Chess

Chess is a board game with a very long history. It can be traced back to the 6th-century Indian game caturanga (Sanskrit for "four military divisions"), which spread first to Persia and then via the Arab world to Europe.

By the 10th century it was widespread in Europe, but the rules of the game as played today weren't settled until the 15th century.

The name "chess" comes from the Persian word for king, shah, and the phrase "check mate", which is what you say when you've trapped the opponent's king, comes from the Persian for the "king is dead".

Gold nugget

Gold is often found in the form of nuggets of almost pure metal. The largest nugget ever found is called Welcome Stranger, weighing in at 78kg, of which 71kg was pure gold. It was dug up in 1869 in Victoria, Australia.

And I've been to the place where they found it!

Flies

Everyone loves to hate them, but did you know that if it weren't for flies (or, more accurately, their larvae) we would be swimming in a sea of rotten vegetation and dead bodies six metres deep within a year?

Fly larvae eat enormous quantities of, well, how do I put this? crap. Without them, quite apart from all the hungry spiders and bored cats, life as we know it would be impossible because there would just be crap EVERYWHERE.

Peanuts

They're not nuts!! In fact they're legumes, like peas or beans. But they're weird legumes because instead of hanging on a bush, like peas, the fruit pods of the peanut plant push themselves down into the ground and mature there. Which is why they're also known as ground nuts.

Hailstones

Hailstones are initially formed high up in the sky, like normal raindrops, when moisture freezes onto a tiny grain of dust. Rain is only liquid because it is falling through warm air.

What makes hailstones different is that there were strong upcurrents of air that pushed the raindrops back up into colder air, where they grew another layer of ice. The larger the hailstone, the more often it was blown back up into the cold air.

Broccoli

Broccoli is the name not only of the spiky green vegetable (which is incidentally full of cancer-preventing goodness) but also of a famous film producer who was responsible for many James Bond films.

Little finger

In some people, one of the tendons attaching the little finger to the hand are missing, such that it is not possible to touch the tip of the finger with the tip of the thumb.

I'm one of those unfortunates - but thankfully only in my left hand.