On the fifth of November 1605, an attempt to kill the king of England and his government was uncovered. The conspirators were Catholics who were hugely disappointed with the new king, James I (James IV of Scotland). They had hoped that he would be more tolerant of the Catholic faith than his predecessor, Elizabeth, who [...]
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It’s ironic to note that the British were defeated in a state called ‘Virginia’. This state was named in honour of Queen Elizabeth the first – the ‘virgin queen’. 1781 The decisive victory in the revolutionary war. British troops under Lord Cornwallis surrender to American and French forces at the battle of York town in [...]
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Mata Hari was executed by the French on this day in 1917. I knew the name, but didn’t know anything about her. This is what I learned: Her real name was Margaretha Zelle. She was born in Holland in 1876. Her father was a businessman, but his business went bust when Margaretha was thirteen. After [...]
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October 15, 1946. In Neurenburg, Germany, former Nazi airforce chief Hermann Goering commits suicide behind bars. Goering takes poison just hours before his scheduled execution as a convicted war criminal for his role during world war two. 1917: During world war one, a French firing squad outside Paris executes the Dutch dancer Mata Hari, convicted [...]
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This photo shows my car loaded with about one stere (1m3) of firewood, which I went to get yesterday from a local farmer. I don’t heat my house or cook with wood, we just like to light a fire sometimes on cold evenings, so this much wood will probably last us all winter. After, we [...]
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Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara was shot and killed in a battle with Bolivian soldiers on this day, October 9th, 1967. Guevara was born in Argentina in 1928 and became an expert in guerilla warfare after studying to become a doctor. He helped Fidel Castro come to power in Cuba, and held several important jobs in [...]
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Boomer measures in at three feet tall(90cm) at the shoulders and seven feet long from nose to wagging tail, and that might just make him the world’s tallest living dog. The three-year-old Landseer Newfoundland’s owner says he’s so big he keeps all four paws on the floor when he drinks from the family’s kitchen faucet. [...]
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Try to understand me complaining about the instruction manual for new lawn mower. Lawn : pelouse Grass : herbe ou gazon Lawn mower : tondeuse to mow : tondre (uniquement pour des pelouses, pas les cheveux!) DIY : (do it yourself) Bricolage A DIY store : magasin de bricolage, on peut dire aussi ‘hardware store’ [...]
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This is a praying mantis (mante réligeuse). Its name comes from the fact that it looks like it is praying while waiting to catch other insects to eat. This little creature is far from religious or pious, though, it devours other insects, and the females are know to kill and eat the males after mating! [...]
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My question is, why is NASA so interested in finding water on the moon? What good is it to the nearly seven billion people here on Earth that are running out of water? Talk about your Moon shot. NASA is in the final stages of preparation for firing projectiles into the moon’s surface. The goal [...]
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