2. Contrary to popular belief, Big Ben isn t a tower. The bell inside the tower is called Big Ben. The tower itself is actually called The Elizabeth Tower
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6. In 2008, when alcohol on public transport was about to be banned, passengers sat all day on the subway drinking beers right up until the ban started.
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8. The organizers of the 2012 London Olympics wanted Keith Moon to be one of the acts. They realized only later that he had already been dead for more than three decades
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9. Ships of the Royal Navy that enter the Port of London are still required to give the Constable of the Tower a bottle of rum (according to laws that haven t been changed)
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10. A statue of George Washington in Trafalgar Square stands on soil that was imported from the US in order to honor the promise never to step foot on British soil again
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11. In 1251 the King of Norway gave King Henry III a polar bear. The king kept it on a really long chain in the Tower of London so it could swim in the river
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13. The City of London actually has less than 8,000 residents and is one of the smallest cities in the UK. Greater London includes all of the districts surrounding the City. Its population is in the millions and is what people think of when they hear the word London even though it is not technically a city.
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16. In order to prevent people from texting during movies the Prince Charles Cinema hired ninjas that stood in the back of the theatre and scared people who were being disruptive
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19. In order to become a taxi driver in London you have to memorize every single street and pass a test called The Knowledge . It allegedly takes several years to memorize the entire city.
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20. The scientist that designed the V2 rocket for the Germans (Wernher Von Braun) always wanted to go to space. Unfortunately, his rocket was instead used as a weapon. After the bombing of London he was famous for noting that the rocket worked perfectly except for landing on the wrong planet
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24. Driving in London during the day often requires you to pay a congestion fee . Some people apparently avoid this by registering their cars as private taxis and not picking people up
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