Results: Secrets of the British Isles
Published on 10/12/2016
Some of these are little known or sometimes "forgotten" facts about the British Isles. How many do you know?
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1.
1.
Did you know any of these facts about England? Nowhere in the UK is more than 70 miles (113km) from the sea! A place called Coton in the Elms is the furthest place from the sea.
9%
177 votes
It is considered an act of treason to put a postage stamp with the queen's head upside down on an envelope!
11%
206 votes
London has been known by various names throughout history. In the past it has been called Londonium, Ludenwic, and Ludenburg!
12%
222 votes
Big Ben is not actually the name of the famous clock, it is the name of the bell which is inside the clock.
18%
343 votes
It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament.
4%
69 votes
Windsor Castle is the oldest royal residence in the world that is still being used by the royal family.
18%
356 votes
England was part of the shortest war in history. They fought Zanzibar in 1896 and Zanzibar surrendered after just 38 minutes!
5%
91 votes
I didn't know any of these.
61%
1170 votes
2.
2.
Did you know these things about the Irish? The song "When Irish Eyes are Smiling," synonymous with Ireland and all things Irish, was written by two Americans, George Graff and Chauncey Olcott, in 1912. There are no records to show that they ever even visited Ireland.
8%
160 votes
The guillotine was used by the Irish 500 years before the French adopted it.
7%
142 votes
The oldest known manuscript of the New Testament of the Holy Bible is housed in the Chester Beatty Library, next to Dublin Castle, in Dublin City Center.
8%
145 votes
Ireland is the only country in the world which has a musical instrument – the harp – as their national symbol. The oldest known harp in existence is housed in Trinity College, Dublin. It dates back from at least 1300.
12%
227 votes
The word "boycott" originated in Ireland, after the town of Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo started a campaign of isolation against Charles Cunningham Boycott, a land agent who worked for the 3rd Lord Erne.
5%
97 votes
Didn't know any of these.
74%
1436 votes
3.
3.
Wales is a country you don't hear too much about and has it's own unique history. How many of these facts did you know? Menai Bridge in Anglesey - designed by Thomas Telford and opened on 30 January 1826 - was the first suspension bridge in the world constructed to take heavy traffic.
5%
95 votes
At 58 letters the longest place name in Europe and the longest valid, single-word internet domain name in the world, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch was actually used as a secret password in the 1968 Jane Fonda movie Barbarella.
12%
236 votes
Swallow Falls at Betws-y-coed is the most visited waterfall in Britain.
5%
102 votes
The great glasshouse in the National Botanical Garden of Wales, Carmarthenshire, is the largest single-span glasshouse in the world, measuring 312ft in length and 180ft in width.
5%
98 votes
I knew none of these facts.
74%
1435 votes
John Rowlands from Denbighshire, Wales ran away to sea. Arriving in New Orleans, he was adopted by Henry Stanley, whose name he took. As a journalist, he was sent to Tanzania to find David Livingstone. Finding him, he uttered "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"
7%
144 votes
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4.
Finally, a look at Scotland. Did you know any of these facts? Modern golf originated in Scotland and it is the Old Course at St. Andrews, a town on the eastern coast of the country, which is considered to be the site where the sport was born. Golf has been played there since the 15th century.
22%
429 votes
If you ask people what they associate with Scotland, they will mostly say whiskey. And that's right – (Scotch) whiskey has been the national drink of this country for centuries (since 1494).
21%
409 votes
Located in the Outer Hebrides, the Callanish Stones are an arrangement of standing stones placed in a cruciform pattern with a central stone circle. Built in the late Neolithic era, they were probably a center of ritual activity during the Bronze Age.
8%
156 votes
The Loch Ness monster is not the only creature allegedly living in Scotland. Loch Morar in Scottish Highlands, is the home of the Morag monster another mythical beast. Allegedly it is reported to be a 30 foot snake-like creature.
14%
277 votes
Located on the Bay of Skaill in the Orkney archipelago, Skara Brae is a stone-built Neolithic settlement dating back to about 3200 B.C., which means this unique building complex is older than Stonehenge or the Egyptian pyramids.
6%
116 votes
In 1872, Scotland v England was the first ever official international association football (soccer) match to be played.
3%
62 votes
Scotland has the highest proportion of red-haired people in the world. As much as 13% of the Scottish population has red hair and approximately 40% carry the recessive redhead gene. Ireland comes second with 10% of redheads.
11%
215 votes
Knew none of these facts.
59%
1128 votes
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