Didn't expect monocle be so old, almost unbelievable, can you cite a source confirming it? Interesting factoid about RAF pilots.Thanks.
History
- Thread starter Horsa
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I read it in the local newspapers but will look for a link later. I was amazed when I read it. You're welcome.
http://www.whenwasitinvented.org/when-were-eyeglasses-invented/
http://www.antiquespectacles.com/history/ages/through_the_ages.htm
I hope you find this information as fascinating as I do. I'm glad spectacles were invented & think they're 1 of the greatest inventions ever. They're a godsend to me. I don't know what I'd do without them.
Edit: I mis-read eyeglasses to mean more than 1 eyeglass which is what a monocle is when what it meant by eyeglasses was spectacles which were invented in Italy in the 13th Century. Monocles were invented in Germany in the 17th century.
http://www.whenwasitinvented.org/when-were-eyeglasses-invented/
http://www.antiquespectacles.com/history/ages/through_the_ages.htm
I hope you find this information as fascinating as I do. I'm glad spectacles were invented & think they're 1 of the greatest inventions ever. They're a godsend to me. I don't know what I'd do without them.
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britbox
Multiple Major Winner
britbox
Multiple Major Winner
I was watching the rise of the clans by Neil Oliver on Wednesday. I didn't know he'd made that programme until I saw it the other day. I'll have to look for the series on Amazon either on boxset or if he's written a book on it the book. It was fascinating. I didn't like Robert the Bruce anyway because of the fact that he (supposedly) betrayed William Wallace to Edward I but I hate him worse now as I found out that he stabbed his rival heir to the throne in Greyfriars Kirk. I don't like political turn-coats anyway but if he hadn't been royal he would have been punished for treason. I know he later won the Battle of Bannockburn for Scotland & won all the Scottish castles that were taken by England back for Scotland but he gained a lot of power, land & money in the process so he didn't do it to do the right thing but was in it for himself all along. I remember having a historical debate on the statement "Robert the Bruce was Scotland's greatest monarch" with a historian friend of mine on twitter which we ended up agreeing to disagree though I got nasty comments like "boil your head" from his followers but they never asked why I thought the way I did & soon shut up when I stated that fact. The points put across by my historian friend were that Robert the Bruce was forced to surrender to the English king by his family & he wasn't in a strong position to help fight against the English at the time. My points were that he wasn't held at sword-edge so he had the choice & if he wasn't in a strong position to help fight against the English at the time he could have refused to fight.
I especially wanted to watch the programme because I have so much Scots/Irish ancestry I wanted to know whether any of my ancestors were mentioned though I do love Neil Oliver's programmes & books. The annoying thing is that subtitles come on when people are talking in Scots & I think it's very easy to understand. I don't mind subtitles when people are talking Gaelic. I like the sound of Gaelic though I don't understand it (well saying that I can say good morning & good health as in cheers & understand it & I was at a hotel near Loch Lomond & read a heritage plaque correctly which was written in Gaelic only although I don't know it *don't ask me how I did it but I did*.).
I especially wanted to watch the programme because I have so much Scots/Irish ancestry I wanted to know whether any of my ancestors were mentioned though I do love Neil Oliver's programmes & books. The annoying thing is that subtitles come on when people are talking in Scots & I think it's very easy to understand. I don't mind subtitles when people are talking Gaelic. I like the sound of Gaelic though I don't understand it (well saying that I can say good morning & good health as in cheers & understand it & I was at a hotel near Loch Lomond & read a heritage plaque correctly which was written in Gaelic only although I don't know it *don't ask me how I did it but I did*.).
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britbox
Multiple Major Winner
I've been watching the John McDonnell (Labour shadow chancellor) fallout with his comments on Winston Churchill. Quite interesting.
McDonnell is getting savaged by the media for his comments but it does raise some questions on how we evaluate the legacy of historical figures.
McDonnell is getting savaged by the media for his comments but it does raise some questions on how we evaluate the legacy of historical figures.
It definitely does. It also shows how much people's thoughts about what is the right attitude & belief to have has changed. They've changed vastly. At 1 time Churchill's attitudes would have been seen as normal & patriotic. Today they're seen as racist. I think we need to give him credit where it's due & realise that he did his best for his country while acknowledging that his attitudes were racist & it's wrong to see things that way but he wasn't alone & his attitude depicted society & how people saw things at the time & we now know that it was wrong & have come a long way since then.
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mrzz
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I will look for online links of this material, but keep in mind that sub-titles are important for non-native speakers. You British guys will hate me, but I understand northern east coast US accent better than anything (high five, @Moxie). Something tells me I am not the only one...
Important EDIT: East coast not west coast
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O.K. Thank you very much. I seem to forget that, normally when I'm going through 1 of my self-critical phases. I don't hate you. I actually thought you'd understand your native accent best.
Did you know George Dunhill, the guy who invented Pontefract cakes & set up a big, world-famous sweet factory in Pontefract was originally an apothecary? He grew liquorice in the castle grounds & originally used liquorice in pastilles as medicine but some people complained it tasted too bitter (I've tasted liquorice root myself as a little girl & it tasted that bad it put me off liquorice for good. I can't even stand the smell of it now & you smell it as soon as you get off the bus in Pontefract except when the sweet factory is making strawberry or apple laces which I love.) so added sugar. His family has carried this sweet factory on for generations.
Did you know that Richard II was starved to death in Pontefract Castle?
Did you know that although Pontefract Castle is in ruins, it wasn't war that destroyed it but the town people who got hammered during the Civil War & decided they weren't willing for it to happen again so destroyed a lot of it themselves though there is a lot of it still there compared to other castles like Sandal?
Did you know that Pontefract Park was originally an 11th-12th century deer park?
Did you know that Richard II was starved to death in Pontefract Castle?
Did you know that although Pontefract Castle is in ruins, it wasn't war that destroyed it but the town people who got hammered during the Civil War & decided they weren't willing for it to happen again so destroyed a lot of it themselves though there is a lot of it still there compared to other castles like Sandal?
Did you know that Pontefract Park was originally an 11th-12th century deer park?
Thanks for this interesting fact. I didn't know the word apothecary existed in English. People do not use it (in my part of the world at least) replacing it with a more popular word pharmacist. Both words (a bit changed phonetically and with accordingly altered spelling) exist in Polish language and have strict meaning: apothecary is only someone who sells drugs and owns a drug store. Pharmacist does not sell drugs. Pharmacist is someone working in a lab (in pharmaceutical industry) or a doctor who stores some drugs of his cabinet. Such doc is called "doctor pharmacist" (I'm not sure if such combination of professions even exists in brit/amer world). Apothecary can sometimes prepare some drugs on the back of his store but only simple ones, he does not have a full blown lab like pharmacists do.
You're welcome. We used to use the word apothecary in Britain in the Victorian times & before-hand when medicine wasn't as advanced as it is now & herbal remedies were the main form of medicine. Now, we call them chemists & pharmacists. I'm glad you like medical history because I'm in the middle of writing something about Avicenna, Galen, Harvey, Rhazes & Vesalius & their theories of circulation.
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I've had a very good & interesting day today though it was also very tiring as I was up very early to get ready & fit everything in. I went to a Roman Day where I saw flour being made, listened to talks about Gladiators & Roman medicine as well as seeing Roman artefacts. I learnt about the history of medicine in the last couple of years of school but we only really learnt about Asclepios, baths, drainage & Galen's theory of circulation as well as the Roman's use of vinegar as an anti-septic so I learnt quite a bit about Roman medicine. I wanted to do some weaving but they used very thick wool & I'm allergic to it. I made a clay tile though. It cost 50p to make a tile but you got to take them home, wait until they dried as they're using air-dried clay & then paint them. I saw Roman carpentry & black-smithing skills. I also saw birds of prey including 2 owls which I love & visited the petting zoo which only had goats, sheep, rabbits, chickens & pigs. The Roman Day wasn't as good as it was last year although I did learn more & get a chance to make a tile. The reason why I think that is last year they had Roman cavalry & I love horses.
Then I went to Pontefract for a look round & to go to the Castle for the Civil War re-enactment. Pontefract Castle has had work done to it recently to make certain parts of it safer. They have now opened a part of it which hasn't been open since the Victorian days. It was interesting to find out about that part of the Castle although it was a steep climb. I had an interesting time but was gutted because the only horses I saw were in photos. I was expecting to see horses as people fought on horse-back during the Civil War but when I spoke to someone in the tent where the photos were shown he said they only hire horses on certain days because they cost a lot to hire as they need to be trained not to be scared when cannons are going off & then there's the cost of the usual upkeep of horses which includes food, grooming, bedding & shoeing. I also got told if I had gone on St. George's Day they had horses but I was busy reading Shakespeare's sonnets on St. George's Day as it's Shakespeare's Birthday & as much as I like some of his plays I prefer his sonnets. When I was a child they always had horses in these events but they were always Wars of the Roses re-enactments.
I also found out that although tennis has been about since Henry V's time at least, the modern game wasn't brought out until the 1860's. There was a tennis court in the Castle ground & a tennis dress featured in a cabinet in the Castle café. It was easy to see women weren't expected to put too much effort into the game as the dress looked similar to a modern-day wedding dress in white silk with bustles.
Then I went to Pontefract for a look round & to go to the Castle for the Civil War re-enactment. Pontefract Castle has had work done to it recently to make certain parts of it safer. They have now opened a part of it which hasn't been open since the Victorian days. It was interesting to find out about that part of the Castle although it was a steep climb. I had an interesting time but was gutted because the only horses I saw were in photos. I was expecting to see horses as people fought on horse-back during the Civil War but when I spoke to someone in the tent where the photos were shown he said they only hire horses on certain days because they cost a lot to hire as they need to be trained not to be scared when cannons are going off & then there's the cost of the usual upkeep of horses which includes food, grooming, bedding & shoeing. I also got told if I had gone on St. George's Day they had horses but I was busy reading Shakespeare's sonnets on St. George's Day as it's Shakespeare's Birthday & as much as I like some of his plays I prefer his sonnets. When I was a child they always had horses in these events but they were always Wars of the Roses re-enactments.
I also found out that although tennis has been about since Henry V's time at least, the modern game wasn't brought out until the 1860's. There was a tennis court in the Castle ground & a tennis dress featured in a cabinet in the Castle café. It was easy to see women weren't expected to put too much effort into the game as the dress looked similar to a modern-day wedding dress in white silk with bustles.
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I know this is off-topic but it kind of fits in. I start work in heritage preservation next week. I can't wait.
tented
Administrator
This may help: findagrave.com
I was able to trace certain parts of my family back to the Revolutionary War.
Thank you very much for the information.
That sounds fascinating. I've traced most of my ancestors back to the Celts/Picts.
I actually meant the work I'll be doing will help to preserve our heritage for future generations. My 1st roles are going to be fund-raising & archiving but I will go onto doing other things like showing people how to do old crafts. It sounds fascinating & I can't wait.