From 1836 to 1896, the Red Flag Act in England required that any self-propelled vehicle be preceded by a man carrying a red flag by day and a red lantern by night. In effect, this limited the speed to four miles per hour and retarded the development of all self-propelled vehicles, including the automobile.

Next 5 Fascinating Facts

• Apple pie was brought to England from France sometime around 1066 by ...
• French was the official ...
• In the England it is illegal to sell most goods on a sunday, (this law is mostly ignored), it is however legal to sell a carrot. ...
• England once had a Prime Minister who was only ...
• The queen of England does not have ...

Previous 5 Fascinating Facts

• Stanford University engineers Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard started their company in a Palo Alto garage with ...
• Engelbert Humperdinck's real name is Gerry Dorsey. He didn't make that name up, though. ...
• Women wear engagement and wedding rings on the third finger of the left hand because ...
• A man and woman in Mexico city were engaged for ...
• Those hard, plastic points on the ...