Without cards, there would be no sarnies. You're probably aware the sandwich was named after the 18th-century earl. But do you know why John Montagu dreamed up his eponymous snack? Because he didn't want to leave the cribbage table to go to dinner.

Many individual cards have picked up nicknames over the years. For example, the four of clubs is often known as Ned Stokes, the Devil's four-poster, or the Curse of Mexico; the queen of clubs, Queen Bess; the nine of diamonds, the curse of Scotland; the king of hearts, the suicide king (because he appears to be stabbing himself through the head); the king of diamonds, the man with the axe; the ace of clubs, the horseshoe; the ace of spades, old frizzle.

The king of hearts is the only without a moustache - but not because of superior personal hygiene. He originally had one, but it was lost in the reproduction of the original design. A similar mistake caused his axe to become a sword.

Ever wondered why the ace of spades' spade is larger and more ornate than the others? It's a tax thing. The first systematic duty was imposed on cards in 1711, and in order to indicate that the fee had been paid, a tax stamp was placed on the top card, which was usually the ace of spades. In 1828 it was decided instead that the Stamp Office would print an official ace of spades with the royal coat of arms to signal that the tax had been paid.

Chemistry lessons would be a lot harder if it weren't for cards. For it was while playing his beloved patience that Russian scientist Dmitri Mendeleev had his brainwave about the organisation of the elements - and thus was born the periodic table.

Gunfighter Wild Bill Hickok, who was shot dead at the poker table in 1876, is not the only famous person to have died while playing - comedian Buster Keaton and singer Al Jolson also pegged it at the card table.

Cards were freely available in Britain from the 15th century onwards - until April 1940, when the Nazi invasion of Norway interrupted our supply of cardboard. Winston Churchill insisted that playing card manufacture be maintained at any cost, as they were the soldiers' principal form of entertainment in the trenches.

During the Vietnam war, the US Playing Card Company manufactured crates of aces of spades to ship out to troops. Rumour had it that the Vietcong held the card in mortal dread, believing it to be the symbol of death. Rumour was wrong, but airdropping the cards over Vietnamese villages apparently helped the US soldiers' morale.

A few common English phrases taken from the table: on the cards, play your cards right, steal a march (euchre), not my strong suit, streets ahead (cribbage), ace up your sleeve, beats me, call your bluff, high roller, pass the buck, up the ante, when the chips are down, left in the lurch, raw deal, follow suit, come up trumps.