Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in FYI.
Barbie's History
Barbie is a fashion doll synthetic by means of the American toy employer Mattel, Inc. And released in March 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler has credited with the creation of the doll the use of a German doll referred to as Bild Lilli as her suggestion.
By Tanvi Punia4 years ago in FYI
LONDON’S NOTORIOUS DEVIL’S ACRE
The Devil’s Acre was an infamous slum next to Westminster Abbey that subsisted during the Victorian age. The slum had its roots in the Middle Ages when the monks at the abbey gave a haven to debtors, cheats and other criminals. It was little more than a damp, dismal swamp, and home to a community of beggars, thieves and prostitutes. Police only made infrequent visits to the area and when they did, the local residents powerfully repelled them.
By Paul Asling4 years ago in FYI
THE HISTORICAL PROSTITUTES OF LONDON’S COVENT GARDEN
Harris’s List of Covent Garden Ladies, published from 1757 to 1795, was an annual directory of prostitutes working in Georgian London. A small pocketbook, it was printed and published in Covent Garden and sold for two shillings and sixpence. A contemporary report of 1791 estimates its circulation at about 8,000 copies annually.
By Paul Asling4 years ago in FYI
THE 1940s LONDON BLACKOUT RIPPER
Just fifty-four years after the notorious ‘Jack the Ripper’ waged his merciless trade in cutting up to five women on the streets of London, another spree killer appeared in the shadows. This monster attacked women over six days during a cold February 1942. He was eventually caught and identified as 27-year-old Gordon Frederick Cummins.
By Paul Asling4 years ago in FYI
Coca Leaf and Kola Nut
Did you know it all started in a lab? Spend more time in labs people, there's greatness in trying new things. Experimenting, and taking notes on what works and what doesn't is all well and good, but let's not miss the point. John S. Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist, at his Pemberton Chemical Company, first cooked up Coca-Cola as a tonic, for common ailments. He based it on cocaine from the coca leaf and caffeine-rich extracts of the kola nut. It is said that Dr. Pemberton carried a jar of his tonic to Jacob's bar where it was sampled and pronounced excellent; a delicious and refreshing taste.
By Esther Ami4 years ago in FYI
LONDONS BIGGEST EXPLOSION
On 19 January 1917, the most enormous explosion in its history rocked London. At 6.52 pm, a massive blast ripped through London’s Royal Docks in the East End of London. Fifty tonnes of TNT exploded in what remains London’s largest ever explosion.
By Paul Asling4 years ago in FYI
WHY VICTORIANS INADVERTENTLY POISONED THEMSELVES EVERY DAY
In Victorian times, poison was a part of everyday life. Readily available in a staggering array of forms, they used arsenic in many products, primarily in the inks and dyes of beautifully printed wallpapers and clothing. Odourless and colourless, it also found its way into food as colouring, and was used in beauty products. As a poison, its effects were unmistakable, unconsciousness, convulsions, nausea, cardiac arrest and death, often in a matter of seconds.
By Paul Asling4 years ago in FYI
