Fascinating Facts

Queen Elizabeth II is descended from King Egbert (802–839), the first king of all of England, and of King Fergus Mor Mac Eirc of Dalriada (now part of Scotland), who reigned around the year 500..

The Queen is a qualified military truck driver and mechanic. She learned these skills while serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service during World War II.

She is the only living head of state to have served in uniform during World War II.

Diamond Jubilee

Few of us can have missed that Queen Elizabeth II officially celebrates sixty years as Queen in June. She ascended to the throne on 6th February 1952 with her Coronation taking place on 2nd June 1953. The central activities take place, 2 - 5 June 2012, throughout the United Kingdom and across the Commonwealth.
Royal Jubilees
The celebration of royal jubilees really began in the reign of George III. The beginning of the fiftieth year of his reign, in October 1809, was marked both in Britain and the Colonies. The King and other members of the Royal Family attended a private service in Windsor and a grand fête and firework display at Frogmore. In London the Lord Mayor and Corporation processed to St Paul's Cathedral for a service of thanksgiving before holding a dinner at the Mansion House.

The only other British monarch to celebrate both Golden and Diamond Jubilees (besides the current Queen) was Queen Victoria in 1887 and 1897 respectively. Her jubilee celebrations followed the same format as the present Queen’s with processions, military reviews, garden parties, concerts, banquets, receptions, investitures and a Thanksgiving Service at St Paul’s Cathedral. Public celebrations such as the lighting of beacons all over Britain, locally-held parties and concerts in honour of the Queen also took place. The idea of staging a Silver Jubilee was first conceived in 1935 for the reign of King George V.

The record for the longest reigning British Monarch goes to Queen Victoria (63 years 216 days), Queen Elizabeth is due to overtake her in September 2015 when she will also become the longest reigning female monarch in world history.

The longest reigning monarch ever is Sobhuza II of Swaziland who ruled 82 years, 254 days. The longest reigning European monarch was King Louis XIV of France whose reign lasted a ‘mere’ seventy-two years, 110 days.

The longest claimed reign was that of James Francis Edward Stuart (son of James II), whose pretence lasted 64 years, 106 days as the Jacobite pretender to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland.

The world’s longest reigning living ruler is King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, who has reigned for almost 66 years.

Early years

1. The Queen was born at 2.40am on 21 April 1926 at 17 Bruton Street in Mayfair, London.

2. She was the first child of The Duke and Duchess of York, who later became King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.

3. At the time she stood third in line of succession to the throne after Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII), and her father, The Duke of York. But it was not expected that her father would become King, or that she would become Queen.

4. The Princess was christened Elizabeth Alexandra Mary in the private chapel at Buckingham Palace. She was named after her mother, while her two middle names are those of her paternal great-grandmother, Queen Alexandra, and paternal grandmother, Queen Mary..

The well known landmark, Marble Arch was originally built as the entrance to Buckingham Palace, but was never used. There is actually a tiny office inside it, which use to be used as a police station.

The only native mammal to Iceland is the Arctic Fox. All the other mammals currently in Iceland were imported.



Really surprised at that.

The largest king's ransom in history was raised by Richard I the Lion-Hearted to obtain his release from Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI in 1194. The English people had to pay nearly 150,000 marks to free their king..

The typical lead pencil can draw a line that is thirty five miles long

The last Olympic gold medals that were made entirely out of gold were awarded in 1912.

I like the ones with chocolate on the inside.

Ha ha Eddy - I have "won" many of them .

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Emus and kangaroos cannot walk backwards, and are on the Australian coat of arms for that reason.

Carrots are a root vegetable that originated in Afghanistan. They were purple, red, white, and yellow, but never orange.

In the 16th century, Dutch carrot growers invented the orange carrot in honour of the House of Orange, the Dutch Royal Family. They did this by cross breeding pale yellow carrots with red carrots.

Newly orange, carrots traveled to England with Dutch travelers during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

The carrot soon caught on in England as both a food and a fashion accessory. Ladies would often use carrot tops to decorate their hats.

A 2005 poll revealed that carrots are the third most popular vegetable in Britain.

Well that was interesting Eddy .

Think they should bring back the colourful ones - would be different and more children may eat them ..

Your ribs move about 5 million times a year, everytime you breathe.
Your right lung takes in more air than your left one does.

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Re left lung its because the heart takes up space so the left lung is not so big .

The first toothbrush with bristles was manufactured in China in 1498. Bristles from hogs, horses and badgers were used. The first commercial toothbrush was made in 1938.

You are supposed to replace your toothbrush after you have an episode of flu, cold or other viral infections. Notorious microbes can implant themselves on the toothbrush bristles leading to re-infection.

You are not supposed to brush within 6 feet of a toilet. The airborne particles from the flush can travel up to a distance of 6 feet.

Never thought of replacing the tooth brush after a cough/cold/flu.. Replace them very often here - so another lot of tooth brushes to get for replacements - just in case ..

A cat's body is covered with approximately 130,000 hairs for each square inch..

Amazing.

Fresh apples float on water since 25% of their volume is air. The apple fruit itself is covered with a natural layer of wax to protect its high water content. Hence, fresh apples are always crisp.

Archeologists have found evidence that humans have been enjoying apples since at least 6500 B.C. The origin of apple tree is an area between the Caspian and the Black Sea.

Throughout the world there are 7,500 varieties of apples. In general, apples can be grown farther north than most other fruits as they blossom late in spring, minimizing frost damage.

The udder of a cow can hold between 25-50 lbs. of milk.

Armored knights in days of old raised their visors to identify themselves when they rode past their king. This custom has become the modern military salute.

There are approximately 3.4 billion mobile phones in use

The equivalent of 45% of the planet will send a text at some time today.

There is now one mobile phone for every two humans on Earth.

The first mobile phone made it into consumer's hands in 1982. Each weighed about 2 pounds.

More than 30 African nations have more cell phones than land lines.

The first text message was sent in 1992.

In Asia, the digit 4 never appears in any Nokia handset model number, because 4 is considered unlucky in many parts of Southeast/East Asia.

The name of the town of Nokia originated from the river which flowed through the town. The river itself, Nokianvirta, was named after the old Finnish word originally meaning pine marten.

Father’s Day is celebrated the third Sunday in June in over 50 countries around the world.

The first Father’s Day celebration was said to be on June 19, 1910 in Spokane, Washington, USA.

A woman named Sonora Smart Dodd spearheaded the efforts for fathers to be recognized after hearing a Mother’s Day sermon at her church. Dodd’s father, a Civil War veteran, had cared for the family after his wife died while giving birth to the couple’s sixth child.

Dodd celebrated the first Father’s Day by delivering gifts to sick fathers all over Spokane.

Ice Cream, as a dairy delight, first came into popularity in the 1600’s. The story goes that Charles I of England's cook had acquired a Chinese recipe for ice cream and presented it as an after dinner desert at a state banquet. Charles I was so impressed that he wanted this delicacy to be served only in his palace, and offered the cook 500 pounds a year to keep the recipe secret. However, this didn’t happen. Charles I was soon beheaded after coming under some serious unpopularity, and the "secret" recipe of ice cream was out..