 fascinating facts about great britain fascinating facts about great britain barsha lun 4102021 1618 great britain is a diverse island full of odd tales rich cultural traditions and fascinating history there are plenty of intriguing stories to be shared about such a little place here we will be talking about some fascinating facts about great britain from facts about the queen to the things people never noticed about british food 1 when most people think about london big ben is one of the first things that come to their mind big ben is the clock tower which is situated next to the houses of parliament that is however the name of the 13tonne bell that resides therein st stephen s tower is the name of the real tower 2 golf was first played in scotland in 1457 but king james ii of scotland made it illegal for a while since it diverted attention from the army s training 3 speeding tickets were invented by the british in 1896 a motorist called walter arnold was handed the first speeding penalty after being caught traveling four times the legal limit in kent he was penalized for exceeding the speed restriction of 2 mph by hitting a peak speed of 8 mph 4 the world s shortest scheduled passenger flight is based in the united kingdom the 27kilometer trip from westray to papa westray on scotland s orkney islands is intended to take one and a half minutes but the current record is 47 seconds loganair tickets are available at 725 one way 5 llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwlllllandysili in wales has the world s longest town name people who want to get a picture with the name go to the railway station where the board runs the entire length of the platform 6 windsor castle which has been in use since the eleventh century is the world s largest and oldest occupied castle it is still one of the queen s official homes with certain parts open to the public for guided tours 7 britain and zanzibar hold the record for the shortest war ever fought in 1896 the anglozanzibar war was only 38 minutes long 8 the queen is the only british citizen who does not require a british passport to travel because a british passport is granted in her majesty s name it is not required for the queen to own one according to the royal family website 9 the cornish pasty one of england s most renowned meals was created for tin miners working shifts in cornwall the pasty is held together by a thick pastry shell which was intended to keep the miners hands from contaminating their food great britain is a diverse island full of odd tales rich cultural traditions and fascinating history there are plenty of intriguing stories to be shared about such a little place here we will be talking about some fascinating facts about great britain from facts about the queen to the things people never noticed about british food 1 when most people think about london big ben is one of the first things that come to their mind big ben is the clock tower which is situated next to the houses of parliament that is however the name of the 13tonne bell that resides therein st stephen s tower is the name of the real tower 2 golf was first played in scotland in 1457 but king james ii of scotland made it illegal for a while since it diverted attention from the army s training 3 speeding tickets were invented by the british in 1896 a motorist called walter arnold was handed the first speeding penalty after being caught traveling four times the legal limit in kent he was penalized for exceeding the speed restriction of 2 mph by hitting a peak speed of 8 mph 4 the world s shortest scheduled passenger flight is based in the united kingdom the 27kilometer trip from westray to papa westray on scotland s orkney islands is intended to take one and a half minutes but the current record is 47 seconds loganair tickets are available at 725 one way 5 llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwlllllandysili in wales has the world s longest town name people who want to get a picture with the name go to the railway station where the board runs the entire length of the platform 6 windsor castle which has been in use since the eleventh century is the world s largest and oldest occupied castle it is still one of the queen s official homes with certain parts open to the public for guided tours 7 britain and zanzibar hold the record for the shortest war ever fought in 1896 the anglozanzibar war was only 38 minutes long 8 the queen is the only british citizen who does not require a british passport to travel because a british passport is granted in her majesty s name it is not required for the queen to own one according to the royal family website 9 the cornish pasty one of england s most renowned meals was created for tin miners working shifts in cornwall the pasty is held together by a thick pastry shell which was intended to keep the miners hands from contaminating their food  