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All in the month of February The world of P G Wodehouse That Big Freeze of 1955 Eric Liddell – from Olympic star to Japanese internment prisoner National Nest Box week – 14th to 21st February Danger ahead for Britain’s canals That marmalade colour in cats ** Editor:  We continue our column that looks at...

It was: 175 years ago, on 23rd Feb 1850 that Cesar Ritz, the Swiss hotelier, was born. He founded several notable hotels including the Ritz and Carlton Hotels in London, and the Hotel Ritz in Paris. 125 years ago, on 27th Feb 1900 that the Labour Party was founded in the UK. Also 125 years...

Fifty years ago, on 14th February 1975, P G Wodehouse died. The well-loved British-born comic novelist, short story writer, lyricist and playwright who lived his later life in Long Island, USA is best known as the creator of Jeeves. He was always a prolific writer, publishing more than 90 books, 450 plays, 200 short stories...

Seventy years ago, from early February 1955 and well into March, a Big Freeze took place in Britain. Deep snow and freezing temperatures caused havoc, with many places cut off. The RAF dropped food and medical supplies to affected areas, while thousands of sheep died from exposure. Although the winters of 1947 and 1963 have...

Eighty years ago, on 21st February 1945, Scottish athlete Eric Liddell died. An Olympic gold medallist in 1924 at Paris, he had withdrawn from the 100m heat because it was held on a Sunday, and had entered the 400m instead. The story is featured in the film Chariots of Fire. Liddell died in a Japanese internment camp...

Where can family-minded birds raise their young these days? As our gardens and parklands become smaller and tidier, too many natural nest sites – such as holes in trees, old buildings and unkempt hedgerows – are rapidly disappearing No wonder that our sparrows, greenfinches and swifts are in precipitous decline, and that one in four...

Our historic canals are in danger of disappearing. Caught in a ‘perfect storm’ of extreme weather events and funding cuts, the canals could be facing irreparable damage to huge stretches of their waterways. The Canal and River Trust (CRT) warns that even the historic sections of the Grand Union Canal and the scenic Oxford Canal...

It has been a mystery for cat lovers everywhere: what makes some cats ginger? Now – after 60 years of searching – scientists have good news. They have finally found the chunk of DNA that is responsible. The so-called Garfield gene is Arhgap36. Arhgap36 has been hiding away on the X chromosome, of which males...

How the New Year and Resolutions began All in the month of January Remember the ‘Millennium Bug’? Remembering ‘Blood on the Tracks’ Remembering TS Eliot – author of ‘The Wasteland’ Jan Brueghel the Elder – painting paradise Holocaust Memorial Day ‘particularly significant’ in 2025 How Councils avoid pothole compensation claims Bobbies on the beat are...

1st January was not always the start of a New Year. The Babylonians began their New Year on 23rd March. For them, it was a logical choice, as with the arrival of Spring, crops were being planted, and a new cycle of life was beginning. For centuries the Romans agreed with them, but they chose...

It was: 400 years ago, on 13th Jan 1625 that Jan Brueghel the Elder, Flemish artist, died. 150 years ago, on 14th Jan 1875 that Albert Schweitzer, German theologian, philosopher, physician, musicologist, writer and humanitarian, was born. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952. 125 years ago, on 14th Jan 1900 that the premiere...

It was 25 years ago, on 1st January 2000, that the calendar switched over to the year 2000, with no major computer problems from the Y2K “Millennium Bug”. The Y2K bug was a computer flaw involving software and hardware that might have caused problems when dealing with dates beyond 31st December, 1999. This was because,...