The Great Fire of London in 1666 was partly caused by the drought of an unseasonably hot summer, and London had practically no rain for over a year. The wooden buildings in the city were tinder dry when the fire started on 2nd September, and thus spread easily, raging out of control for three days and three nights.

Rain stopping play and intense tennis duels in almost oven hot temperatures are regular of tennis matches. Play can be stopped by rain and sometimes even heat. But the way the game itself is played is also affected by weather and atmospheric conditions.

About 38 million years ago, the temperature dropped and a mass extinction took place.

Just a few years ago, the theory behind this gloomy history of mollusks was unproven. Now, thanks to Linda Ivany, Kyger Lohmann, and William Patterson, it's fact. The three scientists used nature's record to learn about the behavior of the climate long ago.

Tree rings are nature's way of documenting climate changes. The team simply applied that same principle to shellfish.

According to the historian Livy, the Carthaginian general Hannibal gave much consideration to the weather factor when planning his famous crossing of the Alps during the Second Punic War, but, in common with other great military commanders of the past, he was forced to treat the future behaviour of the elements as an unknown factor in tactical planning.

Although most commonly associated with the WWII Japanese suicide pilots, Kamikaze (from Kami - "god" and kaze - "wind") actually means 'divine wind' in Japanese. It refers to the typhoon which saved Japan from a Mongol invasion fleet.