Staying with the Piece Hall in Halifax, A painting of the "Piece Hall Big Sing of 1890" by H. R. Oddy. On Whit Tuesday 1890, an estimated 34,000 singers – mostly poor Sunday School pupils gathered inside the vast courtyard.

With the ceremonial unlocking of the North Gate using a silver key, a procession of local tradesmen, accompanied by music bands, marched through Halifax's streets. The day concluded with a vibrant firework display by Signor Pietro, featuring an illuminated Egyptian Pyramid

On New Year's Day, 1 January 1779, The Piece Hall, Halifax welcomed the public for the first time with a significant ceremony organised by The Piece Hall committee. The event was marked by a large crowd gathered from Halifax and surrounding areas to witness the opening.

Crims disconnect Wired subscribers from their privacy, publish deets online

When the AI bubble pops, Nvidia becomes the most important software company overnight

1/ #OTD 1460 the battle of Wakefield took place. A decisive win for the Lancastrian forces that resulted in the death of Richard, duke of York. In this blog Dr Simon Payling looks into the larger impact of the battle: ow.ly/TlKC50GVOaf

Former Primitive Methodist chapel at 20-22 Briggate, Knaresborough, N. Yorks which dates from 1854 & built in coursed squared gritstone with a Westmoreland slate roof. The Primitive Methodist Society had been established in Knaresborough in 1819 & prior to 1854 had rented a /1

Today marks the 565th anniversary of the Battle of Wakefield which took place #OTD in 1460 near Sandal Castle, Wakefield between Richard 3rd Duke of York & Lancastrian forces loyal to King Henry VI & his wife Margaret of Anjou. Estimates suggest that between 5,000 to 12,000 /1

Reformer Josephine Butler (1828-1906, b. Northumberland), died on this day 1906. Arguably most effective campaigner for women’s rights of her time. She ended coverture (whereby woman’s legal rights were subsumed by her husband’s), criminalised child prostitution and human trafficking.

BBC News - www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c9... Eurostar cancels all services due to 'major disruption' in Channel Tunnel - BBC News

Adam Tooze on Trotsky youtube.com/watch?v=s8U1...

reminder that caldwell’s most recent book argues that the civil rights act of 1964 was something akin to a constitutional abomination that produced a world of white subordination

The Doubler Stones are a pair of mushroom-shaped natural rock formations located on Addingham High Moor. The stones are protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument due to the presence of late Neolithic and Bronze Age (c. 2800–500 BC) cup-and-ring carvings.

Organizations monitoring violence in Nigeria say there’s no evidence to suggest Christians are killed more often than Muslims and other religious groups.

Alarm is growing over the treatment and deteriorating health of eight Palestine Action activists jailed in the U.K. who are on hunger strike to protest their detention.

The new HBO documentary "Critical Incident: Death at the Border" looks at the alleged cover-up of the murder of an undocumented Mexican immigrant who died while in U.S. custody under the watch of the now-head of Border Patrol, Rodney Scott.

Flesh and the Devil (1926). #SilentFilm

ge-wǣpnod, adj: armed, equipped with weapons. (yeh-WAP-nod / jɛ-ˈwæːp-nɔd) Image: Lambeth Apocalypse; England, 13th century; @lampallib.bsky.social MS 209, f. 8r. #OldEnglish #WOTD

Netanyahu says Donald Trump will receive Israel prize as pair hold press conference at Mar-a-Lago – live www.theguardian.com/us-news/live...

One violent act by one perpetrator. Then suddenly an entire group is declared the enemy. If it feels like MAGA treats every tragedy as proof that “the left” or any out-group is inherently dangerous, you’re not imagining it. thinkbigpicture.substack.com/p/trump-maga...

The funniest part is that the whole point of funding the crusades was to send your potential sources of domestic political instability (loud, violent lunatics) off on a mission where, worst case scenario, they were out of your hair for several years or, best case scenario, they died.

People round here all know the folklore of the Hagthorn Wall. You might first hear it in the playground, but later you’ll come across it again in pubs and the like. Not everyone believes it, but everyone treats the hedge with caution. You’d be mad to want to attract a witching. - Carole Gray #VOH

There are some properties we pass by and know without entering, that they are haunt homes. We understand this not from perception of grandness nor length of history, but a radiating sense of disquiet. Inside can only be a territory of glimpse and whispers. – #CJosiffe #Ghosts

Charlie Kirk hagiography is not just the province of boomer Facebook uncles. Here's Helen Andrews describing Kirk in a completely preposterous way.

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1918 by zoonosis, the natural transfer of viruses from animals to humans. The problem is that there are millions of people in the US who do not or cannot see how ridiculous Kennedy’s claims are; they can’t see how Kennedy is lying to them. Kennedy and his

and the ability to do such vaccine research was impossible. In 1918 it was not known what caused influenza; the influenza virus was not discovered until 1933. The bottom line is that a vaccine virus could never have been imagined in 1918. The influenza virus arose in

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has stated that the 1918 flu pandemic was caused by a lab virus from vaccine research, a defective influenza vaccine. Let’s analyze what a lie this is. First, in 1918, 107 years ago, virology was in its infancy

Beautiful everyday Ladybird things. ‘Marbles’ (1959) Artist: G Robinson

On this day 29th December 1975 “Radical new legislation” introducing a woman's right to equal pay and status came into force in the UK (Picture: A Second Picture Dictionary, artist: Eric Winter)

the coveted patent for printing the Queen’s books, promoting his Puritan ideals through accessible English Bibles. By 1583, Barker owned five presses operating from St Paul’s Churchyard. #NewYear'sDay #NewYear #Elizabethan #Printing #Doncaster

Queen on New Year’s Day in 1584. He held exclusive patents to print Bibles, the Book of Common Prayer, royal proclamations, and statutes. A member of London’s powerful Draper’s Company, he later joined the Stationers’ Company and became a bookseller. By 1578, he had acquired

Christopher Barker (c.1529–1599), originally from Marr, Doncaster, was a prominent printer and publisher to Queen Elizabeth I and the founder of a printing dynasty. Most famous for producing many English Bibles, including the Geneva (below), a copy of which was presented to the

Humber Bridge Sunrise, 27 December 2011, The Grim North, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. When the Humber Bridge opened to traffic on 24 June in 1981, it was the longest of its type in the world. It was to be some seventeen years before that record was broken. The 2.22km single-span road

Some of the supposed battlefield has been built over, while written accounts are sparse, partisan, or composed years later. As a result, Wakefield remains one of the most enduring and unresolved mysteries of the Wars of the Roses. 6/6

were captured and executed rather than killed in open combat. A minority view even proposes that the main engagement occurred on 29 December, with the most famous deaths following capture the next day. Finally, the debate is reinforced by the lack of physical evidence. 5/6

intelligence, false negotiations, or the use of Yorkist banners, which may have persuaded York that he faced a manageable or legitimate encounter. Some historians, notably John Gillingham, have gone further, suggesting that York and key allies such as the Earl of Salisbury 4/6

sense, but rather a violent ambush. There is strong support for the ambush or lure theory, which suggests that Richard, Duke of York, was drawn out of Sandal Castle under false pretences. Modern interpretations propose Lancastrian ruses, including misleading 3/6

such as A.J. Pollard and Michael Hicks have long highlighted the lack of reliable contemporary evidence for a conventional military engagement. More recent work by Paul L. Dawson and David Grummitt argues that “Wakefield” may not have been a battle in any meaningful 2/6

The events traditionally known as the Battle of Wakefield and fought on 30 December 1460, remain contested. Key points of confirmation and current historical consensus in 2025 continue to challenge the traditional idea of a formal battle at Wakefield. Historians 1/6

The tradition ended in 1569 after the Reformation and lay dormant for centuries. Revived in the 20th century, the plays returned to the streets. Today, performed every 4 years, they remain a powerful blend of faith, theatre and community, Images: 2014 Plays, Allan Harris CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

a vast open-air stage. Written by unknown authors, possibly linked to the Guilds, the plays rolled through the streets on decorated waggons, stopping at designated stations as Guilds honoured their trades and entertained crowds. Shipwrights built Noah’s Ark; Butchers staged the Crucifixion etc.

The York Mystery Plays return this coming summer. They are a cycle of medieval dramas telling the story of the Bible from Creation to the Last Judgement, each play focusing on a single episode. In medieval York they were traditionally performed for the Feast of Corpus Christi, turning the city into

The Trump Library should be a permanent repository for the Epstein Files, open to the public.

In fact any food that doesn't say where the chicken came from, or in what animal welfare scheme it was produced, will be Chlorine-washed. This is economics 101. It's cheaper to produce chicken that is then washed with Chlorine, than to produce chicken that doesnt need to be washed with Chlorine.