicato … Continue reading
Pliny’s UFO
Pliny the Elder’s Naturalis Historia is a fascinating piece of work, displaying an understanding of the world that seems remarkably ahead of its time. The first book concerns what we could broadly term astronomy. I recommend reading the whole text, … Continue reading
The UFO Baptism
My article about UFOs in Rome provoked an interesting discussion among my friends, and I am indebted to one of them for sending me this image: It was sent as an example of the possibility of UFOs in art, and … Continue reading
The View from the Junkyard 