The AnswerBank Articles

American authorities know there's alien life because there's a law against contacting extra-terrestrial beings. So how come they don't tell us about it

A. Sorry. You've been taken in by an urban myth - but rather a good one. The story says that Title 14 (Section 1211) of the Code of Federal Regulations, implemented on 16 July, 1969, made it00:00 Mon 15th Apr 2002

Where can I buy this newly discovered perfume of the pharaohs

A. I regret you can't - there are no plans to put it on sale. But I expect you'd like to hear a bit more about it Q. Oh yes. A. An Egyptian perfume used by the pharaohs has been rediscovered00:00 Mon 15th Apr 2002

There's a new theory over the Turin Shroud

A. Yes. Two academics believe that the face upon it is not of Jesus but of Jacques de Molay. Q. Who's he A. Leader of the Knights Templar, a religious military order established at the time of00:00 Mon 08th Apr 2002

The Pope pardoned the 'heretic' Templars

A. According to new evidence, yes. Vatican documents have come to light showing that the Knights Templar were massacred in the Middle Ages for 'heresy, idolatry and sexual perversion' even though00:00 Mon 08th Apr 2002

So the Siegfried Line's still there

A. Yes - and it looks as though it's going to stay that way. The Siegfried Line, 400 miles of Second World War defences built to keep the Allied armies out of Germany, has been granted protected00:00 Mon 08th Apr 2002

Who were the gunpowder plotters

A. A band of at least 13 disaffected Catholics. Some would call them freedom fighters; others traitors. They were: Robert Catesby, Sir Everard Digby, John Grant, Thomas Percy, Robert Keyes, Ambrose00:00 Mon 01st Apr 2002

There's more news on The Man Who Never Was

A. Yes - and in a sense he's been honoured for work that he did without knowing. Q. Without knowing How A. He was dead. Q. I think you'd better begin at the beginning. A. Good idea. A00:00 Mon 01st Apr 2002

Is it really Guy Fawkes's gunpowder

A. The evidence is compelling. Curators at the British Library in London believe they may have found some of the gunpowder with which the legendary conspirator Guy Fawkes tried to blow up00:00 Mon 01st Apr 2002

When was the Albert memorial built

A. The main structure was completed in 1868, seven years after the death of Queen Victoria's beloved husband Albert. The edifice, in Kensington Gardens opposite the Royal Albert Hall, was opened to00:00 Mon 25th Mar 2002

Isn't there some myth about Peter Pan's statue appearing overnight

J M BarrieA. It's no myth - it happened. In 1912, Sir James (JM) Barrie - author of the Peter Pan books - hired sculptor Sir George Frampton to make a statue of the boy who never grew up. Barrie00:00 Mon 25th Mar 2002

Did Henry VIII really destroy Hampton Court

A. No - you're getting your facts rather muddled here. It would be true to say that he bungled part of its design, though. Beautiful Hampton Court, on the banks of the Thames in Surrey, has been00:00 Mon 18th Mar 2002

We can now see the Sutton Hoo treasures

A. Yes - and that's great news. The priceless Anglo-Saxon treasures discovered in 1939 went on display for the first time last week. Q. So where we they found A. At Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, in a00:00 Mon 18th Mar 2002

What's the Sussex gold

A. The British warship, HMS Sussex, carrying a cargo of gold and silver, was lost in the Atlantic off Gibraltar in a sudden storm in 1694. The wreckage is thought to contain 10 tons of bullion,00:00 Mon 18th Mar 2002

Who was Pat Garrett

A. The lawman who got Billy the Kid. More than a quarter of a century later, Garrett was also shot dead. Q. Background A. Pat Garrett was born in Chambers County, Alabama, on 5 June, 1850. He00:00 Mon 25th Mar 2002

What's this about Watt

A. A scandal is brewing. It would appear that the great Scottish inventor, whose name is on every lightbulb, might have been a counterfeiter, passing off cheap musical instruments as the work of a00:00 Mon 11th Mar 2002

What's this about FDR's failure at Yalta

A. Hmm. This is a tricky one. It would appear that Franklin D Roosevelt, one of the greatest American presidents, gave too much away to Russia at the Yalta conference in February, 1945. Q. Why00:00 Mon 11th Mar 2002

Crossing the Rubicon ... It's got something to do with Caesar

A. Yes. It's an expression meaning passing the point of no return, or committing oneself to a course of action. It's taken from Caesar's action in crossing the river Rubicon, the boundary between00:00 Mon 11th Mar 2002

Who were the Spencean Philanthropists

A. The radical followers of Thomas Spence, who got themselves in serious trouble with the law. Q. And Thomas Spence was ... A. A schoolteacher from Newcastle-upon-Tyne who went to London in00:00 Mon 25th Feb 2002

What's this about the sacred meteorite

A. You must be talking about the Willamette meteorite, a 15.5-ton boulder that fell to Earth more than 10 millenniums ago. It is the largest meteorite found in the United States. Experts believe it00:00 Mon 25th Feb 2002

Why 'peelers' for police

A. Peelers - the old name for the good old British bobby - were named after Sir Robert Peel, the home secretary who founded the first police force in 1829. Q. The good old British bobby Why00:00 Mon 25th Feb 2002