Alexander Cumming invented the S-bend in 1775. Toilets have existed for thousands of years, but the S-band (now the U-bend) was an invention that helped transition to indoor toilets and helped to improve sanitation levels around the world. Early people used streams running near their settlements for a toilet. That is fine, so long as […]
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What is a crusade? It is a Catholic expedition called forth by the pope for various religious purposes. If it doesn’t have the pope’s blessing, it is not a crusade. The word “crusade” means a military expedition under the banner of the cross. The first crusades were in the 11th century and the word “crusade”
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Why are poppies a symbol of remembrance? Because of a poem by a Canadian doctor called John McCrae. The poem was called “In Flanders Fields”. And because of an American professor and humanitarian called Moina Michael. Before World War One, war dead were not really remembered, unless they were wealthy people. There were no memorials
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When did people start writing music down? Music was first written down in the 6th century BC, but the current system we use began in the 11th century. There is no way of knowing when music itself started. It is very natural for us to sing and dance because they are merely extensions of talking
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What is the Ides of March? It is the 74th day of the Roman calendar, which is March 15th. When we think about the Ides of March, we imagine that it is a cursed and dangerous day. In actual fact, ides was just a name for a day and there was nothing special about it.
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What are the Queensberry rules? They are the rules for boxing published in 1867 and endorsed by the 9th Marquess of Queensberry. People have fought each other for as long as there have been people. Over time, fighting turned into a sport. The Romans had their gladiators and many other societies turned out in their
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Who painted the Isleworth Mona Lisa? This is a difficult question. It is either completely painted by Leonardo da Vinci, partially painted by him, or not painted by him at all, depending on what expert is asked. However, it does appear unlikely that this painting is by da Vinci. Let’s try and break it down.
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What does paint primer do? It helps paint stick to the surface, it helps the paint last longer, and it protects the material you are painting. Humans have been using paint for tens of thousands of years. The earliest cave paintings were found in caves in Spain and they have been dated to 64,000 years
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Why do we have a leap year? We have a leap year because the calendar year doesn’t exactly match the solar year. Earth orbits the sun at an average distance of 149,600,000 km. We travel around the sun in a clockwise direction and we travel about 940 million km with every orbit. One orbit of
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Why does a golf ball have dimples? They make the ball go further. Golf balls didn’t always have dimples. The game was invented in Scotland in the 15th century, but it could be connected to a game called paganica that was played in Rome. It could also be connected to a Chinese game called chui.
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