THE BLOOMSBURY GROUP
In 1905, the future Bloomsbury Group, a group of artists, writers and intellectuals, began to meet weekly at 46 Gordon Square in Bloomsbury, London. This …
HEDY LAMARR
I found this story about Hedy Lamarr fascinating, mainly because it had never occurred to me that she was a brilliant inventor as well as …
ROUNDABOUT UNDER THE ATLANTIC OCEAN
A roundabout under the Atlantic Ocean sounds a little unlikely, to put it mildly, but it’s a reality in the Faroe Islands, of all places. …
LEGACY OF WORLD WAR II
We don’t normally think about the legacy of World War II in terms of the ordinance that it left behind, that still exists. For example, …
APPLES
The U.K. is home to many varieties of apples. But there is an ancestor of modern apples that has been lost – at least until …
PORTUGUESE WAY
Last year I wrote a blog about the beginning of the Camino Santiago that starts in Reading, England, and finishes in Southampton before pilgrims cross …
MESOPOTAMIA EXPRESS
Turkey’s new Mesopotamia Express runs 1,051km from Ankara to Diyarbakır. It passes through stark, mountainous landscapes and some of the country’s most important historical sites. …
D-Day Wrecks
Among the 80-year-old sunken D-Day wrecks that line the coasts of Britain and France, wildlife is thriving. The story is particularly poignant this past week …
CADBURY’S VERSUS HERSHEYS
Cadbury’s versus Hersheys: The difference in taste between Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate on either side of the Atlantic has become one of the most contentious …
A DOSE OF 81 MILLIGRAMS
Why is aspirin available at a dose of 81 milligrams? The answer is historical in nature and is rooted in a medieval and now defunct …