The United Kingdom (UK)

The first public zoo in the world opened in London in 1828, and it’s still open today!

The UK’s smallest house is in Wales and is only 1.8 meters (5.9 feet) wide and 3.05 meters (10 feet) high!

British people eat about 11.5 billion sandwiches every year – that’s enough to wrap around the Earth about 44 times if you lined them all up!

The world’s oldest soccer rules were written in Sheffield, England, in 1858!

The UK has a traditional sport called “cheese rolling” where people chase a wheel of cheese down a very steep hill!

The world’s shortest scheduled flight is in Scotland, lasting only 1.5 minutes between two islands!

The UK has a ceremony called the “Swan Upping” where they count all the swans on the River Thames!

The world’s first Christmas card was sent in London in 1843!

In the UK, the reigning monarch traditionally owns all unmarked swans in open water!

British cars drive on the left side of the road, which is different from most other countries in the world!

There’s a tree in Scotland that’s over 3,000 years old — it was already 1,000 years old when the Romans arrived!

The famous detective Sherlock Holmes lived at a fictional address (221B Baker Street) but now there’s a real museum there!

Queen Elizabeth II had two birthdays each year — her actual birthday and an “official” one in June when the weather is nicer for celebrations!

British people say “bless you” when someone sneezes because during the plague, a sneeze was thought to be the first sign of illness!

Queen Elizabeth II was on the throne for 70 years, longer than any other British monarch in history!

The UK has a hill called “Twyford Down” that was dug through to make a highway, and they found over 2 million years of history in the rocks!

Haggis Hurling is a Scottish sport where participants throw a haggis as far as possible!

The UK has “Wig Wednesday” where people wear wacky wigs to school or work to raise money for children with cancer!

The UK has over 700 cheese varieties — more than France!

The first Christmas Crackers were invented in London in 1847 as a way to sell sweets!

British people collectively spend about £8 billion a year on garden plants and supplies!

Some UK streets are so narrow that you can touch both sides at the same time with your arms outstretched!

The “Keep Calm and Carry On” poster was created during World War II but was hardly used until it was rediscovered in 2000!

Queen Elizabeth II owned more than 200 racing pigeons that compete in races across the country!

There’s a village in England where it’s traditional to put toast in trees to ward off evil spirits!

The Bank of England has gold bars worth over £200 billion stored in an underground vault!

The UK has a Poohsticks Championship based on the game invented in Winnie the Pooh, where players drop sticks into a river from a bridge and see whose stick appears first on the other side!