1. The field of 888,246 poppies at Tower Bridge will be completed on Armistice Day, November 11.

2. The number of 888,246 was chosen for the poppies as that was the number of Commonwealth soldiers killed in the First World War.

3. The first official Legion Poppy Day was held in Britain on November 11, 1921.

4. The adoption of the Flanders Poppy as the official Flower of Remembrance was inspired by John McCrae in his poem In Flanders Fields.

5. The original British Legion poppies were designed so that someone who had lost the use of one hand could make them.

6. In Greek and Roman mythology, poppies were used as offerings to the dead.

7. Othello is the only play by Shakespeare that includes the word ‘poppy’ or ‘poppies’.

8. Poppy was the 13th most popular name for a baby girl in England and Wales in 2012 but only 35th in Scotland.

9. Poppies are mildly toxic to cats and dogs.

10. The California poppy has been the official state flower of California since 1903.