Spoiler… it was a lot — The Great Exhibition of 1851 was an international celebration of the Industrial Revolution, held in London at the Crystal Palace. Eleven years later, it was followed by the Great London Exposition or International Exhibition, a seven-month world’s fair attended by just over 6 million people.¹ Here’s what they ate. A Lady and Bun Business A…

Haggling with clients is killing your business — If you’ve freelanced for even five minutes, you’ve had a client ask for a discount on recurring work. They seem to think they’re doing you a favour. They’re not. They’re costing you a fortune. Writing isn’t scalable If you’re a solo freelancer and actually create every piece you submit, then your time is…

Stop counting pennies per word — I’ve been freelancing since, oh, forever. Somewhere around a decade, when I finally lost my rag with the day job and decided to go it alone. It’s been tough. It’s been scary sometimes. The imposter syndrome is real. …

Will Texas experience another energy grid collapse? Maybe not. On 17 December 2009, it started snowing across Britain. It didn’t let up through that month or the next and on 5 January 2010, the temperature plummeted to −17.6 °C (0.3 °F) in Manchester, northwest England. …

A conspiracy theory suggests that the Gateway Arch controls the weather — Since 1965, the skyline of St. Louis, Missouri, has been dominated by a 190-metre (623 ft) stainless steel archway. Known as the “Gateway to the West,” the Arch commemorates the westward expansion of settlers in the United States. What is the Arch Effect? A conspiracy theory says that the Arch was part of a top…

The Bush Tavern, Bristol, Bill of Fare — The Bush Tavern was a well-known Bristol establishment, located on Corn Street in the heart of the city. The street had been at the centre of the city’s trading locations since at least the 13th century. …

While Gruinard Island became famous, few have heard of the WWII anthrax testing at Penclawdd — During the Second World War, the British government conducted a series of secret experiments at Gruinard Island, Scotland. The aim was to create an experimental biological weapon using anthrax. The result: the island was left contaminated for more than 45 years.¹ Operation Dark Harvest — The story of Scotland’s ‘Anthrax Island’ And how the future of Gruinard Island was saved by an unlikely bioterrorism plothistoryofyesterday.com

And how the future of Gruinard Island was saved by an unlikely bioterrorism plot — Less than a mile offshore, high in the Scottish Highlands, lies Gruinard Island (pronounced “grin-yard”). This unprepossessing slab of rock and heather, barely more than a mile long and half a mile wide, was once one of the most notorious and deadly sites in the U.K. The history of Gruinard Island The earliest reference to…

There’s something fishy about the story of the shark and the severed arm — You’ve probably seen the same infographic doing the rounds on social media that I have, telling the story of the fisherman who caught a shark that threw up an arm and triggered a murder investigation. Pretty cool, right? …