Carl Hagenbeck’s Eight Thousand Tortoises
By the turn of the 20th century Carl Hagenbeck’s Tierpark had revolutionised zoo exhibits – and the exotic animal trade.
Natural History
Charles Darwin’s Rocks of Ages
On his early travels across the world it was geology that struck Charles Darwin’s interest, not biology.
Discovery of a Living Fossil
The coelacanth, believed to have been extinct for 70 million years, was rediscovered by Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer on 22 December 1938.
The Great Alpaca Heist
A Victorian wool merchant set out on an audacious, decade-long quest to smuggle alpacas out of Peru. But transporting his flock to Australia was only half the struggle.
Potted Histories
Discovering the deep roots of the cheese plant.
The Rise of the Newts
A speculative novel about an amphibious threat held dire warnings for interwar Europe.
Crossing Oceans
Cloves, grown in Indonesia, crossed the globe in the Middle Ages, showing how interconnected the medieval world was.
In Pursuit of Pith
Flowers formed from pith paper captured the imagination of British society in the 19th century, sparking a search for the elusive ‘rice paper’ plant.
The ‘Monstrous Birth’ of Lobsters
The fact that lobsters ‘walked’ on their claws puzzled even Aristotle. He had to employ all his deductive genius to explain why.
A Donkey’s Day in Court
In 1822 a badly abused donkey became the first animal to receive justice in a British court.