In the battle of the sexes, male propaganda has ever branded female virginity worthy of the power of protection. Like any effective branding campaign, it has created its share of subterfuge, incrimination and personal tragedy. Soon after King Henry VIII had secretly married Anne Boleyn in November 1532, she fell pregnant and a second still-secret… Continue reading #OTD 25 January – Virginity and marriage
Author: The chronographer
#OTD 24 January – Freedom, terror and the state
On 24 January 2003, the US Department of Homeland Security became the 15th executive department and its first secretary was sworn in by President Bush. The Act creating the department identified its primary mission. The first element of that mission was to “prevent terrorist attacks within the United States”. The Act includes a necessarily lengthy… Continue reading #OTD 24 January – Freedom, terror and the state
#OTD 23 January – Reformation, assassination and massacre
The meeting between the youthful, in the middle case ever youthful, Reformations of England, France and Scotland and the ageless art of dynastic squabbling prompted the arrivals into English of “assassination” and “massacre”. It also provides an excellent example of words getting footholds through early use by well-known playwrights. On 23 January 1570, James Stewart,… Continue reading #OTD 23 January – Reformation, assassination and massacre
#OTD 22 January – A complexity of bondage
The 14th amendment of the US Constitution holds that: … [no State shall] deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law… In the Supreme Court, this has led to a balancing test between an identification of the right and the justifiability of a state’s intrusion upon it, most famously on… Continue reading #OTD 22 January – A complexity of bondage
#OTD 21 January – The passing of power
On 21 January 1924, Vladimir Lenin died at 53. Thirteen years later, Orwell recalled in The Road to Wigan Pier: One day the master who taught us English set us a kind of general knowledge paper of which one of the questions was, ‘Whom do you consider the ten greatest men now living?’ Of sixteen… Continue reading #OTD 21 January – The passing of power
#OTD 20 January – The kings come 3 by 3
On 20 January 1936, King George V died. Since 1986, it has been widely known that his physician Lord Dawson conducted, depending on one’s view, either involuntary euthanasia or murder. The death occurred at 11.55pm so that the report could appear in The Times and not the plebs’ evening tabloids. The effort is said to… Continue reading #OTD 20 January – The kings come 3 by 3
#OTD 19 January – “I am not a person to be pressured”
The East India Company received its charter from Queen Elizabeth I in 1600 and went on to gain great wealth from India; indeed, it was the effective government from 1757 to 1858. It may be irony, it may be progress, but when BBC News Online held a vote in 1999 for the greatest woman of… Continue reading #OTD 19 January – “I am not a person to be pressured”
#OTD 18 January – Democracy’s endgame
A tripod is stable because its three legs are always on the same plane. In other words, it won’t wobble, even if its legs are uneven. 18 January 1689 is the day that Montesquieu was born. His influence on the authors of the US constitution cannot be understated. From him, the US constitution was embedded… Continue reading #OTD 18 January – Democracy’s endgame
#OTD 17 January – Blowing hot and cold
On 17 January 1773, Captain Cook and HMS Resolution were cold but proud: we cross’d the Antarctic Circle for at Noon we were by observation four Miles and a half South of it and are undoubtedly the first and only Ship that ever cross’d that line. Johann Forster, the Banks of the voyage, had little… Continue reading #OTD 17 January – Blowing hot and cold
#OTD 16 January – The imperium speaks
The fact of “empire” does not always sit well with the legality of “emperor”. It’s tricky with neighbours, who may not like you telling them you are king of kings. And it’s tricky with locals, who may not like being reminded that your power is total. 16 January is a day to look at emperors… Continue reading #OTD 16 January – The imperium speaks