Tag: Britain

The Development and Repeal of the “Keep Calm and Carry On” Red Poster Campaign During World War II in Britain

2 Comments

The Publicity Division of the U.K. Ministry of Information developed a propaganda campaign prior to World War II in August of 1939. Part of this collection was the iconic red “Keep Calm and Carry On” poster which was designed to be issued at a later date when morale was in need of a boost after destruction and conflict had begun to take place. It is believed that the Keep Calm and Carry On slogan is the best known of all war time campaigns in Britain. The Home Intelligence agency, tasked with monitoring public sentiment and morale, commissioned a survey to study how effective the red poster campaign was at increasing the confidence of the public within the British government. The British government quickly discovered that contrary to expectations, the public found the red posters patronizing and with overtones of an out of touch ruling class pressuring the working class to rise up and defend the state, the very same narrative which was felt by the majority of the public during World War I which was in recent memory for the majority of the British population. Because the red poster campaign was considered a failure, in early 1940, the Keep Calm and Carry On poster among all others were shelved indefinitely with virtually all 2,400,000 (2.4 million) copies rescinded and destroyed

The Reason the World Clock Starts in Greenwich, England

1 Comment

The reason the world clock starts in Greenwich, England is because during the 19th century, the majority of sea charts used Greenwich, England as the Prime Meridian for the 0° coordinate. In addition to this, during the early advent of the British railway network, trains could end up in accidents if the timing of coming into and/or out of stations was off by even a small margin of error. Because the sun rises earlier in some parts of Britain and later in the rest, these variables needed to be compensated for which was accomplished by introducing more accurate clocks and the concept of time zones. Up until this point, horsepower was the fastest way to travel and because of that, sundials which had been invented in and used since the 9th century A.D., were satisfactory. It was only with the emergence of locomotives that this system of time keeping became antiquated

The Origins of Star Wars Day; May 4th

Leave a comment

Star Wars Day, which occurs every year on May 4th, as this date is reminiscent of the phrase, “may the force be with you” (e.g. “May the Fourth be with you”) started on May 4, 1979, the day Margaret Thatcher took office as prime minister of Britain. A large advertisement was published on this date in recognition of Thatchers achievement which read “May The Fourth Be With You, Maggie. Congratulations.”

European Neolithic Mining Practices

Leave a comment

During the Neolithic period, flint was as prized as gold was to the Hindus, Christians, and Buddhists. 4500 years ago, flint miners dug shafts up to 12 meters deep in search of more flint. Ladders and wooden platforms made extracting the ore easier. This task was Herculean as the only picks available were reindeer antler. When a mine was exhausted, a new hole would be dug and the rubble from that hole would be used to back fill the previous mine. Most flint can be found above ground and most of the flint found at Neolithic sites is indeed surface flint so it is unclear why such a massive undertaking was performed as much more readily available sources were freely available. Flint is black in color with a shiny, glass like appearance similar to obsidian. Flint chips easily and is fairly simple to make incredibly sharp by simply cracking off a piece with a harder rock. It’s possible that mine shafts were dug as a ceremonial coming of age tradition in that a prepubescent adolescent would enter into the mine, dig into the depths of the Earth, and then emerge back out as an adult. This theory is backed up by the fact that the majority of miners left their picks in the mine, possibly signifying that they had reached adulthood. It is unclear if these picks were left because they were considered to be spiritually polluted or if they offered their pick as an offering to the Earth itself in exchange for what has been brought to the surface. There is a site in Britain at which over 400 of these mines were dug a few meters from eachother giving the landscape a cratered appearance

The Revolutionary Iron Age Technology of the Rotary Quern

Leave a comment

During the Iron Age, grain was milled by rubbing a smaller rock against a larger rock with the grain in between the discs. This was back breaking labor which is evidenced by the injuries found upon skeletal remains of ancient people. A quantum leap forward however emerged as the rotary quern, a composite tool comprised of a stone base with a wooden pole or dowel in the center, and a movable rotating top donut shaped piece which was also made of stone, but with a handle so that it could be turned. Grain was placed into the middle of the tool and because the tool was slanted upon a 45 degree angle, gravity would pull grain down. This allowed for a single person to mill much more grain than what would have traditionally been possible using antiquated Stone Age technology. This new design freed up both time spent working as well as the amount of people required to meet a specific quota (e.g. 150 – 200 grams per person per day). Because more people could be better fed, with less effort and resources, the population of those with access to the technology in Britain expanded quickly which occurred around 400 B.C.

The Accomplishments of Captain James Cook

Leave a comment

Captain James Cook of the British Royal Navy was a sea captain as well as a cartographer. Cook circumnavigated the bottom portion of South America and South Africa, in addition to discovering and mapping many different islands including New Zealand, Hawaii, United States of America Fiji, Tahiti, and Easter Island as well the fertile east coast of Australia, which he named New South Wales and claimed in the name of Britain. Cook also found islands which had yet to be explored in the Pacific Ocean, discovering new lands on a scale which until that point had not been performed. The maps Cook drafted were so precise that even during the 20th century, sailors were still using them up until the advent of satellite imagery. Additionally, Cook discovered the cure and prevention for scurvy by accidentally stumbling upon the answer after feeding his crew a diet which included orange extract and sauerkraut

The Advent of the Steam Engine

Leave a comment

In 1711, Thomas Newcomen invented the first machine which utilized steam power to operate a water pump. By the 1800’s, steam engines were powering mills, factories, breweries, trains and many other different machines for various industrial purposes. In 1804, the first steam engine train was introduced to Britain

The British Penny

1 Comment

Neither the United States of America nor Canada have ever manufactured a penny. The term “penny” is a British invention derived from the term “pence” and refers to a “coin used before 1971 which is worth one twelfth of a shilling”. When the United States seceded from Britain, they created the term “cent”, which refers to a “unit of currency which is 1% of $1.00