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From strange and shocking statistics to little-known facts, find out more about the world and the people in it with our fascinating features...

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The world in figures
The Economist's “Pocket World in Figures” reveals fascinating facts about our planet such as where people live the longest, which is the biggest island and who glugs the most wine...
What if the world were a village..?
The population of the world is enormous, and the figures are often hard to understand, so a popular children’s book investigates what the world would be like if we imagined it as a village of just 100 people...
Top 10 strange place names around the world
- Author: Rachel Ricks
There are some unusual, attractive and just plain funny names of countries, islands, towns and even glaciers all round the world. Here are our favourites…
Christmas around the world
- Author: Rachel Ricks
At Stanfords, we’re lucky enough to work together with people from all over the world. From burning shepherds, and carps in the bath to an ugly old woman who leaves presents, here a few of us share how we celebrate Christmas when we’re back home…
10 things you never knew about Darwin
- Author: Rachel Ricks
Darwin exploded the established creationist beliefs, demonstrating through years of experiments and discoveries the evolution and natural selection of living beings. However, who was the man behind the marvel? I went to a special Darwin exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London to find out more...
Bibendum - the 'Michelin Man' revealed
- Author: Gareth Brereton
Following a recent store promotion involving prominent map and book publishers Michelin, and the antics of a certain member of staff who (rather enthusiastically) volunteered to brave the streets of London dressed as the ‘Michelin man’ (or ‘Bibendum’ as he is known in his native France), we at Stanfords decided to look into the story behind this iconic character…and came across some surprising facts in the process...
'The Eagle Has Landed'
- Author: Gareth Brereton
"I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."
How did Halloween start?
Find out how Halloween and its traditions first started, how the jack o’ lantern came about, and how the festival is celebrated in other parts of the world…
St George – not just England’s patron saint
Top facts you didn't know about St George...

9 item(s)