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Barometerrss

12 May 2012

Before the Golden Dawn A neo-Nazi party called the Golden Dawn won 7 per cent of the vote in the Greek elections. The party denies being inspired by the Nazis,… Read more

5 May 2012

Place names If François Hollande is elected French president this week, he will join a very small group: world leaders whose surnames match the names of foreign countries (although Holland… Read more

28 April 2012

Marathon mortalities A 30-year-old hairdresser collapsed and died in the final mile of the London marathon, echoing the alleged fate of the world’s original marathon runner, Pheidippides, who according to… Read more

14 April 2012

Local heroes The BBC spent £2 million on fares to allow London-based staff to commute to its new studios in Manchester. There are some well-known people who live in Salford:… Read more

7 April 2012

Sinking feelings Some conspiracy theories on the sinking of the Titanic: — The disaster was planned by a bunch of Jesuits, Captain Smith of the Titanic included, intent on bumping… Read more

24 March 2012

The Chicago school David Cameron has called for the building of a new generation of ‘garden cities’. In Britain the term is most associated with Letchworth, founded in 1903 by… Read more

17 March 2012

Heated debate Eric Joyce, MP for Falkirk, was fined and given a community order for butting a fellow MP in a Commons bar. Which countries’ national and regional assemblies are… Read more

10 March 2012

Catch a falling star Astronomers appealed to anyone who might have found a small, polished piece of rock: the remains of a meteor spotted as it streaked across Britain. Being… Read more

3 March 2012

Sister ships The Costa Allegra, sister ship of the Costa Corcordia, suffered a fire off the Seychelles. Are families of ships jinxed? —The Titanic had two sister ships. The Olympic… Read more

25 February 2012

Animals in court A group of US scientists has demanded that a Declaration of Cetacean Rights be incorporated into law. There have been animal welfare laws since at least 1635,… Read more

18 February 2012

Cradle to grave The Health Bill is one of numerous attempts to change the administrative make-up of the NHS. What did it look like on its first day, 5 July… Read more

11 February 2012

Long to reign over us The Queen has become only the second British monarch to spend 60 years on the throne. To overtake Victoria, she would have to reign until… Read more

4 February 2012

Bonus culture Some have called for an end to a ‘bonus culture’ in banks and big firms. But bonus culture has been around a long time… — Around the year… Read more

28 January 2012

Lords spiritual The bishops in the House of Lords, who led a successful rebellion against plans for a benefits cap this week, are a remarkable survival of Lords reform. —… Read more

21 January 2012

Condemned A Norfolk woman was given the honour of pressing a button to demolish a tower at the Campbells soup factory where her father was scalded to death in 1995.… Read more

14 January 2012

War horses Steven Spielberg’s film War Horse was released this week. How many horses were killed in British Army service during the first world war? — According to the Official… Read more

7 January 2012

State of uncertainty The Iowa caucuses create much excitement in the US presidential race but the winners do not have a good record of winning the presidency. — In the… Read more

31 December 2011

100 candles Some of those who are due to be celebrating hundredth birthdays in 2012: 3 February Mary Carlisle, US actress who starred alongside Bing Crosby in Doctor Rhythm 8 April Alois… Read more

10 December 2011

Let the Games begin The budget for the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics has been doubled to £81 million, the government has announced. The move has ignited fears that… Read more

3 December 2011

Gross domestic products The Office for Budget Responsibility downgraded UK GDP growth for 2011 to 0.9 per cent, down from 1.7 per cent. How many extra manufactured products does a… Read more

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