Curious Questions
-
Credit: Alamy Stock Photo -
Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto Curious Questions: How do you make soufflés that don't collapse?
Soufflés have such a reputation for being difficult that many of us don’t even attempt them. Debora Robertson says we should feel the fear and cook them anyway, armed with these secrets for success.
-
The Andalusian Flamenco Ballet in action Credit: NurPhoto via Getty Images Curious Questions: Are flamenco's finest the fastest dancers in the world?
-
Tower Bridge still has the power to draw gasps as it opens to let a ship pass through. Credit: Alamy Curious Questions: Did a double decker bus really jump over Tower Bridge?
London's most famous bridge is 125 years old in 2019, but for all the marvellous facts there's only really one story anybody wants to hear. Is it true that a double decker bus once cleared the gap as the bridge was opening?
-
Credit: Cultura/REX/Shutterstock Curious Questions: Why do brides throw their bouquets? And wear white? And wear something old, new, borrowed and blue?
-
'The Death of Columbus', depicted in an 1893 lithograph print by The Prang Educational Company. Credit: Alamy Curious Questions: Why does nobody know where Christopher Columbus is buried?
He's one of the most famous human beings ever to walk the planet, but the final resting place of the Genoese explorer Christopher Columbus remains shrouded in mystery. Martin Fone, author of 50 Curious Questions, investigates.
-
Credit: Jamon Iberico Curious Questions: Do delicious hams from little acorns grow?
Jamón Iberico is undeniably delicious – and undeniably pricey. Martin Fone took a trip to Spain to find out how it gets that way.
-
Credit: Alamy Curious Questions: Why is walking down the middle of the road called 'jaywalking'?
-
Credit: Alamy Curious Questions: One for sorrow, two for joy – but why are we so superstitious about magpies?
Superstitions swirl around all manner of different birds, but never more so than with magpies. We take a look at why.
-
Credit: Alamy Stock Photo Curious Questions: Can a swan really break your arm?
We’ve all heard the famous old wives' tale – but is there any truth to it, or is it merely a ploy to keep small fingers away from snapping beaks? Alexandra Fraser finds out.
-
A collection of Tea Cosies on a Welsh Dresser Credit: Alamy Stock Photo Curious Questions: Has the tea cosy gone forever?
Is it all over for the once ubiquitous tea cosy? Debora Robertson investigates.
-
Credit: Alamy Stock Photo Curious Questions: Why is New Year called 'Hogmanay' in Scotland?
For as long as anyone can remember, New Year – Hogmanay – has been a bigger deal to those living north of Anglo-Scottish border. Jason Goodwin explains why, and takes a look at the curious origins of this name.
-
Illustration from an edition of A Christmas Carol Credit: Alamy Stock Photo Curious Questions: Why do we say 'Merry Christmas' instead of 'Happy Christmas'?
Have you ever stopped to wonder why we say 'Merry Christmas' when for every other occasion we use the word 'happy' instead'? Probably not, but now we've pointed it out the reason will bug you until you've read the answer.
-
Credit: Alamy Curious Questions: Is there any future for Encyclopedia Britannica?
Once the first set of books required in any home library, encyclopedias have long since been superseded by the internet. But rather extraordinarily there is still a market for them, as Octavia Pollock finds out.
-
Credit: Getty Images Curious Questions: How did Abraham Lincoln come to be the only US president to hold a patent?
Statesman, lawyer, fearless leader – and part-time inventor. Martin Fone looks at one of Abraham Lincoln's lesser-known talents.
-
Clarence House handout photo of the Prince of Wales pictured in 2008 with a red squirrel at his Birkhall home on the Balmoral Estate in Scotland. The Prince today attented the launch of the Red Squirrel Survival Trust at Levens Hall in Cumbria. Credit: Press Association Images Curious Questions: Why can't red and grey squirrels live together?
Championed by HRH The Prince of Wales himself, the red squirrel revival is gathering pace all over the UK. But why can they not live alongside their grey relatives? Kate Green explains.
-
Credit: Getty Curious Questions: When did we start observing a silence in remembrance of the victims of war?
The tradition of holding a two-minute silence to remember those who gave their lives in war dates back to 1919, when a suggestion put to King George V sparked a tradition which persists to this day.
-
Credit: Alamy Curious Questions: What are unicorn horns made of? And why are we so fascinated by these mythical beasts?
Whether it be in a coat of arms, in a piece of art or emblazoned on the backpack of a child, barely a day goes by when we don’t encounter a unicorn. Ian Morton explores the power this mythical creature has held over us since the dawn of civilisation.
-
Credit: Alamy Stock Photo Curious Questions: Why do leaves change colour in Autumn? And why do some go yellow while others are red, purple or brown?
-
The cast from A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Green Room, Drury Lane Theatre, London, 1926-1927. The cast enjoy an old actors benevolence, food and drink paid for by Robert Baddeley, to be had every twelfth night of the play's duration. From Wonderful London, volume II, edited by Arthur St John Adcock, published by Amalgamated Press (London, 1926-1927). (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images) Credit: Print Collector/Getty Images Curious Questions: Why is the Green Room called the Green Room?
Whether you're performing a play or about to go on television, the waiting room is called the Green Room – but why is that? Martin Fone, author of 'Fifty Curious Questions', investigates.
