Historical Fun

History Facts for June 30th On this day in history, 30th June 1559, King Henry II of France decided to do a bit of jousting .   He did pretty well in the opening rounds, but then he came up against a fellow jouster called Gabriel de Montgomery. And, not taking into account that he was fighting the King, Gabriel wounded Henry. And then Henry died.   Everyone was shocked that the king didn't win, and that he was mortally injured, no more so than Henry himself.   Henry's last words were, "You little bast...."   On this day in history, 30th June 1934, Adolf Hitler proved way before the start of World War 2 what a complete and utter git he was by eliminating most of his political rivals in Germany.   It is known as The Night of the Long Knives, not because the blades were knives and really long, but because the knives were blades and not short.   Not his fault, Hitler was just going through a stabby phase in his life. Soon to ...

HISTORY FACTS JUNE 20th On this day in history, 20th June, 1837, William IV, King of the United Kingdom, kicked the bucket.   Some interesting facts about William IV: He was the last monarch to appoint a Prime Minister against the will of Parliament. Even the current Queen, Elizabeth II, can appoint who she likes as Prime Minister, even if the British Public voted for someone else. But it's a power the Queen doesn't use.   When William died, he had no surviving direct heirs. He did, however, have 8 illegitimate kids from shacking up with an actress by the name of Dorothea Jordan.   What's interesting about that? Well, glad you asked. He was succeeded by his niece, Victoria. But the current British Prime Minister, David Cameron, is a descendant of the liaison between King William IV and the actress. On this day in history, 20th June, 1819, the United States vessel SS Savannah arrived at Liverpool, United Kingdom . It was the first steam-powered vessel to cr...

History Facts - June 18th On this day in history, 18th June 1633, Charles I was crowned King of Scotland in Edinburgh. He had been king of England since 1625 and king of Scotland since that date, too. However, keen to avoid travelling to Scotland, he waited 8 years to be crowned.   Charles struggled with some personal issues just before his reign as king ended. The main issue, which was rather personal, was his head being separated from his body. Yep, the guy was executed for treason in January 1649. A bit surprising considering he was the king. On this day in history, 18th June 1815, the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo by the pop group ABBA. Such a catchy tune.   The Battle of Waterloo was a great victory for Britain and for the now famous Duke of Wellington, one of the greatest Generals in British history. It was fought near Waterloo, hence the name, in what is now present-day Belgium.   After Napoleon's defeat a...

History Facts - 15th June   On this day in history, 15th June 923, King Robert 1st of France was killed at the Battle of Soissons by King Charles III. Or, as Charles III is better known, Charles the Simple. Although possibly not so simple, as he did manage to kill Robert in single combat.   But, saying that, Charles the Simple was later defeated by Rudolph, not the red-nosed reindeer, but the Duke of Burgundy. Hmm, burgundy, Rudolph, and red. Do you see why someone might be a tad confused?   If you want to know how you can tell the difference between Rudolph, Duke of Burgundy, and Rudolph, of the Red Nose, one of them has four legs, antlers, and is chummy with Santa. 15th June 1215, King John of England applies his seal to the Magna Carta at Runnymede, near Windsor. This was a big thing in history. King John was forced to sign it by the English Barons. It protected the church rights, gave protection from illegal imprisonment, access to ...

History Facts June 14th June 14th 1690 King William III of England landed in Ireland to confront the recently deposed King of England, James II. Now, William III, of England, was actually William of Orange, who happened to be King of England because he was married to Mary, the daughter of James II.   It's long and complicated, and there will be a Fun Facts about William, Mary, and James, soon. But, in brief, James II was king of England, England was protestant, Mary was heir, she was protestant, all was okay. She married William of Oranges not Lemons said the bells of ....   James shacked up with a new wife and then she gave birth to a son. Because boys were better than girls back then, thankfully that's not true anymore, the little boy would inherit the throne before Mary. Unfortunately, James' new wife was a Catholic. Booooo. Hisssss. And the kid would be raised as one of "them".   This did not sit well with England at the time. William of Oranges...

On this day in history, 13th June 1378, the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty was signed between King Edward III of England and King Ferdinand and Queen Eleanor of Portugal. It's the oldest active treaty in the world and established "Perpetual friendships, unions and alliances" between England (later the United Kingdom) and Portugal.   The Treaty was activated during World War 2 and also in 1982 during the Falklands war between the United Kingdom and Argentina.   On this day in history, 13th June 1625, King Charles I of England married Princess Henrietta Maria of France and she became Queen Consort.   She was not a popular figure in England, and being a catholic, was not crowned Queen. Charles, on the other hand, was also becoming less popular. He'd soon endure a Civil War, and then not endure the severing of his head from his body.   13th June 1805, during the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Meriwether Lewis and four of his co...

On This Day In History - 12th June   On this day in history, 12th June 1567, Richard Rich died. Nope, we're not talking about Richie Rich the character played by Macaulay Culkin, who, for some reason, kept being left home alone.   We're talking about the 1st Baron Rich who was Lord Chancellor of England during the reign of King Edward VI. Lord Rich was not a pleasant man, to say the least.   Rich tormented the future Queen Mary I, Henry VIII's daughter. And his hobbies included kicking hedgehogs and persecuting and torturing Protestants. No wonder his parents abandoned him at every opportunity.   On this day in history, 12th June 1816, Charles Pierre Francois Augereau, 1st Duc de Castiglione died. He was a soldier, general, and Marshal of France, who knew how to duck. Duc De Castiglione served in the French Revolutionary Wars and found himself fighting in every major battle in 1796 with the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.   But, s...

History Facts - 11th June On this day in history, 11th June 1184BC, the ancient city of Troy was destroyed after someone let the horse inside.   Brad Pitt journey from Greece to Troy because he wanted to get to Paris as he'd never seen the Eiffel tower. Hmm, I may be getting some stuff muddled up there.   When Paris, a prince of Troy, kidnapped Helen, the most beautiful women on Earth, from her husband Menelaus, who was the king of I AM SPARTA, Greece united and sent an army to Troy to get her back.   There was a ten year siege of the city, something the film doesn't cover, Paris, Achilles, Ajax, Hector, and Bob the Builder, all died during the war. Then a bright spark built a giant wooden horse and left it outside the gates as a present. The rest is history. Never look a gift horse in the mouth. Beware Greeks who come bearing gifts. Don't eat yellow snow.   On this day in history, 11th June 1509, Henry-Of-The-Many-Numbers (8) married his b...

FACTS ABOUT THE EVACUATION OF DUNKIRK A video tribute to all those at Dunkirk.