Kit Marlowe was born today in 1564 in the parish of St George in Canterbury. His dad was a tanner and shoemaker and Kit was a bright boy who sang beautifully, studied the Classics at the King's School and went on to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he started to write naughty poetry (based on Ovid) and do a bit of spying on the side for Sir Francis Walsingham, the 'M' of his day. How did it all turn out? Well, you'll have to read a brilliant new detective series written by MJ Trow and published by Severn House in their new Creme de la Crime imprint and available on Amazon and all good bookshops. There are two of these must-reads out already - Dark Entry and Silent Court - with a third, Witchhammer, out this spring. It's the sort of stuff I would like to have written myself, if I only had the time.
In other news ...
Joseph Priestley died today in 1804. He discovered (not invented, despite the contentions of Seven Eff Pea) oxygen and was a Radical politician whose house was burnt down by a right-wing mob who didn't care for his views on the French Revolution - which he believed was the best thing since sliced bread ... which he also didn't invent.
In later years, he used his initials JB and became a successful writer (only joking, Seven Eff Pea).
