United Kingdom facts, woo.
- Elizabeth I (1533-1603) was the first British monarch to have a fully-fitted flushing toilet.
- Britain’s largest freshwater fish of modern times was a carp, nicknamed Two Tone, who weighed almost 68lbs and was believed to have been about 45 years old when he died of old age and was found floating on Conningbroke Lake near Canterbury in 2010.
- The first person to be convicted of speeding is believed to be Walter Arnold, of East Peckham, Kent, who on January 28, 1896, was fined 1s plus costs for driving at 8mph.
- he highest point in Great Britain is the summit of Ben Nevis in Scotland at 4,406ft. The lowest is at Holme Fen, Cambs, at 9ft below sea level.
- A report on one of the earliest recorded football matches in London was penned by William FitzStephen some time between 1174 and 1183. It described a match between youths.
- 1933: When the lifesaving road reflectors known as cat’s eyes were invented by Percy Shaw of Halifax.
- Our smallest city is St David’s, Pembrokeshire – population 1,797.
- In 2010, 29.6 million people visited Britain, spent an average £563 per person and stayed seven days.
- The oldest human artefacts found in Britain were discovered near Happisburgh, Norfolk, in 2010. There were 78 pieces of flint shaped into primitive cutting tools made by our hunter-gatherer ancestors some 840,000-950,00 years ago.
- 211ft: Britain’s tallest tree, which is a fir planted in 1870 by Loch Fyne, Argyll.
- Adders are the only venomous snakes in the UK.
- Our deepest lake is Loch Morar in the Highlands at 1,013ft.
- Zebra crossings were introduced to our roads in 1951.
- The football net was invented by Liverpool civil engineer John Alexander Brodie in 1891.
- Some unusual job titles from the past include sucksmith (ploughshare blade-maker) and vagina-maker (scabbards and sheaths).
- Edward III banned football in 1349, because it distracted people from practising archery, which was a necessary war skill.
- Some curious pub names of past and present include The Case is Altered in Blo Norton, Norfolk, and Fatling and Firkin in Hornchurch, Essex.
- The oldest bowls green still played on is in Southampton and has been used since 1299.
- According to the Law Commission, contrary to popular belief, it’s not illegal for a man to urinate in public if it is on the rear wheel of his vehicle and his right hand is on the car.
- 628: The highest cricket score, which was hit by AEJ Collins – not out – at Clifton College in Bristol in 1899.
- Great Britain’s coastline stretches for 11,073 miles.
- 5m: Sausages are eaten in the UK every day. They were introduced by the Romans around AD400. There are now 470 recipes for British bangers.
- Transport for London's lost property office has been open since 1933 and regularly has around 200,000 items found on taxis, trains, buses and trams. Among the most unusual items left have been a 14ft boat, breast implanta, human skulls, a bed, a vasectomy kit and two urns.
- Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, was also the author of children's favourite Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
- There are 25 species of bumble bee.
- Almost one in five women have gone to work without wearing any underwear.
- British people eat twice as many baked beans as anybody else in Europe.
- Eight per cent of men never clean their teeth in the morning.
- More people believe in ghosts (42 per cent) than in God (38 per cent).
- Twenty per cent of men claim they can do DIY jobs better than any professional.
- Most have sex around 4,239 times in their lives.
- Forty-three per cent of people say they have had sex in a car - 52 per cent of men, 34 per cent of women.
- Eleven per cent of people do not wash their hands after going to the toilet.
- Thirty-six per cent do not wash themselves every day. (It's quite unhealthy, if you constantly wash yourself daily.)
- Seventy per cent play the National Lottery.
- Thirty-nine per cent of people read on the lavatory, while 21 per cent text or talk on the telephone.
- British people drink 165 million cups of tea every day.
- Women spend 27.5 minutes in the bathroom, compared to 20.7 minutes for men.
- Twelve per cent of sick days are fake.
- British people steal 430,000 gallons of hotel shampoo each year.
- Sixty-four per cent of women find clothes shopping depressing and ten per cent have cried in the changing room.
- Nearly one in six children aged between two and 10 are clinically obese.
- Blackpool is the most popular domestic holiday destination. (Don't know why! It's terrible!)
- Women spend three hours a day on housework while men spend 40 minutes.
- People in Sheffield have the most filings and missing teeth.
- Big Ben does not refer to the clock, but actually the bell.
- London has been called Londonium, Ludenwic, and Ludenburg in the past.
- French was the official language for about 300 years.
- The shortest war against England was with Zanzibar in 1896. Zanzibar surrendered after 38 minutes.
- There is nowhere in Britain that is more than 74.5 miles from the sea.
- The first telephone directory published in England contained 25 names.
- While the Great Fire of London was largely destructive, the casualty rate was just 8.
- The first hot chocolate store opened in London.
- There are over 300 languages spoken in England.
- The English drink more tea than anyone else in the world.
- In the Medieval Times, animals can be put on trial for crimes (and be sentenced to death!)
- “The Star Spangled Banner” (the American national anthem) was created by an Englishman.
- “Pygg” used to mean “clay” in olden day English. People kept their coins in clay jars that were called “pygg jars,” which have evolved into what we currently call piggy banks.
- Gargoyles were originally used as drain pipes!
- Buckingham Palace has its own police station.
- Chickens outnumber humans in England.
- When Nelson Mandela met the Spice Girls, he called them his “heroes.”
- Ginger Spice was originally Sexy Spice, but changed to better suit their younger fans.
- Francesca Gray wrote J.K. Rowling her first fan letter, but thought she was a man, and began her letter with “Dear Sir…”
- J.K. Rowling is the first person to make a billion dollars from writing books.
- James Bond’s code “007″ was inspired by the author Ian Fleming’s bus route from Canterbury to London.
- No portrait was ever painted of William Shakespeare when he was alive.
- Macbeth is the most produced play ever written. On average, a performance is staged every 4 hours somewhere in the world.
- In the final episode of Skins Season 2, where Sid is looking for Cassie on the streets of New York, the reactions from people were real and unscripted.
- Kate Moss is good friends with Daniel Craig. (Fascinating.
)
- David Beckham has a fear of birds. (Why is he with Posh, again?)
- William the Conqueror ordered everyone to be in their beds by 8 pm.
- 80,000 umbrellas are expected to be lost annually in the London tube.
- There are over 30,000 people with the name John Smith in England.
- Rudolf Hess was the last prisoner kept in the Tower of London.
- England has the highest rate of obesity in Europe.
- England brought the world soccer, rugby and polo.
- The highest temperature ever recorded in England was 38.5 degrees in Kent in 2003.
- The first fish and chips restaurant was opened in 1860 by a Jewish immigrant.
- England is 74 times smaller than the USA.
- The English invented the world’s earliest railways.
- The Beatles originally called themselves the Blackjacks, and then the Quarrymen.
- Bristol is known as the “Seattle of England” because of its youth culture and fashion.
- England is thought of as having the world’s worst food.
- No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver or purple.
- Portugal is England’s oldest ally. The Anglo-Portuguese Treaty signed in 1373 is still in force.
- Queen Anne had 17 children, all of them died before she did.
- If you buy a lottery ticket at 7pm on Saturday, you are more likely to die in the hour before the draw than you are to win.
- 50% of male Internet users in Britain have viewed pornography on the Internet.
- 27 million porn mags are sold in the UK each year.
- On average, in the UK per year:
488 people are injured by zips;
3,078 people are injured by slippers;
315 people are injured by photo frames;
and 70,000 are injured by dogs.
- If every credit card in Britain was laid end to end they would stretch from London to Istanbul. (As of November 2001).
- 3 Brits die each year testing if a 9v battery works on their tongue.
- 142 Brits were injured in 1999 by not removing all pins from new shirts.
- 58 Brits are injured each year by using sharp knives instead of screwdrivers.
- 31 Brits have died since 1996 by watering their Christmas tree while the fairy lights were plugged in.
- British Hospitals reported 4 broken arms after Xmas cracker-pulling accidents.
- 18 Brits had serious burns in 2000 trying on a new jumper with a lit cigarette in their mouth.
- A massive 543 Brits were admitted to A&E in the last two years after trying to open bottles of beer with their teeth.
- 5 Brits were injured last year in accidents involving out-of-control Scalextric cars. (2006)
- In 2010 the most number of overseas visitors to Britain came from France, Germany and the USA, accounting for one in three tourists.
- The British Museum was the most popular attraction in the UK in 2010 welcoming 5.8 million people through it's doors.