The Crisis Of Parliaments: English History, 1509-1660

By Conrad Russell (1971)

Political, social, and economic factors are integrated in this book, the two themes of which are the political and constitutional effects of rapid inflation and the difficulties caused by the universal desire to achieve and enforce religion in a theologically divided country.

Fact of the Day

The UK's first ever parking ticket was issued to a doctor, Thomas Creighton, who was helping a heart attack victim.

Quote of the Day

"When the sarcophagus is full, we don't put another corpse in "

~ Medieval Proverb

On This Day

1579 Thomas Gresham, merchant, financier, and founder of the Royal Exchange, died suddenly, apparently of apoplexy. He bequeathed his estate, after the death of his wife, to the Corporation of London and the Mercers' Company to set up a college to provide free lectures to the public; Gresham College thus became London's first institution of higher education.

1916 The hospital ship Britannic, sister-ship of Titanic, hit a mine and sank, killing 30.

1918 Ten days after the Armistice, the German navy surrendered to the British in the Firth of Forth.

1920 The assassinations of British intelligence officers ordered by Michael Collins in the Irish War of Independence led to thirty-one dead (from both sides) in what became known as 'Bloody Sunday'.

1974 21 people were killed and 182 injured when bombs exploded in two Birmingham pubs. The IRA was probably responsible, but the real culprits have never been found. The Birmingham Six, originally convicted of the bombings, were released because of dodgy police practices.

1981 The proceedings of the House of Commons were televised live for the first time.