How a short stretch of water in the middle of the Zambezi River became a contender for the shortest international border in the world---and why a century passed before anyone knew which countries were involved.

In 2025, Saturn's rings have disappeared from view. But they'll come back. Galileo had the same problem in 1612. This is the story of why that keeps happening.

The Western and Orthodox Christian traditions usually celebrate the same festivals on different dates. But in 2025, their Easter dates align. Here's why.

A while ago I treated you to a dissertation entitled “Does The Sun Set On The British Empire?”, and concluded that it doesn't. The UK's widely scattered overseas territories, sparse though they are, mean that the sun is still always shining, somewhere in the world, over British territory.

A pint’s a pound the world around. Traditional American mnemonic A pint of water’s a pound and a quarter. Traditional British mnemonic There’s something odd going on there, isn’t there? I learned that British mnemonic at primary school, and I can still vividly recall my first encounter with the American version—in a Robert Heinlein juvenile …