In 1995, the number of TV programmes in Britain watched by over 15 million people was 225. By 2004, this had fallen to six.
Biologists cannot agree on definitions for the words ‘species’, ‘organism’ or ‘life’.
Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo all mean ‘capital’, in their respective languages.
Dildos are illegal in Texas.
The amount of water on Earth is constant, and continually recycled over time: some of the water you drink, will have passed through a dinosaur.
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A “Bug” is an insect that has sucking mouth parts.
The oldest active synagogue in Europe is in Prague. It is called the Old New Synagogue.
Humans and elephants are the only animals with chins.
The Lord Ponsonby of Shulbede and Baron Soulsby of Swaffham Prior are actual titles in the English Peerage.
Australia was discovered by the Chinese. The Dutch were the first Europeans to discover it. William Dampier was the first Englishman to discover it.
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In Victorian England, terms such as lesbian and sapphic came into use for female relationships. For some time, the Victorians never seemed to consider criminalising female homosexuality.
Apocryphally, these were also due to be criminalised in the 1885 legislation know as the Labouchere Amendment, until Queen Victoria declared them impossible, whereupon the clause was omitted – a joke that serves to underline a common, and commonly welcomed, ignorance, at a time when lurid, fictionalised lesbianism was often figured as an especially repulsive and seductive French vice.
“The single best thing about coming out of the closet is that nobody can insult you by telling you what you’ve just told them.” – Rachel Maddow
One of the first people to break the amendment was Oscar Wilde. The judge sentenced him to two years hard labour, although he wished he could punish him even more saying that, “this is the worst case I have ever tried.” A week earlier, the same judge tried a case of child murder.
To repel attackers, the bombardier beetle shoots a noxious mixture of boiling chemicals out of its bottom in a series of rapid blasts.
The National Health Service is the world’s 4th-largest employer after the US Defense Department, the Chinese Red Army, and Walmart.
Palm trees are a type of grass.
The seventh most common sentence in The Hunger Games trilogy is “they swallowed hard”.
In 2015, a town in North Carolina rejected a solar farm because residents believed it would “suck up” sunlight and kill the local plants.
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Athens is the only capital city in Europe where the air is more polluted outside than inside.
In AD 380, the Catholic Church issued a law specifically forbidding anyone to read the Bible whilst naked.
There is a plant called Hooker’s Lips (Psychotria Elata).
In 2006, later Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said “If Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.”
Since 1963, the reverse of the United States ten-dollar-bill has stated “In God we trust”. Between 2000 and 2017, the reverse of the Bank of England ten-pound-note has portrayed Charles Darwin.
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Viruses can get viruses. A new one recently discovered in a French cooling tower was found to be infected by another, smaller one.
In ‘The Sword In The Stone’ (1963), Merlin the Magician wears pink boxer shorts.
The Trojan Horse was in fact Greek.
According to Islam, the robe and banner of Muhammed were green. Muslims also believe everyone in paradise wears green silk robes.
During World War II, the British had an official “Hate Training Academy”. It was stopped because it made soldiers too depressed.
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“What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea.”
– Mohandas Gandhi
Eskimos use refrigerators to stop their food from freezing.
Boots fitted with springs were forbidden by the original Queensberry Rules for boxing.
In 2014, a single parking space in London was sold for £400,000.
There is a Canadian skeleton racer called Dave Greszczyszyn.
Paris and Rome have only each other as sister city, following the motto “Only Paris is worthy of Rome; only Rome is worthy of Paris.”
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