Pretty much as long as Santa has been Santaing, kids have been trying to send him messages through various means, including, of course, in written form. But when these written messages are mailed, what do the post offices’ the world over actually do with the letters? Well, it turns out, some rather interesting things in… Read More »
A revival of the fantasy genre in recent years has also brought about a revival of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages. With an endless array of titles, we are sure that you can easily visualise scenes from some Hollywood, TV or streaming service production, in which mounted knights charge at a line of… Read More »
In the opening of the 2012 James Bond film Skyfall, everyone’s favourite super spy chases an assassin through the streets of Istanbul to recover a hard drive containing the identities of undercover British agents. For his trouble, he receives a shoulder full of shrapnel from the assassin’s pistol, is accidentally shot by a fellow agent,… Read More »
On September 8, 1943, the Second World War took a dramatic turn as Italian Marshal Pietro Badoglio, who had just replaced a deposed Benito Mussolini as Prime Minister, announced an armistice between Fascist Italy and the Allied Powers. The following day, a large Italian naval fleet, on its way to counter the Allied amphibious landings… Read More »
Humphrey Bogart as world-weary bar owner Rick Blaine in Casablanca. Peter Sellers as the bumbling Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther films. Audrey Hepburn as socialite Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Keanu Reeves as kung-fu cyberpunk freedom fighter Neo in The Matrix. What do all these very different fictional characters have in common? You… Read More »
Take a flight 400 kilometres due south from the Peruvian capital of Lima, and you will find yourself over the Pampas de Jumana, an 80 kilometre stretch of coastal desert sandwiched between the Andes foothills and the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the driest regions on earth, receiving less than 4mm of rain a… Read More »
Imagine you are hiking in the woods. Emerging into a clearing, you stumble upon an unusual sight: a circular metal hatch like a manhole cover, protruding from the ground. Curious, you lift open the hatch to reveal a ladder, plunging down a vertical shaft into the earth. After taking a moment to gather your courage… Read More »
Before we get started today, we’d just like to send a quick shoutout to one of our most prolific and best authors here, Gilles Messier, who if you liked his few hundred videos here the last few years, please do check out the link in the description below to his channel Our Own Devices, where… Read More »
The City of London – a one-square-mile enclave on the north bank of the River Thames, is the oldest borough in the UK capital – and one of the strangest. Though surrounded by and part of the sprawling metropolis known as Greater London, the City of London is in fact its own, semi-independent ceremonial county,… Read More »
In all but four of the 25 James Bond films so far, the titular super spy starts his adventure with a visit to Q, MI6’s brilliant but grumpy creator of spy gadgets. From a briefcase full of weapons to a safe-cracking cigarette case to a watch with a built-in laser, Q always has exactly what… Read More »
Timeless beauty encased in a frame, day after day stares back at thousands of admiring viewers, engaging with them through an intriguing, smiling expression and a profound gaze, an embodiment of perfection and artistic expression. But enough about me. The Portrait of Mona Lisa by Italian painter, engineer, polymath and all-encompassing genius Leonardo Da Vinci… Read More »