On the warpath Yevgeny Prigozhin’s aborted coup saw his mercenary army, Wagner, advance three-quarters of the 596 miles from Rostov to Moscow. How far did other coup leaders have to travel? Distance in miles 49 BC, Julius Caesar: Rubicon river to Rome 152 1799, Napoleon: Paris to Saint-Cloud 7 1815, Napoleon: Elba to Paris 564
Shortest knight Martin Amis was knighted the day before he died last month. Has anyone else had so little time to enjoy an honour? Wilfred Stamp, 2nd Baron Stamp, officially holds the record as the shortest-serving peer. He died with his father, Josiah, the 1st Baron Stamp, when their home in Beckenham, Kent was bombed
No platformed What effect have strikes had on rail travel? – In the first quarter of this year, some 389m journeys were made on the rail network, up on 2022 but only 88% of the number of journeys made in the same period in 2019, before the pandemic – Ticket revenue was £2.2bn, 70% of
Sofa so good Phillip Schofield has said that his career on the TV sofa is over. Who first sat on one? – BBC Breakfast, first broadcast on 17 January 1983, famously featured a red leather sofa which presenter Frank Bough told his audience was the ideal way to present a news programme. But the history
Terf wars Who was the original Terf (trans-exclusionary radical feminist)? – The practice of some women’s groups in excluding trans women began almost with the advent of trans women themselves. In 1978, the Lesbian Organisation of Toronto refused membership to a trans woman who identified as a lesbian – saying it would only accept ‘womyn
Fine lines Would Suella Braverman be more likely to stick to the speed limit had she chosen to go on a speed awareness course instead of being fined? A government-commissioned study in 2018 looked at the reoffending rate among 1.4 million drivers who had accepted the offer of a speed awareness course and compared it
Pig out Marks & Spencer wrote to an ice cream parlour in Hertfordshire demanding that it stop calling one of its products ‘Perky Pig’ on the grounds that it infringed the chain’s copyright of Percy Pigs, which it has been selling since 1992. Some more onomatopoeic porcines: – Pierre Pig: collectible plastic figurines introduced by
Machine learning Who came up with the phrase ‘artificial intelligence’? – The term was coined by US computer scientist John McCarthy in 1955, arising from a summer school held at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. The blurb for the project declared: ‘the study is to proceed on the basis of the conjecture that every aspect
Uneasy lies the head In a 2018 BBC documentary Elizabeth II commented on the weight of the crown at her coronation, complaining that if you wore it for too long ‘your neck would break off’. What will be the burden on Charles III’s head? – At the moment of the coronation Charles will wear St
By George Keir Starmer was mocked for showing footage of Glasgow in a video he made to celebrate St George’s Day. But the legend of St George (who is, after all, also the patron saint of Georgia and Ethiopia) did not leave Scotland untouched. – Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen and Stirling all have churches dedicated
Putting out fires The Brecon Beacons National Park Authority said it was renaming the park because the word ‘beacon’ implies carbon emissions and ‘does not fit with the ethos’. — Many hills in Britain carry the name ‘beacon’ thanks to chains of fires which were lit up to warn of approaching invasion. In Devon alone,
Conditions of carriage The King and Queen will travel to and from the coronation in a carriage which boasts heating and electric windows. Are these uncommon luxuries? Popular Mechanics magazine in the US reveals that the King is not alone in expecting mod cons in his carriage: even the Amish employ various modern technologies in
Falling at fences Activists from an animal rights group were secretly filmed apparently plotting to disrupt the Grand National, protesting in part at the number of horses killed at the event. – Since 1839, 88 horses have died either during the race or were put down as a result of injuries. Four died in the
Fooling about When did the tradition of 1 April pranks begin? One theory is that it derives from the ancient Roman festival of Hilaria, which involved games and pranks – although that was held on the spring equinox, which falls more than a week earlier than 1 April. — In Chaucer’s ‘Nun’s Priest’s Tale’, a
Beyond a joke Is it time to rewrite an old joke? A letter published in Time in 1963 suggested that heaven would consist of French chefs, British police, German engineers, Italian lovers and Swiss bankers, while hell would consist of English chefs, German police, French engineers, Swiss lovers and Italian bankers. British police, however, have
Eyes on the ball Viewing figures for Match of the Day rose by 500,000 when Gary Lineker was suspended from the show for tweeting about the government’s asylum bill and his fellow pundits walked out on strike in support. – First broadcast on the then new BBC2 on 22 August 1964, the show was initially
Out of service Conservative MPs criticise the proposed appointment of Sue Gray as Keir Starmer’s chief of staff. It is not unknown, however, for civil servants to switch to political careers, including two prime ministers of recent times. – Edward Heath began his career in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, having come joint top in
Striking out An England vs Wales rugby match was nearly called off after Welsh players threatened to go on strike over the terms of their new contracts. Although rare, industrial action is certainly not unheard of in the sporting arena. – In June last year the Canadian men’s football team went on strike demanding they
That’s another story Roald Dahl’s books have been edited to make them less offensive, with references to ‘fat’ and ‘ugly’ people removed. Other children’s media that has been revised: – The Noddy books originally featured golliwogs, which were removed in 2009. – Six Dr Seuss books were withdrawn from sale in 2021, one for featuring
For reference The Referees’ Association complained at the level of abuse against officials in amateur football games. Referees go back further than you might think: the first reference to one was in 1842 – meaning someone to whom gentlemanly players might turn if they could not sort out disputes between themselves. The role acquired an
