By looking like a dead twig, the stick insect fools hungry birds and escapes being eaten. A few animals, however, make every effort to attract attention. The skunk ambles about the its black and white markings easily seen. Some caterpillars are so brightly coloured they can hardly be missed by birds. Why? The bold marking are a warning. The massage …

To William Shakespeare, the son of John Shakespeare, a dealer in wool and leather, who lived in Stratford-upon-Avon. In this town standing on the banks of the River Avon in Warwickshire, was born in April 1564, the boy who was to win immortal fame as the world’s greatest dramatist, the good friend of nobles and the wonder of his and …

It was written by an actor, ex-schoolmaster and clerk in the City of London. His name was Jerome Klapka Jerome, born at Walsali, near Wolverhampton, May 2, 1859. Turning to literature, his first book was On the Stage and Off, published 1885, an account of his theatrical adventures. Four years later his masterpiece Three Men in a Boat appeared. It …

Owen Wister, who, like several other writers, first studied the law. Born at Philadelphia, July 14, 1860, he became a barrister in 1889 but he abandoned the law to write books. He excelled in stories of the West and is regarded as the writer who laid the foundations of the later form of cowboy stories. The Virginian has been filmed …

By Julius Caesar himself. As a man of letters, Caesar stands in the highest rank. Regrettably the only works of his that have come down to us are his famous commentaries on the Gallic war and Civil war. His accounts of his campaigns reveal the brilliant genius that certainly made him one of the greatest warriors of all time.

Did you know that when a baby kangaroo is born it is only 20 millimeters long. Helpless as it is, the baby is able to claw its way to mother’s pouch, where it will remain for some months, feeding on its mother’s milk. At six months age, the young kangaroo or joey is about the size of a small puppy. …

Some 56% of people interviewed by Transparency International said their country had become more corrupt. In Afghanistan, Nigeria, Iraq and India more than 50% of people said they had paid a bribe in the past year – many of them paying off the police. Meanwhile, a BBC poll suggests that corruption is the world’s most talked about problem. About one …

No. Captain Blood is a fictional character, the hero of Rafael Sabatini’s novel of piracy on the high seas Captain Blood while Colonel Blood was the real-life rascal who stole the crown jewels from the Tower of London May 9, 1671. He was captured but later pardoned by King Charles II. Rafael Sabatini was born of Italian and English parentage …

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1814-1873) wrote In a Glass Darkly in which appears the short story Carmilla, who is the vampire. It appeared 25 years before Dracula was published.

French leave primarily means taking leave without permission from work. Some believe it is meant to convey the act of leisurely desertion from a military unit. Being away on leave from one’s post or duties has its roots in the 17th century and does not so much have its origins in cowardice but in a French custom of leaving a …