Author Archives: John Pullen

The idea of women buying or more correctly, renting men is a strange one. Of course, transactions in the other direction have been going on for time immemorial. But to understand how this other state of affairs came about in the early 1800s, we have to take a look at two London Royal Parks –Continue reading “History – How to Buy a Soldier”

Tennis is a sport known around the world and played and watched by millions. There are professional tournaments almost every week with the four grand slam championships as the highlights. And of the four, the Wimbledon grass court championships are looked upon by most as the one to win. It is associated so much withContinue reading “History – Game, Set & Match in Berkeley Square”

The Sun is not only the largest body in the solar system it is also the most important. For without its influence, the planets could not be held within the solar system and there would be absolutely no chance of life ever developing on the Earth.     The Sun is our star and is aboutContinue reading “Astronomy – The Sun”

Any debate about who were the most influential pop performers of the twentieth century would almost certainly include John Lennon as part of the Beatles and then as a solo performer in later years.     He was born on the 9th October 1940 in Liverpool. His first band, which was formed whilst he was aContinue reading “Famous People – John Lennon”

As the universe evolved, vast clouds of gaseous material called nebulae formed and about 4.6 billion years ago, just such a nebula formed in the neighbourhood where our solar system is now situated. It also covered a much larger area than our present system.     Very slowly particles within the nebula began to come togetherContinue reading “Astronomy – How the Solar System formed”

Fleet Street in London is famous as it used to be the centre of the newspaper industry. These days those businesses have moved further out from the City of London. But a building which precedes most others still remains. It is St Bride’s Church. It cannot easily be missed as it has a tall andContinue reading “History – The Wedding Cake Church”

For hundreds of years, this question has been posed. There is an innate desire for us to want answers to the big questions. These will include…How did it all begin? Where did we come from? What are we doing here? Why is there a universe at all? How is it all going to end? TheseContinue reading “Astronomy – How did the universe begin?”

Trafalgar Square is one of London’s best known landmarks. Thousands of people visit every day. But very few of them would have taken notice of a small cylindrical building in the south-east corner of the square. It is made of granite and has a lamp on top of it. In fact a lamp to lightContinue reading “History – Britain’s smallest police station”

Space is a very big place. The distances involved are literally astronomical. Even our closest neighbour, the Moon, is about 250,000 miles from us. However, back in 1969 two American astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first humans to step out onto another world. Armstrong’s immortal first words, “It’s one small stepContinue reading “Science – How big is space?”

From 1757 to 1775 Benjamin Franklin, who helped draft out the Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution, lived in Central London in Craven Street, close to Charing Cross Station. The building was also accepted to have been the first American Embassy in London. But it hid a secret. Benjamin Franklin’s house today is aContinue reading “History – The secret in Benjamin Franklin’s house”