Chanson réaliste

Chanson réaliste was a musical style from France dealing with the lives of Paris' poor and working class, performed from the 1880s to the end of the Second World War, growing out of the cabarets of Montmartre. Predominantly embraced by female vocalists, its earliest expositor was cabaret singer Aristide Bruant.

Vasari Corridor

This is an elevated passageway in Florence, central Italy, built on the orders of Cosimo di Medici. It connects the Palazzo Vecchio with the Palazzo Pitti.

The Arno River and the Ponte Vecchio

The Arno river is an important river in Tuscany. It passes through Florence, Pisa and flows into the Ligurian sea. At 150 miles long it is the longest river in the region. The Ponte Vecchio or the "Old Bridge" crosses the Arno River at its narrowest point, and was the only bridge in Florence spared from destruction in World War 2. It was constructed prior to 1000AD, was destroyed by flood and rebuilt in stone. The current bridge has been standing since the 1300s.

Lanzerote

Lanzerote is just to the north of Fuerteventura.  Its largest resort area is Puerto del Carmen, with a beachside boulevard called Avenida de las Playas. It is some distance from the coast of Morocco and south of Agadir.

Las Palmas

Las Palmas is the capital city of the Canary Islands and is officially known as Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Grand Canary Island).  The Canary Islands is part of an area known as Macronesia, a collection of volcanic archipelagos, which also includes the Azores and Madeira archipelagos, part of Portugal.

Temple Church

The Temple Church was built by the Knights Templar. It was consecrated on the 10 February 1185. It is famous for being a round church typical of the Knights Templar.  

The Magna Carta (or more precisely Magna Carta Libertatum. or Great Charter of Freedoms), issued in 1215, in the reign of King John of England, youngest son of King Henry II, which put into writing the King and government were not above the law, was negotiated in the Temple.

The area around the Temple Church is still known as Temple. The Knights Templar were suppressed in 1312. The church is now owned by the Middle Temple and Inner Temple Inns of Court. Inner Temple features a legal reference library dating back to 1506.

Blackfriars Station, also known as London Blackfriars, served by Circle and District Lines, is very close to Tudor Street which leads to the entrance to the Inner Temple. It is the only London station whose platforms span the River Thames.

Zambia Yields World's Oldest Wooden Structure

A wooden structure dating almost 500,000 years old has been found on the banks of the Kalambo River in Zambia (South Central Africa). Zambia's capital is Lusaka and lies east of Angola. Go further East and you reach the other side of Africa (East Coast) and Malawi.

This discovery predates the emergence of homo sapiens which appeared on Earth between 200,000 and 300,000 years ago.

Professor Larry Barham of the University of Liverpool published the finding in the journal Nature. 

The Kalambo Falls region was first excavated in 1953.

In Antrim There Walketh Giants

County Antrim is in the North East of Northern Ireland.  It is the land of the Giant's Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, created by ancient volcanic activity. Much of the Causeway is managed by the National Trust (founded by Octavia Hill in 1895). The Glens of Antrim known locally as The Glens are a set of valleys which form a major tourist attraction in North Antrim.

When did the Chalky Cretaceous Start?

The Cretaceous Period was very important in the story of the dinosaurs. It began 145 million years ago. Its  name derives from the Latin creta meaning chalk. It is often abbreviated to K. It is the final chapter in the so-called Mesozoic ("Middle Life") Era, the era of the dinosaurs. Birds, crocodiles and the coelacanth are the closest living relatives of the dinosaurs.

India Technology in 2023

India achieved some technology milestones in 2023.

• Asia's largest helicopter manufacturing facility inaugurated in Karnataka
• Asia's largest international liquid mirror telescope inaugurated in Uttarakhand
• National Quantum Mission launched