1. Before appearing in Doctor Who, David Tennant played a transvestite called Davina in 1980s Glasgow-set sitcom Rab C. Nesbitt.
2. In fact, all three Scottish actors who have played Doctor Who (Sylvester McCoy, David Tennant, and Peter Capaldi) previously appeared in Rab C. Nesbitt.
3. Peter Capaldi played a slightly hysterical, floppy-haired "neo-baptist" street preacher.
4. Less than a quarter of Scotland's 790 islands are populated.
5. In 1942, scientists from the Ministry of Defence lab Porton Down detonated 6 anthrax bombs on an island in Gruinard Bay to see what would happen. The island was quarantined until 1989, and all of the island's sheep died.
6. Prestwick airport in Ayrshire is the only place in Britain that Elvis Presley ever visited.
7. Sir Sean Connery used to work as a coffin polisher in Edinburgh, his home town. Before that, he was a milkman.
8. If you thought Game of Thrones' Ygritte looked familiar, that's because Rose Leslie played a maid called Gwen Dawson in the first series of Downton Abbey.
9. Rose's real-life father is the Aberdeenshire chieftain of Clan Leslie. She grew up in the Winterfell-esque Lickleyhead Castle.
10. The 5000-year-old Fortingall Yew in Perthshire is the oldest living thing in Europe.
11. Robert Burns didn't invent "Auld Lang Syne". When Burns transcribed it, it had already existed for over 150 years as a song called "Can Ye Labour Lea". Burns just added two verses.
12. Bagpipes aren't Scottish. They were invented in Asia Minor and brought to Europe by the Romans.
13. Haggis may be an English invention. The first known written recipe for "hagese" is in the verse cookbook Liber Cure Cocorum. It dates from around 1430 and appears to come from Lancashire.
14. The kilt didn't originate in Scotland either. It was first worn by the ancient Egyptians as part of the Assyrian soldiers' uniform.
15. As a boy, Alexander Graham Bell (the inventor of the telephone) made a talking doll that said "mama". It was so convincing that his neighbours started hunting for an abandoned baby.
16. Bell also invented the photophone, the precursor to modern fibre optic technology. He even tried to name his daughter Photophone, but his wife wouldn't let him. They ended up calling her Marian instead.
17. The Krankies used to be swingers.
18. Scotland is the only country in the world in which Coca-Cola is not the top-selling soft drink. Because who needs coke when you've got Irn-Bru?
19. In 2010, Irn-Bru's manufacturers A.G. Barr agreed to stop using the controversial colourings "Sunset Yellow FCF" and "Ponceau 4R", as they're both thought to cause hyperactivity in children. They haven't got round to it yet.
20. The Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh has a range of exhibits selected and donated by celebrities. Sir Sean Connery chose a crate of Irn-Bru.
21. In response to Coca-Cola's "Share a Coke" campaign, thousands of limited edition bottles of Irn-Bru were produced featuring names like Senga, Tam, Rab and Fanny.
22. A butcher in Castle Douglas makes Irn-Bru flavoured sausages.
23. In 1490, the Bishop of St Andrew's declared that meat pies were too English and banned their consumption in Scotland.
24. The Falls of Glomach in Ross and Cromarty are twice the height of Niagra.
25. The first bombs dropped in World War II fell on Sullom Voe, an inlet between North Mainland and Northmavine on Shetland. There were no casualties.
26. Scotland has a national elephant polo team, which is exactly what it sounds like. What's more, they regularly win the world championship.
27. The modern pedal bicycle was invented in the 1800s by a Scottish blacksmith in a tiny hamlet called Keir in Dumfriesshire.
28. When the potato was introduced to Europe in the early 17th century, Scots refused to eat it because it wasn't mentioned in the Bible.
29. Sanquhar, a small town on the River Nith in Dumfries and Galloway, is home to the world's oldest post office. It was established in 1712.
30. 40% of the population of southeast Scotland are carriers of the redheaded gene. Just goes to show that redheads aren't going to be extinct anytime soon.
31. And finally, long before he was cast as Hagrid in Harry Potter, Robbie Coltrane starred in adverts for an insect spray called "Bug Gun".
H/t I Never Knew That About Scotland by Christopher Winn, Scottish Miscellany: Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Scotland The Brave by Jonathan Green and Alexander Graham Bell: Giving Voice to the World by Mary Kay Carson.