Because there is a white rhino and a black rhino, it’s fair to assume that they got their names from their colour. In fact, it is thought that the white rhino was named after its wide mouth, which is well adapted for grazing its diet of grasses. Dutch settlers in South Africa used the word ‘wijd’ (‘wide’) for the grazing species. This was mistranslated by English-speaking settlers to ‘white’. The black rhino is the same grey colour, and perhaps got its name to contrast it with the white rhino. The black rhino has a pointed upper lip for browsing leaves.

Answered by Rebecca Machin.

The Brown Bess musket was the weapon of choice for riflemen during the rise of the British Empire and was used in numerous incarnations for over a hundred years. The musket, which is a .75 caliber flintlock, weighs over 10 pounds and is almost a meter and a half in length. Due to the many stages required to fire, as well as its unwieldily proportions in comparison to modern firearms, firing the musket was a tricky task, with experienced shooters capable of only four shots per minute.

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