A war that may or may not have actually happened, around the twelfth and eleventh centuries BCE, between the Trojans and Greeks. It entered into mythology based on the Greek poet Homer's (C8 BCE) famous epic poem, the Iliad (and the Odyssey).
Trojan War
Fact of the Day
Thirteenth-century chancellor of Oxford, Thomas de Cantilupe, banned students from carrying arms. At one point he had 20 confiscated bows and swords.
Quote of the Day
"I have offended God and mankind in not having laboured at my art as I ought to have done
"
~ Leonardo da Vinci, speaking during his final illness to Francis I
On This Day
1536 The trial of four of Anne Boleyn's 'lovers'. Only one confessed (under torture), which he maintained up to the point of his death.
1689 William III went to war with France. It was the start of more than a century of titanic clashes for global hegemony.
1789 William Wilberforce made his first speech to the Commons on the abolition of slavery.
1926 Limited power of unions shown as TUC calls off General Strike without consulting miners, who went back to work in November on reduced pay.
1937 In a ceremony that had originally been scheduled for his brother, Edward VIII (who had abdicated in December 1936), George VI was crowned at Westminster Abbey.
1969 The minimum voting age in Britain was reduced from 21 to 18.
1994 The popular Labour leader John Smith died of a heart attack. He was replaced as leader by Tony Blair.