Browsing: June 18

A Brief History On June 18, 1815, the combined forces of the Duke of Wellington and Gebhard von Blucher defeated the French army at the battle of Waterloo. The battle is remembered by history not as a victory of the British and Prussians, but as a defeat for Napoleon Bonaparte, his final major defeat. Certain battles are known more for their vanquished than their victor, and in the past we published the article “10 Famous Defeats,” while today we examine “10 More Famous Defeats” but this time dealing with sporting events. Digging Deeper 1. Warriors blow 3-1 lead in NBA…

A Brief History This article serves as chronological listing of key bizarre events in the history of Great Britain and Ireland during the Tudor and Stuart dynasties that ruled over these islands and England’s colonies from 1485 through 1688.  This article also provides a sort of table of contents to our other articles concerning these eras in British and Irish history. Digging Deeper On June 26, 1483, Richard Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester, proclaimed himself King Richard III of England.  Just a couple of years later, Henry Tudor would defeat Richard III in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth where Richard died…

A Brief History On June 18, 1815, the combined forces of the Duke of Wellington and Gebhard von Blucher defeated the French army at the battle of Waterloo.  The battle is remembered by history not as a victory of the British and Prussians, but as a defeat for Napoleon Bonaparte, his final major defeat.  Certain battles are known more for their vanquished than their victor.  Here we list 10 of those famous battles.   Digging Deeper 10.  Little Bighorn, 1876. Better known as “Custer’s Last Stand,” the US 7th Cavalry Regiment consisting of 12 companies of soldiers sallied forth expecting to…

A Brief History On June 18, 1900, the Dowager Empress Cixi of China proclaimed war against the colonizing powers in China, including diplomats and their families.  This order was made during the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901), a popular uprising of Chinese against foreign Imperialists who had been imposing their will upon China.  For 55 days, foreigners and Christian Chinese were held under siege at a legation/embassy in Peking, now modern-day Beijing. Digging Deeper A major motion picture, 55 Days at Peking (1963), starring Charlton Heston, David Niven and Ava Gardner is loosely based on this event; it flopped at the box office,…

A Brief History In 1529, an ecclesiastical, legatine court, presided over by a representative of the Pope, had been created to try the validity of the marriage between Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. The trial was held at Blackfriars Priory in London, and on June 18, both Henry and Catherine were summoned to appear before the court. Digging Deeper By this point in time, Henry and Catherine, his brother’s widow, had been married for 20 years. Though they had been happy for the majority of their marriage, Catherine had been unable to provide a son who…