British Fact

British Facts

A pregnant woman may relieve herself wherever she wishes.

It is an executable offense to allow your pet to mate with a pet of the royal house without permission.  

The phrase “rule of thumb” is derived from an old English law which stated that you couldn’t beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.

Up until 1752 Britain used the Julian calendar and New Years day was on 25^th March.

It is an offence to impersonate a Chelsea Pensioner

No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver or purple

It is legal for a male to urinate in public, as long it is on the rear wheel of his motor vehicle and his right hand is on the vehicle

William the Conqueror ordered that everyone should go to bed at eight o’clock.

In Shakespeare’s time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. That’s where the phrase, “goodnight, sleep tight” came from.

In Chester you can only shoot a Welsh person with a bow and arrow inside the city walls and after midnight

The shortest war in history was between Zanzibar and England in 1896. Zanzibar surrendered after 38 minutes.

Berwick-upon-Tweed was officially at war with Russia for 110 years.
If you find a Cab-driver in London not carrying a bale of hay overboard, he is breaking the law.
Even though being the sovereign of The United Kingdom, Her Majesty the Queen is not allowed to enter the City of London with seeking the permission of its Lord Mayor.
In England, all men over the age of 14 must carry out two hours of longbow practice a day
There are over 30,000 John Smiths in Britain
In York, excluding Sundays, it is perfectly legal to shoot a Scotsman with a bow and arrow.

In 1945, a flock of starlings landed on the minute hand of Big Ben and put the time back by five minutes.
Britain is he only country in the world which doesn’t have the country’s name in its postage stamps.

Nowhere in Britain is more than 74½ miles from the sea.
Portugal is England’s oldest ally. The Anglo-Portuguese Treaty signed in 1373 is still in force
Although the Great Fire of London destroyed much of the city, only six people were killed.
The lance ceased to be an official battle weapon in the British Army in 1927
There are more chickens than humans in England.
Rudolf Hess was the last prisoner to be kept in the Tower of London.
Dying is illegal in the Houses of Parliaments.
Placing a postage stamp bearing the monarch’s head upside down on an envelope is considered as act of treason.
The Licensing Act of 1872 explains that operating a cow or steam engine while intoxicated carries a prison sentence
A law passed in 1585, making it illegal for women to “cause a nuisance with abusive or argumentative language”. A woman guilty of scolding had to wear a scold’s bridle, or metal cage, enclosing her head. The Criminal Law Act of 1967 finally abolished the punishment, and women may now scold freely.
In 1647 the English Parliament abolished Christmas.
Queen Anne had 17 children, all of them died before she did.
The military salute comes from medieval knights raising theirs visors to see each other.
Winston Churchill was born in the ladies toilet during a dance.
In the 1700s, men who ran illegal gambling houses hired a special person to swallow the dice if the police showed up.
Buckingham Palace was built on the site of a notorious brothel.
About 25% of Londoners were born outside of the UK and can speak over 300 different languages.
London has been called Londonium, Ludenwic, and Ludenburg.
The British love donkeys! In 2006 the British public gave a total of 20m to a donkey sanctuary.
Every year the average British family throws away 6 trees worth of paper.
If you kill a deer whilst driving, you cannot eat it, however the next person who comes along can. Submitted by James, Bicester.
If a whale is found on the British coast the Queen can claim the head and she has a legal right to the tail  Submitted by Curtis Lake.