Naked Power
When you’re the holder of the highest office in the land, finding the free time to indulge in a hobby or a pastime to relax and free up some …
Fire Blanket
To many people, asbestos will be forever associated with warning signs around old high school buildings, office towers, and dated apartment blocks. The fibrous, silicate material that has long …
A Load Of Bunkum
“What a load of bunk!” Nowadays, the word bunk has become such a familiar word for garbage or nonsensical language that we’ve even invented an opposite term — debunk …
King Of The Beasts
A vast castle and ancient fortress located on the north bank of the Thames —just along from its equally impressive namesake, Tower Bridge—the Tower of London is one of …
Battle Dress
From our Achilles tendon to our zeppelin airships, there are countless words in the dictionary that are named after characters, both real and invented, from throughout history and literature. …
A Dog In The Hunt
To soccer fans around the world, the Jules Rimet Trophy is one of the most famous and important trophies in all of sport. Named after the third president of …
Parlez-Vous Francais
Chances are that, at some point in your life, you’ll have enjoyed a game of Scrabble—the tricky word-connecting board game developed in the 1930s, in which players build words …
Hat Trick
What do Abraham Lincoln, Mr. Peanut, and Rich Uncle Pennybags from the Monopoly game all have in common? The answer, of course, is their headgear. All three are well …
Going Down A Storm
William Shakespeare famously based a number of his history plays on real-life characters from the past, including the English Kings Richard III, Henry V, and Henry VI; legendary figures …
Lifting The Veil
The wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 was one of the most memorable in modern royal history. While more than 750 million viewers around the …