To mark the forgotten Brontë’s 200th birthday, Charlotte Cory looks back at the life and works of this ‘runt of the literary litter’ and finds she was by no means meek and mild.
For thousands of years, most people were convinced that birds hibernated in the winter — until a staggeringly resilient stork proved otherwise. Martin Fone explains.
The deadly slipperiness of the discarded banana skin — substantially more slippery than ice — is a staple of comic sketches across the world, but what is it that makes our favourite tropical fruit such a hazard? Martin Fone investigates.
Their bright red leaves brighten up our houses at this time of year, but how did the tradition of having poinsettias at Christmas start? Mark Griffiths explains.
We tend to think of bird song as endearing and delicate — but there are birds out there who would put the average foghorn to shame. Martin Fone finds out which is the loudest.
The question of how to take a book off a shelf without damaging it may not be one you've ever given much thought to — but you owe it to your collection to do it the right way.
The first three-and-a-half weeks of December can mean only one thing: people anxiously opening small cardboard doors in order to behold the wonders within. But how did the Advent calendar phenomenon start? Martin Fone investigates.
Gone are the days when postcode snobbery hindered the London housing market, finds Eleanor Doughty. Or are they?
Lightly golden, charred at the edges, hot and dripping with melted butter or cold with a thick topping of the stuff? Rob Crossan evaluates the ultimate way to make toast — and pays tribute to the men and women who made it our go-to snack of choice.
Our resident curious questioner Martin Fone poses (and answers) another head scratcher - or should we say, head banger?
Martin Fone, decidedly not an animal person, ponders whether animals should wear clothes and, indeed, what a stylish pet would wear in the case that they do.
Research has shown that humans and ants are similarly irrational in their decision-making tendencies.
Gin and tonic is arguably the greatest cocktail ever created — but who first mixed these two seemingly unlikely ingredients together? A new book seeks to tackle this curious question.
We're constantly being told that the division, anger and uncertainty we're currently witnessing in British politics is 'unprecedented'. But insanity, strife and hare-brained scheming are nothing new at Westminster — and things have often been far worse. Jacqueline Riding looks at an example from 200 years ago which serves as a chilling warning that we must all help to stop things from escalating still further.
Martin Fone ponders another Curious Question, and comes away thinking that perhaps it's time for us to start money laundering in a very literal sense.
The ancient Ottomans knew the power of repetition to shape the minds of others — something that Jason Good has discovered for himself.
The claims made for how horses help humans get over all manner of trauma stretch back to ancient times. Pippa Cuckson takes a closer look — and discovers some astonishing ways that 'equine-assisted therapy' is helping people.
A question about a question? Absolutely. Martin Fone gets to the bottom of where this curious phrase originates — and how it even found its way across the Atlantic.
Carla Passino investigates the meaning of the town crier's opening shout and ponders whether there is still a need for it today.
Martin Fone finds himself intrigued by the totem pole, and wonders which is the biggest ever made.
