Why are trousers / pants plural? Trousers and pants are plural because they used to be separated into left leg and right leg. Before we begin, people in the UK say trousers and people in the USA say pants and they both mean the same thing. However, all of the words have different origins. The […]
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Where did 0 come from? The concept of the modern zero was invented in India, but the idea of a placeholder for numbers was thought up by the Mesopotamians. We take the idea of the number 0 for granted. We use it regularly throughout the day (probably) and many of the things we use would
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Was the transition from silent movies to talkies difficult? Yes, the transition from silent movies to talkies was difficult, not just technologically, but also for the actors. Movies began to appear alongside the invention of photography. Early photographs took hours to take, but once it became possible to take photographs instantly, movies were the next
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Was the Trojan Horse real? The Trojan Horse was either made up by Virgil in the Aeneid, was actually some kind of siege engine, or was a boat usually used for giving tribute. We all know the story of the Trojan Horse. During the Trojan War, in approximately the 13th century BC, Greek warriors were
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Why were Roman roads so straight? Roman roads were so straight because they were built to move soldiers from point A to point B as quickly and efficiently as possible. Rome wasn’t the first civilization to build roads, but they were the first civilization to build a road network that crisscrossed an entire empire. The
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What is pirate radio? A pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts a signal in an area controlled by a government without having a license from that government. Pirate radio stations began in the 1940s, but they probably hit their peak in the 1960s. They brought music and attitudes to the multitudes that
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When did we start using lifeboats? Ships usually had small boats on board that they could use, but they were not lifeboats. It was only after the sinking of the Titanic that it became the law to carry enough lifeboats for the number of passengers on board. If we are lucky enough to go on
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Why do Oxford and Cambridge Universities have so many colleges? Mostly for historical reasons, but it also makes it easier for the students to learn, live, and socialize. Oxford University and Cambridge University have 75 colleges between them. 44 at Oxford and 31 at Cambridge. When someone applies to either university, they have to apply
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Who was Typhoid Mary? She was a chef in the late 19th and early 20th centuries who was a carrier of typhoid and responsible for the deaths of several people. Someone who spreads diseases is often referred to as a “Typhoid Mary”, but many people probably don’t realize that Typhoid Mary was actually a real
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Where did the Great Fire of London start? The Great Fire of London started in a baker’s shop in a road called Pudding Lane. It burned for five days. The Great Fire of London started on Sunday, 2nd September 1666 and it was finally extinguished on Thursday, 6th September. It destroyed over 13,000 homes, 87
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