Trivia and quiz questions

Ever wondered why Tsar Ivan was the dubbed the Terrible or how King Henri II of France perished in a jousting incident?

The Story of English illustrates the compelling history of how the relatively obscure dialects spoken by tribes from what are now Denmark, the Low Countries and northern Germany, became the most widely spoken language in the world, and of how that language evolved during the last two millennia.

For those whose memories of learning science at school consist of burning magnesium and playing with iron filings and a magnet, and whose brains shut down as soon as things start to sound too technical, I Used to Know That: General Science is here to remind you of everything youve forgotten or should have learned.

If your response to a mention of the Wars of the Roses, the Sumerians or the Reformation is, Hmm, Ive heard of that what was that again?

Daniel Smith looks behind what we think we know about the well-known sleuth and reveals little-known facts of which every Sherlock aficionado should be aware.

Taking the history of the world as its basis might seem a mammoth task but this fascinating book does just that, breaking the whole lot down into ten enthralling chapters that cover the ages and the world, from the Bronze Age up until the end of the Second World War.

How much do you know about the Victorian novelist who outsold Dickens?

At home or in the office, the loo is one of those few places where we have space to sit and think.

The history of our world can be told through numbers.

Did you know that Almost is the longest word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order?

From icons of British history to geography, and the economy to the legal system, I Should Know That: Great Britain covers a wide range of topics, filling in all those embarrassing gaps in your knowledge of this fair isle.

Its a funny old world, isnt it?

Cricket is undoubtedly the elegant game, occupying a long-established and distinguished position in the annals of sporting history.