A wave of scandals at the heart of government, strenuous denials, blaming others, flagrant misuse of public funds, and insouciance bordering on contempt. Sounds familiar? It happened more than 200 years ago, and ended with the last impeachment in Parliament… Read More ›
TB sources This is a special edition of the newsletter with a few short films and other source material on tuberculosis. I prepared this for a talk before Gullane and Dirleton History Society – a terrific group (annual membership is… Read More ›
Henry Dundas, the first Viscount Melville, has left us with a problem. Not so much his statue – perched 150 feet above St Andrew Square in Edinburgh he is already out of sight with only defecating pigeons for company. It’s… Read More ›
Whoever thought it up deserves a medal. Few catchphrases last a century and still resonate with the public. “Coughs and Sneezes Spread Diseases” originated in the 1918 influenza pandemic to support a US Public Health Service campaign. It was tagged… Read More ›
Fathers Day looms – June 16 so time for reflection on contributions dads make. OK, so maybe they don’t get things right that often. But sometimes they do. Germany celebrates earlier – May 30 with Vatertag. This set me thinking…. Read More ›
It was the moment the Spanish Civil War came to Scotland – eight months after it had ended in Spain. October 16, 1939 saw the first Nazi air raid over Britain to bomb ships in the Firth of Forth. Many… Read More ›
Shock news – if Scotland is dragged out of the European Union, it could take the best line from the EU anthem with it. Friedrich Schiller changed two lines in his original Ode to Joy poem published in 1785. One… Read More ›
We don’t hear much about the capacity of archives to prolong or even save life. Left gathering decades of dust, we tend to think of them as a health hazard rather than their potential for improving health and wellbeing. A… Read More ›
It’s hard to pin down what we actually lose if the free movement of people and ideas diminishes or dies. Scotland’s historic close links with Europe help explain its overwhelming vote to stay in the EU. Free exchange in the… Read More ›
The history of insurance may seem an ideal cure for insomnia – but not in the hands of enterprising archivists. Aviva has recently launched its new archive website and it’s a real treat – a very good example of what… Read More ›
The History Company 