Think you've mastered the half Windsor knot? The four-in-hand? Great. That means you've only got to learn 83 more ways to knot a tie. At least according to Thomas Pink and Yong Mao's mind-bogglingly exhaustive study of 1999 entitled The 85 Ways to Tie a Tie. Apparently there are 13 standard knots and endless subtle variations therein. Well, 85 anyway. One to try at home if you're really, really bored.

A tie is officially the most popular choice for a Father's Day present across the world, followed by the humble sock, bottles of booze and aftershave.

Ancestors of the modern neck tie go way back to ancient Egypt, where a rectangular piece of cloth was tied round the neck to depict social status. Even the statues dating from 209 BC surrounding the tomb of China's First Emperor, Shih Huang-Ti, are carved with pieces of cloth around their necks.

With a sense of style most politely described as 'individual', actress Diane Keaton was almost single-handedly responsible for introducing the idea of ties as fashion statements for women in her Oscar-nominated title role in the 70s Woody Allen classic film Annie Hall. Previously the reserve of hotel staff and schoolgirls, Diane made the woman's tie quirky, clever and off-beat sexy. Quite a feat.

Spare a thought for the much ridiculed clip-on tie. Traditionally mocked as purely for cack-handed children or the relentlessly lazy, the 1920s innovation has been a godsend for hundreds of security guards and police officers who've avoided strangulation by rogues pulling at their tie only to find it comes off in their hand. Fair dues.

The modern neck tie as we know it emerged from the demands of the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century. A lace cravat just didn't cut when you needed something comfortable that wouldn't come undone every five minutes - hence the long, thin tie we still wear today. Canny New Yorker Jesse Langsdorf perfected the design in the 1920s by cutting the material on the bias and sewing it in three segments to improve elasticity, patenting the blueprint still used to this day, the clever chap.

Odd fact. Diagonal stripes of alternating colours have become the most popular pattern on ties throughout the world, but while they nearly always run down from the wearer's left in Britain and Europe, in America it's the opposite way round.

If you thought the kipper tie was so named as a hilarious reference to wearing a flat fish round your neck, you're wrong. It's actually a pun on its creator's name - 60s Brit fashion design icon Michael Fish, the guy who gave a much needed shot in the arm to dull conservatism of the times with his Peacock Revolution of floral patterns and even controversial 'man-dress' for blokes (though only Mick Jagger and David Bowie ever wore them). The flashy pop art designs on his wide kipper ties became a symbol of the newly found freedoms of the era.

As a symbol of power and status, this seemingly humble length of fabric is second to none in Western culture's sartorial stakes. Since the 1880s, when specific ties were adopted by members of Oxford's rowing teams, the tie has signified allegiance to everything from the military to colleges, often with specific meaning within patterns or symbols. In the Queen's Household Cavalry, for example, the dark blue and red striped regimental ties are meant to symbolise the noble blue blood of the Royal Family mixed with the red blood of the guards.

In typical what goes around fashion style, the bow-tie - once the reserve of quirky individualism and nerdism in Hollywood movies - see Robin Day, Jerry Lewis, Pee Wee Herman - has become a hip accessory of the noughties, adopted by the likes of hip hop megastar Kanye West and fashion icon Tom Ford. We await to see if the ascot has a similar revival.