Interesting Facts of England

England’s capital is London. The main language spoken is English. England is on continent of Europe. England is part of the United Kingdom, which also includes Wales, Ireland, and Scotland (Barrow).

England established a monarchy in 1660. When Oliver Cromwell died in 1658 his son became the ruler. His son, Richard, wasn’t able to fulfill his duty as the ruler and was overthrown by George Monck (World Book 308-309). Some famous people from England are William Shakespeare, Sir Isaac Newton, Sir Winston Churchill, Queen Victoria, JK Rowling, John Lennon, David Beckham, Simon Cowell, and Daniel Radcliffe (England.net).

William Shakespeare was a famous English poet and actor. We was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. He was born April 26, 1564 and died April 23, 1616. Shakespeare wrote plays such as Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, and Twelfth Night. Hamlet is the best known of his plays. Hamlet shows betrayal, moral failure, and retribution. He had three younger brothers, Gilbert, Edmund, and Richard, and two elder sisters, Judith and Joan. His father, John Shakespeare, was a leather merchant. His mother, Mary Arden, was an heiress. People say William Shakespeare died on his 52nd birthday (Biography).

Daniel Radcliffe is an actor in the United States. He was born in England on July 23, 1989. He became famous from the movie series Harry Potter. The first movie he was in was David Copperfield, playing a version of the main character as a child, in 1999 (Biography).

Simon Cowell was born in London England on October 7, 1959. Simon worked as a record producer, a talent scout, and consultant with the music industry. He was on a British TV show called Pop Idol and American Idol. He became famous when he was a judge of American Idol. He then became a judge on America’s Got Talent in 2015 (Biography).

David Beckham was born in London, England on May 2, 1975. He is a soccer star on Manchester United, England’s soccer team. He has been playing since age 18 and became a starter at age 20. He signed a five-year contract to the L.A. Galaxy. He married Victoria Adams. His wife was part of the Spice Girls she was called Posh Spice. He retired in 2013, a few days after winning a title with the French club Paris Saint-German (Biography).

John Lennon was born in Liverpool, England on October 9, 1940. He was part of the band The Beatles. He left the Beatles in 1969 and made albums with his wife, Yoko Ono. He was killed by a fan named Mark David Chapman on December 8, 1980. He was shot multiple time in front of his apartment in New York City. He died at Roosevelt Hospital in New York City (Biography).

JK Rowling’s real name is Joanne Rowling. She was born on July 31, 1965. She is a British author and screenwriter mostly known for her book series called Harry Potter. She wrote the first Harry Potter book living in Edinburgh, Scotland as a struggling single parent. She sold her first book for about $4000. The first three Harry Potter books had earned $480 million within three years (Biography).

One major event was when England conquered Wales in 1282-1283. Another major event was when England fought in the Hundred Years’ War and lost a lot of land on the European mainland. Parliament was restored to the Monarchy in 1660. The Glorious Revolution ended James II’s rule (World Book 303).

One major landform is the Pennines Mountain Range. The Pennines Mountain Range is 300 million years old and 250 miles long. Some major bodies of water are the Thames River, Mersey River, Severn River, and Tyne River. The Thames River is 214.994 miles long. The Mersey River is 70 miles long. The Tyne River is 62 miles long. The Severn River is 220 miles long (Meyer).

Some major cities in England are Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool, and London. Some major landmarks are Big Ben, Tower of London, Stonehenge, Kings College, Buckingham Palace, and the London Eye. The Stonehenge is 5000 years old. Kings College was founded in 1441 by Henry VI. Buckingham Palace has 600 rooms and a 40 acre garden. The London Eye is 450 feet tall (Meyer).

The culture of England is filled with music, religion, holidays, food, and government. In England there are many types of different music such as folk music, brass bands, American Jazz, and protestant. Protestant reformation was religious music mainly in the 16th century. Brass bands were classical music mainly in the 1800s. American jazz was mainly in the 1930s. Folk music was mainly in the 19th and 20th century (Meyer).

The religions of England are Church of England, Catholic, Methodist, Muslim, Jewish, Sikh, and Hindu. The holidays in January through March are New Year’s on January 1st, Twelfth Night on January 5th, Candlemas Day on February 1st, Valentine’s Day on February 14th, St. David’s Day on March 1st, St. Patrick’s Day on March 17th. Holidays in April through August include April Fool’s Day on April 1st, St. George’s Day on April 23rd, May Day on May 1st, Trooping the Colors and Wimbledon Tennis Tournament in June, Swan Upping in July, and Nothing Hill Carnival in August. Holidays in September through December are Harvest Festival in September, Halloween on October 31st, Bonfire Night on November 5th, Remembrance Day on November 11th, St. Andrew’s Day on November 30th, Advent in December, Christmas on December 25th, and Boxing Day on December 26th (Barrow).

Popular foods in England are roast beef, roast meats, cottage pie, Lancashire hotpot, and bangers and mash. Bangers and mash are sausages and mash potatoes. Some more foods in England are Cumberland sausage, Yorkshire pudding, fish and chips, Shepard’s pie, bubble, and squeak. Bubble and squeak is cooked cabbage fried with cooked potatoes and often meat. Black pudding, pie and mash with parsley liquor, toad-in-the-hole gammon steak with eggs, English breakfast, and bacon roly-poly (Barrow).

The government of England is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy which means Queen Elizabeth II acts as head of state. Actually, a group called the Cabinet governs the UK. England elects 529 members out of 659 of the House of Commons (world book 292-293).

The currency in England in pounds sterling. An example is £50 is equal to $63.67 US dollars. The total percent of the land used for farming land is 77%. Some natural resources in England is coal, petroleum, natural gases, zinc, tin, limestone, iron ore, salt, slate, clay, chalk, gypsum, lead, and silica (Barrow). Some major occupations in England are banking, education, engineering, healthcare, marketing, and recruitment and HR (Rachel).

The climate in England in an average year is in summer 60 degrees Fahrenheit and in winter 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Their average yearly rainfall is 130 inches of rain. The influences on the weather are the Atlantic Ocean and the warming waters around the Gulf Stream (Meyer).

The population of England is 49,155,600 people (Barrow). Some strange laws in England divorces are illegal. Oliver Cromwell banned eating mince pies on Christmas. It is illegal for a woman to eat chocolates in public. Most items may not be sold on Sunday. Cows are not allowed to be driven down a road from 10 AM and 7 PM unless there is approval from the Commissioner of Police. All of your lands must be left to your oldest son. Except on Sundays, it is legal to shoot a Scotsman with a bow and arrow. If you want to buy a TV you have to buy a license (dumb laws).

Some transportation in England is buses, taxis, and the Underground. The taxis are usually black. England is famous for its double-decker buses. The Underground is the oldest railway underground in the world. A nickname for the Underground is the tube (Meyer).

In England bird watching is popular. England has about 230 species of birds. The most common bird in England is the red robin. Native mammals are the European hedgehog, red deer, roe deer, red Squirrel, Eurasian otter, polecat, and hazel dormouse. Native amphibians are the common frog, common toad, natter jack toad, palmate newt, smooth newt, and great crested newt. Some native reptiles are common lizard, sand lizard, slow-worm, adder, grass snake, and smooth snakes. Some native birds in England are swans, sparrows, tawny owls, and robin (Meyer).

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