This is the Yes or BS blog, where you can play the game for yourself. Either pick a random story from the pictures below, or choose your specialist subject from the categories listed here. Just read the story through and decide whether, YES, you think it’s true, or no, you think it’s total B.S—then click you answer in the box at the bottom of each post to see if you’re correct.
Did an ancient King of Persia entertain his dinner guests with asbestos napkins? You finish a lovely meal, swig down the last of your wine, and then contentedly dab your mouth with, er, some asbestos. Or, at least, that would be case if—lucky you!—you were dining back in sixth century Persia, dining in the court of great Sassanian king Khosrow II. You see, records show that Khosrow II had a set of table napkins made out of asbestos. You know asbestos—it’s that fibrous silicat
Barred: “None for me, thanks, I’m a Bolivian woman.” (Wix) Who doesn’t like a nice glass of vino with their meal, eh? Well, my mate Gav for one, who thinks wine is the closest earthly thing to the devil’s urine. But for most people who aren’t Gav, the odd glass of wine every now and then is a perfectly fine treat. If you happen to be a married woman in La Paz, Bolivia, however, then you’d better make the most of it—because one glass is all you’re getting. A statute on the cit
“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.
Antony and Cleopatra. William and Mary. Bert and Ernie. Frankly, history is full of power couples. But few among them were quite so utterly devoted to one another than Queen Victoria and her beloved Prince Albert. But as happy as their marriage was, however, even they had their moments. In 2012, historians working to digitize all 141 of Queen Victoria’s handwritten journals discovered that most rare of occurrences: shortly before Christmas in 1859—as recorded in journal 40/14
Ah, the noble samurai of feudal Japan. What image immediately springs to mind? Honour? Sacrifice? Master bakers of Italian breads? Yep, when they weren’t knocking seven shades of shiitake out of each other, the samurai were making delicious buns and breads—in particular, for the former warlord of the city of Sendai and noted bread connoisseur Date Masamune, known as the “One-Eyed Dragon”. Keen to open relations with the west, in 1613 Masamune sent his most loyal samurai retai