Curated playlist
Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
- Oscar WildeOscar Wilde was convicted at the height of his fame, with two plays running in London's West End.
- Andrew Lloyd WebberAndrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera closed on Broadway in 2023 after 13,981 performances.
- Edward VIIIEdward VIII, King of the United Kingdom, ended his reign with a voice on the radio. On the night of the 11th of December 1936 he spoke to listeners around the world. He told them he had found it "impossible to carry the heavy burden of…
- Terrence MalickAfter Days of Heaven, director Terrence Malick moved to Paris and stayed out of public view for roughly two decades.
- Thomas WolseyContemporaries called Thomas Wolsey, an Ipswich tradesman's son, the other king of England.
- John FoxeJohn Foxe wrote a bestseller in 1563 and stayed as poor as ever. Publishing paid authors no royalties then.
- William CamdenIn 2023, imaging revealed passages William Camden had covered up in his history of Elizabeth.
- Richard GombrichRichard Gombrich, a British Indologist born on the 17th of July 1937, did something unusual as a student for a future scholar of ancient India. While still an undergraduate, he helped edit a volume of papers by the philosopher Karl Popper,…
- Frederic Thesiger, 1st Viscount ChelmsfordA lifelong Conservative, Lord Chelmsford ran the navy under Labour's first government. He never joined the party.
- Edward GibbonEdward Gibbon said commanding militia grenadiers helped him understand the Roman legion.
- Edmund CartwrightA mill meant for 500 power looms burned down with only 30 installed. Weavers working by hand were the likely arsonists.
- T. E. LawrenceT. E. Lawrence wrote that he once crossed the Sinai Peninsula, from Aqaba to the Suez Canal, in just 49 hours without any sleep. His own notebooks say otherwise. The famous camel ride took more than 70 hours and included two long breaks…
- Reginald PoleReginald Pole ended up two votes short of becoming pope. The English cardinal held 26 of 28 votes needed in 1549-1550.
- Martin GilbertA boy evacuated to Canada in wartime grew up to write Churchill's official biography.