Author Archives: John Pullen

Vincent Van Gough today is one of the world’s best loved artists and his paintings are highly praised and exhibited in galleries around the world. But when he was alive, he was rarely able to sell many of his works. In fact he was broke for much of the time and he had a shortContinue reading “Famous People – Vincent Van Gough”

The moment Jimi Hendrix picked up his first electric guitar, the sound it produced would be changed forever. He made the instrument do things that had not been envisioned and he achieved all this within four years. Even more amazing was the fact that he could neither read nor write music.     Born Johnny AllenContinue reading “Famous People – Jimi Hendrix”

Sutton House is said to be the oldest house in Hackney and the second oldest in the whole of the East End of London. It can be dated back to 1535 when it was built for Sir Ralph Sadleir who was then the Principal Secretary of State to King Henry VIII. Its original name wasContinue reading “The Haunted House of Hackney”

St James’s Palace is officially described as one of the senior palaces in London and is presently home to a number of the Royal Family as well as being the base for many offices of state. It has apparently only got the one ghost but the story behind it has intrigue and a bloody outcomeContinue reading “Haunted London – The Ghost of St James’s Palace”

Alan Turing was a brilliant mathematician, computer scientist and an expert in biology and artificial intelligence. He was also a very good cryptologist and played a large part in helping to win the Second World War. But he also led a troubled life and was hounded by the authorities at the time.     He wasContinue reading “The Enigma that was Alan Turing”

In the City of London there exists the remains of a church called St Mary Aldermanbury. It is located just behind the London Guildhall. Today there is little more than a garden remaining on the original site after it was destroyed by a German bomb dropped during the London Blitz. The church is now aContinue reading “The men who saved Shakespeare”

Throughout London there are many modern-looking buildings. And although they may not appear to be very interesting in themselves, the same cannot be said of the sites they are built on. In fact, many of them have an interesting history. It is also likely that the current structures may have little similarity to the onesContinue reading “The secret history of a London hotel”

With the recent sad death of Sean Connery, who many say was the best James Bond, licenced to kill and licenced to thrill, I thought it might be the right time to re-publish an article on the creator of 007 who, in many ways mirrored the life of his fictional creation.     If you hadContinue reading “The Real James Bond 007”

Whilst therapeutic treatments are being researched to help patients who are suffering severe problems due to Covid-19, the real solution to this disease is the development of an effective vaccine. At the time of writing, October 2020, there are over 150 different teams working across the world in order to find one. Vaccines usually takeContinue reading “Coronavirus 5 – A vaccine, the game changer”

In this latest article the virus has entered the body, invaded the cells which it has been able to latch on to and is beginning to do what it does best – reproduce. But our body has an immune system which stands guard against any invaders it detects and as soon as it does, itContinue reading “Coronavirus 4 – The body fights back”