Vaguely Interesting Snippets | 6 April – 13 April 2012 

  • Maundy Thursday commemorates the day of the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles. Many people assert that the word “Maundy” comes from the command or “mandatum” by Christ at the Last Supper, to love one another. Others theorize that the English name “Maundy Thursday” arose from “maundsor baskets” or “maundy purses” of alms which the king of England distributed to certain poor at Whitehall before attending Mass on that day. Thus, in this interpretation to “maund” is connected to the Latin mendicare, and French mendier, to beg
  • Lady Margaret Beaufort (1441/3 – 1509), the mother of King Henry VII, was the last female member of the Order of the Garter until Queen Victoria.
  • The medals awarded to the winners of competitions at the first Olympic Games were silver. The gold medal was only introduced at the second Olympic Games in 1900 in Paris.
  • Sweden has the highest percentage of households with only one occupant – amount to a staggering 47% of all Swedish households. The figure for Britain is 34%. A fascinating inight into modern living in the Guardian Weekend’s ‘I want to be alone: the rise and rise of solo living’.