1. Patrick Brontë, father of the Brontë sisters, changed his surname from Brunty because it sounded too Irish. 2. There were six Brontë children but only Anne, Emily, Charlotte and Branwell survived childhood. 3. Emily Brontë could not find a publisher for Wuthering Heights until she paid £50 for it […]
10 Facts
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1. According to a Thyssenkrupp Elevators study, 66 per cent of people would rather not talk in lifts. 2. The study also reported that Beyoncé is the favourite celebrity to be stuck in a lift with while Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump are the worst. 3. In London, Gareth Southgate […]
1. Actually there is no official definition in the UK of a heatwave, though the Meteorological Office is said to be working on producing one. 2. The World Meteorological Organisation in Geneva defines it as a period of more than five consecutive days when the daily maximum exceeds the normal […]
1. This year is also the 200th anniversary of the invention in1818, by Scottish chemist James Syme, of a technique for dissolving rubber in coal tar which led to the development of the Mackintosh. 2. Charles Macintosh patented his waterproof coat in 1823. 3. The earliest known reference to a […]
1. The prize was offered by Horace Bénédict de Saussure, praised by many as the first modern meteorologist and inventor of the solar oven. 2. Mont Blanc was first climbed in 1786 by Jacques Balmat and Michel-Gabriel Paccard. 3. The first woman to reach the summit, in 1808, was Marie […]
1. Originally, in the 13th century, a park meant an enclosed tract of land held by royal grant and reserved for hunting deer and other game. 2. There are 113,000 National Parks and similarly protected areas on Earth, covering six per cent of the land surface. 3. England’s 10 National […]
1. The estate surrounding the building known as Chequers covers about 1,000 acres. 2. A building has been on the site since the 12th century but the present house dates back to 1565. 3. In the same year, Elizabeth I ordered that Lady Mary Grey, sister of Lady Jane Grey, […]
1. The word “opera” was first applied to a musical drama in 1648. In Latin it means simply “works”. 2. Verdi’s La Traviata, Mozart’s Magic Flute and Bizet’s Carmen are the most performed operas. 3. Mozart wrote his first opera at the age of 12. 4. The saying, “it ain’t […]