Interesting Facts

Iceland has the highest concentration of broadband users in the world. (Too cold for me to move there though.)

Berlin's tallest building, a television tower, will have a giant 32 metre football placed on top for the World Cup. (Just in case anyone didn't know the World Cup is being hosted in Germany. Time to make friends / money.)

In the UK compensation payments to teachers following personal injuries, such as assaults by pupils, amounted to £7.6m last year. (Pretty soon teachers will be demanding danger money.)

Coins which are called "coppers", such as the penny, have been made from steel since 1992. (The one and two pence pieces are made from copper-plated steel.)

A flag expert is a vexillologist. (Vexillology is the study of flag history and symbolism. The name comes from the Latin word vexillum, which means flag. The word was coined by Dr. Whitney Smith of the Flag Research Center.)

The average British woman worries about the size and shape of her body every 15 minutes. (So, I must be due a panic attack any minute now.)

England has more people in prison, per head of population, than anywhere else in western Europe. (So, don't be naughty.)

Dental drills were being used by stone-age people 9,000 years ago. The drills were made from flint. (Not very sharp then - ouch!)

There were 30,000 applications per hour from the UK to register .eu internet addresses, on the first day that the new domain was launched. (Ha! I didn't get the name I wanted.)

Sir Henry Cole produced the first commercial Christmas card in 1846. (The greetings card industry in the UK, which produces 2.6 billion cards a year, has its own version of the Oscars, called the Henries, which are named after him.)

Rainfall on the roof and gutters of a typical three-bed detached house in the UK can amount to 120,000 litres each year. (In Germany water is metered and so they collect lots of water in tanks underground or in rain butts, some of which are disguised as rocks!)

There are just over five million dog-owning households in the UK. (I would be one of them, but I don't live there any more.)

Allegedly Aston Barrett, the bassist in Bob Marley's band, has 52 children. (Seemingly he is suing for a £60m share of the late reggae singer's estate. With all those children he probably needs the money.)

According to a recent survey, nearly a third of people aged 25 to 34 in the UK have a tattoo. (Not me! Oh I'm too old to have been asked anyway - sigh.)

This Easter weekend will see 2.3 million people travelling through the UK's airports. (All stressed, all paying over the odds, all looking for something, somewhere, someone better.)

In 1971 a Cadbury Creme Egg weighed 54g. Now, Easter 2006, it is only 39g. (No doubt it is for our own good.)

The word facetious includes all the vowels in order. (Well that's very amusing.)

In a fight between a polar bear and a lion, the polar bear would win. (Seemingly a company called Any Question Answered came up with this scenario, but I have no idea how they would know.)

Pandas are the only bears not to hibernate - their bamboo diet isn't sufficiently fattening. ( That's why they are always eating.)

The Himalayas cover one-tenth of the Earth's surface. (I wonder if that is when they are flattened out?)

Under the Estate Agents Act 1979, anyone can set up in business as one unless they have been banned by the Office of Fair Trading or are bankrupt. (This explains a lot.)

Nelson Mandela used to steal pigs as a child. (He made this revelation during a visit from the director and stars of the film Tsotsi, which won a Best Foreign Film Oscar. Seemingly he and friends would use the dregs of traditional beer to lure the pigs.)

Electricity for Number 10 Downing Street is supplied by a French company. (You've got to love Europe, don't you?)

Jacques Chirac spent time in his youth as a forklift driver at a US brewery. (Which could explain why he stormed out of a session at the EU when Ernest-Antoine Seilliere said he chose English "because that is the accepted business language of Europe today".)

In the UK there are: 275,000km of gas pipes; 353,000km of sewer pipes; 396,000km of water pipes, and 482,000km of electricity cables. (Which is why digging too deep in your garden can prove hazardous.)

Blue Peter awards 1,000 badges to viewers each week. (The recipients then go on to sell them on EBay. Is nothing sacred?)

In the UK TV licences have been sold at Post Offices for more then 60 years - but will not be sold there after July. (Seemingly you will be able to buy them in supermarkets - like everything else.)

Six million people use TV subtitles, despite having no hearing impairment. (It's nice to know I'm not alone.)

Cleaning up the UK's nuclear waste, and decommissioning of nuclear power stations, could cost £70bn. (I wonder if the powers that be who want nuclear power capability realise this?)

70% of the 1.2bn people living in poverty are women and children. Source - The Independent

Until this week, the age limit for marriage in France was 15 for girls, but 18 for boys. The age for girls has now been raised to 18.