Skip to content
Curated playlist

English people of German descent

  • J. R. R. TolkienOn his 21st birthday, Tolkien proposed by letter to a woman who was already engaged.
  • Boris JohnsonBoris Johnson's earliest recorded ambition was to be "world king". He was born on the 19th of June 1964 on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. He is one of only two British prime ministers to have been an American citizen. Supporters praise…
  • Princess BeatricePrincess Beatrice, a niece of King Charles III, wore an unusual fascinator designed by Philip Treacy to her cousin Prince William's wedding in April 2011. The hat drew significant public and media attention. The following month it was…
  • Nigel FarageNigel Farage told reporters on the 4th of July 2016 that he wanted his life back. The line echoed the slogan of the referendum campaign he had just won, in which he demanded his country back. He also promised that this resignation as…
  • George IIIGeorge III was born on the 4th of June 1738 at Norfolk House in St James's Square, London, two months too early. Nobody expected the baby to live, so a bishop baptised him within hours, on the very day he was born. The infant nobody…
  • Prince Edward, Duke of EdinburghAt 8:20 pm on the 10th of March 1964, a boy was born at Buckingham Palace, and his father was in the room to see it. Of the four children of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, he was the only one whose birth Philip witnessed. This is…
  • Victoria BeckhamOn the 8th of July 2000, Victoria Beckham performed alone in public for the first time. The setting was London's Hyde Park, where a crowd of 100,000 had gathered for a Prince's Trust charity concert. She sang "Out of Your Mind", her first…
  • Christopher TolkienChristopher Tolkien admitted he had to invent some passages in his father's book The Silmarillion.
  • Lord MountbattenLord Mountbatten sat alone in his study at the Viceroy's House as midnight arrived on the 15th of August 1947. India and Pakistan were becoming independent nations, and he reflected that for a few minutes more he remained the most powerful…
  • Simon CallowSimon Callow's acting career began with a fan letter to Laurence Olivier. Olivier wrote back with a box-office job.
  • Timothy ReuterHistorian Timothy Reuter translated a German scholar's book on the medieval church into English.

Queue