Fascinating Facts and Trivia

The Russians showed up 12 days late to the 1908 Olympics in London because they were using the Julian calendar instead of the Gregorian calendar.

The annual number of worldwide shark bites is 10 times less than the number of people bitten by other people in New York.

Bubbles keep your bath water warmer longer.

Fried chicken was brought to America by Scottish immigrants.

Lasers can get trapped in a waterfall.

Water can boil and freeze at the same time.

Bananas are radioactive.

It is impossible to burp in space.

About half of your body is bacteria.

Men are more likely to be colourblind than women.

Most of the popular Christmas songs that come out year after year in this country were actually written during the Summer, such as 'So Here it is Merry Christmas' by Slade in 1973 which was written in Summer in New York.

The only song ever to feature Merry Christmas in the title was by Shakin' Stevens and no.1 in 1985

The song White Christmas didn't appear in the film of the same name first, it was in another film called 'Holiday Inn'

THE most popular Christmas film in the US is 'It's A Wonderful Life' starring James Stewart.

Every New Year's Eve a British farce called 'Dinner For One' is shown across all German tv channels(poor souls) and they love it, even having parties based on it. The premise is a lady is throwing a dinner party but no-one turns up and so the butler played by old time comic actor Freddie Frinton plays each character and slowly gets sloshed(drunker and drunker). The catchphrase 'same procedure as last time' even made it into a speech in the German parliament once.

FROZEN the Disney cartoon was launched to very little fanfare and didn't do too badly at the box office but then the song 'Let It Go', sung by Wicked's Idina Menzel, was nominated for an Academy Award; it won of course and then it really took off making it one of the most successful Disney films and songs of all time.

Welcome back

London is one of only two cities above the 50th parallel with a population of more than five million. Moscow is the other.

The word “England” comes from “Angle-land,” or land of the Angli, or Angles, a Viking tribe that came across the North Sea and settled in the east and north. The French name for England, Angleterre, also literally means “Land of the Angles."

The first fish and chips restaurant was opened in 1860 in London by a Jewish immigrant named Joseph Malin.

The 1.5-mile journey from Westray to Papa Westray in the UK’s Orkney Islands is the shortest scheduled flight in the world. The trip takes less than two minutes.

Champagne was invented in England by scientist Christopher Merret in 1662.

Just back with few Christmas bits
WASSAIL
Its a noun. a salutation wishing health to a person, used in England in early times when presenting a cup of drink or when drinking to the person. a festivity or revel with drinking of healths. liquor for drinking and wishing health to others on festive occasions, especially spiced ale, as on Christmas Eve and Twelfth-night.

Wassail is a beverage of hot mulled cider, drunk traditionally as an integral part of wassailing, a Medieval Christmastide English drinking ritual intended to ensure a good cider apple harvest the following year.

Christmas crackers are a British tradition dating back to Victorian times when in the early 1850s, London confectioner Tom Smith started adding a motto to his sugared almond bon-bons which he sold wrapped in a twisted paper package.
More titbits to follow (if allowed to by certain manic posters)