Interesting Facts

19th June 1269 – King Louis IX of France ordered all Jews found in public without an identifying yellow badge to be fined ten livres of silver. 1306 – The Earl of Pembroke's army defeated Bruce's Scottish army at the Battle of Methven. 1865 – Over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, slaves in Galveston, Texas, United States, were finally informed of their freedom. The anniversary is still officially celebrated in Texas and 13 other contiguous states as Juneteenth. 1961 – Kuwait declared independence from the United Kingdom. 1964 – The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was approved after surviving an 83-day filibuster in the United States Senate. 1970 - Edward Heath became prime minister after a surprise victory for the Conservatives in the general election. 1975 - An inquest jury decided Lord Lucan murdered the 29-year-old nanny of his three young children. 1978 – Garfield comic strip was first published. It has grown to over $1 billion in revenue, and is dis...

7th April 1795 – France adopted the metre as the basic measure of length. 1827 – John Walker, an English chemist, sold the first friction match. 1947 – Henry Ford, the American automobile manufacturer and industrialist died. 1948 – The World Health Organization was established by the United Nations. 1994 – The massacre of Tutsis began in Kigali, Rwanda.

28th March 1854 - Britain and France joined the Ottoman empire in the Crimean War against Russia, to halt Russian expansion. 1930 - Constantinople was renamed Istanbul as part of Kemal Atatürk's campaign to create a secular Turkey.

20th March 1956 - Tunisia gained independence from France. 1993 - Johnathan Ball, aged 3, died in a bomb attack in Warrington. He was in town with his babysitter buying a Mothering Sunday Card. Tim Parry, 12, was fatally injured and died five days later in hospital. 1997 - The Liggett Group, the fifth-largest U.S. tobacco company, admitted that smoking was addictive and caused health problems and that the tobacco industry had sought for years to sell its products to children as young as 14. 2003 - American launched missiles hit the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. Civilian casualties were not counted.

8th February 1974 - The Loch Ness Monster was allegedly photographed in Scotland. 1996 - Francois Mitterand died.   Seemingly for his last meal he decided to eat a tiny little yellow songbird called an ortolan, which is illegal, even in France. A typical ortolan weighs only 55 g and is about the size of a man's thumb. Depending on the preparation, the diner is sometimes required to first bite off the head of the bird and discard it on the plate. Then, the rest of the bird is eaten in one mouthful, including the bones and internal organs. A napkin is worn over the diner's head to prevent the aroma from escaping (or to cover their shame). God grant me the grace to have something more interesting to do when I am dying.

In a survey that examines the good each country does for humanity as well as what it takes away, Britain has ranked 4th. (The Good Country Index placed Sweden first, Denmark second, and the Netherlands third, but the UK came above France and Germany because Britain does more “good” and less harm than more than 150 countries around the world. Britain came top for its global contribution to science and technology, thanks to the high number of journal exports, Nobel prizes and international publications it has produced,  was ranked 2nd on its global contribution to health and wellbeing, but it scored poorly on international security and peace, coming 64th out of 163 countries. Simon Anholt, who created the Good Country Index, said that while countries must serve the interests of their people it should not be at the expense of other populations.  I think we could apply that to ourselves as individuals too.)

For everyone who was in today's Skype session.  Who does Greece owe money to? In Euros Germany - 68.2bn France - 43.8bn Italy - 38.4bn Spain - 25bn IMF - 21.4bn  (International Monetary Fund) ECB 18.1bn  (European Central Bank) The Netherlands 13.4bn The US - 11.3bn The UK 10.8bn Belgium 7.5bn Austria - 5.9bn Finland 3.7bn (I told you everyone needs to start learning big numbers nowadays.)

According to a survey run by GoEuro, women in France and Belgium ranked British men as the most desirable in Europe. (The European survey found that the typical British gentleman is now perceived to be the third most attractive nationality, ahead of the French (in fourth place). Go Euro said, the change in fortunes could be down to English now being the most widely-spoken language. I like to think I've done my bit for the men of Britain.)

According to Fixr.com, the Google autocomplete function can tell you the top searches for the cost of something by geographic area. (They have created an eye-opening infographic that shows what the most pressing concerns of an area are.  Some of their results were amusing, some sad, others worrying. “Camel” was the top search for Saudi Arabia “Croissant” came top in France "Passport and patent" were neck and neck in North America “BMW” in Germany "Prostitute" in Ukraine, Hong Kong, Latvia and Brazil "Slave” in Mauritania "Kidney" in Iran I decided to do a couple of tests, so I started with a simple "cost of * in ..." search for Nottingham. The results were:- ... living / parking / taxi Then I did the "How much does a * cost in ...". The results were:- IVF / the tram / to hire a limo Good old Nottingham. Then I did a "How much does a * cost in ..." search for England:- The results were:- divo...

France, India and Italy all have laws banning the publication of opinion polls in the run-up to an election. (In France newspapers and media can't publish opinion polls up to 24 hours before an election. In India that is 48 hours, and in Italy, 15 days. Of course the opinion polls published in the UK were so wrong, it would be funny, if they didn't charge £8,000 to £12,000 for the privilege of using them.  The pollsters are blaming the public - for lying.)

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 consumer research company Euromonitor, the Dutch drink the most coffee per person in the world. (The Netherlands’ are the only country that averages more than 2 cups of coffee per day, with a  per-capita consumption of 2.4 cups a day, which is almost the same as those of the US, UK, Spain, and France combined. The US, who brag that they run on coffee, doesn’t even crack the top 15.)

During World War I, France allegedly tried using parrots on the Eiffel Tower as an early warning system for enemy aircraft. (The experiment was abandoned because the parrots were very good at raising the alarm for approaching aircraft, but were unable to distinguish friend from foe, and they quickly grew bored.)

French train operator SNCF has discovered that 2,000 new trains it ordered at a cost of 15bn euros (£12.1bn) are too wide for many regional platforms. (Officials say around 1,300 platforms will have to be adjusted  to create room for the new trains to pass through, because they were built more than 50 years ago when trains were a little slimmer. Weren't we all.)

Around two-thirds of Western countries charge patients to see their GP, fees range from 80p in France to £18 in Sweden, with an extra £5 for a home visit.  In the UK it is currently free (see below). (In some countries patients pay for hospital visits or stays, including Germany, and Sweden where they charge around £7.50 per night, and in Portugal you also have to pay £8 every time you go to A&E. According to a poll conducted by Pulse magazine, half of British GPs are in favour of charging patients for appointments - with some wanting to impose fees of between £5 and £25 a time. The problem is that it puts people off seeking medical help. Germany introduced a similar GP charge, but they later scrapped it.) We've been talking about this in the forum .

If you are arrested in France, make sure the police address you as "vous" and not "tu". (As of first January 2014 the police in France will have to use the formal "vous" when addressing members of the public. I'm not sure you can legislate etiquette during an arrest.  What do you think  +Xeb eke  /  +Elinor Minotaur  ?)

According to research from the Australian School of Business, the age you decide to retire at has no impact on life expectancy. (Did you notice the "you decide to retire" bit? Seemingly if you are forced into retirement because of redundancy or ill health, it can have a detrimental effect on your life expectancy. There are still reasons to keep working though, research carried out at the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherché Médicale (INSERM) in France has shown that people who work for longer are less likely to develop dementia. They concluded that a person who retires at 65 is 15 per cent less likely to develop the condition than someone who retires at 60. It is believed that this is because intellectual stimulation and mental engagement are protective against dementia. I wonder if going to Bingo would have the same effect?)

According to UK government statistics, over 1.2 million families in the UK have more than 2 children. (The EU average for a family with 3 or more children is 11.3%, but in the UK it is 15%, and the birth rate in the UK is at its highest for 40 years, and it's growing more quickly than anywhere else in Europe,  even though many families still opt to have one child.  France and Germany still have the highest overall population, but the UK is now 3rd, and catching up quickly.  According to an article in the Independent more women having children in their 20s, improved fertility treatment, immigration and the recession are all contributing to Baby Boom Britain.  I'm not sure where the recession comes into it.  Maybe people are seeking comfort in each other's arms.)

According to a poll carried out in Europe by the website GrowingUpMilkInfo.com,   British children are the fussiest eaters in Europe. (Seemingly 26% of British children reject their meals every day, and 69% of children under five in the UK sometimes refuse to eat what they are given. The league table for fussy eaters is:- 1st - United Kingdom - 69% 2nd - Netherlands - 63% 3rd - Germany - 58%  and  Sweden - 58% 4th - France - 54% 5th - Spain - 40% Italy doesn't appear, probably because 37% of mothers in Italy said they are 'not bothered' about what their children eat.) Source

According to the 2012 league table of food and drink costs, Britain pays more for food and alcohol than most of Europe. ( The staples, milk, cheese and eggs are 7% more expensive and across all food and non-alcoholic drinks, the UK pays 4% above the EU27. In the same study, Norway came out as the most expensive for food and drink and Macedonia the cheapest. All this came as no surprise to me; doing a food shop in the UK is always more expensive than Germany, but the biggest surprise is alcohol in the UK is around 43% above the European Union average, in France alcohol costs are 12% below the average and Germany 18%  lower. However, this is not why I moved to Germany.)