Facts about England:

Queen Berengaria, the wife of Richard the Lion-Hearted, never set foot on English soil. Berengaria, who was the daughter of King Sancho VI of Navarre, married Richard in Cyprus in 1191 in Cyprus while Richard was crusading. She spent most of her eight-year reign in Italy and France.

The smallest Police station in England is in Trafalgar Square and can only accomodate one officer.

GeorgeIII was the oldest King of England.(81 years 7 months and 25 days)

Queen Victoria was the oldest person ever to be monarch (by four days). To date!

1762: The sandwich was invented in England.

Facts about the English Language!

  * Did you know that English is the most widespread language in the world and is more widely spoken and written than any other language?

  * Did you know that over 400 million people use the English vocabulary as a mother tongue, only surpassed in numbers, but not in distribition by speakers of the many varieties of Chinese?

  * Did you know that over 700 million people, speak English, as a foreign language?

  * Did you know that of all the world's languages (over 2,700) English is arguably the richest in vocabulary; and that the Oxford English Dictionary lists about 500,000 words, and a further half-million technical and scientific terms remain uncatalogued?

  * Did you know that three-quarters of the world's mail, telexes and cables are in English?

  * Did you know that the main language used throughout the world on the internet is English?

  * Did you know that more than half of the world's technical and scientific periodicals are in English?

  * Did you know that English is the medium for 80% of the information stored in the world's computers?

  * Did you know that English is the language of navigation, aviation and of Christianity; it is the ecumenical language of the World Council of Churches?

  * Did you know that 5 of the largest broadcasting companies in the world (CBS, NBC, ABC, BBC and CBC) transmit in English, reaching millions and millions of people all over the world?

The world's oldest public zoo opened in London in 1828.

The world's first modern Olympic Games were not held in Athens in 1896, but in the small town of Much Wenlock (Shropshire) in 1850, which inspired French Baron Pierre Coubertin to launch the Athens Olympics half a century later.

French was the official language of England for about 300 years, from 1066 till 1362.

Windsor castle is the oldest and largest royal residence in the world still in use.

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).

For local governmental purposes, England is divided into 34 counties, 46 unitary authorities, and Greater London

One of the most interesting attractions in all of England is the storied Tower of London, both a palace and a prison for English kings and queens for more than 500 years. The notorious Bloody Tower was supposedly the execution site of the murdered Little Princes (ages 13 and 10) at the hands of Richard III.

The tower of London has served as a fortress, a prison, a place of

worship, an arsenal, the Royal Mint, the original London zoo, the Royal

Armories, the Record office, and as the residence of kings and queens

The longest word in the English language is "pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis." It's a lung disease. "Floccinaucinihilipilification," is the longest non-medical term in the English language. It means the act of estimating as worthless. Second place goes to the word "antidisestablishmentarianism," which means opposition to the disestablisment of a church or religious body.

King George I of England could not speak English. He was born and raised in Germany and never learned to speak English even though he was King from 1714 to 1727. He left the running of the country to his ministers thereby creating the first government cabinet.

Geographical Centre of England Meriden, Warwickshire

Highest Mountain in England Scafell Pike, Cumbria 3,210 ft

Lowest point in England Bed of Lake Windermere 94 ft below sea level

Longest River wholly in England River Thames 215 miles long

Highest Waterfall in England Caldron Snout, County Durham 200 ft

1902: Marmite was invented in England.

Queen Victoria NEVER said we are not amused!

In Elizabethan England the spoon was such a novelty, such a prized rarity, that people carried their own folding spoons to banquets.

 The children's game "Ring Around the Rosey" and the words that accompany it ("Ring around the rowy, pocket full of posy, ashes, ashes, all fall down") derive from the medieval practice of scattering rose petals in a circle around one's bed ("rihg around the rosy") and carrying small bouquets ("pocket full of posy") as protection against the Black Plague ("all fall down").

King Richard the Lion-Hearted of England spent over 95% of his time away from England (for example, on the Third Crusade). He was only in England on two occasions.

The battle of Hastings, October 14th, 1066, was not at Hastings but at Senlac Hill about six miles away.

No part of England is more than 75 miles from the coast.

The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.

 The first case of the common cold was diagnosed in 1611 in Stratford, England. The patient? John Common,

England has existed as a unified entity since the 10th century

The shortest war in history was between England and Zanzibar in 1896. Zanzibar surrendered after 38 minutes.

England has only known 7 white Christmases in the entire 20th century

The first city in modern history to reach 1 million people was London in 1811.

The world's largest collection of preserved human brains is maintained in a WWII era bomb shelter beneath the Runwell Psychiatric Hospital in Essex, England. 8,000 brains collected over the past 40 years are available for researchers to study.

The movie 'The Madness of King George' was originally released in England under the title of 'The Madness of King George III'. The 'III' was dropped for its American release because it was believed that the American moviegoer would believe it to be a sequel, and not go see it because they had never seen The Madness of King George I and II yet.