The 1666 Tornado on This Day in History

 

This day in history: On this day in 1666, the most intense tornado on record in English history, an F4 storm on the Fujita scale or T8 on the TORRO scale, struck the county of Lincolnshire, with winds of more than 213 miles per hour (343 km/h).

1666 was such a bad year. The Great Fire of London happened in 1666. This fire destroyed 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, the Royal Exchange, Guildhall, and St. Paul's Cathedral. It also killed off some of the black rats and fleas that carried the plague bacillus. The fire began on September 2, 1666 and lasted just under five days. One-third of London was destroyed and about 100,000 people were made homeless.

A Great Plague also happened in 1666. Also known as the Black Death, this disease had been known in England for centuries. Those who could, including most doctors, lawyers, and merchants, fled the city of London. Charles II and his courtiers left in July for Hampton Court and then Oxford.

Buy : Halloween and the Strange in Story and History for 99 cents (50 Chapters) and Buy this Kindle book on Amazon on Vampires and Werewolves for only 1.99

Learn to Draw, Paint and Sketch - Over 100 Books to Download

The Battle of Hastings on This Day in History

 

This day in history: The Battle of Hastings was fought on this day in 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman Conquest of England.

The Battle of Hastings changed England's identity in many ways: 

The battle ended almost 500 years of Anglo-Saxon rule in England.

The Normans established themselves as the new rulers of England.

Cultural and language changes: The Normans influenced the culture and language of England for hundreds of years. English was superseded in official documents and other records by Latin and then increasingly in all areas by Anglo-Norman. Written English hardly reappeared until the 13th century.

The battle caused England to have stronger ties with Western Europe than ever.

The battle created one of the most powerful monarchies in Europe.

The battle pretty much ended the influence of Scandinavia on England.

The battle helped to create the modern English language.

A wave of castle building began across England, in order to secure the Normans' hold on power.

The battle also led to: 

The almost total replacement of the English aristocracy with a Norman one.

Overhauling English nobility law, the church, and architecture

This book, "The Impersonality of the Holy Spirit by John Marsom" is available on Amazon for only 99 cents. See a local listing for it here; Buy The Absurdity of the Trinity on Amazon for only 99 cents by clicking here - see a local listing for this here

70 Penny Dreadfuls & Dime Novels to Download (+ Gothic Novels)

The First Lottery on This Day in History

 

This Day in History: "Today in 1569 the very first English lottery was drawn at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. (Queen) Elizabeth’s bank account was running dry, and she could have either raised taxes, or held a lottery to fill it back up again. She decided to go with the lottery – the first ever national lottery. The tickets were ten shillings each, beyond the means of an ordinary person, which makes it different from a modern lottery, where tickets are often priced low enough so that low income people can afford them. This lottery was targeted to the upper class, and it became a status symbol in society to have bought a ticket. The first prize was 5000 pounds, which was enormous....To encourage more people to buy tickets, everyone who bought a ticket was promised, 'freedom from arrest from all crimes other than murder, felonies, piracy, and treason.' So it was literally a get out of jail free card." Source 

"According to one scholar, the first lottery used to raise government revenue and offer a cash prize was held in Florence, Italy, in 1530. Soon France picked up on this innovative means of raising money, and the British crown adopted the lottery in 1569. By the 1700s, lotteries were a popular way to raise money for all sorts of projects and were seen less as a sinful pastime than a civic duty. In the early 18th century, The Independent reports, the Archbishop of Canterbury lent his good name to lotteries funding the British Museum and Westminster Bridge." Source

Buy : Halloween and the Strange in Story and History for 99 cents (50 Chapters) and Buy this Kindle book on Amazon on Vampires and Werewolves for only 1.99

Killed by a Turnip on This Day in History

 

This Day in History: "On 19 December 1881 the former Conservative MP for Thirsk, Sir William Payne Gallwey, died following an accident while out shooting on his estate at Thirkleby Park, near Thirsk. He was not the only MP to die while pursuing this hobby: James Platt, Liberal MP for Oldham, died after the mayor of Oldham discharged his gun accidentally while they were out with a shooting party on the moors near Saddleworth. Platt was hit in the lower leg and suffered extensive blood loss, expiring just over an hour later.

In Gallwey’s case, however, it was not a firearm which caused his demise, but a turnip. As the Northern Echo reported, he ‘was out shooting in the parish of Bagby, and in crossing a turnip field fell with his body on to a turnip, sustaining severe internal injuries’. Although ‘all that medical aid could do was done’, Gallwey, who was 73 years old, was already in failing health and did not recover. He died at his home at Thirkleby Park and was buried in the local parish church three days later." Source

This however was not the last "death by turnip." In 1989, Leslie Merry, 56, was fatally injured after being hit by a turnip that was thrown from a passing car. "The attack apparently was carried out by a gang who toss vegetables at random at passers-by. Another man suffered stomach injuries in April after being hit by a cabbage, police said. Leslie Merry died...nine days after he was hit in the back by a turnip that knocked him to the ground as he walked near his home in London’s East End, Scotland Yard said. He had a broken rib and ruptured spleen and died from respiratory problems." Source

Buy: The Mysterious Book of Genesis - Lilith, Enoch & Other Strange Studies: An Anthology on Amazon and The Companion Guide to Death, is now available on Amazon by clicking here...and it is only $1.99

Queen Elizabeth II on This Day in History

Watch the Coronation

This Day in History: The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II happened on this in 1953, and it was the first major international event to be televised. During the service, Elizabeth took an oath, was anointed with holy oil, and was invested with robes and regalia. Millions across Britain watched the coronation live on the BBC Television Service, and many purchased or rented television sets for the event. The Queen Mother wore a crown that bore the Koh-i-Noor diamond, which is one of the largest cut diamonds in the world, weighing 105.6 carats (21.12 g). 

Did you know: The Queen doesn't need a passport to travel, nor a driver's license to drive. Her late husband, Prince Philip, is her third cousin and they've known each other since childhood. She is famously fond of the tailless corgi dogs since she was a small child, and has owned more than 30 corgis since she became Queen. She doesn't need to pay taxes, but does so anyways.

Watch the Entire 3 Hours Here

The Great Bible on This Day in History

 

This Day in History: King Henry VIII ordered English-language Bibles to be placed in every church on this day in 1541, and the Great Bible was provided for that purpose. The Great Bible was so named because of its size, it stood at 14 inches high. The Great Bible was prepared by Myles Coverdale who  included much from the Tyndale Bible. As the Tyndale Bible was incomplete, Coverdale translated the remaining books of the Old Testament and Apocrypha from the Latin Vulgate and German translations, rather than working from the original Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic texts. The Great Bible was also known by several other names as well: the Cromwell Bible, since Thomas Cromwell directed its publication; Whitchurch's Bible after its first English printer; the Chained Bible, since it was chained to prevent removal from the church. It has less accurately been termed Cranmer's Bible, since although Thomas Cranmer was not responsible for the translation, a preface by him appeared in the second edition.

While this Bible was allowed in churches, you were not allowed to take it home for study. 

Other early printed versions were the Geneva Bible (1560), notable for being the first Bible divided into verses and which negated the Divine Right of Kings; the Bishop's Bible (1568), which was an attempt by Elizabeth I to create a new authorized version; and the Authorized King James Version of 1611.

The first complete Roman Catholic Bible in English was the Douay–Rheims Bible, of which the New Testament portion was published in Rheims in 1582 and the Old Testament somewhat later in Douay in Gallicant Flanders. The Old Testament was completed by the time the New Testament was published but, due to extenuating circumstances and financial issues, it was not published until nearly three decades later, in two editions: the first released in 1609, and the rest of the OT in 1610. In this version, the seven deuterocanonical books (also known as the Apocrypha) are amongst the other books, as in the Latin Vulgate, rather than kept separate in an appendix. The Great Bible, as well as the 1611 King James Version also contained the Apocrypha.

Buy this Kindle book on Amazon about Forgotten Bible Versions for only 99 cents
See a local listing for it here

The Largest Earthquake in England on This Day in History

 

This Day in History: The Easter Dover Straits earthquake happened on this day in 1580. This earthquake appears to have been one of the largest in the recorded history of England, Flanders or northern France. 

Farther from the coast, furniture danced on the floors and wine casks rolled off their stands. The belfry of Notre Dame de Lorette and several buildings at Lille collapsed. Stones fell from buildings in Arras, Douai, Béthune and Rouen. Windows cracked in the cathedral of Notre Dame at Pontoise, and blocks of stone dropped ominously from the vaulting. At Beauvais, the bells rang as though sounding the tocsin. Many deaths were reported from Saint-Amand-les-Eaux.

In Flanders, chimneys fell and cracks opened in the walls of Ghent and Oudenarde, killing several people. Peasants in the fields reported a low rumble and saw the ground roll in waves.

On the English coast, sections of wall fell in Dover and a landslip opened a raw new piece of the White Cliffs. At Sandwich a loud noise emanated from the Channel, as church arches cracked and the gable end of a transept fell at St Peter's Church. Near Hythe, Kent, Saltwood Castle—made famous as the site where the plot was hatched in December 1170 to assassinate Thomas Becket — was rendered uninhabitable until it was repaired in the 19th century.

In London, half a dozen chimney stacks and a pinnacle on Westminster Abbey came down; two children were killed by stones falling from the roof of Christ's Church Hospital. Indeed, many Puritans blamed the emerging theatre scene of the time in London, which was seen as the work of the Devil, as a cause of the quake. There was damage far inland, in Cambridgeshire, where stones fell from Ely Cathedral. Part of Stratford Castle in Essex collapsed.

In Scotland, a local report of the quake disturbed the adolescent James VI, who was informed that it was the work of the Devil.

There were aftershocks. Before dawn the next morning, between 4 and 5 o'clock, further houses collapsed near Dover due to aftershocks, and a spate of further aftershocks was noticed in east Kent on 1–2 May.

The 16th century was a bad time for earthquakes. The deadliest earthquake in history, the Shaanxi earthquake, hit Shaanxi province, China in 1556. The death toll may have been as high as 830,000. This, along with the the Great Comet of 1556 has led some to believe that this was the sign of the antichrist. 

This Kindle book is now available on Amazon by clicking here...and it is only $1.99

Debtors Prisons on This Day in History

 

This day in history: Kentucky abolished debtors prisons on this day in 1821. 

A debtors' prison is a prison for people who are unable to pay debt. Through the mid-1800s, debtors' prisons (usually similar in form to locked workhouses) were a common way to deal with unpaid debt in Western Europe. Destitute persons who were unable to pay a court-ordered judgment would be incarcerated in these prisons until they had worked off their debt via labor or secured outside funds to pay the balance. The product of their labor went towards both the costs of their incarceration and their accrued debt. Increasing access and lenience throughout the history of bankruptcy law have made prison terms for unaggravated indigence obsolete over most of the world.

"Systems of debt bondage have existed for thousands of years. It was a common practice throughout Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. A person who owed a debt could be compelled into serving their creditor for many years. These sorts of practices spun-off into debtors’ prisons in the Middle Ages, though debt bondage continued to exist and is still practiced in many parts of the world...ou’ve probably heard someone refer to jail as 'the clink.' What you may not have realized is that it’s the name of a real prison in England. The Clink was built in 1144 and was in operation for centuries. That means it housed all manner of prisoners over the years, including many debtors. Even the famous could end up in debtors’ prison. William Hughton, playwright and Shakespearean contemporary, found himself in The Clink for failing to pay back a loan from London entrepreneur Philip Henslowe." Source

Debtors Prisons in the past could be quite harsh: "The prisons were full of rats, lice and fleas. The prisoners were denied basic necessities of life such as food, water and clothing. It is said that these places were dirty and filthy that around 25% of the inmates died due to these horrible living conditions. The debtors were imprisoned and tortured at the pleasure of the creditors. When other countries of Europe had legislation limiting the debt imprisonment term to 1 year, England did not have such a law. When in 1842, the fleet prison was closed; it was found that debtors were there for more than 30 years." Source

Since the late 20th century, the term debtors' prison has also sometimes been applied by critics to criminal justice systems in which a court can sentence someone to prison over willfully unpaid criminal fees, usually following the order of a judge. For example, in some jurisdictions within the United States, people can be held in contempt of court and jailed after willful non-payment of child support, garnishments, confiscations, fines, or back taxes. Additionally, though properly served civil duties over private debts in nations such as the United States will merely result in a default judgment being rendered in absentia if the defendant willfully declines to appear by law, a substantial number of indigent debtors are legally incarcerated for the crime of failing to appear at civil debt proceedings as ordered by a judge. In this case, the crime is not indigence, but disobeying the judge's order to appear before the court. Critics argue that the "willful" terminology is subject to individual mens rea (intention) determination by a judge, rather than statute, and that since this presents the potential for judges to incarcerate legitimately indigent individuals, it amounts to a de facto "debtors' prison" system. 

This Kindle book, The Dark History of Christmas, is now available on Amazon by clicking here...and it is only $1.99

 Visit here for a description