George Washington


John Adams, a key Founding Father and the second President of the United States, was also responsible for drafting the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In doing so, he devised the oldest functioning written constitution in continuous effect in the world. John Adams had spent decades languishing as one history’s most overlooked Founding Father. Overshadowed by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, the second […]

John Adams and the world’s oldest constitution


Who was the first President of America? It has to be George Washington, right? The great Commander in Chief of the Continental Army and vanquisher of the British? Washington was certainly the first President of the United States of America under the United States Constitution. But America had a whole clutch of presidents before 1788. In a similar vein to the frustrating exercise to locate America’s […]

The first President of the United States



One of the greatest fears of radical revolutionaries in America was the threat of monarchy emerging out of the nascent republic. But, whilst clearly not establishing a monarchy in the traditional sense, America’s founding fathers were influenced by the stability of government in the European monarchies. Did they create a non-hereditary and elected King of America? The crown of a new nation was really his for […]

Is the President of the United States really the King of America?


Vaguely Interesting Snippets | 13 November 2012  Mein Kampf was required reading in Hitler’s Third Reich – so much so that the state provided marrying couples with a special version for free – the Hochzeitsausgabe, or Wedding Edition. It came in a white slipcase and featured the seal of the province embossed in gold onto a parchment-like cover. The Queen’s Speech is written on goatskin vellum […]



Who was Britain’s greatest ever foe? The contest, run by the National Army Museum, lends itself to controversy and debate. And that is exactly what the museum encouraged by hosting a day long event with presentations on behlf of five leading contendors followed by questions, discussion and a secret ballot.     The list was narrowed down from a long list of twenty to the top five by a […]

Britain’s fiercest of foes