Hypertext Almanac
In 2025, I published an extended version of this article on Deptford.org.
The Cornish Rebellion of 1497 was a classic tale of taxes, grievances, and poor tactical decisions. King Henry VII, fresh off inventing the Tudor dynasty, decided to raise taxes to fund a Scottish campaign. Cornwall, already feeling geographically and culturally overlooked, responded with a collective, “Not today.”
The year 1011 was supposed to be a triumph for Ælfheah, or Alphege as we know him now—because honestly, who can be bothered to decipher that weird ‘Æ’? Anyway, this Archbishop of Canterbury had been doing quite well for himself. He’d restored churches, worked to spread Christianity in the countryside, and generally managed to keep affairs in order during a turbulent time. A man on the up, one might say.
In 1940, Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster crafted a comic strip for Look magazine, portraying the Man of Steel as a World War II hero.
In Deptford, there’s a monument to Peter the Great crafted by Mihail Chemiakin. Viewing it, much like encountering the artist’s other works, is a challenge that often leaves observers tearful: not from the depth of emotion it might inspire, but rather from its sheer lack of appeal.
In 1995, a Russian tabloid ran a story about the video game habits of politicians. The findings were predictable—many professed a fondness for Tetris, one member of parliament was rumoured to play arcades, and most claimed they were far too busy for such frivolities. But the real prize came at the end: an unnamed Kremlin source mentioned that, in his rare spare moments, President Yeltsin liked to play Civilization.
