Who was Lord Byron? Described as ‘mad, bad and dangerous to know,’ Byron was born in London in 1788, son of Captain John (“Mad Jack”) Byron. Lord Byron was a scoundrel, revolutionary and groundbreaking poet, considered one of the leaders of the romantic movement. He is also known for his many love affairs with both …
Lord Byron had a pet bear, three pet monkeys and a pet crocodile in his house Read More »
And before you start saying what about Wales? Wales is a constituent country of the United Kingdom and is not recognised as a sovereign state! Out of the 195 sovereign states in the world recognised by the United Nations, there are no countries that begin with the letter W. What about Wales? Wales is politically …
There are no countries in the world that begin with the letter W Read More »
It’s 2020 and where are the flying cars as promised to us in Back to the Future? Well, believe it or not, they already exist! In 2009 British entrepreneur and inventor Neil Laughton piloted a flying car from London to Timbuktu. He used the Parajet Skycar, the world’s first road-legal flying car. It uses a …
The largest line dance in multiple locations took place in 2016 in China. 50,085 people took part in the synchronised line dance which took place simultaneously in twelve cities across the country. Sports stadiums and public squares were filled with dancers all wearing the same red costume. The dancers were mostly from local line dancing …
Blonde hair is extremely rare globally. 84% of the world’s population have black or dark-brown hair, including most of Africa and Asia. Blonde hair is most common in northern European regions. https://www.holleewoodhair.com/hair-color-statistics/ Why do people have blonde hair? People evolved to have blonde hair because, as they migrated north, the lighter the skin and hair, …
Only 2% of the world’s population have blonde hair Read More »
The carnivorous plants of the Nepenthaceae (Nepenthes) family: N. rajah and N. rafflesiana are known for eating frogs, birds, rats. Their colour odour and nectar attract the prey which are captured and digested with enzymes. These species grow in the tropical forests of Asia on Borneo Island, in Indonesia and Malaysia. Source: The Craziest Records, …
An undertaker in France is called a ‘croque-mort’. ‘Croque’ meaning to nibble or bite and ‘mort’ meaning dead. It is thought that the word comes from the middle ages when undertakers used to bite the toe of the deceased to check that they were definitely dead. In France the word ‘croque-mort’ is given to employees …
Why the French for undertaker is ‘croque-mort’ (bite the dead)? Read More »
If you’re on medication, maybe think twice before tucking into your morning grapefruit. Taking drugs at the same time as eating grapefruit can exacerbate the effect of the drugs and cause serious side effects. Grapefruit contains a chemical that affects your enzymes and makes the effect of many medicines much stronger than normal. The chemical …
Why you should never eat grapefruit before taking drugs Read More »
The Alexandra Limp In 1863 Alexandra of Denmark married the Princess of Wales. She was very popular and particularly admired for her style among fashion-conscious women of society. Everything the Princess did, the fashionable young women would copy. So when she wore a choker to hide a scar on her neck, all well-to-do women wore …
Discover the Alexandra Limp and other bizarre Victorian fashions Read More »
Rabbit Show Jumping (or Kaninhop in Swedish) began in Sweden in the late 1980s and is now an international sport with tournaments being held around the world. The sport began from a rabbits enthusiasts club in Sweden who decided to hold a tournament to see whose rabbit could jump the highest/furthest. The first national championship …
Welcome to the wonderfully cute world of Rabbit Show Jumping Read More »
When staff at Kansas Zoo noticed that their Peruvian penguins seemed to be a bit bored and perhaps missed having visitors, they decided to take them to the museum. The three penguins, called Bubble (5), Maggie (7) and Berkley (8) had the Nelson Atkins Museum all to themselves due to the Corona lockdown and were …
In the ‘gypsy’ language of Romani they call a television a ‘dinnilos-dicking-muktar’ which literally translates as ‘fools-looking-box.’ The words ‘chav’, ‘lollipop’, and ‘pal’ also come from Romani. Pal – a friend, from the Romani word phral, meaning brother. ‘Loli phabai’ means red apple which mutated to ‘lollipop’. Bonus fact: Some people call them ‘gypsies’ but …
In Romani, the word for television translates as ‘fool’s looking box’ Read More »
The Snickers chocolate bar consists of nougat, peanuts, and caramel with a chocolate coating. It is sold in over 70 countries across the globe and is the best-selling chocolate bar in the world with global sales adding up to more than $2 billion. Many clever British people of a certain age will delight in pointing …
Did you know Snickers was originally called… Snickers? Read More »
Icon of the Jazz Age Burlesque dancer, French Resistance agent, human-rights activist and iconic symbol of the Jazz age, Josephine Baker was often called ‘the Black Venus,’ but was much more than just a burlesque dancer. Street urchin Josephine was born into a poor family in St Louis Missouri. Aged 13 she was living on …
Meet the Burlesque dancer who unleashed her pet cheetah on an orchestra Read More »
During storms some coastal towns are flooded with foam. In 2015 British coastal town Cleveleys was inundated with foam during a storm that whipped up the sea with strong winds. The roads were covered with foam with drifts several feet high in places. What causes sea foam? Sea foam is formed when the ocean churns …
