Countries & Customs

Hallowe’en is 31st October, right? Well, think again…

We all know Christmas is on 25th December, and Bonfire Night is remembered on the 5th November, and Hallowe’en is on 31st October, and….wait a minute…not everywhere it’s not!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

36, March 17, 2011
Happy St. Patrick’s Day

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all our readers. You might not be aware that the patron saint of Ireland was …Read the Rest

Think you know about “Robbie Burns”? Er, who’s that?

Happy Burns’ Day! (Jan 25th) The famous Scottish bard, the Ayrshire ploughman, the people’s poet – Robert Burns was called …Read the Rest

Miserly Robert Farries, schoolmaster of New Abbey near Dumfries in Scotland, decided that he would only wear clothes that he …Read the Rest

Even an Ancient Egyptian Mummy needs a passport!

…AND DID YOU PACK YOUR CASE YOURSELF, SIR? The ancient Egyptian mummy of famous King Rameses the Great, or Rameses …Read the Rest

Best available evidence reveals that Christmas trees were originally hung upside down from ceilings, rather than sitting the right way …Read the Rest

You would be forgiven for thinking that tigers, although endangered, would be most prevalent in their native lands of India, …Read the Rest

Baby Cages!

13, August 21, 2009
Baby Cages!

The East Poplar borough council in London proposed to fix cages outside of their tenement windows, so that babies could …Read the Rest

The Seven Deadly Sins and Seven Virtues

Everyone has heard of the Seven Deadly Sins (or Seven Vices), but there are actually a corresponding set of Seven …Read the Rest

Human hibernation!

29, January 23, 2009

This sounds like it’s a hoax, but, incredibly, c’est vrai! In Revolutionary France,  the French countryside used to shut down …Read the Rest

Some incredible Architecture!

41, November 8, 2008

Our personal favourite is the Stone House in Guimarães, Portugal. Some of these buildings are just stunning. enjoy, courtesy of …Read the Rest

Imperial Money.

06, September 16, 2008

NO! Not THAT kind of Imperial Money! We’re talking about the “old money”, the pre-Decimal coinage in use in Great …Read the Rest