You might think that Christmas cards have been around forever, and the annual card writing marathon seems to last an eternity almost as long. But you’d be wrong. And neither did they begin in Lapland!

William Caxton might have introduced the world’s first printing press in 1476 in Westminster, but it took until 1702 for the world’s first daily paper to surface - The Daily Courant.

If you assumed a Scotch Egg heralded from Scotland, it would be understandable, however, it would also be entirely wrong. The claim for the invention of Scotch Eggs lies at the other end of the British Isles in London’s Fortnum and Mason store and dates back to 1738.

The medieval jousting lance has been responsible for a lot more than running through galloping knights. Bizarre as it might seem, it is the reason why we drive on the left-hand side of the road in the UK.

Positioned in the south-east corner of Trafalgar Square, you could easily walk by this police station on a daily basis and not know it’s there. Thanks to Dr Who the world is familiar with the old style police box, but in this instance, there is no Time And Relative Dimensions In Space - this one is every bit as small on the inside as its diminutive exterior suggests.

It is said the British are obsessed with the weather and some say they speak of little else, so maybe it’s appropriate that the daily weather forecast is a British creation.

Fish & Chips - inextricably linked with Britain and often (unfairly) sneeringly referred to as the UK’s primary contribution to global cuisine. It only seems logical that its origins must lie somewhere on the 19,491-mile British coastline.

Everything starts somewhere and the 3 million cashpoint machines around the world can all trace themselves back to a single money dispenser in Enfield, North London.

Freezing, salting, smoking, boiling, pickling, curing, burying, drying, jellying, vacuum packing, but probably none has had a greater impact than canning.

As a scientist, if you are going to set out to discover, define or calculate something, you might as well make it something BIG! Henry Cavendish did precisely that when, from his Clapham Common residence, he determined to calculate the density of the planet Earth.

Buck Fizz – champagne and orange juice – tends to divide people. To some it is needless and unwelcome fruit interference in the finest of wine drinks, to others, it’s a gloriously fresh drink that can even be taken at breakfast on special occasions without making the drinker look like a total lush.

Cycling today is a massive sport and a huge leisure pursuit, not to mention a practical means of transport for millions, but it was not until 1817 that two wheels in front and back alignment were deployed and put to practical use. This was by Baron Karl Von Drais in Germany.