Category: Aggregated

These images show the world’s smallest working gun – which is shorter than a matchstick and fires purpose-made bullets just 2.34mm in diameter. Created by artist Paul Erard in the Swiss city of La Chaux-de-Fonds, the petite pistol measures just two inches long but fires with one joule of power. The gun currently holds the Guinness World Record for the smallest working revolver, and the bullets it fires – which were designed specifically for the gun by Mr Erard – also appears in the book as the tiniest live ammunition ever created. Looking like something fit for James Bond, the petite … Continue reading →

Thus begins one of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s three great poems, the unfinished “Kubla Khan”. According to the poet, this poem was composed one night when he experienced an opium-induced dream after reading a work containing a description of Xanadu. This city was initially the capital of Kublai Khan’s Yuan dynasty when he conquered China. When the emperor moved his capital to Dadu, present day Beijing, Xanadu became the imperial summer city. Although Coleridge only saw Xanadu in his dream, one of the most famous Western voyagers actually visited the city during its heyday. This was the Venetian traveler, Marco Polo. … Continue reading →