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Flag of the United Kingdom	Coat of Arms for the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The UK includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and most of the smaller islands within the British Isles, making up a total area of 94,354 square miles (244,376 km²). Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea, and the Irish Sea. The United Kingdom had an estimated population of over 68.2 million people in 2023. The capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom is London, whose wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. The cities of Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Belfast are the national capitals of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, respectively.

The lands of the UK have been inhabited continuously since the Neolithic. In AD 43 the Roman conquest of Britain began; the Roman departure was followed by Anglo-Saxon settlement. In 1066, the Normans conquered England. With the end of the Wars of the Roses the English state stabilised and began to grow in power, resulting by the 16th century in the annexation of Wales, the domination of Scotland, and the establishment of the British Empire. Over the course of the 17th century, the role of the British monarchy was reduced, particularly as a result of the English Civil War. In 1707, the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland united under the Treaty of Union to create the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Acts of Union 1800 incorporated the Kingdom of Ireland to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801. Most of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922 as the Irish Free State, and the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 created the present United Kingdom.

The UK became the first industrialised country and was the world's foremost power for the majority of the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly during the "Pax Britannica" between 1815 and 1914. At its height in the 1920s, the British Empire encompassed almost a quarter of the world's landmass and population, and was the largest empire in history. However, its involvement in the First World War and the Second World War damaged Britain's economic power and a global wave of decolonisation led to the independence of most British colonies. (Full article...)

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The Talyllyn Railway is a narrow-gauge preserved railway in Wales running for 7.25 miles (11.67 km) from Tywyn on the Mid-Wales coast to Nant Gwernol near the village of Abergynolwyn. The line was opened in 1866 to carry slate from the quarries at Bryn Eglwys to Tywyn, and was the first narrow gauge railway in Britain authorised by Act of Parliament to carry passengers using steam haulage. Despite severe under-investment, the line remained open, and in 1951 it became the first railway in the world to be preserved as a heritage railway by volunteers. Since preservation, the railway has operated as a tourist attraction, significantly expanding its rolling stock through acquisition and an engineering programme to build new locomotives and carriages. In 1976 an extension was opened along the former mineral line from Abergynolwyn to the new station at Nant Gwernol. In 2001 the preservation society celebrated its 50th anniversary, and in 2005 a major rebuilding and extension of Tywyn Wharf station took place, including a much expanded facility for the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum. The fictional Skarloey Railway, which formed part of the Railway Series of children's books by the Rev. W Awdry, was based on the Talyllyn Railway. The preservation of the line inspired the Ealing Comedy film The Titfield Thunderbolt. (Full article...)

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JK Rowling, after receiving an honorary degree from The University of Aberdeen

J. K. Rowling is a British writer and author of the Harry Potter fantasy series. The Potter books have gained worldwide attention, won multiple awards, and sold nearly 400 million copies. The 2007 Sunday Times Rich List estimated Rowling's fortune at £545 million, ranking her as the 136th richest person and the 13th richest woman in Britain. Forbes has named Rowling the second-richest female entertainer in the world, and ranked her as the 48th most powerful celebrity of 2007. Time named Rowling as a runner-up for their 2007 Person of the Year, noting the social, moral, and political inspiration she has given her fandom. She has become a notable philanthropist, supporting such charities as Comic Relief, the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain and One Parent Families. Harry Potter is now a global brand worth an estimated $15 billion (£7 billion), and the last four Harry Potter books have consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history. The series, totalling 4,195 pages, has been translated, in whole or in part, into 65 languages. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various United Kingdom-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The Forth Railway Bridge is a cantilever bridge over the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland. It was opened in 1890, and is designated as a Category A listed building. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 2Bodiam Castle is a 14th-century moated castle in East Sussex. Today there are thousands of castles throughout the UK. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 3Wembley Stadium, London, home of the England football team and FA Cup finals. Wembley also hosts concerts: Adele's 28 June 2017 concert was attended by 98,000 fans, a stadium record for a music event in the UK. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 4Queen Victoria's Christmas tree at Windsor Castle, published in the Illustrated London News, 1848 (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 5William Shakespeare has had a significant impact on British theatre and drama. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 6Peter O'Toole as T. E. Lawrence in David Lean's 1962 epic Lawrence of Arabia (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 7Typical 20th-century, three-bedroom semi-detached houses in England (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 8One of Britain's oldest indigenous breeds, the Bulldog is known as the national dog of Great Britain. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 9Welsh native Roald Dahl is frequently ranked the best children's author in British polls.
Image 10Banksy's Grin Reaper (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 11The full breakfast is among the best known British dishes, consisting of fried egg, sausage, bacon, mushrooms, baked beans, toast, fried tomatoes, and sometimes white or black pudding. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 12Stonehenge, Wiltshire at sunset (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 13The British Museum is one of the most visited museums in the world. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 14The red telephone box and Royal Mail red post box appear throughout the UK. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 15One of the UK's many stately homes, Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, surrounded by an English garden. The house is one of the settings of Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 16Caricature of British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli in Vanity Fair, 30 January 1869 (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 17The Grenadier Guards band playing "The British Grenadiers" at Trooping the Colour. Formed in 1685 the band performs at British ceremonial events. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 18The Proms are held annually at the Royal Albert Hall during the summer. Regular performers at the Albert Hall include Eric Clapton who has played at the venue over 200 times. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 19The wizard Merlin features as a character in many works of fiction, including the BBC series Merlin. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 20Titanic Belfast museum on the former shipyard in Belfast where the RMS Titanic was built (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 21The Royal Stewart tartan. It is also the personal tartan of Queen Elizabeth II Tartan is used in clothing, such as skirts and scarves, and has also appeared on tins of Scottish shortbread. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 22William III and Mary II Presenting the Cap of Liberty to Europe, 1716, Sir James Thornhill. Enthroned in heaven with the Virtues behind them are the royals William and Mary who had taken the throne after the Glorious Revolution and signed the English Bill of Rights of 1689. William tramples on arbitrary power and hands the red cap of liberty to Europe where, unlike Britain, absolute monarchy stayed the normal form of power execution. Below William is the French king Louis XIV. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 23The Battle of Trafalgar is an oil painting executed in 1822 by J. M. W. Turner (c.1775–1851). The experience of military, political and economic power from the rise of the British Empire led to a very specific drive in artistic technique, taste and sensibility in the United Kingdom. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 24Old Bushmills Distillery, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Founded in 1608, it is the oldest licensed whiskey distillery in the world. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 25Highland dancing in traditional Gaelic dress with its tartan pattern (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 26Hadrian's Wall was built in the 2nd century AD. It is a lasting monument from Roman Britain. It is the largest Roman artefact in existence. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 27Emmeline Pankhurst. Named one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century by Time, Pankhurst was a leading figure in the suffragette movement. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 28The Beatles are the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed band in popular music, with estimated sales of over one billion.
Image 29A Watt steam engine, the steam engine that propelled the Industrial Revolution in Britain and the world (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 30The Oxford Union debate chamber. Called the "world's most prestigious debating society", the Oxford Union has hosted leaders and celebrities. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 3110 Downing Street, official residence of the Prime Minister (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 32Broadcaster and naturalist David Attenborough is the only person to have won BAFTAs for programmes in each of black and white, colour, HD, and 3D. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 33Josiah Wedgwood was a leading entrepreneur in the Industrial Revolution. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 34Chicken tikka masala, served atop rice. An Anglo-Indian meal, it is among the UK's most popular dishes. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 35Statue of Minnie the Minx, a character from The Beano, in Dundee, Scotland. Launched in 1938, The Beano is known for its anarchic humour, with Dennis the Menace appearing on the cover. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 36The first colour photograph in 1861. Produced by the three-colour method suggested by James Clerk Maxwell in 1855, it is the foundation of all colour photographic processes. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 37Tea, biscuits, jam and cakes. Tea is the most popular beverage in the UK. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 38Charles Darwin established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 39John Speed's Genealogies Recorded in the Sacred Scriptures (1611), bound into first King James Bible in quarto size (1612) (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 40King Alfred the Great statue in Winchester, Hampshire. The 9th-century English king encouraged education in his kingdom, and proposed that primary education be taught in English, with those wishing to advance to holy orders to continue their studies in Latin. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 41The founder of modern nursing Florence Nightingale tending to a patient in 1855. An icon of Victorian Britain, she is known as The Lady with the Lamp. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 42A 21st-century detached Mock Tudor house in Scotland. Its timber framing is typical of English Tudor architecture. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 43An award-winning Victoria sponge from an English village fête. Competitive baking is part of the traditional village fête, inspiring The Great British Bake Off television series. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 44Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales prior to a Wales vs England Six Nations Championship game. The annual rugby union tournament (which includes Scotland and Ireland) takes place over six weeks from late January/early February to mid March. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 45Scouts, Brownies, and Cubs with the local community in Tiverton, Devon on Remembrance Sunday (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 46The British Heart Foundation is the biggest funder of cardiovascular research in the UK. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 47The Notting Hill Carnival is Britain's biggest street festival. Led by members of the British African-Caribbean community, the annual carnival takes place in August and lasts three days. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 48Robert Burns' "Halloween" (1785) (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 49The Examination and Trial of Father Christmas (1686), published after Christmas was reinstated as a holy day in England (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 50Union Flag being flown on The Mall, London looking towards Buckingham Palace (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 51Cricketer W. G. Grace, with his long beard and MCC cap, was the most famous British sportsman in the Victorian era. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 52The Old English heroic poem Beowulf is located in the British Library. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 53The Christmas Pantomime 1890. Pantomime plays a prominent role in British culture during the Christmas and New Year season. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 54Cadbury chocolate bars (Dairy Milk back of tray), circa 1910 (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 55Mo Farah is the most successful British track athlete in modern Olympic Games history, winning the 5000 m and 10,000 m events at two Olympic Games. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 56Naomi Campbell appeared on the era-defining January 1990 cover of British Vogue. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 57Featherweight champion "Prince" Naseem Hamed was a major name in boxing and 1990s British pop culture. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 58Music hall evolved into variety shows. First performed in 1912, the Royal Variety Performance was first held at the London Palladium (pictured) in 1941. Performed in front of members of the Royal Family, it is held annually in December and broadcast on television. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 59Ice dancers Torvill and Dean in 2011. Their historic gold medal-winning performance at the 1984 Winter Olympics was watched by a British television audience of more than 24 million people. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 60Terraced houses are typical in inner cities and places of high population density. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 61Concorde (and the Red Arrows with their trail of red, white and blue smoke) mark the Queen's Golden Jubilee. With its slender delta wings Concorde won the public vote for best British design. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 62Centre Court at Wimbledon. The world's oldest tennis tournament, it has the longest sponsorship in sport with Slazenger supplying tennis balls to the event since 1902. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 63Jack In the Green, a traditional English folk custom being celebrated in Hastings Old Town, known for its many historic buildings. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 64Robert Burns is regarded as the national poet of Scotland.
Image 65Westminster Abbey is an example of English Gothic architecture. Since 1066, when William the Conqueror was crowned, the coronations of British monarchs have been held here. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 66King Edward's Chair in Westminster Abbey. A 13th-century wooden throne on which the British monarch sits when he or she is crowned at the coronation, swearing to uphold the law and the church. The monarchy is apolitical and impartial, with a largely symbolic role as head of state. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 67Sunday league football (a form of amateur football). Amateur matches throughout the UK often take place in public parks. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 68Yard, foot and inch measurements at the Royal Observatory, London. The British public commonly measure distance in miles and yards, height in feet and inches, weight in stone and pounds, speed in miles per hour. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 69Smeaton's Eddystone Lighthouse, 9 miles out to sea. John Smeaton pioneered hydraulic lime in concrete which led to the development of Portland cement in England and thus modern concrete. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 70Physicist Stephen Hawking set forth a theory of cosmology explained by a union of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. His 1988 book A Brief History of Time appeared on The Sunday Times best-seller list for a record-breaking 237 weeks. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 71R. White's soft drinks sold in London. Selling carbonated lemonade in 1845, by 1887 they sold strawberry soda, raspberry soda and cherryade. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 72Engraving of the English pirate Blackbeard from the 1724 book A General History of the Pyrates. The book is the prime source for many famous pirates of the Golden Age. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 73Two of the current Ravens of the Tower of London. The ravens' presence is traditionally believed to protect the Crown and the tower; a superstition holds that "if the Tower of London ravens are lost or fly away, the Crown will fall and Britain with it". (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 74New College, University of Edinburgh (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 75English Heritage blue plaque commemorating Sir Alfred Hitchcock at 153 Cromwell Road, London (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 76Queen Victoria in her white wedding dress with Prince Albert on their return from the marriage service at St James's Palace, London, 10 February 1840 (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 77McVitie's chocolate digestive is routinely ranked the UK's favourite snack, and No. 1 biscuit to dunk in tea. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 78Animator Nick Park with his Wallace and Gromit characters (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 79Statue of a tripod from The War of the Worlds in Woking, England, the hometown of author H. G. Wells. The book is a seminal depiction of a conflict between mankind and an extraterrestrial race. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)

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Featured pictures

Image 1
Eilean Donan
Photo: David Iliff
The castle on Eilean Donan, a small island in Loch Duich in the western Scottish Highlands. The castle, which was built in the 13th century and destroyed in the 18th century, is widely familiar from many photographs and appearances in film and television. The present buildings are a 20th-century reconstruction.
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Image 2
Canary Wharf
Photograph credit: Tony Jin
Canary Wharf is an area of London on the Isle of Dogs. It is defined by the Greater London Authority as being part of London's central business district, alongside Central London. Along with the City of London, Canary Wharf is one of the main financial centres of the United Kingdom and the world, containing many high-rise buildings including the fourth-tallest in the UK, One Canada Square, which opened on 26 August 1991.
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Image 3
The Ruins of Holyrood Chapel
Painting: Louis Daguerre
The Ruins of Holyrood Chapel is an oil painting on canvas completed by Louis Daguerre in c. 1824. It depicts Holyrood Abbey, once the official residence of the Monarch of the United Kingdom in Edinburgh, Scotland, lit by moonlight. The painting is now held by the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.
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Image 4
Bibury
Photo: Saffron Blaze
Arlington Row, a row of Cotswold stone cottages in Bibury, Gloucestershire, England. Built in 1380 as a monastic wool store, the buildings were converted into weavers' cottages in the 17th century. William Morris declared the village to be the most beautiful in England.
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Image 5
St Matthew's Church, Paisley
Photograph: Colin
St Matthew's Church in Paisley, Scotland, is an Art Nouveau church built between 1905 and 1907. The architect, WD McLennan, designed the building and many interior furnishings, including the organ case, font and pulpit. This view of the interior is from the rear gallery and features the stained glass window by Robert Anning Bell.
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Image 6
Beer Street and Gin Lane
Image credit: William Hogarth
Beer Street and Gin Lane are a pair of 1751 engravings by William Hogarth in support of the then-proposed Gin Act 1751. This Act of Parliament made the distillation of gin illegal in England. Beer Street shows a happy city drinking the "good" beverage of English beer, whereas Gin Lane claims to show what would happen if people started drinking gin, a harder liquor. People are shown as healthy, happy and hardworking in Beer Street, while in Gin Lane they are scrawny, lazy and acting carelessly, including a drunk mother accidentally sending her baby tumbling to its doom.
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Image 7
Caterpillar, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Artist: Sir John Tenniel
Sir John Tenniel's illustration of the Caterpillar for Lewis Carroll's classic children's book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The illustration is noted for its ambiguous central figure, which can be viewed as having either a human male's face with pointed nose and protruding lower lip or as the head end of an actual caterpillar, with the right three "true" legs visible. The small symbol in the lower left is composed of Tenniel's initials, which was how he signed most of his work for the book. The partially obscured word in the lower left-center is the last name of Edward Dalziel, the engraver of the piece.
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Image 8
Charles II of England
Painting: John Michael Wright or studio
Charles II of England (1630–1685) was king of England, Scotland and Ireland. He was king of Scotland from 1649 from his father's execution until being deposed by Oliver Cromwell in 1651, and king of England, Scotland and Ireland from the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 until his death. Internationally, Charles became involved in the Second and Third Anglo-Dutch Wars. Domestically, Charles attempted to introduce religious freedom for Catholics and Protestant dissenters with his 1672 Royal Declaration of Indulgence, but the English Parliament forced him to withdraw it.
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Image 9
Loch Torridon
Photo: Stefan Krause
Loch Torridon is a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland in the Northwest Highlands. The 15 mile- (25 km-) long body of water is home to several islets and a prominent prawn and shellfish fishery.
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Image 10
London
Photo credit: David Iliff
A 360° panorama of London taken from the dome of St Paul's Cathedral. Built from 1675 to 1708, the Cathedral is still one of the tallest buildings in the City of London.
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Image 11
Palace of Westminster
Photo credit: Diliff
The Palace of Westminster at dusk, showing the Victoria Tower (left) and the Clock Tower colloquially known as 'Big Ben'. The palace lies on the bank of the River Thames in the heart of London. The oldest part, Westminster Hall, dates to 1097, but most of the present structure dates from the 19th century, when it was rebuilt after it was almost entirely destroyed by a fire in 1834. Together with Westminster Abbey and Saint Margaret's Church, the palace is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Image 12
Sgùrr nan Gillean
Photograph: David Iliff
Sgùrr nan Gillean is a mountain in the northern section of the Cuillin range on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. With a height of 964 m (3162 feet), it is one of eleven Munros on the Cuillin ridge.
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Image 13
World War I
Photograph: Lt. J. W. Brooke
World War I was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel participated, making it one of the largest wars in history. An estimated nine million combatants and seven million civilians died as a direct result of the war with losses exacerbated by technological developments and the tactical stalemate caused by trench warfare (pictured). The war is also considered a contributory factor in a number of genocides and the 1918 influenza epidemic, which caused between 50 and 100 million deaths worldwide. Unresolved rivalries at the end of the conflict contributed to the outbreak of World War II about twenty years later.
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Image 14
Lake District
Photo: David Iliff
A panoramic view of Skiddaw mountain, the town of Keswick, and Derwentwater, as viewed from Walla Crag on a clear autumn afternoon in the Lake District. Located in North West England, the district is a popular tourist destination and is famous for its lakes and mountains, especially those within its national park.
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Image 15
Blackness Castle
Photograph: John Wells
Blackness Castle is a fortress located on the south shore of the Firth of Forth near Blackness, Scotland. Built by Sir George Crichton in the 1440s, the castle passed to King James II of Scotland in 1453. During its more than 500 years as crown property, the castle has served as a prison, artillery fortification, and ammunition depot. The castle is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument, in the care of Historic Scotland.
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Did you know - load new batch

... that Elizabeth II's childhood toys at 145 Piccadilly included 30 toy horses and a farm set collected from Woolworths?
... that when Westminster City Council in London agreed to use "global majority" as a more inclusive term than BAME or "ethnic minority", a Conservative MP called it "deeply sinister"?
... that a Space Forge satellite is scheduled to fly on the first-ever satellite launch from the United Kingdom?
... that "one of the finest cut brick façades" in the United Kingdom has been partially obscured by scaffolding for four years, as funds are raised for its repair?
... that Joanna Cherry showed a printed copy of an Internet meme featuring Lily Hoshikawa during a UK parliamentary committee meeting?
... that the Carbon Neutral Laboratory is the first of its kind in the United Kingdom?