Stories, News, Articles and Galleries reflecting our collection
Ninety-five years ago, on May 1, 1931, the iconic symbol of New York’s financial might, Empire State Building opened. Conceived of and announced just prior to the Stock Market Crash of 1929, the building was meant to symbolize the financial might and ingenuity of the United States as it neared the end of the roaring twenties. […]
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By Francesca Lungarotti “The simplest explanation is always the most likely.” – Agatha Christie January 12th marks the 50th anniversary since Agatha Christie’s death. The Queen of Mystery, a world-renowned crime novelist born Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller in Torquay, Devon, England on September 15, 1890, was one of the most influential and prolific authors of the 20th century. The […]
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By Francesca Lungarotti December 16th marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of one of the most brilliant and emancipated English writers of all time: Jane Austen. Born on December 16, 1775, in Steventon, a small village in Hampshire, Jane, the second oldest of eight children, spent her childhood and youth here inspiringly. Her father, […]
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October 3, 2025, will mark 90 years since Italy invaded Ethiopia. The second Italo-Ethiopian War that followed lasted until May, 1936 and resulted in Ethiopia’s subjection to Italian rule. Benito Mussolini, Italy’s fascist dictator, sought vengeance from Italy’s humiliating defeat in Ethiopia forty years earlier. More importantly, Ethiopia provided Italy a critical link between its other East African territories – […]
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Operation Dynamo – 26 May to 4 June 1940 saw the evacuation of allied soldiers from Dunkirk to the UK. Vice-Admiral Bertram Ramsay masterminded Operation Dynamo from a bunker deep within the Dover cliffs. In addition to the navy’s vessels about 850 small private boats (hence the term ‘little ships’) of all shapes and sizes sailed […]
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Victory in Europe Day (VE Day) – marks the day of World War Two (WW2) when fighting against Nazi Germany in Europe came to an end. In the UK Monday 5th May is a bank holiday and the day will feature a flyover of Buckingham Palace by the famous Red Arrows and other military aircraft to […]
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By Francesca Lungarotti Sandro Botticelli (Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi) was born in 1445 and this March will mark his 580thbirthday. Botticelli’s works are known throughout the world and make Florence a temple of his greatness. Sandro Botticelli was one of the most esteemed painters and designers among the artists of the Renaissance. Under the […]
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Auschwitz, the infamous Nazi concentration camp which remains a global symbol of terror, genocide and the Holocaust, was liberated eighty years ago on January 27, 1945, by the Soviet Red Army. At its liberation, there were approximately seven thousand prisoners remaining at the camp. Auschwitz was established nearly a year after the September 1939 German invasion […]
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