The original name of Microsoft Windows was “Interface Manager”. In 1981, Microsoft began the development of a program called “Interface Manager”. Most people won’t recognise that name because Interface Manager became Windows in 1983. Microsoft released Windows 1.0 in 1985, and it’s now the most common operating system in the world. It’s hard to believe the OS would be successful with its original name. Interface Manager perfectly describes what Windows would become. In the marketing department, making that name sound interesting or useful would have been impossible. Everyone recognises Windows, and millions of computers run on Windows 10 today. Interface Manager should be considered a work-in-progress name and something best left in the past.
100 Mind-Blowing World Facts
Which is the older email or www? Most people don’t realize email came long before the World Wide Web. Before the web came along, email worked much differently than today. Users needed to dial a rotary phone to connect to Micronet and access the email webpage. Academic researchers and government entities used email at the time. Consumer usage simply didn’t exist until the Internet came to fruition. Considering what email is today, its original form is archaic and almost confusing to see in action. For that reason, not a single person wants to return to the email systems of the past.
What Was The First Ever.COM Domain? Symbolics Inc. registered the first .COM domain on March 15, 1985. For obvious reasons, the company chose to register Symbolics.com on the World Wide Web. Nordu.net was technically the first domain name ever but didn’t go through the registration process. Less than 15,000 domains had been registered to the web in 1992. In 2010, more than 200 million domains were registered to .COM alone. Dozens of other domain names exist, and millions of websites are registered with each one. No domain name is going to come close to dethroning .COM anytime soon, if ever. Regardless, Symbolics.com will hold its place in history.
This Is The World’s Largest Hard Disk Drive (HDD). Seagate launched the Exos 20+ hard disk drive (HDD) in December 2020. The HDD utilises HAMR and MACH2 technologies to offer 20 terabytes (TB) of storage. Typically, home computers utilise hard drives ranging from 1TB to 4 TB. Businesses and data centres may use significantly larger hard drives. It’s an impressive development from Seagate. The company recently launched 18TB hard drives to the market as well. Lately, companies have released larger and larger hard drives with improved performance. Solid state drives (SSDs) continue to grow in popularity, but the HDD remains a competitive alternative, especially for larger capacities.
How Many Websites Exist On The World Wide Web? More than 1.5 billion websites can be found on the World Wide Web today. The web reached one billion websites for the first time in September 2014. Surprisingly enough, about three-quarters of all websites are inactive, meaning there are about 200 million active websites. Inactive websites include parked domains and similar situations.
How much digital data has been created so far in the world? In 2018, the Global Datasphere amounted to 33 Zettabytes of data. Nearly 60% of that data was stored on traditional hard drives. IDC predicts the Datasphere will explode to 175 Zettabytes by 2025. Cloud storage continues to lead growth in data storage solutions as time goes on. By 2025, nearly 50% of the world’s data may exist in the cloud. China should soon become the country with the most cumulative data. Growth in the country is expected to outpace the rest of the world by 30%. As time goes on, cumulative data storage should continue to explode in growth around the world.
Top 5 best-selling video games of all time. Minecraft is the best-selling video game of all time by a large margin. The game was released in November 2011 and has sold 200 million units. People of all ages love crafting and survival games. Meanwhile, Grand Theft Auto V holds the number two spot with 140 million units sold. Quite a few people log on every week to partake in this regularly updated open-world title. Both titles include sales across multiple platforms. On the other hand, Tetris holds the number three spot in mobile sales alone. The classic game has amassed 100 million in sales since its release in 2006. Wii Sports lands at number four and features sales on one platform as well. Finally, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds hit 70 million in sales across multiple platforms to round out the top five best-selling games list. Every title on the list saw an initial release between 2006 and 2017.
“123456” is the most used password in the world!! NordPass released the list of the most common passwords of 2020. Over 2.5 million users decided to use the password “123456”. Unsurprisingly, that’s a weak password that nobody should ever use. It was cracked over 23.5 million times in 2020. Hackers can crack the password in less than a second due to its sequential and common nature. For better or worse, NordPass lists “12345” as the most common password from 2019. That password fell to number eight on the company’s list for 2020. The most secure passwords include letters, numbers, and symbols. Also, a longer password is always more difficult to crack than a shorter one.
Over 1 billion Active iPhones in the World. Around 1.65 billion Apple brand devices are currently in use, says CEO Tim Cook. How does the company determine this number? Folks only need to use their Apple-branded device once within 90 days and the activity is added to the total. Having recently set both revenue and product sales records – with iPhones leading the way – further proof of this company’s record-setting numbers is measured by the number of “upgraders” also counted. Contributing to these statistics are FaceTime calls driven by the pandemic. It’s anyone’s guess whether chip shortages or supply chain issues will impact Apple sales in 2022.
Best Apple iOS Apps and Games in 2021. In the gaming category: Toca Life World (iPhone App of the Year). LumaFusion (iPad App of the Year). Craft, (Mac App of the Year). DAZN (Apple TV App of the Year). Carrot Weather (Apple Watch App of the Year). “League of Legends: Wild Rift,” (iPhone Game of the Year). “MARVEL Future Revolution,” (iPad Game of the Year). “Myst,” (Mac Game of the Year). “Space Marshals 3” (Apple TV Game of the Year). “Fantasian” (Apple Arcade Game of the Year). In the connection category: “Among Us!”, Bumble, Canva, EatOkra, Peanut.
Comic Sans is the most hated font in the world. Comic Sans was designed to be an unserious, handwritten style font to use in comic books. Although everyone loves to hate this tasteless font (including myself!), it is very useful for dyslexic people. Because of its asymmetrical style, the letters are much easier to discern.
More people have cell phones than toilets. Out of all the 7.7 billion people in the world, over 6 billion of those have access to a cell phone. Meanwhile, only 4.5 billion have access to working toilets!
The first webpage is still running. In 1991, Tim Berners-Lee was working on developing the World Wide Web. There are no graphics and no background, just plain text and links on how to use the Internet!
Over 90% of the world’s currency is digital. I don’t know about you, but I rarely have cash! Between credit cards, debit cards, direct deposit, and online purchases, that leaves only about 8% of global currency to be physical money.
Millions of hours of TV and movies are watched every day on Netflix. Of course, Netflix is a massively popular company, so it’s not that big of a surprise. The world spends about 164 million hours every day streaming Netflix, which is equivalent to 18,812 years’ worth of TV and movies every 24 hours. Now my binge-watching habits don’t seem so bad!
The first photo ever uploaded to the Internet was of a comedy band. A four-piece all-female parody pop group lays claim to being in the first photo to ever be uploaded to the Internet. The group, called “Les Horribles Cernettes,” were colleagues with Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web. He asked them for some scanned photos of their band so he could publish them online, and history was made!
Google uses the same amount of energy as 200,000 homes. It’s no surprise this tech powerhouse needs a lot of power! That accounts for about 0.013% of the entire world’s energy use. And while not all of their energy is from wind and solar, they purchase carbon offsets which leaves them with no carbon footprint!
Zippia reports that the tech industry makes up 35% of the total world market.
90% of the world’s data was generated between 2019 and the present.
There is a McDonald’s in every continent except Antarctica. Overall, there are more than 36,000 McDonald’s restaurants spread out across the globe. While this number is incredibly high, it makes perfect sense considering that this favourite fast-food ranks as the second-largest fast-food restaurant chain in the world! The first McDonald’s to open outside of the USA commenced operations on June 3, 1967, in Richmond, Canada.
Eight of the ten largest statues in the world are of Buddhas.
It took the creator of the Rubik’s Cube, Erno Rubik, one month to solve the cube after creating it; as of June 2018, the world record is 4.22 seconds.
Magpies are considered one of the most intelligent animals in the world and the only non-mammal species able to recognise themselves in a mirror test.
The world record for the longest human chain (holding hands) is 652.4 miles, and it consisted of 5 million people in Bangladesh as part of a campaign.
In September 2007, a guy named Kevin Shelley broke 46 wooden toilet seats with his head in one minute to create a world record.
The world record for the longest graffiti scroll is 7,366 feet and 9 inches. It was done in Dubai in 2014 by over 100 artists and contained scenes of history for the United Arab Emirates in celebration of their 43rd United Arab Emirates Union Day.
While graffiti is mostly illegal wherever you go, there are about 1,650 legal graffiti walls around the world.
Colonial background. The first British officer killed in World War One was an Englishman, born in India, in a Scottish regiment, commanding Senegalese troops in Togoland.
Race at war. In World War One, France’s black soldiers suffered a death rate 3x higher than their white comrades, because they were so often given suicidal tasks.
Mr Loverman. The total number of children fathered by Genghis Khan is unknown, but estimates range from several hundred to over a thousand. DNA evidence has suggested that one in every 200 people in the world today is a descendant of Genghis Khan. That’s around 16 million people.
Sheep at the White House. American President Woodrow Wilson and his wife Edith kept sheep at the White House during World War One to keep the lawn neat and reduce gardening costs. The sheep’s wool was also auctioned off to raise money for the Red Cross.
World’s first skyscraper. The story of skyscrapers often begins in New York and Chicago from around 1884 with increasingly tall buildings. However, what is technically the world’s first skyscraper was built in Shropshire in 1796–7. Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings may not look like a skyscraper, but its Main Mill was the first building in the world to have an iron frame supporting the weight of the structure, the formula for every skyscraper ever built so that it has been dubbed the ‘Grandparent of Skyscrapers’.
Surrender? Never! Lt Hiroo Onoda served with Japan’s army in the Philippines during World War Two. He was ordered not to surrender, so he didn’t, until 1974. His wartime boss was sent to get him. He returned home a hero.
Soviet perspective. In 50 days on the Eastern Front of World War Two in July and August 1943 the losses suffered by the Germans and the Soviets were greater than those sustained by the USA and Great Britain combined, for the whole of the Second World War.
An iconic moustache. As a young man Hitler wore a larger, bushier moustache; he trimmed it to its iconic shape so that it could fit under a gas mask during World War One.
Two significant car crashes. On 13 December 1931, Winston Churchill was struck by a car while crossing Fifth Ave in New York City. He had looked the wrong way before crossing the street and was dragged for several yards, sustaining bruises, sprains and cuts. In the same year, a 19-year-old British aristocrat named John Scott-Ellis was driving a red Fiat in Munich and almost hit the future Führer, Adolf Hitler. Scott-Ellis jumped out of his car and apologised, and Hitler only suffered minor bruises. They shook hands, and Scott-Ellis later remarked, ‘For a few seconds, perhaps, I held the history of Europe in my rather clumsy hands. . . [Hitler] was only shaken up, but had I killed him, it would have changed the history of the world.’
Outcast. DH Lawrence was thrown out of his village during World War One because he was allegedly signalling to German U-boats with laundry on his clothes!
Unsinkable stoker. Arthur Priest was a stoker on the Titanic. Stokers were among the unlikeliest crewmen to survive a sinking ship, or even a badly damaged one. Sea water would flood their compartments first, drowning them. The rest of the crew would scramble to shut watertight doors to save the ship, trapping their comrades in the compartments below. Somehow though, in chronological order Priest survived: a collision on RMS Asturias’ maiden voyage, 1908; a collision on Titanic’s sister ship, RMS Olympic, 1911; the sinking of RMS Titanic, 1912; the First World War sinking of HMS Alcantara, 1916; the First World War sinking of Titanic’s other sister ship, HMHS Britannic, 1916; the SS Donegal First World War sinking, 1917
Bulgaria stands alone. For one day only, on 8 September 1944, Bulgaria found itself at war with all four major belligerents of the Second World War in Europe, the USA, USSR, UK and Germany.
Blacked-out roads. More Brits were killed in road accidents on blacked-out UK roads for the first six months of the Second World War than were killed in the armed forces.
Changing metropolis. The world’s biggest city in 1AD was Alexandria; 500: Nanjing; 1000: Cordoba; 1500: Beijing; 2000: Tokyo.
Out of this world. Châteauneuf-du-Pape, in France, made it illegal to land a flying saucer in the town in 1954.
Cold War reaches boiling point. While the world watched the tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, they didn’t know just how close they came to destruction. The US Navy dropped harmless depth charges on a submerged Russian submarine off the coast of Cuba to try and force it to surface. The crew, believing that World War Three had begun, argued whether they should launch the nuclear torpedo that they had on board, and came close to a unanimous vote to launch. Luckily, Senior Officer Vasili Arkhipov cast the one vote needed to stop the impending destruction.
Covert baguettes. During World War Two, the baguette became a symbol of resistance against the German occupation, with bakers secretly baking baguettes containing messages or supplies to aid partisans.
Luckiest man in the world? Japanese engineer Tsutomu Yamaguchi survived the atomic bombings in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War Two. Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on a business trip when the first atomic bomb was dropped on 6 August 1945. Despite being only three kilometres away from the blast, Yamaguchi survived, though was seriously burned and temporarily blinded. The following day, he began the journey back to his hometown of Nagasaki, arriving on 8 August. On 9 August, he was a little over a mile from the epicentre of the second atomic bomb when it dropped on Nagasaki. He survived but was injured again, along with his wife and infant daughter.
Slow down! On 28 January 1896, Walter Arnold drove his ‘horseless carriage’ through Paddock Wood, Kent, at a reckless 8mph – four times the 2mph speed limit. He also had no man with a red flag preceding him, as required by law. Arnold was chased down by a police officer on a bicycle, and later fined £4 7s, of which 10 shillings was for speeding – the world’s first recorded speeding ticket.
Throughout history, different cultures around the world have experienced time in different ways. In the Western world, we tend to think of time as linear and flowing from left to right. But this isn’t the case for everyone. Language affects how people conceptualize time, particularly the spatial metaphors they use to describe and map it. Those who read languages that flow from right to left, such as Arabic and Hebrew, generally view time as flowing in the same direction. The Aymara, who live in the Andes Mountains in South America, consider the future to be behind them, while the past is ahead. In their view, because the future is unknown, it’s behind you, where you can’t see it. Some Indigenous Australian cultures, which rely heavily on direction terms like north, south, east, and west in their languages, visualise the passage of time as moving from east to west. If they’re facing north, for example, the past would be to their right, or east, whereas the future would be to their left, which would be west.
After an engineer named Sandford Fleming missed a train in 1876, he set out to change the way time worked. Fleming originally proposed a concept he called “Cosmic Time,” in which the world would run off an imaginary clock located at the planet’s centre, essentially a line from the centre of the planet to the sun. He then suggested splitting the world into 24 time zones labelled with a letter of the alphabet, with each zone spanning 15 degrees of longitude. His original plan to create a standard “Cosmic Time” was rejected, but it did lay the groundwork for a similar standardisation, so-called Universal Time. Nations present at the 1884 International Meridian Conference laid the groundwork for dividing the world into 24 time zones, with the Prime Meridian, also known as Longitude 0°, running through Greenwich, England.
Even with the advent of standardised time, people still struggled to keep their clocks in sync. One London family used this to their advantage and made a living by selling people the time. An astronomer named John Belville would set his pocket watch to the time at the Royal Observatory Greenwich. He would then travel around the city and visit his network of subscribers, who paid to set their clocks by Belville’s pocket watch. After Belville died in 1856, his wife, and then later their daughter Ruth, carried on the tradition. Ruth continued to sell the time until World War II. By then she was in her eighties, and a couple of factors led to her timely retirement: Improved technology had made her role less important, and the war was making treks around London too dangerous.
Daylight saving time wasn’t officially implemented until 1916. Germany became the first country to adopt it to conserve coal during World War I. The United States didn’t follow suit until 1918.
Daylight saving time ended on a national level after the war, but individual states and municipalities kept it going until World War II. At the end of World War I, the entire nation went on what was effectively a year-round daylight saving time. After World War II, the entire nation was again picking and choosing daylight saving time. It’s been reported that in Iowa, back in 1964, there were 23 different combinations of dates that communities turned on and off daylight saving time. In 1966, the government officially mandated a standardised daylight saving time for the entire United States, though individual states could opt out. Until 2007, daylight saving time ended in October. It’s been reported that the candy industry lobbied to wait until after Halloween to change the clocks back an hour.
People have been tracking time for thousands of years. In 2013, archaeologists found what’s thought to be the world’s oldest lunar calendar while excavating a field in Scotland. The calendar, which is made of a series of 12 pits that mimic the moon’s phases, dates back to around 8000 BCE.
Linux is used by every major space programme in the world, including NASA and the ESA. Private space companies like SpaceX also leverage it, with the latter having completed 65 space missions (and counting) with the assistance of a fault-resistant Linux system in their powerful Falcon 9 rockets.
Linux dominates supercomputers. As of 2018 100% of the world’s 500 fastest supercomputers run Linux. Impressive!
Ubuntu is the world’s most popular Linux-based desktop operating system. It boasts an estimated 20 million users worldwide. Linux market share is estimated at 2-3% of all desktop computer use.
Linux runs on 100% of the world’s top 500 supercomputers.
The top 500 most powerful supercomputers in the world all use Linux.
The famous Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest particle accelerator, runs on Linux.
96.3% of the world’s top 1 million servers run on Linux.
Linus Never Intended to Make Money Out of Linux: As a strong advocate for open-source software, Linux never intended to commercialize Linux. In fact, as a hobby project, Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, never envisioned making a profit from his groundbreaking operating system. When he started working on Linux in 1991, his primary motivation was to develop a free and open-source alternative to proprietary Unix systems. Torvalds released Linux under the GNU General Public License, ensuring that it would always remain open for anyone to use, modify, and distribute freely. This commitment to openness and collaboration led to rapid growth and popularity over the years to become one of the most essential operating systems in the IT world.
Linux Powers a Multitude of Devices: Nowadays, Linux runs on almost anything: servers, desktops, smartphones, smart watches, etc. Almost every hand-held device has a Linux kernel at the core of its operating system. Linux’s open-source nature allows developers to customise it for different devices and software needs, making it a widely used operating system in the world.
Linux Market Share: Linux has gained ground as the third most popular desktop operating system, with a 2.92% market share as of October 2023, according to Statcounter. Beyond desktops, Linux’s reach extends further, serving as the backbone for a staggering 90% of the world’s cloud infrastructure. Its versatility, open-source nature, and robust performance have made it a prominent player both on personal computers and in the vast network of servers powering the digital services we rely on daily.
Ubuntu: The Global Leader in Linux Desktop Adoption: Ubuntu‘s status as the most popular Linux desktop globally can be largely attributed to its clean, simple, and intuitive user interface, ensuring a seamless user experience. This appeal makes it particularly well-suited for newcomers to the Linux world or Windows users making the transition to Linux. Ubuntu’s user-friendly design, combined with its extensive software ecosystem and strong community support, has established it as a go-to choice for those seeking an approachable and efficient introduction to the Linux operating system.
Linux Is Extremely Versatile: Modern Linux desktop distros provide applications that allow you to perform virtually any operation including software development, browsing, graphic design, video editing, gaming, entertainment, and much more. This versatility extends to entertainment options, making it a one-stop solution for diverse needs. Whether you’re a professional or a casual user, Linux’s rich ecosystem ensures you can perform virtually any operation efficiently, contributing to its growing popularity in the desktop computing world.
An Asteroid Named in Honor of Linus Torvalds: Linus Torvalds, the renowned creator of the Linux kernel, received a unique and celestial honour when an asteroid was named after him. This astronomical recognition symbolizes his significant contributions to the world of open-source software and technology. The asteroid named “9793 Torvalds” serves as a testament to Torvalds’ enduring impact on the tech industry and the global community of Linux enthusiasts, solidifying his legacy not only on Earth but also among the stars.
Ubuntu is the world’s most popular cloud operating system. No wonder, Microsoft partnered with Canonical (Ubuntu’s parent company) for Microsoft’s cloud system.
The Chinese version of Ubuntu is used for running the world’s fastest supercomputer.
The likelihood that a cybercrime entity is detected and prosecuted in the U.S. is estimated at around 0.05 per cent. (World Economic Forum)
The number of IoT attacks in the world reached over 10.54 million in December 2022. (Statista)
Cybercrime costs the world economy more than $1 trillion per year (McAfee): McAfee believes the cost of cybercrime around the world is around $1 trillion per year, accounting for around 1% of our total GDP. The costs of cybercrime are often influenced by several factors of course, including the degree of damage caused, the theft of certain property (intellectual or otherwise), and the costs of stolen money. When companies lose data, there are hours of work put into fixing the problem.
In 2020 hackers sold over 500,000 Zoom passwords on the dark web (Forbes): Criminals will often take advantage of events happening in the world, the concerns of their targets, and the vulnerability of society to make money. This was particularly evident in 2020 when countless hackers started sending COVID-themed phishing emails to attempt to hack personal and business accounts. Forbes reported in April 2020 that hackers stole and sold over 500,000 passwords for the popular video-conferencing tool, Zoom, which ended up on the dark web. The information included personal user names too.
Over 80% of attacks are financially motivated (Verizon): For the last several years, Verizon’s reports on the hacking and cybercrime landscapes have revealed the number one motivator for attacks is finances. In 2020, the number of financially motivated attacks far outweighed the number of attacks prompted by reasons like espionage. The most common figures behind hacking attacks are those in the organised crime world. Organised criminal syndicates account for around 80% of all attacks. Verizon notes only around 5% of attacks in North American organisations in 2020 were motivated by espionage, while 3% were motivated by grudges, often involving former employees.
Headquarters: The NSA is headquartered in Fort Meade, Maryland, with offices and cryptologic centres around the world. This strategic location supports its global operations.
History: The NSA originated as a unit to decipher coded communications during World War II. It was officially established to meet the growing need for signals intelligence and communications security.
Codebreaker Challenge: The NSA annually hosts the Codebreaker Challenge, a competition for students to explore real-world scenarios in cybersecurity and cryptography, preparing them for national security roles.
Cryptanalysis: The NSA has a long history of cryptanalysis, including cracking the Enigma machine during World War II, which significantly contributed to defeating Nazi Germany.
Armed Forces Security Agency (AFSA): The NSA assumed the responsibilities of its predecessor, AFSA, which was created after World War II to integrate the national cryptologic effort.
Michael Hayden’s Insights: Former Director Michael Hayden noted that the NSA is also the world’s largest collector of foreign signals intelligence, emphasising its critical role in global surveillance.
Agnes Meyer Driscoll: Agnes Meyer Driscoll was a pioneering cryptanalyst who made significant contributions to the NSA’s early years, helping to decipher Japanese naval codes during World War II.
A handful of world-renowned scientists were born in England: Another intriguing fact about England is that it’s been the birthplace of several iconic scientists! Sir Isaac Newton, a household name, was born in Lincolnshire in 1643 and went on to write the laws of motion, gravity and the theory of colour. More recently, Stephen Hawking was born in 1942 in Cambridgeshire. The professor is best known for his theory of exploding black holes which has revolutionised the field of astronomy. These English scientists’ findings are still very relevant for science to this day, with their works being used frequently in education and the industry.
The World Wide Web (WWW) was invented in England: The World Wide Web came to be in 1989 when it was discovered by Tim Berners-Lee, an English scientist. Berners-Lee began the project whilst working at CERN, The European Organisation for Nuclear Research, and its main use was for scientists to share information and institutes across the globe. The WWW was used privately until 1993 when CERN released it to the public. It’s flourished since then, and you’re using it to view this blog right now!
There is an annual cheese rolling competition: The unusual sport of cheese rolling was guaranteed to make this list of facts about England. A unique event, the annual cheese rolling takes place on Cooper’s Hill in Gloucester and has been done since 1826. The event involves a 9-lb, round Double Gloucester cheese rolled down a hill, with competitors chasing after it to the bottom. The first person to reach the finish line wins the cheese. Contestants are often locals from the area, however, the event attractions competitors from all over the world. If you’re up for a challenge, why not sign up for the race? Please keep in mind that due to the fast pace of the race, the event can be quite dangerous.
The largest county in England is… Yorkshire: We’re continuing this guide on facts about England with a dive into the country’s geography. Taking up 11% of England’s land mass at 14,859 km², Yorkshire hails the title of being England’s largest county! Due to its large size, it’s no surprise that Yorkshire boasts a large variety of landscapes. From the stunning North Yorkshire Coast and Moors to the flat greenery of the Vale of York; there’s so much to explore here. The county is also home to a wealth of history, including two UNESCO World Heritage sites, Saltair & Salts Mill and Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal.
England is very close to Europe’s mainland: The Channel Tunnel, also playfully known as the ‘Chunnel’, connects Folkestone to Calais. The tunnel offers easy access between England and France and stretches over 31.5 miles. The tunnel was built in 1993, with the Eurostar’s handy services beginning in 1994. It’s the longest undersea tunnel in the world, with 23.5 miles of tunnel stretching 75 metres below the surface of the English Channel. Thanks to the Chunnel, you can get to Paris from London in just over two and a half hours!
Brits drink a lot of tea… about 100 million cups every day!: The stereotype that the British drink a lot of tea is immediately confirmed with this fun fact. They drink around 100-160 million cups of tea daily, which is about 36 billion every year. The difference from most of the countries in the world is that almost all the tea drinkers in the UK (98%) add milk to their cup of tea.
The Queen didn’t have a passport: During her 70 years on the throne, Queen Elizabeth II has visited over 100 countries on official duties. Although every person in the world needs an identity card, she does not need a British passport during her travels. This is because passports are issued in the name of the Queen.
London has the world’s longest-running show: At St. Martins Theatre in the West End in London, the world’s longest-running show is being played. Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap has been running since 1952, which means that the show has been running for more than 70 years now. The show started as a radio play, called Three Blind Mice, and follows the story of seven strangers snowed in at a home in the countryside.
Stonehenge is older than the Pyramids: Stonehenge is one of the world’s most famous prehistoric monuments, built as a cemetery in the Bronze Age, but not many people know that this is even older than the pyramids. The first stones were an early henge monument, built 3000 years BC and the exceptional stone circle was constructed in the late Neolithic period about 2500 BC. The pyramids were built and finished around 2500-2400 BC. We can conclude that both monuments are very old and worth a visit!
A Welsh town has the longest name in Europe: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is the longest town name in Europe and one of the longest town names in the world. Often road signs in Wales are written in both Welsh and English, the translation of Llanfairpwll (the more manageable version) is ‘St. Mary’s Church in the hollow of white hazel, near a rapid whirlpool, and the Church of St. Tysilio near the red cave.
Stonehenge, one of the world’s oldest monuments exists in the UK.
In 2015, Queen Elizabeth became the longest-reigning queen in the world.
The UK is the home to world-renowned scientists like Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton, Alan Turing and Stephen Hawking.
The infamous serial killer Jack the Ripper was active in London in the year 1888. Strangely enough, he never got caught and his identity remains a mystery to the world.
The world-famous characters Sherlock Holmes, Mr Bean and Harry Potter are in originated from Britain.
The inventor of the World Wide Web, Timothy John Berners-Lee was from England.
Llanfairpwllgwyngyll-gogerychwyrndrobwlllllandysiliogogogoch is the name of a town in Wales and it is believed to be the longest name of any city in the world.
The British Library is the largest in the world with a collection of 170-200 million reading material.
The world-famous British playwright Shakespeare added more than 1,700 new words and phrases to the English language.
There are in total of 32 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the United Kingdom and the British Overseas Territories.
The UK is the fifth biggest exporter of goods in the world.