Christmas birthday
Next year has a claim to be the 400th birthday of Father Christmas. Ben Jonson wrote a short play for James I, called Christmas: his masque, performed at court in December 1616. The central character, named as ‘Old Christmas’ and ‘Captaine Christmas’, encouraged everyone to merriment. He had ten children, with names ranging from Misrule to Plum Pudding. While a 15th-century hymn had mentioned a ‘Sir Christmas’, Jonson was the first to give Christmas physical characteristics, including a tall hat and a beard.
It’s their year
2016 is being promoted as:
— International Year of Pulses (UN)
— Year of the Whale (Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environmental Programme)
— Year of Local Solutions to Global Problems (International Council for Science)
— Year of the English Garden (VisitEngland)
— Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design (VisitScotland)
— Year of Arts and Young People in Birmingham (Birmingham Cultural Partnership)
The predictable truth
How good were predictions for 2015?
— ‘Bitcoin’s defects will hasten its demise in 2015’ (BreakingViews.com):
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