Cult of Mithras

The cult of Mithras was a Roman "mystery religion", centring around the god Mithras, which originated from Mithras of Indo-European origin. Mithras was associated with contracts, friendship and cosmic order. 

Mystery religions, or mystery cults, sometimes shortened simply to mysteries, were religious schools participation in which was reserved to initiates. A famous cult of pre-Greek origins was the Eleusinian Mysteries.

Mithraism became popular in Italy, Britain and North Africa and survived prior to the advent of Christianity. 

Rituals took place in underground temples called mithraea. There are a number in the city of Rome. There are remains of one near Hexham in Northumberland, England, and also one in London.

Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge was opened on 30 June 1894. It was originally chocolate brown. It was painted red, white and blue in 1977 to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee (25th anniversary). It is a bascule bridge (French for seesaw), which uses weights and pulleys to operate a drawbridge mechanism.

What is a Fabian war without Fabian means to support it?

This phrase is used by Thomas Paine. What it means is that a long drawn out struggle is unviable without sufficient resources to sustain it. A shorter, sharper approach may be required if resources are scanty.

William Pitt

William Pitt (1759-1806) was the last Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1783 until the Acts of Union 1800 and the first official Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from January 1801. He was born in Hayes. He was the sound of William Pitt the Elder, Prime Minister from 1766 to 1768. The family fortune was made in India. Their house was later lived in by Everard Hambro, son of the founder of Hambros Bank (founded by a Danish banker), and demolished in 1933. 

Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine was an English-born American Founding Father, and author of the pamphlet Common Sense (1776) framing the argument for America's independence from Great Britain. Quotes from his work:

• From the errors of other nations, let us learn wisdom
• There is something absurd in supposing a continent to be perpetually governed by an island
• The cause of America is in great measure the cause of all mankind

In 1796 he published an open letter to George Washington, whom he denounced as an incompetent general and a hypocrite. Washington may have avoided Paine at this point, possibly believing his politics to be too radical.

Paine's footnote to his letter objects to the appointment of a single Executive in government: "It is necessary to the manly mind of a republic, that it loses the debasing idea of obeying an individual".

More writings of the Founding Fathers can be found here.

Chaturanga

Chaturanga is an ancient Indian strategy board game - the ancestor of chess. In this game the bishop is instead the elephant. There is also a game called chaturaji, a four-person version of chess. It was played in India up to the 1800s.

Opera Cake

Opera cake, or "gâteau opéra" is a cake layered like an opera house. The layers are of almond sponge cake (Joconde) soaked in coffee syrup, with coffee, ganache and chocolate glaze on the various layers. It was popularised by Dalloyau.