16) that on 27 August 1896, troops were sent from Britain to Zanzibar to fight the shortest war ever. The sultan of Zanzibar refused to surrender, so the British bombed his palace until he was forced to change his mind. The sultan gave in after 38 minutes.

15) that Pharaoh Pepi II of Egypt reigned for 94 years, longer than any other monarch. He came to the throne in 2281 BC when he was just 6 years old. The shortest reign was that of Luis Filipe of Portugal in 1908. He had been fatally wounded and died just 20 minutes after becoming king.

14) that, for its size, the tiny flea can jump higher and longer than any other creature. It can do a long jump of about 33cm, which is like a human jumping four football fields. A flea can also jump 160 times its own height, which is the equivalent to a human jumping to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

13) that the Great Wall of China is about 2,150 miles long, with another 1,780 miles of branches. In total, it is nearly as long as the River Nile, which is the world’s longest river. The wall was built in about 220BC. As many as a million workers died before the wall was completed.

12) that in 1900, Johann Hurlinger of Austria walked the 1,400 km (868 miles) from Vienna to Paris on his hands. The journey took 55 days, with Hurlinger walking for 10 hours each day. He travelled at an average speed of 2.5km per hour (1.5mph), half the normal walking speed.

11) that some people can make extremely complicated calculations in their heads, without writing anything down. Thomas Fuller was a slave in Virginia, USA in the 1700s. He could not read or write but it took him just 1½ minutes to work out how many seconds there were in 70 years and 17½ days.

10) that Roy C Sullivan (USA) is the only person to be struck by lightning seven times and survived. The first time was in 1942.