Interesting Facts

A thing of the past? According to a survey conducted by Linda McCartney Foods, 12% of Brits are vegetarian. (Each generation sees more people eschewing meat, 25 years ago only 6% of the popluation were vegetarian. The younger generation is more likely to turn to tofu, in the 18 to 30 age group 20% are veggies, and across the country people are eating less red meat, with "meat free Monday" becoming more popular. It seems there's gold in them there carrots, as the UK vegetarian market is worth an estimated £820m a year.) Soure: The Wright Stuff

The next English £5, £10 and £20 banknotes will be printed on plastic. (The fiver will be issued first in September 2016, followed by the tenner, which will be issued in 2017, but the £20 note will have to wait until 2020. Their appearance will change too. Sir Winston Churchill will feature on the £5 banknote, replacing Elizabeth Fry, ​​Jane Austen will replace Charles Darwin on the £10 banknote, and artist J.M.W. Turner will feature on the £20 not, replacing economist Adam Smith. Nothing has been said about the £50 note, which features the engineers Matthew Boulton and James Watt. Historical characters have only appeared on bank notes since 1970.  Other people depicted on previous notes have been: Sir Edward Elgar (composer) Michael Faraday (scientist) Sir John Houblon (first Governor of the Bank of England) Sir Isaac Newton (scientist) Florence Nightingale (nursing) William Shakespeare (poet/playwright) George Stephenson (engineer) 1st Duke of Wellington (gener...

If we ever needed proof that Brits are getting bigger, here it is:  High street retailer Debenhams is now stocking clothing in sizes up to XXXXXL. (Debenhams say they have begun to stock the 5XL size in male ranges to meet demand.  The new big and tall range goes up to a 64-inch chest and a 20-inch collar. The previous largest size was 3XL, but demand for larger sizes of shirts, suits, tops, casual jackets and trousers has soared by 170% over the last 2 years. If you go to their Big and Tall website, they even list XXXXXXL - 6XL! Now all I can think about is what clothing size the Hulk is.  Does anyone know?)

According to a study carried out by Action on Sugar hot drinks can contain at least as much sugar as a can of Pepsi or Coca-Cola. (In some of the worst cases the drinks tested contained 20 or more teaspoons of sugar. For example, a large Chai Latte can contain around 80g of sugar: according to the NHS, the maximum intake of added sugar per day for those aged 11 and over is about 30g or seven teaspoons - a can of Pepsi or Coke can contain around 9 teaspoons. The drinks assessed included flavoured coffees such as mochas and lattes, hot fruit drinks and hot chocolates from coffee shops and fast food chains.  98% of the drinks they tested would have to carry a red food label for high sugar content.)

According to a study by Swiss bank UBS, the number of female billionaires worldwide has increased nearly sevenfold in the past 20 years to 145. (In fact, women have outpaced men when it comes to membership of the billionaires’ club, with their ranks and wealth growing at faster rates.  The number of male billionaires has only grown by a factor of 5.2, that said, there are 1,202 male billionaires. I haven't even joined the millionaire club.  Has anyone got a membership card I can borrow?)

According to a survey carried out by the sustainable food and farming organisation Leaf (Linking Environment and Farming), more than one in three British children have never heard the classic farmyard sounds in real life. (Increasingly, youngsters are only hearing the sound of nature through their computer or TV screen, which means they have never heard a real cow go “moo”, a sheep go “baa”, or a pig go "oink". This means many kids are oblivious to where the food they eat comes from.  25% didn't know the names for baby cows, sheep, pigs or chickens, and more worryingly one in five had no idea bacon comes from pigs, while one in 20 thought we get cheese from them. Pig cheese? Eew! My favourite was that 5% percent of the children surveyed believed strawberries grow inside the fridge.  Which has a certain logic to it.  At least they had thought about it a bit.) 

A poll, by decorating brand Harris, has revealed Britains favourite (and least favourite) smells. (The top 20 smells were:- Freshly baked bread Bacon Freshly cut grass Coffee Cakes baking in the oven The seaside Freshly washed clothes A Sunday roast  Fish and chips Fresh flowers A real Christmas tree Roses Vanilla Scented candles Log fires Lavender Lemon Chocolate Barbeques Cinnamon The most hated smells were: Bins Drains Body odour Sewage Vomit Rotten milk Rotting food Public toilets Nappies Old trainers Feet Manure Morning breath Burning plastic Garlic breath Exhaust fumes Sports changing rooms Blue cheese Bleach Fish What are yours?)

Chinese billionaire Li Jinyuan took 6,400 members of staff from the Tiens Group on an all-expenses-paid holiday to Paris and Cote d'Azur to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the founding of the company (France is expected to be 33 million Euros better off. His company booked up 140 hotels in Paris and then made their way to the glamorous Cote D'Azur, where they booked 4,760 rooms in 79 four-and five-star hotels in Cannes and Monaco. They then broke the world record to form a human chain in Nice as the 6,400 employees arranged themselves to spell out the phrase 'Tiens' dream is Nice in the Cote d'Azur'. LEN will be 20 in 2019. Well I can dream.)

According to a study by insurance company RIAS, younger workers in the UK take twice as much time off sick as people over 50. (Just a quarter of over-50s took time off sick in the past year, compared to half of those aged between 20 and 29. They are also more likely to fake an illness: 44%  of younger people were found to have faked being ill to avoid coming into work, compared to just 12% of over-50s. It's probably because older workers are more worried about getting another job.)

A study carried out by Theatre Projects Consultants shows that that the average size of cinema (movie) seats in the US has grown over the last 20 years. (Cinemas (movie theaters) have had to adjust the size of their seats for the ever expanding waistlines of their customers.  According to the report, the average cinema (movie theater) in 1990 had seats that were 20" wide and had 33" of separation between it and the seat in front of it. Nowadays the average seat is  23" wide and has 38" of space.   More leg room for me.)

Libby Lane is the first female bishop to be consecrated by The Church of England. (She has been vicar of St Peter's Hale and St Elizabeth's Ashley, in Greater Manchester, since April 2007. Women have been able to become priests in the Church of England for 20 years. Next stop archbishop?)

According to card company Clintons, Santa Claus has lost over 2 stone in the last decade. (They analysed 20 years of archived cards and found that depictions of Father Christmas on Christmas cards had become slimmer. "He’s not as fat and round as he once was,” said a spokesperson, putting it down to increased health consciousness. I bet Rudolph and co. are pleased.  Some enterprising person is bound to bring out a mince pies and sherry diet book. )

British soldier, Private John Henry Parr (19 July 1897 – 21 August 1914), is believed to be the first soldier of the Commonwealth killed by enemy action in the First World War. (He is buried in the St Symphorien military cemetery, just southeast of Mons, in France, but his age on the gravestone is given as 20, because the army id not know his true age: 17.)

Well rip off Britain gets even worse on the disclosure that people in the UK spent around £56 million calling government helplines. (According to investigations by the Public Accounts Committee, people in the UK are being charged premium rate to access certain government departments.  They also take too long to answer. Most departments have no targets, despite an industry standard that calls be answered within 20 seconds, but of course there's no real incentive to answer quickly, as the longer they can keep you on hold, the more money they make. Of the 208 million calls made in 2012/13, some 63% were made to higher rate numbers at an estimated total cost of £56 million.  These included calls to the Department for Work and Pensions, the inquiries and complaints line of the Student Loans Company, and sickeningly to helplines for victim support and the Bereavement Service. It's like something out of Despicable Me.)

According to the music licensing company PPL, Lily Allen's single 'The Fear' was 2009's most-played song on radio and in bars. Image by freeimageslive.co.uk - gratuit (The top 20 were:- The full list is as follows: 1 Lily Allen - The Fear 2 James Morrison featuring Nelly Furtado - Broken Strings 3 The Killers - Human 4 Beyonce - Halo 5 Lady Gaga - Poker Face 6 Lady Gaga - Just Dance 7 Daniel Merriweather - Red 8 Kings of Leon - Use Somebody 9 Pink - Please Don't Leave Me 10 Pixie Lott - Mama Do 11 Taylor Swift - Love Story 12 Katy Perry - Hot N Cold 13 Kelly Clarkson - My Life Would Suck Without You 14 Pink - Sober 15 The Pussycat Dolls - Jai Ho! 16 Enrique Iglesias - Takin' Back My Love 17 Ciara featuring Justin Timberlake - Love Sex Magic 18 Alesha Dixon - Breathe Slow 19 Take That - Greatest Day 20 Take That - Up All Night )

Around 430,000 cremations take place in Britain each year. (There is a problem though - obesity. Standard coffins range from 16-20 inches, but, because of growing obesity coffins up to 40 inches are becoming increasingly common and crematoriums are having to widen their furnaces.)

In Guy Fawkes's day, anyone who persistently refused to attend Protestant church services was fined £20 a month. (Back then £20 was the annual salary of a school teacher! I think my bill would have been pretty large.)