Facts About Great Britain

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Great Britain is officially composed of England, Scotland, and Wales. When talking about Great Britain, many people often associate this with “England” or the whole of UK or United Kingdom. The UK is comprised of the three countries of Great Britain plus Northern Ireland. All the component countries are often regarded as simply the UK or Great Britain. Many people may be officially wrong about all countries of Great Britain or the UK in general but they share a rich history and very interesting facts including the following:

Fact 1: Great Britain is the site of the first industrialized country. Back in 1760, the country of England became the first nation to be part of the evolving wave of industrialization from Europe to other regions in the world.

Fact 2: The shortest war ever recorded in history was between people from England and Zanzibar, an island just off the coast of Tanzania in Africa. It was in 1896 that Zanzibar engaged in battle against England for as short as 38 minutes.

Fact 3: Great Britain has 3 national football teams. Adding Northern Ireland to the list makes it 4 national teams for the whole of United Kingdom. This is the only place in the world wherein 1 country has multiple national teams for football.

Fact 4: Many postage stamps that come from Britain do not bear the name of the country. Being the first nation to issue stamps for mailing back in 1840, Great Britain is basically not required to put its name on all of them.

Fact 5: London, the capital city of Great Britain and the whole of UK has hosted the Summer Olympics three times. The first hosting of the Olympic Games was in 1908 with the second time happening 40 years later. The latest hosting of this sports event was in 2012.

Fact 6: The famous Big Ben clock in London, England gave the wrong time back in 1945. Due to a flock of starling birds, this famous clock was said to have set back time to about 5 minutes.

Fact 7: Buckingham Palace, the residence for Great Britain’s Royal Family, was said to have been erected in area where there are brothels. The monarchs of the UK officially call this palace as their home.

Fact 8: All schools run by the national government in Great Britain typically have a daily worship activity. This activity is basically required of the state-run schools by law.

Fact 9: The first and oldest department store in the world is located in Great Britain. Bennett’s of Irongate in the city of Derby was established way back in 1734. This store introduced the concept of having different departments and sections for different goods. This same concept eventually reached other parts of Europe and to the rest of the world some 100 years later.

Fact 10: The World Wide Web that has revolutionized the world of communications and technology is said to have been invented by a man named Tim Berners-Lee. Berners-Lee is a famous Englishman and computer scientist.

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