THE ULTIMATE
June 20th this year marks the Summer Solstice the longest day of the year for those in the Northern Hemisphere, it is Midsummer.
This is when the Earth is tilted on its axis on its orbit around the sun, so that the North Pole is at its closest to the Sun, For Arctic regions this means they have continuous sunlight for 24 hours! Whilst the Northern Hemisphere, marks Midsummer, in the Southern Hemisphere - for example, for Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina, it's Midwinter and they are having the their Midwinter, their Winter Solstice. The Summer Solstice in Northern Hemisphere has long been a time of festival and ritual, most famously, at England's Stonehenge, in Wiltshire of Salisbury Plain. There are plenty of other stone mounment aligned with the Solstices across the British Isles, including in Ireland, as well as in Europe, such as in France. Stonehenge, sees hundreds of people attend each year to see the sun rise between one of the stone 'arches' that make the ring of Stonehenge, and over the more distant 'heel' stone outside of the henge. Those that attend may be modern pagan and New Age belief followers, who believe in spirituality associated with nature, many of whom will see themselves as a continuation of an ancient Celtic to Stone Age set of beliefs in Britain that were present before Christianity - they may call themselves Druids. Stonehenge has many numerous theories for why it was built, and how it was built - was it a temple to the sun? was it a place of healing? or was it a place for remembering the dead? Or was it all of these and more? Was it built by magic as suggested by Merlin in Arthurian legend? Or how did the inner smaller 'Bluestones' get from coastal West Wales, in the Preseli Mountains, to Salisbury plain? across the land around 250 miles, or floated on boats around South Wales and South West England, then Northwards across the land to Salisbury Plain? And why at Salisbury Plain - what was special about this area to early Britons? Due to Coronavirus, this year people are not able to visit Stonehenge, but you van witness the sunrise on 21st June (the Summer Solstice sunrise depends on how the days are counted, and there is little difference to the spectacle a day either side) as English Heritage are airing the sunrise live on their Social Media accounts. you can find out more about Stonehenge, and the Solstices at the English Heritage website below - oh, and fingers crossed for a clear sky tomorrow morning! https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/things-to-do/solstice/
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On this day, May 14th 1607, the first permanent English settlement was established at Jamestown, Virginia, the beginnings of the United States of America.
The English settlers departed from the banks of the Thames in London in Deecember, and it took their three ships the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery, four months to cross the Atlantic Ocean and make landfall on the coast of North America. Once on the coast they explored the area, and decided to build a settlement on an island in what they called the James River, which was away from the Atlantic Ocean, navigable (where boats could be used) and was easy to defend. The site was uninhabited by the Powhatan Native Americans, as it was seen as a swamp of mosquitoes unsuitable for farming. On unsuitable ground for farming, and with little agricultural experience amongst the settlers, whose main aim was hunting for gold, the settlement struggled to survive. Supplies from the local group of Powhatan Indians, ensured their survival, though relations with the Powhatan went through phases of friendship and warfare. The settlement also saw its settlers replaced by more colonists coming from England, and within four years the local Native Americans had been wiped out through warfare. Pocahontas the daughter of the Native American Chief of the region, befriended the English settlers, is said to have saved John Smith one of the seettlers' leaders from being executed; been taken hostage and converted to Christianity, and married John Rolfe, before travelling with Rolfe to England. As she was to travel back, with Rolfe and their son, Pocahontas died at Gravesend on the Thames, and was buried there in the local churchyard - where a statue of her now stands. John Rolfe began the successful cultivation of tobacco at the settlement, which became its main crop. The settlement was almost abandoned in 1610, but the leaving colonists were ordered to return, when more ships of settlers arrived from across the Atlantic Ocean, In many ways the Jamestown settlement that established the British colony of Virginia, and served for many years as its capital, began numerous features of the United States of America, its Anglo-Saxon (English/British) culture, such as its language, and the political system of rights and democracy. Whilst, it also led to th losses experienced by the Native American nations, as well as the use of slavery to grow plantation crops. On this day, May 11th 330 AD/CE, the Roman Emperor Constantine made Byzantium the new capital of the Roman Empire - that city also known as Constantinople, is now Istanbul - Turkey's most populous city, and the only city in the world to straddle two continents!
Istanbul sits on both sides of the Bospurous Strait, so one half is in Europe and the other in Asia. At times it has been the most populous city in the world, and the Hagia Sophia, seen in our picture, has been a cathedral and a mosque, now a museum, was once the largest building in the world. Constantine's desion to make Byzantium the new capital of the Roman Empire, moved the centre of the Empire eastwards. Constantine viewed it as a 'New Rome', though the name didn't take off, whilst Constantinople basically means the 'City of Constantine', whilst the city's current name Istanbul, is an alteration over time of the Greek 'In to the city'. Constantine was the first Christian Roman Emperor, who did numerous acts linked to Christianity during his rein, for example using the Chi-Ro symbol for Christ on the shields of his soldiers, only converted on his death bed. He was also acclaimed Roman Emperor when he was fighting as a general in Britain, the Roman soldiers declaring him Emperor at the city of Eboracum, now York in Northern England. Whilst, football fans may recall Istanbul as the city where in 2005 one of the most dramatic Champions League Finals occurred, with Liverpool 3v0 down by half-time and in disarray, they pulled the three goals back and won the European Cup on penalties. Some may say that Steven Gerrard, Liverpool's inspirational captain, was the Emperor that night! Today the annual Earth Day, that celebrates the Earth, is held for the 50th time, beginning in 1970.
In 1970 it was mainly celebrated in thousands of schools, colleges and universities across the USA. However, it is now celebrated in nearly all the 193 nation states recognised by the United Nations. In 2016 the Paris Agreement on Climate Change was signed on this day, signed by over 120 countries. The unofficial flag of Earth Day features the 'Blue Marble' photograph of the Earth from NASA's Apollo 17 spacecraft, showing the mainly water Earth alone in space, white clouds swirling through the atmosphere just south of the continent of Africa, and obscuring Antarctica. What can you do today to celebrate the 50th Earth Day! |
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