Saturday, May 31, 2008

Bad day ...

Looking for something to rabbit on about, searched 'This Day in History - not a lot ... then I came across this ... a couple of times:

May 31, 1678 in History
Event: Lady Godiva rode naked through Coventry in a protest of taxes

Distincly odd I thought ... could have sworn the woman doing that was a bit older. So searched - and, yep, as Wiki will inform you, Anglo Saxon (feisty women in those times).

Seems there was a bit of a revival in 1678 - and for some reason it has been a popular subject since:



The BBC manages to give a linked event:

1076: The execution of Waltheof of Northumbria ends the 'Revolt of the Earls' against William the Conqueror.
Not too many people seemed happy with William the Bastard and the consequences of his take over. Nice to see the BBC getting it right.

Does the mis-date really matter?

What has me ranting is the inaccuracy being promoted - the misinformation! A big danger of the web - as I said, several sites blindly quote the 'FACT' of Gidiva's ride on this date.

Another, more serious as far as I am concerned, is this ...

May 31, 1859

Big Ben goes into operation in London

The famous tower clock known as Big Ben, located at the top of the 320-foot-high St. Stephen's Tower, rings out over the Houses of...

and that is from the History.Com who you'd think would know better!




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