Parliament Square

Four historical figures who you may not know had a disability

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, January 4, 2024
Tiberius, Prejudice, Policy, Work, Depression, Disability studies, Workhouse, Learning, State, Social work, Movement, Woman, Research, Disability, Man, Doctor of Philosophy, Religion, Parliament Square, Great Depression, Sojourner Truth, Farm, Rest, Perception, Tremor, Empathy, Leg, History, Crutch, Political union, Child, Life, Entertainment

There are important stories and contributions that have long been overlooked because the people responsible were part of a marginalised group.

Key Points: 
  • There are important stories and contributions that have long been overlooked because the people responsible were part of a marginalised group.
  • There are many famous historical figures who were disabled, but this part of their identity is often left out of discussions about their lives.
  • Here are four people who made important contributions to history, whose disabilities are often omitted from their stories.

Dorothea Lange

  • Born in 1895 in New Jersey, Dorothea Lange was an influential photographer and photojournalist.
  • When she was seven, Dorothea contracted polio, which weakened her leg and left her with a limp for the rest of her life.
  • Lange described her disability as “the most important thing that happened to me.

Rosa May Billinghurst

  • British suffragette Rosa May Billinghurst was born in 1875 in Lewisham, London.
  • She later recounted the profound impact that this had on her, influencing her decision to become involved with the suffrage movement.
  • Her first arrest in relation to her activism was in 1911, for obstructing police at a demonstration in Parliament Square.

Sojourner Truth

  • Born into slavery, at some point probably between 1797 to 1800, in Swartekill, New York, Isabella Baumfree later gave herself the name Sojourner Truth in 1843.
  • Academics have argued that Truth concealed her disability in order to present an image of strength.
  • Truth was the first black women in US history to win a court case against a white man.

Claudius, Roman emperor


The fourth emperor of Rome, Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, ruled from AD 41 to 54. Claudius is described as having a range of physical disabilities and illnesses throughout his life, including tremors in his hands, a limp and a stammer.

  • Claudius had an interest in history, and produced volumes on the history of Carthage, the Roman republic and many other topics.
  • He is best known for expanding the Roman empire and improving the judicial system of Rome.


Mia Edwards receives funding from Midlands4Cities AHRC Research Council.

Guerilla gardening: how you can make your local area greener without getting into trouble

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, October 4, 2023
Darkness, Human, Food, Crime, Life, Seed, Friends, Atmosphere, Parliament Square, Tree, Flower, Vegetable, Attention, Social media, Movement, Gardening, Plant, Time, Guerrilla warfare, Police, Quarterlife, City, Wilderness, Ageing, Helium, Mental health, Family, Environment, Riot, Common, Drinking establishment, Drug, Medicinal plants, Amusement park, Recycling, Agriculture

But as many as one in eight British households have no access to a garden or outdoor space of their own.

Key Points: 
  • But as many as one in eight British households have no access to a garden or outdoor space of their own.
  • This article is part of Quarter Life, a series about issues affecting those of us in our twenties and thirties.
  • The articles in this series explore the questions and bring answers as we navigate this turbulent period of life.
  • TikTok trend exposed the way we gender history Guerrilla gardening is a particularly good option for these groups of people.

Can you be prosecuted?

    • Common examples of such locations include broken pavements with missing slabs, wasteland and the central areas of roundabouts.
    • Although much of this land is already open for the public to walk over, actively gardening on it would become an act of trespass.
    • However, gardening on this land would be a breach of civil law rather than a crime.
    • This means that most guerrilla gardeners are unlikely to receive a fine or a criminal record.

How can you start?

    • Some environmental projects circulate “seed bombs” and others use biodegradable “seed balloons” that are filled with helium and deflate after a day, distributing seeds by air.
    • Whatever you try, as a guerrilla gardener you shouldn’t harm the environment or spoil other people’s enjoyment of the space around you.
    • And think carefully about the species you are going to plant so that you can protect local plants and wildlife.

Why the Turner prize shortlist is a cultural barometer of our political times

Retrieved on: 
Friday, April 28, 2023
Tate Britain, State Britain, Saatchi, Young British Artists, Assemble, Housing, Freedom, Channel 4, Violence, Exhibition, Hip, Education, Bed, Culture, Parliament Square, Politics, Jeremy Corbyn, Channel, Research, YBAS, History, Movement, Shark, Parliament, Veronica, Stasis, Damien Hirst, Collective bargaining, Crash, Labour Party, Hope, Time, Colonialism, Racism, History of the Labour Party (UK), Efficiency, Ageing, New Labour, Ownership, Turner Prize, PR, Football, Black Lives Matter, Interior design, Management, Video game, Turner, Britpop, Thatcherism

The 2023 Turner prize shortlist has been announced featuring British artists Jesse Darling, Rory Pilgrim, Ghislaine Leung and Barbara Walker.

Key Points: 
  • The 2023 Turner prize shortlist has been announced featuring British artists Jesse Darling, Rory Pilgrim, Ghislaine Leung and Barbara Walker.
  • With a whirlwind 40-year socio-political history this lens can be applied to the prize.

From Thatcher’s 1980s to Channel 4’s 1990s

    • Things changed in 1991 with Channel 4 as a hip new sponsor and a ban on artists over 50.
    • The prize would raise interest in a newly youthful, increasingly fashionable area of UK culture.
    • The 1990s prizes are remembered for Young British Art.
    • The televised celebrity-strewn Channel 4 under 50s version of the Turner prize was part of this – feeding the feel-good 1990s vibes, fuelled by PR and underwritten by a debt-driven boom.

2000’s third way

    • Some of the tax income from a seemingly buoyant economy was spent on the arts, which were newly redefined as consumer services and required to prove value and efficiency using metrics.
    • Titled State Britain, it was created when Tony Blair passed a law to make it illegal to protest within a mile of Parliament.
    • Positioned across the perimeter of the one mile from Parliament no-protest-zone, it probed a line between art and politics.

2008’s financial crash and a new outlook

    • Shortlisted Turner prize art from that time didn’t say much about austerity or that moment, instead looking a lot like the art of the early 2000s.
    • Anti-austerity movements found a home alongside trade unions in a Labour Party reimagined under the radically social democratic leadership of Jeremy Corbyn.
    • Lubaina Himid, aged 62, was named winner in 2017, after the Turner prize age cap was dropped.
    • By implication, the work conveys something about the failure of institutions to provide either basic support or transformative change.
    • Hope is found instead in a politics of community and care, vulnerability and interconnection, which offers occasional glimpses of better worlds.

Instant Messaging App, Frog, Shoots to the Top of the App Store

Retrieved on: 
Monday, February 28, 2022
London School of Economics, Growth, App store, London Bridge, Don't Blame the Party (Mode), Family, SUPS, Parliament Square, Gen, Friends, Android, Social media, Frame, Heart, Q&A, Covent Garden, Generation Z, Seabed warfare, WYD, Social, IOS, Mobile phone, Apple, Frog

It skyrocketed to the top of Apple's App Store with its recent campaigns in London and went viral with users loving Frog's focus on cultivating genuine friendships.

Key Points: 
  • It skyrocketed to the top of Apple's App Store with its recent campaigns in London and went viral with users loving Frog's focus on cultivating genuine friendships.
  • At its heart, Frog is an instant video messaging app designed to unmask fake friends.
  • Each time a friend checks in, Frog users will be notified and asked, "What are you doing?"
  • Frog is fun, spontaneous social networking app helping Gen Z ditch the filters and fakery of other apps and focus on meaningful connections.

Instant Messaging App, Frog, Shoots to the Top of the App Store

Retrieved on: 
Monday, February 28, 2022
London School of Economics, Growth, App store, London Bridge, Don't Blame the Party (Mode), Family, SUPS, Parliament Square, Gen, Friends, Android, Social media, Frame, Heart, Q&A, Covent Garden, Generation Z, Seabed warfare, WYD, Social, IOS, Mobile phone, Apple, Frog

It skyrocketed to the top of Apple's App Store with its recent campaigns in London and went viral with users loving Frog's focus on cultivating genuine friendships.

Key Points: 
  • It skyrocketed to the top of Apple's App Store with its recent campaigns in London and went viral with users loving Frog's focus on cultivating genuine friendships.
  • At its heart, Frog is an instant video messaging app designed to unmask fake friends.
  • Each time a friend checks in, Frog users will be notified and asked, "What are you doing?"
  • Frog is fun, spontaneous social networking app helping Gen Z ditch the filters and fakery of other apps and focus on meaningful connections.

THE LUXURY COLLECTION DEBUTS IN AUSTRALIA WITH THE OPENING OF THE TASMAN, A LUXURY COLLECTION HOTEL, HOBART

Retrieved on: 
Monday, December 20, 2021
Aurora, 2–3 Pavilion Buildings, Brighton, Heritage buildings in Edmonton, Instagram, State government, Menon, Parliament Square, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, History, Parliament, Heritage, Growth, W Hotels, Art Deco, Wilderness, Sullivans Cove, Consultant, NASDAQ, Asia-Pacific, Park, Collection, Salamanca Market, Program, Multimedia, Saint David, CIGA, Twitter, Health, View, Hotel, Nightclub, Interior design, Poor Little Peppina, Facebook, Marriott International, Cove

HOBART, Australia, Dec. 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --The Luxury Collection Hotels & Resorts, part of Marriott Bonvoy's portfolio of 30 extraordinary hotel brands, today announced the opening of The Tasman, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hobart , marking the debut of The Luxury Collection brand in Australia.

Key Points: 
  • HOBART, Australia, Dec. 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --The Luxury Collection Hotels & Resorts, part of Marriott Bonvoy's portfolio of 30 extraordinary hotel brands, today announced the opening of The Tasman, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hobart , marking the debut of The Luxury Collection brand in Australia.
  • Located on the island state of Tasmania, Hobart is renowned for its epicurean culture, vibrant art scene, and breathtaking natural surroundings.
  • The Tasman offers 152 guest rooms and suites carefully conceived to showcase the captivating architectural narrative of the property.
  • The Tasman, set to open on 17 December 2021, in Hobart, Tasmania, marks the debut of The Luxury Collection by Marriott International in Australia.