Language & Culture: Timeline

Introduction

Essay: Tower of London

1078

Tower of London

It all started with William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy. He conflicted with Harold Godwinson, the former King of England. The troops fought each other, and William's troops won. On Christmas Day, the exact date: December 25, 1066, he was crowned by King William I in the Winchester Abbey).William began planning to build the Tower of London near the Thames in 1078. It was built primarily as a symbol of royal power, but this also allowed the Upper Pool of London to be controlled and provided protection within the city as a defense mechanism (Historic royal palaces, n.d.) (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, 2023) (McGillick, n.d.).

Masons came from Normandy and brought stones from Caen, France. The reason that the stones are white is that they contain a lot of lime. About twenty years later, the Tower of London was completed. There are 13 towers around the White Tower and the most famous are; the Bloody Tower, the Beauchamp Tower and the Wakefield Tower. During the early Middle Ages until modern times, the tower was used as a royal palace to protect themselves and store their valuables such as; royal jewels, crowns, weapons and armour. The money supply of the country was also controlled here. The coins were made at the Tower Mint. Sometimes it functioned as a zoo. Animals were given as gifts and there were at most 280 animals present (Historic royal palaces, n.d.) (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, 2023).

In the Middle Ages, the tower was used as a prison for high-ranking people and as a place of execution, for example for hanging or beheading. They also locked the enemies within the walls. During this time, changes took place. Henry III and Edward I added defensive walls and enlarged the moat. In 1471 during the War of the Roses Henry VI was murdered in the Tower of London, as were Edward IV's children. The Beefeaters are the guardians of the tower. In 1485 this was decided by King Henry VII. The bodyguards had to taste the dishes because they were afraid that the king would be poisoned. You recognize them by their red state uniforms.In the 19th century, visitors increased due to stories about and people said that Anne Boleyn lived in the green tower.The Tower of London was closed to the public during the Second World War. The canal was drained and used as a vegetable garden to provide food.The Tower of London is currently a museum and therefore also a tourist attraction and is visited by 2.8 million people every year (Historic royal palaces, n.d.) (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, 2023)(History.com Editors, 2018).

Bibliographic

Historic royal palaces. (n.d.). 9 surprising facts about the Tower of London Moat. Retrieved 12 2023, from Historic royal palaces: https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/history-and-stories/9-surprising-facts-about-the-tower-of-london-moat/#gs.1rs4tx

Historic royal palaces. (n.d.). The Story of the Tower of London. Retrieved 12 2023, from Historic royal palaces: https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/history-and-stories/the-story-of-the-tower-of-london/#gs.1rrzpr

Historic royal palaces. (n.d.). The Tower of London Menagerie. Retrieved 12 2023, from Historic royal palaces: https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/history-and-stories/the-tower-of-london-menagerie/#gs.1rsl8j

History.com Editors. (2018). Tower of London. Retrieved 12 2023, from History: https://www.history.com/topics/middle-ages/tower-of-london

McGillick, K. (n.d.). The Tower of London. Retrieved 12 2023, from Britainexpress: https://www.britainexpress.com/articles/London/tower-of-london.htm

The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. (2023). Tower of London. Retrieved 12 2023, from Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tower-of-London

Video: Henry the 8th

1491 - 1547

Henry the 8th

Poster: Act of Union

1706 - 1801

Act of Union

Interview: Tim Berners-Lee

1991

Tim Berners-Lee

Tim Berners-Lee is an important British computer scientist in our history because he played a major role in the invention of the World Wide Web. He ensured that there was a good and coherent system for the dissemination of information. Tim created our first web browser, and we continue to benefit from it to this day (Oxfordreference, n.d.).

1. What did you want to achieve when you created the World Wide Web?

I worked at CERN at the time and, in my opinion, wanted to help my colleagues share data and information from data on one platform so that it would become a platform that is open and accessible to everyone (Yaroslava, n.d.) (Oxfordreference, n.d.).

2. How do you think the web will develop in the coming years?

I hope our personal data will become more secure. So, that companies cannot delve into algorithms, and I hope that Solid expands considerably so that this is the platform where there is more control over our data, good privacy and security

(Patrizio, 2023).

3. What are your thoughts on how the Internet has become more commercial and how our personal information is kept secure?

I find this very difficult, our personal data is not safe because the problem is that companies offer free content for sharing our personal data, so they can respond well to this.

There is a lot of commercialization, in my opinion, they have way too much personal data and power. This is why I am working on a new platform called Solid. On this platform, personal data cannot be stored by companies and personal data remains safe (Patrizio, 2023).