X-Nico

59 unusual facts about Commonwealth of Nations


Assistant superintendent

This rank is used Sri Lanka where the officer is supposed to be in the Sri Lanka Police Service (where it is denoted by one, two or three stars depending on seniority) and the police forces of a number of other Commonwealth countries.

Attorney-General of Belize

The position of AG is outlined in Section 42 of the Constitution of Belize, which requires that the AG have been qualified for at least five years to practice as an advocate in a court of unlimited jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Nations or the Republic of Ireland.

Becky Lyne

Not selected for the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in March due to a series of injuries, the Stockport-based athlete leapt to third in the UK all-time 800 metre rankings with 1 min 58.20 sec in the Norwich Union British Grand Prix in Gateshead in June 2006, finishing second behind Kenyan Commonwealth champion Janeth Jepkosgei.

Bellenden Hutcheson

The VC is the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Boys' Brigade

In non-Commonwealth countries, the Founder's Badge is used in place of the Queen's Badge.

British nationality law

With the development of the modern British Commonwealth of Nations in the 20th century, some deemed the single Imperial status of British subject as increasingly inadequate to deal with the realities of a Commonwealth with independent member states.

Canadian Forces Decoration

Service in the regular and reserve or auxiliary forces of the Commonwealth of Nations will be counted towards the decoration if the final five years have been with the Canadian Forces and no other long service, good conduct or efficiency medal has been awarded for the same service.

Canadian Parliamentary Review

Canadian Parliamentary Review is distributed to all federal, provincial and territorial legislators in Canada and by subscription to interested individuals and institutions in Canada, the United States and throughout the Commonwealth.

Clan of the Gallant Canadians

The Clan of the Gallant Canadians is an unofficial Order created by The Calgary Highlanders of the Canadian Forces and the first such regimental order to be approved by the Canadian sovereign, and the first in the British Empire and Commonwealth since the time of Oliver Cromwell.

Coins of the Brunei dollar

A British protectorate from 1888 until 1983, it is currently an independent member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Common law offence

Common law offences are crimes under English criminal law and the related criminal law of Commonwealth of Nations countries.

Commonwealth Broadcasting Network

CBN primarily focuses on cricket programming such as live and tape-delayed matches featuring Commonwealth nations.

Demographics of Mozambique

As a member of Commonwealth of Nations, most urban Mozambicans are required to learn English starting high-school.

Disqualifications Act 2000

This privilege is a privilege extended to all countries in the Commonwealth of Nations (of which Ireland is not a member).

The Act amended the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 and the Northern Ireland Assembly Disqualification Act 1975, which had previously disqualified any person who was a member of a legislature outside the Commonwealth from becoming a member of the Commons or the Assembly, to remove the disqualification from members of the Oireachtas (the Parliament of Ireland).

Doxylamine

In Commonwealth countries, such as Australia, Canada, South Africa and the United Kingdom, doxylamine is available prepared with paracetamol (acetaminophen) and codeine under the brand name Dolased, Propain Plus, Syndol, or Mersyndol, as treatment for tension headache and other types of pain.

Drill hall

In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, the term was also used for the whole headquarters building of a military reserve unit, which usually incorporated such a hall.

Durban cenotaph

As with other Commonwealth cenotaphs a wreath crowns the top, although in this case it is made of green ceramic.

Erbo Graf von Kageneck

In December 1941, Kageneck was transferred back to the Mediterranean theatre with Staffel 9, JG 27 and gained his last two victories against British Commonwealth fighters over the deserts of North Africa.

Evelyn Wrench

Wrench, however, was less interested in success in journalism than in his visions of Commonwealth development awakened by his visits to Canada and the United States.

Fijian gold pacific sovereign

The Fijian gold Pacific Sovereign is a 24-karat, bullion, one-ounce gold coin of .9999 purity minted by the New Zealand Mint (first released mid-2009) in commemoration of the islands of Fiji, a sovereign nation and member (albeit a suspended member as of 2006) of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Fire captain

Captain is also approximately equivalent to the rank of Station Officer in the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth countries.

Flag of the Cook Islands

The Union Flag is symbolic of the nation's historic ties to the United Kingdom and to the Commonwealth of Nations.

Ford Motor Company of Australia

Henry Ford had granted the manufacturing rights to Ford in British Empire (later Commonwealth) countries (excepting the UK) to Canadian investors.

Frosted Flakes

Frosties (UK, most Commonwealth nations and European and Middle East countries; formerly Frostis in Spain)

George Boyd-Rochfort

George Arthur Boyd-Rochfort VC DL (1 January 1880 – 7 August 1940) was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Graham Harman

According to Harman, everything is an object, whether it be a mailbox, a gas, the Commonwealth of Nations, Popeye, spacetime, a shadow or an eclipse.

Herbaceous border

The term herbaceous border is mostly in use in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.

Inheritance tax

For historical reasons that term is used colloquially (though not legally) in the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth nations.

Inspector of Regimental Colours

The Inspector of Regimental Colours is an officer of arms responsible for the design of standards, colours and badges of the British Army and of those Commonwealth states where the College of Arms has heraldic jurisdiction.

Jameson Irish Whiskey

The temperance movement in Ireland had an enormous impact domestically but the two key events that affected Jameson were the Irish War of Independence and subsequent trade war with the British which denied Jameson the export markets of the Commonwealth, and shortly thereafter, the introduction of prohibition in the United States.

Jirō Minami

However he was acquitted of waging a war of aggression against the United States, the British Commonwealth and the Netherlands, and also acquitted of two charges related to prisoner abuse.

Kings Avenue, Canberra

Rather than the name of the new nation "Commonwealth of Australia" and "Federal Avenue" for the federation of the states that formed that nation, the interpretation is now "Commonwealth Avenue" for the Commonwealth of British Colonies and "Kings Avenue" for the Sovereign of that Commonwealth, violating Griffin's original intent.

Lesotho general election, 2012

Former Malawian President Bakili Muluzi, who headed the Commonwealth of Nations' electoral observer team, said that despite a history of coup d'etats he was assured by the army and police that there would be no intereference.

Linguistic variety in Mauritius

In 1968, Mauritius becomes an independent state even though it still belongs to the Commonwealth of Nations.

Louis W. Tordella

Close collaborators in Britain and the Commonwealth of Nations built up such a trust with Tordella that many foreign intelligence officials regarded him as the linchpin in their relationship with NSA.

Matthew Dixon

Major General Matthew Charles Dixon VC CB (5 February 1821 – 8 January 1905) was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

McMaster Nuclear Reactor

MNR began operating in April 1959, as the first university based research reactor in the Commonwealth of Nations, and remains the highest-flux reactor in a university environment in Canada to this day.

MFDS

The exam is a requirement to allow further specialist training for dentists in the UK and some Commonwealth countries.

Misuse of Drugs Act

Misuse of Drugs Act is the name of several similar national drug control laws passed by countries in the Commonwealth of Nations and by the Republic of Ireland.

Nixa Records

Nixa Records was set up principally to market the catalogue of Compagnie Générale du Disque, Paris, in Commonwealth of Nations countries.

NWA British Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship

The title belt shows the flags of various nations, some currently members of the Commonwealth of Nations and some that are former members.

PGA European Tour

The European Tour is traditionally the first overseas move for outstanding players from non-European countries in the Commonwealth, long a major source for elite golfers, such as Greg Norman and Nick Price.

Postal orders of Bophuthatswana

The Post-reincorporation Series were issued from 1 June, 1994,when South Africa's return to the British Commonwealth took effect.

Powellism

Powell was also against the Commonwealth of Nations because Powell believed that independent countries which were once part of the British Empire were no longer Britain's responsibility and that no national interest compelled Britain to be a member.

Public School Wanderers

During the period of hostilities the Club provided over a thousand games of cricket and rugby for servicemen from all parts of the British Commonwealth.

Puttee

The puttee was subsequently widely adopted by a number of armies including those of the British Commonwealth, the Chinese National Revolutionary Army, the Dutch Army, the French Army, the Imperial Japanese Army, the Italian Army, and the United States Army.

Ramb I

Massawa, Ramb Is home port, became threatened by advancing British and Commonwealth forces.

Ron Angus

Commonwealth Championships: 1993 Ireland (3rd), 1995 Malta (3rd)

Royal Air Forces Escaping Society

The Royal Air Forces Escaping Society, was a UK-based charitable organization formed in 1946 to provide help to those in the former occupied countries in World War II who put their lives at risk to assist and save members of the "Royal Air Forces" (that is, Air Forces of the British Commonwealth) who were attempting to escape and evade capture.

Salahuddin Saeed Khan

He has twice led a delegation of Pakistan to the United Nations General Assembly and also at several other international forums, such as the Commonwealth election observer in Kenya, SAARC and the Cancun Summit on Natural Habitat.

Saltley

During the 1950s and 1960s, many of these houses were bought by immigrants from the Commonwealth of Nations (mostly from Pakistan and Bangladesh) who have formed a strong ethnic community over the last half a century.

Second Battle of Passchendaele

Nine Victoria Crosses, the highest military decoration for valour awarded to British and Commonwealth forces, were awarded for actions during the battle.

Sri Petaling LRT station

The original name was Komanwel LRT station, where "Komanwel" is the Malay spelling for "Commonwealth".

Station officer

Station Officer is a rank in a number of Commonwealth and other fire services, including those in Australia, the United Kingdom and the New Zealand Fire Service.

Throne of Jade

Temeraire, after much deliberation, decides to return to Britain, partially out of love for Laurence and partially to attempt to bring the greater civil liberties of the Middle Kingdom back to the Commonwealth.

Trader's Currency Token of the Colony of Connecticut

These tokens are of historic interest to collectors of British Empire and Commonwealth coins, and are also of interest to collectors of US coins.

United Arab Emirates national rugby league team

Lacking an established rugby league tradition in the Emirates, the Falcons were initially made up a mixture of natives and expatriates from England, South Africa and other Commonwealth countries.

Victor Buller Turner

Lieutenant-Colonel Victor Buller Turner VC CVO (17 January 1900 – 7 August 1972) was an English recipient during the Second World War of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.


Anastasios Christodoulou

A great supporter of the Commonwealth, Christodoulou was also acting Chairman of the Governors of the Commonwealth Institute, Secretary of the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan, and a Governor of the Commonwealth of Learning in Vancouver.

Arthur Blackburn

Brigadier Arthur Seaforth Blackburn VC, CMG, CBE, ED (25 November 1892 – 24 November 1960) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Commonwealth Games records

As the Commonwealth Games only accepts athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, the records are not considered as prestigious as World records or Olympic records.

Commonwealth Secretariat Act 1966

The Commonwealth Secretariat Act 1966 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that established the legal character of the Secretariat of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Dagenham

Other industrial names once known world wide were Ever Ready, whose batteries could be found in shops throughout the Commonwealth, Bergers Paint and the chemical firm of May and Baker who in 1935 revolutionized the production of antibiotics with their synthetic sulfa-drug known as M&B 693.

Daniel Laidlaw

Daniel Logan Laidlaw VC (26 July 1875 – 2 June 1950) was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Darwan Singh Negi

Darwan Singh Negi VC (November 1881 – 24 June 1950) was among the earliest Indian recipients of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Empire Bay, New South Wales

The name was changed because there was already a post office named Sorrento in Victoria and Empire Bay was chosen because there was no other such name in the Commonwealth.

Fitz Remedios Santana de Souza

As a young man in 1952 he joined a team of lawyers from various Commonwealth countries, including the British barrister Denis Nowell Pritt and other lawyers educated in England but not born there, defending Kenyans accused of Mau Mau activities by the British colonial administration, in a series of trials including that of Jomo Kenyatta.

Francis Aylmer Maxwell

Brigadier General Francis Aylmer Maxwell VC, CSI, DSO & Bar (7 September 1871 – 21 September 1917) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Fullbore target rifle

Fullbore target rifle (TR) is a distinctively British and Commonwealth of Nations shooting discipline that evolved from Service rifle (SR) shooting in the late 1860s, and is governed in the UK by the rules of the National Rifle Association, UK (NRA).

George Stringer

George Stringer VC (24 July 1889 – 22 November 1957) from Newton Heath, Manchester was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara

A portrait of Queen Elizabeth II wearing the tiara, designed by Arnold Machin, has appeared on many Commonwealth currencies, including those of Britain, Australia, Jamaica, Canada and Ceylon.

Ieper railway station

The station is near the Menin Gate and other places associated with the First World War with British and Commonwealth war graves located alongside the line from the Kortrijk direction, known as Railway Dugouts Burial Ground (Transport Farm) Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery.

Lord William Beresford

Lieutenant-Colonel Lord William Leslie de la Poer Beresford VC KCIE (20 July 1847 – 30 December 1900) born Mullaghbrack, County Armagh, Ireland was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Primary legislation

In the United Kingdom, and other Commonwealth nations, primary legislation takes the form of an Act of Parliament, and in the United States, it is (at federal level) an Act of Congress.

Round Table movement

Many of these original contributors were believers in the idea of an "imperial federation in which the British Empire would be united by a new centralized Imperial Parliament. However, after the First World War, this scheme appeared less realistic and the Round Table members became more drawn to a conception of the empire as a "Commonwealth of Nations".

Rover Scout

Today, the Rover section remains an important part of Scouting in many European countries, in most member countries of the Commonwealth of Nations (e.g. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong), across Central and South America, the Middle East and in many other countries such as Ireland, Japan, Republic of China/Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand and Korea.

Sir Henry Wilmot, 5th Baronet

Colonel Sir Henry Wilmot, 5th Baronet Wilmot of Chaddesden VC KCB (3 February 1831 – 7 April 1901) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Spycatcher

Moreover, Spycatcher tells of the MI6 plot to assassinate President Nasser during the Suez Crisis; of joint MI5-CIA plotting against left-wing British Prime Minister Harold Wilson (secretly accused of being a KGB agent by the Soviet defector Anatoliy Golitsyn); and of MI5's eavesdropping on high-level Commonwealth conferences.

Stokes mortar

The Stokes mortar was a British trench mortar invented by Sir Wilfred Stokes KBE that was issued to the British, Commonwealth and U.S. armies, as well as the Portuguese Expeditionary Corps (CEP), during the latter half of the First World War.

Valerie Amos, Baroness Amos

She was a member of the Committee on Commonwealth Membership, which presented its report on potential changes in membership criteria for the Commonwealth of Nations at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2007 in Kampala, Uganda.