The AnswerBank Articles

Vanishing point: Perspective

Q. What is it A. The dictionary describes it as 'the technique or process of representing on a plane or curved surface the spatial relation of objects as they might appear to the eye; specifically00:00 Sun 04th Nov 2001

Ripping yarns: Jack's letters

Q. Did Jack the Ripper send any letters to the police A. During the period the murders took place (1888-9), the police and gentlemen of the press were literally bombarded with letters from people00:00 Sun 04th Nov 2001

Sir John Lavery (1856-1941)

Q. Who was he A. John Lavery was born in Belfast in 1856, the son of a publican. His father was drowned at sea while emigrating to America in 1859. John's mother died soon afterwards and he was00:00 Sat 03rd Nov 2001

Stonehenge

Q. A 'national disgrace' A. In 1986, Stonehenge and some 1,600 acres of its surrounding landscape containing an extraordinary number of interrelated archaeological sites, including barrow00:00 Sun 28th Oct 2001

Mary Norton (1903-1992)

Q. Who was Mary Norton A. The British children's writer Mary Norton (n e Pearson) was born in London and died at the age of 88 in Devon. She was educated in a convent school and trained as an00:00 Sat 27th Oct 2001

Carnegie Libraries

Q. What are Carnegie libraries A. They are libraries built with money donated by the American multi-millionaire Andrew Carnegie. Q. Of Carnegie Hall fame A. The same. Q. Who was he A. Andrew00:00 Fri 26th Oct 2001

Who is Jack Vettriano

Q. Who is Jack Vettriano A. Born in Scotland in 1951 of Italian parents, Jack Vettriano left school at sixteen to become a mining engineer in the local coalfields. A friend gave him a set of00:00 Sun 21st Oct 2001

The Poet Laureate

Q. What does a Poet Laureate do A. In Britain the Poet Laureate is responsible for composing poems for court and national occasions. At the time of each laureate's death, it is the duty of the Prime00:00 Sat 20th Oct 2001

He's behind you!: Pantomime

Q. We're all familiar with that great British institution pantomime, but where does it come from A. Pantomime as we understand it today is a Christmas entertainment intended primarily - though,00:00 Thu 18th Oct 2001

Who built the World Trade Center

Q. Who was Minoru Yamasaki A. Minoru Yamasaki was born into a poor family in Seattle in 1912. Intent on becoming an architect, Yamasaki worked for five summers in an Alaskan fish cannery, earning00:00 Mon 15th Oct 2001

V.S. Naipaul: Nobel Laureate 2001

The Nobel committee announced on 11 October that the 2001 Prize for Literature was to be awarded to the British writer V.S. Naipaul, 'for having united perceptive narrative and incorruptible scrutiny00:00 Mon 15th Oct 2001

Adolf Hitler: Artist

Q. Hitler an artist A. Indeed. Art was the future F hrer's first great love, and throughout his early life he had grandiose dreams of making his living as an artist. In fact he stated his profession00:00 Mon 08th Oct 2001

Scratch-and-sniff: The Royal Mail's new set of Nobel stamps

Q. Scratch-and-sniff A. No kidding. Britain's first scratch-and-sniff stamp was issued on Tuesday 2 October 2001 as part of a collection issued to celebrate 100 years of Nobel Prizes. It is one of a00:00 Mon 08th Oct 2001

In the shadow of Alice: Lewis Carroll

Q. What's the traditional reading of the relationship between Lewis Carroll and Alice A. It has long been believed that the Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson - better known as Lewis Carroll, author00:00 Mon 08th Oct 2001

National Poetry Day 2001

Q. What is it A. It's a day to celebrate Britain's very rich poetry tradition and to try to raise awareness of the medium, particularly among younger people, as not just a fossilised art form but as00:00 Mon 01st Oct 2001

How to get your papers bound as a book

Following on from lynner's question at DisplayAnswers.go question_id=4238&category_id=2&index=6 here's a guide to having your letters or anything else printed and bound. The following presumes that00:00 Mon 01st Oct 2001

The Man Who Planted Trees by Jean Giono

Q. Who's the man who planted trees A. Elz ard Bouffier, a shepherd in Provence. For decades he planted trees in what had been a wasteland in order to regenerate the landscape. Q. So that's it He00:00 Mon 01st Oct 2001

Back in the news - the Lord of the Rings

Q. Why is The Lord of the Rings back in the headlines A. It may have escaped your notice that a major three-part version of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic epic The Lord of the Rings is heading for our00:00 Mon 24th Sep 2001

10 years of the Big Issue

Q. When did you last buy a copy of The Big Issue A. If you live in a British town of any size you'll most likely have come across a Big Issue vendor at some point. You may even have bought a copy.00:00 Mon 24th Sep 2001

Found objects

Q. What, in art terminology, are 'found objects' A. More properly called objets trouv s, this is the term applied to existing objects - manufactured or of natural origin - used in, or as, works of00:00 Mon 17th Sep 2001