— The Nelson Evening Mail, July 13 1908

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A ‘havelock’ is the flap of cloth that hangs down from a soldier’s kepi, to protect the neck.

Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 45th president of the United States drew bigger crowds to Washington DC than any previous inauguration.

The rules of Pratt’s permit no other card games besides bridge and cribbage.

During the WW2 ‘Baedeker’ Raids schoolboys were often given their exams one question at a time, to stop them conferring in the bomb shelters during interludes.

Table-top football game Subbuteo™ was invented and manufactured outside Tunbridge Wells.

Giles Coren, restaurant critic of The Times (London), was paid a £30,000 advance for his debut novel Winkler. The book sold 771 copies in hardback, another 1400 in softcover.

Otters juggle when bored.

At 27+ hours, Jim Norton’s narration of Ulysses lasts longer than the day James Joyce’s characters experienced.

Some of the oldest extant musical instruments are flutes made out of human bones.

Duff Cooper once drew the line at seeing in the new year being kissed by a man.

The Colossus of Rhodes stood for only 56 years.

The Spectator columnist and bon viveur Jeffrey Bernard was repeatedly unwell.