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If you like a bit of obscure history, you might have heard of the so-called “Dancing Plague” of 1518, in which a maniacal fit of dancing spread from person to person across parts of Alsace. In all, some 400 people spontaneously—and seemingly unstoppably—began dancing over the course of the “plague”, with many of those dancing themselves to death from exhaustion. As peculiar chapters from history go, the Dancing Plague has to be one of the strangest. The so-called “Laughing Pl

The new Google Maps update was next to useless. (Pixabay) Here’s a quick trivia question to kick things off: what do Russia, Turkey and Egypt all have in common? Have a think. I’ll wait. If you know your world geography then you’ll doubtless have worked out that these are the world’s three “transcontinental” countries—nations that straddle the traditional boundaries between the continents. So with the Ural Mountains taken as the boundary between Europe and Asia, Russia falls

“The upstairs bedroom offers unbroken views of the surrounding area” (Wix) You know how it is in the rental market these days. Prices skyrocketing. Slum landlords rampant. Damp patches breeding their own ecosystems. But surely there’s an easy way out of the rental trap? Well, if you happen to be French lawyer André-François Raffray, apparently there is. In 1965, Raffray accepted an offer made by his then 90-year-old landlady, Jeanne Calment, to pay a monthly rent of 2500 fran

“Uh oh. We’ll have to switch to gin.” (Pixabay) When the surrender of Nazi Germany was announced on Soviet radio shortly after 1 o’clock in the morning on 9 May 1945, those fun-loving Russians took no time at all to make the most of the occasion. The celebrations began almost instantly, with many revellers taking to the streets in their pyjamas to celebrate the end of the War in Europe. And what better way to celebrate than with a cool shot of Russian vodka? Or two. Or nine.

After her husband, Alfred, died of typhoid in 1861, Queen Victoria entered into a long period of mourning. She routinely wore black. She rarely set foot in London, where he had passed away, preferring instead to see out her time at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. In fact, so grief-stricken was the queen, and so uncharacteristically introverted did her behaviour become, that to many Victorian subjects she became known as the ‘Widow of Windsor’. Queen Victoria: Loved posing

You know how it is when you’re sick. You just want to stay in bed, all wrapped up, cosy and warm with a hot cup of Lemsip, and some trashy daytime TV to keep you company. But have you ever considered, I don’t know, being tightly sewn into linen sheets soaked in brandy to make yourself feel better? No? Well, that’s exactly what Charles II of Navarre tried to do when, towards the end of his life, he was apparently in “such a state of decay” that he’d all but lost the use of his