How did an English police force become known as “Scotland Yard”?
In the tenth century, in an effort to stop hostilities between their two countries, the English gave a Scottish king land in London with the provision that he build a castle on it and live there for a few months every year. Seven centuries later, with the two nations united under one king, the land returned to English ownership. In 1829, the London police took up residence on the land, which by then was known as Scotland Yard.
Why is the American presidential home called the “White House”?
From 1800, when John Adams became the first president to inhabit it, until 1814, when the British burned it because the Americans had torched Toronto, the presidential building was a grey Virginia freestone. It was painted white to cover up the fire damage done by the British. It wasn’t officially called the White House until Teddy Roosevelt began
printing its image on the executive mansion stationery in 1901.
How did the centre of world commerce, Wall Street, get its name?
In September of 1653, the settlers in what is now New York City felt threatened by the local Natives and by the possibility of an invasion by Oliver Cromwell’s army. For protection, they built a large protective wall that stretched a half-mile across Manhattan Island. That wall was situated on the exact spot that we now know as the financial centre of the world: Wall Street.
Add A Comment