Tag Archives: Doctor Who

The First Police Boxes

Posted on January 24, 2019 by Roger Pocock

Snippets 182.  Most people nowadays would associate a police telephone box with Doctor Who and little else, but they were once a common feature of British streets.  They were not actually a British invention though.  The first one in the world … Continue reading →

Posted in 19th Century, Britain, Crime, History, Newspapers, Snippets | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Never Cruel or Cowardly (Seneca 3)

Posted on August 16, 2018 by Roger Pocock

For the last couple of weeks we have been looking at one of the most fascinating books ever written in Latin: De Vita Beata, by Seneca the Younger (c. 4BC – 65AD): About a Happy Life.  The following is my … Continue reading →

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The 18th Century Robot

Posted on April 14, 2016 by Roger Pocock

Snippets 64.  Hungarian inventor Wolfgang von Kempelen exhibited something quite astonished for the first time in 1770: a robotic chess player. “The Turk” was a life-size human head and torso, which sat behind a cabinet to play chess against its … Continue reading →

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