1. Much of the work of The Magna Trust, formed in October 1956 as successor to the Magna Carta Society, centres around the triennial celebrations such as pageants, dinners, plays and lectures which rotate among the five "Charter Towns" - the City of Canterbury, City of London, Runnymede Borough, City of St Albans and Borough of St Edmundsbury.

2. A spot on the riverside near Deptford is called Cuckold's Point - according to Brewer's Phrase And Fable because it is where King John seduced a labourer's wife. A popular landmark for many centuries, the point was marked by horns on the river wall.

3. King John didn't sign Magna Carta and there's no evidence that he could write, but that doesn't mean he couldn't read because he was the proud owner of a vast library.

4. On August 24, 1200, King John married Isabella of Angouleme at Bordeaux, a year after he annulled his first marriage to Isabel of Gloucester. He was 32 and Isabella, a renowned beauty, was only about 13. Both had fiery temperatures and the age difference can't have helped, but they went on to have five children - the eldest became King Henry III of England at the age of nine when King John died in 1216.

5. John was nicknamed "Lackland" because, as the youngest son, he lacked an inheritance.

6. In May 2006, the anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta - June 15, 1215 - was chosen as the best date to celebrate Britishness by 27% of the 5,002 people polled by BBC History magazine. VE Day, May 8, came second with 21% and D-Day, June 6, attracted 14% of votes.

7. The town of Egham in Berkshire holds an annual celebration of Magna Carta Day in the high street - the 2006 bash featured a Robbie William's tribute singer, belly dancers, a one-man band and African percussion dancers. Egham is the closest town to the meadows of Runnymede.

8. A Magna Carta memorial stands on the gentle slopes of Cooper's Hill, overlooking the Runnymede Meadow. The domed classical temple, designed by Sir Edward Maufe and unveiled in 1957, was built by the American Bar Association on land leased by the Magna Carta Trust and paid for by voluntary contributions from 9,000 American lawyers. It contains a pillar of English granite on which is inscribed: "To commemorate Magna Carta, symbol of Freedom Under Law."

9. King John was the subject of the Shakespearean play, King John, and is the main figure in the 1819 historical romance Ivanhoe, by Sir Walter Scott.

10. Records show that King John bathed roughly every three weeks, which was not unusual in those days.