34 Unexpected Facts About UK You’ll Enjoy With Your Tea

The British government in the 1960s feared that their control of Gibraltar was at risk from monkey lesbianism.

27. British suffragettes used toffee hammers to break windows as part of their successful protests for women voting.

28. Britain is responsible for 63 Independence Day celebrations around the world. That is, on average, 1 Independence Day celebration from U.K. every 6 days throughout the year.

29. Britain removed all their road signs during World War II so that if the Germans invaded, they would get lost. These defensive preparations included the removal of signposts, milestones, and railway station signs. Gas pumps were also removed from service stations near their coast.

30. In 2005, the Republic of Fiji lost its declaration of independence from Britain. After five long years of searching, Fiji’s government finally turned to Britain, who provided them with a photocopy.

British built a 1,100-mile hedge through the middle of India. With parts 12 feet tall and 14 feet across, the hedge was constructed along part of the Inland Customs Line, a barrier that the British created to impose a high salt tax on people living on the relatively saltless side of the line.

32. Most beers couldn’t withstand the 6 month trip from Great Britain to the British colonies in India, where the climate was too hot to brew. In response, a brewer heavily hopped and aged their beers, making them pale, and able to survive the journey. That’s how IPAs or “Indian Pale Ales” got their name.

33. When the island nation of Vanuatu was a colony, it was ruled jointly by Britain and France and called the Condominium. Because of the duplication of government bureaucracies and the officially stateless status of the Melanesians, it was informally called the Pandemonium.

34. During World War 1, British newspapers falsely claimed that the Germans rendered down soldiers’ corpses to make soap, candles, and nitroglycerin. As a result, when news of the Holocaust reached Britain during World War 2, the government assumed it was another made-up atrocity story.