title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: In 17th-century England, the Puritans condemned the celebration of Christmas. In contrast, the Anglican Church "pressed for a more elaborate observance of feasts, penitential seasons, and saints' days. The calendar reform became a major point of tension between the Anglicans and Puritans." The Catholic Church also responded, promoting the festival in a more religiously orientated form. King Charles I of England directed his noblemen and gentry to return to their landed estates in midwinter to keep up their old-style Christmas generosity. Following the Parliamentarian victory over Charles I in the English Civil War, Puritan rulers banned Christmas in 1647.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Protests followed as pro-Christmas rioting broke out in several cities; and for weeks Canterbury was controlled by the rioters, who decorated doorways with holly and shouted royalist slogans. The book, "The Vindication of Christmas" (London, 1652), argued against the Puritans, and notes old English Christmas traditions: dinner, roast apples on the fire, card playing, dances with "plow-boys" and "maidservants", old Father Christmas and carol singing. The Restoration of King Charles II in 1660 ended the ban.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The diary of James Woodforde, from the latter half of the 18th century, details Christmas observance and celebrations associated with the season over a number of years.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: In the early 19th century, writers imagined Tudor Christmas as a time of heartfelt celebration. In 1843, Charles Dickens wrote the novel "A Christmas Carol" that helped revive the "spirit" of Christmas and seasonal merriment. Dickens sought to construct Christmas as a family-centred festival of generosity, linking "worship and feasting, within a context of social reconciliation." Superimposing his humanitarian vision of the holiday, termed "Carol Philosophy", Dickens influenced many aspects of Christmas celebrated today in Western culture, such as family gatherings, seasonal food and drink, dancing, games, and a festive generosity of spirit. A prominent phrase from the tale, "Merry Christmas", was popularised following its publication. The term Scrooge became a synonym for miser, with "Bah! Humbug!" dismissive of the festive spirit. Tiny Tim says "God bless us, every one!" which he offers as a blessing at Christmas dinner. Dickens repeats the phrase at the end of the story; symbolic of Scrooge's change of heart.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The revival of the Christmas Carol began with William Sandys's "Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern" (1833), with the first appearance in print of "The First Noel", "I Saw Three Ships", "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen". In 1843 the first commercial Christmas card was produced by Henry Cole, leading to the exchange of festive greeting cards among the public. The movement coincided with the appearance of the Oxford Movement and the growth of Anglo-Catholicism, which led a revival in traditional rituals and religious observances.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: In the UK, the Christmas tree was introduced in the early 19th century, following the personal union with the Kingdom of Hanover, by Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of King George III. In 1832, the future Queen Victoria wrote about her delight at having a Christmas tree, hung with lights, ornaments, and presents placed round it. After her marriage to her German cousin Prince Albert, a hugely influential image of the British royal family with their Christmas tree at Windsor Castle was published in the "Illustrated London News" in 1848, after which the custom became more widespread throughout Britain.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: While 2001 census information suggests that over 75% of British citizens consider themselves to belong to a religion, Gallup reports that only 10% of British citizens regularly attend religious services. A 2004 YouGov poll found that 44% of British citizens believe in God, while 35% do not. Christmas and Easter are national public holidays in the UK. First broadcast over the Easter period in 1977, the two-part "Jesus of Nazareth" television miniseries, starring Robert Powell as Jesus, was watched by over 21 million viewers in the UK. In 1844 Sir George Williams founded YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) in London. The oldest and largest youth charity in the world, its aim is to support young people to belong, contribute and thrive in their communities. The Salvation Army is a Christian charity founded by William Booth and his wife Catherine in London's East End in 1865. It seeks to bring salvation to the poor, destitute and hungry.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The UK has a parliamentary government based on the Westminster system that has been emulated around the world – a legacy of the British Empire. The Parliament of the United Kingdom that meets in the Houses of Parliament has two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed House of Lords, and any Bill passed requires Royal Assent to become law. It is the ultimate legislative authority in the United Kingdom: the devolved parliaments and assemblies in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales are not sovereign bodies and could be abolished by the UK Parliament, despite each being established following public approval as expressed in a referendum.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The UK's two major political parties are the Labour Party and the Conservative Party, who between them won 568 out of 650 seats in the House of Commons at the most recent general election. Currently, the third biggest party in terms of seats in the Commons is the Scottish National Party (SNP). At the most recent election, the SNP won 48 out of the 59 Scottish constituencies. The Liberal Democrats, or Lib Dems, were the fourth largest, at 11 seats. One seat was won by the Green Party. The remaining seats were won by regional parties, namely Plaid Cymru (Wales), the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, the Social Democratic and Labour Party, Democratic Unionist Party, and Sinn Féin (Northern Ireland).


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: A prominent part of British political culture, Prime Minister's Questions – often referred to as "PMQs" – is held every Wednesday at noon when the House of Commons is sitting. The Prime Minister spends around half an hour responding to questions from Members of Parliament (MPs). In questioning the policies of government ministers, MP Amber Rudd states "PMQs is central to our democracy". Due to the drama of the sessions, PMQs is among the best-known parliamentary business in the country. It is broadcast live on BBC News, Sky News and BBC Parliament television channels, as well as streamed online by many news outlets via numerous services, such as Twitch or YouTube.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The United Kingdom has an uncodified constitution, the Constitution of the United Kingdom, consisting mostly of a collection of disparate written sources, including statutes, judge-made case law, and international treaties. As there is no technical difference between ordinary statutes and "constitutional law," the British Parliament can perform "constitutional reform" simply by passing Acts of Parliament and thus has the political power to change or abolish almost any written or unwritten element of the constitution. However, no Parliament can pass laws that future Parliaments cannot change.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: British constitutional documents include Magna Carta (foundation of the "great writ" "Habeas corpus" — safeguarding individual freedom against arbitrary state action), the Bill of Rights 1689 (one provision granting freedom of speech in Parliament), Petition of Right, Habeas Corpus Act 1679 and Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949. A separate but similar document, the Claim of Right Act, applies in Scotland. Jurist Albert Venn Dicey wrote that the British Habeas Corpus Acts "declare no principle and define no rights, but they are for practical purposes worth a hundred constitutional articles guaranteeing individual liberty". An advocate of the "unwritten constitution", Dicey stated English rights were embedded in the general English common law of personal liberty, and "the institutions and manners of the nation".


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: According to 2016 figures from the Ministry of Justice, there is a 35% chance of people in England and Wales being summoned for jury duty over the course of their lifetime. In Scotland the percentage is higher due to Scotland having a lower population as well having juries made up of fifteen people as opposed to twelve in England and Wales.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The 17th-century English patriot John Hampden was a leading parliamentarian involved in challenging the authority of Charles I when he refused to be taxed for ship money in 1637, and was one of the Five Members whose attempted unconstitutional arrest by the King in the House of Commons in 1642 sparked the English Civil War. The wars established the constitutional rights of parliament, a concept legally established as part of the Glorious Revolution in 1688 and the subsequent Bill of Rights 1689. Since that time, no British monarch has entered the House of Commons when it is sitting. Hampden is annually commemorated at the State Opening of Parliament by the British monarch when the doors of the House of Commons are slammed in the face of the monarch's messenger, symbolising the rights of Parliament and its independence from the monarch.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Other important British political figures include Sir Edward Coke, 17th-century jurist; the legal directive that nobody may enter a home, which in the 17th-century would typically have been male owned, unless by the owners invitation or consent, was established as common law in Coke's "Institutes of the Lawes of England". "For a man's house is his castle, et domus sua cuique est tutissimum refugium [and each man's home is his safest refuge]." It is the origin of the famous dictum, “an Englishman's home is his castle”. Sir William Blackstone, 18th-century jurist, judge and politician best known for his "Commentaries on the Laws of England", containing his formulation: "It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer", a principle that government and the courts must err on the side of innocence, Emmeline Pankhurst, leading suffragette which helped win women the right to vote, William Wilberforce, leading parliamentary abolitionist. An influential thinker in the history of liberalism, 19th century philosopher, political economist and politician John Stuart Mill justified the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state and social control. A member of the Liberal Party, he was also the first Member of Parliament to call for women's suffrage.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Robert Walpole is generally regarded as the first British Prime Minister (1721–1742). Twice Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel, founded the Conservative party (which was expanded by Benjamin Disraeli), and created the modern police force. Margaret Thatcher was the first female British Prime Minister (1979–1990). She became known as the "Iron Lady", a term coined by a Soviet journalist for her uncompromising politics and leadership style. In 1938, Neville Chamberlain believed he had secured "Peace for our time" with Germany, a year before WWII broke out.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: English poet William Cowper wrote in 1785, "We have no slaves at home – Then why abroad? Slaves cannot breathe in England; if their lungs receive our air, that moment they are free, They touch our country, and their shackles fall. That's noble, and bespeaks a nation proud. And jealous of the blessing. Spread it then, And let it circulate through every vein." Thomas Clarkson described fellow British abolitionist Josiah Wedgwood's 1787 anti-slavery medallion, "Am I Not A Man And A Brother?", as "promoting the cause of justice, humanity and freedom". Following the Slave Trade Act 1807, Britain pressed other nations to end their trade with a series of treaties, and in 1839 the world's oldest international human rights organisation, Anti-Slavery International, was formed in London, which worked to outlaw slavery abroad; Wilberforce's abolitionist colleague Thomas Clarkson was the organisation's first key speaker. The 1965 suspension of the death penalty for murder had been introduced to Parliament as a private member's bill by Sydney Silverman MP. The world's largest human rights organisation, Amnesty International, was founded by Peter Benenson in London in 1961.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The British honours system is a means of rewarding individuals' personal bravery, achievement or service to the United Kingdom. Candidates are identified by public or private bodies or by government departments or are nominated by members of the public. Nominations are reviewed by honours committees, made up of government officials and private citizens from different fields, who meet twice a year to discuss the candidates and make recommendations for appropriate honours to be awarded by the Queen.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Historically a knighthood was conferred upon mounted warriors. By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior. An example of warrior chivalry in medieval literature is Sir Gawain (King Arthur's nephew and a Knight of the Round Table) in "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" (late 14th century). Since the early modern period, the title of knight is purely honorific, usually bestowed by a monarch, often for non-military service to the country. The modern female equivalent in the UK is damehood. The ceremony often takes place at Buckingham Palace, and family members are invited to attend.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: A few examples of knights are Sir Nicholas Winton: for "services to humanity, in saving Jewish children from Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia", Sir Elton John: for "services to music and charitable services", Sir Ridley Scott: for "services to the British film industry", and Sir Richard Branson: for "services to entrepreneurship". Examples of dames are: actress Dame Julie Andrews and singer Dame Shirley Bassey: both for "services to the performing arts", actress Dame Joan Collins: for "services to charity", and Dame Agatha Christie: for "contribution to literature."


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The suffix "shire" is attached to most of the names of English, Scottish and Welsh counties. Shire is a term for a division of land first used in England during the Anglo-Saxon period. Examples in England are Cheshire, Hampshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Yorkshire; in Scotland, Aberdeenshire, Perthshire, Inverness-shire and Stirlingshire; and in Wales, Carmarthenshire, Flintshire and Pembrokeshire. This suffix tends not to be found in the names of counties that were pre-existing divisions. Essex, Kent, and Sussex, for example, have never borne a "-shire", as each represents a former Anglo-Saxon kingdom. Similarly Cornwall was a British kingdom before it became an English county. The term "shire" is also not used in the names of the six traditional counties of Northern Ireland.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Use of the British imperial system of measure, particularly among the public, is widespread in the United Kingdom and is in many cases permitted by the law. Human height and weight, long distances and speed are measured in imperial units by the vast majority of Brits. A Brit would normally give their weight as "12 and a half stone" rather than 80 kilograms, though younger people increasingly use kilograms rather than stone. Body height is usually given in feet and inches. Younger generations tend to use more metric units of measurement, creating a generational gap, for example in short distances and item weight. Although the majority of Brits now use degrees Celsius to measure temperature, the use of Fahrenheit persists in older generations. Distances shown on road signs must be in miles and yards, while miles per hour appear on speed limit signs and car speedometers.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Britain has been transitioning to metric since 1965, when the UK Government announced financial support for metrication with a target of 10 years. When the UK joined the European Economic Community in 1973, the UK re-affirmed its commitment to metrication, but in 2007, the European Commission abandoned completely the deadline for full metrication in the UK. In 2022, the Boris Johnson-led Government announced it was planning to revive imperial measurements. The move received criticism from industry and was branded as "nonsense" by "The Guardian" and the chairman of supermarket Asda.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: By custom and law, traffic in Britain drives on the left. Research shows that countries driving on the left have a lower collision rate than those that drive on the right, and it has been suggested that this is partly because the predominantly better-performing right eye is used to monitor oncoming traffic and the driver's wing mirror. The name of the zebra crossing is attributed to British MP and subsequent Prime Minister, James Callaghan, who in 1948 visited the Transport Research Laboratory which was working on a new idea for safe pedestrian crossings. On being shown a design he is said to have remarked that it resembled a zebra. Located in Birmingham, the Gravelly Hill Interchange's colloquial name "Spaghetti Junction" was coined by journalists from the "Birmingham Evening Mail" on 1 June 1965. In 1971, the Green Cross Code was introduced to teach children safer road crossing habits. From 1987, Mungo Jerry's song "In the Summertime" featured in drink driving adverts. The building of roundabouts (circular junctions) grew rapidly in the 1960s; there are now more than 10,000 in the UK The Cat's eye retroreflective safety device used in road marking was invented by Percy Shaw in 1933.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: British cuisine is the specific set of cooking traditions and practices associated with the United Kingdom. Historically, British cuisine meant "unfussy dishes made with quality local ingredients, matched with simple sauces to accentuate flavour, rather than disguise it". International recognition of British cuisine was historically limited to the full breakfast and the Christmas dinner. However, Celtic agriculture and animal breeding produced a wide variety of foodstuffs for indigenous Celts. Anglo-Saxon England developed meat and savoury herb stewing techniques before the practice became common in Europe. The Norman conquest introduced exotic spices into Great Britain in the Middle Ages. The British Empire facilitated a knowledge of India's food tradition of "strong, penetrating spices and herbs".


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Each country within the United Kingdom has its own specialities. Traditional examples of English cuisine include the Sunday roast; featuring a roasted joint, usually roast beef (a signature English national dish dating back to the 1731 ballad "The Roast Beef of Old England"), lamb or chicken, served with assorted boiled vegetables, Yorkshire pudding and gravy. The full English breakfast consists of bacon, grilled tomatoes, fried bread, baked beans, fried mushrooms, sausages and eggs. Black pudding and hash browns are often also included. It is usually served with tea or coffee. The Ulster version – Ulster fry – includes soda farl and potato bread, with the BBC's Simon Majumdar calling it the UK's best full breakfast.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Fish and chips are also regarded as a national institution: Winston Churchill called them "the good companions", John Lennon smothered them in tomato ketchup, while George Orwell referred to them as a "chief comfort" of the working class. The meal was created in 1860 in the East End of London by a Jewish immigrant, Joseph Malin, who came up with the idea of combining fried fish with chips. A blue plaque at Oldham's Tommyfield Market marks the 1860s origin of the fish and chip shop and fast food industries. Various meat pies are consumed such as steak and kidney pie, shepherd's pie, cottage pie, Cornish pasty and pork pie.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: A quintessential British custom, afternoon tea, is a small meal typically eaten between 4 pm and 6 pm. The most popular drink in Britain, tea became more widely drunk due to Catherine of Braganza. It is traditionally accompanied with biscuits, sandwiches, scones, cakes or pastries (such as Battenberg cake, fruit cake or Victoria sponge). In his 1946 essay "A Nice Cup of Tea", author George Orwell wrote: "Tea is one of the mainstays of civilisation in this country." McVitie's are the best selling biscuit brand in the UK, and the most popular biscuits to "dunk" in tea, with McVitie's chocolate digestives, rich tea and hobnobs ranked the nation's top three favourite biscuits. Other popular British biscuits include bourbons, custard creams, Jammie Dodgers, ginger nuts and shortbread. The first documented figure-shaped biscuits (gingerbread man) was at the court of Elizabeth I in the 16th century.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The first English recipe for ice cream was published in "Mrs. Mary Eales's Receipts" in London in 1718, and arguably the earliest reference to an edible ice cream cone, appears in Charles Elmé Francatelli's 1846 "The Modern Cook".


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The 18th-century English aristocrat John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich is best known for his links to the modern concept of the sandwich which was named after him. When he ordered his valet to bring him meat tucked between two pieces of bread, others began to order "the same as Sandwich!". In the city of Leeds in 1767, Joseph Priestley made his "happiest" discovery when he invented carbonated water (also known as soda water), the major and defining component of most soft drinks. Carbonated lemonade was available in British refreshment stalls in 1833, with R. White's Lemonade sold in 1845. By 1887 they sold a wide variety of soft drink flavours. Irn-Bru is the best-selling soft drink in Scotland. Invented by a Newcastle pharmacist in 1927, Lucozade is the No. 1 sports drink in the UK.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Sausages are commonly eaten as bangers and mash, in sausage rolls or as toad in the hole. Lancashire hotpot is a well-known stew. Popular cheeses include Cheddar and Wensleydale. Sweet British dishes include scones, apple pie, mince pies, spotted dick, Eccles cakes, pancakes, sponge cake, trifle, jelly, custard, sticky toffee pudding, Tunnock's teacake, and Jaffa cakes; the best-selling cake in the UK. Marmalade is a popular British spread for toast or sandwich: a spread famous for its association with Paddington Bear, a beloved bear in British culture that featured in the critically acclaimed films "Paddington" (2014) and "Paddington 2" (2017).


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Home baking has always been a significant part of British home cooking. Influential cookbooks include "The Experienced English Housekeeper" (1769), "Modern Cookery for Private Families" (1845) by food author Eliza Acton that introduced the now-universal practice of listing ingredients and giving suggested cooking times for each recipe, and Isabella Beeton's "Book of Household Management" (1861). Home-made cakes and jams are part of the traditional English village fête. Filmed in bunting-draped marquees in scenic gardens, the success of the 2010s television show "The Great British Bake Off" (which was inspired by the village fête) is credited with spurring a renewed interest in home baking, with supermarkets and department stores in the UK reporting sharp rises in sales of baking ingredients and accessories. A popular cake to bake, Victoria sponge (named after Queen Victoria who enjoyed a slice with her tea), was created following the discovery of baking powder by English food manufacturer Alfred Bird in 1843, which enabled the sponge to rise higher in cakes.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The hot cross bun is a popular British sweet bun traditionally eaten on Good Friday, but are now eaten all year round. Treacle tart was created after the invention of golden syrup by chemists working for Abram Lyle in 1885. With its logo and green-and-gold packaging having remained almost unchanged since then, Lyle's Golden Syrup was listed by "Guinness World Records" as having the world's oldest branding and packaging. Scottish cuisine includes Arbroath smokie and haggis; Northern Irish cuisine features the Ulster fry and the pastie and Welsh cuisine is noted for Welsh rarebit (often using Worcestershire sauce) and cawl. Brown sauce is a traditional British condiment, with its best known variety HP Sauce (named after and featuring an image of the Houses of Parliament on the label) a popular spread on chicken and bacon sandwiches. The Scottish Aberdeen Angus is a popular native beef breed, accounting for almost 20% of the UK beef industry. Cavendish bananas were cultivated by Sir Joseph Paxton in the greenhouses of Chatsworth House, Derbyshire in 1836. Named after William Cavendish, they make up the vast majority of bananas consumed in the western world.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The pub is an important aspect of British culture, and is often the focal point of local communities. Referred to as their "local" by regulars, pubs are typically chosen for their proximity to home or work, the availability of a particular beer or ale or a good selection, good food, a social atmosphere, the presence of friends and acquaintances, and the availability of pub games such as darts or snooker. Pubs will often screen sports events, such as English Premier League and Scottish Premier League games (or for international tournaments, the FIFA World Cup). The pub quiz was established in the UK in the 1970s.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: In 1393, Richard II introduced a law that pubs had to display a sign outdoors to make them easily visible for passing ale tasters who would assess the quality of ale sold. Most pubs still have decorated signs hanging over their doors. The owner or tenant (licensee) is known as the pub landlord or publican, while barmaids are a common feature in pubs. Alcoholic drinks served in pubs include wines and English beers such as bitter, mild, stout and brown ale. Whisky originated in Ireland and Scotland in the Middle Ages: Irish whiskey and Scotch whisky.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: On Christmas Day, goose was previously served at dinner; however since appearing on Christmas tables in England in the late 16th century, the turkey has become more popular, with Christmas pudding served for dessert. The 16th-century English navigator William Strickland is credited with introducing the turkey into England, and 16th-century farmer Thomas Tusser noted that by 1573 turkeys were common in the English Christmas dinner. This custom gave rise to the humorous English idiom, "like turkeys voting for Christmas". The turkey is sometimes accompanied with roast beef or ham, and is served with stuffing, gravy, roast potatoes, mashed potatoes and vegetables. Invented in London in the 1840s, Christmas crackers are an integral part of Christmas celebrations, often pulled before or after dinner, or at parties.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Chinese restaurants and takeaways (in addition to Indian) are among the most popular ethnic food in the UK. Chinese takeaways are a common sight in towns throughout the UK, and many serve a pseudo-Chinese cuisine based on western tastes (such as chicken fried rice, chips and curry sauce).


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The earliest recipe for the crisp ("potato chip") is in English food writer William Kitchiner's 1822 cookbook "The Cook's Oracle". In 1920, Frank Smith of The Smiths Potato Crisps Company Ltd packaged a twist of salt with his crisps in greaseproof paper bags, which were sold around London. Crisps remained otherwise unseasoned until an important scientific development in the 1950s. After Archer Martin and Richard Synge (while working in Leeds) received a Nobel Prize for the invention of partition chromatography in 1952, food scientists began to develop flavours via a gas chromatograph, a device that allowed scientists to understand chemical compounds behind complex flavours such as cheese. In 1954, Irish crisps company Tayto produced the first seasoned crisps: Cheese & Onion. Golden Wonder (Smiths’ main competitor in Britain) produced their Cheese & Onion version, and Smith’s countered with Salt & Vinegar (tested first by their north-east England subsidiary Tudor) which launched nationally in 1967, starting a two-decade-long flavour war. The crisp market in the UK is led by Walkers (who introduced their own flavours in 1954), holding 56% of the market share.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The Quakers, founded by George Fox in 1650s England and described by the BBC as "natural capitalists", had a virtual monopoly in the British chocolate industry for much of the 19th and 20th centuries, led by Cadbury of Birmingham, Fry's of Bristol and Rowntree's and Terry's of York. Fry's produced the first chocolate bar in 1847, which was then mass-produced as Fry's Chocolate Cream in 1866. The chocolate bars Cadbury Dairy Milk, Galaxy and Kit Kat, are the three best selling bars in the UK. Cadbury Creme Eggs are the best selling confectionery item between New Year's Day and Easter in the UK, with annual sales in excess of 200 million. Sponsored by Cadbury, the annual children's Easter egg hunt takes place in over 250 locations in the UK. Created in Doncaster, Yorkshire, Butterscotch boiled sweets is one of the town's best known exports. Created in Lancashire, Jelly Babies are among the British public's favourite sweets. After Eights are a popular after dinner mint. A stick of rock (a hard cylindrical stick-shaped boiled sugar) is a traditional British seaside sweet, commonly sold at seaside resorts throughout the UK such as Brighton, Portrush and Blackpool. A "99 Flake" (commonly called a "99") which consists of ice cream in a cone with a Cadbury Flake inserted in it, is a hugely popular British dessert.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Most of the major sports have separate administrative structures and national teams for each of the countries of the United Kingdom. Though each country is also represented individually at the Commonwealth Games, there is a single 'Team GB' (for Great Britain) that represents the UK at the Olympic Games. With the rules and codes of many modern sports invented and codified in late 19th-century Victorian Britain, in 2012, IOC President Jacques Rogge stated; "This great, sports-loving country is widely recognized as the birthplace of modern sport. It was here that the concepts of sportsmanship and fair play were first codified into clear rules and regulations. It was here that sport was included as an educational tool in the school curriculum".


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Both in participation and viewing, the most popular sport in the UK is association football. The sport's origin can be traced to English public school football games. The rules were first drafted in England in 1863 by Ebenezer Cobb Morley, and the UK has the oldest football clubs in the world. England is recognised as the birthplace of club football by FIFA, with Sheffield F.C., founded in 1857, the world's oldest football club. The home nations all have separate national teams and domestic competitions, most notably England's Premier League and FA Cup, and the Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup. The top three Welsh football clubs feature in the English league system. The first international football match was between Scotland and England in 1872. Referred to as the "home of football" by FIFA, England hosted the 1966 FIFA World Cup, and won the tournament. The British television audience for the 1966 World Cup final peaked at 32.30 million viewers, making it the most watched television event ever in the UK.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The four home nations have produced some of the greatest players in the game's history, including, from England, Bobby Moore and Gordon Banks; from Northern Ireland, George Best and Pat Jennings; from Scotland, Kenny Dalglish and Jimmy Johnstone; and from Wales, Ian Rush and Ryan Giggs. The first recipient of the Ballon d'Or, Stanley Matthews was knighted while still a player. The English Premier League (formed in 1992 by member clubs of the old Football League First Division) is the most-watched football league in the world, and its biggest clubs include Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City. Scotland's Celtic and Rangers also have a global fanbase. Leicester City's 2016 Premier League title win is regarded among the greatest sporting upsets ever.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The best-placed teams in the domestic leagues of England and Scotland qualify for Europe's premier competition, the UEFA Champions League (European Cup). Previous winners from the UK are Liverpool, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, Celtic, Chelsea and Aston Villa. The UEFA Champions League Anthem, written by Tony Britten and based on Handel's "Zadok the Priest", is played before each game. Henry Lyte's Christian hymn "Abide with Me" is sung prior to kick-off at every FA Cup Final, a tradition since 1927.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The practice of "jumpers for goalposts" alludes to street/park football in the UK where jumpers would be placed on the ground and used as goalposts. This practice was referenced by singer Ed Sheeran in his DVD "" as a nod to playing concerts at Wembley Stadium, the home of English football. Early references to dribbling come from accounts of medieval football games in England. Geoffrey Chaucer offered an allusion to such ball skills in 14th-century England. In The Knight's Tale (from the "Canterbury Tales") he uses the following line: "rolleth under foot as doth a ball".


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Football in Britain is renowned for the intense rivalries between clubs and the passion of the supporters, which includes a tradition of football chants, which are one of the last remaining sources of an oral folk song tradition in the UK. Chants include "You're Not Singing Any More" (or its variant "We Can See You Sneaking Out!"), sung by jubilant fans towards the opposition fans who have gone silent (or left early). Many teams in the UK have their own club anthem or have a song closely associated with them, for example “You'll Never Walk Alone” by Liverpool-based rock band Gerry and the Pacemakers, and "Local Hero" by Dire Straits frontman and Newcastle United fan Mark Knopfler, is played before the start of every Liverpool and Newcastle home game. Throughout the UK, meat pies (as well as burgers and chips) is a traditional hot food eaten at football games either before kick-off or during half time. The purchase of a football programme (a pre-match magazine produced by the home team that gives details on that day's game, including player profiles, recent form, interviews etc.) is also part of the 'ritual' of attending a football match in the UK. The Football Association dropped its ban on floodlights in 1950, and night games attracted increasingly large crowds of fans–some of them unruly—as well as large television audiences. Architects built bigger stadia, and "their cantilevered constructions dwarfing mean streets, supplanted the cathedral as a symbol of the city's identity and aspirations".


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The modern game of golf originated in Scotland, with the Fife town of St Andrews known internationally as the "home of golf". and to many golfers the Old Course, an ancient links course dating to before 1574, is considered to be a site of pilgrimage. In 1764, the standard 18 hole golf course was created at St Andrews when members modified the course from 22 to 18 holes. Golf is documented as being played on Musselburgh Links, East Lothian, Scotland as early as 2 March 1672, which is certified as the oldest golf course in the world by Guinness World Records. The oldest known "rules of golf" were compiled in March 1744 in Leith. The oldest golf tournament in the world, and the first major championship in golf, The Open Championship, first took place in Ayrshire, Scotland in 1860, and today it is played on the weekend of the third Friday in July. Golf's first superstar Harry Vardon, a member of the fabled Great Triumvirate who were pioneers of the modern game, won the Open a record six times. Since the 2010s, three Northern Irish golfers have had major success; Graeme McDowell, Darren Clarke and four time major winner Rory McIlroy. The biennial golf competition, the Ryder Cup, is named after English businessman Samuel Ryder who sponsored the event and donated the trophy. Sir Nick Faldo is the most successful British Ryder Cup player.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: In 1845, rugby union was created when the first rules were written by pupils at Rugby School, Warwickshire. A former pupil of the school William Webb Ellis, is often fabled with the invention of running with the ball in hand in 1823. The first rugby international took place on 27 March 1871, played between England and Scotland. By 1881 both Ireland and Wales had teams, and in 1883 the first international competition the annual Home Nations Championship took place. In 1888, the Home Nations combined to form what is today called the British and Irish Lions, who now tour every four years to face a Southern Hemisphere team. The Wales team of the 1970s, which included a backline consisting of Gareth Edwards, J. P. R. Williams and Phil Bennett who were known for their feints, sidesteps and attacking running rugby, are regarded as one of the greatest teams in the game – all three players were involved in "The greatest try ever scored" in 1973. Jonny Wilkinson scored the winning drop goal for England in the last minute of extra time in the 2003 Rugby World Cup Final. The major domestic club competitions are the Premiership in England and the Celtic League in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and (since 2010) Italy. Of Cornish origin, the chant “Oggy Oggy Oggy, Oi Oi Oi!” is associated with rugby union (and its personalised variant with football); it inspired the “Maggie Maggie Maggie, Out Out Out!" chant by opponents of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. In 1895, rugby league was created in Huddersfield, West Riding of Yorkshire, as the result of a split with the other Rugby code. The Super League is the sports top-level club competition in Britain, and the sport is especially popular in towns in the northern English counties of Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria. The Challenge Cup is the major rugby league cup competition.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The modern game of tennis originated in Birmingham, England in the 1860s, and after its creation, tennis spread throughout the upper-class English-speaking population, before spreading around the world. Major Walter Clopton Wingfield is credited as being a pioneer of the game. The world's oldest tennis tournament, the Wimbledon championships, first occurred in 1877, and today the event takes place over two weeks in late June and early July. Created in the Tudor period in the court of Henry VIII, the English dessert Strawberries and cream is synonymous with the British summer, and is famously consumed at Wimbledon. The tournament itself has a major place in the British cultural calendar. The eight-time Slam winner and Britain's most successful player Fred Perry is one of only seven men in history to have won all four Grand Slam events, which included three Wimbledons. Virginia Wade won three Grand Slams, the most famous of which was Wimbledon in 1977, the year of the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II (the Queen attended Wimbledon for the first time since 1962 to watch the final). The 2013 and 2016 Wimbledon champion, Scotland's Andy Murray, is Britain's most recent male Grand Slam winner. In 2021, Emma Raducanu became the most recent British female Grand Slam winner.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The 'Queensberry rules', the code of general rules in boxing, was named after John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry in 1867, that formed the basis of modern boxing. Britain's first heavyweight world champion Bob Fitzsimmons made boxing history as the sport's first three-division world champion. The 1980s saw the emergence of heavyweight Frank Bruno who would become hugely popular with the British public. In the 1990s, Chris Eubank, Nigel Benn, Steve Collins and Michael Watson had a series of fights against each other in the super-middleweight division, drawing audiences of up to 20 million in the UK. Eubank's eccentric personality made him one of the most recognisable celebrities in the UK along with the cocky ”Prince" Naseem Hamed. The Nigel Benn vs. Gerald McClellan fight in 1995 drew 13 million. Other big draw fighters in the UK included Lennox Lewis, Joe Calzaghe and Ricky Hatton.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The modern game of cricket was created in England in the 1830s when round arm bowling was legalised, followed by the historical legalisation of overarm bowling in 1864. In 1876–77, England took part in the first-ever Test match against Australia. Influential to the development of the sport, W. G. Grace is regarded as one of the greatest cricket players, devising most of the techniques of modern batting. His fame endures; "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" uses his image as "the face of God" during the sequence in which God sends the knights out on their quest for the grail. The rivalry between England and Australia gave birth to The Ashes in 1882 that has remained Test cricket's most famous contest, and takes place every two years to high television viewing figures. The County Championship is the domestic competition in England and Wales. England have hosted the Cricket World Cup five times, and are the reigning champions, having won in 2019.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Originating in 17th and 18th-century England, the Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Horse racing was popular with the aristocrats and royalty of British society, earning it the title "Sport of Kings." Named after Edward Smith-Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby, The Derby was first run in 1780. The race serves as the middle leg of the Triple Crown, preceded by the 2000 Guineas and followed by the St Leger. The name "Derby" has since become synonymous with great races all over the world, and as such has been borrowed many times in races abroad.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The National Hunt horse race the Grand National, is held annually at Aintree Racecourse in early April. It is the most watched horse race in the UK, attracting casual observers, and three-time winner Red Rum is the most successful racehorse in the event's history. Red Rum is the best-known racehorse in the UK, named by 45% of Britons, with Black Beauty (from Anna Sewell's novel) in second with 33%.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Bolton company J.W. Foster and Sons's pioneering running spikes appear in the book, "Golden Kicks: The Shoes that changed Sport". They were made famous by 1924 100 m Olympic champion Harold Abrahams who would be immortalised in "Chariots of Fire", the British Oscar winning film. Foster's grandsons formed the sportswear company Reebok in Bolton.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The 1950 British Grand Prix was the first Formula One World Championship race. Britain has produced some of the greatest drivers in Formula One, including Stirling Moss, Jim Clark (twice F1 champion), Graham Hill (only driver to have won the Triple Crown), John Surtees (only world champion in two and four wheels), Jackie Stewart (three-time F1 champion), James Hunt, Nigel Mansell (only man to hold F1 and IndyCar titles at the same time), Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton (seven-time champion). The British Grand Prix is held at Silverstone every July. Also, the United Kingdom is home to some of the most prestigious teams in Formula One, including McLaren and Williams. It is also home to the headquarters of six of the ten current F1 teams, including current champions Mercedes, four-time champions Red Bull Racing, Alpine and Aston Martin.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Other major sporting events in the UK include the London Marathon, and The Boat Race on the River Thames. The most successful male rower in Olympic history, Steve Redgrave won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games. Cycling is a popular physical activity in the UK. In 1888, inventor Frank Bowden founded the Raleigh Bicycle Company, and by 1913, Raleigh was the biggest bicycle manufacturing company in the world. The Raleigh Chopper was named in the list of British design icons. In 1965 Tom Simpson became the first British world road race champion, and in 2012 Bradley Wiggins became the first British Tour de France winner. Chris Froome has subsequently won the Tour de France four times (2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017). Welsh cyclist Geraint Thomas won in 2018. Sprint specialist Mark Cavendish has won thirty Tour de France stages, putting him second on the all-time list.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: In Ice Dance, many of the compulsory moves were developed by dancers from the UK in the 1930s. At the 1984 Winter Olympics, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean won ice dancing gold with the highest-ever score for a single programme. The pair received perfect 6.0 scores from every judge for artistic impression, and twelve 6.0s and six 5.9s overall.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: At the 1988 Winter Olympics, ski jumper Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards gained fame as an underdog. Eddie was portrayed by Taron Egerton in the 2016 biographical sports comedy-drama film "Eddie the Eagle".


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: A great number of major sports originated in the United Kingdom, including association football, golf, tennis, boxing, rugby league, rugby union, cricket, field hockey, snooker, darts, billiards, squash, curling and badminton, all of which are popular in Britain. Another sport invented in the UK was baseball, and its early form rounders is popular among children in Britain. Snooker and darts are popular indoor games: Stephen Hendry is the seven time world snooker champion, Phil Taylor is the 16 time world darts champion. Snooker player Alex Higgins (nicknamed "The Hurricane") and darts player Eric Bristow (nicknamed "The Crafty Cockney") are credited with popularising each sport.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Bodybuilder Reg Park was Mr Britain in 1946 and became Mr Universe in 1951, 1958 and 1965. Gaelic football is very popular in Northern Ireland, with many teams from the north winning the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship since the early 2000s. William Penny Brookes was prominent in organising the format for the modern Olympic Games, and in 1994, then IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch laid a wreath on Brooke's grave, and said, "I came to pay homage and tribute to Dr Brookes, who really was the founder of the modern Olympic Games".


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Participation in women's team sport (in addition to profile in the media) has seen a rapid increase in recent years. Popular women's team sports include Netball Superleague formed in 2005, the FA WSL (women's football) formed in 2010 (Kelly Smith is seen as a leading figure in the game), Women's Six Nations Championship in rugby union, and Women's Cricket Super League.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The Highland games are held throughout the year in Scotland as a way of celebrating Scottish and Celtic culture and heritage, especially that of the Scottish Highlands, with more than 60 games taking place across the country every year. Each December, the BBC Sports Personality of the Year is announced, an award given to the best British sportsperson of the year, as voted for by the British public. The public also votes for the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year, presented to a non-British sportsperson considered to have made the most substantial contribution to a sport each year which has also captured the imagination of the British public. Recipients have included Pelé (after winning his third World Cup in 1970), Muhammad Ali (after regaining the heavyweight title in 1974), Jonah Lomu (for his performances at the 1995 Rugby World Cup), Ronaldo (for his comeback in winning the 2002 World Cup), and Roger Federer (for his record eighth Wimbledon in 2017).


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Each of the four countries of the UK has a publicly funded health care system referred to as the National Health Service (NHS). The terms "National Health Service" or "NHS" are also used to refer to the four systems collectively. All of the services were founded in 1948, based on legislation passed by the Labour Government that had been elected in 1945 with a manifesto commitment to implement the Beveridge Report recommendation to create "comprehensive health and rehabilitation services for prevention and cure of disease".


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The NHS was born out of a long-held ideal that good healthcare should be available to all, regardless of wealth. At its launch by the then minister of health, Aneurin Bevan, on 5 July 1948, it had at its heart three core principles: That it meet the needs of everyone, that it be free at the point of delivery, and that it be based on clinical need, not ability to pay. The NHS had a prominent slot during the directed by Danny Boyle, being described as "the institution which more than any other unites our nation", according to the programme. Cancer Research UK, Alzheimer's Research UK and Together for Short Lives are among hundreds of health charities in the UK.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Florence Nightingale laid the foundation of modern nursing with the establishment of her nursing school at St Thomas' Hospital in London. It was the first secular nursing school in the world, now part of King's College London. Nightingale wrote "Notes on Nursing" in 1859. The book served as the cornerstone of the curriculum at the Nightingale School and other nursing schools. The Nightingale Pledge is taken by many new nurses in the US (but not the UK), and the annual International Nurses Day (12 May) is celebrated around the world on her birthday. Her social reforms improved healthcare for all sections of society in the UK and around the world.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: However, the population of pets in the UK declined from 71 million in 2013 (a significant peak) to 51 million in 2018. This decline has seen some reversal as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; an article published in May 2021 stated that a total of 3.2 million households in the UK had acquired a pet since the start of the pandemic, according to the Pet Food Manufacturers' Association.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Founded in 1824, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is the oldest and largest animal welfare organisation in the world.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The British Shorthair cat is the most popular pedigreed breed in its native country, as registered by the UK's Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF). The breed's broad cheeks and relatively calm temperament make it a frequent media star. The cat's profile reads: "When gracelessness is observed, the British Shorthair is duly embarrassed, quickly recovering with a 'Cheshire cat smile'”. There are almost one million horses and ponies in the UK, with popular native breeds including Clydesdale horse (used as drum horses by the British Household Cavalry), Thoroughbred (used in horse racing), Cleveland Bay (pull carriages in royal processions), Highland pony and Shetland pony.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The UK's indigenous dog breeds include Bulldog, Jack Russell Terrier, Golden Retriever, Yorkshire Terrier, Airedale Terrier, Beagle, Border Collie, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, English Cocker Spaniel, Scottish Terrier, Welsh Corgi, Bullmastiff, Greyhound, English Springer Spaniel and Old English Sheepdog.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The Kennel Club, with its headquarters in London, is the oldest kennel club in the world, and acts as a lobby group on issues involving dogs in the UK. Its main objectives are to promote the general improvement of dogs and responsible dog ownership. Held since 1891, Crufts is an annual dog show in the UK. The event takes place over four days in early March. In 1928, the very first winner of Best in Show at Crufts was Primley Sceptre, a greyhound.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: As a multi-national state, the UK has no single national costume. However, different countries within the United Kingdom have national costumes or at least are associated with styles of dress. Scotland has the kilt and Tam o'shanter, and tartan clothing – its pattern consisting of criss-crossed horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours – is a notable aspect of Gaelic culture. A traditional Welsh costume with Welsh hat is worn by some women during Eisteddfodau. In England, the topic of a national costume has been in debate, since no officially recognized clothing is anointed "national". However, the closest to an English national costume can be the smock or smock-frock in the Midlands and Southern England and the maud in Northern England. English Country Clothing is also very popular among rural folk, flat caps and brogue shoes also forming part of the country clothing.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Certain military uniforms such as the Beefeater or the Queen's Guard are considered to be symbolic of Englishness. Morris dancers or the costumes for the traditional English May dance are sometimes cited as examples of traditional English costume, but are only worn by participants in those events. Designed in 1849 by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler, the Bowler hat is arguably the most iconic stereotyped view of an Englishman (complete with Bowler and rolled umbrella), and was commonly associated with City of London businessmen. Traced back to the north of England in the 14th century, the flat cap is associated with the working classes in the UK. The flat cap has seen a 21st-century resurgence in popularity, possibly influenced by various British public figures wearing them, including David Beckham, Harry Styles and Guy Ritchie, with clothing sellers Marks & Spencer reporting that flat cap sales significantly increased in the 2010s. In 1856 William Henry Perkin discovered the first synthetic dye (Mauveine – a purple colour), which was suitable as a dye of silk and other textiles, helping to revolutionise the world of fashion.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Burberry is most famous for creating the trench coat: they were worn by British soldiers in the trenches in World War I. Among various British youth subcultures, Dr. Martens boots (often referred to as DMs) have been the choice of footwear: in the 1960s skinheads started to wear them, and they later became popular among scooter riders, punks, and some new wave musicians. Male mods adopted a sophisticated look that included tailor-made suits, thin ties, button-down collar shirts, Chelsea boots and Clarks desert boots.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: British sensibilities have played an influential role in world clothing since the 18th century. Particularly during the Victorian era, British fashions defined acceptable dress for men of business. Key figures such as the future Edward VII, Edward VIII, and Beau Brummell, created the modern suit and cemented its dominance. Brummell is credited with introducing and establishing as fashion the modern man's suit, worn with a tie. The use of a coloured and patterned tie (a common feature in British school uniforms) indicating the wearer's membership in a club, regiment, school, professional association etc. stems from the 1880 oarsmen of Exeter College, Oxford, who tied the bands of their straw hats around their necks. The Wellington boot (first worn by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington) became a staple for outdoor wear.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The tradition of a white wedding is commonly credited to Queen Victoria's choice to wear a white wedding dress at her wedding to Prince Albert in 1840, at a time when white was associated with purity and conspicuous consumption (because it was difficult to keep clean, and thus could not be worn by servants or labourers), and when it was the colour required of girls being presented to the royal court. The 1981 wedding dress of Lady Diana Spencer became one of the most famous dresses in the world, and was considered one of the most closely guarded secrets in fashion history.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: London, as one of the world's four fashion capitals, is host to the London Fashion Week – one of the 'Big Four' fashion weeks. Organised by the British Fashion Council, the event takes place twice each year, in February and September. The current venue for most of the "on-schedule" events is Somerset House in central London, where a large marquee in the central courtyard hosts a series of catwalk shows by top designers and fashion houses, while an exhibition, housed within Somerset House itself, showcases over 150 designers. However, many "off-schedule" events, such as On|Off and Vauxhall Fashion Scout, are organised independently and take place at other venues in central London.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: British designers whose collections have been showcased at the fashion week include Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen, John Galliano and Stella McCartney. British models who have featured at the event include Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Jade Jagger, David Gandy, Cara Delevingne and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. For almost two decades, Princess Diana was a fashion icon whose style was emulated by women around the world.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Fashion designer Mary Quant was at the heart of the "Swinging London" scene of the 1960s, and her work culminated in the creation of the miniskirt and hot pants. Quant named the miniskirt after her favourite make of car, the Mini. The Swinging London fashion scene has featured in films, and was spoofed in the "Austin Powers" comedy series. The English fashion designer Charles Frederick Worth is widely considered the father of Haute couture.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The United Kingdom as a whole has a number of national symbols, as do its constituent nations. The Union Flag is the national flag of the United Kingdom. The first flag combined the cross of St George with the saltire of Saint Andrew to represent the Union of the Crowns in 1707. St Patrick's saltire was added when the Kingdom of Ireland was unified with Great Britain in 1801, and retained to represent Northern Ireland after partition in 1927. Wales has never been represented on the Union Flag, as in 1707 it was part of the Kingdom of England. Similarly, the Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom only represents England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. England occupies the first and fourth quarters of the arms except in Scotland, when its arms take precedence. Britannia is the national personification of the UK, while John Bull is a personification used in satirical contexts, and the national animals are the lion and the bulldog.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The UK does not have a floral emblem, but each nation does. The Tudor rose represents England, a thistle Scotland, the flax flower and shamrock Northern Ireland, and the leek and daffodil Wales. The rose, shamrock and thistle are engrafted on the same stem on the coat of arms of the United Kingdom. Another major floral symbol is the remembrance poppy, which has been worn in Britain since 1921 to commemorate soldiers who have died in war. In the weeks leading up to Remembrance Sunday they are distributed by The Royal British Legion in return for donations to their "Poppy Appeal", which supports all current and former British military personnel.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: A familiar sight throughout the UK, the red telephone box and Royal Mail red post box are considered British cultural icons. Designed by Sir Giles Gilbert in 1924, the red telephone box features a prominent crown representing the British government. The post pillar box was introduced in the 1850s during the reign of Queen Victoria following Sir Rowland Hill's postal reforms in the 1830s where the reduction in postal rates with the invention of the postage stamp (Penny Black) made sending post an affordable means of personal communication.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The red telephone box has appeared in British pop culture, such as in Adele's video "Hello", the front cover of One Direction's album "Take Me Home", and the back cover of David Bowie's album "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars".


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The world's first postcard was received by Theodore Hook from Fulham, London in 1840. The first pillar boxes had the distinctive Imperial cypher of Victoria Regina. Most pillar boxes produced after 1905 are made of cast iron and are cylindrical, and have served well throughout the reigns of George V, Edward VIII, George VI and Elizabeth II.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The sending and receiving of greeting cards is an established tradition in the UK, with card sending or card display in the home being an important part of British culture.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Sir Henry Cole devised the concept of sending greetings cards at Christmas time. Designed by John Callcott Horsley for Cole in 1843, the Christmas card accounts for almost half of the volume of greeting card sales in the UK, with over 600 million cards sold annually. The robin is a common sight in gardens throughout the UK. It is relatively tame and drawn to human activities, and is frequently voted Britain's national bird in polls. The robin began featuring on many Christmas cards in the mid-19th century. The association with Christmas arises from postmen in Victorian Britain who wore red jackets and were nicknamed "Robins"; the robin featured on the Christmas card is an emblem of the postman delivering the card.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Sending Valentine's Day cards became hugely popular in Britain in the late 18th century, a practice which has since spread to other nations. The day first became associated with romantic love within the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. In Chaucer's "Parlement of Foules" (1382) he wrote; "For this was on seynt Volantynys day. When euery bryd comets there to chese his make". The modern cliché Valentine's Day poem can be found in the 1784 English nursery rhyme "Roses Are Red"; "The rose is red, the violet's blue. 'The honey's sweet, and so are you. Thou art my love and I am thine. I drew thee to my Valentine."


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: In 1797, a British publisher issued "The Young Man's Valentine Writer" which contained scores of suggested sentimental verses for the young lover unable to compose his own. In 1835, 60,000 Valentine cards were sent by post in the UK, despite postage being expensive. A reduction in postal rates (with the 1840 invention of the postage stamp, the Penny Black) increased the practice of mailing Valentines, with 400,000 sent in 1841. In the UK just under half the population spend money on gifts. Other popular occasions for sending greeting cards in the UK are birthdays, Mother's Day, Easter and Father's Day.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Each country of the United Kingdom has a separate education system. Power over education matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is devolved but education in England is dealt with by the British government since there is no devolved administration for England.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Most schools came under state control in the Victorian era; a formal state school system was instituted after the Second World War. Initially, schools were categorised as infant schools, primary schools and secondary schools (split into more academic grammar schools and more vocational secondary modern schools). Under the Labour governments of the 1960s and 1970s most secondary modern and grammar schools were combined to become comprehensive schools. England has many independent (fee-paying) schools, some founded hundreds of years ago; independent secondary schools are known as public schools. Eton, Harrow, Shrewsbury and Rugby are four of the best-known. The nature and peculiarities of these Public schools have frequently featured in British literature. Prior to 1999, corporal punishment was allowed in such schools, whilst the use of corporal punishment was outlawed in state schools in 1987. Most primary and secondary schools in both the private and state sectors have compulsory school uniforms. Allowances are almost invariably made, however, to accommodate religious dress, including the Islamic hijab and Sikh bangle (kara).


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Although the Minister of Education is responsible to Parliament for education, the day-to-day administration and funding of state schools is the responsibility of local education authorities.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: England's universities include some of the highest-ranked universities in the world: the University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, the University of Oxford and University College London are all ranked in the global top 10 in the 2010 "QS World University Rankings". The London School of Economics has been described as the world's leading social science institution for both teaching and research. The London Business School is considered one of the world's leading business schools and in 2010 its MBA programme was ranked best in the world by the "Financial Times". Academic degrees in England are usually split into classes: first class (I), upper second class (II:1), lower second class (II:2) and third (III), and unclassified (below third class).


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The Northern Ireland Assembly is responsible for education in Northern Ireland. Schools are administered by five Education and Library Boards covering different geographical areas.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Scotland has a long history of universal provision of public education which, traditionally, has emphasised breadth across a range of subjects rather than depth of education in a smaller range of subjects. The majority of schools are non-denominational, but by law separate Roman Catholic schools, with an element of control by the Roman Catholic Church, are provided by the state system. Qualifications at the secondary school and post-secondary (further education) levels are provided by the Scottish Qualifications Authority and delivered through various schools, colleges and other centres. Political responsibility for education at all levels is vested in the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Executive Education and Enterprise, Transport & Lifelong Learning Departments. State schools are owned and operated by the local authorities which act as "Education Authorities", and the compulsory phase is divided into primary school and secondary school (often called high school, with the world's oldest high school being the Royal High School, Edinburgh in 1505, which colonists spread to the New World owing to the high prestige enjoyed by the Scottish educational system). Schools are supported in delivering the National Guidelines and National Priorities by Learning and Teaching Scotland.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: First degree courses at Scottish universities are often a year longer than elsewhere in the UK, though sometimes students can take a more advanced entrance exam and join the courses in the second year. One unique aspect is that the ancient universities of Scotland award a Master of Arts degree as the first degree in humanities. The University of Edinburgh is among the top twenty universities in the world according to the QS World University Rankings 2011. It is also among the Ancient Universities of Great Britain.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The National Assembly for Wales has responsibility for education in Wales. A significant number of students in Wales are educated either wholly or largely through the medium of the Welsh language, and lessons in the language are compulsory for all until the age of 16. There are plans to increase the provision of Welsh medium education as part of the policy of promoting a fully bilingual Wales.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Scouting is the largest co-educational youth movement in the UK. Scouting began in 1907 when Robert Baden-Powell, Lieutenant General in the British Army, held the first Scout camp at Brownsea Island in Dorset, England. Baden-Powell wrote the principles of Scouting in "Scouting for Boys" in 1908. In July 2009, adventurer Bear Grylls became the youngest Chief Scout ever, aged 35. In 2010, scouting in the UK experienced its biggest growth since 1972, taking total membership to almost 500,000.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The UK (England in particular) has a relatively high population density so housing tends to be more closely packed than in other countries. Thus terraced houses are widespread, dating back to the aftermath of the Great Fire of London.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: As the first industrialised country in the world, the UK has long been urbanised. In the 20th century, suburbanisation led to a spread of semi-detached and detached housing. After the Second World War, public housing was dramatically expanded to create a large number of council estates. There are many historic country houses and stately homes in rural areas, though only a minority of these are still used as private living accommodation.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: In recent times, more detached housing has started to be built. Also, city living has boomed, with city centre populations rising rapidly. Most of this population growth has been accommodated in new apartment blocks in residential schemes in many towns and cities. Demographic changes (see below) are putting great pressure on the housing market, especially in London and the South East.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Historically most people in the United Kingdom lived either in conjugal extended families or nuclear families. This reflected an economic landscape where the general populace tended to have less spending power, meaning that it was more practical to stick together rather than go their individual ways. This pattern also reflected gender roles. Men were expected to go out to work and women were expected to stay at home and look after the families.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: In the 20th century the emancipation of women, the greater freedoms enjoyed by both men and women in the years following the Second World War, greater affluence and easier divorce have changed gender roles and living arrangements significantly. The general trend is a rise in single people living alone, the virtual extinction of the extended family (outside certain ethnic minority communities), and the nuclear family arguably reducing in prominence.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: From the 1990s, the break-up of the traditional family unit, when combined with low interest rates and other demographic changes, has created great pressure on the housing market, in particular on accommodation for "key workers" such as nurses, other emergency service workers and teachers, who are priced out of most housing, especially in the South East. Some research indicates that in the 21st century young people are tending to continue to live in the parental home for much longer than their predecessors.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: When Brits were asked to rate their happiness yesterday on a scale of 1 to 10 in 2018, respondent's mean answer was 7.54 (ranked 'High') in 2018. Northern Irish respondents were ranked the happiest of the United Kingdom (with a mean of 7.74), followed by the English (with 7.54), then the Scots (with 7.52) and finally the Welsh (with 7.51).


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: However, only 25% of women and girls between the ages of 7 and 21 claim to be very happy, which has fallen from 41% in 2009. They claimed that it was due to the pressure from exams and social media, which exerted undue amounts of stress on them. In that category, the oldest were the least happy: 27% of young women aged 17 to 21 claimed they were not happy, compared to 11% in 2009. This negatively influenced their confidence by 61%, health by 50%, relationships by 49% and studying by 39%. 69% of respondents in that age group claimed school exams were the chief stressor, 59% felt pressure from social media was making them less happy, and compared to 5 years ago, more claimed they had experienced unkind, threatening or negative reactions on social media. The proportion of the population who knew someone with mental health issues rose from 62% in 2015 to 71% in 2018. Many young women and girls feel unsafe walking alone: over half aged from 13 to 21 have experienced harassment or know someone who has, and almost half feel unsafe using public transport.<ref name="guardian19/9/2018">UK survey finds sharp decline in happiness of young women and girls "The Guardian"</ref>


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The proportion of young girls considering themselves feminists has risen from 35% in 2013 to 47% in 2018. 36% of young women and girls aged 11 to 21 had spoken up about an issue that mattered to them, this rose from 28% in 2011 but only 60% felt they had been listened to. Girls have also become more interested in science, maths and technology. Girls are more likely to want to become leaders in their careers, 53% compared to 42% in 2016. Maria Miller said, “#MeToo may have left its mark in Hollywood but for women and girls around the country their ambitions to succeed are still too often met with sexism. It's important more women and girls are now speaking out about how this behaviour undermines their confidence and mental health; but this harmful, negative behaviour has to be stopped".


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: The common naming convention throughout the United Kingdom is for everyone to have one or more given names (a forename, still often referred to as a "Christian name") usually (but not always) indicating the child's sex, and a surname ("family name"). A four-year study by the University of the West of England, which concluded in 2016, analysed sources dating from the 11th to the 19th centuries to explain the origins of the surnames in the British Isles. The study found that over 90% of the 45,602 surnames in the dictionary are native to the British Isles; the most common in the UK are Smith, Jones, Williams, Brown, Taylor, Johnson, and Lee. Since the 19th century middle names (additional forenames) have become very common and are sometimes taken from the name of a family member.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: Traditionally, Christian names were those of Biblical figures or recognised saints; however, in the Gothic Revival of the Victorian era, other Anglo Saxon and mythical names enjoyed something of a fashion among the "literati". Since the 20th century, however, first names have been influenced by a much wider cultural base.


title: Culture of the United Kingdom

text: First names from the British Isles include Jennifer, a Cornish form of Guinevere (Welsh: Gwenhwyfar) from Arthurian romance, which gained recognition after George Bernard Shaw used it for the main female character in his play "The Doctor's Dilemma" (1906): Jennifer first entered the top 100 most commonly used names for baby girls in England and Wales in 1934. The oldest written record of the name Jessica is in Shakespeare's play "The Merchant of Venice", where it belongs to the daughter of Shylock. Jessica is the seventh most popular name for baby girls in England and Wales in 2015. First appearing in 13th century England, Olivia was popularised by Shakespeare's character in the "Twelfth Night" (1602). Vanessa was created by Jonathan Swift in his poem "Cadenus and Vanessa" (1713). While it first appeared in late 16th century England, Pamela was popularised after Samuel Richardson named it as the title for his 1740 novel.


title: Penny-farthing

text: The penny-farthing, also known as a high wheel, high wheeler or ordinary, is an early type of bicycle. It was popular in the 1870s and 1880s, with its large front wheel providing high speeds (owing to its travelling a large distance for every rotation of the legs) and comfort (the large wheel provides greater shock absorption).


title: Penny-farthing

text: It became obsolete in the late 1880s with the development of modern bicycles, which provided similar speed amplification via chain-driven gear trains and comfort through pneumatic tires, and were marketed in comparison to penny-farthings as "safety bicycles" because of the reduced danger of falling and the reduced height to fall from.


title: Penny-farthing

text: The name came from the British penny and farthing coins, the former being much larger than the latter, so that the side view resembles a larger penny (the front wheel) leading a smaller farthing (the rear wheel). Although the name "penny-farthing" is now the most common, it was probably not used until the machines were nearly outdated; the first recorded print reference is from 1891 in "Bicycling News". For most of their reign, they were simply known as "bicycles", and were the first machines to be so called (though they were not the first two-wheeled, pedaled vehicles). In the late 1890s, the name "ordinary" began to be used, to distinguish them from the emerging safety bicycles; this term and "hi-wheel" (and variants) are preferred by many modern enthusiasts.


title: Penny-farthing

text: Following the popularity of the boneshaker, Eugène Meyer, a Frenchman, invented the high-wheeler bicycle design in 1869 and fashioned the wire-spoke tension wheel. Around 1870 English inventor James Starley, described as the father of the bicycle industry, and others, began producing bicycles based on the French boneshaker but with front wheels of increasing size, because larger front wheels, up to in diameter, enabled higher speeds on bicycles limited to direct-drive. In 1878, Albert Pope began manufacturing the Columbia bicycle outside Boston, starting their two-decade heyday in America.


title: Penny-farthing

text: Although the trend was short-lived, the penny-farthing became a symbol of the late Victorian era. Its popularity also coincided with the birth of cycling as a sport.


title: Penny-farthing

text: Eugène Meyer of Paris is now regarded as the father of the high bicycle by the International Cycling History Conference in place of James Starley. Meyer patented a wire-spoke tension wheel with individually adjustable spokes in 1869. They were called "spider" wheels in Britain when introduced there. Meyer produced a classic high bicycle design during the 1880s.


title: Penny-farthing

text: James Starley in Coventry added the tangent spokes and the mounting step to his famous bicycle named "Ariel". He is regarded as the father of the British cycling industry. Ball bearings, solid rubber tires and hollow-section steel frames became standard, reducing weight and making the ride much smoother.


title: Penny-farthing

text: Penny-farthing bicycles are dangerous because of the risk of headers (taking a fall over the handlebars head-first). Makers developed "moustache" handlebars, allowing the rider's knees to clear them, "Whatton" handlebars that wrapped around behind the legs, and ultimately (though too late, after development of the safety bicycle), the American "Eagle" and "Star" bicycles, whose large and small wheels were reversed. This prevented headers but left the danger of being thrown backwards when riding uphill. Other attempts included moving the seat rearward and driving the wheel by levers or treadles, as in the "Xtraordinary" and "Facile", or gears, by chain as in the "Kangaroo" or at the hub, as in the "Crypto"; another option was to move the seat well back, as in the "Rational".


title: Penny-farthing

text: Even so, bicycling remained the province of the urban well-to-do, and mainly men, until the 1890s, and was a salient example of conspicuous consumption.


title: Penny-farthing

text: The penny-farthing used a larger wheel than the velocipede, thus giving higher speeds on all but the steepest hills. In addition, the large wheel gave a smoother ride, important before the invention of pneumatic tires.


title: Penny-farthing

text: Although the high riding position seems daunting to some, mounting can be learned on a lower velocipede. Once the technique is mastered, a high wheeler can be mounted and dismounted easily on flat ground and some hills.


title: Penny-farthing

text: An attribute of the penny-farthing is that the rider sits high and nearly over the front axle. When the wheel strikes rocks and ruts, or under hard braking, the rider can be pitched forward off the bicycle head-first. Headers were relatively common and a significant, sometimes fatal, hazard. Riders coasting down hills often took their feet off the pedals and put them over the tops of the handlebars, so they would be pitched off feet-first instead of head-first.


title: Penny-farthing

text: Penny-farthing bicycles often used similar materials and construction as earlier velocipedes: cast iron frames, solid rubber tires, and plain bearings for pedals, steering, and wheels. They were often quite durable and required little service. For example, when cyclist Thomas Stevens rode around the world in the 1880s, he reported only one significant mechanical problem in over , caused when the local military confiscated his bicycle and damaged the front wheel.


title: Penny-farthing

text: The well-known dangers of the penny-farthing were, for the time of its prominence, outweighed by its strengths. While it was a difficult, dangerous machine, it was simpler, lighter, and faster than the safer velocipedes of the time. Two new developments changed this situation, and led to the rise of the safety bicycle. The first was the chain drive, originally used on tricycles, allowing a gear ratio to be chosen independent of the wheel size. The second was the pneumatic bicycle tire, allowing smaller wheels to provide a smooth ride.


title: Penny-farthing

text: The nephew of one of the men responsible for popularity of the penny-farthing was largely responsible for its demise. James Starley had built the Ariel (spirit of the air) high-wheeler in 1870; but this was a time of innovation, and when chain drives were upgraded so that each link had a small roller, higher and higher speeds became possible without the need for a large front wheel.


title: Penny-farthing

text: In 1885, Starley's nephew John Kemp Starley took these new developments to launch the modern bicycle, the Rover safety bicycle, so-called because the rider, seated much lower and farther behind the front wheel contact point, was less prone to a header.


title: Penny-farthing

text: In 1888, when John Dunlop re-invented the pneumatic tire for his son's tricycle, the high wheel was made obsolete. The comfortable ride once found only on tall wheels could now be enjoyed on smaller chain-driven bicycles. By 1893, high-wheelers were no longer being produced. Use lingered into the 1920s in track cycling until racing safety bicycles were adequately designed.


title: Penny-farthing

text: Today, enthusiasts ride restored penny-farthings, and a few manufacturers build new ones with modern materials. One of these manufacturers is UDC Penny Farthings, the largest penny-farthing manufacturer in the United Kingdom. The manufacturer recorded record sales of penny-farthings in 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown.


title: Penny-farthing

text: The Penny Farthing Club is a cycling club that was founded in 2013 by Neil Laughton. The club offers rider training, bike tours of London and other UK cities, and hosts club events such as penny-farthing polo.


title: Penny-farthing

text: The penny-farthing is a direct-drive bicycle, meaning the cranks and pedals are fixed directly to the hub. Instead of using gears to multiply the revolutions of the pedals, the driven wheel is enlarged to be close to the rider's inseam, to increase the maximum speed. This shifts the rider nearly on top of the wheel and makes it impossible for the rider to reach the ground while sitting on the seat.


title: Penny-farthing

text: The frame is a single tube following the circumference of the front wheel, then diverting to a trailing wheel. A mounting peg is above the rear wheel. The front wheel is in a rigid fork with little if any trail. A spoon brake is usually fitted on the fork crown, operated by a lever from one of the handlebars. The bars are usually mustache shaped, dropping from the level of the headset. The saddle mounts on the frame less than behind the headset.


title: Penny-farthing

text: One particular model, made by Pope Manufacturing Company in 1886, weighs , has a 60-spoke front wheel and a 20-spoke rear wheel. It is fitted with solid rubber tires. The rims, frame, fork, and handlebars are made from hollow, steel tubing. The steel axles are mounted in adjustable ball bearings. The leather saddle is suspended by springs.


title: Penny-farthing

text: Another model, made by Humber and Co., Ltd., of Beeston, Nottingham, weighs only , and has and wheels. It has no step and no brakes, in order to minimize weight.


title: Penny-farthing

text: A third model, also made by Pope Manufacturing Company, weighs and has forged steel forks. A brake lever on the right of a straight handlebar operates a spoon brake against the front wheel.


title: Penny-farthing

text: Mounting requires skill. The rider must first grasp the handlebar and place one foot on a peg above the back wheel. Then the rider scoots the bicycle forward to gain momentum and quickly jumps up onto the seat while continuing to steer the bicycle and maintain balance.


title: Penny-farthing

text: Although easy to ride slowly because of their high center of mass and the inverted pendulum effect, penny-farthings are prone to accidents. To stop, the rider presses back on the pedals while applying a spoon-shaped brake pressing the tire. The center of mass being high and not far behind the front wheel means any sudden stop or collision with a pothole or other obstruction can send the rider over the handlebars. On long downhills, some riders hooked their feet over the handlebars. This made for quick descents but left no chance of stopping. A new type of handlebar was introduced, called Whatton bars, that looped behind the legs so that riders could still keep their feet on the pedals and also be able to leap forward feet-first off the machine.


title: Penny-farthing

text: Frederick Lindley Dodds, of Stockton-on-Tees, England, is credited with having set the first hour record, covering an estimated distance of 15 miles and 1,480 yards (25.493 kms) on a high-wheeler during a race on the Fenner's Track, Cambridge University on March 25, 1876.


title: Penny-farthing

text: The furthest (paced) hour record ever achieved on a penny-farthing bicycle was by William A. Rowe, an American, in 1886.


title: Penny-farthing

text: The record for riding from Land's End to John o' Groats on a penny-farthing was set in 1886 by George Pilkington Mills with a time of five days, one hour, and 45 minutes. This record was broken in 2019 by Richard Thoday with a time of four days, 11 hours and 52 minutes.


title: Penny-farthing

text: Until the 21st century, the last paced hour record to be set on a penny-farthing was probably BW Attlee's 1891 English amateur record of . This was beaten by Scots cyclist Mark Beaumont at Herne Hill Velodrome on 16 June 2018 when he covered .


title: Penny-farthing

text: In 1884, Thomas Stevens rode a Columbia penny-farthing from San Francisco to Boston—the first cyclist to cross the United States. In 1885–86, he continued from London through Europe, the Middle East, China, and Japan, to become the first to ride around the world.


title: Penny-farthing

text: Tremendous feats of balance were reported, including negotiating a narrow bridge parapet and riding down the U.S. Capitol steps with the American Star Bicycle which has the small wheel in front.


title: Penny-farthing

text: The bike, with the one wheel dominating, led to riders being referred to in America as "wheelmen", a name that lived on for nearly a century in the League of American Wheelmen until renamed the League of American Bicyclists in 1994. Clubs of racing cyclists wore uniforms of peaked caps, tight jackets and knee-length breeches, with leather shoes, the caps and jackets displaying the club's colors. In 1967 collectors and restorers of penny-farthings (and other early bicycles) founded the Wheelmen, a non-profit organization "dedicated to keeping alive the heritage of American cycling".


title: Penny-farthing

text: The high-wheeler lives on in the gear inch units used by cyclists in English-speaking countries to describe gear ratios. These are calculated by multiplying the wheel diameter in inches by the number of teeth on the front chain-wheel and dividing by the teeth on the rear sprocket. The result is the equivalent diameter of a penny-farthing wheel. A 60-inch gear, the largest practicable size for a high-wheeler, is nowadays a middle gear of a utility bicycle, while top gears on many exceed 100 inches. There was at least one Columbia made in the mid-1880s, but 60 was the largest in regular production.


title: Penny-farthing

text: A penny-farthing is the logo of The Village in the cult 1960s television series "The Prisoner", and is also featured in the show's closing titles. Co-creator and star Patrick McGoohan stated that the bike represented slowing down the wheels of progress.


title: Penny-farthing

text: The penny-farthing is a symbol of the cities of Sparta, Wisconsin; Davis, California; and Redmond, Washington.


title: Big five game

text: In Africa, the Big Five game animals are the lion, leopard, black rhinoceros, African bush elephant, and African buffalo. They are examples of charismatic megafauna, featuring prominently in popular culture, and are among the most famous of Africa's large animals. The term was coined by big-game hunters, and refers to the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot but is now more widely used by game viewing tourists and safari tour operators.


title: Big five game

text: The 1990 and later releases of South African rand banknotes feature a different big-five animal on each denomination.


title: Big five game

text: Countries where all can be found include Angola, Botswana, Zambia, Uganda, Namibia, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Eswatini, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Malawi.


title: Big five game

text: The African bush elephant ("Loxodonta africana") and African forest elephant ("Loxodonta cyclotis") are the largest land-based animals. Elephants are herbivores with thick, almost hairless skin; a long, flexible, prehensile trunk; upper incisors forming long, curved, ivory tusks; and large, fan-shaped ears. Elephants are difficult to hunt because, despite their large size, they are able to hide in thick bush and are more likely to charge than the other Big Five species. They become aggressive when their young are threatened.


title: Big five game

text: The black rhinoceros ("Diceros bicornis") and white rhinoceros ("Ceratotherium simum") are large herbivores with two upright horns on their nasal bridge. The black rhino is classified as critically endangered and the white rhino as near threatened, and both are subject to extensive poaching. Among big-five game hunters, the black rhinoceros is more highly prized.


title: Big five game

text: The African buffalo ("Syncerus caffer") is a large horned bovid. It is the only animal among the Big Five that is not on the "endangered" or "threatened" list. The Cape buffalo ("Syncerus caffer caffer") is considered by many to be the most dangerous of any of the Big Five: buffalos have reportedly been known to ambush and attack humans.


title: Big five game

text: The lion ("Panthera leo") is a large, carnivorous feline found in Africa and northwest India. It has a short, tawny coat; a tufted tail; and, in the male, a heavy mane around the neck and shoulders. As a large and charismatic apex predator, lions are among the most popular species to view on safari tours.


title: Big five game

text: The leopard ("Panthera pardus") is a large, carnivorous feline. Its fur is generally tawny with dark rosette-shaped markings. The leopard is the most seldom seen of the Big Five because of its nocturnal habits (it is most active between sunset and sunrise, although it may hunt during the day in some areas), and because it is wary of humans and will take flight in the face of danger. Leopards can be found in the savanna grasslands, brush land and forested areas in Africa. Among the Big Five, they are the most difficult animals to acquire a hunting license for.


title: Big five game

text: Africa's Big Five have become major concerns for wildlife conservationists in recent years. The African lion and African leopard are both classified as vulnerable. The African savanna elephant is listed as endangered by the IUCN as of 2021. The southern white rhinoceros and African buffalo are classified as near threatened while the black rhinoceros is classified as critically endangered.


title: Thallium

text: Thallium is a chemical element with the symbol Tl and atomic number 81. It is a gray post-transition metal that is not found free in nature. When isolated, thallium resembles tin, but discolors when exposed to air. Chemists William Crookes and Claude-Auguste Lamy discovered thallium independently in 1861, in residues of sulfuric acid production. Both used the newly developed method of flame spectroscopy, in which thallium produces a notable green spectral line. Thallium, from Greek , , meaning "green shoot" or "twig", was named by Crookes. It was isolated by both Lamy and Crookes in 1862; Lamy by electrolysis, and Crookes by precipitation and melting of the resultant powder. Crookes exhibited it as a powder precipitated by zinc at the international exhibition, which opened on 1 May that year.


title: Thallium

text: Thallium tends to form the +3 and +1 oxidation states. The +3 state resembles that of the other elements in group 13 (boron, aluminium, gallium, indium). However, the +1 state, which is far more prominent in thallium than the elements above it, recalls the chemistry of alkali metals, and thallium(I) ions are found geologically mostly in potassium-based ores, and (when ingested) are handled in many ways like potassium ions (K) by ion pumps in living cells.


title: Thallium

text: Commercially, thallium is produced not from potassium ores, but as a byproduct from refining of heavy-metal sulfide ores. Approximately 65% of thallium production is used in the electronics industry, and the remainder is used in the pharmaceutical industry and in glass manufacturing. It is also used in infrared detectors. The radioisotope thallium-201 (as the soluble chloride TlCl) is used in small amounts as an agent in a nuclear medicine scan, during one type of nuclear cardiac stress test.


title: Thallium

text: Soluble thallium salts (many of which are nearly tasteless) are highly toxic, and they were historically used in rat poisons and insecticides. Because of their nonselective toxicity, use of these compounds has been restricted or banned in many countries. Thallium poisoning usually results in hair loss. Because of its historic popularity as a murder weapon, thallium has gained notoriety as "the poisoner's poison" and "inheritance powder" (alongside arsenic).


title: Thallium

text: A thallium atom has 81 electrons, arranged in the electron configuration [Xe]4f5d6s6p; of these, the three outermost electrons in the sixth shell are valence electrons. Due to the inert pair effect, the 6s electron pair is relativistically stabilised and it is more difficult to get these involved in chemical bonding than it is for the heavier elements. Thus, very few electrons are available for metallic bonding, similar to the neighboring elements mercury and lead. Thallium, then, like its congeners, is a soft, highly electrically conducting metal with a low melting point, of 304 °C.


title: Thallium

text: A number of standard electrode potentials, depending on the reaction under study, are reported for thallium, reflecting the greatly decreased stability of the +3 oxidation state:


title: Thallium

text: Thallium is the first element in group 13 where the reduction of the +3 oxidation state to the +1 oxidation state is spontaneous under standard conditions. Since bond energies decrease down the group, with thallium, the energy released in forming two additional bonds and attaining the +3 state is not always enough to outweigh the energy needed to involve the 6s-electrons. Accordingly, thallium(I) oxide and hydroxide are more basic and thallium(III) oxide and hydroxide are more acidic, showing that thallium conforms to the general rule of elements being more electropositive in their lower oxidation states.