A cat-food tin, and the invention of the hovercraft
Christopher Cockerell tested his hovercraft theory with a coffee tin, a cat-food can and a vacuum cleaner, on the mud floor of his own boatyard.
tag archive
#uk.
Every story tagged #uk.
A major book prize does not always lift sales
Winning a major literary prize can send a novel back to press within a day, but publishers say the sales lift is unpredictable and sometimes negligible.
Galton's ox: a crowd's average guess landed within one per cent
At a 1906 Plymouth livestock show, 787 people guessed an ox's weight. Most were wrong, yet their average landed within one per cent of the truth.
The 1982 Falklands war left who owns the islands unsettled
The 1982 war restored British rule over the Falklands, but it left Argentina's claim to the islands exactly where the fighting found it.
The UK's £400 energy bill grant cost £12bn and has closed
The UK's Energy Bills Support Scheme began as a £200 loan and became a £400 grant costing £12bn. It closed along with the seven other energy support schemes.
Zoe Slater leaves EastEnders as the Hawkins family adds Meghan
Michelle Ryan's Zoe Slater is leaving EastEnders later in 2026, as the soap casts a new member of the Hawkins family named Meghan.
A.S. Neill let his pupils choose whether to go to lessons at all
At Summerhill School in Leiston, lessons have been optional since 1921. Ofsted called the approach a failure, but inspectors in 1949 praised it.
Rivals gave Emily Atack the role she spent years chasing
Emily Atack spent years known as Charlotte in The Inbetweeners. She calls Rivals the best job of her life, playing a woman Jilly Cooper never condemns.
Some skyscrapers wear their frame on the outside
A diagrid carries a tower's load on diagonals on its skin. In London it let Newfoundland stand light over an Underground tunnel, and 30 per cent taller.
Every UN member but the US signed the children's rights treaty
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child sets out what every under-18 is owed, from a name to contact with both parents. Scotland made it law in 2024.
The Gentlemen season 3: what's confirmed so far
Netflix renewed The Gentlemen for an eight-episode third season before season two aired. Here is what is confirmed about timing, cast and the Markle rumour.
Dogs eat grass, and the upset-stomach story doesn't hold up
Most dogs graze, and the settle-the-stomach story does not hold up. Dogs Trust and BBC Bitesize point to taste, low fibre and boredom, though none is proven.
Rupert Lowe won't say if King Charles is a 'white Briton'
Pressed on BBC radio, Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe would not say whether King Charles is a white Briton, as his party wins a Tory convert.