Non-Fiction

Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492 and, because of him, South America was Spanish for hundreds of years and most people still speak Spanish there today. But did you know he was Italian? And, although he made a lot of money for the Spanish king and queen, he never actually got paid himself. (400 words)

Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world. It was first grown in Ethiopia, which is still the home of some of the best coffee in the world. It then crossed the Red Sea into Arabia and in the eighteenth century Europe, where it led to the development of the sugar industry and stock markets. (1,155 words)

We will never forget the name of Auschwitz, the camp where Hitler and his Nazi government killed hundreds of thousands of Jews and many other people in the Second World War. This is the terrible story of one of the worst moments in human history (1020 words).

A history of architecture since human beings started to depend on it after the development of agriculture started a shift to permanent homes. It is now a very sophisticated science (and art perhaps) which affects most people's lives. (1,140 words)

We usually think of the computer as a very modern invention: Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, maybe Alan Turing. However, this article takes us back two hundred years to the birth of the first calculating machine and tells the story of two very different people, Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace and the parts they played in making the first computing machine. (870 words)

Starting with Galen treating gladiators in ancient Rome, on to Andreas Vesalius and William Harvey pointing out his mistakes and then to the grave robbers Burke and Hare supplying murder victims for doctors to cut open and study. Explore the story of how knowledge of human anatomy developed (680 words)

Table tennis developed when British soldiers in South Africa and India could not play tennis outside and started to use tables inside their houses. At first, they used a tennis ball and broke a lot of windows but slowly table tennis became a game with its own rules, ball and bat. (640 words)

A quick tour of the planets near and far describing the difference between planets and stars and why they keep turning around the Sun. (850 words)

People could see Mars 5,000 years ago, the Babylonians thought it was coloured red and was angry and the Romans called the god of war ‘Mars’. Modern scientists have tried to find life there but we still don’t know very much about it. (1,210 words)

By the age of twenty, Phil Spector was one of the most famous and richest musicians in America. He produced records for some of the best pop groups of his time. But Spector’s childhood and his controlling personality made him a very dangerous man. And then he killed a girl… (1,170 words)

Julius Caesar is one of the most famous generals in history. He made the Roman Empire much richer and bigger by conquering France (then called Gaul) and he made it stronger because he included foreigners among its people. But he was killed by his friends in Rome, not in a foreign war. (735 words)

Cowboy films are still popular. People like the brave men who faced many dangers and cared more about women and children than they cared about themselves. They are often presented as the first true Americans. However, this is not quite true. (1,045 words)

Until recently, blood was simply blood. But we have discovered different blood types and that can literally save our lives when we need transfusions. All blood can be categorised as Rhesus positive or negative, but we don't know why. We also know nothing about why human beings have four blood types but cows have 800. This article explores the mysteries of blood. (865 words)

Erwin Rommel was a professional soldier. He fought in the First World War and again the Second World War when Adolf Hitler was the leader of Germany. He was the most famous and respected general of his time but he died soon after trying to kill Hitler. Who was this great soldier who fought for his country but tried to kill its leader? (1,055 words)

The machine gun was first used in the American Civil War of 1861 to 1865 and its effects were terrible. Sales of the weapon immediately increased, as more countries wanted to buy and develop this deadly new piece of arms technology. It has continued to be developed and used ever since. (870 words)