1. 2018 will celebrate the centenary of the end of fighting in the First World War.
2. 2018 will also be celebrated as the 250th anniversary of the first circus, in London in 1768.
3. In February, the Winter Olympics will begin in PyeongChang in South Korea at an estimated cost of a record $10billion.
4. In order not to be confused with the North Korean capital Pyongyang, PyeongChang has changed its spelling, capitalising the C in its name.
5. 2018 will mark the 400th anniversary of the death of Sir Walter Raleigh, beheaded in 1618 for allegedly plotting against King James I.
6. 2018 is 2 x 1009, or a prime number multiplied by 2. Its reverse, 8102 = 2 x 4051, so is also a prime number multiplied by 2.
7. Frankenstein will be 200 years old in 2018. Mary Shelley’s book was published in 1818.
8. 2018 is the 200th anniversary of the treadmill, which was originally a torture device for prisoners.
9. The modern fire extinguisher, containing potassium carbonate within compressed air, was also invented in 1818.
10. The first primitive machine gun was invented in 1718 by London lawyer James Puckle.