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John Milton

John Milton

See John Milton (politician) for the American politician John Milton (politician) John Milton (December 9, 1608 – November 8, 1674) was an English poet, best-known for his epic poem Paradise Lost.

Life

Milton was born on December 9, 1608 in Cheapside, London, England. His father, John Milton (1562? – 1647), moved to London around 1583 having just been disinherited for concealing his Protestantism by his devout Catholic father, Richard Milton, who was a wealthy landowner in Oxfordshire. In 1600, Milton's father probably married Sarah Jeffrey (1572 – 1637), the poet’s mother, around the same time. John Milton was educated at St Paul's School, London. Milton was originally destined to a ministerial career, but his independent spirit led him to give up this career. He matriculated at Christ's College, Cambridge in 1625 and studied there for seven years before he graduated as Master of Arts cum laude on July 3 1632. There is evidence to suggest that Milton’s experiences at Cambridge were not altogether positive ones and were later to contribute to his views on education. Upon graduating from Christ’s College, Cambridge, in 1632 Milton undertook six years of self-directed private study in both the ancient and modern disciplines of theology, philosophy, history, politics, literature and science, in preparation for his prospective poetical career. As a result of such intensive study, Milton is considered to be among the most learned of all English poets. After completing his six years of private study in early 1638, Milton embarked upon a tour of France and Italy in May of the same year that was cut short 13 months later by what he later termed ‘sad tidings' of civil war in England. In June 1642, Milton married 16 year-old Mary Powell. A month later, she visited her family and did not return. Over the next three years, Milton published a series of pamphlets arguing for the legality and morality of divorce, the first entitled The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce, in which he attacked the English marriage law as it had been taken over almost unchanged from medieval Catholicism, sanctioning divorce on the ground of incompatibility or childlessness. In 1645, Mary finally returned. In 1646, her family, having been ejected from Oxford for supporting Charles I in the Civil War, moved in with the couple. They had 4 children: Anne, Mary, John, and Deborah. Mary died on May 5, 1652 from complications following Deborah's birth on May 2, which may have affected Milton deeply, as evidenced by his 23rd sonnet. In June, John died at age 15 months; his other three daughters all survived to adulthood. On November 12, 1656, Milton married Katherine Woodcock. She died on February 3, 1658, less than 4 months after giving birth to their daughter, Katherine, who died on March 17. On February 24, 1663, Milton married Elizabeth Minshull, who cared for him until his death on November 8, 1674.

Career

Milton spent years devoted almost entirely to prose work in the service of the Puritan and Parliamentary cause. The onset of glaucoma, exacerbated by his incessant labours setting the typeface for numerous controversial pamphlets, eventuated in blindness, forcing him, from 1654, to dictate his verse and prose to an amanuensis. Milton wrote propaganda for the English Republic in the early 1650s. When he was caught and arrested in October 1659 he was not summarily executed: several influential people had spoken on his behalf, including the poet Andrew Marvell, a former assistant. Milton then lived in retirement, devoting himself once more to poetical work, and publishing Paradise Lost in 1667, the epic by which he attained universal fame (blind and impoverished he sold the publishing rights to this work on April 27th that year for £10), to be followed by Paradise Regained, together with Samson Agonistes, a drama on the Greek model, in 1671. 1671 Despite the comprehensive scope of Milton’s intellectual enquiry, crucial influences upon Milton’s literary work can be easily found and include the Biblical books of Genesis, Job, and Psalms, Homer, Virgil, and Lucan. Milton’s favourite historian was Sallust; however, though Milton’s work often betrays his classical and biblical influences, allusions to Spenser, Sidney, Donne, and Shakespeare are also detectable; some commentators have suggested that Milton also sought to undermine the tropes and style of cavalier poets such John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester and Sir John Suckling in the conversations of Adam and Eve. Milton’s literary career cast such a formidable shadow over English poetry in the 18th and 19th centuries that he was often judged favourably against all other English poets, including Shakespeare. We can point to Lucy Hutchinson’s epic poem about the fall of Humanity, Order and Disorder (1679), and John Dryden's The State of Innocence and the Fall of Man: an Opera (1677) as evidence of an immediate cultural influence. The unparalleled scope of Paradise Lost, his masterpiece, portrays God justifying his actions, the poem also depicts the creation of the universe, earth, and humanity; conveys the origin of sin, death, and evil, imagines events in the Kingdom of Heaven, the garden of Eden, and the sacred history of Israel; engages with political ideas of tyranny, liberty and justice, and defends theological positions on predestination, free will, and salvation. Milton’s influence on the literature of the Romantic era was profound. John Keats found the yoke of Milton’s style debilitating; he exclaimed that ‘Miltonic verse cannot be written but in an artful or rather artist’s humour.’ Keats felt that Paradise Lost was a ‘beautiful and grand curiosity,’ but his own unfinished attempt at epic poetry, Hyperion, is said to have suffered from Keats’s failed attempt to cultivate a distinct epic voice. The Victorian age witnessed a continuation of Milton’s influence; George Eliot and Thomas Hardy being particularly inspired by Milton’s poetry and biography. By contrast, the twentieth century, due primarily to the critical efforts of T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound, witnessed a reduction in Milton’s stature. Aside from his importance to literary history, Milton’s career has impacted upon the modern world in other ways. Milton coined many familiar modern words; in Paradise Lost readers were confronted by neologisms like dreary, pandæmonium, acclaim, rebuff, self-esteem, unaided, impassive, enslaved, jubilant, serried, solaced, and satanic. In terms of politics, Milton’s Areopagitica and republican writings were consulted during the drafting of the Constitution of the United States of America. The John Milton Society for the Blind was founded in 1928 by Helen Keller to develop an interdenominational ministry that would bring spiritual guidance and religious literature to deaf and blind persons.

Trivia

- A 1668 edition of Paradise Lost, purported to be Milton's personal copy, is now housed in the archives of the University of Western Ontario.

Bibliography

- Comus, (1634)
- Lycidas, (1638)
- Of Reformation, (1641)
- Of Prelatical Episcopacy, (1641)
- Animadversions, (1641)
- The Reason for Church Government, (1642)
- Apology for Smectymnuus, (1642)
- Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce, (1643)
- Of Education, (1644)
- Judgement of Martin Bucer Concerning Divorce, (1644)
- Areopagitica, (1644)
- Tetrachordon, (1645)
- Colasterion, (1645)
- Poems of Mr John Milton, Both English and Latin, (1645)
- Tenure of Kings and magistrates, (1649)
- Eikonoklastes, (1649)
- Defensio pro Populo Anglicano, (1651)
- Defensio Seconda, (1654)
- A treatise of Civil Power, (1659)
- The Likeliest Means to Remove Hirelings from the Church, (1659)
- Ready and Easy Way to Establish a Free Commonwealth, (1659)
- Brief Notes Upon a Late Sermon, (1660)
- Paradise Lost, (1667)
- Accedence Commenced Grammar, (1669)
- History of Britain, (1670)
- Samson Agonistes, (1671)
- Paradise Regained, (1671)
- Art of Logic, (1672)
- Of True Religion, (1673)
- Poems, &c, Upon Several Occasions, (1673)
- Epistolae Familiaries, (1674)
- Prolusiones, (1674)

External links

- [http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/index.html Milton Reading Room] - online collection of all of Milton's poetry and selections of his prose
- [http://www.bangor.ac.uk/english/publicat/ddc/ddc.htm "Milton and De Doctrina Christiana"] by Gordon Campbell et al., 1996.
- [http://www.samizdat.qc.ca/arts/theatre/masque_gm.htm "The masque in Milton's Arcades and Comus"] by Gilbert McInnis.
- [http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/milton/ Milton links] Milton, John Milton, John Milton, John Milton Milton, John Milton, John Milton, John Milton, John Milton, John Milton, John ja:ジョン・ミルトン

John Milton (politician)

John Milton (April 20, 1807–April 1, 1865) was an American politician who was the fifth governor of Florida. A descendant of the poet John Milton, he was born near Louisville, Georgia. He became a lawyer, practicing in a number of communities in Georgia and Alabama, before settling in New Orleans. He came to Florida in 1846, and quickly entered the Florida political scene. In 1848, he served as a presidential elector for the state, then in 1850 was elected to the Florida House of Representatives. As a strong supporter of states' rights, he was an early advocate for secession of Florida from the Union. In 1860, he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention from Florida and in the same year ran for the office of governor. He took the oath of office on October 7, 1861, and quickly moved the state toward seceding from the United States. A convention was called for to take up the issue of secession and on January 10, 1861, the measure passed. During the war, Milton stressed the importance of Florida as a supplier of goods, rather than personnel, with Florida being a large provider of food and salt for the Confederate Army. As the war drew to a close, and the Confederacy close to defeat, Governor Milton left Tallahassee for this home, "Sylvania", in Marianna, Florida. In his final message to the state legislature, he said, "Death would be preferable to reunion". On April 1, 1865, he committed suicide, in his home, by a gunshot to the head. The president of the Florida Senate, Abraham K. Allison, was sworn in as governor of Florida later that day. He is buried at Saint Luke's Episcopal Cemetery in Marianna.

External link

- [http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us/museum/collections/governors/about.cfm?id=12 Official Governor's portrait and biography from the State of Florida] Milton, John Milton, John Milton, John

1608

Events

- March 18 - Sissinios formally crowned Emperor of Ethiopia
- May 14 - Protestant Union founded in Auhausen.
- July 3 - Quebec City founded by Samuel de Champlain.
- August 24 - The first official English representative to India lands at Surat.
- October 2 - Dutch lensmaker Hans Lippershey demonstrates the first telescope in the Dutch parliament
- Swedish troops enter Moscow
- First cheques come to use in Netherlands

Births

- January 28 - Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Italian physiologist and physicist (died 1679)
- February 6 - Antonio Vieira, Portuguese writer (died 1697)
- April 25 - Gaston, Duke of Orléans, French politician (d. 1660)
- July 13 - Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1657)
- July 14 - George Goring, Lord Goring, English Royalist soldier (died 1657)
- October 15 - Evangelista Torricelli, Italian physicist and mathematician (died 1647)
- December 6 - George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, English soldier (died 1670)
- December 9 - John Milton, English poet (died 1674)
- Daniello Bartoli, Italian Jesuit priest (died 1685)
- John Desborough, English soldier and politician (died 1680)
- Richard Fanshawe, English diplomat (died 1666)
- Thomas Fuller, English churchman and historian (died 1661)
- Jin Shengtan, Chinese editor (died 1661)
- Gaston, Duke of Orleans, third son of the French king Henry IV (died 1660)
- Edward Rainbowe, English clergyman and a preacher (died 1684)
- Eudoxia Streshneva, second wife of Mikhail I of Russia (died 1645)
- Torii Tadaharu, Japanese nobleman (died 1651) See also :Category:1608 births.

Deaths

- January 29 - Frederick I, Duke of Württemberg (born 1557)
- February 13 - Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski, Lithuanian prince (born 1526)
- February 26 - John Still, English bishop
- March 12 - Koriki Kiyonaga, Japanese warlord (born 1530)
- April 19 - Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset, English statesman and poet (born 1536)
- May 14 - Charles II, Duke of Lorraine (born 1543)
- June 19 - Alberico Gentili, Italian jurist (b. 1551)
- July 18 - Joachim Friedrich, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1546)
- October 11 - Giovanni Ambrogio Figino, Italian painter
- October 19 - Geoffrey Fenton, English writer and politician
- October 19 - Martin Delrio, Flemish theologian and occultist (born 1551)
- George Bannatyne, collector of Scottish poems (born 1545)
- William Barclay, Scottish jurist (born 1546)
- Luca Bati, Italian composer (born 1546)
- William Davison, secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England
- December - John Dee, British mathematician, astronomer, and geographer
- John Dee, British mathematician (born 1527)
- Giambologna, Italian sculptor (born 1529)
- Bess of Hardwick, English jailor of Mary I of Scotland (born 1520)
- Laurence Tomson, English Calvinist theologian (born 1539)
- Fiodor Nikiticz Trubczewski, Polish Prince
- Nikita Kosoj Trubczewski, Polish Prince
- Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell (born 1575)
- Edmund Whitelocke, English soldier and courtier (born 1565) See also :Category:1608 deaths. Category:1608 ko:1608년

November 8

November 8 is the 312th day of the year (313th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 53 days remaining.

Events

- 1519 - Hernán Cortés enters Tenochtitlán and Aztec ruler Moctezuma welcomes him with great pomp as would befit a returning god.
- 1520 - Stockholm Bloodbath begins: A successful invasion of Sweden by Danish forces results in the execution of around 100 persons.
- 1576 - Eighty Years' War: Pacification of Ghent - The States-General of the Netherlands meet and unite to oppose Spanish occupation.
- 1602 - The Bodleian Library at Oxford University is opened to the public.
- 1620 - The Battle of White Mountain, the first battle in the Thirty Years' War, takes place near Prague, ending in a decisive Catholic victory in only two hours.
- 1793 - In Paris, the French Revolutionary government opens the Louvre to the public as a museum.
- 1837 - Formation of Mount Holyoke Seminary, first US college founded for women
- 1861 - American Civil War: The "Trent Affair" – The USS San Jacinto stops the United Kingdom mailship Trent and arrests two Confederate envoys, sparking a diplomatic crisis between the UK and US.
- 1864 - U.S. presidential election, 1864: Abraham Lincoln is reelected in an overwhelming victory over George McClellan.
- 1889 - Montana is admitted as the 41st U.S. state.
- 1892 - U.S. presidential election, 1892: Grover Cleveland is elected over Benjamin Harrison and James B. Weaver to win the second of his non-consecutive terms.
- 1895 - While experimenting with electricity Wilhelm Röntgen discovers x-rays.
- 1917 - People's Commissars gives authority to Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin
- 1923 - Beer Hall Putsch: In Munich, Adolf Hitler leads the Nazis in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government.
- 1932 - U.S. presidential election, 1932: Franklin D. Roosevelt defeats Herbert Hoover in a landslide victory.
- 1933 - Great Depression: New Deal - US President Franklin D. Roosevelt unveils the Civil Works Administration, an organization designed to create jobs for more than 4 million of the unemployed.
- 1935 - A dozen labor leaders come together to announce the creation of the Congress for Industrial Organization (CIO), an organization charged with pushing the cause for industrial unionism.
- 1935 - Fernand Bouisson becomes Prime Minister of France
- 1937 - The Nazi exhibition Der ewige Jude ("the eternal Jew") opens in Munich.
- 1939 - Venlo Incident: Two British agents of SIS are captured by the Germans.
- 1939 - In Munich, Adolf Hitler narrowly escapes an assassination attempt while celebrating the 16th anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch.
- 1941 - Albanian Communist Party founded.
- 1942 - World War II: Operation Torch - United States and United Kingdom forces land in French North Africa.
- 1942 - World War II: French resistance coup in Algiers, by which 400 Civil French patriots neutralized Vichyst XIXth Army Corps during 15 hours, arrested vichyst generals (Juin, Darlan, etc.), and so allowed the immediate success of Operation Torch in Algiers, then, from there, to the whole French North Africa.
- 1950 - Korean War: United States Air Force Lt. Russell J. Brown shoots down two North Korean MiG-15s in the first jet aircraft-to-jet aircraft dog fight in history.
- 1960 - U.S. presidential election, 1960: John F. Kennedy is elected over Richard M. Nixon, becoming the youngest man elected to that office.
- 1965 - The British Indian Ocean Territory is created, consisting of Chagos Archipelago, Aldabra, Farquhar and Des Roches islands.
- 1965 - The soap opera Days of Our Lives debuts on NBC in the United States.
- 1966 - Former Massachusetts Attorney General Edward Brooke becomes the first African American elected to the United States Senate.
- 1966 - U.S. President Lyndon Johnson signs into law an antitrust exemption allowing the National Football League to merge with the upstart American Football League.
- 1971 - The fourth album of British rock group Led Zeppelin (Led Zeppelin IV) is released, including one of the group's most well known songs, "Stairway to Heaven".
- 1973 - The right ear of John Paul Getty III is delivered to a newspaper together with a ransom note, convincing his father to pay 2.9 million USD.
- 1974 - In Salt Lake City, Utah, Carol DaRonch narrowly escapes abduction by serial killer Ted Bundy.
- 1979 - Foundation of the Chilean Communist Party (Proletarian Action).
- 1987 - Enniskillen massacre: In Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, an Irish Republican Army bomb explodes, at a ceremony honoring Britain's war dead, killing eleven people.
- 1988 - U.S. presidential election, 1988: George H. W. Bush is elected over Michael Dukakis.
- 1991 - Marion Barry is reelected mayor of Washington, D.C..
- 1994 - For the first time in 40 years the United States Republican Party takes control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in midterm congressional elections.
- 1997 - US president Bill Clinton speaks at a dinner sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign, the USA's largest gay rights organisation.
- 2002 - Iraq disarmament crisis: UN Security Council Resolution 1441 – The United Nations Security Council unanimously approves a resolution on Iraq, forcing Saddam Hussein to disarm or face "serious consequences".
- 2004 - War in Iraq: More than 10,000 U.S. troops and a small number of Iraqi army units participate in a siege on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.
- 2005 - Democratic U.S. Senator Jon Corzine is elected governor of New Jersey.

Births

- 35 - Nerva, Roman Emperor (d. 98)
- 1491 - Teofilo Folengo, Italian poet (d. 1544)
- 1622 - King Charles X of Sweden (d. 1660)
- 1656 (N.S.) - Edmond Halley, British astronomer and mathematician (d. 1742)
- 1694 - Leonhard Trautsch, German composer (d. 1762)
- 1706 - Johann Ulrich von Cramer, German judge and philosopher (d. 1772)
- 1710 - Sarah Fielding, English writer (d. 1768)
- 1715 - Elisabeth Christine von Braunschweig-Bevern, queen of Frederick II of Prussia (d. 1797)
- 1723 - John Byron, British naval officer (d. 1786)
- 1836 - Milton Bradley, American lithographer and game manufacturer (d. 1911)
- 1847 - Jean Casimir-Périer, French politician (d. 1907)
- 1847 - Bram Stoker, Irish novelist (d. 1912)
- 1848 - Gottlob Frege, German mathematician and logician (d. 1925)
- 1866 - Herbert Austin, English automobile pioneer (d. 1941)
- 1868 - Felix Hausdorff, German mathematician (d. 1942)
- 1869 - Zinaida Gippius, Russian woman-poet in exile in France (d. 1945)
- 1883 - Arnold Bax, English composer (d. 1953)
- 1884 - Hermann Rorschach, Swiss psychiatrist (d. 1922)
- 1893 - Clarence Williams, American jazz pianist and composer (d. 1965)
- 1896 - Bucky Harris, baseball player (d. 1977)
- 1898 - Marie Prevost, Canadian actress (d. 1937)
- 1900 - Margaret Mitchell, American author (d. 1949)
- 1900 - Charlie Paddock, American athlete (d. 1943)
- 1904 - Cedric Belfrage English-born writer (d. 1990)
- 1908 - Martha Gellhorn, American writer and journalist (d. 1998)
- 1918 - Hermann Zapf, German designer
- 1919 - P.L. Deshpande, Indian author (d. 2000 )
- 1920 - Esther Rolle, American actress (d. 1998)
- 1922 - Christiaan Barnard, South African heart surgeon (d. 2001)
- 1922 - Ademir, Brazilian football player (d. 1996)
- 1923 - Jack Kilby, American electrical engineer, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics (d. 2005)
- 1927 - Nguyen Khanh, Prime Minister of South Vietnam
- 1927 Patti Page, American singer
- 1927 -1931 - Darla Hood, American actress (d. 1979)
- 1927 - Morley Safer, Canadian journalist
- 1935 - Alain Delon, French actor
- 1942 - Angel Cordero Jr., Puerto Rican jockey
- 1947 - Minnie Riperton, American singer (d. 1979)
- 1949 - Bonnie Raitt, American singer
- 1952 - Jan Raas, Dutch cyclist
- 1953 - Alfre Woodard, American actress
- 1954 - Michael D. Brown, U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency director
- 1954 - Rickie Lee Jones, American singer and composer
- 1954 - Jeanette McGruder, American musician (P Funk)
- 1958 - Don Byron, American clarinetist
- 1961 - Leif Garrett, American singer and actor
- 1967 - Courtney Thorne-Smith, American actress
- 1968 - Parker Posey, American actress
- 1968 - Zara Whites, Dutch actress
- 1975 - Tara Reid, American actress
- 1976 - Brett Lee, Australian cricketer
- 1979 - Aaron Hughes, Irish footballer
- 1981 - Joe Cole, English footballer
- 2000 - Madison Poer, American actress
- 2000 - Marissa Poer, American actor

Deaths

- 911 - Louis the Child, last Carolingian ruler of the East Franks (b. 893)
- 955 - Pope Agapetus II
- 1171 - Baldwin IV, Count of Hainaut (b. 1108)
- 1226 - King Louis VIII of France (b. 1187)
- 1246 - Berenguela of Castile, queen of Alfonso IX of Castile (b. 1180)
- 1308 - Duns Scotus, Scottish philosopher
- 1517 - Francisco Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros, Spanish statesman (b. 1436)
- 1527 - Jerome Emser, German theologian (b. 1477)
- 1599 - Francisco Guerrero, Spanish composer (b. 1528)
- 1600 - Natsuka Masaie, Japanese warlord (b. 1562)
- 1603 - Robert Catesby, English conspirator (b. 1573)
- 1658 - Witte Corneliszoon de With, Dutch naval officer (b. 1599)
- 1674 - John Milton, English poet (b. 1608)
- 1719 - Michel Rolle, French mathematician (b. 1652)
- 1830 - King Francis I of the Two Sicilies (b. 1777)
- 1887 - Doc Holliday, American gambler and gunfighter (b. 1851)
- 1890 - César Franck, Belgian composer and organist (b. 1822)
- 1917 - Colin Blythe, English cricketer (b. 1879)
- 1934 - Carlos Chagas, Brazilian physician (b. 1879)
- 1945 - August von Mackensen, German field marshal (b. 1849)
- 1953 - Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin, Russian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1870)
- 1953 - John van Melle, South African author (b. 1887)
- 1977 - Bucky Harris, baseball player (b. 1896)
- 1978 - Norman Rockwell, American illustrator (b. 1894)
- 1986 - Vyacheslav Molotov, Russian politician (b. 1890)
- 1998 - Jean Marais, French actor (b. 1913)
- 1999 - Leon Štukelj, Slovenian gymnast (b. 1898)
- 2005 - David Westheimer, American novelist (b. 1917)

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/8 BBC: On This Day] ---- November 7 - November 9 - October 8 - December 8 -- listing of all dates ko:11월 8일 ms:8 November ja:11月8日 simple:November 8 th:8 พฤศจิกายน

1674

Events

- February 19 - England and the Netherlands sign the Treaty of Westminster. A provision of the agreement transfers the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam to England, which renamed it New York
- May 21 - John Sobieski is elected by the nobility to be the King of Poland.
- June 6 - Shivaji is crowned King of the Maratha lands.
- August 11 - The French army under Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé defeated the Dutch-Spanish-Austrian army under William III of Orange at Seneffe.
- November 10 - Anglo-Dutch War: As provided in the Treaty of Westminster of Feb 19, Netherlands cedes New Netherlands to England.
- December 4 - Father Jacques Marquette founds a mission on the shores of Lake Michigan to minister to the Illinois Indians (the mission would later grow into the city of Chicago, Illinois).

Births

- January 15 - Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, French writer (d. 1762)
- January 24 - Thomas Tanner, English bishop and antiquarian (d. 1735)
- July 12 - Abigail Williams, American accuser in the Salem witch trials (d. 1765)
- July 17 - Isaac Watts, English hymnist (d. 1748)
- August 2 - Philip II, Duke of Orléans, regent of France (d. 1723)
- August 9 - František Maxmilián Kaňka, Czech architect (d. 1766)
- December 25 - Thomas Halyburton, Scottish theologian (d. 1712)

Deaths

- January 12 - Giacomo Carissimi Italian composer (b. 1605)
- February 22 - Jean Chapelain, French writer (b. 1595)
- February 24 - Matthias Weckmann, German composer (b. 1616)
- March 8 - Charles Sorel, sieur de Souvigny, French writer (b. 1597)
- June 14 - Marin le Roy de Gomberville, French writer (b. 1600)
- July 2 - Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg (b. 1614)
- August 12 - Philippe de Champaigne, French painter (b. 1602)
- October - Robert Herrick, English poet (b. 1591)
- October 10 - Thomas Traherne, English poet
- October 22 - Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, Dutch painter (b. 1621)
- October 27 - Hallgrímur Pétursson, Icelandic poet (b. 1614)
- November 8 - John Milton, English poet (b. 1608)
- December 9 - Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, English statesman and historian (b. 1609) Category:1674 ko:1674년

English people

:This article is about the English as an ethnic group. For information about residents or nationals of England, see demographics of England. The English people are an indigenous European ethnic group originating in the lowlands of Great Britain and are drawn from a composite population descended from a combination of Romano-Celts and Angles, Saxons and Jutes.

History

The English as an ethnic group can trace their heritage back to the Anglo-Saxons (or Old English), who between the 5th and 7th centuries, after the withdrawal of the Roman Empire, came to occupy most of lowland Britain (although a lack of documentation from the Dark Ages means few individuals can prove such descent). The name of the area known as England derives from this settlement. The tribes participating in this conquest of Britain include the Angles, the Jutes, the Saxons, the Franks, and the Friesians. At one time it was widely believed that the Anglo-Saxons supplanted the Celtic populations. Recent genetic studies are contradictory. One suggests the Anglo-Saxons may have established political and cultural dominance over the Celts and intermarried with them. In particular, analyses performed upon the mitochondrial DNA of modern day English suggest that any continental admixture from the period of Germanic invasions would have been almost exclusively derived from the male line, suggesting a process of intermarriage between male invaders and female indigenous Celts. However, a recent Y chromosome analysis of people from the British Isles, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Friesland and the Basque Country has revealed that some areas of England have a higher Germanic (Danish/German/Frisian) component in the male line of descent than others. Germanic Y chromosomes are at their highest concentrations in York and Norfolk, here the Germanic male sex chromosome occurs in about 60% of men, with indigenous Y chromosomes comprising about 40%. The research connot distinguish between Danish (the presumed source of Danish-Viking settlers to East and Northern England), North German (Anglo-Saxon) and Frisian (Anglo-Saxon) Y chromosomes. The study cloncludes these data are consistent with the presence of some indigenous component in all British regions. See Anglo-Saxons for more detail. A further settlement of Danes occurred during the 9th century in northern and eastern England. Some British ethnic groups, notably the Cornish and the Cumbrians have a noticeably less diluted connection to the pre-Anglo-Saxon ancient Britons; As a result of this, some Cornish claim not to be English but Cornish. A further influence on the English language is from Scandinavian culture, particularly in the north of England. This is most pronounced in York, formerly the Danish settlement of Jorvik. These groups had a noticeable impact on the English language, for example the modern meaning of the word dream is of Scandinavian origin. Additionally place names that include thwaite and by are Scandinavian in origin. English language The Anglo-Saxons established several kingdoms, commonly referred to as the Heptarchy. These were united in the early 9th century under the overlordship of Wessex, forming what would eventually become the modern nation state of England. These kingdoms were then subjected to a series of raids, conquest and settlement by Vikings originating from Denmark from the 9th century onwards. The Treaty of Wedmore gave the Danes dominion over territory north and east of a line between London and Chester called the Danelaw and represented the beginning of a of period of acceptance and assimilation of the Danes. Most notably, this period saw the rise of Alfred the Great. The only king in English history to receive 'the great' appended to his name. Alfred was king of the region of Wessex which effectively held off the Danish conquest of what would later become England. Wessex grew from a relatively small kingdom in the South West to the complete annexing of all remaining Anglo-Saxon kingdoms not in the Danelaw. The Norman Conquest of 1066 brought English and Danish rule to an end, and began a diminished period, both culturally and socially for the native inhabitants. The new Norman French elite began a scorched earth policy against the rebellious Anglo-Danish population north of the Humber during the winter of 1069-70, which became known as The Harrying of the North. The English existed as a subject class for about 300 years with the aristocracy speaking French until a full assimilation was made by the time of Chaucer , in the late 1300s. By this time a large number of French words had been added to the English language. During Britain's centuries as a major colonial power, people migrated from all over Britain's sphere of influence to England, leaving a small, but noticeable mark on English culture. Also, and sporadically for much of its history as a recognisable political entity England has had a significant Jewish population.

Culture

Contribution to humanity

The English have played a significant role in the development of the arts and sciences. Prominent individuals have included the scientists and inventors Isaac Newton, Francis Crick, Abraham Darby, Michael Faraday, Charles Darwin, Frank Whittle and Tim Berners-Lee; the poet and playwright William Shakespeare, the novelists Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and George Orwell, the composer Gustav Holst, and the explorer James Cook (for a complete list of famous English people see List of English people). English philosophers include Francis Bacon, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Thomas Paine, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, Bertrand Russell, Michael Oakeshott and Roger Scruton. The English language is now the world's unofficial lingua franca, and the jury system (used in a few non-anglo-saxon countries in the world) is an English innovation. English common law is also the foundation of legal systems throughout the English speaking countries of the world, and the English Parliament had an influence on the operation of most democratic governments created after 1651. The English have, through overseas colonisation in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, created several major world nations. These include what are now called the United States of America, Canada (the English part), Australia, and New Zealand, and also the language and institutions of such diverse nations as Jamacia, South Africa, Belize, and a number of others.

Language

All English people traditionally speak the English language, a member of the West Germanic language family. The only other language traditionally spoken is Cornish, a Celtic language originating in Cornwall spoken by about 3500 people. More recently immigrants from the British Commonwealth and elsewhere have brought other languages to England which are used privately as a home language. Such languages include Bengali, Hindi, Hebrew, Arabic and Chinese.

Religion

Ever since the break with the Roman Catholic Church in the sixteenth century, the English have been predominantly a Protestant people, a historical legacy that many scholars have argued resulted in the development of a relatively liberal political culture. Today, most English people practicing organized religion are affiliated to the Church of England or other Christian denominations such as Roman Catholicism and Methodism. At the 2001 Census, a little over 37 million people in England & Wales professed themselves to be Christian. Jewish immigration since the seventeenth century means that there is a fully assimilated Jewish English minority mostly in urban areas. 252,000 Jews were recorded in England & Wales in the 2001 Census; however this represents a decline of about 50% over the previous 50 years, caused by emigration and intermarriage, and the long-term future of the community is a matter of some concern to community leaders. The gradual assimilation of migrants from India and Pakistan since the 1950s means that there is a growing group of people who are culturally English and practise Islam (818,000), Hinduism (467,000), or Sikhism (301,000). The 2001 census also revealed that 15% of the population claim no religion.

Sport

England, like the other nations of the United Kingdom, competes as a separate nation in many international sporting events. The English Football (soccer), Cricket and Rugby teams have contributed to an increasing sense of English identity. Supporters today (2005) carry the cross of St George, whereas twenty years ago only the British Union Jack would be seen.

Symbols

Union Jack The English flag is a red cross on a white background, commonly called the Cross of St George adopted after the crusades. Saint George, famed as a dragon-slayer, is also the patron saint of England. The three golden lions or leopards on a red background was the banner of the kings of England derived from their status as Duke of Normandy and is now used to represent the English national football team and the English national cricket team. The Tudor rose and the English oak are also English symbols. "God Save The Queen" is widely regarded as England's unofficial national anthem; however, other songs are sometimes used, including "Land of hope and glory" (used as England's anthem in the Commonwealth Games), "Jerusalem" and "I Vow to Thee, My Country."

Identity

England and Wales were united in the Acts of Union in 1536 and 1543, in 1707 England and Wales formed a union with Scotland, and in 1800 Ireland was joined to the existing union to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, although most of Ireland achieved independence in 1922 as the Irish Free State. A new 'British' identity was developed through the nineteenth century, to some extent overlaying regional identities. The English, along with the other peoples of the British Isles found their old identities undermined in favour of a new British national identity. The 1990s saw the beginning of a gradual reclamation and reformation of English identity. For several decades nationalist movements had existed in Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and Cornwall but England had no counterpart. Partly in response to devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the rise in general of nationalism in the Celtic fringe some English people now question what it is to be English and its relationship with being British. Some English nationalist parties have been created, their following however remains small, but are growing as many English people are beginning to resent their loss of identity. see English nationalism.

References

# The [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/uk.html#people CIA World Factbook] reports that in the 2001 UK census 92.1% of the UK population were in the White ethnic group, and that 83.6% of this group are in the English ethnic group. The UK Office for National Statistics[http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/profiles/uk.asp] reports a total population in the UK census of 58,789,194. A quick calculation shows this is equivalent to 45,265,093 people in the English ethnic group. However this number may not represent self-defined ethnic group. The number who described their ethnic group as English in the 2001 UK census has not been published by the Office for National Statistics. #The [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=D&-qr_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U_QTP13&-ds_name=D&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false 2000 US census] shows 24,515,138 persons claiming English ancestry. This figure is likely to be an underestimate of the true number with English ancestry as some people will not have been aware of their English ancestry, or will have chosen not to mention it. According to [http://www.euroamericans.net/euroamericans.net/english%20census.htm EuroAmericans.net] the greatest population in a single state was 2,521,355 in California, and the highest percentage was 29.0% in Utah. # The [http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/0/B85E1EB3A2BC274ACA256D39001BC337?Open Australian Bureau of Statistics] reports 6.4 million people of English ancestry in the 2001 Census. Up to two ancestries could be chosen. Recent increases in the number who identify as Australian suggest that this number is an underestimate of the true number with English ancestry. [http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/0/B85E1EB3A2BC274ACA256D39001BC337?Open]. #[http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/highlight/ETO/Table1.cfm?Lang=E&T=501&GV=1&GID=0 2001 Canadian Census] gives 1,479,520 respondents stating their ethnic origin as English as a single response, and 4,499,355 including multiple responses, giving a combined total of 5,978,875. # The [http://www.stats.govt.nz/census/2001-ethnic-groups/default.htm 2001 New Zealand census] reports 34,074 people stating they belong to the English ethnic group. The 1996 census, which used a slightly different question[http://www.stats.govt.nz/census/change-in-ethnicity-question.htm], reported 281,895 people belonging to the English ethnic group. #[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VRT-48PV5SH-12&_coverDate=05%2F27%2F2003&_alid=339895807&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_qd=1&_cdi=6243&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000049116&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=949111&md5=9edf5ce1c39d4139af4c01733282fa82 A Y Chromosome Census of the British Isles]; Cristian Capelli, Nicola Redhead, Julia K. Abernethy, Fiona Gratrix, James F. Wilson, Torolf Moen, Tor Hervig, Martin Richards, Michael P. H. Stumpf, Peter A. Underhill, Paul Bradshaw, Alom Shaha, Mark G. Thomas, Neal Bradman, and David B. Goldstein Current Biology, Volume 13, Issue 11, Pages 979-984 (2003). Retrieved 6 December 2005.

External links

- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/nations/ BBC Nations] Articles on England and the English
- [http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/britishisles/ The British Isles] Information on England
- [http://www.walkingtree.com/ Mercator's Atlas] Map of England ("Anglia") circa 1564.
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1689955.stm Viking blood still flowing]; BBC; 3 December, 2001.
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2076470.stm English and Welsh are races apart]; BBC; 30 June, 2002.
- [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/profiles/64.asp UK 2001 Census] showing 49,138,831 people from all ethnic groups living in England.
- [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/04/23/ncen23.xml Tory MP leads English protest over census]; The Telegraph; 23 April 2001.
- [http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=%5CForeignBureaus%5Carchive%5C200104%5CFor20010423f.html On St. George's Day, What's Become Of England?]; CNSNews.com; 23 April, 2001. Category:Ethnic groups of the United Kingdom Category:Germanic peoples Category:Ethnic groups of Europe

Epic poem

:For other meanings of epic, see epic (disambiguation). The epic is a broadly defined genre of poetry, and one of the major forms of narrative literature. It retells in a continuous narrative the life and works of a heroic or mythological person or group of persons. In the West, the Iliad, Odyssey, and the Nibelungenlied; and in the East, the Mahabharata, Ramayana, and Shahnama are often cited as examples of the epic genre.

Oral epics or world folk epics

The first epics are associated strongly with preliterate societies and oral poetic traditions. In these traditions, poetry is transmitted to the audience and from performer to performer by purely oral means. World folk epics are those epics which are not just literary masterpieces but also an integral part of the world view of a people. They were originally oral literatures, which were later written down by either single author or several writers. Studies of living oral epic traditions in the Balkans by Milman Parry and Albert Lord demonstrated the paratactic model used for composing these poems. What they demonstrated was that oral epics tend to be constructed in short episodes, each of equal status, interest and importance. This facilitates memorisation, as the poet is recalling each episode and using them to recreate the entire epic as they perform it. Parry and Lord also showed that the most likely source for written texts of the epics of Homer was dictation from an oral performance. See also list of world folk-epics.

Epics in literate societies

Literate societies have often copied the epic format, and the earliest known European example is Virgil's Aeneid, which follows both the style and subject matter of Homer. Other obvious examples are Tulsidas' Sri Ramacharit Manas, following the style and subject matter of Valmiki's Ramayana,. and the Persian epic Shahnama by Ferdowsi. Classical epic conventions include: Invocatio (pray to the muse [of the epic]), Prepositio (introduction of the epic's theme), Enumeratio (counting the fighting armys / heroes), In medias res (start from the middle of an event), Deus ex machina (interruption / miracle from a god), Anticipatio (prediction), and Ephiteton ornans (permanent attributives of the hero[es])

Notable epic poems

- 20th century BC: The Epic of Gilgamesh (Sumerian mythology)
- 19th century BC: The Ramayana (Hindu mythology)
- 1316 BC: Traditional date for the Mahabharata (Hindu mythology).
- 8th century BC:
- The Iliad by Homer (Greek mythology)
- The Odyssey by Homer (Greek mythology)
- 1st century BC:
- Aeneid by Virgil
- Táin Bó Cúailnge (Irish mythology)
- c.3rd century: Cilappatikaram, a South Indian epic written by prince Ilango Adigal
- Sometime in the period 8th to the 10th century: Beowulf (Anglo-Saxon mythology)
- 10th century:
- Shahnameh
- Bhagavata Purana (Sanskrit "Stories of the Lord")
- 11th century:
- Digenis Acritas (Byzantine epic poem)
- La Chanson de Roland (The Song of Roland)
- Epic of King Gesar (Tibetan; compiled in 11th century from earlier sources)
- 12th century: The Knight in the Panther Skin by Shota Rustaveli
- 13th century:
- Poetic Edda (Norse mythology)
- Hervarar saga (Norse mythology)
- Völsunga saga (Norse mythology)
- Nibelungenlied (Germanic mythology)
- Brut by Layamon
- c.1300: Cursor Mundi by an anonymous cleric
- early 14th century: Divina Commedia (The Divine Comedy) by Dante Alighieri
- 1516: Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto
- c.1555: Lusiadas by Luis de Camões
- 1575 La Gerusalemme liberata by Torquato Tasso
- 16th century:
- Ramacharitmanas (based on the Ramayana) by Goswami Tulsidas
- The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser
- 17th century:
- Paradise Lost by John Milton
- Obsidio Szigetianae ("Szigeti veszedelem"; Hungarian) by Miklós Zrínyi
- 19th century:
- Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- The Prelude by William Wordsworth
- Don Juan by George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron
- Clarel by Herman Melville
- Der Ring des Nibelungen by Richard Wagner
- Canigó by Jacint Verdaguer
- Venezuela Heroica, by Eduardo Blanco (1881)
- Kalevala by Elias Lönnrot (Finnish mythology)
- 20th century:
- Savitri by Aurobindo Ghose
- The Cantos by Ezra Pound
- The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel by Nikos Kazantzakis
- The Anathemata by David Jones
- Maximus by Charles Olson
- Paterson by William Carlos Williams
- The Changing Light at Sandover by James Merrill

References

- Heroic Song and Heroic Legend by Jan de Vries ISBN 0405105665

External links

- [http://WorldChronicle.net WorldChronicle.net] Category:Epics Category:Poetic form ja:叙事詩

Cheapside

Cheapside is a street in the City of London, which links Newgate Street with the junction of Queen Victoria Street, Cornhill, Threadneedle Street, Princes Street, Lombard Street and King William Street (via a small section called 'Poultry'). Cheapside is also a common English street name, meaning 'market-place'. Other cities and towns that have a Cheapside street include Birmingham, Bristol, Derby, Halifax, Lancaster, Leicester, Luton, Manchester, Nottingham and Reading. Category:Streets of London

London

London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. As Europe's richest city, London produces 17% of the UK's GDP, and is one of the world's major business and financial centres. The capital of the former global empire, London is a leader in culture, communications, politics, finance, entertainment and the arts and has considerable influence worldwide. arts]] arts] London is the most populous city in the European Union, with an estimated population on 1 January 2005 of 7,500,000 and a metropolitan area population of between 12 and 14 million. London's population includes an extremely diverse range of peoples, cultures, and religions, making it one of the most cosmopolitan, vibrant and energetic cities on earth. A resident of London is referred to as a Londoner. Over 300 languages are spoken in London, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world. Initially it was a Roman city and known as Londinium and then as Lunnainn, Llundain and Londain in the Scottish, Welsh and Irish languages respectively. London is known by these names in other languages. London is the home of many global organisations, institutions and companies, and as such retains its leading role in global affairs. A city where cutting-edge meets tradition, London is a major tourist destination and transport hub. It has a great number of important buildings and iconic landmarks, including world-famous museums, theatres, concert halls, galleries, airports, sports stadia and palaces. London is one of the world's major global cities (along with New York City, Tokyo and Paris).

Defining London

Today, "London" usually refers to the conurbation known as Greater London, which is divided into thirty-two London Boroughs and the City of London and forms the London region of England. Historically, "London" referred to the square mile of the City of London at the conurbation's heart, from which the city grew. Between 1889 and 1965 it referred to the former County of London which covered the area now known as Inner London. There are other definitions of "London" which cover varying areas, such as the London postal district; the area covered by the telephone area code 020; the area accessible by public transport using a Transport for London Travelcard; the area delimited by the M25 orbital motorway; the Metropolitan Police district; and the London commuter belt. The coordinates of the centre of London (traditionally considered to be Charing Cross, near the junction of Trafalgar Square, the Strand, Whitehall and the Mall) are approximately . The Romans marked the centre of Londinium with the London Stone in the City.

Geography and climate

London Stone, with Green Park and St. James's Park to its right]] Greater London covers an area of 609 square miles (1,579 km²). London is a port on the Thames, a navigable river. The river has had a major influence on the development of the city. London was founded on the north bank of the Thames and there was only a single bridge, London Bridge, for many centuries. As a result, the main focus of the city was on the north side of the Thames. When more bridges were built in the 18th century, the city expanded in all directions as the mostly flat or gently rolling countryside around the Thames floodplain presented no obstacle to growth. There are some hills in London, examples being Parliament Hill and Primrose Hill, but these provided fine prospects of the city centre without significantly affecting the directions of the spread of the city and London is therefore roughly circular. The Thames was once a much broader, shallower river than it is today. It has been extensively embanked, and many of its London tributaries now flow underground. The Thames is a tidal river, and London is vulnerable to flooding. The threat has increased over time due to a slow but continuous rise in high water level and the slow 'tilting' of Britain (up in the north and down in the south) caused by post-glacial rebound. The Thames Barrier was constructed across the Thames at Woolwich in the 1970s to deal with this threat, but in early-2005 it was suggested that a ten-mile-long barrier further downstream might be required to deal with the flood risk in the future [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4162905.stm]. London has a temperate climate, with warm but seldom hot summers, cool but rarely severe winters, and regular but generally light precipitation throughout the year. Summer temperatures rarely rise much above 33°C (91°F), though higher temperatures have become more common recently. The highest temperature ever recorded in London was 38.1°C (100.6°F), measured at Kew Gardens during the European Heat Wave of 2003. Heavy snowfalls are almost unknown. In recent winters, snow has rarely settled to more than an inch (25 mm). London's average annual precipitation of less than 24 inches (600 mm) is lower than that of Rome or Sydney. London's large built-up area creates a microclimate, with heat stored by the city's buildings: sometimes temperatures are 5°C (9°F) warmer in the city than in the surrounding areas.

History

microclimate bombings of London]] The name London is commonly thought to have come from the Latin name Londinium, as London was founded by the Romans during their reign over the land, around 43AD – although there is some slight evidence of pre-Roman settlement. The [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/timelines/england/rom_roman_invasion.shtml BBC History website], however, claims that the name Londinium is actually "Celtic, not Latin, and may originally have referred to a previous farmstead on the site"; the root is 'Lond' meaning 'wild' (i.e. overgrown or forested) place. This fortified Roman settlement was the capital of the province of Britannia. According to findings displayed in London Museum, the initial language of London was Latin with much Greek spoken due to the presence of Greek speaking Roman soldiers and businessmen. Another suggestion for where the name of the city comes from could be that of the mythical leader, King Lud. It was said that Lud laid out the first set of roads in the city. His statue can be seen hidden at the church of St Dunstan's In The West, Fleet Street. Around AD 61 the Iceni tribe of Celts lead by Queen Boudica stormed London and took the city from the Romans. The Celts burnt the relatively new Roman town to the ground, and archaeological digs have revealed a layer of red ash beneath the City of London, which is believed to be the burnt remains of the old Roman town. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Londinium was abandoned and a Saxon town named Lundenwic was established approximately one mile to the west in what is now Aldwych, in the 7th century. The old Roman city was then reoccupied during the late-9th or early-10th century. Westminster was once a distinct town, and has been the seat of the English royal court and government since the mediæval era. Eventually, Westminster and London grew together and formed the basis of London, becoming England's largest – though not capital – city (Winchester was the capital city of England until the 12th century). London has grown steadily over centuries, surrounding and making suburbs of neighbouring villages and towns, farmland, countryside, meadows and woodlands, spreading in every direction. From the 16th to the early-20th century, London flourished as the capital of the British Empire. In 1666, the Great Fire of London swept through and destroyed a large part of the City of London. Rebuilding took over 10 years, but London's growth accelerated in the 18th century, and, by the early-19th century, it was the largest city in the world. London's local government system struggled to cope with this rapid growth, especially in providing the city with adequate infrastructure. In 1855 the Metropolitan Board of Works was created to provide London with infrastructure to cope with its growth. In 1889 the MBW was abolished, and the County of London was created which was administered by the London County Council, the first elected London-wide administrative body. Probably the most significant changes to London in the last 100 years were as a result of the Blitz and other bombing by the German Luftwaffe that took place during World War II. The bombing killed over 30,000 Londoners and flattened large tracts of housing and other buildings across London. The rebuilding during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s was characterised by a wide range of architectural styles and has resulted in a lack of unity in architecture that has become part of London's character. Until their 1997 ceasefire, London was regularly a target for IRA bombers seeking to pressurise the British government into negotiations with Sinn Féin on Northern Ireland. On 7 July 2005, there was a series of coordinated bomb attacks by Islamic extremist suicide bombers on three underground stations and a bus. The explosions came less than 24 hours after London was awarded the 2012 Summer Olympics and as the G-8 summit was underway in Gleneagles, Scotland. A series of explosions also took place on 21 July 2005; however, in the latter incident, there were no fatalities.

Modern London

2005 Today Greater London comprises the City of London and the 32 London boroughs (including the City of Westminster). 12 of these boroughs are defined as Inner London, the remaining 20 defined as Outer London. The dominant centre of activity in London is the City of Westminster (including the West End) which is the main cultural, entertainment and shopping district, the location of most