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150 years ago, on 17th February 1870, the Elementary Education Act – commonly known as Forster’s Education Act – was introduced in England and Wales.  It provided a framework for the education of all children between five and 12. Many people objected to the concept of universal education, including the upper classes, who wanted to...

A hedge around your property is good for you.  A recent study has found that the humble hedge, when in full leaf, can cut air pollution around it by up to half. A recent study by the University of Guildford measured traffic pollutants on either side of a hedge in a park on the road...

Here’s some news to make you itch: it seems that fleas are infesting British homes.  The national flea population is believed to be on the rise. A spokeswoman for the British Pest Control Association said: “Our industry is being more conscious of the chemicals used, so there is a chance that new products are not...

All in the month of JANUARY Remember the Millennium Bug? Bridge Over Troubled Water When we found Antarctica Old words, new meanings Your dog and the postman Diabetes could ‘bankrupt’ the health service Antidepressants can really help Where are the mothers for the PTA? ** Editor:  We continue our column that looks at memorable dates...

It was: 200 years ago, on 27th and 30th Jan 1820 that Antarctica was discovered.  A Russian expedition sighted the Fimbul Ice Shelf, but not land.  Three days later a captain in the British Royal Navy sighted the Trinity Peninsula. 175 years ago, on 29th Jan 1845 that Edgar Allen Poe’s poem The Raven was...

Just over 20 years ago, there was widespread panic – or at least deep concern – over what might happen when the calendar switched over to the year 2000 on 1st January, and the effect on computers of the so-called Y2K ‘Millennium Bug’. The problem was that computers so long ago were laughably short of...

The album Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel was released 50 years ago, on 26th January 1970. It topped the charts in ten countries and sold 25 million records. It was their fifth and final studio album. The song itself, one of their most widely known, was influenced by gospel music, especially the...

It was 200 years ago, on the 27th and 30th of January 1820, that Antarctica was discovered.  A Russian expedition sighted the Fimbul Ice Shelf, but not land.  Three days later a captain in the British Royal Navy sighted the Trinity Peninsula. Neither of these achievements is totally beyond dispute, mainly because of the difficulty...

In the 1990s a stream was a small river, the web was what spiders built in your shed, a net was something you used to catch things, the cloud brought rain, and tweeting was what birds did. Not anymore.  In recent years these words from the ‘natural world’ have been so overtaken by technology that...

Here’s a New Year Resolution for your dog: don’t eat the postman (or woman). The Royal Mail’s recent request, that dog owners distract their pets by feeding them before the postman comes, follows a surge of dog attacks on postmen and women, averaging out at 47 a week for the past year.  In all, nearly...

Our appetites are killing us.  Hospitals are now treating 5,000 type 2 diabetics a day.  The head of the NHS, Simon Stevens, blames “our ever-expanding waistlines”, as obesity is the major cause of Type 2 diabetes. More than 1.7 million people were admitted to hospital last year with type 2 diabetes.   That cost the NHS...

If you are ashamed that you need to take antidepressants, don’t be, as even the Archbishop of Canterbury is now taking them. Speaking at a recent event on mental health at Lambeth Palace, Archbishop Welby said: “I carry an inhaler everywhere.  I take an antidepressant every morning. Big deal.”   He went on to say that...