In 1623, a period of drought was answered by colonists with a proclamation of prayer and fasting. This prayer and fasting was changed to another thanksgiving celebration when rains came during the prayers. Later that year, Governor Bradford proclaimed November 29 as a time for pilgrims to gather and give thanks. “Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian ...
The Pilgrims fled from England to Holland in 1607. When Spain threatened to invade Holland, the Pilgrims decided to flee again. They considered sailing to Guyana in South America, as they heard of its tropical climate. Pilgrim Governor William Bradford wrote in Of Plymouth Plantation: “Some … had thoughts and were earnest for Guiana. … Those for Guiana alleged that the country was rich, fruitful, and ...
Is the story we've been taught about the Gunpowder plot really treason by Guy Fawkes and the group of Catholic men, or has history gone the way of the victors once again? What we're told... As midnight approaches on November the 4th – the eve of the traditional opening of Parliament – armed agents of the King raid a basement room of the Houses of Parliament ...
The English East India Company (EIC or EEIC), later to become the British East India Company, was founded in 1600 as a trading company. With a massive private army and the backing of the British government, the EIC looted the Indian subcontinent from 1757 until anarchy necessitated that government step in and take over EIC possessions in 1858. The EIC was the means by which Britain conducted its imperialistic policies in Asia, ...
The Speech to the Troops at Tilbury was delivered on 9 August Old Style, 19 August New Style 1588 by Queen Elizabeth I of England to the land forces earlier assembled at Tilbury in Essex in preparation for repelling the expected invasion by the Spanish Armada. Prior to the speech the Armada had been driven from the Strait of Dover in the Battle of Gravelines eleven ...
In 1588, the most powerful man in the world was the King of Spain, Phillip II. Flush with gold and silver from the New World, he had no rivals, save one: Queen Elizabeth of England. England was a Protestant nation and Spain was Catholic, as was most of Europe. In addition to considering her a heretic, Phillip hated her for two additional reasons: first, she was ...
On this day in history–October 15, 1582–Pope Gregory XIII implemented the Gregorian calendar. In several Catholic countries, the calendar for 1582 skipped directly from October 4 to October 15. To make up for the inaccuracies of its predecessor, the Julian calendar, a number of days had to be skipped. The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western or Christian calendar, is the most widely used calendar in the ...
Commemorating the French Huguenots and their attempt at seeking religious freedom in America, Rep. Charles E. Bennett sponsored a bill on Sept. 21, 1950, to establish the Fort Caroline National Memorial. In 1989, he recited the history: “The 425th anniversary of the beginning settlements by Europeans … renamed from Fort Caroline to San Mateo, to San Nicolas, to Cowford and finally to Jacksonville in 1822. … ...
In Oxford's St Giles there is a huge Victorian memorial to the Oxford Martyrs, close to the spot where they were burned at the stake. Today marks 460 years since the deaths of two of them, Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer, in 1555. The third, Thomas Cranmer, was burnt five months later on March 21, 1556. But who were these men, and why did they die? ...
John Rogers burned to death at a stake at Smithfield, England on this Monday morning, February 4,1555. Among the onlookers who encouraged him were his own children. What monstrous crime had earned him this cruel death? Born about 1500, Rogers was educated at Cambridge. He became a Catholic priest and accepted a position in the church at the time that the Protestant Reformation was in full ...
