The first authenticated shag in an aeroplane took place on November 10th, 1916. Lawrence Sperry ,under the guise of giving flying lessons to the wealthy socialite Mrs Waldo Polk, became the first couple to join the fraternal order of the Mile High Club.They were indulging in a version of physical …
I am currently at work on a sequel to my Curious Guide to London book, and have come across some fascinating stuff which I will be posting some extracts over the next few weeks.. Brook House, in Upper Brook street in Mayfair was the location of London`s first penthouse and belonged …
What with this dreadful Corona virus disrupting normal working activity, I was mulling over the concept of working when I came across the wonderful world of coworking. It seems to have appeared from nowhere but it does have a rather interesting history. Way back in 1995, a number of bright …
During this Coronavirus lockdown I have been trying to keep myself entertained so I thought I would put together a short Kindle book on the history of beans. In which you will discover the decidedly odd history of the humble bean . Discover why Pythagarus would not eat beans, why …
Racing has always attracted trickery, schemes and coups. But what follows is without doubt is the most delicious con of all time. The greatest sting in the history of horse racing took place on August 1, 1898. It was without doubt the most audacious scheme ever thought up. A very …
Despite the fact that every other shop in most cities seems to be a bloody Starbucks (or something similar), this is not a modern day occurrence.In the 17th century, London had over one thousand establishments catering to a strange new craze imported from Arabia in the early months of 1615. …
The greatest Irish writer of his generation who wrote the critically acclaimed Borstal Boy and The Quare Fellow described himself as “a drinker with a writing problem”. Raised on whiskey by his maternal grandmother because “it was good for the worms”, Brendan Behan achieved national notoriety with a series of …
According to our scary friends in the frozen North, we have to thank the Norsemen for the humble pea. They first appeared as a sign of displeasure from the god Thor. He was somewhat miffed at the lack of attention he was receiving so he sent a squadron of dragons …
Tests for determining whether a woman is pregnant go back to at least 1350 B.C. An Egyptian papyrus from that period describes a pregnancy test in which a woman would urinate on wheat and barley seeds. If the barley grew, she was pregnant with a boy; if the wheat grew, …
One of the great images of history is that of Martin Luther (1483-1546) lighting the blue touch paper starting the Protestant Reformation by nailing his famous ninety-five points to the doors of All Saints Catholic Church in his hometown of Wittenberg on 31 October 1517. This image is still very …
