Curious Questions

Curious Questions: Why is race walking an Olympic sport?

The history of the Olympics is full of curious events which only come to prominence once every four years. Martin Fone takes a look at one of the oddest: race walking, or pedestrianism.

Curious Questions: Why do all of Britain's dolphins and whales belong to the King?

More species of whale, dolphin and porpoise can be spotted in the UK than anywhere else in northern Europe and all of them, technically, belong to the Monarch. Ben Lerwill takes a look at one of our more obscure laws and why the animals have such an important role to play in the fight against climate change.

Curious Questions: What is mock turtle soup? And did it come before or after 'Alice in Wonderland'?

Martin Fone delves into the curious tale of an iconic Victorian delicacy: mock turtle soup.

Curious Questions: Why are there so few smiles in art?

Centuries of portraits down the ages — and vanishingly few in which the subjects smile. Carla Passino delves into the reasons why, and discovers some fascinating answers.

Curious Questions: Where does the phrase 'daylight robbery' come from? It's literally about the theft of daylight

Martin Fone tells a tale of sunshine and tax — and where there is tax, there is tax avoidance... which in this case changed the face of Britain's growing cities.

Curious Questions: Is there a way to win at rock, paper, scissors?

Tanks, tulips and taxidermy: The strange lives of Britain's most eccentric collectors

Five collectors of unusual things, from taxidermy to tanks, tulips to teddies, explain their passions to Country Life. Interviews by Agnes Stamp, Tiffany Daneff, Kate Green and Octavia Pollock. Photographs by Millie Pilkington, Mark Williamson and Richard Cannon.

One of the cleverest pictures ever made, and how it was inspired by one of the cleverest art books ever written

The rules of perspective in art were poorly understood until an 18th century draughtsman made them simple. Carla Passino tells the story of Joshua Kirby.

Curious Questions: When does summer actually start?

You'd think it would be simple. It's anything but, as Martin Fone discovers.

Curious Questions: Is being left-handed an advantage?

Curious Questions: Were Mallory and Irvine the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest?

It’s now 100 years since George Mallory and Andrew ‘Sandy’ Irvine disappeared high on Everest; speculation about their achievements has been rife ever since. Robin Ashcroft takes a broad perspective

A game of two halves — how the sandwich went from humble fare to a country-wide lunchtime obsession

What started life as a way to eat and play cards at the same time (so the story goes) is now the lunch of choice for the working world.

Whatever happened to saucy seaside postcards?

Saucy seaside postcards were once a mainstay of British life over the summer, but these days they're rarely seen. Martin Fone asks why, and discovers the history of artists such as Donald McGill who turned wry, naughty humour into a huge industry.

Where to find the world's best club sandwich

The club sandwich, arguably the most famous of all sarnies, is a poolside staple, but its origins are tricky to trace, says Tom Parker Bowles.

From the 'gatekeeper' to the 'Scotch argus', where did butterflies and moths get their strange names?

Members of the Society of Aurelians were artists, designers, silk traders and men-of-letters. So what inspired them to coin the many names of butterflies and moths we use today? The answer, reveals Peter Marren is beauty.

Do you know your apple-catchers from your tittamatorter? Take a crash course in the UK's local languages

With experts warning that regional accents could disappear within decades, our sometimes quaint and, often, bizarre dialect words are becoming ever-more precious.

Curious Questions: Was music's famous 'Lady of the Nightingales' nothing more than a hoaxer?

Beatrice Harrison, aka ‘The Lady of the Nightingales’, charmed King and country with her garden duets alongside the nightingales singing in a Surrey garden. One hundred years later, Julian Lloyd Webber examines whether her performances were fact or fiction.

Curious Questions: Who wrote the Happy Birthday song?

There are few things less pleasurable than a tuneless public rendition of Happy Birthday To You, says Rob Crossan, a century after the little ditty came into being

Curious Questions: Who was the first person to take a driving test?

For years, all you need to drive a car was to jump behind the wheel — but that all changed. Martin Fone traces the history of the driving test.

Why does the tax year start on April 6th?

The tax-year calendar is not as arbitrary as it seems, with a history that dates back to the ancient Roman and is connected to major calendar reforms across Europe.