Why is it called Machu Picchu?
Q&A Why is it called Machu Picchu? • SHORT ANSWER The Incan citadel was named for a mountain, but was it the right mountain? • LONG ANSWER High up in the Andes of Peru, the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu remained hidden from the Spanish conquerors and unknown, largely, to westerners until 1911. That was […]
Did you know?
Q&A Did you know? ANIMAL INSTINCT Before rubber condoms appeared in the mid-19th century, other materials were used for prophylactic purposes, including linen and leather. Japanese men used condoms of tortoise shell or animal horn. DIPLOMACY FAIL With Ireland remaining neutral in World War II, both the president, Douglas Hyde, and head of government, Éamon […]
Did Hippocrates write the Hippocratic Oath?
Q&A Did Hippocrates write the Hippocratic Oath? • SHORT ANSWER A perk of being the ‘father of western medicine’ was that he got the credit on a lot of texts • LONG ANSWER Ancient Greek physician Hippocrates took medicine to a new level, espousing reason and research over the supernatural and magic. (That didn’t stop […]
Why do we say ‘throw my hat in the ring’?
Q&A Why do we say ‘throw my hat in the ring’? • SHORT ANSWER There really was a hat and a ring • LONG ANSWER The phrase, an intention to take up a challenge, tends to be used by politicians. It has also been adopted as the motto of the US 94th Fighter Squadron. Yet […]
Who were the ‘Immortal Seven’?
Q&A Who were the ‘Immortal Seven’? • SHORT ANSWER This group of noblemen didn’t want to live forever; they wanted a new king • LONG ANSWER It took less than three years as king for the Roman Catholic James VII and II to make enough enemies in Protestant England and Scotland that a group of […]
Who was the Tremulous Hand of Worcester?
Q&A Who was the Tremulous Hand of Worcester? • SHORT ANSWER A medieval scribe with a lot to say, but not the neatest handwriting • LONG ANSWER If you look at selected Old English manuscripts, such as the venerable Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People from the eighth century, you’ll notice in the margins […]
When did the Lindy Hop become popular?
Q&A When did the Lindy Hop become popular? • SHORT ANSWER Around the same time that the aviator Lindy did his own hop • LONG ANSWER During the late 1920s, a new dance emerged in the African-American community of Harlem, New York: a mix of Charleston, tap, jazz and others, while open to a healthy […]
When was the Dome of the Rock built?
Q&A When was the Dome of the Rock built? • SHORT ANSWER The golden shrine was built in the seventh century on a spot sacred to Islam, as well as other major religions • LONG ANSWER “The Dome of the Rock is a building of extraordinary beauty, solidity, elegance, and singularity of shape,” wrote the […]
Why did medieval houses overhang?
Q&A Why did medieval houses overhang? • SHORT ANSWER It’s not overhanging, it’s ‘jettying’ – and it was an effective method to make some extra room • LONG ANSWER The skill of making each floor of a building bigger on the way up was not the preserve of medieval architects, but Tudor and colonial American […]
How wealthy was Mansa Musa?
Q&A How wealthy was Mansa Musa? • SHORT ANSWER The richest person ever to have lived had so much gold that he once destabilised a country’s economy • LONG ANSWER In control of half of the world’s gold production, colossal stores of precious salt and numerous lucrative trading routes, it’s no wonder that Musa – […]