Search results

  1. Blackleaf

    Pig circle that's top of the crops

    Pig circle that's top of the crops 21st July 2006 For years they have been heralded as evidence of alien life on Earth. But when it comes to patterns etched into farmers' fields, it looks like it's humans this time who have gone the whole hog. For the world's first pig crop circle has...
  2. Blackleaf

    Flat-cap Hoodies

    How punishments for wrongdoers in Victorian Britian were a lot harsher than today's more softly-softly approach. People received severe beatings for crimes that many people today would probably get away with scot-free....... Victorian 'hoodies' truly deserved a hug Flat-cap Hoodies. Their...
  3. Blackleaf

    UK shoppers are Europe's biggest internet spenders

    UK shoppers Europe's biggest internet spenders UK shoppers spend more online than any other European country Europe's 3 biggest online spenders last year Britain - £6.7 billion Germany - £6.6 billion. France - £4.4 billion. UK shoppers spend more on goods over the Internet than...
  4. Blackleaf

    The murder of Thomas Becket, 1170

    Thomas Becket, who is now a saint, was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral in Kent in 1170. St Thomas Becket (December 21, 1118 – December 29, 1170) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 to 1170. He engaged in a conflict with King Henry II over the rights and privileges of the Church and was...
  5. Blackleaf

    The wealthy flee tax-crazy France.

    Old Money, New Money Flee France and Its Wealth Tax Washington Post July 16 2006 PARIS -- Denis Payre, a self-described French jet-setter, built a successful high-tech company from scratch, then decided to quit at age 34 to spend more time in France with his wife and young children. Instead...
  6. Blackleaf

    Britain is hotter than Athens, Rome and Bermuda.

    19th July 2006 is the hottest July day ever recorded in Great Britain. The temperature in Charlwood, Surrey reached 97.3°F beating the previous record of 96.8°F set at Epsom, Surrey on 22nd July 1911 and beating the 96.6°F that was recorded at Cheltenham, Gloucestershire on 3rd July 1976 which...
  7. Blackleaf

    We're all Germans! (and we have been for 1,600 years)

    We're all Germans! (and we have been for 1,600 years) By JULIE WHELDON, Daily Mail 18th July 2006 Spot the difference? England fans and Germany fans party together at the World Cup. Research has shown that the English are "German." It is a rivalry that has prevailed throughout...
  8. Blackleaf

    EU wants to rename Bombay mix.

    EU to rename Bombay mix, the nutty, spicy Indian snack that is popular in Britain. Nutty ... spicy snack 'could cause offence' By TONY BONNICI NUTTY EU officials want to rename Bombay mix MUMBAI mix — to make the snack politically correct. They say the Indian city of Bombay...
  9. Blackleaf

    Mount Etna puts on a dazzling display

    A night view of a recent eruption of Mount Etna, Europe's largest active volcano, near Nicolosi, Sicily. The huge display of fire, smoke and lava was enough to rival any fireworks show, but experts say the eruptions posed no threat to villages on the lower slopes...
  10. Blackleaf

    India's cake loving British 'ghost'

    India's cake loving British 'ghost' By Amarnath Tewary Gaya, Bihar Locals believe the 'English ghost' is happy with tea and cakes (Pics: Prashant Ravi) Owen Tomkinson was a British soldier who died of cholera in the northern Indian state of Bihar in 1906. Nothing unusual about that...
  11. Blackleaf

    World's first fish-eating dinosaur discovered

    World's first fish-eating dinosaur discovered 17th July 2006 Jaws: Claws had twice as many teeth as a T-rex with a long, low snout like a crocodile packed with 96 serrated teeth In the murky shadows, he lay in wait for his prey, ready to snare them with his murderous claws and crush in...
  12. Blackleaf

    'Biggest evacuation since Dunkirk' for Britons in Lebanon

    'Biggest evacuation since Dunkirk' for Britons in Lebanon By SAM GREENHILL, Daily Mail 17th July 2006 HMS York HMS Gloucester HMS Illustrious Forty Britons have been airlifted out of the war torn Lebanese capital Beirut, the Foreign Office said today. They are the first of as many...
  13. Blackleaf

    Sarkozy: speak English and work harder

    French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has hailed Britain's economic model and has told the French people that the British have a higher standard of life than the French. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Times July 18, 2006 Sarkozy: speak...
  14. Blackleaf

    Medieval English society

    Domesday Book provides a wealth of information about English society in 1086. It lists about 13,000 towns, villages and tiny hamlets. The basic unit in Domesday Book was the manor - since this showed who owned the land and controlled its inhabitants. At the time of Domesday Book, more than...
  15. Blackleaf

    Big Brother 7 house is haunted.

    Big Brother 7, a reality TV show on Channel 4 in Britain where members of the public are locked in a house and their every movement is recorded on camera, has an unexpected guest. The house that they are staying is has a spook...
  16. Blackleaf

    Britain issues heatwave warnings as temperatures hit 100

    The last few weeks have been extremely hot in Britain and a drought has struck. But, unbelievably for those who thought it was too hot already, this week is about to get hotter. Temperatures will reach above 100 farenheit. The only time previously that temperatures of 100 farenheit or above...
  17. Blackleaf

    'Lady Godiva' rides again...in Oxford

    Anglo-Saxon Lady Godiva once rode through the streets of Coventry naked on horseback. Every year, this event is re-enacted through the streets of Coventry. This year, however, a woman playing Lady Goadiva rode through the streets of Oxford...
  18. Blackleaf

    In praise of Finland

    Finland is the world's most democratic and least corrupt nation. It's also at or near the top of most other league tables. Finland won this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Now it is holding the rotating presidency of the European Union...
  19. Blackleaf

    The Navenby Witch Bottle

    Britain was gripped by the "Witchcraze" from the late 1500s to the late 1600s. But an artifact unearthed at a farmhouse dating from only about 1830 shows that the fear of dark forces persisted far longer than previously thought...
  20. Blackleaf

    Les Bleus drive a quarter of French to the pill bottle

    Les Bleus drive a quarter of French to the pill bottle (and we are not talking about their football team, known to the French as "Les Bleus.") By Kim Willsher in Paris 16/07/2006) Sunday Telegraph London The French seem to have a tendency to feel nothing but doom and gloom. Gallic gloom...