- London is the largest city in Europe. There are over twelve million people living within the greater London area.
- With over 51 million inhabitants, England is the most populous country of the United Kingdom, accounting for 84% of the combined total.
- The Saxons destroyed London Bridge in 1014 by using boats and ropes to tear it down. Some people wonder if this is where the idea originated for the nursery rhyme, “London Bridge”.
- The English class system is not determined by money, but by one's background (family, education, manners, way of speaking...). Many nouveau-riches, like pop-stars or football players, insist on their still belonging to the lower or middle class.
- Berengaria of Navarre married King Richard the Lionhearted and became Queen, but never once stepped on English soil!
- Public schools in England are in fact very exclusive and expensive (£13,500/year in average) private schools. Ordinary schools (which are free), are called state schools.
- Windor Castle is both the oldest and the largest royal residence anywhere in the world that is still being used as a royal home.
- French was the official language of England for about 300 years, from 1066 till 1362.
- In Medieval England animals were brought into court, and tried and sentenced by the judge for any mischief or damage they did!
- A clever Frenchman opened London’s first hot chocolate store during the mid 1600s. By the early 1700s these chocolate stores were almost as common and popular as the coffee stores.
- The Bank of England has a nickname, 'The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street'
- During the summer heat wave of 2003 the temperature in London reached 100 degrees F for the first time.
- The world's first public zoo first opened in 1829 in London.
- England is 74 times smaller than the USA, 59 times smaller than Australia and 3 times smaller than Japan. England is however 2.5 times more populous than Australia, and 1.5 times more populous than California. With 2.5 times less inhabitants than Japan, its density of population is slightly higher than the country of the rising sun.
- English people consume more tea per capita than anybody else in the world (2.5 times more than the Japanese and 22 times more than the Americans or the French).
- London used to be the largest and most influential city in the world. With a population of 12 million, it remains the largest city in Europe.
- Among the three ghosts said to haunt Athelhampton House, one of them is an ape.
- English people have the highest obesity rate in the European Union (22.3% of men and 23% of women). They also have the highest percentage of overweight women (33.6%) and the 6th highest for men (43.9%).
Facts about tourism
Facts about airports
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