A brief guide to British Black History

Someone once mentioned, or perhaps I read somewhere, or heard on the radio, or even saw on the televison, that October 2006 is a Black History Month; whatever that may mean.

Personally October has always been a favorite month of the year, especially as part of my journey to work takes me through London's greenbelt. The mornings have a refreshing chill about them, along with the occasional mists that enhance the beauty of the countryside. The woodland leaves start the slow turn from green to autumnal gold. While the evenings begin to draw in heralding the coming winter.

For children, from the perspective of my own childhood, October means Holloween, followed quickly by Guy Fawkes Night, and the countdown to the best part of the year; Christmas.

It would be horrifying to think that this time of enjoyment has been despoiled for young British schoolchildren by forcing them to 'study' so-called 'black history' during the autumn month of October.

But enough of that and onto a contribution to the month of October: A (very) brief guide to British Black History etc...

A brief guide to British Black History, Life, and Culture

1877 November 24th
Black Beauty
Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse, first published November 24th 1877, is Anna Sewell's first and only novel composed in the last years of her life.

Blackburn
Blackburn is a town in Lancashire, England.

The Black Country
The Black Country is a loosely-defined area of conurbation to the north and west of Birmingham, and to the south and east of Wolverhampton in the English West Midlands, around the South Staffordshire coalfield.

1338 June
The Black Death
The Black Death, also known as the Black Plague, was a devastating pandemic that first struck Europe in the mid-late-14th century, coming to England by JUne 1338

The Black Isle
The Black Isle (Scottish Gaelic: an t-Eilean Dubh) is an eastern area of Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland.

1948
The Black Museum
Established in 1948 the Black Museum of Scotland Yard was a famed collection of criminal memorabilia kept at the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police in London, England.

Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside town in north-western England.

1330 June 15th
Edward, the Black Prince
Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales, popularly known as the Black Prince, was the eldest son of King Edward III of England

Black Pudding
Black pudding is a sausage made by cooking down the blood of an animal with meat, fat or filler until it is thick enough to congeal when cooled.

Black Shuck
Black Shuck is the name given to a ghostly black dog which is said to roam the Norfolk and Suffolk coastline.

1897 May 22nd
Blackwall Tunnel
The Blackwall Tunnel is the name given to a pair of road tunnels underneath the River Thames in east London. It was opened by the Prince of Wales on 22 May 1897.

1992 Setember 16th
Black Wednesday
when the Conservative government of the day was forced to withdraw the Pound from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) due to pressure by currency speculators

The Black Watch
The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland, is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.

1840 May 1st
Penny Black
The Penny Black was the world's first official adhesive postage stamp, issued in the city of Bath by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on May 1, 1840, for use from May 6.

Other contributions to this guide are welcome.