14 things you never knew about Pancake Day

1. Shrove Tuesday was once known as a "half-holiday" in Britain. It started at 11.00am with the ringing of a church bell.

2. The tradition of pancake races is said to have originated in 1445 when a housewife from Olney, Buckinghamshire was so busy making pancakes that she forgot the time until she heard the church bells ringing for the service.

She raced out of the house to church while still carrying her frying pan and pancake, tossing it to prevent it from burning.

3. The largest pancake ever made measured 15 metres and weighed in at three tonnes – you’ll need a lot of sugar and lemon for that one.

4. The most flips anyone has ever done with a pancake is 349 flips in two minutes. That’s ‘flipping’ good!

5. The idea of eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday is more than 1,000 years old. They were originally invented as a way of using up all the leftover fatty and rich foods before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday.

6. In France, people like to make a wish before flipping their pancakes. They do this while holding a coin in the other hand.

7. On average we consume two pancakes per person on Pancake Day, which means that we get through 117 million pancakes in one day. This requires enough milk to fill more than 93 Olympic swimming pools and almost 13 million kilos of plain flour.

8. We all have our preferences for pancake toppings but the weirdest pancake toppings have to be sour cream and caviar, ketchup and mustard, peanut butter and ice cream, coco pops and cream, cream cheese and strawberries.

9. Andrei Smirnov from Russia ate a colossal 73 pancakes in one hour - that’s more than one a minute.

10. The Guiness World Record for the most pancakes served in eight hours is 34,818.

11. Before baking soda was invented, cooks often used fresh snow as it contained ammonia, which helped the pancakes come out fluffy and soft.

12. The word shrove is a form of the English word shrive, which means to obtain absolution for one's sins by way of Confession and doing penance. Thus Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the custom for Christians to be "shriven" before the start of Lent.

13. The highest pancake toss reached 329cm high.

14. In France and the United States Pancake day is called Mardi Gras which means 'Fat' or 'Grease Tuesday'.

Will you be scoffing pancakes this evening? Do you have a preference for the flat crepe-type pancake or the smaller and thicker style? What's your favourite topping? Tell us how you'll be celebrating Pancake Day below.