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29 Batshit Crazy Things You'd Forgotten Happened When Britain Voted For Brexit

29 Batshit Crazy Things You'd Forgotten Happened When Britain Voted For Brexit

It's been a year since 72.2 percent of UK voters took to the polls with 51.9 percent voting to leave the European Union and 48.1 percent voting to Remain.

Remainers will probably remember feeling like they'd been punched in the stomach as the unexpected, knife-edge result defied the polls.

Feeling bl-EU...
Isabel Infantes
Feeling bl-EU...

For Eurosceptics the memory might be celebration after years of campaigning to be free of EU restrictions. For other Leave voters, perhaps a different type of shock -- "What? My voted actually counted?" (See video above.)

However they voted, most people experienced confusion in the days, and indeed the year since.

No-Jo...
Mary Turner
No-Jo...

But while hearing the word Brexit has become as common as eating breakfast (yup, remember this?) there was a lot of stuff that went down a year ago in the shitstorm that ensued you may have forgotten -- 29 in fact.

So, here's a handy reminder, a year later.

1) There was a conspiracy theory around pencils and pens

As people took to the polls on Thursday 23 June 2016, rumours started circulating that someone would be rubbing out Leave votes written in pencil and switching them to Remain.

This prompted the hashtag #UsePens.

One Leave voter even tweeted a video of police attending following a disagreement about her lending her pen to other voters.

2) A blind 93-year-old woman went viral

Another term that started bizarrely started trending on voting day, was '93yr mum'. It was finally tracked back to a Twitter user called Keith who had Tweeted "Just took 93yr Mum to vote, she's registered blind. In a very loud voice she said, "Which box for out?" A cheer went up from waiting voters."

Twitter had a field day, obviously.

3) Tony Blair got trolled

On referendum day, the former PM announced how he'd voted in a way that delighted Photoshoppers. How could it possibly backfire?

Twitter had another field day.

4) 'What is the EU?' became one of the most Googled questions

The question was the second most searched for term with regard to the European Union, according to Google trends.

What's most worrying though, is that those were the most searched for questions AFTER the results had been announced.

5) Final polls got it totally wrong

It was actually the exact opposite of what the actual result was - with an on-the-day poll predicted 52% would back the UK staying in the EU.

We can't really blame YouGov for getting it wrong if people weren't even sure what the EU is, or was, right?

6) People really believed they could change the result

'I love eU'
Isabel Infantes
'I love eU'

As the UK came to terms with the somewhat unexpected (see polls above) decision to leave the European Union, some (pretty much 48% of voters) believed there could be a second referendum. A petition for the government to hold a second referendum on Brexit proved so popular it temporarily crashed the parliament website.

Richard Branson was among celebrities who backed it.

It was actually set up before the referendum by Brexiter. He was annoyed when it was hijacked by the opposition.

It eventually gained more than FOUR MILLION signatures.

7) #notinmyname and #TheIndecentMinority massively trended

#notinmyname
Isabel Infantes
#notinmyname

OK, so we know 48 percent were dissatisfied with the outcome but do you remember this Twitter trend?

On the morning of the result, people who were pro-EU used the hashtag to voice their frustrations.

Meanwhile JK Rowling was among remainers who said they were proud to be in Nigel Farage's 'indecent minority' after he told ITV's Good Morning Britain: It's a fantastic day and it's a victory not for me... but for ordinary, decent people who've taken on the establishment and won."

Guardian columnist Marina Hyde retweeted Farage's words, pointing out they appeared to imply: "Remainers you are extraordinarily indecent."

And of course this sparked a trend spearheaded by Rowling.

8) London tried to join the EU

Isabel Infantes

In London, where 59.9 percent (2.26 million) voted Remain, people actually started calling for the capital's independence.

"Can London" made it into the Twitter trends on 24 June as Londoners began pleading for their own independence.

It later gained credence when it was seriously touted by a Labour lord.

In Scotland where the Remain vote was 62 percent to Leave's 38 percent, Nicola Sturgeon said she and London Mayor Sadiq Khan shared the same view about their areas remaining in EU.

She said: "I have also spoken this morning with Sadiq Khan and he is clear that he shares this objective for London, so there is clear common cause between us."

London, nor Scotland, became independent.

9) Boris Johnson got called a c*** on live television

Cyclists vented their anger at the former mayor in the wake of the result by gathering outside his home to jeer and boo him.

Kay Burley was live on Sky News when someone's four-lettered expletive was captured on camera.

10) Thousands marched for the EU - despite event being cancelled

Anti-Brexit slogans were chanted and pro-EU love songs sung by a sea of blue and yellow as thousands of EU supporters marched to Parliament to peacefully protest Brexit.

The scheduled London Stays rally had actually been cancelled over safety concerns. But in true British spirit, LOADS of people formed a giant queue and snaked to Trafalgar Square anyway.

HuffPost UK went along and filmed it. Explore the 360 degree video here.

11) Cornwall made demands - despite voting Leave

Meanwhile, in Cornwall the leader of the council demanded the UK Government replace the £60 million a year of EU support it would lose as a result of the Brexit vote -- despite the county voting to Leave the EU.

12) Gary Lineker's Tweet about Nigel Farage proved popular

13) Farage angered even more people with his 'insensitive' comment

The Brexit kingpin pissed people off yet again when he claimed the Leave vote was won "without a single bullet being fired" just days after the murder of Jo Cox.

14) Frankie Boyle summed up the 'absolute despair' of Remain voters

Here's a selection of the series of withering Tweets. More here.

15) Some Leave voters were shocked their vote actually counted

A Leave voter pissed people off when he admitted on national television he hadn't thought his ballot would matter and was shocked Brexit was actually going to happen.

As the video at the top shows, Adam said: "I'm a bit shocked to be honest.

"I'm shocked that we voted for Leave, I didn't think that was going to happen.

"I didn't think my vote was going to matter too much because I thought we were just going to remain."

16) More Leave voters started regretting their vote

More and more people started admitting they regretted voting Leave with many claiming that they never intended to leave but simply wanted to "protest".

17) Everyone was sharing this 'Yes Minister' clip

The clip from the 1980s BBC Comedy shows Permanent Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby explaining to minister Jim Hacker why the UK has such a tumultuous relationship with the EU.

As the video shows, he says: "We had to break the whole thing up, so we had to get inside.

"We tried to break it up from the outside, but that wouldn't work. Now that we're inside we can make a complete pig's breakfast of the whole thing."

The line clearly struck a chord.

18) A 'classic' meme was revamped and shared

The meme from Hitler film 'Downfall' was another viral video on referendum results day after it was re-worked to poke fun at the result.

With a few funny subtitles added, the scene from Hitler's bunker was turned into the exact moment Boris Johnson's Brexit HQ heard they had won the popular vote.