The history of 'Union Jack' flag

Today, the British flag, the popular "Union Jack", is one of the most global and most easily recognizable symbols? It is so popular that can be easily found not only all around the United Kingdom, but even abroad - on fashion clothing and accessories, gifts, mugs, posters, stationery...

Lets go back in time and see how is the 'Union Jack' is born. Until early 17th century, England and Scotland were two independent counties that shared a small territory of the island, often involved into mutual conflicts and wars. After the death of the English ruler, Queen Elizabeth I, who died unmarried and childless. The England throne was succeeded in 1603 by James VI, King of Scotland, queen's cousin. He became James I, King of England and  England and Scotland now shared the same monarch under what was known as a 'union of the crowns'.

20 interesting facts about Great Britain

Every country in the world has its own tradition, unwritten rules and peculiarities. Great Britain is not an exception and here are 20 interesting facts you may not know about England.

1. England is 74 times smaller than the United States, 59 times smaller than Australia and 3 times smaller than Japan. However, England is 2.5 times more populous than Australia.

2. The highest temperature ever recorded in England was 38.5 degrees Celsius in Brogdale, Kent, on 10th August 2003. I personally find English summer very pleasant and temperatures around 25 degrees Celsius are on average in the summer months.

3. This is not an urban myth! British people consume more tea per capita than anybody else in the world - 2.5 times more than the Japanese and 22 times more than the Americans or French. The tea time in England is not anymore about the time itself (well known 5 pm), but having a tea means to refresh yourself, recharge the batteries during a day, have a break from the work, have a nice hot drink while being snugged in the front of TV... you name it.The tea time is important time in England.