Proud to be plebs Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell denied calling policemen in Downing Street ‘plebs’. The term has its origins in ancient Rome but was also used as a badge of pride by members of the workers’ education movement in the early 20th century. — The League of the Plebs grew out of a power
Turning Bac Michael Gove has called his replacement for GCSE the ‘English Baccalaureate’. But the Baccalaureate’s origins are at odds with some of Mr Gove’s views on education. — The philosophy behind the International Baccalaureate (IB) was laid out in a booklet entitled Techniques d’education pour la paix: existent elles? written for Unesco by Marie
The start of the tape Business secretary Vince Cable announced another crackdown on red tape. But where did red tape come from? It seems to have been a product of the Holy Roman Empire. — Spanish officials in the reign of Charles V (1516-56) would tie up documents relating to issues which had to be
Family fortunes Louise Mensch became the latest MP to resign in order to spend more time with her family. The phrase has become something of a euphemism over the years to refer to somebody who has made a suspicious exit, not least because the original politician to resign for that stated reason — Norman Fowler
Waiting games The Olympics have not even started yet, but already one world record is under threat: that for the world’s longest traffic jam. The first day of operation of an Olympic lane on the M4 led to a 32-mile tailback from the edge of London to Newbury in Berkshire. These are the records to
Out of proportion The bill to reform the House of Lords looks like being another failed attempt by Liberal Democrats to bring proportional representation to Westminster. But where did the idea of PR come from? — The first such system was proposed by Louis Antoine Saint-Just, a deputy in France’s National Convention after the revolution.
Lost and found A team from St Andrews University has published its attempts to map the remains of Doggerland, an area of land and later an island in the North Sea which disappeared around 5,500 bc as a result of rising sea levels after the last ice age. Some other possible lost lands: — Atlantis.
Striking out Argentinian tennis player David Nalbandian was disqualified from the men’s final at Queen’s Club after he kicked out at an advertising hoarding, injuring the leg of a line judge sitting close by. It can be dangerous being close to a frustrated sportsman. — Former Manchester United player Eric Cantona executed a flying kick
Imperial diamond This week’s diamond jubilee celebrations will be hard-pressed to outdo those of Queen Victoria’s in 1897. — A diamond jubilee was supposed to be a 75th anniversary, but it was brought forward by the government as an excuse for a mass celebration aimed at promoting British trade. — On 22 June, the Queen
Ministers for fun David Cameron was reported to be an expert in ‘chillaxing’ through tennis and karaoke. How have other prime ministers been reported to relax? William Gladstone Chopping down trees on his estate Winston Churchill Painting Edward Heath Sailing, conducting Harold Wilson Cooking Jim Callaghan Farming Margaret Thatcher Sorting out piles of towels John
Breaking bad A Ming vase sold for £550,000, having had a hole drilled in it to turn it into a table lamp. Without the hole it would have been worth four times as much. Owners of antiques work hard to keep them safe from thieves, but they are themselves often the problem. — Last year
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, even though its flag bears a resemblance to the Swastika. Its name, however, may be inspired by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, an
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 is strictly only a region of the Netherlands). — The closest world leader currently to bear this distinction is Co-Prince Joan Enric Vives Sicilia,
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 legend ran 26 miles to Athens to announce victory in the Battle of Marathon in 490 bc before collapsing and dying. — A paper published
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: — Harold Riley, artist — Mike Sweeney, DJ — Andy Whyment, actor And some Salford-born people who moved away: — Alistair Cooke, broadcaster — Ben
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 off Benjamin Guggenheim, Isa Strauss and Jacob Astor, who opposed the establishment of the US Federal Reserve and therefore impeded Jesuit efforts to control the global
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 Ebenezer Howard, who formed the Garden City Association in 1899. His concept was for a series of towns with populations of up to 32,000, spread
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 the most violent, according to the number of videos posted online over the past four years? Country Number of fights Ukraine 6 Taiwan, South Korea
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 hit by a meteorite has become a byword for an unlikely event, but just how unlikely is it? — One of the last cases of
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 collided with a naval vessel off the Isle of Wight soon after its maiden voyage in 1911, and again with a lightship off New York