Portal:United Kingdom/Did you know/2005

that Mary Seacole has been described as the black Florence Nightingale?
that AEJ Collins scored the highest-ever recorded score in cricket, 628 not out, over four afternoons in June 1899 as a 13-year-old schoolboy?
that Satyendra Prasanno Sinha, 1st Baron Sinha became the first Indian member of the House of Lords in 1919?
that The Duke of Wellington's Regiment is the only regiment in the British Army to carry four colours on parade?
that the St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury, Kent, is one of the two grounds used regularly for first-class cricket that has a tree within the boundary?

...that Hamilton Palace in Scotland was lent for use as a naval hospital during World War I, by Alfred, the 13th Duke of Hamilton?
... that the Saladin tithe was levied in England in 1188 to help finance the Third Crusade?
... that Reginald Hill's novel A Clubbable Woman was his first story about Dalziel and Pascoe?

...that King George V was a member of the Society for the Prevention of Calling Sleeping Car Porters George?
... that Double Gloucester cheese is made from a mixture of milk taken in the morning and evening?
...that although Admiral Robert Calder arguably saved Britain from invasion in the battle of Cape Finisterre, he was court-martialled for his failure to win a more decisive victory?
...that the BBC coat of arms was adopted in 1927 and uses heraldic symbols to depict the various qualities of broadcasting?

...that the FTSE 100-listed company Hays plc dates back to the 1600s, when they owned warehouses and wharves on the River Thames?
...that the History of Swansea includes an epidemic of yellow fever in 1865, the only outbreak of that disease on the British mainland?
...that Elsie Tanner was a core character on the British soap opera Coronation Street for over twenty years?
...that although England centre forward Geoff Hurst had scored a hat-trick and was therefore entitled to keep the match ball, it was German striker Helmut Haller who took it home after the 1966 World Cup final?
...that Arthur Owens, codenamed SNOW, was a vital double agent who supplied information to German intelligence under the direction of British MI5 during the early years of World War II?

...that Simeon Solomon was a British painter who regularly had works displayed at the Royal Academy in the 1860?
...that Jack Broughton was the first person to develop a set of rules for boxing?
...that "Flood," the sixth episode of The Young Ones, was the only one of the twelve episodes made which did not feature a live band during the show, instead using a lion tamer?
...that a Northern Ireland naming dispute has existed since 1922, after the secession of the Irish Free State from the United Kingdom?
...that, before Wayne Rooney made his debut in February 2003, England's youngest ever football player was James F. M. Prinsep, who had held the record for more than 123 years?

...that in 1712 Jane Wenham is commonly but erroneously regarded as the last subject of a witch trial in England?
...that the first James Bond gun barrel sequence, in the film Dr. No, was filmed through the barrel of an actual gun?
...that Torchwood will be the first spin-off from Doctor Who since an unsuccessful pilot for K-9 and Company in 1981?
...that the Adolph Beck case was the most notorious case of mistaken identity in British legal history, resulting in a conviction of an innocent man not once but twice?

...that Dennis Berry was a musician, composer, arranger and producer who not only produced the music to the first Monty Python film, but has also had his music featured on the BBC's Little Britain, MTV's The Osbournes and the Nickelodeon cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants?
...that A Different Corner by George Michael became the first #1 in the UK singles chart to be written, sung, played, arranged and produced by the same person?

Navigation menu