The European golden plover was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae.

[10] In the United Kingdom, golden plover chicks rely on craneflies for feeding, while in Sweden march flies are more important.

[18] On 10 November 1951, Sir Hugh Beaver, then the managing director of the Guinness Breweries,[19] went on a shooting party in the North Slob, by the River Slaney in County Wexford, Ireland.

[20] That evening at Castlebridge House, he realised that it was impossible to confirm in reference books whether or not the golden plover was Europe's fastest game bird.

[21][22] Beaver knew that there must be numerous other questions debated nightly in pubs throughout Ireland, but there was no book in the world with which to settle arguments about records.

[23] A Guinness employee told Sir Hugh of two twin brothers, Norris and Ross McWhirter, who had opened a fact checking agency in London.