Soldiers called the military chocolate bar “Hitler’s Secret Weapon”. War makes even chocolate taste bad The D ration was the first military chocolate ration bar commissioned by the United States …
In the mid-1980s, Joe Davis decided to do something about censorship of extraterrestrial messages. Wait … censorship of extraterrestrial messages? The Pioneer probes were emblazoned with the nude figures …
The giant tortoise wasn’t named by scientists for so long because they were too delicious. No specimens ever made it back to Europe without being eaten on the voyage. …
Fancy a standing ‘pye’ or ‘cof fyn’ of tough flour paste, containing meat or fish, fat and dried fruit? Today’s sweet plum pudding started as a much meatier dish. They …
In 1954, a man committed suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. His suicide note simply read “Absolutely no reason except I have a toothache.” In a …
Hydropathy, or the water cure, was all the rage in the 19th century. But visiting a water cure was expensive. A week’s stay could cost $10 when the average …
The word of that day is Tsundoku – the practice of buying a pile of books and then not getting around to reading them. “Tsun-doku” 「積ん読」 came from 「積んでおく」 …
This opera features a giant papier-mâché Tabasco bottle and the verse “Turn out the town, boys drink it down, hail to the Peer of Tabasco”. It’s about an Irishman, …
The Word of the day is Snudge – To stride around looking busy, when in fact you are doing nothing. To master the sitting Smudge, see below. The old …
King Louis XIV of France clocked almost as many hours on Ballet as a professional ballet dancer. He performed 80 roles in 40 major ballets. A ballet myth goes …
The Word of the day is qualtagh- the first person you meet after you leave the house. No Splay-footed here To ensure luck, a qualtagh should be a dark-haired …
The Suffragettes had a secret Bodyguard Society trained in martial arts. Bartitsu or Suffrajitsu was an eccentric ‘mixed martial art‘ combining boxing, jiu-jitsu, kicking, and walking sticks. (It’s quite …
