17th November

Richard Nixon said today in 1973, 'I am not a crook' and that sent me in search of other serial deniers in History, e.g. -

• 'I am not, therefore I am' - Jean Paul Satre
• 'I am not for turning' - Margaret Thatcher
• 'I am not going to invade Poland' - Adolf Hitler (1938)
• 'Oh, yes I am' - Adolf Hitler (1939)
• I am a knot garden' - Capability Brown

In other news ...
The first successful British submarine voyage took place today in 1904 from Southampton to the Isle of Wight. The two principal ferry companies that serve the Island were both interested in acquiring the passenger franchise. But then they couldn't be arsed.

Further to this, Wightlink, or so my old mate M J Trow tells me, have axed umpteen sailings from their schedule, meaning that getting home after even the most modest evening out on the mainland is, for Islanders, darned near impossible. As a ferry is the only option they have, the uptake of theatre tickets and other treats will be markedly reduced in all the towns along the South Coast will see a knock-on effect as they hunker down and watch paint dry at home instead of sallying forth to enjoy a night out. Well done, Wightlink, for trying to return a whole county to the Dark Ages. And come along, ferry entrepreneurs - you must be out there somewhere.

30 January

If you go to Carisbrooke Castle in the Isle of Wight, you'll find a little chapel there, dedicated to the martyrdom of King Charles I. Not many people regard him as a martyr, even though they chopped his head off outside his own palace at Whitehall 363 years ago today (Incidentally, they've changed the calendar since then so this figure may not be totally accurate). Whatever Charles was deemed to have done - ruled without parliament, raised taxes without their consent, married a Catholic wife etc etc) the trial itself was illegal, presided over by a foreign judge. The jury was not made up of Charles's peers (ie his equals - 12 other kings) and the usual rules of evidence were waived. Having supposedly caused the deaths of thousands of his countrymen in the civil war, he was replaced by Oliver Cromwell who proceeded to do exactly the same thing in Scotland and Ireland. Historians, of course, know this already - and can point to almost any regime change where the body count is actually higher afterwards than before. Try it - you'll find it is horribly difficult to find any example which disproves that statement.

In other news ...
Anton Chekov, the Russian playwright was born this day in 1860. His plays include The Seagull and The Cherry Orchard and his grandson, Pavel Chekov, went on to become the little guy with the irritating and unconvincing Russian accent under James T Kirk on the Enterprise.