Saturday 20 July 2013

United Kingdom - Did you know that?

 The English people drink more tea (per capita) than anywhere else in the world.
• Although England is 59 times smaller than Australia, it is 2.5 times more populous.
• The hottest it has ever been recorded to be in England is 38.5 degrees Celsius. That was in Brogdale (Kent) in August 2003, when the country’s worst heat wave hit.
• England has the highest obesity rate in all of Europe.
• French was England’s official language from 1066 to 1362.
• When discussing class in England, it is not one’s money that counts, but one’s family, educations, and so on.
• The police do not carry guns in England unless there is some sort of emergency.
• At one time, Oxford University banned its students from bringing their bows and arrows to class.
• The first modern Olympic Games were held in Much Wenlock, Shropshire, in 1850.
• Windsor Castle is the oldest and biggest royal residence that is still in use.
• The oldest zoo in the world opened in London in 1828.
• From 1800 to 1830, West Cornwall produced up to two-thirds of the entire world’s copper.
• London is the biggest financial centre in the world.

Ceremonial soldiers marching past sentry and hut outside Buckingham Palace, London, England
Ceremonial soldiers marching past sentry and hut outside Buckingham Palace,
London, England
• During medieval times, animals could be tried and convicted in court. The fines were payable by the animal’s owner.
• Hot chocolate originated in England by a Frenchman. The first store to sell it opened in about 1600.
• Big Ben is not the name of the clock tower next to the Houses of Parliament but of the bell inside it.
• In medieval times, breakfast was usually enjoyed with a beer.
• Queen Victoria had a fetish for Valentine’s Day cards and sent out well over 2000 cards during her reign.
• England’s first telephone directory, published in 1880, had only 25 names in it.
• The National Health Service is one of the largest employers in the world.
• More than 12 000 English people are injured every year while trying to don their pantyhose or socks.
• England is the largest country in the United Kingdom (which also includes Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) and over 80% of the UK population lives in this country.
• England is only 35 kilometres from France.
• England is famous for its English breakfasts, which comprise scrambled eggs, black pudding, sausage, bacon, mushrooms, baked beans, hash browns and tomato. 
 More than 300 different languages are spoken in England.
• England has the second-largest economy in all of Europe.
• The people in England eat double the amount of baked beans than those in America.
• William the Conqueror, who arrived in 1066 CE (Common Era), decreed that every English resident should be in bed by 20h00.
• About 80 000 umbrellas are left on the underground tubes, unclaimed, every year.
• This is the only country that has not printed its name onto its postage stamps.
• Only six people died in the Great Fire of London.
• There are more than 30 000 people called John Smith in England.
• A flock of small birds landed on the minute hand of the clock of Big Ben, and set it back by five full minutes.

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