October 18, 1908 — Belgium annexes the Congo
The so-called Congo Free State was a Belgian colony in Africa whose name provided the merest figleaf to the truth:...
January 14, 2020
Politics & War
June 4, 1913 — Emily Davison runs in front of a horse at the Epsom Derby
No one really knows what Emily Davison had in mind when she ran in front of the racehorse Amner that...
December 14, 2019
August 6, 1915 — The Battle of Lone Pine begins
The Battle of Lone Pine – or, if you’re Turkish, the Battle of Kanli Sirt – was a five day...
November 24, 2019
April 24, 1916 — The Easter Rising commences
In 1916, with the hated English overlords distracted by the First World War, a group of Irish revolutionaries decided that...
November 9, 2019
June 29, 1916 — Roger Casement is sentenced to death for treason
Sir Roger Casement was still a young man when he toured colonial Africa and South America in the early years...
October 29, 2019
September 17, 1916 — Manfred von Richthofen makes his first kill as a pilot
Manfred von Richtofen won his first aerial combat with Jasta 2 in the skies over Cambrai, France, on 17 September,...
October 19, 2019
December 16, 1916 — Rasputin is murdered
Rasputin is one of the legends of the Twentieth Century. He was definitely real, but has been imputed with supernatural...
October 14, 2019
July 11, 1917 — The Battle of Passchendaele commences
Also known as the third Battle of Ypres, the Battle of Passchendaele was an attempt to capture the strategically important...
October 9, 2019
October 31, 1917 — Turkish lines are broken at Beersheba
By 1917, British and Commonwealth forces under General Allenby were slowly progressing northward through Turkish-occupied Palestine, but the advance stalled...
October 4, 2019
July 18, 1918 — Nelson Mandela born
One of the greatest political figures of the Twentieth Century, Nelson Mandela was born in the village of Mvezo, in...
September 24, 2019
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