In an effort to jazz up my blog, today I’m not going to talk about the dogs and what I’ve been reading or watching, but am going to do a little history (I love history, so if you don’t…well, sorry!).

On this day in 1513, the oddly named Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon claimed Florida for Spain. He landed at what is now St Augustine, the oldest city in the US.

Commodore William James captured the pirate fortress of Suvarnadurg in India in 1755.

In 1982, the Falkland Wars began when Argentina invaded the islands. The conflict last ten weeks and around 1000 were killed.

Hans Christian Andersen, he of the fairytale writing fame, was born on this day on 1805 in Odense, Denmark. He wrote 168 fairytales including the fabulous Snow Queen and The Ugly Duckling.

Another writer born on this day in 1840 was Emile Zola. He was born in Paris, wrote a series of 20 books known as Rougon-Macquart novels and defended Captain Alfred Dreyfus when he was accused of treason.

Other famous folk who share this birthday include Alec Guinness (1914),  Marvin Gaye (1939) and Emmylou Harris (1947).

In 1902, the first film theatre opened in America on this day and in 1921 Albert Einstein lectured in New York on his new Theory of Relativity.

So there you go, hopefully you’ve found this interesting!! Til next time.

Dawn xx