What is an anchorite? An anchorite or an anchoress were people who were walled into a small cell built into a church so that they could carry out a life of prayer and religious contemplation. Anchorites were men and anchoresses were women. The great majority of anchorites were actually women. Studies of the archives have […]
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How did the Vatican become a country? Benito Mussolini gave it to the Roman Catholic church in 1929. The Vatican is the world’s smallest country. It has a population of 453 people and is 0.44 square kilometers. That makes it about 2,500 times smaller than the city of Rome, which surrounds it. The Vatican is
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Why is there so much gold in Fort Knox? Because it is far enough away from any coast and is protected by the Appalachian Mountains. Fort Knox is famous worldwide for being the place where the United States keeps most of its gold. The building isn’t actually called Fort Knox. It is called the US
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When did April Fools’ Day start? No one knows. Although, most theories have it connected to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian. The expression “April Fools’ Day” was first used in English in 1686. A British historian called John Aubrey first used it in his book “Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme”. This
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Was Ferdinand Magellan really the first person to circumnavigate the world? No, because he died about two-thirds into the journey. Ferdinand Magellan’s name was actually Magellan. He was born Fernão de Magalhães in Portugal, I n1480. He was born into nobility and he was a page of Queen Eleanor, the consort of King John II,
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Why does the USA use the dollar? Because, in the early days of the American colonies, the Spanish dollar was more prevalent than the British pound. There are twenty countries around the world that have a dollar as their currency. The symbol for the majority of them is the $ sign with possibly letters before
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How is Easter calculated? Easter is the first Sunday after the full Moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox. When to celebrate Easter is a problem that has taxed the church for centuries. The date of Easter is very important for the Christian church because the whole religion revolves around the birth and
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What happened to biplanes and triplanes? They produce too much drag, which means they can’t fly fast enough and they use a lot more fuel. The first planes built were biplanes. The first heavier-than-air plane was a triplane. Sir George Cayley built a glider with three wings in 1848. He managed to convince a local
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Why is Greenland part of Denmark? Greenland was a colony of Denmark, but it didn’t officially become a part of Denmark until 1953. It is technically defined as a district of Denmark. The reason why Greenland is a part of Denmark goes back to before Denmark was actually a country. People have lived in Greenland
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Why are there 12 signs of the Zodiac? Because the Babylonians decided that there should only be 12. What are the signs of the zodiac? The signs of the zodiac are the symbols that represent the 12 different constellations that the sun passes in front of throughout a year. They are all found in a
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