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10 things we didn't know last week

16:40 UK time, Friday, 5 December 2008

10kittens_203.jpgSnippets from the week's news, sliced, diced and processed for your convenience.

1. The first trunk call made in the UK was by the Queen.
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2. Claims worth £40m are made each year to the Bank of England in relation to damaged banknotes.
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3. And two serial numbers must be legible for a damaged note to be exchanged at the bank.
(Ibid)

4. A street light costs about 15p a night to keep lit.
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5. The world's timekeeping is monitored by one man.
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6. And December 2008 will last one second longer than December 2007.

7. Motorways are five times safer than single-lane roads, according to the AA.
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8. The Sydney Opera House was inspired by a peeled orange.
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9. Shakespeare probably lost his sight.
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10. Spanish has overtaken German as the second most popular language taught in schools.
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Seen 10 things? Send us a picture to use next week. Thanks to Douglas Yates for this week's picture of 10 kittens with their foster mother.

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