Months Past

Britain’s self-styled ‘Thief-Taker General’ was not all he seemed. On 24 May 1725 Jonathan Wild was finally brought to justice.

On 11 May 1891 the future Tsar Nicholas II narrowly escaped assassination on a trip to Japan.

Zaga Christ died on 22 April 1638 leaving Europe no wiser as to the authenticity of the self-proclaimed Ethiopian prince who might bring his homeland to Catholicism.

Bolesław Chrobry was finally crowned king of Poland on 18 April 1025. It was an elevation two decades in the making.

On 9 March 1522 the Swiss Reformation began with an ‘ostentatious eating of sausages.’

On 5 March 1936 the prototype Spitfire made its maiden flight. Its creator R.J. Mitchell would not live to see its finest hour.

Giovanni Morell—later Morelli—was born in Verona on 25 February 1816 beginning a lifetime of dedication to the art of the connoisseur.

On 23 February 303 Roman emperor Diocletian embarked on his Great Persecution of the empire’s Christians. Why?

On 16 January 1926, the BBC broke the news that a murderous mob was storming the capital. Broadcasting the Barricades wasn’t supposed to be a hoax, but it was an effective one.

There was no law permitting cremation, but there was no law against it either. On 13 January 1884, a Welsh druid took the matter to trial.