England It is one of the four nations that make up the United Kingdom, the largest of them, and its history, which goes back more than 2000 years, is full of curious facts. In this article I will tell you some of them, but I will stick to England, to later tell you about some others from Great Britain or the United Kingdom. I have to confess that some are authentically historical and others are only so because they appeared in the Guinness Book of Records.
Facts and curiosities about the weather
At year 1752 was passed from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian, which produced a "void" in such a way that the days that ran from September 3 to 14 do not exist. This change had been promoted by Pope Gregory XIII almost two hundred years earlier, in 1582. And speaking of dates, from the twelfth to the thirteenth century in England New Years were celebrated on March 25.
Continuing with the curiosities about the concept of time, surely you have heard about the British punctualityWell, in 1945, a flock of birds landed on the minute hand of Big Ben, the London Parliament Clock Tower, and delayed the time by 5 minutes, such a chaos for the british punctuals. But this was not the only time that the “punctual clock” failed, because the loudest was when New Years Eve 1962 was delayed by 10 minutes! due to some technical glitches. By the way, Big Ben actually refers to a bell inside the tower that weighs 14 tons.
Finally I tell you that Guillermo the Conqueror ordered everyone to go to bed at eight o'clock at night.
Fun facts about the Great Fire of London
Although the Great Fire of London burned much of the city, officially only eight people died. This fire devastated the city from September 2 to 5, 1666. It destroyed 13 houses, left some 200 people homeless, in addition to 80.000 parish churches, 87 former Guild Houses, the Royal Exchange, the Customs House, the St. Paul's Cathedral, London City Hall, the medieval center correctional palace and other prisons, four bridges over the Thames and Fleet, and three city gates.
This fire was provoked, and the rumor spread that it was part of a plot by the catholic church. Robert "Lucky" Hubert confessed, probably under torture, to being an agent of the Pope and having started the Westminster fire, then changed the version to say that he had started it at the bakery on Pudding Lane. Although it was known that he could not start the fire, he was hanged in Tyburn on September 28 of that same year.
Miscellaneous data
Portugal and England are the protagonists of the oldest alliance in the world by means of the Anglo-Portuguese treaty of June 13, 1373 that is still in force. Thanks to this treaty, the English were able to use the Azores (Portuguese) base in World War II or in the Falklands War, among others.
England's National Health Service ranks third in the world's public servants, preceded by the Red Army of China and the Indian railway network.
The majority of surnames in England are Smith, Jones, Taylor and Brown, in fact there are about 30.000 people named John Smith. By the way, in 1880 the first telephone book with 25 names was published.
Some fun facts about royalty
And now I tell you some curiosities about the royal house of England, for example since the XNUMXth century all swans that swim in the Thames and are not marked or identified by any owner belong to the queen. Every year a census of swans is made in which a badge is placed to count them and remember this tradition.
There is also a decree from 1324 that all whales, dolphins and sturgeons that swim in British waters belong to the king or queen. These animals are known as royal fish, and if they are caught within 5 kilometers of the shores of the UK, they can be claimed by the Crown.
Queen Victoria loved Valentine's cards, they say that during his reign he sent almost 2.500 cards.
The tourist and commercial attraction of the royal institution is valued at 55.000 million euros, and according to the consulting firm Brand Finance, the merchandising around it generates annual revenues of 20.000 million euros, an amount that rises more than considerably when there are weddings, births or commemorative events.