The Tentacled SNake’s Remarkable Fishing Gear

The Tentacled Snake has evolved a unique method of catching prey.

Tentacled Snakes at the Smithsonian Zoo

The 1914 Christmas Truce

I re-run this diary every year.

The Christmas Truce of 1914 was one of the most famous events to come out of the First World War. Some have called it the last gasp of the chivalric age of professional militaries and gentlemen officers, to be followed by the full horrors of modern impersonal industrial war.

German and British officers at Christmas Truce

Icons of Aviation History: F4F Wildcat

The first widely-deployed mono-wing American carrier fighter, the Wildcat was the US Navy’s frontline fighter during the first years of the Pacific War.

F4F-3 Wildcat on display at the US Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola FL

History of Some British Idioms

A brief history of some British idioms.

When Ocean Liner Fought Ocean Liner

One of the strangest naval battles of the First World War took place in September 1914, when a British “armed merchant cruiser” engaged a German “auxiliary cruiser” that was disguised as … itself.

A contemporary painting of the “Cap Trafalgar” fighting the “Carmania”                     from Wiki Commons

Patolli: The Game of the Aztecs

When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico and Central America in the 16^th century, they found the Aztec native people playing a game on a cross-shaped playing board, known as “Patolli”.

The Aztec god Macuilxochitl watches a game of Patolli              photo from WikiCommons