Curated playlist
Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
- Miranda KaufmannHistorian Miranda Kaufmann found Africans living in Tudor England. They arrived before the transatlantic slave trade.
- Lewis CarrollOn a rowing trip in July 1862, Lewis Carroll invented a story for three sisters.
- John LockeJohn Locke's phrase "long train of abuses" appears word for word in the Declaration of Independence.
- John WesleyJohn Wesley thought saving souls outside a church was almost a sin. In 1739 he preached in a brickyard anyway.
- W. H. AudenW. H. Auden died hours after reading his poems aloud in a Vienna hotel.
- Edward VIIEdward VII was barely a month old on the 8th of December 1841 when he was created Prince of Wales. He would carry that title until the 22nd of January 1901, a span of 59 years and 45 days. No heir in British history had waited so long, and…
- William Forrest (poet)Priest William Forrest wrote a long poem defending Catherine of Aragon. He gave it to Queen Mary in 1558.
- Michael FlandersOxford refused Michael Flanders re-entry after polio left him in a wheelchair. He became a stage comedian instead.
- William CamdenIn 2023, imaging revealed passages William Camden had covered up in his history of Elizabeth.
- Philip SidneyPhilip Sidney died at 31 from a thigh wound, leaving a romance that stops mid sword fight.
- John RuskinA jury awarded painter Whistler one farthing in his libel suit against critic John Ruskin.
- John DowlandIn 1594, lutenist John Dowland applied for a place at Elizabeth I's court and was turned down. He blamed his religion.
- Gabriel Turville-PetreIn August 1942, the Foreign Office sent Gabriel Turville-Petre to the Faroe Islands for two months. The stated purpose was "in order to study the inhabitants, their politics and conditions of life." Edward Oswald Gabriel Turville-Petre was…
- Donald SwannDonald Swann set J. R. R. Tolkien's poems to music, and Tolkien joined the recording.
- Randolph ChurchillRandolph Churchill, the only son of Winston Churchill, announced in a 1932 newspaper article that he planned to "make an immense fortune and become Prime Minister". He was twenty-one years old. He achieved neither ambition. Over the…
- A. J. AyerA. J. Ayer once told Mike Tyson to talk like a rational man. The philosopher stepped in at a 1987 party.
- Henry Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron HollandLord Holland became a baron at one year old. His father died in December 1774, and he later sat in the House of Lords.
- A. L. RowseA china clay worker's son from Cornwall claimed to name Shakespeare's Dark Lady.
- William PennWilliam Penn has stood above Philadelphia since 1894, when a bronze statue of him by Alexander Milne Calder was set on top of City Hall. At the time, City Hall was the tallest building in the city. Urban designer Edmund Bacon liked to say…