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Curious Questions: How do starlings murmurate?
Murmurations of starlings — the vast clouds of thousands of birds, flocking and swooping through the sky — are one of nature's great displays. But how do the birds do it? Martin Fone investigates.
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Curious Questions: When were dogs domesticated?
Dogs have never been more popular — as soaring puppy prices (and the worrying number of scams) show. But our love affair with dogs is anything but new — it's older than even our most ancient civilisations, discovers Martin Fone.
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Curious Questions: How did curry become Britain's national dish?
Martin Fone takes a look at the first Indian restaurant in Britain, discovering what was on its first menu, and finding out how lager became the traditional accompaniment to curry dishes.
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Curious Questions: Why have our oak trees produced so many acorns in 2020?
It's not your imagination: there really were far more acorns on the ground than usual this autumn. Martin Fone looks at the phenomenon of the 'mast year'.
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Curious Questions: Why do maps include streets, and even entire towns, which don't exist?
The mysteries of mapping have intrigued Martin Fone since he was a boy — and one of the great curiosities is the existence of the 'trap street'.
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Curious Questions: What is a 'doubly-thankful' village — and how did Upper Slaughter become one?
Martin Fone examines the (sadly rare) phenomenon of the parishes who erect memorials not to the fallen, but to those who survived war.
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Curious Questions: How do weather forecasters figure out a percentage chance of rain?
Those 'chance of rain' percentages you see on the weather forecast hide a bewildering range of possibilities. So how are they calculated? The answer is far from simple, much less logical, as Martin Fone discovers.
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Curious Questions: How far can you see on a clear day?
A walk to a local hilltop prompts Martin Fone to wonder just how far you can see, assuming perfect atmospheric conditions.
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Curious Questions: Why does Scotland have 30,000 lochs, but only one lake?
A moment's reflection on a cancelled pub quiz gets Martin Fone wondering about Scotland's only lake.
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Curious Questions: How did the tea bag take over from loose leaf tea?
Fifty years ago, only three per cent of Brits used tea bags. Today, only three per cent of us don't. Martin Fone takes a look at how tea bags took over the world.
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Curious Questions: Who invented the cardboard box?
Six months of online shopping have left Martin Fone buried in cardboard boxes — and that's put him in the mood to answer a curious question. Where do they all come from? And when did we start making them?
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Curious Questions: How did a car-mad racing driver come to invent the speed camera?
Speed cameras have been a fixture of British roads for three decades, but they've been around far longer than that. Martin Fone finds out more about how they came about — and, ironically, how it was a speed-loving racing driver who is responsible for their creation.
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Curious Questions: Was there a real Granny Smith who first cultivated the apple that bears her name?
Martin Fone crunches into a tart, crisp apple and ponders a question: who was Granny Smith? And did she really discover the apple that's named after her?
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Curious Questions: How did 'God Save The Queen' become Britain's National Anthem?
As patriotic songs come under the spotlight, Martin Fone takes a look at national anthems across the world.
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Curious Questions: Why do the British drive on the left?
The rest of Europe drives on the right, so why do the British drive on the left? Martin Fone, author of 'Fifty Curious Questions', investigates.
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Curious Questions: Why did people used to wash clothes in urine?
An experience far from home prompts Martin Fone to delve into the history of laundry — including the rather unpleasants secrets of removing stains.
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Curious Questions: How did one of the world's great biscuits get named after a freedom fighter named Garibaldi?
Martin Fone delves into the curious history of the garibaldi biscuit — and how it's linked to the tale of Italian freedom fighter-turned folk hero Giuseppe Garibaldi.
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Curious Questions: Who invented the weather forecast?
Martin Fone tells the fascinating — and ultimately heartbreaking — tale of Robert Fitzroy, the visionary sailor-turned-scientist whose pioneering work saved countless thousands of lives.
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Curious Questions: Why are pineapples called pineapples, when they're not pines and not apples?
Martin Fone delves into the curious history of one of the world's most popular tropical fruits.
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Curious Questions: Who made the first proper car journey?
The man who invented the very first motor car didn't think it would be able to survive a long-distance car journey. Luckily, his wife had more faith, as Martin Fone discovered when he investigated the tale of Bertha Benz.
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Curious Questions: Is there a germ of truth in St Swithin's Day weather predictions?
Sunshine on St Swithin's Day is supposed to mean that we're set for 40 days of sun; if it rains, however, we're supposed to expect 40 days of precipitation. Martin Fone investigates how this curious prediction came about — and whether there is anything in it. The answer may surprise you...
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Curious Questions: How wise are owls?
The age-old image of the intelligent owl has persisted for centuries — but are they really the intellectuals of the avian world? Martin Fone investigates.
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Curious Question: Why can we see the moon during the day?
For many years, Martin Fone was convinced that the moon was inextricably linked with the night. Having realised his error, he ponders why it's so rare to see — or at any rate to notice — the moon in the daytime sky.
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Curious Questions: Why do we call picture puzzles 'jigsaws'?
Jigsaws have been around since the 18th century and have gone through all sorts of iterations. Martin Fone traces their curious history.
