Historical Fun

HISTORICAL FUN: On This Day In History Fun Facts for November 25th   On This Day In History in 885, Vikings, yes, they are at it again, sieged Paris after sailing their fleet up the River Seine.   Vikings, Vikings, yes we are, Sail our ships, we came so far, To kill you. Die non-Vikings, DIE.   On This Day in History in 1120, William Adelin was killed when his ship , The White Ship, sank in the English Channel.   William Adelin was the son and heir of King Henry I of England. His death caused a succession crisis after his father died without issue that caused a period in England called The Anarchy.   Read some Historical Fun with FUN FACTS ABOUT KING HENRY I of ENGLAND .   On This Day in 1487, Elizabeth of York was crowned Queen of England.   Elizabeth of York was the wife of King Henry VII of England and the first ever Tudor Queen.   She could also be the inspiration to George RR Martin for his charact...

HISTORICAL FUN: HISTORY FUN FACTS for NOVEMBER 23rd   On This Day In History in 1499, Perkin Warbeck was hanged after attempting to escape from the Tower of London.   Perkin Warbeck was a pretender to the English throne. He invaded England with an army, more like a couple of friends on a Stag weekend, claiming to be the long lost son of King Edward IV of England.   Perkin Warbeck claimed he was Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York.   You might not even recognise that name right away.   Richard, Duke of York, was the younger son of King Edward IV of England. And also the younger brother of King Edward V of England.   Together, King Edward V of England and Richard, Duke of York, made up the duo known as The Princes in the Tower.   The Princes in the Tower were later murdered by King Richard III of England. their evil uncle.   Warbeck was captured in 1497 and interrogated under close scrutiny of King Henry VII, of the...

HISTORICAL FUN: HISTORY FUN FACTS FOR NOVEMBER 22   On This Day in 1718, Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, the infamous and notorious and bulbous Pirate, was defeated in battle.   The boarding party, led by Royal Navy Lieutenant, Robert Maynard, found Blackbeard and ran him through real good, resulting in the pirate's death.   Edward Teach was born in or around 1680, and in or around the English city of Bristol. There really isn't much to go on when it comes to Edward Teach's early life. We do know he was born as a baby which had an extraordinary amount of facial hair, even for a baby from Bristol, which is saying something.   Did you know: Blackbeard could read and write.   Now, I know what you're thinking. Big deal?   Well, it actually was at the time. Education back then wasn't as freely available as it is today. This means we could assume Edward Teach, "if that's even your real name," was born ...

HISTORICAL FUN FACTS for NOVEMBER 19th On This Day In History, 1600, King Charles I of England was born. Charles was the second son of King James VI of Scotland, who was soon to get an upgrade and become King James I of England. The eldest son of King James-The-Sixth-Soon-To-Be-First was Henry Frederick, the Prince of Wales. When Henry Frederick died in 1612, Charles became the Heir Apparent and the new Prince of Wales. Charles spent his first few years in Scotland. Even when his father became King of England, Charles remained in Scotland as he was quite a sickly child. And rather annoying. His father couldn't stand the winging little git and left for England without him. Charles wasn't seen as worthy until he could walk the length of the Great Hall at Dunfermline Palace with help, and scoff down a whole haggis without throwing up. Just before the age of four, Charles achieved both and was immediately sent to join his family in London. However, the interesting stu...

HISTORICAL FUN FACT FOR NOVEMBER 17th On This Day in 887, Charles the Fat was deposed as the Carolingian Emperor and Arnulf of Carinthia is elected as King of the East Frankish Kingdom. Charles the Fat didn't much appreciate the name people called him, and much preferred to be known as Charles III. However, he was rather chubby. Well, huuuuge. So it wasn't as if he could move fast enough to catch those who called him THE FAT. On This Day In History in 1558, Mary I of England died, and was succeeded by her half-sister, Elizabeth I of England. Elizabeth-The-First-Of-Her-Name ruled all England for a Golden Age of 44 years. She became Queen on the 17th November 1558 after her big, and very ugly, sister died (big as in older, not as in bigger, although she was plump). Elizabeth reigned until she eventually kicked the bucket, which had a family of hedgehogs living inside, who also died, on the 24th March 1603. The Tudor Dynasty was at an end. ...

HISTORICAL FUN FACTS for NOVEMBER 16th On This Day In History in 42 BC, the Roman Emperor Tiberius was born. And yet he died in 37 BC. That isn't confusing at all. The Emperor Tiberius was assassinated. By a pillow. The pillow may have just been where his head was resting whilst he slept. Or it may have been above his head, being pressed down, really hard, by Caligula. No one is quite sure. Tiberius died in Misenum, aged 78, after placing himself in exile for the last years of his life. Everyone had it in for him. That bloke. The bloke over there. The geezer sitting down. The fairy on top of the Christmas tree. The gnome in his neighbour's front garden. Everyone. The guy was a little paranoid. And not well liked. When news spread to Rome about the death of Emperor Tiberius, the crowd rejoiced. Then went silent when they were told he had recovered. And then rejoiced again when they heard Caligula and Macro had smothered him with an inflatable hedgehog. Pillow...

Historical Fun Facts for November 4th On This Day in History, in 1501, Arthur Tudor and Catherine of Aragon meet for the first time, before they are finally married.   Arthur Tudor was the Prince of Wales and also the eldest son of King Henry VII of England. As the eldest son of the King, he was also the heir apparent.   Plans for Arthur's marriage started at the age of three, because any self-respecting three-year-old needs a wife. It wasn't until he was eleven-years-old that he was formally betrothed. Although they waited until he was 15-years-old before he actually married.   And the lucky lady was Catherine of Aragon.   Wait a minute, that name sounds familiar. Wasn't she the wife of King Henry VIII?   Something icky is coming.   Which is what Arthur said to his new wife on their wedding night.   Soon after they were married, they moved into Ludlow Castle in Shropshire. Life was good for Arthur Tudor. Newly ma...

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY - 8th MARCH On This Day in 1702, Queen Anne became Queen of England after the death of William III, or William of Orange, or William-Of-The-Evil-Fruit.   Queen Anne started out as Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, then became Queen of Great Britain when the Kingdoms were officially united. She left no direct heirs, and, as such, was the last monarch of the House of Stewart.   Anne was the sister of Mary II, who was the wife of Not-The-First-William-Who-Invaded-England.   William-The-Third-Orange-Almost-Killed-Me had invaded England in what became known as the Glorious Revolution. It was an almost bloodless coup when James II took a holiday in France, which led Parliament to declare he had abdicated.   This was the second time someone called William invaded England to claim the throne. Must be something in the name.   If you know someone called William, better watch out for him. He's probably contemplating con...

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY for the 12th of JANUARY   On This Day, 12th of January 1993, Zayn Malik was born. Yes, Happy Birthday to Zayne formerly of the hit band One Direction.   Zayne Malik is famous for being afraid of heights, open water, hedgehogs and eyes.   When poor little Zayn was younger, he spent some nervous time wading in the water as a shark circled.   Lucky for him, Zayn suffered from smelly-feet-pongs. It's a terrible and embarrassing condition doctors have never been able to cure.   The shark was so put off by the smelly-feet-pongs, that it decided to stay away. However, a few minutes later, he was kidnapped by aliens. On board the alien star ship, Zayn was forced to stare at the letter "i" for hours on end whilst balancing on a hedgehog on top of a ladder.   This all added to his long list of phobias, which also include being a member of a best-selling boy band. He stays away from open...