For as long as can be remembered, the end of every year is believed to be synonymous with increased crime rate and road traffic accidents in Nigeria. The last four months, September to December, popularly referred to as the ember months because they end with ember, fall into this category.

In a laboratory in California, a machine which walk across any surface, however uneven, is undergoing final tests. Known as a pedipulator, it can carry a 26-pound pack of delicate instruments on its back at a speed of five miles an hour.

His clothes were of fustian, and his boots hobnailed, yet in his progress he showed not the mud-accustomed bearing of hobnailed and fustained peasantry.

More than 50 percent of the collection from Hall’s brothel is ironstone and porcelain. White ironstone tablewares became popular in the late 1850s, and the high percentage of this ware suggests attention to fashion.