Fancy That!
Facts to make you go“WOW!”
WOW!
AT 1.34 MILES, SOUTHEND IS THE LONGEST PIER IN THE UK.
◆ King George IV’s patronage helped to stimulate the development of Brighton as a summer seaside resort.
◆ LONDON-BASED BREWERY FULLERS MAKES A SEASONAL BEER CALLED SUMMER ALE. ◆ George Bernard Shaw once said, “If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance!”
◆ AN ADULT TUNA CAN SWIM UP TO 100 MILES IN A SINGLE DAY.
◆ In the Cliff Richard film SummerHoliday, the bus driven starts at Piccadilly and ends up in Athens. ◆ MORE THAN 60 PER CENT OF THE 50 MOST COMMON WORDS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE CONTAIN THREE OR FEWER LETTERS. ◆ More thunderstorms occur in summer than any other time of year – and are most common in the south-east of England. ◆ Osborne House has an estate beach on which you can still see Queen Victoria’s “bathing machine”.
◆ THE DEAD SEA IS NOT ACTUALLY A SEA – IT’S A LAKE. ◆ ON AUGUST 26, 1883, KRAKATOA ERUPTED, WITH SMALL ERUPTIONS CONTINUING INTO OCTOBER. IT WAS ONE OF THE DEADLIEST AND MOST DESTRUCTIVE VOLCANIC EVENTS IN RECORDED HISTORY, WITH OVER 36,000 DEATHS.
◆ ON AUGUST 25, 2012, VOYAGER 1 ENTERED INTERSTELLAR SPACE BEYOND OUR SOLAR SYSTEM, BECOMING THE FIRST MAN-MADE OBJECT TO DO SO. WOW! THE FIRST WOMEN’S BATHING COSTUME WAS CREATED IN THE 1800S – IT CAME WITH A PAIR OF BLOOMERS!
◆ Eugenius Birch was a pre-eminent designer of piers in Victorian Britain, with no less than 14 to his name. ◆ Pendine Sands, overlooking Carmarthen Bay, was a regular venue for world land-speed records during the 1920s.
◆ NATIVES OF FINLAND DRINK MORE COFFEE PER CAPITA THAN CITIZENS OF ANY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD.