Inventions
The Catseye
The Catseye, trademark of Reflecting Roadstuds Ltd, was invented by Percy Shaw, OBE (1890-1976) who was born in Yorkshire. He was prompted […]
Month: April 2019
Angel of the North
The ‘Angel of the North‘ is a monumental red-rust steel sculpture in Gateshead, adjacent to the A1. Prior to its installation in […]
Lord Mayor’s Show
The Lord Mayor’s Show is the world’s oldest and longest street procession. It did not begin as a ‘show’; more a forfeit […]
Justices of the Peace (Magistrates)
Justices of the Peace (JPs) are also known as Magistrates and they deal with the more minor criminal offences and with family […]
Pulsars
Two British astronomers discovered the existence of pulsars with a radio telescope at Cambridge University in 1967. Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, born […]
Lord Ian Botham
A larger-than-life personality, Lord Ian Botham, OBE, nicknamed ‘Beefy’, is an English cricketing hero who continued to be in the public eye […]
Spiritualism
The Spiritualists’ National Union, founded in 1853, is the organising body for the spiritualist churches or societies in the UK, serving up […]
Keep Britain Tidy
The ‘Keep Britain Tidy‘ campaign first came to the public’s notice in the 1970s, owing to the use of celebrities in television […]
Ada Lovelace and her Day
Ada Lovelace (1815-52) was the daughter of Romantic poet, Lord Byron, who left their home when she was five weeks old and […]
National Insurance numbers
Adult British subjects must have a National Insurance (NI) number as it is very difficult to live outside of the system of […]
Cockney rhyming slang
A Cockney used to be defined as someone ‘born within the sound of Bow Bells’ in the City of London, but this […]