Here’s our next instalment of things that happened in ..24 years of yore.
Notable Events in 1724
7 April. The premiere performance, of Bach’s St John Passion (BWV 245) at St Nicholas Church, Leipzig.
22 April. Birth of Immanuel Kant, German philosopher (d.1804)
25 August. Birth of George Stubbs, English painter (d.1806)
24 September. The Paris Bourse, the stock exchange for France, is created by order of King Louis XV on the advice of Nicolas Ravot d’Ombreval, four years after a financial panic had shut down trading.
Unknown Date. Construction of Blenheim Palace (below) is completed. It is presented as a gift from the nation to the Duke of Marlborough, for his involvement in the Battle of Blenheim in 1704.
Unknown Date. Founding of Longman, the oldest surviving publishing house in England.
Our look at some of the significant happenings 100 years ago this month.
2. Born. Daniel arap Moi, 2nd President of Kenya (d. 2020)
4. Born. Joan Aiken, English writer (d. 2004)
16. Born. Lauren Bacall, American actress (d. 2014)
28. US Army pilots John Harding and Erik Nelson complete the first aerial circumnavigation of the globe; it has taken them 175 days and 74 stops before their return to Seattle
30. Born. Truman Capote, American author (d. 1984)
And now to tiny wings … scientists are doing all sorts of probes into honey and finding it can tell a huge story about the environment where it was created – it’s full of pollen, DNA, bacteria, and a lot of other junk. [££££]
Back to one of my favourite themes: wasps.
Each summer, wasps in the UK capture about 14 million kilogrammes of insects such as caterpillars and greenfly, making them important friends to gardeners.
First Prof. Seirian Sumner (aka. @waspprof) looks at why there are so few wasps around this year. (Spoiler: wet Spring.)
Secondly, yet another look at the importance of wasps as both predators and pollinators.
Tardigrades, those almost indestructible micro-creatures, that have been preserved in amber are revealing when they gained their indestructability. [££££]
Psychological research has a problem with reproducibility, and now there are indications that men may not be more attracted to scent of fertile women, after all.
Let’s explode another psychological stereotype … only children are no more self-centred, spoiled and lonely that those with siblings. [LONG READ] [££££]
As below, so above – maybe …
Astronomers have spotted a comet which is being kicked out of the solar system.
And NASA’s army of citizen scientists have spotted an object moving at an incredible 1 million miles per hour (that’s about 40 times round the Earth, an hour!).
Health, Medicine
It is becoming increasingly evident that Parkinson’s disease is related to the gut microbiome.
Would women be healthier and happier if they avoided the menopause and menstruated for ever? Researchers are divided.
Environment
What people classify as pests are only species of wildlife going about their lawful business and in the process encroaching on what we declare as human-only places (like houses).
One American environmentalist on the joy of harvesting greywater for his desert garden.
There are many, many big companies that we’ve never heard of, but who have a surprising grip on our lives – and failure of any one (like CrowdStrike did in July) could being the world to a halt.
Some really forensic research has worked out that Stonehenge’s massive Altar Stone came from north-east Scotland. And we thought that moving the bluestones from SW Wales was a feat too far!
Just a quick reminder that the original (ancient Greek) Olympic Games were entirely male and entirely nude.
Here’s our next instalment of things that happened in ..24 years of yore.
Notable Events in 1624
2 March. The English House of Commons passes a resolution making it illegal for a Member of Parliament to quit or wilfully give up his seat. Afterward, MPs who wish quit are appointed to an “office of profit”, a legal fiction to allow a resignation. It is still in force today.
13 April. Death of William Bishop, first Roman Catholic bishop after the English Reformation (b.1553)
May. The first Dutch settlers arrive in New Netherland.
July. Birth of George Fox (below), English founder of the Quakers (d.1691)
13 August. Cardinal Richelieu is appointed by Louis XIII of France to be his chief minister, having intrigued against Charles de la Vieuville, Superintendent of Finances who was arrested for corruption the previous day.
24 August. Jasper Vinall becomes the first known person to die while playing the sport of cricket, after being struck on the head with a bat during a game at Horsted Keynes in England.
21 September. The Roman Catholic church’s Dicastery for the Clergy issues a decree that no monk may be expelled from his order “unless he be truly incorrigible”.
24 December. Denmark’s first postal service is launched by order of King Christian IV.
Unknown Date. Frans Hals produces the painting now known as The Laughing Cavalier.
Unknown Date. The German-language Luther Bible is publicly burned, by order of the Pope.
Unknown Date. Birth of a Female Greenland shark (which is still alive in 21st century).
Each month we’re posing five pub quiz style questions, with a different subject each month. As before, they’re not difficult, but it is unlikely everyone will know all the answers – so hopefully you’ll learn something new, as well as having a bit of fun.
History
Who died near Lincoln on 28 November 1290 and was buried 17 December at Westminster Abbey?
Which country has the world’s oldest surviving parliament?
What was ceded to Britain in 1713 as part of the settlement of the War of Spanish Succession?
Who was the first Merovingian King?
Roald Amundsen was the first man to reach the South Pole. What nationality was he?
Our look at some of the significant happenings 100 years ago this month.
1. Born. Frank Worrell, West Indies cricketer (d. 1967)
11. Lee de Forest used his experimental Phonofilm sound-on-film process to film US President Calvin Coolidge on the White House lawn; the earliest sound film footage of an American president.
12. Born. Derek Shackleton, England cricketer (d. 2007)
12. Born. Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, President of Pakistan (d. 1988)
27. American Telephone and Telegraph Company successfully transmitted a colour photograph from Chicago to New York. It took just an hour.
Is it a fossil? Is it a meteorite? No it’s a meteor-wrong! [££££]
And finally for this section, we go from space to the ocean depths … Oceanographers think they’ve found an unexpected source of oxygen on the seafloor. [££££]
Health, Medicine
Yersinia pestis (aka. plague) is, as its name implies, a pest. And it keeps plaguing humanity.
One Anthropology Professor who studies how environmental stressors affect menstrual cycles (and a lot else) gives some scientific evidence as to why she personally hates tampons.
One researcher claims to have uncovered a late 16th-century secret dossier of Elizabeth I’s spy network. Clearly they’d never heard of Francis Walsingham!
Samuel Pepys, it turns out, isn’t just a diarist and government administrator on th make, but also a connoisseur of fashion.
And coming up to date … Shackleton’s ship Endurance, wrecked in the Antarctic, is to get added protection.
Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs
If you’re one of the many lacking body confidence, here are some ideas which may help you attain it.
And here are some scientific tricks to keep your flower bouquets looking fresh for longer.
Shock, Horror, Humour, Wow!
And finally, something on Larry, Chief Mouser of Downing Street, and other political pets. But there’s no mention of Attlee, the current cat of Mr Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle.
Here’s our next instalment of things that happened in ..24 years of yore.
Notable Events in 1524
17 January. Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, on board La Dauphine, in the service of Francis I of France, sets out from Madeira for the New World, to seek out a western sea route to the Pacific Ocean.
17 April. Verrazzano’s expedition makes the first European entry into New York Bay, and sights the island of Manhattan.
August. Protestant theologians Martin Luther and Andreas Karlstadt have a theological dispute at Jena.
24 December. Death of Vasco da Gama, Portuguese explorer (b. c1469).
Our look at some of the significant happenings 100 years ago this month.
2. Marconi described his new beam system of short-wave wireless transmission at the Royal Society of Arts in London. This could transmit more words per day than previously possible, and more economically, resulting in a general reduction in telegraph rates.
2. Portuguese Prime Minister Álvaro de Castro fought a sword duel with Flight Captain Ribeiro over a political dispute. Ribiero was wounded in the arm.
6. The first photograph is sent across the Atlantic by radio.
10. Denmark gains Greenland when Norway ends its claim.
12. The original trademark application for Kleenex was filed by Kimberly-Clark Corporation.
Eccentric looks at life through the thoughts of a retired working thinker
