The United Kingdom made up of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland is an island nation in north-western Europe.
England – the birthplace of Shakespeare and The Beatles – is home to the capital, London, a globally influential centre of finance and culture. England is also the site of Neolithic Stonehenge, Bath’s Roman spa, and centuries-old universities at Oxford and Cambridge.
Some interesting and fun facts about the United Kingdom
- Most people refer to the clock tower next to the Houses of Parliament as Big Ben
- The Brits invented the first adhesive postage stamp used in a public postal system, back in 1840.
- After the Penny Black stamp came the Penny Red
- Golf was invented in Scotland and can be traced back to 1457.
- The old golf course at St Andrew’s Links in Fife, Scotland is the oldest golf course in the world.
- The Welsh town of Llanfairpwllgwyngyll-gogerychwyrndrobwlllllandysiliogogogoch is the longest name of a town in the world.
- Brits invented speeding tickets? The very first speeding ticket was issued to a driver named Walter Arnold in Kent in 1896 after he was caught going four times the speed limit. As the speed limit was only 2mph, he was fined for reaching a top speed of 8 mph!
- It’s thought that Ian Fleming used a bus route close to his home as inspiration for James Bond’s codename. The route 007 used to go from Canterbury to the Kent coast.
- Windsor Castle is the oldest and largest inhabited castle in the world, being in use since the 11th century. It’s still one of the official residences of The Queen, as well as having some areas accessible to the public on tours.
- Among Queen Elizabeth II’s more bizarre titles is ‘Seigneur of the Swans’. Officially, the reigning monarch owns any unmarked mute swan in open water in both England and Wales
- Tea is by far the most popular drink among Brits. It is estimated that they drink on average 165 million cups of tea every day. The fun thing here is that in the US the tea’s consumption is 20 times lower.
- Topping at 1,107 feet or 350 meters, London’s Shard building was completed in 2012 making it the tallest object in the continent of Europe.
- Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne in 1953 and in 2015 her excellence became the longest-reigning Queen in the world.
- Although English is the official language in the UK, there are a variety of accents throughout the country. The accent changes that often that within a short distance of a few kilometres you may encounter different accents.
- The British passport is issued in the name of the Queen. As such, her excellence doesn’t need to possess one. The Queen has visited over 100 different countries and not a single time has made it with a passport.
- Taxi drivers in London undergo a test before they get hired for the job to estimate how well they know the streets of London.
- Wherever the Queen is residing a royal flag must wave at the top of the building.
- The Railway system in the UK is ranked as the 17th largest railway network in the world
- The UK has 394,000 kilometers of paved roads, enough to go around the world up to ten times.
- Shakespeare added around 3,000 words to the English language.
- Killing a swan is illegal in UK. If you kill one you get a fine of £5,000 or a 6-month sentence.
- The Adder is the only venomous snake in UK.
- Smith Jones and Williams are the most common names in UK
- The UK has four surviving Celtic languages that are still officially recognised in the modern day. These are Scottish Gaelic, Irish Gaelic, Welsh and Breton.
- Atheists constitute 24% of the UK’s population.
- London was the first city in the world to trial an underground railway.
- The Queen sends personalized birthday cards to people in Great Britain who turn 100. She also does this for those who turn 105 or older.
- The world thinks that ‘Fish and Chips’ are the UK’s favourite meal. But UK residents once voted Chicken Tikka Masala as their favourite dish.
- The 409 escalators in the London subway cover a distance every week which is approximately equivalent to several trips around the globe.
- The Queen of England, who once enjoyed extensive powers and authority over almost the whole world, and despite all her present majesty and glory, is not allowed to enter the House of Commons simply because she is not its member
- London has had many names in the past? It was called Londonium during the Roman Invasion, Ludenwic in Saxon times, and Ludenburg during the kingdom of Alfred the Great.
- London has the largest library in the world. The towering British Library in King’s Cross, London, has over 170 million items in its catalogue.
- EastEnders is the most-watched T.V. show in the UK, it had 30 million viewers.
- Birmingham is the second-largest city in the U.K.
- During the 16th century, the king raised a tax for everyone with a beard.
