Curious Questions
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Curious Questions: Who invented the rear-view mirror?
Although obvious now, the rearview mirror wasn't really invented until the 1920s. Even then, it was mostly used for driving fast and avoiding the police.
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Curious Questions: Which person has spent the most time on TV?
Is it Elvis? Is it Queen Elizabeth II? Is it Gary Lineker? No, it's an eight-year-old girl called Carole and a terrifying clown. Here is the history of the BBC's Test Card F.
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Curious Questions: What are the finest last words ever uttered?
Final words can be poignant, tragic, ironic, loving and, sometimes, hilarious. Annunciata Elwes examines this most bizarre form of public speaking.
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Curious Question: Did the limerick originate in Limerick?
Before workers wasted time scrolling Twitter or Instagram, they wasted their time writing limericks.
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The ship that was in two different centuries, two different years, two different months, two different days and two different seasons, all at the same time
On December 31, 1899, the SS Warrimoo may have travelled through time — but did it really happen?
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You rang, your majesty? What it was like to be a servant in the Royal Household
Tending the royal bottom might be considered one of the worst jobs in history, but a life in elite domestic service offered many opportunities for self-advancement, finds Susan Jenkins.
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Curious Questions: Why do so many animals have bright white bottoms?
Why do so many animals have such obviously flashy appendages, asks Laura Parker, as she examines scuts, rumps and rears.
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Curious Questions: Why do we still love pirate stories, 300 years on from Blackbeard?
Tales of swashbuckling pirates have entertained audiences for years, inspired by real-life British men and women, says Jack Watkins.
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What the Monopoly board would look like at 2024 property prices
In the 88 years since the first British edition of Monopoly, a lot has changed. But how much should the various properties be worth today? And where should they be on the board?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Curious Questions: Is there a way to win at rock, paper, scissors?
A completely fair game of chance, or an opportunity for those with an edge in human psychology to gain an advantage? Martin Fone looks at the enduringly simple game of rock, paper, scissors.
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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.
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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.
