• 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 • 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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