Many moons ago, it took ages to send a message. Today, with the Internet, we can instantly send someone on the other side of the world messages via email. A message that arrived earlier this week was not so instant. It was mailed from the English city of Bath in 1916. It then got lost in the post and was finally delivered 107 years later to an address in London. The UK's Royal Mail said it was "uncertain what happened". It said it was delighted the letter finally arrived, but had no idea why it was more than a century late. It said it may have fallen behind a piece of furniture.

People used to write letters on paper. They put them in an envelope and stuck a stamp on it that they bought from a post office. They then mailed it in a post box in the street. A postal worker collected the envelope and it began its journey. It took a few days to reach its destination if the address was in the same country. If the address was overseas, it went by ship and took weeks. Airplanes now transport mail via "air mail". However, there was a slight problem with the 107-year-late letter. The person to whom it was addressed passed away in 1951.