Heraldry is the science of the coat of arms, the “art of explaining and describing the coats of arms of each lineage, city or person” (apart from making ostentation and self-praise). It is a science that dates back to the Middle Ages, since it was then that this type of identity representations were born, and…Continue readingThe High Court of Chivalry, a medieval institution still active in the United Kingdom
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Although the British never conquered or colonized Ethiopia, in April 1868 a battle took place there that ended the so-called British Expedition to Abyssinia (as the country was then known). It all began in October 1862 when Emperor Theodore II of Ethiopia, beset by internal unrest and external threats, requested military assistance from Queen Victoria…Continue readingThe British Museum objects that no one can see and that Ethiopia claims
“Put a sprig of spaghetti in a can of tomato sauce and wait for the best“. This is the answer the BBC gave to viewers who called asking how they could grow spaghetti at home. We are not crazy. This is a funny episode that happened in the United Kingdom in 1957, after the famous…Continue readingA BBC documentary made millions believe that they could grow spaghetti at home
Stonehenge is England’s most important prehistoric monument and undoubtedly the world’s most famous chromlech. UNESCO added it to its World Heritage list in 1986, increasing the level of protection it had from a century earlier, when it was declared a Scheduled Monument, a classification used in the United Kingdom for outstanding archaeological or historical sites.…Continue readingHow a lawyer bought Stonehenge in 1915
If you have ever wondered what it would be like to live in a place so isolated that there is no other inhabited place within 1350 miles, the answer can easily be obtained. Just travel to the town of Edinburgh of the Seven Seas and ask one of its 246 neighbors (population on April 4,…Continue readingMore than 200 people live in Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, the remotest town in the world, where outsiders are forbidden to settle
Searching for a castaway lost at sea is an arduous and often frustrating task. Unless the search area can be narrowed down a lot, the task can be prolonged so long that probably when he or she is finally located – if at all – he or she is already dead from hypothermia, dehydration or…Continue readingRettungsboje, the rescue buoy devised by the Germans in World War II to save downed pilots