How the man who created the British Museum also invented hot chocolate, the £32.5m Notting Hill mansion 'infested with millions of moths', plus our Quiz of the Day

Hot chocolate and ancient artefacts, together at last

Thomas Edison might have registered over 1,000 patents in his lifetime (the somewhat-disputed total figure is thought to be 1,093), but can any of his inventions hold a candle to the achievements of Sir Hans Soane?

Frankly, yes — it's certainly great to have light bulbs and telephones — but Sloane's efforts are absolutely as big a deal, as Carla Passino writes in this week's issue of Country Life. Sloane was Britain's most eminent doctor of the 17th and 18th centuries, acting as personal physician to three separate monarchs, making huge strides to popularise smallpox inoculation (some 75 years before Edward Jenner), and letting the world know about quinine's anti-malarial effectiveness.

And while all that would have been enough to earn him a Britannica entry, he also started the British museum. And he invented hot chocolate.

Let us explain. It all started when the young Sir Hans Sloane (1660–1753) went to Jamaica as a young man to serve as physician to the island’s new governor. While there, the Northern Ireland-born doctor — a man of vast curiosity — gathered more than 800 specimens of plants, animals, shells and rocks, which he brought back on his return to England in 1689. He carried on collecting for many years after, eventually amassing more than 80,000 ‘natural and artificial rarities’, some 40,000 books and manuscripts and 32,000 coins and medals.

All of this he left to the nation, on condition that his executors receive a payment of £20,000 and that Parliament create a new museum for it. The plan went ahead, and Sloane's collection started what became the British Museum, which opened in Bloomsbury in 1759.

As for the hot chocolate? That, too, came from his time in Jamaica. 'When offered an unpalatable cacao drink in Jamaica, Sloane decided to replace the water from the original recipe with milk — and hot chocolate as we know it was born,' writes Carla. Naturally, there are those who dispute the story, claiming it to be a later invention. Yet it was seized upon by businessman Nicholas Sanders who, after the physician’s death, appropriated his name to sell his ‘Sloane’s milk chocolate’.

Quiz of the Day

1) What colour are the bench seats in the House of Commons and the House of Lords, respectively? 2) A ‘toque blanche’ is traditionally worn by whom? 3) On a standard dart board, which number is at the 9 o’clock position? 4) Which dog breed was made distinct from the Jack Russell terrier by The Kennel Club in 1999? 5) The former site of Bethlem Royal Hospital on London’s Lambeth Road is now home to which institution?

Answers down below

This is the age of the train

It's time to dig out your old Agatha Christie novels to get yourself in the mood for a train journey, because Belmond are launching The Britannic, a new luxury sleeper which will be touring three different routes across the country as of next summer.

Also, you'll need to hope that those old Agatha Christie books are signed first editions, because you'll need to sell them to be able to afford the ticket: a trip on the Britannic Explorer starts from £11,000 based on a double cabin, to include a 3-night itinerary, excursions, meals, wine and alcoholic beverages on board.

Read the full story here.

An old Land Rover, just because

And finally... The moths causing chaos in west London

A £32.5 million mansion in Notting Hill is at the centre of a court case being heard at the High Court in London, as reported in The Guardian. Iya Patarkatsishvili, the daughter of a Georgian billionaire, and her husband Dr Yevhen Hunyak bought the house in 2019, expecting a dream home with pool, spa, gym, cinema room and wine room. But the court heart that it was 'infested with millions of moths', and they are suing the house seller, William Woodward-Fisher.

'At one point, insects were landing on the couple and their two children’s toothbrushes, cutlery and plates of food, Hunyak told the court,' report the Guardian, 'while he had to tip away glasses of wine after discovering moths floating there.'

John McGhee KC, the couple's barrister, told the court that they were swatting about 100 moths a day at one point, that the 'source of the infestation is wool insulation behind walls and ceilings', and that it will cost almost £10 million to put things right.

Woodward-Fisher denies all the claims, 'insisting that he gave honest and full replies on the pre-sale inquiries form, and that as far as he knew any previous moth problems had been eliminated by the time of the move,' the Guardian reports. Woodward-Fisher also said that the £10m estimate is 'fantastically high', and that the true repair bill would be £162,652.

The trial continues, but the judge is expected to reserve his decision until a later date.

That's it — we're back tomorrow

Quiz answers

1) Green and red 2) A chef 3) 11 4) Parson Russell terrier 5) Imperial War Museum