Category Archives: History

Winston Churchill advocates the ‘United States of Europe’

Posted on July 7, 2021 by odeboyz

With this plea for a United States of Europe, Churchill was one of the first to advocate European integration to prevent the atrocities of two world wars from ever happening again, calling for the creation of a Council of Europe … Continue reading →

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The Wrong Answer

Posted on June 21, 2021 by odeboyz

Emperor Augustus was touring his Empire and noticed a man who looked so similar that he could have been his brother. Intrigued he asked: “Did your mother work in the Imperial Palace?” “No, Your Highness. But my father did.”

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Winston Churchill mocks Clement Attlee – who got the last laugh

Posted on June 10, 2021 by odeboyz

Churchill mocked his wartime deputy prime minister, Clement Attlee, on many occasions: (1) “An empty taxi arrived at 10 Downing Street, and when the door was opened, Attlee got out.” (2) “He is a modest man with much to be … Continue reading →

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London and the Great Plague, 1665: Plague Pits

Posted on June 10, 2021 by odeboyz

Records state that plague deaths in London and the suburbs crept up over the summer from 2,000 people per week to over 7,000 per week in September. These figures are likely to be a considerable underestimate. Many of the sextons … Continue reading →

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Hitler’s Invasion Plan: Operation Sea Lion, 1940

Posted on June 3, 2021 by odeboyz

Hitler issued Directive No. 16 on July 16 [1940]…., “As England, in spite of the hopelessness of her military position, has so far shown herself unwilling to come to any compromise, I have decided to begin to prepare for, and … Continue reading →

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Why did so many Germans support Hitler?

Posted on May 10, 2021 by odeboyz

A well-respected German historian has a radical new theory to explain a nagging question: Why did average Germans so heartily support the Nazis and Third Reich? Hitler, says Goetz Aly, was a “feel good dictator,” a leader who not only … Continue reading →

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Germany and the Cause of the First World War

Posted on May 4, 2021 by odeboyz

“The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of … Continue reading →

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Senior Army Officers hit the jackpot after the First World War

Posted on April 19, 2021 by odeboyz

    Field-Marshal Sir Douglas Haig 100,000 Field-Marshal Viscount French 50,000 Field-Marshal Sir Edmund Allenby 50,000 Field-Marshal Sir H. Plumer 30,000 Field-Marshal Sir Henry Wilson 10 000 General Sir Henry Rawlinson 30,000 General The Hon. Sir Julian Byng 30,000 General … Continue reading →

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A macabre anecdote about torture

Posted on April 5, 2021 by odeboyz

….St Laurence, who was burned to death on a gridiron, is the ‘patron saint of cooks – and, less obviously, comedians’. I imagine the association with both professions arises from a story which has Laurence…..coolly advising his executioners: ‘I’m done … Continue reading →

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The Changing Meaning of Statues: Actual and Potential

Posted on April 1, 2021 by odeboyz

“The extent of his [Edward Colston] charity was immense, exceptional and nationally recognised. When his portrait was published in London a year after his death in 1721, the engraved description described him as “the brightest Example of Christian Liberality that … Continue reading →

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