Ripley's Believe It or Not by Ripley’s Believe It or Not! for March 22, 2016

But the twins were both born in the United Kingdom technically. An early happy 40th birthday to the lasses, though.

First twins Ever??? Really?Or should that read “First twins documented…”Though hard to consider, considering how many refugees have traveled throughout all of history, it is conceivable that it has happened at least once in the past…

That cat probably killed the bird and its babies before stealing the nest.

More than likely the nest was abandon before the cat took over.

We had a cat kill a scorpion while giving birth

Forget finding the kittens. I want to know about the cat laying the eggs in the nest.

I wonder which twins were the first to be conceived in different countries…?

England fought for years to make several countries part of the same kingdom. There are four countries that have (originally reluctantly) agreed to having the same monarch (king or, currently, queen). (Ireland is one of the four, but since 1922 that only includes Northern Ireland.)

James VI of Scotland became James I of England & Ireland the same day Queen Elizabeth (of England) died in 1603, thereby uniting Scotland with England (which already included Wales) and Ireland (all of Ireland back then). It was another hundred years before the Acts of Union were official, but at that point Robert the Bruce’s spider finally succeeded in uniting (sort of) the four countries into one kingdom. [This was the James of the King James Bible – something he had to do to get the countries to unite – and all because of that spider.]

It should not be confused with the British Empire, which included countries such as Canada, Australia, etc, and in the past included the Thirteen Colonies, but never the United States. There was a saying that the sun never sets over the British Empire.

While technically still existing, now it is really the UK, the British Overseas Territories, and a couple other places.

Almost all of the above make up the 53 countries of the Commonwealth of Nations. Most former British Empire countries (not including places like the US, but including Canada, Australia, etc), are part of the Commonwealth.

[The ISO is ambiguous on their status – you have to go to sub-divisions of the ISO’s system to find three of the four countries listed as countries. But within the UK, anybody of any reasonable education will agree that all four are separate countries within the United Kingdom.]

To summarize the original issue: The United Kingdom comprises four countries: England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland.

Yes Wales is a different country. You have England Wales and Scotland are separate countries that come together along with Northern Ireland to make up the United Kingdom.

Catbirds?

The twins were born 47 minutes apart in Welshpool Wales. Because of complications they were born in two different hospitals. One on each side of the border.