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Published in Philadelphia in 1810 The Mirror of Taste magazine carried the following report,‘A young fellow threw his hat into the ring and followed, when the lame umpire called out “a challenge,” and proceeded to equip the challenger for the game. … He then walked round the ring till a second hat was thrown in, […] The post Hats in the ring appeared first on Turn the Page.

One day Jordan Rogers was a care worker living in a council house and struggling to make ends meet. The next day he was Lord of the Manor having unexpectedly inherited an estate of some 1,500 acres, a mansion house and an income of £1,000 a week. Born to a single mother Jordan had never […] The post Unexpected inheritance appeared first on Turn the Page.

In the mid-1990’s Christie’s auction house in London sent out their latest recruit to undertake his first valuation. Smartly dressed in a three-piece suit and carrying a leather briefcase he duly arrived at the address in Soho. It soon became clear that it was a boarding house of some kind, with a different nameplate on […] The post Understanding real value appeared first on Turn the Page.

Some lucky customers at the Hawksmoor restaurant in Manchester had an unexpected surprise when the waiter accidentally served them the wrong wine. They had ordered a bottle of Bordeaux for £260 but instead the waiter gave them a bottle worth £4,500. Sadly, it appears that the customers didn’t realise the value of the wine they […] The post Serving the wrong wine appeared first on Turn the Page.

‘I genuinely think that science does not rule out the existence of a creator.’ So said renowned British physicist Brian Cox in a recent interview with Russell Brand. He went on to say that a Creator can’t be ruled out because we simply don’t know. We don’t know whether the universe had a beginning, and […] The post Finding evidence where we least expect appeared first on Turn the Page.

You might want to celebrate with your friends If you ever find a 20p dated 2017. While in a normal year the Royal Mint produces millions of them, in that year not a single 20p was minted for general circulation. Just a few commemorative coins were made.  The reason for this appears to be the […] The post Coins of great value appeared first on Turn the Page.

During the Russian communist era an attempt was made to improve workers’ productivity by abandoning the Biblical ideal of working for six days and resting on the seventh. The assumption was that if people put in more working days with fewer breaks then they would produce more. But the reverse happened, productivity fell, and the […] The post All play and no rest… appeared first on Turn the Page.

In about 1913 two politicians met at the Central Café in Vienna. Discussing the likelihood of a Russian revolution one looked across the room and said, “And who’s going to lead it? – him?” The man to whom he referred was none other than Leon Trotsky, renowned at the time for idleness, but who would […] The post Unlikely revolutionaries appeared first on Turn the Page.

As many a president and prime minister will attest, a career that begins on a wave of popular support doesn’t always end that way. In 1979 Margaret Thatcher was swept to power as the new British Prime Minister with the biggest swing in support from Labour since 1945. But a decade later the glory had […] The post When popularity wanes appeared first on Turn the Page.

Sandwiched between a coffee shop and a pub near St James’s Park tube station in London, stands an unremarkable looking building. With a plain black door and frosted glass windows there’s nothing to suggest that it’s a building of any great importance. Yet for 66 years it provided a London home for the British government’s […] The post Hidden in plain sight appeared first on Turn the Page.

Some weeks ago my email account was hacked. The hacker sent dozens of emails from my account all of which bounced and rapidly filled up my inbox. In the course of a few days over 6,000 arrived. Fortunately, my email software spotted what was going on and once I’d sent a few spam emails to […] The post Spam filter for the mind appeared first on Turn the Page.

Marking two weeks since the shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern addressed the nation. Thrust into the global spotlight she has shown herself to be a remarkable leader, combining the deepest compassion for the victims with steely determination to effect real change and prevent a repeat. In her address she said, ’extremism in all […] The post Why the world needs more extremists appeared first on Turn the Page.

On the day that the UK was meant to be securing its freedom from the EU, chaos and confusion continue to reign. This week one newspaper seemed to plumb new levels of despair with its headline that because of Brexit even Easter would have to be cancelled. Fortunately, the detail of the story revealed that […] The post Finding the freedom that matters appeared first on Turn the Page.

As a nine-year-old boy the future Archbishop of Cape Down, Desmond Tutu, had an experience that changed his life forever. He was walking along the street with his mother when they were approached by a white man in a black suit. Under the rules of apartheid, it was expected that Desmond and his mother would […] The post Stepping into the gutter appeared first on Turn the Page.

While most of us will be familiar with the phrase ‘going the extra mile’, it seems to be one that has passed by our local water company. They recently came to install a new water main to the houses in the road opposite where I live. Inevitably this involved digging up the road. After several […] The post Going the extra mile appeared first on Turn the Page.

Once again, the world is stunned by the horrific events that unfolded in Christchurch, New Zealand, last week; and once again I’m reminded of the wise words spoken by a Muslim shopkeeper who welcomed me to his store in Pakistan a few years ago, ‘We were all created by the same God. The most important […] The post My brother’s keeper appeared first on Turn the Page.

A few years ago some friends of mine travelled to Colombia to help with the refurbishment of a children’s centre in one of the poorest districts in the city. But a brief inspection of the building revealed a problem with the ground floor toilets – they’d never been plumbed in! Rather than being connected to […] The post Is your plumbing connected? appeared first on Turn the Page.

There are many reasons why I could never be an atheist. Here’s one of them. Imagine if you will two laptops advertised for sale. They’re identical in every respect apart from the operating system. The first has been programmed by the brightest minds and runs on the fastest chip with the latest software. The second […] The post Intelligent Design appeared first on Turn the Page.

A few years ago I was treated to membership at a local country club. Entering reception for the first time I remember being warmly greeted by the receptionist, and shown into the lovely bar and restaurant which opened out onto a terrace overlooking the gardens. I imagined taking a seat on the terrace with a […] The post No pain no gain appeared first on Turn the Page.

I’ll never forget the day my school celebrated it’s 125thanniversary. There was much excitement because in honour of the occasion we were to be visited by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester. (The Queen was patron of our school but I’m guessing she had something else on that day!) In advance of the visit the […] The post Who can meet Jesus? appeared first on Turn the Page.