By some historians’ measure, he was the cruelest and most demented of the bunch. In the competition for worst Roman emperor ever, certain names stand out. Caligula, for example, whose debauchery and perversion are legendary to this day. Or Nero, who became renowned for his cruelty and who, by popularContinue Reading
18 August 1342 A scratch English fleet of converted merchant vessels under the Earl of Northampton surprised and overwhelmed a squadron of large Genoese war galleys off Brest. 18 August 1587: The first baby is born to English settlers in the Americas Virginia Dare is welcomed to the ill-fated Roanoke colony In theContinue Reading
Who was Charley Wilson? Born in Axbridge, Somerset, in 1834, Charley Wilson was a transgender man living in the Victorian era. Through interviews that he gave between late 1890 and 1910, Wilson became a well-known figure, as he shared how he experienced the world. “We tend to think that discussionsContinue Reading
17 August 1585 After a long siege, the Dutch city of Antwerp falls to the Spanish, triggering a mass exodus of as many as 60,000 of its citizens. 17 August 1761 Birth in Northamptonshire of William Carey. In 1792 Carey co-founded the Baptist Missionary Society. 17 August 1809 Death atContinue Reading
A study found nearly 7-in-10 rural families have access to one or more private schools within 10 miles of their home. With RealClear Opinion research finding that 82% of Republican voters now favor school choice policies such as vouchers, education savings accounts, and tax-credit scholarships, school choice legislation in Republican-dominatedContinue Reading
While the Marshall Plan attempted to bolster the economies and domestic harmony of European countries after the Second World War, the Truman Doctrine was the United States foreign policy initiative aimed at keeping these states free from physical attacks by “armed minorities or by outside pressures”. No reading between theContinue Reading
The Covid-19 pandemic prompted the largest disruption to American education in living memory. At the onset of the crisis in spring 2020, nearly every K–12 school, public and private, closed its doors. At the start of the next school year (see “Pandemic Parent Survey Finds Perverse Pattern,” features, Spring 2021),Continue Reading
Parents protest at a meeting of the Loudoun County School Board in Ashburn, Virginia. “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach,” commented former Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, while seeking a return to office in 2021. His Republican opponent, Glenn Youngkin, wove McAuliffe’s remarkContinue Reading
15–20 August AD 636: Thousands die at Yarmouk A Muslim army puts Roman forces to the sword It is 15 August AD 636, and on the southern border of present-day Syria one of the most decisive battles in world history is about to begin. For two years the armies ofContinue Reading
Boris Johnson’s fall as prime minister early in July was spectacular. It was forced, not by any formal vote, but instead by the resignation of dozens of ministers and aides following a series of damaging political scandals. Indeed, the number of resignations was so great that, had Johnson not quicklyContinue Reading
