History of England

England was settled by human predecessors over 700 000 years ago, and the population has varied along with the ice ages. Our specie, Homo sapiens, first came to England around 25 000 years ago, and they have stayed ever since 9500 B.C. This civilization did also raise the Stonehenge, in some inexpiable way.

Hadrian's Wall

The Romans invaded England twice, once in 54 B.C, led by Julius Caesar, and once in 45 A.D, while Claudius was emperor. At the second invasion, the Romans conquered the area of today’s England and Wales, and they built a wall at the border against Scotland, which they called Hadrian’s Wall. 

When the Romans retreated from England, the Anglo-Saxons settled there, who are seen as the ancestors of the English people. The Anglo-Saxons came from northern parts of Germany, and they brought their language, which today's

Viking from Norway

English comes from. After 800AD, Vikings frequently attacked England from the north. After the Vikings, Normans conquered England and ruled it for about 50 years, before England at the end was united to one country.

In the 16th century, the England expended its borders, and started settlements and colonies in other countries. At some point, the British Empire was the largest empire in the world, including almost 1/5 of the world’s population at the time. Thirteen of the states in the USA were British colonies first, until the declared independent.

Bombing of London

England also had a big influence on the two world wars. Especially in the second world war, when Germany bombed England and England bombed back. England were also the “deploy point” for soldiers from the western alliance, when they attacked the beaches of Normandy.

Today, England still is one of the most important countries in the world, as English has become a world language, and London is one of the world’s largest cities

-Torbjørn

Wayne Rooney!

As a football enthusiast, I will now write an article about a famous football player. As you probably know, Manchester United is the best club in England (and in the rest of the world). Therefore I have to write about an United player. The list is long. We have big names like David Beckham, Sir Bobby Charlton, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Paul Scholes and Teddy Sheringham. However, none of these legends play professional football anymore, and therefore i will not consider those as such relevant as the ones who play for the club right now. Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick, Danny Welbeck, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Wayne Rooney is the only English-born Manchester United players right now. And the main man of those is of course Wayne Rooney!

Rooney was born in Liverpool, and he play as forward for Manchester United (and England). He arrived to Manchester United from Everton in 2004. He scored his first goal in Barclays Premier League (BPL) as 16 year old (and 360 days) as the youngest ever to score in BPL. Rooney was voted as "BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year" in 2002, which is a prestigious price to win for a youngster. He also was the youngest to play and score for the English national football team. On his debut for Man. Utd. he scored three goal against the Turkish team "Fenerbahce." His best goal ever was against Manchester City, where he faced his back to the goal, jumped high off the ground, and with a bicycle kick smashed the ball in the corner of the goal. This goal was rewarded as the best goal ever in BPL. Rooney has many achievements in Manchester United. He won BPL five times: In 2006/07, 2007/08, 2008/9, 2010/11 and 2012/13. He won Champions League (the most prestigious trophy in the world) in 2008. He won the FA-Cup twice (League cup) in 2005/06 and 2009/10. He won the World Cup for club teams (and the golden ball for this tournament) in 2008. In 2010 Rooney was voted as Player of the Year. Rooney has scored 253 professional goals for Manchester United, Everton and England.

If you are interested, you can see a video that shows Wayne Rooney's goal against Manchester City:

-Aleksander

Fun Facts

Here are some fun facts about England, and the people who live there. 

• Big Ben actually refers to the bell, not the clock
• London has had several names, such as Londonium, Ludenwic, and Ludenburg
• The shortest war in the world was between England and Zanzibar in 1896, and lasted for 38 minutes
• The first hot chocolate house was opened in England in 1657
• The first telephone dictionary in England only contained 25 names
• Englishmen drink more tea then anyone else in the whole world

                         

• London is the only city who has hosted the Olympics three times 
• More the 30 000 people in England are named John Smith 
• England is 74 times smaller then the United States 
• It was a Jewish immigrant in 1860 who opened the first fish and chips restaurant in England
• Windsor Castle is the largest royal home in the world 

             

• In England, they drive on the left side of the road
• According to Wikipedia, 2,2% of England's inhabitants are characterized as a "mixed race"
• In England chickens outnumber humans 
• Davis Beckham is afraid of birds
• The queen sent her first e-mail in 1976

                

-Frida

Basic Facts About England

Here are some necessary, basic facts about England that you may find interesting! 

• England is a part of the United Kingdom.

               

• London is England's capital and largest city
• England has an area of 130 396 km2
• In 2011 England's population was about 53 millions 
• More than 83% of all the people in the UK lives in England
• The pound sterling, also known as just the pound is England's official currency 

               

• The country borders to Scotland in the north, and Wales in the west
• North west of England you can find the The Irish Sea, and to the south west you find the Celtic Sea
• England includes more than 100 different island, such as the Isle of Wight 

                 

• In England they talk both English and Cornish 
• A constitutional monarchy and parliamentary system are England's basic political system 
• Elizabeth II is the queen of England  

                 

• England's flag is red and white

             

-Frida 

London

Westminster Abbey

London is the capital of England, and is the third largest city in Europe and the 24th largest in the world by population, as it almost has 8,2 million inhabitants. It was founded around 50 A.D by the romans under the name “Londonium”. London is located southeast in England and lays by the river Thames. About 31% of the population are foreigners, that will be around 2,3 million. London is famous for many sights, such as The Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, the Westminster Abbey and many more. London is also famous for their red buses, the railroad station from Harry Potter, Kings Cross Station; and their subway system called the Tube. The Tube is the oldest subway network in the world, founded in 1863, and was the target of a terrible terrorist attack in 2005. London did recently arrange the summer Olympics in 2012, and the tallest building in the European Union, the Shard (310m), is located in London. In 1666, many parts of London were burned down in in a fire called “the Great Fire of London”. London was bombed several times during the second world war, which is referred to as the Blitz. However, after both these disasters London raised, and the city were restored to the magnificent city we all know it as today.

-Torbjørn

Houses of Parliament and the Big Ben

Typical bus from London

Interesting video about England

I have found a fun and interesting video where the commentator explains the difference between the United Kingdom, Great Britain and England. If you have ever wondered about the difference, you have to watch, and if you already know, it is still interesting.

-Aleksander

Welcome

Hello! 

We are two boys and a girl from the beautiful country, Norway. All three of us are England-lovers, so we decided to make a blog about England. Here you can read and watch necessary and not so necessary fact about England. We hope you like it!