The grey wolf - otherwise known as the timber wolf, white wolf or 'common' wolf - lives in a variety of habitats, from the Arctic tundra and open steppes of Russia, to the mountainous regions and forests of the northern hemisphere. It has a highly organised social structure which enables it to enjoy the maximum cooperation when hunting, communicating, and defending its territory.
The grey wolf lives in packs of between five and ten animals. Each pack contains a family unit,consisting of a dominant male and female, and the offspring from several years.
The hierarchy that exists within each pack is maintained by dominant or submissive body posturing, as well as other behavioural patterns such as the communal care of the young.
The size of the pack's territory depends on the availability of prey, but usually covers several hundred square kilometres. The grey wolf is fiercely territorial.
It scent marks boundaries and makes its presence known by howling to other members of the pack. Calls may be answered by rival wolf packs.
Wolf facts
1. Wolves are legendary because of their spine-tingling howl, which they use to communicate. A separated wolf howls to attract the attention of his pack, while communal howls may send territorial messages from one pack to another. Some howls are confrontational. Much like barking domestic dogs, wolves may simply begin howling because a nearby wolf has already begun. 2. A wolf that has been driven from the pack, or has left on its own accord is called a lone wolf. It avoids contact with packs and rarely howls. 3. The wolf is the largest of the wild dog species. 4. Wolves are generally shy of people and will avoid them whenever possible. Most of the attacks on humans by wolves have been carried out by rabid animals. 5. Wolf packs in the far north often travel hundreds of kilometre following migrating herds.
6. Centuries ago, wolves were 'tried' by people and burned at the stake. 7. A Wolf in a hurry can go as fast as 35 miles per hour for short distances. 8. Wolves are highly intelligent animals. Studies indicate that the domestic dog's
brain is 15% to 30% smaller than the wolf's. 9. The wolf has two types of hair: guard and undercoat. The long guard hairs repel
moisture and the undercoat insulates. It sheds its bulky winter coat in
sheets (unlike most dogs); females tend to lose their winter coats more slowly
than males. 10. A wolf's hearing is at least 16 times sharper than a human's. Wolves can hear a
sound as far as six miles away in the forest and ten miles away in open
country. The wolf also has excellent peripheral vision and
superior night vision. The outer perimeter of the wolf's retina is highly
sensitive to movement. However, a wolf's eyes lack a foveal pit that allows for
sharp focusing at long distances.
Breeding
The grey wolf becomes sexually mature at about two years of age. Once a wolf has found a mate the pair will usually stay together for life. The mating season begins at the end of winter and often causes tension within the pack.
Subordinate males and females compete for a higher place in the hierarchy of the pack, for it only the most dominant wolves that get the opportunity to mate. Unfortunately, the majority of wolves do not get to breed. Instead, they get to choose to help their siblings rear pups by hunting prey for them.
Once they have paired, the dominant male and female will mate once or twice a day over a period of about 14 days.
The female wolf will give birth after about nine weeks to between 3 and 10 cubs. The birth occurs in an underground den that she would have excavated herself. However, she will sometime enlarge the disused den of another animal.
The young are born helpless and their eyes are closed. The mother will feed the cubs for 6 to 8 weeks, and - if she has to leave them - the father or another babysitter will guard them.
Gradually, the cubs will learn to eat meat brought to them in the den by adult wolves. The adult will sometimes carry the meat in its mouth, but over long distances it will swallow it, only to regurgitate it later at the den.
One of the strangest-looking of all mammals, the duck-billed platypus is the size of a rabbit and has a unique bird-like bill. It is one of only three mammals in the world to lay eggs.
Although it is not threatened in the wild, modern pressures on its freshwater habitat mean that it may need careful protection in the future
Where does the duck-billed platypus live?
The duck-billed platypus always lives near water, inhabiting the rivers of eastern Australia and Tasmania. It nests in tunnels that it digs out of the river banks, although sometimes it will live in deep crevices and little caves in areas where the river runs between rocky banks. Their tunnels can be in the region of 15 metres long, although they are usually much shorter.
The duck-billed platypus is truly amphibious as it is perfectly at home on both land and water. It lives a solitary life except during the breeding season, and is considered to be quite territorial in its need to secure stretches of the river for feeding rights.
It uses its strong, webbed front feet for both swimming and burrowing. When it walks on land, it curls these feet right under its body in order to protect them.
What does the duck-billed platypus eat?
The duck-billed platypus finds its food in the water, where it hunts for small prey such as insect larvae, water snails and small crustaceans.
Under the water it closes its eyes, ears and nostrils and uses its broad bill to locate prey. The bill is soft and pliable (not hard like a birds) and is highly sensitive. The platypus sweeps it from side to side as it searches along the bottom of the river. It sometimes remains underwater by wedging itself below a log or in a crevice under a stone.
Down on the river bed, the platypus takes food up into its cheeks. When the cheek pouches are full, the platypus comes up to the surface again. There it discards any sand and stones that it has accidentally picked up and grinds the food between the horny plates it has instead of teeth.
It swims along using its front feet only, and most of its dive lasts between half a minute, and a minute and a half. However, if need be, the duck-billed platypus is capable of staying submerged for longer.
Duck-billed platypus breeding
The male and female platypus come together to mate between August and October. The courtship takes place in the river, with the prospective pair swimming around each other.
The female platypus then digs a long nesting tunnel in the river bank with a birthing chamber at its end. The nesting tunnel is longer than the platypus’ home tunnel – it may be as much as 20 metres long!
The female collects grass and leaves and carries them back to the tunnel grasped under her tail. She then constructs a nest within the birthing chamber. There, she will lay two white, soft-shelled eggs which she incubates by holding them snugly between her tail and belly. Each egg is about the size of a large marble.
The hatching period is thought to be variable, but after about 1-2 weeks the eggs will hatch and the young make their way through their mother's fur to a glandular patch where milk is produced.
The youngsters stay within the burrow for 4-5 months, and continue to take their mother milk after they have left the burrow. They are playful, and have been seen to romp around like puppies.
Duck billed platypus facts.
1. The duck-billed platypus has a hollow spur on the back of each of its rear feet. Each spur contains enough poison to kill a dog. The spur may be used in rivalry fights. 2. The platypus is considered to be one of the most primitive of mammals. The only other mammals that lays eggs, like their reptilian ancestors did, are the platypus’ only relative – the two echidnas of Australia and New Guinea. 3. When the first species of this mammal was seen in England in the late 1700’s, it was thought to be a fake. Scientists assumed that a joker had stitched together a duck's beak and a mammal’s body. 4. At around 32 degrees Celsius, the body temperature of the platypus is remarkably low for a mammal. 5. The duck-billed platypus can change its shape very easily. Its body is like a strong tube of muscle and it can easily squeeze through narrow spaces and out of someone’s grip. 6. The word platypus also comes from the Greek for 'flat' and 'foot'. 7. The duck-billed platypus can sense prey by means of electrolocation - this is the ability to detect the
tiny electric impulses given off by animals when they move. Click here for related articles: DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS - AMAZING FACTS! Garden Of Eaden animals Nat-Geo Duck-Billed Platypus WHAT IS A DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS
The Wollemi Pine is one of the world's oldest and rarest plants, and dates back to the time of the dinosaurs. It was discovered, on or about 10 September 1994, by David Noble, a field officer of the Wollemi National Park in Blackheath, in the Blue Mountains.
The Wollemi pine
Noble had good botanical knowledge, and quickly recognised the trees as unusual and worthy of further investigation. Returning with specimens, and expecting someone to be able to identify the plants, Noble soon found that they were new to science and the species was subsequently named after him. However, further study would be needed to establish its relationship to other conifers.
The initial suspicion was that it had certain characteristics of the 200-million-year-old family Araucariaceae. Comparison with living and fossilised Araucariaceae proved that it was a member of that family, and it has been placed into a new genus with Agathis and Araucaria. Fossils resembling Wollemia are widespread in Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica, but Wollemia nobilis is the sole living member of its genus.
The last known fossils of the genus date from approximately 2 million years ago. It is has therefore been described as a living fossil, or alternatively, a Lazarus taxon.
What does the Wollemi pine look like?
The Wollemi pine is an evergreen tree reaching 25–40 m (80–130 feet) tall. The bark is very distinctive, dark brown and knobbly, quoted as resembling Coco Pops breakfast cereal.
The tree coppices readily, and most specimens are multi-trunked or appear as clumps of trunks thought to derive from old coppice growth, with some consisting of up to 100 stems of differing sizes.
The branching is unique in that nearly all the side branches never have further branching. After a few years, each branch either terminates in a cone (either male or female) or ceases growth. After this, or when the cone becomes mature, the branch dies. New branches then arise from dormant buds on the main trunk. Rarely, a side branch will turn erect and develop into a secondary trunk, which then bears a new set of side branches.
The leaves are flat, linear, 3–8 cm long and 2–5 mm broad. They are arranged spirally on the shoot but twisted at the base to appear in two or four flattened ranks. As the leaves mature, they develop from bright lime-green to a more yellowish-green.
The seed cones are green, 6–12 cm long and 5–10 cm in diameter, and mature about 18–20 months after wind pollination. They disintegrate at maturity to release the seeds which are small and brown, thin and papery with a wing around the edge to aid wind-dispersal. The male (pollen) cones are slender conic, 5–11 cm long and 1–2 cm broad and reddish-brown in colour and are lower on the tree than the seed cones. Wollemi pine seedlings appear to be slow-growing and mature trees are extremely long-lived; some of the older individuals today are estimated to be between 500 and 1000 years old.
With less than 100 adult trees known to exist in the wild, the Wollemi Pine is now the focus of extensive research to safeguard its survival.
The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna launched an assault on the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar - now modern-day San Antonio, Texas.
President General Antonio López de Santa Anna
All but two of the Texian (a Texian is a anglo-american who emigrated to Texas) defenders were killed. President General Antonio López de Santa Anna's perceived cruelty during the battle inspired many Texians—both Texas settlers and adventurers from the United States—to join the Texian Army . Buoyed by a desire for revenge, the Texians defeated the Mexican Army at the Battle of San Jacinto, on April 21, 1836, ending the revolution.
Several months previously, Texians had driven all Mexican troops out of Mexican Texas. There was approximately 100 Texians garrisoned at the Alamo at this point in time. However, the Texian force grew slightly with the arrival of reinforcements led by eventual Alamo co-commanders James Bowie and William B. Travis.
On February 23, approximately 1,500 Mexican troops marched into San Antonio de Béxar as the first step in a campaign to re-take Texas.
For the next 12 days the two armies engaged in several skirmishes but these had resulted in minimal casualties. Aware that his garrison could not withstand an attack by such a large force, Travis wrote multiple letters pleading for more men and supplies:
Commandancy of the Alamo— Bejar, Fby. 24th 1836— To the People of Texas & all Americans in the world— Fellow citizens & compatriots— I am besieged, by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna—I have sustained a continual Bombardment cannonade for 24 hours have not lost a man — The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken—I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, our flag still waves proudly from the walls — I shall never surrender or retreat Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid,
Unfortunately fewer than 100 reinforcements arrived.
In the early morning hours of March 6, the Mexican Army began their advance on the Alamo. After repulsing two attacks, the Texians were unable to fend off a third attack. As Mexican soldiers scaled the walls, most of the Texian soldiers withdrew into interior buildings. Defenders unable to reach these points were slain by the Mexican cavalry as they attempted to escape.
Between five and seven Texians may have surrendered; if so, they were quickly executed. Most eyewitness accounts reported between 182 and 257 Texians dead, while most historians of the Alamo agree that 400–600 Mexicans were killed or wounded. Several noncombatants were sent to Gonzales to spread word of the Texian defeat. The news sparked a panic, known as "The Runaway Scrape", in which the Texian army, most settlers, and the new Republic of Texas government fled from the advancing Mexican Army.
Within Mexico, the battle has often been overshadowed by events from the Mexican–American War of 1846–48. In 19th-century Texas, the Alamo complex gradually became known as a battle site rather than a former mission. The Texas Legislature purchased the land and buildings in the early part of the 20th century and designated the Alamo chapel as an official Texas State Shrine. The Alamo is now considered to be the most popular tourist site in Texas".
The truth about the Alamo
Films about this famous battle, such as John Wayne’s “The Alamo,” have taught us that Davy Crockett went down fighting and that everybody in the old mission was killed during the 13-day-long siege by the Mexicans. These films also depicted the men as sacrificial lambs who believed that their deaths were inevitable and unavoidable.
In addition, some of these movies have also inferred that the long siege played a key role in the liberation of Texas because it allowed Sam Houston to raise an army that would eventually defeat the Mexicans.
Unfortunately, most of these 'facts' are more myth than reality. For instance, the men defending the Alamo were not nobly suicidal. Though obviously valiant in their stand, they were actually fighting with the belief that reinforcements were on the way to help them defend the old mission.
It also is false that there were no survivals. Although most of the Texians defending the Alamo on March 6, 1836 were killed, approximately 20 people did survive the siege, including women, children and a slave belonging to William B. Travis. In addition, a previously untranslated diary written by Jose Enrique de la Pena, senior Mexican officer at the battle revealed that Crockett and six other survivors had actually surrendered. According to this account, they were were executed afterwards by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, and subsequently were found dead outside of the fort!
As for Sam Houston, he wasn’t rounding up troops, because he was actually serving as a delegate at a constitutional convention at the time the Alamo fell.
In addition, there is one more fact that most of these films have managed to gloss over – the Alamo was not strictly a white Texan or Mexican fight. A third group, the Tejanos, who were Mexicans that lived in Texas, was also fighting alongside Davy Crockett and the others on that March day. So 'Remember the Alamo,' but try to remember the facts about it correctly next time.
The European hedgehog if found in a wide range of habitats. However, it is most often seen at the fringes of woodland, on urban wasteland and more familiarly parks, playing fields, sports grounds and the humble garden. Strangely, the hedgehog prefers not to live in thick forest or high altitude.
The hedgehog is a solitary animal, normally active only at night. During the day it sleeps in a temporary nest from which it emerges as darkness falls.
The hedgehog feeds as much as possible during the autumn then, around October, the hedgehog builds a thick nest of leaves and grass in which to hibernate for the winter.
Favourite places for hibernation are wood stacks, compost heaps, and haystacks.
By remaining inactive during the winter months, the hedgehog can live off its body fat. Whilst asleep, its body temperature drops to 10 degrees Celsius or even lower, and its heartbeat slows to fewer than 20 beats a minute. On warm days, it may wake up to forage, but returns to its nest as soon as it turns cold again.
Food and hunting
The hedgehog hunts after dark, searching through the night for invertebrates such as earthworms, millipedes and earwigs.
Beetles are a favourite food choice along with caterpillars and slugs.
The hedgehog is known as the gardeners friend because it includes so many plant pests in its diet. It often raids mouse nests in order to feed on newborn young, and 'tidies up' any animal carcases left lying around. In the autumn will eat soft fruit straight off the bush and any fallen fruit straight off the tree.
Frequently, hedgehogs are happy to take food put down for domestic cats and dogs outside in both town and city gardens.
The hedgehog also likes to have a go at tackling hens' eggs. However it has to master smashing them first before it can eat them, but the hedgehog is able to swallow small eggs whole!
Breeding
Loud snuffling noises in the dead of night from April to August may well be the sounds of hedgehogs mating. The male circles the female, sometimes for hours on end, in order to persuade her to mate. Afterwards, the two hedgehogs separate and the male takes no part in rearing the family.
The hedgehog young are born after about 32 days, in a special ‘maternity’ nest. Late litters, born in September, seldom survive their first winter.
Blind until they are two years old, the young hedgehogs are suckled by their mother until they are able to fend for themselves. After about four weeks, the mother will take them out on their first foraging trip out of the nest and a week and a half later the family will separate.
Hedgehog facts
1. European hedgehogs are widespread throughout Europe from southern Scandinavia to the Mediterranean.
2. Hedgehogs were introduced to New Zealand by settlers.
3. The hedgehog is protected under Schedule VI of the wildlife and countryside act of 1961.
4. Hedgehogs can live up to 6 years.
5. When a hedgehog is in danger it will roll itself up into a ball of bristling spikes. It uses a similar technique when hibernating as it helps to preserve it own body heap buy rolling itself up in leaves and twigs.
6. When stimulated by a strong smell or taste, the hedgehog may ‘self-anoint’ or cover its prickles on foamy saliva. As yet, no-one knows why hedgehogs do this.
7. There may be as many as 500 fleas on a single hedgehog, but don’t worry as the specific hedgehog flea rarely bites humans.
The common cuckoo is well known both for its 'CUCKOO' call and its habit of laying an egg in the nest of another bird, then leaving it to be hatched and fed by foster parents. Unfortunately this deception often fails, but even so, more young cuckoos are reared that would otherwise be possible.
Migrating north from Africa, the first male cuckoo reaches Europe in mid-April. In the minds of most country people, spring only truly arrives when the first cuckoo is called.
The cuckoo’s two-note call is easily recognised, and can be heard in suitable habitat during most evening between mid-April and June.
The call carries over long distances, but it can be hard to spot the bird as it’s dull plumage makes it difficult to see when hidden within leafy cover
Where do Cuckoos live?
The cuckoo leaves Africa to breed in the cooler climates of Europe during the spring. Cuckoos tend to avoid towns and cities, but inhabit varied types of countryside, including woodland margins, open farmland, hedgerow and marshes. These habitats are most likely to offer abundant rearing sites.
In flight, the cuckoo - with its long, pointed wings and grey-flecked under parts - can be confused with a sparrow hawk. It is thought that this mimicry may be a deliberate ruse to frighten a smaller bird off its nest, enabling the female cuckoo to lay her own egg there.
Cuckoo migration
The adult cuckoo leaves its European breeding grounds in July to winter in the warmer climates of central or southern Africa. The following April the cuckoo will return to breed again.
Reared by its foster parents, the juvenile leaves Europe between August and September – several weeks later than its real parents – and yet still manages to find its way to the regular wintering area which it has clearly never seen or visited before.
Here the cuckoo will remain quiet in inconspicuous through the entire winter.
What do Cuckoos eat?
The cuckoo will find most of its insect diet in bushes and trees. It will also feed on the ground, but the cuckoo does walk rather clumsily. It snaps up any insect larvae it finds and is one of the few British birds to relish hairy caterpillars.
The cuckoo chick is fed on a diet of caterpillars, grasshoppers, flies, beetle and small snails. The female cuckoo specifically tries to find the nest of an insect eating bird species to act as foster parents to ensure the right diet for her young.
Cuckoo breeding
Alone among British birds, the cuckoo forces the rearing of its own young on to birds of a different species. The female cuckoo usually returns yearly to the area where she was reared, looking for foster parents of the same species that reared her. In late May, she lays one egg in about nine chosen nests while each fostering bird pair lays it sown brood.
It takes the female cuckoo just a few seconds to place her egg in the nest and remove one belonging to the host birds in order to keep the number of eggs left in the nest the same. To carry the disguise further, she chooses hosts of a species whose eggs closely resemble her own. Cuckoo eggs are small in relation to the mother bird’s size and quite closely match the size of the host’s eggs.
The cuckoo has evolved an especially short incubation period, so its chick usually hatches first. Although blind and naked when born, it manoeuvres the other eggs, one at a time, onto its back and heaves them out of the nest one at a time.
If any of the other eggs have hatched before the juvenile cuckoo, they too will receive the same treatments as the eggs. It the young cuckoo is unable to heave them out the nest, its greater size and insistence on being fed weakens the others until they can be successfully evicted.
The young cuckoo will grow far larger than its foster parents who continue to feed it regardless. At three to four weeks old the young cuckoo would have increased its size roughly 50 times and is ready to leave the nest.
Queen Victoria ( 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. Not only was she Queen, from 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India.
Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, the fourth son of King George III. Her reign lasted 63 years and 7 months, which is longer than that of any other British monarch and the longest of any female monarch in history.
What was Queen Victoria like?
Queen Victoria’s personality has been cemented into the British mind as being dour and humourless. In fact, ‘…we are not amused...’ is most likely the only utterance most of us associate with her – although later in life, she confided to a relative that she had never actually said this! However, Queen Victoria’s reputation has been gradually unravelled in recent years.
Today we have a much more rounded picture of our longest reigning monarch, and a startling one at that which changes our perception of her, and her era.
New material that became available in the 1970’s and 80’s showed a vastly different portrait of the Queen to the one offered up by tradition. While she studiously maintained an appropriate decorum in public, the evidence shows a starkly different character behind the scenes.
Contrary to the received image of prudery, she was a highly sexed individual. She did after all have nine children in 17 years, her first coming only 10 months after her marriage, and the second following just 11 months later. The couple adorned their bedroom with nude statues and according to one biographer, had a device that enabled them to lock the door without getting out of bed!
In Prince Albert’s bathroom she had hung, in the words of one recent biographer, a ‘startlingly sexual’ painting of the mythical Queen of Lydia who kept Hercules as her personal slave. The symbolism would have been all to clear.
Far from setting the prudery agenda, she was enthralled by erotic art. She and Albert exchanged what has been described as ‘awesome’ amounts of nude sculpture as presents to each other. When a collection of similarly risqué statues were placed in the Crystal palace for her ceremonial opening of the Great Exhibition in 1851, it was not her who objected but the country’s bishops, who threatened to boycott the biggest national showcase of the century. Fig leaves were eventually rustled up to spare their blushes.
Victoria and Albert were also in the habit of sending nude paintings to each other. The story is told of the writer Compton Mackenzie who spotted an alluring nude portrait of the mythical figure Artemis in a Buckingham Palace corridor when he was there to be knighted in 1952. Wondering to himself what Victoria would have said to having such a painting hanging in the palace, he approached it to read an inscription that revealed it to be one of her wedding presents to Albert!
Victoria had a passion for popular and more lowbrow entertainments. She loved freak shows, and the American showman P.T.Barnum would be summoned to perform when in the country. He arguably made his fortune from the royal patronage he could rely on. She made frequent visits to circuses and extravaganza shows when they arrived in London. Queen Victoria clearly had a passion for the exotic. She once replied to her Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, when he asked her about her wishes for a pet, that she would like a monkey.
She was by no means a conformist. Despite the religious strictures of Victorian life, she and Albert never got into the habit of going to church on Sundays. It was a habit that lasted throughout her life.
She is recorded as relishing whiskey ‘…and not too weak…’ and the occasional betting spree on the horses. One photograph is described by a biographer as showing her, when she smiled, looking more like a jolly old barmaid than a Queen.
She was a strong believer in the spirit world and held séances after Albert’s death in order to establish contact with him. A fourteen year old medium, Robert Lees, became her favourite when he claimed to have made contact with Albert (the first to do so) two years after Albert’s death in 1861. The dead Prince Consort apparently passed a personal message, a pet name known only to Victoria, to Lees in front of two royal emissaries. Victoria later had him perform another séance at Windsor, and expressed herself convinced that contact had been made. Lees is said to have conducted six more séances over the years, each successful in reaching Albert.
In later life, she hid her frailties by a bizarre deception.
Photographs of her as a proud matriarch surrounded by her grandchildren and holding her latest baby on her knee had to be artfully faked. Why? Because she had lost almost all of the strength in her arms and could not even support a newborn baby.
So what did she do? She had a maid secrete herself underneath her broad, hooped skirt in order to hold the child in place.
If you tried to make up stories like that, one-one would believe you
Buckingham Palace and Queen Victoria
Buckingham Palace became the principal royal residence in 1837, on the accession of Queen Victoria. She was in fact the first monarch to reside there as her predecessor William IV had died before its completion.
While the state rooms were a riot of gilt and colour, the necessities of the new palace were somewhat less luxurious.
For one thing, it was reported that the chimneys smoked so much that the fires had to be allowed to die down, and consequently the court shivered in icy magnificence.
Ventilation was so bad that the interior smelled, and when a decision was taken to install gas lamps, there was a serious worry about the buildup of gas on the lower floors. It was also said that the staff were lax and lazy and the palace was dirty.
Following the Queen's marriage in 1840, her husband, Prince Albert, concerned himself with a reorganisation of the household offices and staff, and with the design faults of the palace. The problems were all rectified by the close of 1840. However, the builders were to return within the decade.
By 1847, the couple had found the palace too small for court life and their growing family, and consequently the new wing, designed by Edward Blore, was built by Thomas Cubitt, enclosing the central quadrangle.
The large East Front facing The Mall is today the "public face" of Buckingham Palace and contains the balcony from which the Royal Family acknowledge the crowds on momentous occasions and annually after Trooping the Colour. The ballroom wing and a further suite of state rooms were also built in this period, designed by Nash's student Sir James Pennethorne.
Before Prince Albert's death, the palace was frequently the scene of musical entertainments, and the greatest contemporary musicians entertained at Buckingham Palace. The composer Felix Mendelssohn is known to have played there on three occasions. Johann Strauss II and his orchestra played there when in England. Strauss's "Alice Polka" was first performed at the palace in 1849 in honour of the Queen's daughter, Princess Alice. Under Victoria, Buckingham Palace was frequently the scene of lavish costume balls, in addition to the routine royal ceremonies, investitures and presentations.
Widowed in 1861, the grief-stricken Queen withdrew from public life and left Buckingham Palace to live at Windsor Castle, Balmoral Castle, and Osborne House. For many years Buckingham palace was rarely used, and could even be considered neglected. Eventually, public opinion forced her to return to London, though she preferred to live elsewhere whenever possible. Court functions were still held at Windsor Castle rather than at the palace, and were presided over by the Queen still dressed in mourning black while Buckingham Palace remained shuttered for most of the year.
The walnut is an edible seed of any tree of the genus Juglans, best known of which is the Persian walnut - Juglans regia, although in North America you could argue that it is in fact the native Black Walnut.
All types of walnuts are quite hardy, and actually require a cold winter period in order to thrive. So anyone living in warmer climates won't have much success with their own walnut trees.
Walnuts will start to produce nuts at around 10 years of age, give full production at 30 years and keep on producing for more than 50 years. Depending on the specific variety of the walnut tree, they can grow up to 100 feet in height.
Caring for walnut trees
Depending on the age and size of the tree, you may not be able to significantly treat diseases or insect infestations on a walnut tree.
Webworms or tent caterpillars can be a problem if there are too many of them on your trees. They build large tents of webbing, that can house hundreds of hungry caterpillars. Cut any branches off with tents and dispose of them carefully.
Full size trees have very long and deep root systems, which usually can protect them from moisture problems on the surface. But after very prolonged periods of drought, your trees might need some watering. You can end up with 'burned' walnuts come harvest time if you let your trees get too dry for too long.
Walnut trees should be left to grow naturally without pruning.
The Ancient Olympic Games were a series of competitions held between city-states and kingdoms in Ancient Greece. These games featured mainly athletic, but also combat events and chariot racing.
Olympic facts
The Olympics were of fundamental religious importance, featuring sporting events alongside ritual sacrifices honouring both Zeus - whose famous statue by Phidias stood in his temple at Olympia and Pelops, divine hero and mythical king of Olympia.
The Olympic Games reached their peak in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, but then gradually declined in importance as the Romans gained power and influence in Greece.
Olympic facts
1. No-one actually knows when the Olympic Games began. The earliest recorded event was at Olympia, Greece in 776 BC, but it may well have been held even earlier. 2. From 776 BC onwards, it was held every four years, and the ancient Greeks calculated their calendar in four year periods called 'Olympiads'.
Olympic facts
3. The word "gymnasium" comes from the Greek root "gymnos" meaning nude. In fact, the literal meaning of "gymnasium" is "school for naked exercise." This makes more sense when you find out that athletes in the ancient Olympic Games would have participated in the nude! 4. The ancient Olympics ended in AD 393 when the Roman Emperor Theodosius banned the games because they were becoming too pagan. 5. The earliest games were held to honour Zeus and included a ceasefire in all wars in the region. 6. When the modern Olympics began in Athens in 1896, only 13 countries took part. 7. The five Olympic rings represent the five major regions of the world – Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania, and every national flag in the world includes one of the five colors, which are (from left to right) blue, yellow, black, green, and red.
Olympic medals
8. The last Olympic gold medals that were made entirely out of gold were awarded in 1912. Nowadays, each medal must be at least three millimeters thick and 60 millimeters in diameter. Also, the gold and silver Olympic medals must be made out of 92.5 percent silver, with the gold medal covered in six grams of gold. 9. During the 1900 Olympic archery competition, live pigeons were used as targets. 10. Britain has always won at least one gold in every modern Olympics - however, one was the grand total of gold medals for the UK in 1904, 1952 and 1996 - embarrassing! 11. Because of World War I and World War II, there were no Olympic Games in 1916, 1940, or 1944.
Olympic facts
12. During the ancient Olympic games, married women were barred from watching the games. In fact the only only married woman allowed in was the Priestess of Demeter - a goddess of the harvest. 13. Women were first allowed to participate in 1900 at the second modern Olympic Games. 14. Three continents – Africa, South America, and Antarctica – have never hosted an Olympics. 15. The 'Berlin Olympics' held in 1936 were the first Olympic games ever to be broadcast on television. 16. Olympian Oscar Swahn of Sweden is the oldest olympian to have participated in any of the olympic events so far. He was a shooter who participated at the 1920 Antwerp Games at the age of 72 years.
17. Baron Pierre De Coubertin of France is known as the father of the modern olympics. 18. The very first modern olympics were held in Athens, Greece 1896.
The Indian rhino was once found throughout the northern sub-continent, but today about 275 rhinos survive in fragmented populations. Numbers have dropped by 70% in the past twenty years. Today it faces a particularly nefarious challenge from poachers, this has resulted in the Indian Rhino only surviving in protected parks.
The Indian rhino has one horn, which poacher's prize because they can sell it on for large sums of money. That’s because rhino horn is highly valued as a complementary medicine, especially in China, despite there being little objective evidence that it has any medicinal effect.
What does the Indian Rhino eat?
The Indian rhinos – correctly known as the great Indian one-horned rhinoceros, is a survivor from an old race of rhinoceros. Despite its fearsome appearance, it is a peaceful grazing animal, moving around to take advantage of fresh plant growth. It is adaptable in its feeding methods, extending its upper lip to grasp a bunch of long grass, or folding it away when feeding on short, newly-grown grass.
The Indian rhino also eats bamboo shoots, water hyacinths and a variety of domestic crops – which can make it a nuisance to farmers
Where does the Indian Rhino live?
Due to widespread poaching of the Indian rhino, its range has contracted eastwards – now only found in 10 locations in India and Nepal. The Indian rhino lives in the dense jungles of tall elephant grass found growing in swampy areas closed to rivers. Here, the rhino finds the wallows, or areas of shallow water and soft mud that it needs to keep cool during the heat of the day. The Indian rhino will occasionally move to higher wooded country in search for food. On such journeys, the Indian rhino will often follow the path of a rocky stream bed into the hills.
Indian rhino behaviour
At more than 4 metres long and weighing up to 2 tonnes, the Indian rhinoceros is bigger and heavier than the average family sized car. It may appear to be ponderous and slow, but it can suddenly charge off at frightening speed to drive off rivals or enemies to dare to stray too close.
The Indian rhino does not spend much time defending its territory, although males, adult females and female with calves each establish their own feeding area and sleeping space. If another animal wanders into this space then the owner will drive the intruder away. However, the Indian rhino will share ‘public places’ such as paths through the grass, bathing pools and wallows. New arrivals are challenged by those already there, answering grunt with grunt until they are permitted to join the group.
The rhino spends the afternoon in the shade, moving into its more open feeding areas at dusk to graze there until about mid-night. Females with young calves move into the shelter of tall grass in order to protect their young from tigers, while the other lie down wherever they are feeding.
The following morning, the Indian rhino will begin feeding again, drifting back towards cover as the sun rises high in the sky. At noon they then return to gather at the wallows, remaining partly submerged for most of the rest of the day.
Wallowing is important for rhinos as it helps to protect their skin from biting insects, keeps the skin supple, and also prevent the rhino from overheating or getting sunburned.
Throughout the day, local populations of Indian rhinos keep in contact, not only by meeting at the wallows, by also by using communal dung heaps. These dung heaps can get as large as 5 metres across and 1 metre high! Just remember to wash your hands afterwards and especially before eating.
The Indian rhino can do considerable damage to crops, able to quickly destroy a whole field of wheat or lentils. Obviously, this can make the Indian rhino very unpopular with farmers, but in turn, local farmers and villagers collect elephant grass – the rhinos main food source - to use as building material for their houses.
In Nepal, villages near national parks are allowed to collect elephant grass at certain times of the year for a small fee which can help to encourage new grass to grow. Unfortunately, no solution has been found to the problem of poachers, who kill the rhino for its horn
Breeding Indian rhinos
The female Indian rhino comes into season for 24 hours, every 5 – 8 weeks. She attracts the male by spraying urine over bushes and on the ground, and by making a gentle whistling sound.
As the time for giving birth draws nearer, the female Indian rhino moves into denser cover. The new born will weigh in at about 65 kg and in the first few weeks afterwards, the mother will produce between 20-25 litres of milk every day in order to feed it! The calf will begin to graze at two months but will continue to suckle for at least a year or until the next calf is born. The calf will stay close to her mother until she gives birth to her next offspring – usually between 18 months and two years later. It will then join an established group of rhinos, choosing and defending its own private feeding and sleeping areas.
The saber-toothed tiger - or more correctly - the saber-toothed cat is one of the most iconic mammals to have ever lived on this planet. However, you may be surprised to find out that there wasn't just one saber toothed cat. In fact there are over one hundred species and subspecies that can make claim to this title ranging from the extinct subfamilies of Machairodontinae (Felidae), Barbourofelidae (Feliformia), and Nimravidae (Feliformia). There are also two families related to marsupials whose remains have been found worldwide.
These specialist mammals are so called because of their large, saber-like maxillary canine teeth, which extended from their mouths even when it was closed. Despite the name, not all animals known as saber-toothed cats were closely related to modern felines.
Be that as it may, the one species that comes to most peoples mind when they think of the saber-toothed tiger is the magnificent Smilodon.
Named from the Greek for "chisel tooth, it was described by the Danish naturalist and palaeontologist Peter Wilhelm Lund in 1841 who found the fossils of Smilodon populator in caves near the small town of Lagoa Santa, Brazil.
A fully-grown Smilodon weighed approximately 55 to 470 kg (120 to 1,000 lb), depending on species. It had a short tail, powerful legs, muscular neck and long canines. Smilodon was more robustly built than any modern cat, in fact it was more comparable to a bear! The lumbar region of the back was proportionally short, and the lower limbs were shortened relative to the upper limbs in comparison with modern pantherine cats, suggesting that Smilodon was not built for speed.
Where did the saber-toothed tiger live?
Perhaps the most impressive of all the saber-toothed tigers is is the magnificent Smilodon, which itself is made up of three sub-species. First found in caves near the small town of Lagoa Santa, Brazil, smilodon species were later discovered to be endemic to both North America and South America.
In fact, if you combine the ranges of all the saber-toothed families together, their distribution would have once covered every continent in the world except Australia and Antarctica. This make it all the more tragic when you consider how such a successful group of animals managed to die out so completely!
What did the saber toothed tiger eat?
Smilodon probably preyed on a wide variety of large game including bison, tapirs, deer, American camels, horses and ground sloths. As it is known for the saber-toothed cat Homotherium, Smilodon might have also killed juvenile mastodons and mammoths. Smilodon may also have attacked prehistoric humans, although this is not known for certain. The La Brea tar pits in California trapped hundreds of Smilodon in the tar, possibly as they tried to feed on mammoths already trapped.
Modern big cats kill mainly by crushing the windpipe of their victims, which may take a few minutes. Smilodon’s jaw muscles were probably too weak for this and its long canines and fragile skull would have been vulnerable to snapping in a prolonged struggle or when biting a running prey. Research in 2007 concluded that Smilodon most likely used its great upper-body strength to wrestle prey to the ground, where its long canines could deliver a deep stabbing bite to the throat which would generally cut through the jugular vein and/or the trachea and thus kill the prey very quickly.
The leaders of this study also commented to scientific journalists that this technique may have made Smilodon a more efficient killer of large prey than modern lions or tigers, but it also made it more dependent on the supply of large animals. This highly specialized hunting style may also have contributed to its extinction, as the Smilodon’s cumbersome build and over-sized canines would have made it less efficient at killing smaller, faster prey if the ecosystem changed for any reason.
A later study concurred, finding that the forelimbs of Smilodon, more than those of any modern large cat, were capable of minimizing the struggles of prey and positioning them for a quick kill without fracturing those impressive canines.
Over 1,000,000 square kilometres of Europe's forests have suffered the effects of acid rain, with conifers being damaged the most. The sulphur dioxide from burning fossil fuels may damage and kill many trees, but this is compounded as acid rain reacts with vital plant nutrients, preventing their uptake through root systems.
Even slight damage to a mature tree caused by pollution can be enough to kill it because it reduces the trees frost hardiness and its resistance to fungal and pest attack.
American studies have indicated that even where forests are showing none of the easily visible external signs of acid rain damage, pollution is nevertheless limiting their growth.
Other plants can also be damaged by acid rain, but the effect on food crops is minimized by the application of lime and fertilizers to replace lost nutrients. In cultivated areas, limestone may also be added to increase the ability of the soil to keep the pH stable, but this tactic is largely unusable in the case of wilderness lands. When calcium is leached from the needles of red spruce, these trees become less cold tolerant and exhibit winter injury and even death.
Acid rain can also damage buildings and historic monuments and statues, especially those made of rocks, such as limestone and marble, that contain large amounts of calcium carbonate. Acids in the rain react with the calcium compounds in the stones to create gypsum, which then flakes off.
The effects of this are commonly seen on old gravestones, where acid rain can cause the inscriptions to become completely illegible. Acid rain also increases the corrosion rate of metals, in particular iron, steel, copper and bronze.
Acid rain does not directly affect human health as the acid in the rainwater is too dilute to have a direct adverse effect. However, the particles responsible for acid rain (sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides) can have an adverse effect because increased amounts of fine particulate matter in the air contribute to heart and lung problems including asthma and bronchitis. For related articles click onto the following links: THE EFFECTS OF ACID RAIN WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF ACID RAIN?
Just prior to the 5 November every year, children standing eagerly next to an effigy of Guy Fawkes sat in the garden wheelbarrow used to be a common sight. If they were not too shy - and they generally were not - they would usually run at you with open palms asking '..penny for the guy…' in a hope to secure coinage to put towards a handful of cheap fireworks.
An effigy of Guy Fawkes is still burned on bonfires across England in recognition of his part in the failed 'Gunpowder Plot' of 1605, but it turns out that Fawkes didn't devise or lead the plot to assassinate James I. So why is he still singled out as one of British history's greatest villains more than 400 years after his death?
Guy Fawkes was born in April 1570 in York. Although his immediate family were all Protestants - the accepted religious practice in England at the time - his maternal grandparents were Catholics, who refused to attend Protestant services.
Guy's father died when he was eight, and his widowed mother was re-married to a Catholic, Dionis Baynbrigge. It was these early influences that were to forge Fawkes' convictions as an adult.
Guy Fawkes and Spain
By the time he was 21 Fawks had sold the estate his father had left him and left for Europe to fight for Catholic Spain against the Protestant Dutch republic in the Eighty Years War. His military career went well and by 1603 he had been recommended for a captaincy. He strangely also adopted the Italian variant of his name, and became known as 'Guido'.
In the same year, he travelled to Spain to petition the king, Philip III, for support in fomenting a rebellion in England against the "heretic" James I. Despite the fact that Spain and Britain were still, technically, at war, Philip refused.
"A man highly skilled in matters of war"
Personally, Fawkes was an imposing man. His former school friend Oswald Tesimond, who had become a Jesuit Catholic priest, described him as "pleasant of approach and cheerful of manner, opposed to quarrels and strife ... loyal to his friends".
Tesimond also claimed Fawkes was "a man highly skilled in matters of war", while the historian Antonia Fraser described him as "a tall, powerfully built man, with thick reddish-brown hair, a flowing moustache in the tradition of the time, and a bushy reddish-brown beard... a man of action ... capable of intelligent argument as well as physical endurance, somewhat to the surprise of his enemies."
Fawkes is drawn into the plot
It was while on campaign fighting for Spain in Flanders that Fawkes was approached by Thomas Wintour and asked to join what would become known as the Gunpowder Plot, under the leadership of Robert Catesby.
His expertise with gunpowder gave him a key - and very perilous - role in the conspiracy. Fawkes was to source and ignite the explosive. But 18 months of careful planning was foiled with just hours to go, when he was arrested at midnight on 4 November 1605 beneath the House of Lords. Thirty-six barrels of gunpowder were found stacked in the cellar directly below where the king would have been sitting for the opening of parliament the next day.
The foiling of the plot had been expertly engineered by James I's spymaster, Robert Cecil. Fawkes was subjected to various tortures, including the rack. Torture was technically illegal, and James I was personally required to give a licence for Fawkes to endure its ravages.
While just the threat of torture was enough to break the resolve of many, Fawkes withstood two days of the most terrible pain before he confessed all. Famously, his signature on his confession was that of a shattered and broken man, the ill-formed letters that spelled his name told the story of a someone who was barely able to hold a quill. His fortitude throughout had impressed James I, who said he admired Fawkes' "Roman resolution".
Fawkes was sentenced to the traditional traitors' death of being 'hanged, drawn and quartered'. However, just before his time came, Guy Fawkes jumped from the gallows, breaking his own neck thereby avoiding the horror of being cut down while still alive, having his testicles cut off and his stomach opened and his guts spilled before his eyes. His lifeless body was hacked into quarters and his remains sent to "the four corners of the kingdom" as a warning to others.
The burning of the 'guy'
Guy Fawkes instantly became a national bogeyman and the embodiment of Catholic extremism. It was a propaganda coup for the Protestant English and served as a pretext for further repression of Catholics that would not be completely lifted for another 200 years.
It is perhaps surprising that Fawkes and not the charismatic ring-leader Robert Catesby was remembered, but it was Fawkes who was caught red-handed under the Houses of Parliament, it was Fawkes who refused to speak under torture, and it was Fawkes who was publicly executed. Catesby, by contrast, was killed evading capture and was never tried.
Through the centuries the Guy Fawkes legend has become ever-more entrenched, and by the 19th Century it was his likeness that was being placed on the bonfires that were lit annually to commemorate the failure of the plot.
The failed Gunpowder plot may have happened over 400 years ago, but story behind it is just as powerful today as it was then.
What led to the Gunpowder Plot?
The year 1603 marked the end of an era. After 45 years on the English throne, Elizabeth I was dying, and because she didn’t bare any children she hadn’t provided an heir to the throne. All the signs suggested that her successor would be James VI of Scotland, the son of Mary Queen of Scots. Incidentally, Mary Queen of Scots was executed in 1587 on Elizabeth I's orders.
However, the English Catholics were becoming very excited as they had suffered severe persecution since 1570, when the Pope had excommunicated Elizabeth I, releasing her subjects from their allegiance to her. The Spanish Armada of 1588 had made matters worse.
To the Tudor State, all Catholics were potential traitors. They were forbidden to hear Mass, and forced instead to attend Anglican services, with steep fines for those Catholics who persistently refused.
Rumours suggested that James was more warmly disposed to Catholics than the dying Queen Elizabeth. His wife, Queen Anne of Denmark, was a Catholic, and James himself was making sympathetic noises. The crypto-Catholic Earl of Northumberland sent Thomas Percy, to act as his agent in Scotland. Percy's reports back optimistically suggested that Catholics might enjoy protection in James' England.
The early signs were encouraging. Upon his accession as James I of England (VI of Scotland), the new king ended recusancy fines and awarded important posts to the Earl of Northumberland and Henry Howard, another Catholic sympathiser. This relaxation led to considerable growth in the number of visible Catholics.
Trying to juggle different religious demands, James was displeased at their increasing strength. The discovery in July 1603 of two small Catholic plots did not help. Although most Catholics were horrified, all were tainted by the threat of treason.
The situation deteriorated further at the Hampton Court Conference of January 1604. Trying to accommodate as many views as possible, James I expressed hostility against the Catholics in order to satisfy the Puritans. In February he publicly announced his 'utter detestation' of Catholicism and within days all priests and Jesuits had been expelled and recusancy fines reintroduced.
Although bitterly disappointed, most English Catholics prepared to swallow the imposition of the fines, and live their double lives as best they could. But this passive approach did not suit all.
Robert Catesby was a devout Catholic and familiar with the price of faith. His father had been imprisoned for harbouring a priest, and he himself had had to leave university without a degree, to avoid taking the Protestant Oath of Supremacy. Yet he possessed immense personal magnetism, crucial in recruiting and leading his small band of conspirators.
The Gunpowder Plot plotters
Their first meeting was on 20 May 1604. Catesby was joined by his friends Thomas Wintour, Jack Wright and Thomas Percy at the Duck and Drake, in the Strand. The fifth person was Guy Fawkes. Originally from York, he had been recruited in Flanders, where he had been serving in the Spanish Army. They discussed their plan to blow up Parliament House, and shortly afterwards leased a small house in the heart of Westminster, installing Fawkes as caretaker, under the alias of John Johnson.
With Parliament successively postponed to 5 November 1605, over the following year the number of plotters gradually increased to ten. Robert Keyes, Robert Wintour, John Grant and Kit Wright were all relatives, by blood or marriage, to one or more of the original five conspirators. As one of Catesby's servants, Thomas Bates' loyalty was equally firm.
In March 1605 the group took out a lease on a ground-floor cellar close by the house they had rented from John Whynniard. The cellar lay directly underneath the House of Lords, and over the following months 36 barrels of gunpowder were moved in, enough to blow everything and everyone in the vicinity sky high, if ignited.
Still hoping for foreign support, Fawkes travelled back to Flanders. Unsuccessful, he was also spotted by English spies. They reported back to Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, James' first minister, and made the link between Fawkes and Catesby.
Over the next two months Catesby recruited Ambrose Rookwood, as well as Francis Tresham and Sir Everard Digby. Both Rookwood and Digby were wealthy and owned large numbers of horses, essential for the planned uprising. Tresham was Catesby's cousin through marriage, and was brother-in-law to two Catholic peers, Lords Stourton and Monteagle.
Back in London in October, with only weeks to go, the final details were planned. Fawkes was to light the fuse and escape to continental Europe. To coincide with the explosion, Digby would lead a rising in the Midlands and kidnap King James's daughter, Princess Elizabeth, ready to install her as a puppet queen. In Europe, Fawkes would be arguing the plotters' case to continental governments, to secure their passive acceptance, even support.
Everything seemed ready. But on the night of 26 October, an anonymous letter was delivered to Lord Monteagle, warning him to avoid the opening of Parliament.
He took the letter - generally thought to have come from Tresham - to Salisbury, who decided the best results would be achieved by striking at the last minute.
Thomas Ward, one of Monteagle servants, had warned the plotters of the letter. Undaunted, they returned to London, and on 4 November Percy visited his patron, Northumberland, to sniff out any potential danger. Smelling nothing, they pressed on with the plan, and Catesby, Wright and Bates set off for the Midlands. All seemed well.
It wasn't. The waiting over, Salisbury ordered Westminster to be searched. The first search spotted a suspiciously large amount of firewood in a certain cellar. The second, at around midnight, found Fawkes. Immediately arrested, he gave only his alias, but Percy's name had already been linked with the cellar and house, and a warrant for his arrest was immediately issued.
The plotters escaped from London for the Midlands. Rookwood was the fastest, covering 30 miles in two hours on a single horse, a considerable achievement that enabled him to catch up with, and warn, his co-conspirators.
These six plotters - Catesby, Rookwood, the Wright brothers, Percy and Bates - rode on towards Warwickshire. As the first bonfires of thanksgiving for the discovery of the plot were being lit in London, 'John Johnson' was being interrogated.
By 6 November his silence had prompted James I to give permission to use torture, gradually 'proceeding to the worst'. Even this, however, failed to extract any useful information for two more days.
In the Midlands, the plotters raided Warwick Castle. By now they were wanted men and, with their stolen horses, they rode to Holbeche House in Staffordshire, which they thought would be more easily defended. On arrival, they discovered that their gunpowder was soaked, and laid it in front of the fire to dry. They should have known better: the ensuing explosion blinded John Grant, rendering him useless for the inevitable confrontation.
This came quickly, in the form of 200 men led by Sir Richard Walsh, the High Sheriff of Worcestershire. They arrived at Holbeche House in the morning of 8 November. The battle was short. Catesby, the Wrights and Percy died from their wounds; Thomas Wintour, Rookwood and Grant were captured. Five others remained at large.
Tried for high treason
Not for long, however. By December, only Robert Wintour was still free. Furthermore, under interrogation Bates had admitted confessing the details of the plot to the Jesuit priest Father Tesimond. With the Jesuits now implicated in the 'Powder Treason', the government set about finding them, ransacking scores of Catholic homes in the process.
To further capitalise on the widespread sense of shock, the 'King's Book' - containing James's own account of what had happened, as well as the confessions of Fawkes and Thomas Wintour - was rushed through, appearing in late November.
Francis Tresham died of illness in the Tower in December, and Robert Wintour was captured in the New Year. On 27 January 1606 the trials began. Westminster Hall was crowded as spectators listened to Sir Edward Coke's speech. Under instructions from Salisbury, the Attorney General lay principal responsibility on the Jesuits, before describing the traditional punishment for traitors: hanging, drawing and quartering. They would be hanged until half-dead, upon which their genitals would be cut off and burned in front of them. Still alive, their bowels and heart would be removed. Finally they would be decapitated and dismembered; their body parts would be publicly displayed, eaten by the birds as they decomposed.
Only Digby pleaded guilty, and his trial followed that of the other seven. All were found guilty of high treason. Digby, Robert Wintour, Bates and Grant were executed on 30 January, with Thomas Wintour, Rookwood, Keyes and Fawkes dying the next day.
Yet the repercussions rumbled on. Some small fry were tortured in the Tower and, tainted by Percy, the Earl of Northumberland was imprisoned there until 1621. However, Monteagles letter - now kept in the Public Records Office - rewarded him with an annuity of around £700 per year.
It was ordinary Catholics, however, who suffered the longest as a result of the Gunpowder Plot. New laws were passed preventing them from practising law, serving as officers in the Army or Navy, or voting in local or Parliamentary elections. Furthermore, as a community they would be blackened for the rest of the century, blamed for the Great Fire of London and unfairly fingered in the Popish Plot of 1678. Thirteen plotters certainly proved an unlucky number for British Catholics: stigmatised for centuries, it was not until 1829 that they were again allowed to vote.
