From 1345 to 1347, the Hundred Years' War between the English and the French flared up. Determined to renew the conflict, King Edward III of England despatched a small force to south-west France where they won victories at Bergerac and Auberoche. In 1346 an English army of 10,000 men landed in northern Normandy, devastated the region, and stormed and sacked Caen(pictured). They then cut a swath to within 20 miles (32 km) of Paris, turned north, and inflicted a heavy defeat on the French army at the Battle of Crécy. They exploited this by laying siege to Calais. The period from the English victory outside Bergerac to the start of the siege of Calais is known as Edward III's annus mirabilis (year of marvels). After an eleven-month siege, which stretched both countries' financial and military resources to the limit, the town fell, and for more than two hundred years it served as an English entrepôt into northern France. (This article is part of a featured topic: Hundred Years' War, 1345–1347.)
Sir Thomas Bodley, founder of the Bodleian Library
The head of the Bodleian Library, the main library at the University of Oxford in England, is known as Bodley's Librarian: both are named after the founder, Sir Thomas Bodley(pictured). Although Oxford had had a university library since about 1320, it had declined by the end of the 16th century, so Bodley offered in 1598 to restore it. The first Librarian, Thomas James, was selected in 1599, and the Bodleian opened in 1602. Bodley wanted the Librarian to be diligent, a linguist, unmarried and not a parish priest, although James persuaded him to dispense with the last two requirements. In all, 24 people have served as Bodley's Librarian, some less well than others, with John Price (who held the post from 1768 to 1813) accused of "a regular and constant neglect of his duty". The current Librarian, Sarah Thomas, was appointed in 2007; she is the first woman, and the first foreign librarian, to run the Bodleian. She said that when she saw the job description, "it was love at first sight". (more...)
The Hass avocado is a variety of avocado with dark green, bumpy skin. It was first grown and sold by the American horticulturist Rudolph Hass, who also gave it his name. The Hass is one of the most commercially popular avocado cultivars and accounts for more than 80 percent of the crop in the United States. This is due to its taste, size, shelf-life, high growing yield and in some areas, year-round harvesting. The fruit has a mass of 200 to 300 grams (8 to 10 ounces) and, when ripe, its skin becomes a dark purplish-black that yields to gentle pressure. The centre part of the inner fruit then becomes white-green. This picture shows a whole and a halved Hass avocado, cultivated in Colombia. The photograph was focus-stacked from 12 separate images.
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