Olympic art competitions
From 1912 to 1948 the Olympics gave medals for painting, music, poetry, sculpture and architecture.
London Bridge (Arizona)
In 1968 London Bridge was sold to an American businessman and rebuilt in the Arizona desert.
Leaning Tower of Pisa
The Leaning Tower of Pisa started leaning before it was finished, and took 199 years to build.
First photograph
The oldest surviving camera photograph, from about 1826, needed an exposure of hours or even days.
Fax machine
The fax machine was patented in 1843, more than thirty years before the telephone.
Big Ben
Big Ben is the name of the great bell, not the clock tower, and the bell has had a crack since 1859.
Year of Confusion
The year 46 BC lasted 445 days, as the Romans added extra months to fix their calendar.
University of Oxford
Teaching at Oxford began by 1096, more than two centuries before the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan was founded.
Calendar change of 1752
In 1752 Britain skipped eleven days: Wednesday 2 September was followed by Thursday 14 September.
Vending machine
The first known vending machine was designed in the 1st century AD and sold holy water for a coin.