Here we are again, the world kept turning and Monday has arrived once more. The Spark! is here to put you in the right frame of mind so that the working week glides through without too much disturbance. Enjoy!
On This Day – 19th May – A busy day for the Tudors!
There seems to be something about May the 19th and the House of Tudor. On 19th May 1499, Catherine of Aragon was married by proxy to Arthur, Prince of Wales, the elder brother of Henry VIII. Catherine had been betrothed to Arthur since she was 3 and the proxy marriage took place 10 years later. She moved to England and married Prince Arthur in 1501. Unfortunately, young Arthur was not a well chap and died 5 months later. Catherine remained in England, serving for a time as the Aragonese ambassador to the English court, and eventually married Henry VIII, from whom she was famously divorced.
The woman for whose hand Henry left Catherine, setting up his own church just to make sure he could obtain an annulment, was Anne Boleyn. Anne was pretty, witty and intellectual, speaking French fluently. She was a religious reformist, quietly espousing the Protestant cause. Henry was besotted with Anne and when her pregnancy produced a daughter, the future Elizabeth I, he swallowed his disappointment and was sure that his longed-for male heir would follow. Alas, this was not to be and before long Henry became annoyed at having no sons and infatuated with another woman at court, Jane Seymour. He had Anne investigated for Treason, amongst other things, and on this day in 1536, Anne was beheaded. Historians still remain to be convinced as to the verity of the charges against Anne, due to confessions being obtained by Thomas Cromwell under torture.
The Tudors had still not finished with 19th May. The unwanted daughter, Elizabeth, had become queen following the deaths of first her younger brother Edward VI (son of Jane Seymour) and then her elder sister Mary I. Given the nature of the English church’s schism with Rome, its existence was tenuous. The Catholic powers of Europe regarded Elizabeth as a heretic and plots to kill the queen were perceived constantly, with Catholic spies presumed to be around every corner. Mary Queen of Scots was Elizabeths cousin and a fervent Catholic. She had been arrested in Scotland and forced to abdicate in favour of her son, James VI (who would become James I of England upon Elizabeth’s death). Mary escaped custody and fled south, seeking asylum with her cousin, the English queen. Elizabeth and her advisors decided that they could not use an English army to restore Mary to the throne of Scotland but nor could they risk her escaping to Catholic France and becoming a potential claimant to the English throne. Therefore, on this day in 1568 Elizabeth had Mary arrested. She would remain under relatively pleasant house arrest until her implication in the Babington Plot of 1586 saw her executed at Fotheringay Castle.
Read more here.
Also on this day:
1802 – Napoleon founds the Legion of Honour, still France’s highest civil and military award.
1962 – Marilyn Monroe sings (albeit prematurely) ‘Happy Birthday’ to John F Kennedy
1996 – Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on mission STS-77
2000 – Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-101 to resupply the ISS
2018 – Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are married at St. Georges Chapel, Windsor
Arrivals
1928 – Colin Chapman, British engineer and businessman, founder of Lotus Cars
1938 – Herbie Flowers, British musician, played bass on Lou Reed’s ‘Walk on the Wild Side’
1945 – Pete Townshend, British musician and songwriter (The Who)
1954 – Phil Rudd, Australian drummer (AC/DC)
1956 – Martyn Ware, British musician and songwriter (The Human League, Heaven 17)
Departures
1935 – TE Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), British soldier and archaeologist
1971 – Ogden Nash, US poet and humourist
1984 – John Betjeman, British poet and academic
1994 – Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis, 37th First Lady of the United States
2023 – Andy Rourke, British bass player (The Smiths)
The Funnies:
Recipe of the day: Easy Chicken and Chorizo Rice
This recipe from BBC Food is a quick and easy one-pot recipe for when you’re in a hurry.
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan with a tight-fitting lid and fry the chorizo over a high heat for 1 minute. Add the onion and fry for a further minute, then add the chicken and garlic and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the pepper and basmati rice and stir well to combine. Pour in the chicken stock and stir, then turn the heat down as low as it will go, put the lid on and leave for 12 minutes.
- Turn the heat off but do not remove the lid and leave for a further 12 minutes, then remove the lid and give it a good stir with a fork. The water should be absorbed. Season to taste with salt and black pepper and serve straight away.
Quote of the Day:
“Plutonium may give you grief for thousands of years, but Arsenic is for ever.” (Good Omens)
– Sir Terry Pratchett
Comic of the Day:
Mouseover: “Turning in other directions can be accomplished by using a magnetized centerboard and ocean currents, since a current flowing through a magnetic field induces a Laplace force.”
Image Credit: https://xkcd.com/3090
Explain XKCD: https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
Inspirobot Always Controversial, Occasionally Inspirational Quote of the Day:
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I hope not, as when I retire in a couple of weeks, people will still remember me!)
If you missed Friday’s pre-recorded Spark! from @Lonny6654, you can find it here:
(Spark! Pro series – 16th May 2025)
