Think You’ve got a Handle on Christmas? – A Yuletide Quiz to Test Your Knowledge
How well do yo think that you know Christmas? In this article are some Christmas factoids listed with possible answers. See how many you get right.
How did people in the Middle Ages Celebrate Christmas?
Today we celebrate Christmas with a spirit of merriment, gift giving and (over) indulgence. But that begs the question … How was Christmas celebrated in the past? Or more specifically for our aricle here – the Middle Ages?
How to make a living ‘Guernsey Style’ – The Age of Guernsey Privateering
For nearly 150 years making a living, quite a good living actually, in Guernsey took a pecular turn. It was possible to become very rich via the dubiously ‘legal’ practices of Privateering and the less than legal smuggling trade.
How to Smug a Guy – An old Guy Fawkes Tradition
The British are a nation with a long and proud history steeped in ritual and tradition. None more so when it comes to the rather odd celebration of ‘Guy Fawkes Night’ where we gleefully celebrate the burning of a Catholic traitor caught trying to blow up the houses of parliament. However there is one rather odd tradition surrounding this event that we would suggest is best not revived – ‘Smugging a Guy’.
The Day King John Commited Murder and the Channel Islands lost a potential Duke
History can often turn on the actions of a single individual. April the 3rd 1203 was such a day when King John committed murder. If he hadn’t committed this heinous crime then the whole history of Guernsey and the Channels Island could have been radically different.
1066 and all that … the day the Channel Islands became part of England
On Sunday the 14th October 1066 ‘William the Bastard’, Duke of Normandy (andthe Channel Islands), invaded and defeated the Anglo Saxon king of England, so that henceforth the Bastard was to be forever known as William the Conqueror. In this article we look how at how he won at Hastings.
The Communism Experiment – What if Lenin hadn’t died ?
The great communist experiment that started in 1917 after the Bolshevist revolution in Russia ultimately failed with the faill of the Soviet Union. In this article we look at the events that surrounded his death in 1924.
Why did Europe Colonise the New World and not the other way around ?
Why did Europe Colonise the New World and not the other way around ? – according to a bold theory put forward by anthropologist Jared Diamond – The answer may be linked to the shape of the continents which meant that Europeans had more advanced technology and worse diseases than Native Americans.
Do we know who the Mona Lisa was ?
Commissioned around 1503, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is perhaps the most famous portrait in the world. But who was the Mona Lisa?
Was Jesus a Real Person ?
Should we regard the Jesus described in the New Testament as a myth. That is that Jesus either didn’t do the things he’s said to have done in the New Testament, or even that there was a real person on whom the Jesus legend was based ?
In this article we look at evidence OUTSIDE of the Bible.
The First Cities
Thursday July 12 2007 was a seminal day (apparently). On that day the a United Nations report, that coincided with World Population Day, revealed that for the first time in history, more people were now living in cities than rural areas. But how did this come about ? In this artice we look at the key argricultural and technological developements needed for this to happen.
The Silver Mines of Sark – A Short History
OVER the generations Sark has received her fair share of invaders. In 1834 250 Cornish miners ‘invaded’, brought over to open new Silver Mine shafts.
Charlemagne- The Greatest Emperor Since the Romans ?
We tend to think of the Dark Ages as a period of unending European misery. A period after the fall of the Roman Empire of cultural and technical stagnation. However there was at least one high point humanity in Europe raised it’s head out of the ‘darkness’ to witness something truly remarkable.
The Day St George lost his head … literally
On the 23rd April 303 AD in Nicomedia, (near today’s Istanbul), St George of dragon fame was beheaded on the orders of the Roman emperor Diocletian. As you’re no doubt aware he went on to become the patron saint of Englend, and quite a few other places as well as it happens. The story of his life and death is no less fascinating.
4 More Myths About World War I Debunked
2014 was the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, the supposed “war to end all wars”. It was the first ‘modern mechanised war’ and a lot of myths about it have been built up over the years. In this article we look at some of the bigee “facts” that are just plain wrong
