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If you have a child or grandchild, it’s quite possible they will have tried cannabis. Known in various forms as pot, weed, skunk, Ganga and marijuana, it’s the most widely used illegal drug. One in three 17-year-olds have experimented with it and some are now regular users or addicts. Described as the ‘gateway drug’, one in 10 cannabis...

The World Wildlife Fund (now the World Wide Fund for Nature) was founded 60 years ago in Switzerland, on 11thSeptember 1961. It is now believed to be the world’s largest conservation group, working in wilderness preservation, and reducing human impact on the environment. A group of distinguished scientists, conservationists and businessmen, including Sir Peter Scott...

One hundred years ago, on 8th September 1921, Sir Harry Secombe was born in Swansea. The comedian, actor, writer, singer and TV presenter was one of the stars of the anarchic 1950s radio series, The Goon Show. His family belonged to St Thomas Church, and his elder brother, Fred, became a Church of Wales priest....

Thirty years ago, on 22nd September 1991, photographs and transcripts of the Dead Sea Scrolls were made available to scholars generally for the first time. The Scrolls – ancient, mostly Hebrew or Aramaic manuscripts of leather, papyrus, and copper – were first found in 1947 near the shore of the Dead Sea. They come from...

Dante Alighieri, the Italian ‘supreme poet’, died 700 years ago, on 13th September 1321. Regarded as the most important poet of the Middle Ages, he is best known for his Divine Comedy, widely considered the greatest literary work in Italian and an influence on such English writers as Chaucer, Milton and Tennyson. Born in Florence...

All in the month of AUGUST Remembering Sir Walter Scott Climbing Ben Nevis The Great Flood of China The Great Calcutta Killing The secret of happiness? What do you consider to be ‘beautiful countryside’?  ** Editor:  We continue our column that looks at memorable dates in the month (this time, AUGUST) down the years. Here...

It was: 250 years ago, on 15th August 1771, that Sir Walter Scott, Scottish historical novelist, poet, and playwright was born. His best-known works include Ivanhoe and Rob Roy. Also 250 years ago, on 7th August 1771, that the first recorded ascent of Ben Nevis was made. Scottish botanist James Robertson ascended Ben Nevis, the...

Sir Walter Scott, the Scottish historical novelist, poet and playwright, was born 250 years ago, on 15th August 1771. His best-known works include Ivanhoe and Rob Roy. Often considered to be both the inventor and the greatest writer of historical novels, he was inspired by a stay with his grandparents in the Scottish borders during...

The first recorded ascent of Ben Nevis was made 250 years ago, on 7th August 1771, by Scottish botanist and artist James Robertson. At 1345 metres (4411 ft), it is the highest mountain in the British Isles. Some 100,000 people now make the climb each year. Robertson wrote: “A third part of the hill from...

Just 90 years ago, on 19th August 1931, the Yangtze River and Huai River floods peaked in China. It was one of the worst natural disasters of the 20th century: up to four million people died, and the floods lasted from July to November. The inundation followed a two-year drought and a particularly harsh winter...

Seventy-five years ago, on 16th August 1946, the Great Calcutta Killing took place in Kolkata, India. Muslim and Hindu mobs rioted across the city following the Muslim League’s demand for the creation of Pakistan. More than 4,000 people were killed and 100,000 left homeless. The riot sparked further religious violence in other provinces, leading to the...

Scientists have been trying to work out a ‘formula’ for happiness.  The result is incomprehensible to most of us, beginning as it does with Happiness (t)=w0=w1, running on for three lines, and then ending with jRPEj…… But, in plain English, the neuroscientists at University College London (UCL) have concluded that happiness depends not so much...