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It was: 125 years ago, on 26th Sept 1898 that George Gershwin, American composer, was born.  Known for his operas, Broadway musicals and film scores. 100 years ago, on 4th Sept 1923 that Noel Coward’s musical revue London Calling! was first performed, in London. It was his first publicly produced musical work. Also 100 years...

It was 25 years ago, on 4th September 1998, that Google, the internet search company, was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, both students at Stanford University in California. The company was originally based in a friend’s garage at nearby Menlo Park. It began in January 1996 as a simple research project which employed...

Fifty years ago, on 2nd September 1973, JRR Tolkien, the fantasy writer, poet, scholar and educator, died. He was best known for his novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Born in Bloemfontein and descended from a family that originated in an area that was then East Prussian and is now Russian, Tolkien...

Fifty years ago, on 29th September 1973, W H Auden, British-born American poet, died.  He is widely – though not unanimously – regarded as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. Wystan Hugh Auden had been born in York and died in Vienna. In later years he had been splitting his time between...

Some 75 years ago, on 9th September 1948, the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea (North Korea) was established, headed by Kim Il Sung. Korea as a whole had been under Japanese control most of the 20th century, with many Korean guerrilla groups fighting to regain the country’s autonomy. The Second World War led to the...

Do you watch the weather via an app? It seems millions of us do, as we try to outguess what the British weather is going to do next. There are thousands of weather apps out there, and it seems that you can find one that will predict almost anything you want. But if you want...

Have you noticed that the exterior lights on many newer cars are smaller than they used to be? Many motorists are finding this difficult when driving in sunshine, as they still need to see what other cars are signalling to do. But the arrival of LED light clusters means that car manufacturers have been fitting...

Here is a sobering thought: it is not just your car’s exhaust fumes that damage the environment. It is also your car’s tyres. It seems that as rubber tyres wear down, they shed tiny particles that together with other car tyres, form vast clouds of toxic particles along the roads. These pollutants may be invisible,...

All in the month of August 60 years since “I have a Dream” Remembering Ralph Vaughan Williams Big anniversary for the World Council of Churches The wife of William Shakespeare International Bat Night:  26th-27th August Allotments come of age as 2023 marks the 21st year of National Allotments Week ** Editor:  We continue our column that...

It was: 400 years ago, on 6th August 1623 that Anne Hathaway died. She was William Shakespeare’s wife. 125 years ago, on 23rd August 1898 that the British Antarctic Expedition set off from London and became the first to spend winter on the Antarctic mainland and cross the Ross Ice Shelf.  It was the first...

Sixty years ago, on 28th August 1963, Dr Martin Luther King Jr delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The civil rights rally was attended by about 200,000 supporters, including many A-list film celebrities released temporarily by their...

Seventy-five years ago, on 23rd August 1948, the World Council of Churches was founded in Amsterdam. It flowed out of the modern ecumenical movement, which had begun in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There had been agreement by 1937 to establish a World Council of Churches, but the official inauguration was deferred by...