All Articles
What drove the great migrations of the first millennium AD?
A curious thing occurred between 400-800 AD. In Europe and the far east, particularly China, a serious of mass population movements and incursions occurred. What historians are debating today is what caused these massive migrations.
Lifts – the ‘vertical railway’
Without the invention of the lift (or elevator if you’re American) mankind wouldn’t be able to build buildings higher than 4 stories, cities would sprawl ever outwards not upwards and consume ever more greenbelt land. In this article we look at this wonderful ‘vertical railway’
Learning to Let Go – Self Organising Systems
We like to think that things that work well come about through good organisation, rigorous planning and strong front led management. But is this really true ? If we look at nature there’s some excellent examples of self-organising systems that “just seem to work”. Can we learn from this and learn to “let go” ?
Who invented the comma ?
Such a small thing, as symbols go, but it can make all the difference in meaning and understanding when used in a sentence. But wher did it come from ?
The First ‘Kodak Moment’ – The invention of the Camera
Ever wondered when the first ‘Kodak moment’ was? In this article we take a lightening tour through the history of the camera.
The Enemy Within – The Day the Guernsey Militia faced down a Mutiny
The Guernsey Militia has a long and proud history of defending the Island. But what was to be done when the English Regiment sent to help the Militia in its defense duties turns out to be the enemy itself. In 1783 the Militia had to face this very problem.
Why do the Brits drink so much tea ?
Tea certainly isn’t native to the British Isles so how did this come about? It certainly is an interesting story involving a Portuguese princess who was a tea addict, smuggling and even revolution.
The Humble Potato – a History
The potato’s story begins about 8,000 years ago near Lake Titicaca, in South America. In this article we look at how it became the one of most popular foodstuff in the world today.
Why did we swap hunter-gathering for farms and villages ?
About 10,000 years ago mankind began to abandon hunter-gathering as a way of life for farms and village life. We would naturally assume because it was better, more efficient, healthier. However there are puzzling problems with these reasons.
“I want to ride my bicycle” – a potted history of the bike
Freddie Mercury might well never have sung ‘I want to ride my bicycle” had he had to use the 1st bike invented in 1818 and called ‘The bone shaker’.
More Colemanballs, or a bad case of “foot in mouth”
BBC sports commentator David Coleman frequently got completely carried away with hillarious consequences. Here’s a round up of some of this lovely man’s heat of the moment gaffs. Plus to his spirit is not dead in today’s British sport commentary we include some hillarious comtemporary quotes and quips
“The Guernsey” – A Knitwear Tradition
‘The Guernsey’ is a distinctive piece of clothing with it’s roots deep in the Island. It’s a simple but elegant garment that’s even gone to war with the British Armed forces in the 21st century. We look at it’s origins and features in this article.
Argentinosaurus – Largest of the Large
One might have thought that asking “What was the largest Dinosaur ?” would be a simple enough question. However it turns out to be a lot harder than you might think. In this article we look at a few contenders.
Wordsmith – Test your wordpower
Improve and test your wordpower by matching a word against multiple possible definitions.
Do Babies “Speak” with an Accent ?
Could babies, who can’t even speak yet, be “googling”, “gurgling” and “gaaing” with an accent. This article looks at some recent research.
