Viewing all items in Resource Category: Looking at your Community

Five hundred years ago, on 3rd January 1521, German Protestant reformer Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church by Pope Leo X after he refused to recant his writings. A few weeks later, on 23rd January, the Diet of Worms was called by the Holy Roman Empire and ran until 25th May. This amusingly titled event...

The Cambridge Dictionary has named ‘quarantine’ as its ‘word of the year’ for 2020.  Apparently, it was the word most looked up between January and October of last year. ‘Quarantine’ even beat ‘pandemic’ and ‘lockdown’. The Cambridge Dictionary has now added a new meaning to the word ‘quarantine’.  It runs: ‘A general period of time...

Every river in England has chemicals in them. A recent waterways survey has found that agricultural, industrial and household pollutants now contaminate, to some extent, all of our surface water. It is a huge turnaround since 2016, when 97 per cent of our surface water was deemed to be free from chemicals. Using new Environment...

Climate change is largely to blame for the huge rise in natural disasters between the years 2000 to 2019.  So says a recent report from the United Nations office for disaster risk reduction. It goes on to warn that the earth is rapidly becoming “uninhabitable” to millions of people worldwide. Three quarters of a billion...

It was 25 years ago this month, on 27th January 1996, that the first Holocaust Remembrance Day was observed in Germany. It became International Holocaust Day in 2005 when it was adopted by the United Nations. It marks the day (27th January 1945) when the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration/death camp was liberated. The theme for Holocaust Memorial...

A look back over the last 60 years, at 20-year intervals, reveals the following snapshot of the ages of various residents in the White House: 60 years ago, on 20th January 1961, John F Kennedy became the 35th President of the United States. The youngest to become president by election, Kennedy was only 43 years...

All in the month of December BEETHOVEN: ‘from the heart to the heart’ The Arab Spring of 2010 John Lennon – 40 years since his death Remembering Bonnie Prince Charlie Mistletoe ** Editor:  We continue our column that looks at memorable dates in the month (this time, DECEMBER) down the years. Here is a range...

It was: 400 years ago, on 21st December 1620 that the first landing party from the British ship Mayflower arrived at what would become Plymouth Colony (now Plymouth Massachusetts). They began building houses there two days later. 300 years ago, on 31st December 1720 that Charles Edward Stuart, commonly known as ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’ was...

This year, 2020, is a special year for Beethoven: it marks the 250th anniversary of his birth on 16th December 1770. And so it was very fitting that back in August, at the first Live Prom this year in the Royal Albert Hall, the BBC Symphony Orchestra played his 3rd symphony, the Eroica. Beethoven composed...

The so-called Arab Spring started 10 years ago, in December 2010, when Tunisian street vendor Mohammed Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest at police seizing his vegetable stand over failure to obtain a permit. What was originally Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution became a tsunami of demonstrations, protests, riots, coups, foreign interventions and civil wars throughout...

It was 40 years ago, on 8th December 1980, that John Lennon – rock musician, peace activist and a founder of the Beatles – was shot dead, aged 40, outside his New York City apartment by Mark Chapman, a deranged fan. Lennon is usually regarded as anti-Christian, but he denied being “anti-Christ or anti-religion”. Three...

Three hundred years ago, on 31st December 1720, Charles Edward Stuart, commonly known as “Bonnie Prince Charlie”, was born in Italy. He was leader of the unsuccessful Jacobite rebellion of 1745-46 – a turning point in British history. Charles believed the British throne to be his birthright as the grandson of King James II, a...