• England, Scotland and Wales all have eight public holidays per year, whilst Northern Ireland has ten.
• The TUC last successfully campaigned for more public holidays in the 1970s. The result was the introduction of two new bank holidays throughout the UK and a further additional day in Scotland.
• About a third of full-time employees work on at least one public holiday in the year. 16-19 year olds are the age group most likely to work on public holidays. Agriculture and fisheries is the industrial sector most likely to work on a public holiday. About half work on at least one public holiday last year.
• Prior to 1834, the Bank of England observed about thirty-three saints' days and religious festivals as holidays, but in 1834, this was drastically reduced to just four: Good Friday, 1st May, 1st November, and Christmas Day.
• Bank holidays were first introduced by the Bank Holidays Act of 1871, which designated four holidays in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and five in Scotland.

Trivia fans can download a full fact file on our bank holidays in pdf format.