28 Untold Facts From Great Britain’s Storied Past

1CROATOAN

CROATOAN

The Lost Colony of Roanoke was the first attempt at the British settlement in North America. The leader of the colony left for England for supplies and returned to find all 120 colonists and their buildings had vanished. The only clue was the word ‘CROATOAN’ carved into a tree.


2English Civil War

English Civil War

During the English Civil War, Lady Mary Bankes defended a castle from over 200 attackers with only five men under her initial command. She would be reinforced by 80 royalists and would hold against a total of 600 men for three years before being betrayed and forced to surrender.


3White Feathers

White Feathers

During WW1, the British created a campaign to shame men into enlisting. Women would hand out White Feathers to men not in uniform and berate them as cowards. It was so successful that the government had to create badges for men in critical occupations so that they would not be harassed.


4British Crown 

British Crown 

The British crown had at least a 15% approval rating during the revolutionary war - higher than the current approval rating of the US Congress of 13% in 2016.


5Fish and Chips

Fish and Chips

The British Government was able to safeguard supplies of fish and chips during both World Wars, making it one of the few non-rationed foods.


6British Monarch Birthdays

British Monarch Birthdays

The British king or queen has two birthdays: their real birth date and one assigned to them during the summer, to ensure better weather for the parade.


7British Constitution

British Constitution

Great Britain is one of only a few states that have an uncodified (unwritten) constitution. It consists not of a single document, but of a number of treaties, diverse laws, practices, and conventions that have evolved over a long period of time.


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8British Famines

British Famines

During the British Raj, India experienced some of the worst famines ever recorded, including the Great Famine of 1876–1878, in which 6.1 million to 10.3 million people died and the Indian famine of 1899–1900, in which 1.25 to 10 million people died.


9Golf

Golf

When introducing Golf to India, the British were angered by monkeys running onto the course & playing with their balls. When all attempts to stop the monkeys failed, they decided the game needed to adapt. To do so they introduced a new rule: "Play the ball where the monkey drops it."


10Cobra Effect

Cobra Effect

When the English colonial government in Dehli in India put a bounty on cobras to eliminate them from the city, it resulted in a cobra population boom. The bounty was greater than the cost of breeding a cobra, and the citizens were breeding them to sell to the government.

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