MOTHERS are often taken for granted because they are always there for you. The thought that one should verbalise one’s emotions on a specific day takes a little getting used to. But, thanks to media hype and multinationals’ selling strategies, there’s a way to celebrate each and every day—Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day etc. Multinationals use all sorts of …

There are two kinds of beavers: the American and the European. The European beaver, found in Norway, Poland, Germany and France, lives in burrows. But the American beaver builds a dam across a stream or lake to construct his home or lodge. The lodges are made of huge logs of trees. The American beaver constructs solid dams and lodges because …

The identity of the famed muse of Leonardo da Vinci was a mystery until recently. German researchers claim they have solved the mystery of the woman who was Mona Lisa. They believe it was Lisa del Giocondo, the wife of a wealthy merchant in Florence named Francesco del Giocondo. The discovery is based on notes by a Florentine official who …

Frederic II (1712-1786) was the king of Prussia during 1740-1786. During his reign, Prussia prospered greatly and doubled in area. His countrymen called him Frederic the Great. He was the son of Frederic William-I and Sophie Dorothia von Hannover. He won many wars against neighbouring countries like Austria, Russia and France. Declaring himself to be the first servant of his …

Hermann Kallenbach (1871–1945) was a South African architect who is best known for being a very close friend of Mahatma Gandhi, starting from the latter’s early days in South Africa. Kallenbach was born in 1871 in East Prussia to a German-Jewish family. He went to study architecture in Stuttgart and Munich. In 1896, he went to South Africa, where he …

If you have heard of Dick Whittington at all, then you’ll probably know him as being a pantomime character, with his cat, and the Bow Bells saying those famous words: “Turn again, Whittington, thrice Lord Mayor of London!” Just a story? Well, not quite. Dick, or give him his full name, Sir Richard Whittington, really did exist, although you can …

You may have heard people saying that somebody has an ‘Achilles heel’, which means that they have a weak spot somewhere, either in their personality or their body. Where does that expression come from, and who was Achilles? Achilles was the won of a woman called Thetis, who was told by the Fates, ancient Greek goddesses who controlled people’s destiny, …

When you came into the world, she held you in her arms. You thanked her by wailing like a banshee. When you were 1 year old, she fed you and bathed you. You thanked her by crying all night long. When you were 2 years old, she taught you to walk. You thanked her by running away when she called. …

In 1917 the Bolshevik revolutionaries in Russia forced the Tsar, Nicholas II, to abdicate, and then imprisoned him and his family, his wife, his son and four daughters, in various places in Russia. Then in 1918 an announcement came that all the royal family, as well as four of their servants, had been killed. No bodies were ever found, and …

A stealth shopper is a person who shops secretly to avoid flaunting wealth or to hide expenses from a spouse. It could mean shopping on the net or from catalogues through a friend to avoid being spotted.