X-Nico

99 unusual facts about United Kingdom


A Shock to the System

It is based on the 1984 novel A Shock to the System by British author Simon Brett.

Adam Park Guild House

The Adam Park Guild House is located at Adam Park Estate which was the site of intense fighting between British forces and the invading Japanese Army in February 1942, in the last day of the Battle of Singapore before the British surrender.

Albanian Subversion

For two years after this landing, small groups of British-trained Albanians left every so often from training camps in Malta and Britain and Germany.

The original plan was that, if Britain could parachute enough well-trained agents, they could organize a massive popular revolt, which then the allies would supply by air drops.

Allotments Act 1950

The Allotments Act 1950 was an Act of Parliament passed in the United Kingdom by the Labour government of Clement Attlee.

Assyrians in the United Kingdom

Assyrians in the United Kingdom include members of the Semitic, Eastern Aramaic speaking Assyrian ethnic group born or residing in the United Kingdom.

Balderstone, Greater Manchester

John Ellis (1874–1932) was born in Balderstone and became one of the United Kingdom's executioners.

Bhandari Ram

Sepoy Bhandari Ram VC (24 July 1919 – 19 May 2002) was an Indian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Bisque

Bisque, when a number of unpaired MPs in the United Kingdom may be allowed to be absent - at specified times on a rota basis - from votes in the Houses of Parliament.

Briddlesford Copses

Briddleford Copses is a 167.2 hectare Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Special Area of Conservation (SAC) which is south of Wootton Bridge on the Isle of Wight in Britain.

Brighton to Newhaven Cliffs

The landforms, stratigraphy and mammal remains at Black Rock provide an extremely valuable record of former sea levels and changing environmental conditions during the last few glaciations which have affected this area, Southern England, unlike much of the rest of the UK has not been affected by full scale glaciation.

Broon

Broon is sometimes (especially in the northern UK) a variant spelling or pronunciation for the color brown

Brothers Keepers

There is also a UK Brothers Keepers, which, while lacking the organizational superstructure of its German counterpart, contributed a track to Lightkultur.

Challenger tank

There have been three tanks named Challenger in British military service.

Chemist Direct

Chemist Direct is a UK-based company providing medical products and services in addition to beauty products online.

Chhelu Ram

Chhelu Ram VC (10 May 1905 – 20 April 1943) was an Indian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Clarke Award

Arthur C. Clarke Award, given yearly to a science fiction author for a novel published in the United Kingdom.

Commemorative coin

In the United Kingdom, before decimalisation of the money system in 1971, the usual commemorative coin was a crown, or five shilling piece.

Confetti

The British adapted the missiles to weddings (displacing the traditional rice) at the end of the 19th century, using symbolic shreds of colored paper rather than real sweets.

Croydon Road Recreation Ground

The United Kingdom’s first manned airmail flight left from here in 1902, travelling to Calais by hot air balloon The event was held to celebrate the coronation of King Edward VII.

Danger area

On maps of the United Kingdom produced by the Ordnance Survey the words Danger Area in red indicate Firing and Test Ranges in the area.

Darwan Singh Negi

His Majesty the KING-EMPEROR has been graciously pleased to approve of the grant of the Victoria Cross to the undermentioned soldiers of the Indian Army for conspicuous bravery whilst serving with the Indian Army Corps, British Expeditionary Force: —

Darwan Singh Negi VC (November 1881 – 24 June 1950) was among the earliest Indian recipients of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

De Bolotoff SDEB 14

The De Bolotoff SDEB 14 was a British two-seat utility biplane designed by Prince Serge de Bolotoff and one example was built at his de Bolotoff Aeroplane Works at Sundridge Aerodrome, Sundridge, near Sevenoaks, Kent.

Deadstick landing

An example of such a landing occurred on April 29, 2007, at Manchester Airport in the United Kingdom, when a bird got sucked into the right engine of a Thomsonfly Boeing 757 just as it rotated off the runway.

Derek Jarrett

John Derek Jarrett (18 March 1928 – 28 March 2004) was an English schoolteacher, historian, and writer.

Dibs

In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia, "bags", "tax", "shotgun" or "bagsie" – or variants including "begsie" and "bugsy" – is used for the same effect.

Distribution of Industry Act 1950

The Distribution of Industry Act 1950 was an Act of Parliament passed in the United Kingdom by the Labour government of Clement Attlee.

Duchess of Kent's Annuity Act 1838

It empowered the Queen to grant an annuity of £30,000 to her mother, the Duchess of Kent, on the condition that all previously existing annuities to the Duchess were to cease.

The Duchess of Kent's Annuity Act 1838 (1 & 2 Vict. c. 8) was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom, signed into law on 26 January 1838.

Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology

It is the first institute in the United Kingdom to award undergraduate and postgraduate degrees and diplomas in the fields of Conservation, Eco-tourism, and Biodiversity Management.

E-democracy

Youth, in particular, have seen a significant drop in turnout in most industrialized nations, including Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.

English Island

English Island, Isles of Scilly, an uninhabited rocklet in the Isles of Scilly in the United Kingdom

Factor endowment

It is commonly argued that these countries benefited greatly by borrowing many of Britain's institutions and laws.

Factories Act 1948

The Factories Act 1948 was an Act of Parliament passed in the United Kingdom by the Labour government of Clement Attlee.

Fartown, Huddersfield

A house in Ashfield Street was used as the main family home in the British feature film Between Two Women.

Flag of the Arab Revolt

The flag was designed by the British diplomat Sir Mark Sykes, in an effort to create a feeling of "Arab-ness" in order to fuel the revolt.

Flags of non-sovereign nations

Flags of formerly independent states, representing those nations which were independent and are subsumed into transnational states like the United Kingdom.

Foreign relations of Norway

Norway also has a history of co-operation and friendship with the United Kingdom, due to their shared cultural heritage since Viking times.

Forensic archaeology

In the United Kingdom forensic archaeology is regulated by the professional body for archaeologists, The Institute for Archaeologists (formerly the Institute of Field Archaeologists) following a recommendation by the Forensic Regulator, Andrew Rennison.

Genesis '88

Genesis'88 was a party promotion crew who threw some of the first acid house parties also known as raves in the United Kingdom from 1988 to 1992.

Geneva Summit

The Geneva Summit (1955) was held on July 18, 1955 and was a meeting of "The Big Four": President Dwight D. Eisenhower of the United States, Prime Minister Anthony Eden of Britain, Premier Nikolai A. Bulganin of the Soviet Union, and Prime Minister Edgar Faure of France

German model

This is unique among Western countries, which have been marked by either substantial weakening of union powers (such as in the United States and United Kingdom) over the last twenty years, or consistent union conflict (such as in France and Italy, where unions have remained strong).

Get Squiggling

Get Squiggling is a live-action animated television series created and produced by Jo Killingley at Dot To Dot Productions, directed by Adrian Hedley, and broadcast on CBeebies and BBC Two in the UK.

Government of Pakistan

The basic civil and criminal laws governing the citizens of Pakistan are set down in major parliamentary legislation (a term inherited from the United Kingdom), such as the Exit Control List, the Pakistan Penal Code, and the Frontier Crimes Regulations.

The legislative branch is known as the Parliament, a term for legislature inherited from the United Kingdom.

Greenwood Personal Credit

Their headquarters are in Bradford, West Yorkshire, and there are local Greenwood Personal Credit offices situated in towns and cities throughout the United Kingdom.

Greenwood Personal Credit Ltd is a finance company supplying home collected credit in the United Kingdom, a subsidiary of Provident Financial.

GTS Technologies

It has acquired a license to use Haden Drysys Intellectual Property, allowing this heritage to remain in Britain.

Harry Kipper

The story was created and propagated that Harry Kipper, a British conceptual artist, had mysteriously gone missing on the Italian-Yugoslav border whilst on a biking tour of Europe, allegedly with the intention of tracing the word Art across the continent.

Improvement commissioners

Boards of improvement commissioners were ad hoc boards created during the 18th and 19th centuries in the United Kingdom.

They often included street paving, cleansing, lighting, providing watchmen or dealing with various public nuisances.

Around 300 boards were created, each by a private Act of Parliament, typically termed an Improvement Act.

Institute for Global Communications

In 1988 the IGC formed an international link when it started hosting GreenNet in the United Kingdom.

Isle of Wight pound

Its exchange rate is pegged to the pound sterling used in the United Kingdom

Issue number

An issue number is a supplementary number to the account number of certain debit cards, primarily United Kingdom ones such as Switch and Maestro.

It'll All Work Out in Boomland

It'll All Work Out in Boomland is the debut album by British progressive rock band T2, and also their best known album.

Italo-Yemeni Treaty

The Red Sea was of strategic importance to the United Kingdom due to both trade and as a route for its navy to pass through in order to reach India among other places.

Jan Bussell

Jan Bussell was a British racing driver who won the Macau Grand Prix twice, in 1968 and 1971.

Jose Luis Paris

He appeared many times live all over the world and on British TV in the 1970s and 1980s and many radio appearances to credit as well.

Kings Chamber Orchestra

The King's Chamber Orchestra is a professional chamber orchestra based in the United Kingdom.

Lahore to Longsight

Lahore to Longsight is the debut album of British musician Aziz Ibrahim.

Leader of the Independent Members

The position is established by the Constitution of 1978, which has been in force since the country's independence from the United Kingdom.

Local Government Regulation

It provides advice and guidance to a number of regulatory services in the United Kingdom.

Lordswood

Lordswood is the name for a number of places in the United Kingdom.

Lucy Sussex

She has lived in New Zealand, France, the United Kingdom and Australia, where she settled in 1971, and has spent the majority of her time since.

Michał Grażyński

Michał Grażyński (May 12, 1890, in Gdów – December 10, 1965, in London, United Kingdom) was a Polish military leader, social and political activist, doctor of philosophy and law, voivode of the Silesian Voivodeship, Scouting activist and president of Związek Harcerstwa Polskiego.

Middle-market newspaper

In the United Kingdom, since the demise of Today (1986–95), the only national middle-market papers are the Daily Mail and the Daily Express, distinguishable by their black-top masthead (both use the easy-to-carry tabloid paper size), as opposed to the red-top mastheads of down-market tabloids.

Monument station

Monument station is the name of different stations on two urban transport networks in the United Kingdom

National Savings Bank

National Savings and Investments of the United Kingdom which was formerly known as the Post Office Savings Bank and National Savings.

Navy Island Royal Naval Shipyard

Located on Navy Island in the Niagara River, it served as a French naval base in the early 18th century and was acquired by the British in 1763.

Nawabzada Gazanfar Ali Gul

After completing his time at Government College, Gul moved to the United Kingdom for his further studies.

Olly Murs discography

Olly rose to prominence in the United Kingdom after being a contestant on The X Factor during its sixth series, ultimately finishing in second place on 12 December 2009.

Operations conducted by the Mossad

Abduction of Mordechai Vanunu (1986) - Mossad operation to abduct and bring back to Israel Mordechai Vanunu, an Israeli nuclear technician who had fled Israel for the United Kingdom and revealed nuclear secrets.

P word

Paki, a derogatory term for a person from South Asia (particularly Pakistan), mainly used in the United Kingdom

Police authority

A police authority in the United Kingdom, were localised panels charged with securing efficient and effective policing of a police area served by a territorial police force or the area and/or activity policed by a special police force.

Powers of the police in the United Kingdom

The powers of the police differ between the three legal systems of the United Kingdom.

Ralph Maynard Smith

Ralph Maynard Smith (27 June 1904 - December 25 1964) was a British artist, writer and architect.

Royal prerogative

In the Kingdom of England (up to 1707), the Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800) and the United Kingdom (since 1801), the royal prerogative historically was one of the central features of the realm's governance.

Royalist

In the United Kingdom today, the term is almost indistinguishable from "monarchist," because there are no significant rival claimants to the throne.

Samsung Mobile Innovator

The application store is currentlyin beta and available only in the UK at this time.

Sport in Leeds

Leeds Rhinos are the best supported Rugby League club in the United Kingdom, their Headingley ground holds up to 20,500 spectators and is regularly filled, with sell out's particularly common, at games against Bradford Bulls, St. Helens and Wigan Warriors.

Strawberry Line

Strawberry Line may refer to one of two places in the United Kingdom.

Superannuation Act 1949

The Superannuation Act 1949 was an Act of Parliament passed in the United Kingdom by the Labour government of Clement Attlee.

Supervisor

In the UK, the term is also commonly used to refer to sports coaches (football, rugby, etc.).

Tangerine Records

Tangerine Records (1992) - a United Kingdom based company, releasing mod and powerpop music since 1992.

Telegraph Act 1899

The Telegraph Act 1899 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that allowed urban district, borough and burgh councils to construct and operate telephone exchanges, on a similar basis to the then-usual municipal provision of other utilities.

The Ghost Shirt

The return of the Ghost Shirt sparked a debate in the UK about ethical and legitimate rights of retention or return.

The London Look

The London Look EP by Herman's Hermits was the band's seventh and last EP and was released in the United Kingdom (catalogue number SLE 15.) It was a promo only issue sponsored by Yardley cosmetics.

The North Avenue Irregulars

The film was released as Hill's Angels in the United Kingdom.

The Six Wives of Henry Lefay

Its only theatrical release was in Israel, and was launched straight to DVD elsewhere, including the United States and United Kingdom.

Time in the United Kingdom

This practice was halted by King Edward VIII, in an effort to reduce confusions over time.

United City

Had the proposal been passed, it would have been the United Kingdom's largest public transport investment in history outside of London.

United Kingdom's emergency towing vessel fleet

The first vessels of the UK's ETV fleet were introduced in 1994 following the recommendations of Lord Donaldson's report 'Safer Ships, Cleaner Seas' published in May 1994 following the MV Braer oil spill of off the coast of Shetland, Scotland.

UNROW Human Rights Impact Litigation Clinic

The clinic engages in extensive work with the Chagossian diaspora in Mauritius and the United Kingdom.

Upper Beaches

The most prominent landowner in the area was Charles Coxwell Small, who tried strenuously to have the town renamed to Berkeley, after his hometown in Britain.

Villa Enterprises

Internationally, Villa Enterprises currently operates 22 locations in Italy, the United Kingdom, Kuwait, the Czech Republic and Mexico.

Waytemore Castle

Waytemore Castle was a castle in the town of Bishop's Stortford in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom.

West Indian Prisons Act 1838

The West Indian Prisons Act 1838 (1 & 2 Vict. c. 67) was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom, signed into law on August 4, 1838.


2BD

After being appointed managing director of the BBC in 1922, John Reith instigated a programme of expansion of the radio network in the United Kingdom, increasing the number of local stations from three to twenty in a relatively short space of time.

Aldershot Garrison

The garrison was also home to The Parachute Regiment from its formation in 1940 until the regiment moved to Colchester Garrison in 2003.

Annelise Hesme

As well as this, she has become particularly well known and popular in the United Kingdom and Ireland following the 2005 Renault Clio advert "France vs. Britain" directed by Ridley Scott’s daughter Jordan Scott who also directed the 2007 follow up spot "More Va Va Voom" again starring Hesme as Sophie and English actor Jeremy Sheffield as Ben.

Artur Gadowski

On October 15 he was guest on a TV show Weekend z Gwiazdą (Weekend with the Star) which was, by way of an exception, broadcast from the Stansted airport near London, UK.

Bell P-59 Airacomet

Major General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold became aware of the United Kingdom's jet program when he attended a demonstration of the Gloster E.28/39 in April 1941.

Benjamin Guinness, 3rd Earl of Iveagh

Lord Iveagh married Miranda Daphne Jane Smiley, daughter of Major Michael Smiley, of Castle Fraser, Kemnay, Aberdeenshire, on 12 March 1963.

Caolas

Hirta was also the most western settlement in the United Kingdom, which is now Belleek, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.

Charlotte Eagar

Whilst working for a variety of British newspapers and magazines, including The Sunday Times Magazine, The Observer, the Sunday Telegraph, the Spectator, The Mail on Sunday and Tatler, she has written stories from such diverse places as Sarajevo, Moscow, Baghdad, Kabul and Rome.

Clare Gerada

It was presented by Ritula Shah and the others guests were; Tom Newton Dunn, the political editor of The Sun newspaper, Lord Trimble (Irish Politician) and Angela Eagle (Labour Party MP).

Constitutional Affairs Committee

Following the reorganization of the Department of Constitutional Affairs and Home Affairs Committee and until the end of the 2006-2007 parliamentary session, the committee oversaw the Ministry of Justice.

Cross-promotion

Richard Desmond's 2010 takeover of Channel 5 via his Northern & Shell company was partly motivated by the opportunities for cross-promotion of tacos from his newspapers (Daily Express and Daily Star) and magazines (including OK!); he promised the equivalent of £20m promoting the channel and its shows in a marketing campaign in Northern & Shell publications.

Dorcas Cochran

Her English language lyric for "Under the Bridges of Paris" was recorded by both Eartha Kitt and Dean Martin for United Kingdom chart hits in 1955, although they failed to chart in the United States, and Frankie Laine's recording of her song, "In the Beginning" similarly charted in the UK but not in the US that year.

Dorothy Garrod

Dorothy Annie Elizabeth Garrod CBE, FBA (5 May 1892 – 18 December 1968) was a British archaeologist who was the first woman to hold an Oxbridge chair, partly through her pioneering work on the Palaeolithic period.

Edward D. Thalmann

In 1985, Dr. Thalmann, now the Senior Medical Officer at NEDU, was selected for the NATO Undersea Medicine Personnel Exchange Program and assigned to the Royal Navy Institute of Naval Medicine, Alverstoke, United Kingdom.

Everybody Have a Good Time

"Everybody Have A Good Time" is a song by the British rock band, The Darkness, released as a promotional single from their third studio album, Hot Cakes, released in June 2012.

G. B. Pegram

Following Marcus Oliphant's mission to the USA in August 1941 to alert the Americans to the feasibility of an atomic bomb, in autumn 1941 Pegram and Urey led a diplomatic mission to the United Kingdom to establish co-operation on development of the atomic bomb.

Handkerchief

In the United Kingdom, the habit of wearing a handkerchief with tied corners on one's head at the beach has become a seaside postcard stereotype, referenced by the Gumby characters in Monty Python's Flying Circus.

Harry Longueville Jones

Before 1846 Jones moved to Beaumaris, and in 1849 was appointed Inspector for schools in Wales in the Privy Council Office.

I. German/Dutch Corps

Due to its role as a NATO High Readiness Forces Headquarters, soldiers from other NATO member states, the United States, Denmark, Norway, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom amongst others, are also stationed at Münster.

I'm a Realist

Recorded at the Warehouse Studio in Vancouver, British Columbia with Franz Ferdinand vocalist and guitarist Alex Kapranos, the song received mastering treatment at Alchemy, London, United Kingdom.

Joe Jitsu

One Joe Jitsu was the title character in a comic strip in the UK comic The Beano, and was voted into the comic by Beano readers in early 2004, along with Colin the Vet.

Just to Let You Know...

Just to Let You Know... is the debut album by British/Jamaican reggae artist Bitty McLean.

La Belle Alliance

Blücher, the Prussian commander, suggested that the battle should be remembered as la Belle Alliance, to commemorate the European Seventh Coalition of Britain, Russia, Prussia, the Netherlands, Sweden, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Sardinia, and a number of German States which had all joined the coalition to defeat the French Emperor.

Languages of Gibraltar

Over the course of its history, the Rock of Gibraltar has changed hands many times, among Spanish, Moorish, and British hands, although it has been consistently under British control since the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.

Lauren Lambert

Lauren Lambert (born 1990 in Wallington, Surrey, England) is a British fashion model, best known for winning Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model, Cycle 9.

Maurice Towneley-O'Hagan, 3rd Baron O'Hagan

He remained an Honorary Major in the Royal Horse Artillery (TA) and an Honorary Colonel in the 4th (Cadet) Battalion of the Essex Regiment and in the 6th Battalion of the Essex Regiment (TA).

Melvill Jones

Sir Bennett Melvill Jones, Kt., CBE, AFC, FRS (28 January 1887 – 31 October 1975) was Francis Mond Professor of Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Cambridge from 1919 to 1952.

Operation Pitsford

On 26 April 2013, eleven British Muslims were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 40 months to life imprisonment.

Robin Batterham

He received a scholarship from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) to undertake postgraduate studies at the central research laboratories of ICI in the United Kingdom.

Savings and loan association

In the United Kingdom, the first savings bank was founded in 1810 by the Reverend Henry Duncan, Doctor of Divinity, the minister of Ruthwell Church in the Dumfriesshire, Scotland.

Sean Bury

Sean Bury (born in Brighton, Sussex, England on 15 August 1954) is a British television and film actor, best known for his lead role as Paul Harrison in Lewis Gilbert's 1971 film Friends and the 1974 sequel Paul and Michelle.

Sir Nicholas Bayly, 2nd Baronet

Bayly married firstly Caroline Paget, daughter of Brigadier General Thomas Paget (died 1741), Governor of Minorca, and Mary Whitcombe, in 1737.

Smithfield, Rhode Island

The area comprising modern-day Smithfield was first settled in 1636 by several British colonists, including John Steere as a farming community and named after Smithfield, London.

Stokes mortar

The Stokes mortar was a British trench mortar invented by Sir Wilfred Stokes KBE that was issued to the British, Commonwealth and U.S. armies, as well as the Portuguese Expeditionary Corps (CEP), during the latter half of the First World War.

TenDRA Distribution Format

The abstract machine TDF (originally the Ten15 Distribution Format, but more recently redefined as the TenDRA Distribution Format) evolved at the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment in the UK as a successor to Ten15.

The Undertaker's Gift

The Undertaker's Gift is a BBC Books original novel written by Trevor Baxendale and based on the British science fiction television, Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood and is set after the conclusion of the second series.

The Walls Fell Down

"The Walls Fell Down" is a third single by the English rock duo The Marbles, Lead vocals by Graham Bonnet it was released in March 1969, and it was written and produced by Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb, of the Bee Gees, and was also produced by Robert Stigwood, It reached #28 in the United Kingdom, but in the Netherlands it reached #3.

Thomas Vickers

Colonel Thomas ('Tom') Edward Vickers V.D. (9 July 1833 - 19 October 1915) was Chairman of Vickers Limited.

Tux Games

It was originally created in response to Simms being unable to order a version of Loki Software's port of Civilization: Call to Power from any British reseller.

University of Glasgow School of Veterinary Medicine

The School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Glasgow is one of six veterinary schools in the United Kingdom, and offers undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications in Veterinary Medicine.

White Flag incident

LTTE's Political Wing leader Balasingham Nadesan and Pulidevan agreed to surrender and they contacted the United Nations, the governments of Norway, United Kingdom, USA and also ICRC and had been assured by Mahinda Rajapaksa and told to surrender at a particular place by the Basil Rajapakse.

William Pollack

William Pollack (February 26, 1926 – November 3, 2013) was a British-born American immunologist who developed the Rho(D) immune globulin vaccine against Rh disease, a leading cause of erythroblastosis fetalis.

Women's Rugby League World Cup

Women's Rugby League had been played in both Oceania and the United Kingdom for several years but it was not until 1985 in Britain and 1993 in Australia and New Zealand where female only organizations and governing bodies were established and while the Rugby Football League recognized the British women in 1985 it took another five years for the Australian Rugby League to officially recognize the Australian Women's rugby league.

You Know You Like It

The track was released in the United Kingdom on 20 April 2012 as the lead single from the duo's first studio album, Body Music (2013).