Force Majeure

August 2, 1100 – (Those of you with delicate sensibilities may wish to skip this story.)You may have wondered when the phrase Act of God first came into use. You’ve seen it on legal forms and may have unfortunately encountered it when trying to collect on your home insurance policy. As with many things, theContinue reading “Force Majeure”

Eureka

August 1, 1769 –Spain sent an exploratory expedition from San Diego to Monterey on this date, to survey the area and identify locations worthy of settling and converting the locals to Catholicism. The expedition was led by Gaspar de Portolá, nephew of the celebrated Spanish comedian Uncle Porky, and included a number of religious missionariesContinue reading “Eureka”

The Six Wives of Henry VIII debuted in the US

August 1, 1971 – An acclaimed BBC series originally airing in 1970, The Six Wives of Henry VIII premiered on PBS, on this date. Costume Designer John Bloomfield worked for nearly a year on the mini-series. He spent three months doing basic research at the National Portrait Gallery, Windsor Castle, and various libraries, going throughContinue reading “The Six Wives of Henry VIII debuted in the US”

June and July were just practice

The festival of Lammas marks the beginning of the harvest, when people go to church to give thanks for the first grain to be cut. This is the long way of saying that it’s August again. How did a single month become so important? Like almost everything else that’s difficult to understand, the history ofContinue reading “June and July were just practice”