Lions have not been native to the British Isles since cave lions went extinct there some 12 - 14 thousand years ago. Yet there is one type of lion that, if not native, at least has been prospering on the British isles since prehistory, and one that is centrally important to English history and culture, even if it is not directly represented on the royal coat of arms.
The appeal of one strange object, which achieved dizzying popularity in my lifetime, and today lives on mostly for nostalgia, is not so difficult to explain. All you need to do is turn one on and wait.
During the civil war, the manufacture of powder and explosives was often handled by the most vulnerable, young women and children, whose labor was needed when so many men had been sent off to war. On March 13, 1863, the confederacy experienced a munitions disaster, in the confederate capitol of Richmond.