On 19th September…

86CE - Antoninus Pius the Roman Emperor who ordered the construction of the Antonine Wall in Scotland was born in Italy.

1356 - Edward the Black Prince, son of King Edward III of England, defeated the French and captured their king, John II, at the Battle of Poitiers in the Hundred Years War. The French king was held prisoner until 1360 when the French nobility finally raised enough money to pay the ransom being asked for by the English. It took so long because most of the nobility had been killed in the battle. The Hundred Years War was fought from 1337 to 1453 between England and France over the succession of the French throne. The argument stemmed from the time of William the Conqueror who was Duke of Normandy when he became King of England.

1879 - The Blackpool Illuminations lit up for the first time. The original lights were just eight arc lamps which bathed the Promenade in artificial daylight. This was a time when people were still lighting their homes with candles and oil lamps, so the illuminations were a marvel to see. There are now over one million lightbulbs in the six miles of displays.

1893 - New Zealand became the first country to grant women the right to vote. All women who were British subjects and aged 21 or over, including Maori women, were able to vote in political elections.

On 20th September…

1486 - Prince Arthur the older brother of King Henry VIII was born in Winchester. He married Catherine of Aragon at the age of 15 years but died less than a year later.

1643 - The first Battle of Newbury took place during the English Civil War. There was no outright winner of the battle with the Royalist forces led by King Charles I and the Roundheads or Parliamentary forces led by the Earl of Essex and Philip Stapleton. This meant that the Parliamentary forces were able to continue on their march to London.

1854 - The first major battle of the Crimean War took place. The British and French forces defeated the Russians at the Battle of Alma.

On 21st September….

1538 – The Shrine of St Swithun in Winchester was smashed up in the middle of the night by King Henry VIII’s commissioners as part of the dissolution of the monasteries during the English Reformation. St Swithun was an Anglo-Saxon bishop who was chosen as patron saint for the Benedictine monastery at Winchester a century after his death.  His bones were housed in a reliquary which is a special container for ancient relics and were famed for their healing powers. His tomb became a major site for pilgrims who would travel far and wide to be healed of their illnesses. The English Reformation began when Henry VIII declared himself Head of the Church of England.  To help him take control quickly, Henry VIII had to seize control of the Catholic churches and monasteries; to do this he took the Church’s property, demolished buildings for building materials, and sold off or reclaimed the Churches and their lands.  These acts were called the dissolution of the monasteries. 

On 22nd September…

1870 – Charlotte Cooper the first female Olympic champion was born in Ealing, London England.  She won a gold medal in tennis at the 1900 Olympics held in Paris, France.  Unlike today, athletes back then wore clothing on the court similar to the clothing they wore off court; a skirt down to the ground with a buttoned-up long sleeved blouse and tie. It must have been very difficult to play tennis in without tripping over your skirt.

On 23rd September…

1215 – Kublai Khan was born in Mongolia.  He was the grandson of Genghis Khan, the founder and first ruler of the Mongolian Empire.  Kublai also became Emperor of the Mongols and expanded his empire into China where he conquered the Song Dynasty and founded the Yuan Dynasty of China.

1459 – The Battle of Blore Heath took part in Staffordshire, England.  It was the second battle of the English Wars of the Roses and a victory for the House of York led by the Earl of Salisbury despite being heavily outnumbered by the Lancastrian forces.  The Wars of the Roses was a series of battles between the House or York led by Richard Duke of York and then his son Edward IV, and the House of Lancaster led by Henry VI over who had the rightful claim to the throne of England.  Both Houses claimed the right through their relationship to King Edward III and had it not been for Henry VI’s bouts of madness and lack of leadership skills the wars might never have happened.

On 24th September…

1564 – William Adams the English explorer who became the first Englishman to reach Japan was born in Kent. Adams first arrived in Japan in 1600 on a ship that was originally headed for Indonesia but had been battered and blown off course by storms. He was summoned to Osaka where he was detained and questioned by the shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu. The shogun was so impressed with Adam’s knowledge of ships and navigation that he released him and made him one of his confidantes. Adam’s was refused permission to return to his family in England, so he became permanently settled in Japan and raised a new family. He became known as Anjin (Pilot) and oversaw the construction of western style ships. He also officiated between the shogun and European traders who began visiting Japan.

On 25th September…