It's her majesty's 90th birthday today, and to celebrate this huge milestone we'd thought we share some facts with you that perhaps you didn't know about her Royal Highness during her reign as Queen. 
 
Tea for two 

Throughout her majesty's reign there have been 10 different prime ministers, some of these including Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair and now of course, David Cameron. During this time, she has met with every prime minister during their reign every Tuesday, whilst she's in London, for Tea and a chat on current affairs and other royal and parliamentary chit-chat .   

The Queen has two birthdays! 

We all wished and asked our parents if we could have more than one birthday a year but we were always told we couldn't. However, the Queen can do what she wishes; she is the Queen after all. Her real Birthday is today (21st April) where she enjoys a private celebration. But there is a ls a more public event in June called Trooping of the Colours.
Over the years the queen has received some rather strange gifts, from animals that are now cared for by the London Zoo to a Pineapple, a box of snail shells, 7kg of prawns and some eggs. How bizarre! 

That's a lot of Birthday Cards!  

During her reign the Queen has sent approximately 110,000 telegrams to centurions and around 520,000 telegrams to couples celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary. In 1917, the Queen sent 24 telegrams but in 2007, the figure was recorded to have risen to 8,439, now that's a lot of cards! 

She's a popular lady!

Every year the Queen receives around 1,000 invitations! It would be impossible for the queen to accept all these invitations, considering she is only human! Instead, other members of the Royal Family can be called upon to attend. In your application you can state which royal you'd prefer to have visit. The royal family receives and answers to 100,000 letters every year and as a whole undertakes 2,000 official engagements, they're a busy bunch!

No queuing at passport control! 

The Queen doesn't require a British passport or a driving license! Because passports are issued in the name of her majesty, it would be a bit strange, to allow herself to issue one for herself, wouldn't it? 


Making Art History 

The image of The Queen we're all so familiar with on the postage stamp is the most reproduced work of art in history! Arnold Machin designed the image of her majesty in 1967 and since then has remained unchanged and it has been produced over 200 billion times! Imagine if an artwork of you was produced that many times! 
Back in the day not many people would have seen their King or Queen, therefore, having the monarch's head on the coin or note was useful way to spread the likeness, especially considering they din't have TVs back then! So far, we've seen there have been four representations of the Queen circulating on the coin. 

The hip Queen! 

The royal family feel like an old relic from way back in the past, at times, but they are actually embracing technology! Her Majesty launched Buckingham Palaces' first official website in 1997 and the Queen even sent her first email back in 1976! I wonder if her email address was as embarrassing as ours. 

Everyone here want's to wish her Majesty a belated 90th Birthday! Long live the Queen!
What a year 2015 was! It's fair to say we had plenty to celebrate. From an eclipse to finding out that Kanye West is running for president in 2020, it's been pretty crazy overall. Sure we may have had to deal with lunacy of Donald Trump's presidential campaign, but we also got to welcome the triumphant return of Han Solo and Chewbacca to our cinema screens! 

As we've just started a brand new year, we thought it would be appropriate to take a look back at the weird and wonderful moments that made 2015 so great!

Is it Blue and Black or White and Gold? 

In early 2015, we saw the formidable Dress debate unfold across social media. Was it black and blue or white and gold? No one could decide, and it had everyone debating from your postman, to the guy that sells the apples down the market! It even had Kimye arguing over it, which well and truly proved that it had taken the world by storm! Thankfully the owner of the dress came forward and confirmed that was it is in fact black and blue (see, told you so)!

Space Accomplishments 

It was a great year for space, with plenty of interesting activity and new discoveries in 2015! There was a Total Lunar Eclipse in September, which produced a stunning red colour in the early hours UK time, as well as a Total Solar Eclipse in March (which we all got excited for but could barely see in the UK thanks to the clouds!). We also discovered that flowing water exists on Mars, and with flowing water comes life! But before you get all excited and starting packing your bags to visit, we also discovered that the atmosphere isn't locked inside the rocks, but instead has been lost in space! We do have some good news though, astronauts also discovered that you can now grow lettuce in space! Does that mean we could be seeing space allotments in the near future? Who knows? We're just hoping it doesn't taste like rocket. (Sorry for the terrible space pun).


Unusual Presidential Candidates

Strange, potential candidates for the role of future US president was something of a theme in 2015. We found out that businessman Donald Trump would be attempting to represent the Republican party, giving us plenty of controversy to follow in the news! Kanye West also raised everyone's eyebrows at the 2015 VMA's, by announcing that he would be running for president in 2020. Could this be the first steps of Kanye's complete world domination?


Top Sporting Moments 

There were plenty of great sporting moments in 2015 but we managed to pick a couple of our favourites. We'll start with Japan shocking the entire world by beating South Africa in their first game of the World Cup, something that no-one thought would ever be possible. New Zealand also became the first team to retain the World Cup in the history of the tournament, which isn't quite as surprising considering their excellent form (we only thought that they would have done it sooner)! There was also some great moments in athletics, with Jessica Ennis-Hill winning the world championship after not competing for 3 years prior to the event due to injury and pregnancy, what a comeback! Greg Rutherford also became only the fifth ever Briton to hold all four major athletics titles at the same time! In tennis, Great Britain also won the Davis cup for the first time since 1936, with Andy Murray achieving the greatest ever individual run in the competition's history, by winning 11 games! There really was no stopping the Scotsman! 


We say 'Hello' to Adele Again 

In 2015 we saw the return of the hit machine, Adele, with her number 1 single 'Hello' and the release of her new album, 25. Both of these absolutely smashed the records almost straight away, making this the absolute comeback of the year! On another note, although she is still a number 1 hit machine, we also found out that she still uses a flip phone! 2015 was also a great year for Drake, who managed to equal the Beatles' 50 year record, with 14 singles in the Hot 100 chart. This was later beaten by Justin Bieber,  who had 17 hit singles in the hot 100! Another memorable moment for Drake in 2015 was the release of the music video for his single 'Hotline Bling', which went viral due to his *ehem* questionable dance moves. Let's face it, even your dad wouldn't try to pull those off, but you know what they say; "Any publicity, is good publicity", right?

Bruce becomes Caitlyn 

In 2015 we witnessed Bruce Jenner transform into Caitlyn Jenner. Before making the official transition and changing her name, Jenner gave one last interview on 20/20 with Diane Sawyer, which managed to get 20.7 million viewers! This made it television's highest-ever rated news magazine telecast, among adults 18–49 and adults 25–54. Jenner's emergent identity was then revealed in a Vanity Fair interview, where she featured on the front cover. She later went on to become American GLAMOUR's 'Woman of the Year, and set setting a Guinness World Record for amassing one million Twitter followers in just four hours and three minutes!


Spoilers lie ahead! 

2015 was a great year for TV, with plenty of great moments that left us speechless. We had to say some sad farewells, from final episodes to character deaths, with all sorts of emotions taking hold of us! We'll start with season five of Game of Thrones, which had plenty of moments that left fans with their jaws wide open (even those who had read the books!). One of this season's highlights was the episode 'Hardhome', which left Jon Snow and all the GoT fans feeling rather hopeless with regards to the White Walker situation.. This season also left us on a major cliffhanger,  as we wondered whether or not Jon Snow was really gone for good (FYI he's not). We also had to say a sad farewell to some great shows, including Parks and Recreation, which left us with the closing the images of cast and crew members in an adorable group hug. We also had to say a sad farewell to Mad Men and Parenthood, as well as Brian Fuller's Hannibal (which we hope will return in the not-too-distant future). 

Han Solo and Chewbacca Return! 

2015 was a great year for movies, and there is only one place to start, Star Wars! We saw the much anticipated return of Han Solo and Chewbacca, along with many other new and familiar faces.This long awaited movie didn't disappoint fans, absolutely smashing box office records thanks to a hoard of repeated viewings. This wasn't the only dose of childhood nostalgia that we got to experience, however, as we also got a brand new instalment of the Jurassic Park franchise in Jurassic World!  We also got to see what might prove to be Daniel Craig's last shot at Bond, in new film Spectre


There were plenty of great moments last year, and we're hoping there will be plenty more in 2016!
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#MakeASongBritish is currently trending on Twitter, with people from all over the UK putting a wonderfully British spin on all of your favourite hits. We couldn't resist getting involved - here are 8 of the best BritSongs we could come up with:

Beat It
1. Excuse Me, Sir, Could You Please Leave - Michael Jackson
Featuring a polite yet firm guitar solo from Eddie Van Halen.

2. I Will Always Love Queues - Whitney Houston
This could be the national anthem.

3. (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Drink Tea!) - Beastie Boys
Here's one we tweeted earlier...

4. All About That Boat Race - Meghan Trainor
There are plenty of songs about football, but not many about rowing. It's about time that changed.

5. A Rather Good Song, Though We Do Say So Ourselves - One Direction
'Best Song Ever'? You'd expect those 1D lads to be a little more modest - aren't they supposed to be British?

6. Do You Love Tea - The Contours
"Because, if not, then frankly I don't think this is going to work out."

M4 tweet
7. Stuck on the M4 with You - Stealers Wheel
This one assumes that you're driving towards Wales. Otherwise, Gloucester would be on the left.

8. Scone de Replay - Rihanna
If you didn't laugh, it's because you're pronouncing 'scone' wrong.

Follow @GadgetInspector on Twitter for more fun...or just grab yourself a Union Jack Mug and make yourself a cup of tea!

Time is an unforgiving mistress. It feels like summer only just started, and now here we are with a mere fortnight or so separating us from September.

Yessiree, summer 2014 has well and truly flown by. It's not over yet, of course, but we're already halfway through August, and before you know it, the leaves will be off the trees and we'll all be swapping our flip-flops for big winter boots.

So when does summer officially end?

September 23 is the closest thing we've got to an 'official' date - that's the day of the autumnal equinox, so that's arguably when summer truly ends and autumn begins in earnest. However, different people will tell you different things - some will say that summer is over on the 1st of September, while particularly desperate people may argue that summer goes on until the clocks go back on October 26!

Still, if we take the aforementioned equinox as our 'End of Summer' date, that leaves us with 39 days to go. Yes, it sounds like a lot, but those five-and-a-half weeks are guaranteed to zip by just as quickly as the rest of summer has.

With that in mind, here are 3 awesome ways to make the most of Summer '14 (or what's left of it, anyway):


1. Have a BBQ!

Summer ain't summer until you've had yourself a barbecue. If you haven't fired up the grill yet, now's the time - don't forget your guitar-shaped BBQ tongs!

 

Sandy beach

2. Go to the beach!

The British beaches won't be much fun once autumn arrives, so go and get some sand in your shoes while there's still some sunshine to be had. We've got a couple of great beach towels that you can take along with you.

 

3. Hang out at the park with your friends!

If you're lucky enough to have a couple of nice green spaces in your town, failing to make use of them before September 23 would represent a tragic waste on your part. Grab your friends, grab your Chill Out Wedge, and go enjoy Mr Sun before he heads off on his winter holidays!

Fridays are usually a cause for celebration, but parents across England and Wales are seriously dreading the next one. In case you didn't know, Friday the 18th of July is the day on which summer term ends in the majority of UK schools, and while teachers will no doubt be preparing to breathe a massive sigh of relief, parents will be preparing for six weeks of unmitigated hard work. After all, the kids will need to be entertained while they wait for school to start again!

Fortunately, the Gadget Inspector team are here to help you through the summer. Here are 8 awesome activities that you and the kids can try over the next few weeks - it'll be September in no time!

 

1. RC helicopter races!

RC helicopter

RC toys were made for summertime. Playing with one of our cool remote control helicopters will get them outdoors for some fresh air, and since many of our choppers operate on a tri-band frequency, up to 3 of them can be flown at once!

 

2. Take a hike!

Mountain view

They may take some convincing, but once they're out in the big wide world, the kids are sure to have a blast! Do a bit of internet research and you're sure to find some truly breathtaking scenery near you.

 

3. Fun with ice!

Ice Lolly Men

Ice is an endless source of summer fun - children can make their own ice lollies, or cool off with some awesome shark-shaped ice cubes!

 

4. Rainy day puzzles!

Puzzles

This is Britain, after all - we can't expect every day to be dry and sunny! When the rain starts a-pourin', keep their young minds occupied with one of our awesome puzzle games.

 

5. Stomp rocket!

And when it is warm and they can go outside, stomp rockets are the ultimate excuse to do so! Stomp on the launchpad and see how high your rocket can fly (don't forget your spare rockets!)

 

6. Bring back the dinosaurs!

Stegosaurus

If the kids are feeling sort of crafty, why not let them make their own dinosaur? Our dinosaur construction kits contain two dinosaurs apiece.

 

7. Space rail!

Space rail

The Space Rail is a new generation of toy - we're not even going to try describing it! You'll just have to see for yourself.

 

8. Chillax in the garden!

Lounge in the garden

And, if all else fails, the kids can always just go out into the garden and chill out for a bit. We recommend the Chill Out Wedge for super-comfortable outdoor relaxation!