Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Parliament facts

• It is illegal to die in the Palace of Westminster—largely because then you'd be eligable for an official State funeral. (This law was voted the most absurd in Britain, narrowly beating one in Liverpool that bans women from going topless in public—unless they work in a tropical fish shop. It is also legal for a woman to bite off a man's nose if he kisses her against her will. Like these? Here are more silly British laws.)
• The Palace of Westminster has 1,000 rooms, 100 staircases, 11 courtyards, a hair salon, a rifle-shooting range, 6 restaurants, and 8 bars (where the prices are subsidized by taxpayers).
• Big Ben chimes in the key of E.
• In 1945, a flock of birds landed on the minute hand of Big Ben; their combined weight pushed back time by 5 minutes.