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Thorough and frequent hand washing with soap and water is recommended by the World Health Organisation as the first step to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus. I don’t know who first said, “Cleanliness is next to Godliness”, but you won’t find that phrase in the Bible. Ritual washings are practised by many religions, but...

Five hundred years ago, on 6th April 1520, Italian Renaissance artist and architect Raphael died in Rome of an unknown illness. He was 37. Born Raffaello Sanzio at Urbino, he was orphaned at the age of 11 and led something of a nomadic life. He was immersed in neoplatonic philosophy, as was the pre-Reformation Church of...

William Wordsworth, the Romantic poet always associated with the Lake District, was born 250 years ago, on 7th April 1770. He was Poet Laureate from 1843 to 1850, though he produced no new poetry during that period. In his youth Wordsworth travelled in France and came to share the radical politics of the French Revolution. He also...

The Hubble Space Telescope was launched 30 years ago, on 24th April 1990. It was named after Edwin Hubble, an outstanding expert on extragalactic astronomy in the 1920s and 1930s. The launch, originally scheduled for 1983, had been delayed by technical and budget problems and by the Challenger disaster. Ironically the NASA error that caused the...

If there was a prize to be given for the number of key people you’ve influenced before you are 18, Greta Thunberg would probably win. She has had an extraordinary time of it, speaking at major conferences, going to key venues and meeting many important world leaders. Yet she is only 17. She is part of the...

All in the month of MARCH Volunteers needed now for Marie Curie’s Great Daffodil Appeal 200 years of astronomy Gandhi’s salt march against the British Remembering the martyrdom of Oscar Romero  The man who invented self-raising flour World Water Day 22nd March Eating Disorders Awareness Week – 2nd – 8th March ** Editor:  We continue...

It was: 200 years ago, on 10th March 1820 that the Royal Astronomical Society was founded in Britain. 175 years ago, on 17th March 1845 that one Henry Jones, a baker from Bristol, was granted a patent for his invention of self-raising flour. 100 years ago, on 25th March 1920 that the British special constables...

Marie Curie, the UK’s leading charity for people living with a terminal illness and their families, will shortly launch their annual Great Daffodil Appeal, held across the UK every March. As part of the Great Daffodil Appeal, Marie Curie needs volunteers who will give two hours of their time to help hand out their iconic...

The Royal Astronomical Society was founded 200 years ago, on 10th March 1820. Originally called the Astronomical Society of London, it had been opposed by Sir Joseph Banks, president of the Royal Society, who persuaded the Duke of Somerset to withdraw his agreement to be the first president. But it survived with William Herschel as...

It was 90 years ago, on 12th March 1930, that Indian political and spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi led 78 activists and followers on a 23-day “salt march” to protest against a British tax on salt and a ban on Indians collecting or selling it. On 5th April he reached the sea and made salt, breaking...

Oscar Romero, the Archbishop of San Salvador, was shot dead by a gunman as he celebrated Mass in a hospital chapel 40 years ago, on 24th March 1980. The Archbishop was widely known for speaking out against poverty, social injustice, torture and assassinations during a struggle between left-wing and right-wing forces. No-one was ever convicted...

Henry Jones, a baker from Bristol, was granted a patent for his invention of self-raising flour 175 years ago, on 17th March 1845. Jones was born in Monmouth, Wales, but he established a bakery in Broadmead, Bristol. His formula for making self-raising flour – essentially a process of baking without yeast – was granted a patent in...