The place to learn about the past and present,
These three great American cities were named after their English cousins across the pond. Find out about their history, culture and the attractions they boast to visitors. Birmingham Birmingham, Alabama's towering skyline The ‘Magic City’ was founded in 1871 and was planned from the very beginning to become the massive manufacturing hub it burgeoned into. Today,... Continue Reading →
The tale of the Boyd Massacre; an act of bone-chilling cannibalism, perhaps the worst to occur since the age of the Aztecs THE SUBJECTS OF Europe’s empires often saw the world beyond as one inhabited by varieties of savage, and in the most exotic corner of the world the image of Pacific islanders as fierce... Continue Reading →
Some towns are so closely linked to some of the world’s most popular foods and drinks they gave them their name. Here we take a look and find out why these places are such meccas for foodies and connoisseurs. Cheddar, UK West Country Farmhouse Cheddar (coombecastle.com) If you like any cheese at all it will... Continue Reading →
To survive was one-in-a-million, but to almost completely recover is incomprehensible. The side-effects, however, made him shunned by decent society On September 13, 1848, an unbelievable medical marvel occurred. A foreman named Phineas Gage was toiling at the head of a work-gang. They were blasting rock to prepare the roadbed to lay railroad track on... Continue Reading →
Presenting the biggest coins in the world - The world's No.1 is as heavy as a car! When the Royal Mint minted a massive £10,000 coin in 2021, it got me wondering what the biggest coins in the world were. So, I reached into my bag of tricks and I came up with this; the... Continue Reading →
Half a dozen UK movies that left their mark, that veered away from the Hollywood vibe and portray contemporary British culture before the Age of the Internet These are films I enjoyed in my younger days, just out of school, forever raiding my absent brother’s fabled stack of VHS movies. Each review includes the classic... Continue Reading →
The Prince who murdered his family because he couldn’t marry his one true love This is the grisly story of a truly astounding crime. In 2001 the Nepalese Royal Family was slaughtered in a frenzied shooting spree. What makes this more disturbing is that it was committed by one of their own family members. On... Continue Reading →
The story of when the king of Britain adopted a feral child from the forests of Germany into his royal court When King George I brought a feral boy into the British Royal Court in 1726 he caused a sensation among London’s high society. ‘Peter the Wild Boy’ as he came to be called, neither... Continue Reading →
Why a friendly, sociable local killed 12 people was a mystery to most. Here, his life is scrutinised to expose how it unravelled before its fatal climax A puzzling episode of Cumbrian history that bewilders locals to this very day. After an angry confrontation with some colleagues, a man named Derrick Bird shot dead his... Continue Reading →
The 120-year history of the Wuppertal Schwebebahn, Germany's 'steampunk train' Railway from The Future This is the story of the oldest suspension railway in the world, an engineering marvel whose origins go back much further than when it first opened for business at the turn of the 20th Century. Film footage (below) from its first... Continue Reading →
History and Things 