93 Random Facts About . . .

Rome

With nearly 3,000 years of rich history, Rome is often called the “Eternal City.” Though Rome dates back to possibly 625 B.C., the oldest continuously populated city in the world is widely to be considered Byblos in present-day Lebanon dating back to 5000 B.C.^j
Some linguistic possibilities for the origin of the word “Rome” include the Etruscan word rhome meaning “strength” or “river.” It may also be related to the root rummeaning “teat,” referring to the wolf that suckled the twins Romulus and Remus. Another theory is that Roma was the daughter of Aeneas, a mythical founder of Rome.^j
Because there were apparently few women in early Rome, Romulus (c. 771-717 B.C.) kidnapped neighboring Sabine women. Most of the girls were prizes of whoever got them first, while a few of the more beautiful ones were brought to leading senators by special gangs.^h
Rome has a sovereign state located entirely in its city limits, the Vatican City, which is also the world’s smallest state.^j

Cappuccino is named after the Roman order of monks, the Capuchin, who wore a hood orcappucio

The Capuchin Crypt in Rome consists of five chapels and a corridor 60 meters long—and it is decorated with the bones of 4,000 deceased monks. The coffee drink Cappuccino takes its name from this order of monks who were known by their custom of wearing a hood orcappucio with their habits.ⁱ
Several religious sources claim that Nero was the Antichrist and will return as the Antichrist. Some scholars claim that the numbers 666 in the biblical Book of Revelation is a code for Nero.^g
Nero’s reign had many memorable moments, including killing his mother Agrippina and his wife Octavia. When he died, he said, “What an artist I die!” (“Qualis artifex pereo!”)^c
Some ancient Romans placed a phallic symbol over a door as a symbol of good luck and fertility, and miniature phalluses were often worn as lucky charms.^j
The abbreviation SPQR can be found on many Roman statues, buildings, and military standards. It stands for “senatus populusque romanus.” meaning “The senate and people of Rome.”^a
Rome’s population of more than a million was not matched by any other European city until London finally over took it in the nineteenth century.^c
Roman physicians had a wide range of surgical tools, including catheters and speculums. Many modern medical terms still have Latin roots. The knee cap, for example, is the patella, which is Latin for “shallow dish.”^j
In English, to “decimate” means to completely destroy. The word comes from the Latin decimare, which evolved from the practice of killing every tenth Roman soldier if they tried to mutiny.^a
The first-ever shopping mall was built by the Emperor Trajan in Rome. It consisted of several levels and more than 150 outlets that sold everything ranging from food and spices to clothes.^j
The snake was a common image in Roman art and jewelry and was believed to have powers over a family’s well-being.^b
Emperor Claudius’ third wife was once said to have donned blond wigs, gilded her nipples, and entered a competition with a local prostitute to see who could bed the most men in one night. Claudius had her executed.^h
Togas were unique to Rome and were worn by free-born Roman men as a mark of distinction. Ironically, the only women who wore togas were prostitutes because they were not allowed to wear stolas, the traditional garment of Roman women.^j
Purple, the most expensive dye from Murex seashells, was reserved for the emperors’ clothes or senators. It became treason for anyone other than the emperor to dress completely in purple.^j
Sometimes gladiator blood was recommended by Roman physicians as an aid to fertility.^j

After the death of an emperor, an eagle was released to carry the emperor’s soul to the afterlife

After the death of an emperor, an eagle (symbol of the god Jupiter) was released to bear his soul to heaven.^e
A fasces, which was a bundle of tied rods with a red ribbon that often included a bronze axe, symbolized the power and unity of Rome. Italian “fascism” derives its name from fasces.^a
Roman towns were provided with forica, or public lavatories. In lieu of toilet paper, Romans would use a wet sponge. Running water carried the waste to the main drains.^d
On the day the Colosseum officially opened, 5,000 animals were killed. During its history, it has been estimated that over 500,000 people and over a million animals were killed there.^f
On his journey through the Alps to invade Rome in 218 B.C., the Carthaginian general Hannibal lost 14,000 men and 25 elephants. Yet, it took Roman soldiers 17 years to defeat him. Hannibal so frightened the Romans that Roman parents would tell their children that unless they behaved, Hannibal would come after them.^j
In response to a 73 B.C. revolt against Rome by Spartacus the gladiator, 6,000 slaves were crucified.^j
The Romans were the first civilization to use concrete and the arch with any notable skill.^e
The Vestal Virgins were women priests who tended the sacred fire of Vesta, goddess of the hearth fire. If they lost their virginity, even as a result of rape, they were buried alive in an unmarked grave. In the 1,000-year history of the temple, only 18 Vestals received this punishment.^h
Rome’s first university, La Sapienza (est. A.D. 1303), is the largest in Europe and the second largest in the world.^j
The St. Pietro (St. Peter's Basillica) currently displays the chains that supposedly held St. Peter while imprisoned (with St. Paul) in the Carcere Mamertino (Mamertine Prison).^j
By the early fourth century, the Romans had built a road network of 53,000 miles throughout the empire. Each Roman mile was about 1,000 paces (about 4,800 feet) and was marked by a milestone.^e
Romans were highly superstitious and feared anything to do with the left, which is why their words for “left” and “left-handed” were sinister and sinstra, giving us the modern meaning of “sinister.”^a

Ancient Romans had several superstitions, including the belief that ringing bells eased the pain of childbirth

Ancient Romans believed that seeing an owl was a bad omen, sniffing cyclamen flowers would prevent baldness, and ringing bells eased the pain of childbirth. The presence of bees, which were considered sacred messengers of the gods, were seen as a sign of good luck.^j
The Cult of Mithra (spreading from India to Persia to Asia Minor to Rome) was popular among Roman soldiers. Mithra was supposed to have slain a bull whose blood is the lifeblood of the universe. Mithraism has ties to Christianity, with Rome usurping Mithra's supposed December 25th birthday as Christ's birthday, in no small part to appease the large Mithraic following whose pagan religion had been outlawed.^j
In ancient Rome, an infant was placed at the father’s feet shortly after birth. If the father took the child into his arms, it showed he accepted responsibility for its upbringing. If the baby was not accepted, it was be abandoned and left to die.^b
Roman statesman Cato the Elder urged that babies should be bathed in the warmed-up urine produced by an adult who had eaten cabbage. If a child would not settle to sleep, he recommended placing goat dung in its diaper.^d
Contraception and abortion were well known in Rome. For example, a woman might insert olive oil, honey, or any clogging fluids into the vagina or use pessaries of wool. One doctor suggested “wearing the liver of a cat in a tube on the left foot.”^b
While abortion and contraception were almost certainly limited to the rich, all classes, particularly the poor, resorted to “exposure.” Some people found it profitable to look for exposed infants in the town dumps and raise them as slaves or for sale. In legal documents, slaves are frequently designated as being “from the dump.”^b
Cincinnati, Ohio, is named after a great figure of Rome, Cincinnatus (519-438 B.C.). While plowing his fields, he was made dictator and placed in charge of the war against the Vosci and Aequi. He did the job in 16 days, left his powerful position, and went back to the plow.^a
The month of August was originally named Sextillis (from sextus) but was renamed in honor of the Roman Emperor Augustus. January is named after the Roman god of beginnings, Janus, who has two faces—one looking back to the old year and the other looking forward to the new year. April is from the Latin aperire which means “to open,” perhaps referring to the opening of flowers.^a
One of Rome’s most famous and significant archaeological feats was the Cloaca Maxima (Greatest Sewage), which was an ancient sewer system. It was thought to be presided over by the goddess Cloacina (literally “sewer” or “drain”). As well as controlling the sewers, she was responsible for protecting sexual intercourse in marriage.^j
The word “palace” comes from the Palatine Hill, where Augustus established the emperors’ tradition of building their palaces.^a

The Colosseum is considered an architectural feat and represents both the beauty and excess of ancient Rome

The Colosseum had a large sun roof that could be stretched over the crowd to keep the spectators in the shade. The Colosseum took 12 years to build, and the exit time for all 70,000 spectators was only three minutes.^f
The Circus Maximus could seat nearly 250,000 fans. In its passageways and arches under the seats, cooks and prostitutes catered to the fans’ other needs.^b
Wealthy Roman women would smear lead paste on their faces to look fashionably pale. They might also use ass’ milk or crushed snails as a facial moisturizer. Crushed ant eggs were often used to highlight women’s eyebrows.^h
Toothpaste was regularly used by those who could afford it. Nitrum, probably either potassium or sodium carbonate, was burned and rubbed on the teeth to restore color.^j
The Romans did not use soap. To get rid of sweat and grime, they would cover themselves with oil and then scrape off the oil with special a scraper made of metal, wood, or bone called a strigil.^j
Romans invented central heating and would warm rooms from under the floor using what was called a hypocaust, literally “heat from below.” Homes of some rich people had both running water and central heating.^j
Some wealthy women often wore wigs made from the blond hair of foreign slaves.Slaves could also dye a woman’s hair blond or red by blowing powder onto it. Slaves could be tortured for a styling hair poorly.^b
Some men were advised to use hippopotamus skin to make hair grow. Men and women would remove hair with bat's blood or hedgehog ashes, or keep hair from turning gray by coloring their hair with oil mixed with earthworm ashes.^b
The Romans had special toga cleaners called fullers. They would hang the togas over a round wooden frame, bleach them with burning sulfur, and press them in a large vat of water to get them clean.^b
When Romans would visit the temple of Aesculapius (the god of medicine and healing), they would leave offerings shaped like the part of their body which is afflicted, such as an ear or a leg.^f
Some common girl names in ancient Rome included Julia, Livia, Drusilla, Antonia, and Claudia. Common boy names included Marcus, Julius, Antonius, Titus, Caius, Didius, Marius, and Septimus.^d
Wealthy Romans might enjoy exotic foods such as stuffed flamingo. Fish sauce called liquamen or garum made from fish intestines was also popular.^b
After the Romans deposed the last of their kings in 509 B.C., they created the Law of Twelve Tables in 450 B.C., a rule of law that remained in force for 800 years until the end of the western empire.^c
On Capitoline Hill (one of the Seven Hills of Rome) at noon on April 21 every year, a special bell called Patarina rings to celebrate the founding of Rome.^j
A man could lose Roman citizenship if he deserted the army, mutilated himself so he could not serve, or dodged a census to evade taxation.^e
Girls were expected to marry at the age of 13 or 14 in arranged marriages. Strewing nuts, symbolic of the casting off of childish toys and of fertility, was an important part of the wedding. The bride wore a saffron-colored wedding gown with a flame-red veil over her hair.^a
In Roman custom, a bride was carried over a threshold for good luck with the words “Ubi ti Baius, ego Gaia.” (“Where you [are] John, there I [am], Mary.”) Tripping over a threshold was considered bad luck.^a
Roman divorce was quick and easy. Either party merely uttered to the other the Latin phrase “Tuas res tibi habeto.” (“Keep what’s yours for yourself.”) If there were any children, they remained with the father, though the dowry was returned to the woman provided she had not committed adultery.^a
Romans thought that not owning slaves was a sign of extreme poverty. Many people would take three slaves with them just to go to the baths.^b
Land ownership was so important that almost all Roman citizens owned at least a small plot. The practice of agriculture was said to have developed the hardy nature of the typical Roman.^e
The Greeks thought that when non-Greeks spoke, they were mumbling words that sounded like an indeterminate “barbar,” which led to the Roman word “barbarian.”^a
Crimes such as treason or desertion were punishable by beheading or crucifixion. But only criminals without Roman citizenship (such as Jesus Christ) were crucified because that death was so slow and painful.^f
Built by the emperor Hadrian (118-125), the Pantheon (“Temple of the Gods”) is remarkable because its massive dome is made of concrete that has withstood the elements for almost 2,000 years—with no steel reinforcing. The Pantheon was the largest concrete curved dome in existence until the nineteenth century.^a
When the Roman Empire began to fall, inflation dramatically increased. Between A.D. 200 - 280, the price of a bale of wheat rose from 16 to 120,000 drachmas.^j
Careers for Roman women outside the home included priestesses and lamp makers. There were also professional midwives, hairdressers, and even a few female doctors.^h
The Romans trained some female slaves to fight as gladiators.^h

Romans generally were affectionate toward their pets

Romans generally were affectionate toward their pets, especially their cats and dogs. Some Roman dogs even wore identity tags in case they got lost. One bronze tag read: “Hold me if I run away, and return me to my master Viventius on the estate of Callistus.”^c
For the Romans, a “circus” was a chariot racetrack, not the tented entertainment venue of today.^a
After criticizing Rome’s transition from a republic to an empire, the famous philosopher/rhetorician Cicero was murdered and had his head and hands displayed on the Rostra in the Forum Romanum. It is rumoured that Fulvia, the wife of the influential Roman politician, Antony, pulled out Cicero’s tongue and stabbed it repeatedly with her hairpin.^a
The Colosseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre, took its name from the Latin wordcolossous, which means “giant statue.” A huge statue of Nero stood near the stadium, giving it its nickname.^f
After the fall of Rome, Latin continued in a variety of dialects which later developed into the Romance languages such as Portuguese, Romanian, Italian, French, and Spanish. Though not directly related, Latin has also significantly influenced English.^a
There seems to be no evidence that a “thumbs up” or a “thumbs down” was used in Roman gladiatorial games.The editor or judge of the game (such as an emperor) would more likely gesture with a thumb turned horizontally, probably in a striking motion toward the heart, or cover or compress his thumb to signal “put away the blade.”^e
To die honorably, the defeated gladiator would grasp the thigh of his victor who would then hold his opponent’s head or helmet and plunge a sword in his neck. To make sure the gladiator was not faking his death, an attendant dressed as Mercury would touch him with a hot iron rod and another attendant dressed as Charon would hit him with a mallet.^j
Gladiatorial combat probably dates back to the Etruscans or Samnites who made prisoners fight to the death during the funerals of aristocrats. It perhaps served as a kind of a substitute for old human sacrifices.^a
The Roman Emperor Gaius (nicknamed Caligula after a type of military boot) tried to make his horse a consul, which was the most important job in the government. He also dressed in women’s cloths, presented himself as a god, had incestuous relations with his sisters, and had a habit of giving the manly Praetorian Guards watchwords like “Kiss me quick.”^a
In battle, Romans sometimes grouped together and held their shields all around them in a move called “the tortoise.”^e
Most Roman aqueducts were over 55 feet high. Their great height not only controlled the flow of water but also made it more difficult for someone to steal water and for enemies to put poison in it. The Roman Aqueduct of Segovia was built of stones with no mortar and is still used to carry water today.^j
In A.D. 64, a huge fire destroyed half of Rome. Some claim Nero purposely set it so he could rebuild the city how he wanted it. The saying “Fiddling while Rome burns” comes from the story that Nero played his lyre while Rome burned.^a
Roman days were divided into 12 hours, measured by a sundial.^b
The Monte Testaccio is a vast, nonbiodegradable garbage dump where an estimated 53 million amphorae (ceramic vases) were thrown. It is one of the largest and most organized dumps found anywhere in the ancient world.^a
Roman coins were used to publicize the emperor, his achievements, and his family in a world with no mass media.^a
Some scholars speculate that pagan Romans would have been happy to add Christ to their list of gods, and that some did. The Christians, however, would have none of it.^j
The Romans had gods for doors (Forculus), hinges (Cardea), and thresholds (Limentinus).^b

The early Romans thought the Christian sacrament was literally a form of cannibalism

The early Romans thought Christians were literally practicing some sort of cannibalism when the word was out that they consumed bread and wine as symbolic representations of the body and blood of Christ.^d
The diet of ordinary Romans consisted mostly of starchy food and did not include many green vegetables, fresh meat, or fats. Hence, many children suffered from malnutrition.^b
At its peak, Rome included more than one million people. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the city’s population fell dramatically to less than 50,000 people.^j In 2007, there were over 2.7 million people living in the greater Rome area.
In order to escape her forced engagement to a senator, the emperor Valentinian II’s sister Honarias sent Attila the Hun her engagement ring as a plea for help in the spring of A.D. 450. He interpreted it as a marriage proposal and demanded Rome as a dowry.^c
Rome’s last emperor was Romulus Augustus, whose name recalls both the founder of Rome and Rome’s first emperor. He was deposed by Odoacer, the leader of the Barbarians.^a
Theories as to why Rome fell include political weakness and corruption, immorality, Christian pacifism and superstition, racial mixing, class conflict, environmental problems, a divided capital (Rome and Constantinople), plagues, and mass migrations of wild Germanic people. Another theory is that water supplied by lead pipes caused widespread health problems including brain damage and impaired intelligence. Some scholars speculate that Rome never fell, it just adapted to a changing world.^j
After the fall of Rome, the Colosseum became overgrown with exotic plants—seeds had inadvertently been transported with the wild animals that were used for fighting. During the Middle Ages it became a fortress for the city's two warrior families.ⁱ
If not for the painstaking work of medieval monks who copied and illustrated the works of Roman writers and philosophers, many keystones of western culture would have been lost forever.^a
Founder of classical humanism, Petrarch (1304-1374) discovered many manuscripts from ancient Rome, and by the fifteenth century, Florentines were modeling their embattled republic on the Roman republic. During the Renaissance, Rome was second only to Florence as a major force of influence.^j
Now assumed to be an ancient Roman manhole cover or part of a first-century statue, past generations thought Rome’s “Mouth of Truth” (La Bocca della Verità) to be a sort of ancient lie detector. Allegedly, it would cut off a person’s hand if it was placed in the mouth while the person spoke a lie. Later, priests in the Middle Ages would put scorpions in it to help perpetuate the myth.ⁱ The Mouth of Truth also appeared in the film Roman Holiday with Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn.

-- Posted March 7, 2009

References

^a Burgan, Michael. 2005. Empire of Ancient Rome. New York, NY: Facts on File Books.

^b Casson, Lionel. 1998. Everyday in Ancient Rome. Baltimore, MD: The John Hopkins University Press.

^c Constable, Nick. 2003. Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome. New York, NY: Thalamus Publishing.

^d Cowell, F. R. 1976. Life in Ancient Rome. New York, NY: The Berkeley Publishing Group.

^e Hillers, Delbert. “Revelation 13, 18 and a scroll from Marabba’at.” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. 170 (1963) 65.

^f Kerrigan, Michael. 2001. Ancient Rome and the Roman Empire. London, UK: BBC WorldWide Ltd.

^g Mann, Elizabeth. 1998. The Roman Colosseum: The Story of the World’s Most Famous Stadium and Its Deadly Games. New York, NY: Mikaya Press.

^h Nardo, Don. 2003. Women of Ancient Rome. Farmington Hills, MI: Lucent Books.

ⁱ The Sydney Morning Herald. “Rome—Places to See.” November 28, 2008. Accessed: February 10, 2009.

^j Wolf, Greg, ed. 2003. Cambridge Illustrated History: Roman World. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

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62 Interesting Facts About . . .

Italy

The name Italy comes from the word italia, meaning “calf land,” perhaps because the bull was a symbol of the Southern Italian tribes.^f
Italy is approximately 116,400 square miles (including Sicily and Sardinia), which is slightly larger than Arizona.^b
Italy is one of the most crowded nations in Europe.^a Its population is estimated to reach 58,126,212 by July 2009. The population of United States is estimated to reach 307,212,123 by that same date.^b
The capital of Italy is Rome (also known as the Eternal City) and is almost 3,000 years old. It has been the capital since 1871 and is home to the Dome of St. Peter's, the Sistine Chapel, the Coliseum, and the famous Trevi Fountain.^f
The official name of Italy is the Italian Republic (Repubblica Italiana).^b
Italy is said to have more masterpieces per square mile than any other country in the world.^a

Nearly 80% of Italy is either mountainous or hilly

Almost four-fifths of Italy is either mountainous or hilly.^d
In 2007, a dog named Rocco discovered a truffle in Tuscany that weighed 3.3 pounds. It sold at auction for $333,000 (USD), a world record for a truffle.^a
The Italian wolf is Italy’s unofficial national animal and plays a large role in the legend of the founding of the Rome.^a
The author of “Pinocchio” (“pine nut”), Carlo Collodi (1826-1890), was Italian.^f
When McDonald's opened in 1986 in Rome, food purists outside the restaurant gave away free spaghetti to remind people of their culinary heritage.^a

Italians created parmesan, provolone, mozzarella, and many other cheeses

Parmesan cheese originated in the area around Parma, Italy. Italians also created many other cheeses, including gorgonzola, mozzarella, provolone, and ricotta. No one knows when the pizza was invented, but the people of Naples made it popular.^g
The University of Rome is one of the world’s oldest universities and was founded by the Catholic Church in A.D. 1303. Often called La Sapienza (“knowledge”), the University of Rome is also Europe’s largest university with 150,000 students.^g
There are two independent states within Italy: the Republic of San Marino (25 square miles) and the Vatican City (just 108.7 acres).^d
Italy’s San Marino is the world’s oldest republic (A.D. 301), has fewer than 30,000 citizens, and holds the world’s oldest continuous constitution. Its citizens are called the Sammarinese.^f
Vatican City is the only nation in the world that can lock its own gates at night. It has its own phone company, radio, T.V. stations, money, and stamps. It even has its own army, the historic Swiss Guard.^f
Most of Italy’s natural flora and fauna has disappeared due to centuries of cultivation. Most of its natural wildlife has also disappeared due to over-hunting.^a
Italians suffer more earthquakes than any other Europeans. In 1693, an estimated 100,000 people died in an earthquake in Sicily. The most deadly recent quake in Italy occurred in Naples in 1980, killing 3,000 people.^a
No other country in Europe has as many volcanoes as Italy. This is because the Italian peninsula stands on a fault line. Three major volcanoes (Etna, Stromboli, and Vesuvius) have erupted in the last hundred years.^a
By the year 2000 B.C., Italic tribes (Oscans, Umbrians, Latins) had established themselves in Italy. They were followed by the Etruscans in 800 B.C. and the Greeks, who established colonies known as Magna Graeca in southern Italy (present-day Apulia). Rome was founded in 753 B.C., and soon thereafter the Romans began conquering the peninsula.^f
At its height in A.D. 117, the Roman Empire stretched from Portugal in the West to Syria in the east, and from Britain in the North to the North African deserts across the Mediterranean. It covered 2.3 million miles (two-thirds the size of the U.S.) and had a population of 120 million people. During the Middle Ages, Rome had perhaps no more than 13,000 residents.^f
Like most of Europe, Italy was ravaged in the middle of the fourteenth century by the Black Death, a combination of plagues (chiefly the bubonic) that were carried to Genoa by Italian merchants returning from the Middle East. The recovery stimulated growth and helped spawn humanism and the Renaissance.^g
Two Italians in particular contributed to the eighteenth-century's Enlightenment: Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794), whose essays on Crime and Punishment led to broad reforms in the treatment of prisoners and criminals, and Giambattista Vico (1668-1774), a philosopher, rhetorician, and historian who is often thought to have ushered in a modern philosophy of history.^f

From 1861 to 1985, more than 26 million people left Italy to seek a better life

From 1861 to 1985, more than 26 million people left Italy (mostly from the overcrowded south) to seek a better life. Only one in four came home again.^e
The highest peak in Europe is in Italy. Monte Bianco (White Mountain) is 15, 771 feet high and is part of the Alps.^d
Though Italy’s economy lagged behind the rest of Europe during the first half the twentieth century, currently it is the world’s seventh largest economy.^f
In northern Italy, last names tend to end in “i”, while those from the south often end in “o.” The most common Italian surname is Russo.^a
Italian is a Romance language descended from Vulgar Latin, the dialect spoken by the people living during the last years of the Roman Empire. Italian has more Latin words than any other Romance languages, and its grammatical system remains similar to Latin. Latin is still the official language of the Vatican City in Rome.^d
In the 1930s and 40s, Italian fascist Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) tried to eliminate foreign words from Italian. In soccer, “goal” became “meta” and Donald Duck became “Paperino.” Mickey Mouse became “Topolino” and Goofy became “Pippo.” These changes were not permanent.^e

Tourism accounts for nearly 63% of Italy’s national income

Over 50 million tourists a year visit Italy. Tourism is vital to Italy’s economy and provides nearly 63% of Italy’s national income.^e
Italian Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simon (1475-1564) was once thought to have painted in somber shades, but after his frescos on the Sistine Chapel were cleaned, it was discovered that he actually painted in bright colors, such as purples, greens, and pinks. Centuries of dirt and smoke from candles had toned down the bright colors. Some art historians argued that the restorers went too far in their cleaning efforts and removed the dark shadows Michelangelo intended.^a
In 2008, Italian experts proposed insulating Michelangelo’s David from the vibrations of tourist footsteps to prevent the marble from cracking.^c
Known as the “Three Fountains,” Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374), and Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) are arguably the three most famous Italian authors of all time. Dante’s Divine Comedy (Divina Commedia) had tremendous influence ion Italian literature, and he is considered the father of the Italian language.^f
The pre-dinner passeggiata (evening stroll) is one of Italy’s most enduring leisure activities where Italians stroll about the streets to see and be seen.^a
When European Jews were being persecuted during WWII, it was not unusual for some Jews to hide in Italy’s ancient catacombs.^a
The Shroud of Turin is an ancient piece of linen cloth believed to bear the faint imprint of a male body, perhaps Jesus Christ after he was killed. It has been in the Turin’s San Giovanni Cathedral for at least 420 years. While scientists have determined the shroud was made no earlier than the 1200s, others continue to debate when and how the shroud was created.^f
Begun in 1560 for Cosimo l de’ Medici, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence is one of the oldest museums in the world and contains famous works by Michelangelo, Botticelli, and da Vinci.
Approximately 85% of Italians are Roman Catholics, with Protestants, Jews, and a growing Muslim community making up the minority.^g

Italian soccer fans are calledtifosi, meaning ”carriers of typhus”

Soccer is Italy’s most popular sport, and the famous San Siro Stadium in Milan holds 85,000 people. Italy has won the World Cup four times (1934, 1938, 1982, and 2006), making the country’s team second only to Brazil's in number of wins.^a
Soccer was introduced to Italians in the late 1800s by the British, but it was not until the 1930s under Mussolini that the sport took off on an international level.^g
Soccer fans in Italy are called tifosi, meaning “carriers of typhus.” Italian soccer fans are known for their rowdy behavior and lack of inhibition.^g
In 1454, a real human chess game took place in Marostica, Italy. Rather than fight a bloody duel, the winner of the chess game would win the hand of a beautiful girl. To commemorate the event, each September in even-numbered years, the town’s mainpiazza becomes a life-sized chess board.^a
Italians claim to have taught the rest of Europe how to cook. Italy is responsible for introducing the world to ice cream (via the Chinese), coffee, and fruit pies. In addition to Belgium and France, Italy also claims to have made the first French fries. The first Italian cookbook was written in 1474 by Bartolomeo Sicci.^a
Italy has hosted the Olympic Games three times. The 1956 Winter Games were held at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Zuel, and the Dolomite Alps. The 1960 Summer Olympics were held in Rome. And Turin hosted the 2006 Winter Olympics.^a
Italy’s birthrate is the second lowest in the Western world. Both political and church leaders have expressed concern and have offered rewards to couples who have more than one child.^f
The biggest holiday in Italy is Christmas. Many people celebrate Christmas Eve with a huge feast, often featuring seafood. The Christmas season lasts until Epiphany, January 6, the date when the Three Wise Men are said to have reached Jesus’ manger.^a
Italy is among the world’s leaders of the fashion industry. In the 1950s, Italian designers such as Nino Cerruti and Valentino led the world in creating stylish fashions. Additionally, Armani, Versace, Gucci, and Prada have become internationally recognized. Italy is also known for fine sports cars, such as the Ferrari and Lamborghini.^a
The first violin appeared in Italy in the 1500s, probably from the workshop of Andrea Amati (1505-1578) in Cremona. The city later became the home of Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737), the most famous of violin-makers.^a
The world’s longest land tunnel is the Lötschberg Base Tunnel, which proves a 22-mile railway link between Switzerland and Italy.^d

The Italian flag was heavily influenced by the French flag

Influenced in part by the French flag, the Italian flag has evolved over several hundred years. The flag is vertically divided into three equal sections of green, white, and red, representing hope, faith, and charity. Another interpretation is that the green represents the Italian landscape, white represents the snow-capped Alps, and red represents the bloodshed that brought about the independence of Italy.^a
Italy was one of the founders of the EU and is a member of the Group of Eight (G8), a forum for eight of the world’s most powerful nations.^a
Venice, Italy, is one of the world's most beautiful and unusual cities. It was founded over 1,400 years ago on a collection of muddy islands in a wide and shallow lagoon. It has been sinking into the mud for centuries and is plagued by floods.^f
The Sardinian islands are famous for their “witches” who make health potions for local people. The “witches” are usually women and they use a secret language that they pass on to their daughters.^a
A part of northern Italy called Val Camonica contains about 350,000 petroglyphs that were created nearly 10,000 years ago.^a
Galileo Galilee (1564-1642) was an Italian-born scientist. When he argued that the Earth revolved around the Sun, the Catholic Church imprisoned Galileo in his own house. The Church issued a formal apology in 1992.^f
Italian citizens who are at least 18 years old can vote for the lower house in the parliament, the Chamber of Deputies. Citizens who are at least 25 years old can vote for the 315 members of the upper house, the Senate.^f
Italy’s long coastline and developed economy draws many illegal immigrants from southeastern Europe and Africa. Additionally, Latin American cocaine, Southwest Asian heroine, and organized crime have all found an active market in Italy.^b
Many single Italian children live at home until their 30s, even if they have a job. The Italian family stands at the heart of Italian society.^a
The world’s first operas were composed in Italy at the end of the sixteenth century. Opera reached the height of popularity in the nineteenth century, when the works of Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868), Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924), and Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) became hugely popular. The late tenor Luciano Pavarotti (1935-2007) is a national celebrity, and Claudio Monteverdi (c. 1567-1643) is regarded as the father of the modern opera.^f

The Tower of Pisa is famous for leaning over 14 feet from the perpendicular

The Leaning Tower of Pisa was built in 1173 and began to lean soon after, probably due to a poorly laid foundation. During WWII, the Nazi’s used it as a watch tower. After reconstruction efforts in 2008, engineers declared the tower would be stable for at least another 200 years.^a
The Arabs brought dried pasta to Italy in the thirteenth century (though fresh pasta was made before then). It was commonly eaten with honey and sugar; tomato sauce was not added until the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The old-fashioned way of eating pasta was with the fingers, arm held high and head titled back. Pasta traditionally was made by the mother of the household, who passed the precious technique to her daughters. There are currently more than 500 different types of pasta eaten in Italy today.^a
The language of music is Italian. The word “scale” comes from scala, meaning “step.” And adante, allegro, presto, and vivace are just a few of the many Italian musical notations.^a

-- Posted May 14, 2009

References

^a Blashfield, Jean F. 2009. Italy: Enchantment of the World. New York: Scholastic Inc.

^b C.I.A.: The World Fact Book. Italy. April 2009. Accessed April 29, 2009.

^c Duff, Mark. “Michelangelo’s David ‘May Crack.’” BBCNEWS.com. September 2008. Accessed: April 29, 2009.

^d Gast, Dwight. 1999. A Portrait of Italy. New York: Todtri Book Publishers.

^e Ginsborg, Paul. 2003. A History of Contemporary Italy: Society and Politics 1943-1988. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

^f Hearder, Harry and Jonathan Morris. 2001. Italy: A Short History. New York: Cambridge University Press.

^g Holmes, George, ed. 1997. The Oxford History of Italy. New York: Oxford University Press.

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74 Interesting Facts About . . .

China

The modern word “China” most likely derives from the name of the Qin (pronounced “chin”) dynasty. First Emperor Qin Shi Huang (260-210 B.C.) of the Qin dynasty first unified China in 221 B.C., beginning an Imperial period which would last until A.D. 1912.^k
China is often considered the longest continuous civilization, with some historians marking 6000 B.C. as the dawn of Chinese civilization. It also has the world’s longest continuously used written language.^c
China is the fourth largest country in the world (after Russia, Canada, and the U.S.). It has an area of 3,719,275 square miles (slightly smaller than the U.S.) and its borders with other countries total more than 117,445 miles. Approximately 5,000 islands lie off the Chinese coast.^a
One in every five people in the world is Chinese. China’s population is estimated to reach a whopping 1,338,612,968 by July 2009. China’s population is four times that of the United States.^a
Fortune cookies are not a traditional Chinese custom. They were invented in 1920 by a worker in the Key Heong Noodle Factory in San Francisco.ⁱ
China is also known as the “Flowery Kingdom” and many of the fruits and flowers (such as the orange and orchid) are now grown all over the world.ⁱ

Invented in China, toilet paper was initially only for emperors

Toilet paper was invented in China in the late 1300s. It was for emperors only.^m
The Chinese invented paper, the compass, gunpowder, and printing.^c
The Chinese invented kites (“paper birds” or “Aeolian harps”) about 3,000 years ago. They were used to frighten the enemies in battle, and Marco Polo (1254-1324) noted that kites were also used to predict the success of a voyage. It was considered bad luck to purposely let a kite go.ⁱ
Cricket fighting is a popular amusement in China. Many Chinese children keep crickets as pets.^m
Despite its size, all of China is in one time zone.^h
Many historians believe soccer originated in China around 1000 B.C.^f
Ping-pong is one of the most popular games in China, but it was not invented in China. It originated in Britain, where it is called table tennis.^m

Viewed as a status symbol,stamp collecting is China’s number one hobby

The number one hobby in China is stamp collecting.^m
Giant Pandas (“bear cat”) date back two to three million years. The early Chinese emperors kept pandas to ward off evil spirits and natural disasters. Pandas also were considered symbols of might and bravery.ⁱ
White, rather than black, is the Chinese color for mourning and funerals.ⁱ
Though Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) is credited with designing the first parachute, Chinese alchemists successfully used man-carrying tethered kites by the fourth century A.D. Parachutes were not used safely and effectively in Europe until the late 1700s.^m
The custom of binding feet (euphemistically called “golden lilies”) began among female entertainers and members of the Chinese court during the Song dynasty (A.D. 960-1279). Tightly wrapped bandages gradually broke the arch of the foot and caused the woman's toes and heel to grow inward toward one another. Her leg muscles would also atrophy and become very thin. Bound feet were seen as highly sexual.^m
Historians speculate that as the Chinese population grew, people had to conserve cooking fuel by chopping food into small pieces so that it could cook faster. These bite-sized foods eliminated the need for knives and, hence, chopsticks were invented.^c
In A.D. 130, Zhang Heng, an astronomer and literary scholar, invented the first instrument for monitoring earthquakes. The machine could detect and indicate the direction of an earthquake.^c

The Chinese invented ice cream by packing a milk mixture and rice into snow

China invented ice cream, and Marco Polo is rumored to have taken the recipe (along with the recipe for noodles) back with him to Europe.ⁱ
A civil servant named Su Song built the first mechanicalclock between A.D 1088 and 1092. It could tell the time of day and also track the constellations so that accurate horoscopes could be determined.^c
On September 27, 2008, Zhai Zhigang made the first spacewalk by a Chinese astronaut.^l
The Chinese were the first to invent the waterwheel to harness water in A.D. 31—1,200 years before the Europeans. China was also the first country in the world to use an iron plow. Europe didn’t begin using the iron plow until the seventeenth century.^m
The name of China’s capital has changed over the centuries. At one time or another it has been known as Yanjing, Dadu, and Beiping. Peking or “Beijing means “Northern Capital.” Beijing is the officially sanctioned pinyin spelling based on the Mandarin dialect. Beijing is the second largest city after Shanghai.^h
It was customary for wealthy men and women in the late empire to grow the nails of their little fingers extremely long as a sign of their rank. They often wore decorative gold and silver nail guards to protect their nails.^c
By the fourth century B.C., the Chinese were drilling for natural gas and using it as a heat source, preceding Western natural gas drilling by about 2,300 years.^m
By the second century B.C., the Chinese discovered that blood circulated throughout the body and that the heart pumped the blood. In Europe, circulation wasn’t discovered until the early seventeenth century by William Harvey (1578-1657).^m
The Chinese were using the decimal system as early as the fourteenth century B.C., nearly 2,300 years before the first known use of the system in European mathematics. The Chinese were also the first to use a place for zero.^m
The crossbow was invented and first used by the Chinese. They were also the first in the world to use chemical and gas weapons, 2,000 years before gas was used in Europe during WWI.^m
The Three Gorges Hydroelectric Dam spans the Yangtze River and is the largest dam in the world. It is also the most controversial dam in the world because it has been plagued by corruption, human rights violations, technological difficulties, and has caused dramatic environmental changes.^e

Tea was supposedly discovered when a tea leaf fell into a Chinese emperor’s boiling water

According to popular legend, tea was discovered by the Chinese emperor Shennong in 2737 B.C. when a tea leaf fell into his boiling water. The Chinese consider tea to be a necessity of life.ⁱ
Martial arts are practiced throughout China and were largely developed from ancient farming and hunting methods.ⁱ
The most important holiday in China is the Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year. Chinese traditionally believe that every person turns one year older on the New Year and, thus, that day is considered to be everyone’s birthday.ⁱ
Chinese is spoken by 92% of China’s population. There are at least seven major families of the Chinese language, including Mandarin, Cantonese, Wu, Hakka, Gan, Xiang, and Min.ⁱ
Red symbolizes happiness for the Chinese and is commonly used at Chinese festivals and other happy occasions such as birthdays and weddings.ⁱ
In ancient China, the lotus was seen as a symbol of purity and was sacred to both the Buddhists and Daoists. The peony (“King of Flowers”) symbolized spring, the chrysanthemum symbolized long life, and the narcissus was thought to bring good luck.ⁱ

Anyone caught smuggling the secrets of silk making out of ancient China were put to death

The Chinese have made silk since at least 3,000 B.C. The Romans knew China as “Serica,” which means “Land of Silk.” The Chinese fiercely guarded the secrets of silk making, and anyone caught smuggling silkworm eggs or cocoons outside of China was put to death.ⁱ
According to a Chinese legend, silk was discovered in 3000 B.C. by Lady Xi Ling Sui, wife of the Emperor Huang Di. When a silk worm cocoon accidentally dropped into her hot tea, fine threads from the cocoon unraveled in the hot water and silk was born.ⁱ
The oldest piece of paper in the world was found in China and dates back to the second or first century B.C. Paper was so durable, it was sometimes used for clothing and even light body armor.^m
The Chinese were the first in the world to use stirrups in the third century A.D.^m
China’s “one child” policy has contributed to female infanticide and has created a significant gender imbalance. There are currently 32 million more boys than girls in China. In the future, tens of millions of men will be unable to find wives, prompting some scholars to suggest that this imbalance could lead to a threat to world security.^m
The first known species of Homo erectus, the Peking Man, was found in China and lived between 300,000-550,000 years ago. It is thought that he knew how to manipulate fire.^c
During the first half the twentieth century, Shanghai was the only port in the world to accept Jews fleeing the Holocaust without an entry visa.ⁱ
Chinese mathematics evolved independently of Greek mathematics and is consequently of great interest to historians of mathematics.^m
Originating as far back as 250 B.C., Chinese lanterns were an important symbol of long life. Lanterns were once symbols of a family’s wealth, and the richest families had lanterns so large, it required several people with poles to hoist them into place.ⁱ
In the Tang dynasty, anyone with an education was expected to greet as well as say goodbye to another person in poetic verse composed on the spot.ⁱ
In 1974, a group of farmers digging for a well in the Shaanxi province uncovered some bits of very old pottery. They discovered the tomb of Qin (259-210 B.C.) the first emperor who united China. The tomb contained thousands of amazing life-sized soldiers, horses, and chariots.^c

The Grand Canal of China is the world’s longest canal

China’s Grand Canal is the world’s oldest and longest canal at 1,114 miles (1,795 km) long with 24 locks and around 60 bridges.^e
The bat is a traditional good luck symbol that is frequently depicted in designs for porcelain, textiles, and other crafts.ⁱ
The bicycle was introduced into China around 1891 by two American travelers named Allen and Sachtleben. The bicycle is now the primary transportation for millions of Chinese. The last Qing emperor (Puyi) rode a bicycle around the Forbidden City in Beijing. China is currently the leading bicycle manufacturer.ⁱ
The Boxer Rebellion between 1898 and 1901 in northern China was against Christian missionaries, foreign diplomats, and technology by a secret group called the “Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists” (Yihequan or I-ho-ch’uan) so named because its members practiced weaponless martial arts as well as secret rituals. Westerns called it “shadow boxing” and the members “Boxers.”^m
Suspension bridges were invented in China in 25 B.C, 1,800 years before such bridges were known in the West.^m
The first American woman to win the Nobel Prize was Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) for her novels about China, most notably The Good Earth (1931). Amy Tan (1952-) is a best-selling Chinese-American author of The Joy Luck Club.ⁱ
The Chinese word for civilization (wen) is pronounced the same as the word for script, pattern, or calligraphy. In fact, calligraphy was thought to reveal the calligrapher’s moral and spiritual self-cultivation as a type of “heart print.”ⁱ
The carp is a symbol of strength and perseverance. The scales and whiskers of the fish make it resemble a dragon, the greatest symbol of power in China. Fish in general play a large role in Chinese culture and the words for “fish” and “abundance” are pronounced the same in Chinese (yu).ⁱ

In some regions of ancient China, pigtails were indicative of girl’s marital status

In some parts of China, “pigtails” were associated with a girl’s marital status. A young girl would wear two pigtails, and when she married, she would wear just one. This may have contributed to the Western view that pigtails are associated with children and young girls.ⁱ
In ancient China, mirrors were believed to protect their owners from evil, making hidden spirits visible and revealing the secrets of the future. A person who had been scared by a ghost could be healed by looking in the mirror. Mirrors were often hung on the ceilings of burial chambers.ⁱ
The longest river in China is the 3,494-mile Yangtze (Changjian) River and the 2,903-mile-long Yellow (Huanghe) River.^e
The Chinese developed a theory of three levels of heaven—Heaven, Earth, and man—which has been influential in landscape painting and flower arrangements.^e
The horse most likely originated in Central Asia and became very important in China. A horse is considered to be associated with the masculine symbol, yang, and with the element of fire. A person born in the Year of the Horse is considered cheerful, independent, clever, talkative, quick to anger, and able to handle money.ⁱ
Because the cicada (katydid) has the longest life span of any insect (up to 17 years) and sheds its skin, it has long been a symbol of regeneration and rebirth for the Chinese. In ancient China, the Chinese would place jade cicadas in the mouths of the dead because they were thought to slow down the decay process and speed up the rebirth in another world.ⁱ
Concubinage has been practiced throughout Chinese history, primarily by wealthy men who could afford it. Chinese emperors had large harems with hundreds of concubines.j
The phoenix is the most important bird in Chinese legend and represents the feminine power of the empress. The graceful crane, which is a symbol of long life, is the second most important bird in Chinese legend. Ducks are also important symbols and represent happiness and marital faithfulness.ⁱ
The Cultural Revolution (the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution) from1966-1976 resulted in severe famine, thousands of deaths, and the erosion of thousands of acres of farmland.^m
While the dragon is typically seen as an evil creature in Western culture, it holds first place among the four greatest creatures in Chinese mythology, including the phoenix, tiger, and tortoise. It is typically associated with the emperor.ⁱ
The highest mountain in the world (29,028 feet) is named in the honor the Englishman Sir George Everest who was the first surveyor of India. The Chinese call Mount Everest Qomolangma, which means “Mother Goddess of the Earth.”^e

The position of the stars on the Chinese flag represents the people’s unity under Communism

China’s national flag was adopted in September 1949 and first flown in Tiananmen Square (the world’s largest public gathering place) on October 1, 1949, the day the People’s Republic of China was formed. The red in the flag symbolizes revolution. The large star symbolizes communism and the little stars represent the Chinese people. The position of the stars represents the unity of the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party.ⁱ
China has the world’s oldest calendar. This lunar calendar originated in 2600 B.C. and has 12 zodiac signs. It takes 60 years to complete.ⁱ
The number of birth defects in China continues to rise. Environmentalist and officials blame China’s severe pollution.^d
The consumption of mushrooms was recorded in Chinese historical documents more than 3,000 years ago. In 1996, China produced 600,000 tons of mushrooms, making it the world’s leading producer, and it has 60% of the world’s mushroom varieties.ⁱ
In 2007, dog food and toothpaste products made in China were recalled because they contained poisonous ingredients. In July, China’s head of the State Food and Drug Administration was found to have accepted bribes from pharmaceutical companies. He was executed.^g
Famous Chinese and Chinese-American actors include Jackie Chan (Hong Kong), Chow Yun Fat (Hong Kong), Bruce Lee (San Francisco), Jet Li (Beijing), Zhang Ziyi (Beijing), and Lucy Lui (New York).^e
The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing were the most expensive games in history.^bWhile the 2004 Athens Games were estimated to cost around $15 billion, the Beijing Games were estimated to cost a whopping $40 billion.^j

-- Posted May 4, 2009

References

^a CIA.gov. “The World Fact Book—China.” April 9, 2009. Accessed: April 20, 2009.

^b CNN.com. “Emotion Kicks off China’s Olympics.” August 9, 2008. Accessed: April 20, 2009.

^c Cotterell, Arthur. 2005. Ancient China. New York: NY: Dorling Kindersley Limited.

^d Demick, Barbara. “China Blames Pollution for Surge in Birth Defects.”LosAngelesTimes.com. February 2, 2009. Accessed: April 21, 2009.

^e Fenby, Jonathan, ed. 2007. The Seventy Wonders of China. New York, NY: Thames & Hudson Ltd.

^f Goldblatt, David. 2008. The Ball Is Round: A Global History of Soccer. New York, NY: Penguin Group.

^g MSNBC.com. “Zheng Convicted of Accepting Bribes, Dereliction of Duty: China’s Top Drug Regulator Gets Death Sentence.” May 29, 2007. Accessed: April 21, 2009.

^h National Geographic Traveler. 2001 China. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society.

ⁱ Perkins, Dorothy. 2000. Encyclopedia of China: The Essential Reference to China, Its History and Culture. New York, NY: Checkmark Books.

^j Rabinovitch, Simon. “Beijing Games to be Costliest, but No Debt Legacy.” Reuters.com. August 2008. Accessed: May 2, 2009.

^k Tucker, Anne Wilkes. 2007. The Great Wall of China: Photographs by Chen Changfen. New Haven, CT: Yale University in cooperation with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

^l USAToday.com. “China Space Program Advances with First Spacewalk.” September 27, 2008. Accessed: April 20, 2009.

^m Wright, David C. 2001. The History of China. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

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61 Interesting Facts About . . .

India

India is about 1/3 the size of the United States, yet it is the second most populous country in the world, with a population of 1,166,079,217. India is the seventh largest country in the world, at 1.27 million square miles.^g
India is the largest democracy in the world.ⁱ
The Kumbh Mela (or Grand Pitcher Festival) is a huge Hindu religious festival that takes place in India every 12 years. In 2001, 60 million people attended, breaking the record for the world’s biggest gathering. The mass of people was photographed from space by a satellite.^c
Many Indians find toilet paper repellent and consider it cleaner to splash water with the left hand in the appropriate direction. Consequently, the left hand is considered unclean and is never used for eating.^f
To avoid polluting the elements (fire, earth, water, air), followers of Zoroastrianism in India don’t bury their dead, but instead leave bodies in buildings called “Towers of Silence” for the vultures to pick clean. After the bones dry, they are swept into a central well.^f

It is illegal for foreigners to import or export Indian currency (rupees)

It is illegal to take Indian currency (rupees) out of India.^f
India leads the world with the most murders (32,719), with Russia taking second at 28,904 murders per year.^j
India has one of the world’s highest rates of abortion.^e
More than a million Indians are millionaires, yet most Indians live on less than two dollars a day. An estimated 35% of India’s population lives below the poverty line.^l
Cows can be found freely wandering the streets of India’s cities. They are considered sacred and will often wear a tilak, a Hindu symbol of good fortune. Cows are considered one of humankind’s seven mothers because she offers milk as does one’s natural mother.^k
Dancing is one of India’s most highly developed arts and was an integral part of worship in the inner shrines of every temple. It is notable for its expressive hand movements.^f
Rabies is endemic in India. Additionally, “Delhi Belly” or diarrhea is commonplace due to contaminated drinking water.^f
Many Indian wives will never say her husband’s name aloud, as it is a sign of disrespect. When addressing him, the wife will use several indirect references, such as “ji” or “look here” or “hello,” or even refer to him as the father of her child.^f
A widow is considered bad luck—otherwise, her husband wouldn’t have died. Elderly women in the village might call a widow “the one who ate her husband.” In some orthodox families, widows are not allowed near newlyweds or welcomed at social gatherings.^b
India is the birthplace of chess.^l The original word for “chess” is the Sanskritchaturanga, meaning “four members of an army”—which were mostly likely elephants, horses, chariots, and foot soldiers.^d
The Indian flag has three horizontal bands of color: saffron for courage and sacrifice, white for truth and peace, and green for faith, fertility, and chivalry. An emblem of a wheel spinning used to be in the center of the white band, but when India gained independence, a Buddhist dharma chakra, or wheel of life, replaced the spinning wheel.^m

Khajuraho’s exotic art may suggest that sex was a step for attaining ultimate liberation or moksha

The temples of Khajuraho are famous for their erotic sculptures and are one of the most popular tourist attractions in India. Scholars still debate the purpose of such explicit portrayals of sexual intercourse, which sometimes involves animals.^a
The earliest cotton in the world was spun and woven in India. Roman emperors would wear delicate cotton from India that they would call “woven winds.” Mogul emperors called the fabrics “morning dew” and “cloth of running water.”ⁱ
In ancient and medieval India, suttees, in which a recently widowed woman would immolate herself on her husband’s funeral pyre, were common.^b
The Himalayas—from the Sanskrit hima, meaning “snow,” and alaya, meaning “abode”—are found in the north of India. They extend 1,500 miles and are slowly growing taller, by almost an inch (2.5 cm) a year. Several ancient Indian monasteries are found nestled in the grandeur of these mountains.^m
India is the world’s largest producer of dried beans, such as kidney beans and chickpeas. It also leads the world in banana exports; Brazil is second.^l
In India, the fold and color of clothing are viewed as important markers of social classification. Additionally, women will be viewed as either a prostitute or a holy person depending on the manner in which she parts her hair.^k
With 150,000 post offices, India has the largest postal network in the world. However, it is not unusual for a letter to take two weeks to travel just 30 miles.^f
In India, grasping one’s ears signifies repentance or sincerity.^f
The Bengal tiger is India’s national animal. It was once ubiquitous throughout the country, but now there are fewer than 4,000 wild tigers left.^m
Indians hold prominent places both internationally and in the United States. For example, the co-founder of Sun Microsystems (Vinod Khosla), the creator of the Pentium chip (Vinod Dahm), the founder/creator of Hotmail (Sabeer Bhatia), and the GM of Hewlett-Packard (Rajiv Gupta) are all Indian.^h
Alexander the Great of Macedon (356-323 B.C.) was one of the first important figures to bring India into contact with the West. After his death, a link between Europe and the East would not be restored until Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama (1460-1524) landed in Calicut, India, in 1498.^l
The British Raj, or British rule, lasted from 1858 to 1947 (although they had a strong presence in India since the 1700s). British influence is still seen in Indian architecture, education system, transportation, and politics. Many of India’s worst famines are associated with British rule in India.ⁱ
Every major world religion is represented in India. Additionally, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism all originated in India.^f
About 80% of Indians are Hindu. Muslims are the largest minority in India and form approximately 13% of the country’s population. In fact, India has the third largest population of Muslims in the world, after Indonesia and Pakistan.ⁱ
India has the world’s largest movie industry, based in the city of Mumbai (known as the “City of Dreams”). The B in “Bollywood” comes from Bombay, the former name for Mumbai. Almost all Bollywood movies are musicals.^l
Mumbai (Bombay) is India’s largest city, with a population of 15 million. In 1661, British engineers built a causeway uniting all seven original islands of Bombay into a single landmass.^l
Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948) is known around the world as Mahatma, which is an honorific title meaning “Great Soul” in the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit. He devoted his life to free India from British rule peacefully and based his campaign on civil disobedience. His birthday, October 2, is a national holiday. He was assassinated in 1948.^m

The Lotus temple is one of the most visited temples in the world, with over 50 million visitors per year

The lotus is sacred to both Hindus and Buddhists. The Bahá'í house of worship in Delhi, known as the “Lotus Temple,” is shaped like a lotus flower with 27 gigantic “petals” that are covered in marble.ⁱ
The banyan, or Indian fig tree, is considered a symbol of immortality and is mentioned in many Indian myths and legends. This self-renewing plant is India’s national tree.^m
Marigold flowers are used as decoration for Hindu marriages and are a symbol of good fortune and happiness.ⁱ
The official name of India is the Republic of India. The name “India” derives from the River Indus, which most likely is derived from the Sanskrit sindhu, meaning “river.” The official Sanskrit name of India is Bharat, after the legendary king in the epicMahabharata.^m
Introduced by the British, cricket is India’s most popular sport. Hockey is considered the national sport, and the Indian field hockey team proudly won Olympic gold in 1928.ⁱ
Indians made significant contributions to calculus, trigonometry, and algebra. The decimal system was invented in India in 100 B.C. The concept of zero as a number is also attributed to India.^m
The national fruit of India is the mango. The national bird is the peacock, which was initially bred for food.^m
Most historians agree that the first recorded account of plastic surgery is found in ancient Indian Sanskrit texts.^b
Hindi and English are the official languages of India. The government also recognizes 17 other languages (Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Nepali, Manipuri, Konkani, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu). Apart from these languages, about 1,652 dialects are spoken in the country.^l
India’s pastoral communities are largely dependent on dairy and have made India the largest milk-producing country in the world.^l
India has the world’s third largest road network at 1.9 million miles. It also has the world’s second largest rail network, which is the world’s largest civilian employer with 16 million workers.^f

Though the Ganges is one of the dirtiest rivers in the world, bathing in the river is thought to wash away one’s sins

Rivers have played a vital role in India’s popular culture and folklore—they have been worshipped as goddesses because they bring water to an otherwise dry land. Bathing in the Ganges in particular is thought to take away a person’s sins. It is not unusual to spread a loved one’s ashes in the Ganges.^f
Raziya Sultana (1205-1240) was the first woman leader of India. She was considered a great leader, though she ruled for only three years before being murdered.^b
Most Indians rinse their hands, legs, and face before eating a meal. It is considered polite to eat with the right hand, and women eat after everyone is finished. Wasting food is considered a sin.ⁱ
During the Vedic era in India, horse sacrifice sanctioned the sovereignty of the king.^a
It is traditional to wear white, not black, to a funeral in India. Widows will often wear white in contrast to the colorful clothes of married or single women.^k
All of India is under a single time zone.^g
On India’s Independence Day, August 15, 1947, the country was split into India and Pakistan. The partition displaced 1.27 million people and resulted in the death of several hundred thousand to a million people.^g
In recent years, Indian authors have made a mark on the world with such novels as Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses (1988), Vikram Seth’s Suitable Boy (1993), and Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things (1997).ⁱ
India experiences six seasons: summer, autumn, winter, spring, summer monsoon, and winter monsoon.^m
India is the world’s largest tea producer, and tea (chai) is its most popular beverage.^f

According to legend, to prevent the builders from ever replicating the beauty of the Taj Mahal, their hands were cut off

The Taj Mahal (“crown palace”) was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (1592-1666) for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal (1593-1631). This architectural beauty has been called “marbled embroidery” for its intricate workmanship. It took 22,000 workmen 22 years to complete it.^m
The first and greatest civilization in ancient India developed around the valley of the Indus River (now Pakistan) around 3000 B.C. Called the Indus Valley civilization, this early empire was larger than any other empire, including Egypt and Mesopotamia.^l
After the great Indus Civilization collapsed in 2000 B.C., groups of Indo-Europeans called Aryans (“noble ones”) traveled to northwest India and reigned during what is called the Vedic age. The mingling of ideas from the Aryan and Indus Valley religions formed the basis of Hinduism, and the gods Shiva, Kali, and Brahma all have their roots in Aryan civilization. The Aryans also recorded the Vedas, the first Hindu scriptures, and introduced a caste system based on ethnicity and occupation.^l
Alexander the Great invaded India partly because he wanted to solve the mystery of the “ocean,” which he had been told was a huge, continuous sea that flowed in a circle around the land. When he reached the Indian Ocean, he sacrificed some bulls to Poseidon for leading him to his goal.^m
Greek sculpture strongly influenced many portrayals of Indian gods and goddess, particularly after the conquest of Alexander the Great around 330B.C. In fact, early Indian gods had Greek features and only later did distinct Indian styles emerge.^m
Chandragupta Maurya (340-290 B.C.), a leader in India who established the Mauryan Empire (321-185 B.C.), was guarded by a band of women on horseback.^a
When the first independent prime minister of India, pacifist Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964), was featured in Vogue, his distinctive close fitting, single-breasted jacket briefly became an important fashion statement for the Mod movement in the West. Named the Nehru jacket, the prime minister’s coat was popularized by the Beatles and worn by such famous people as Johnny Carson (1925-2005) and Sammy Davis Jr. (1925-1990).ⁿ

-- Posted July 21, 2009

References

^a Albanese, Marilia. 2001. India: Treasure from an Ancient World. Vercelli, Italy: White Star, s.p.a.

^b Basham, A.L. 1967. The Wonder That Was India. London, England: Sidgwick & Jackson.

^c Carrington, Damian. “Kumbh Mela.” New Scientist. January 2001. Accessed: June 29, 2009.

^d “Chess.” Dictionary.com. Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper, Historian. Accessed: June 30, 2008.

^e Gentleman, Amelia. “India’s Lost Daughters: Abortion Toll in the Millions.”TheNewYorkTimes.com. January 2006. Accessed: June 29, 2009.

^f Grihault, Niki.2003. Culture Smart! India. New York, NY: Kuperard.

^g “India.” CIA.gov. June 2009. Accessed: June 29, 2009.

^h “Indians Abroad.” Indobase.com. Accessed: June 28, 2009.

ⁱ Khullar, Rupindar. 2005. India: Land of Celebration. San Rafael, CA: Mandala Publishing.

^j Raman, Sunil. “India Tops List of Murder Numbers.” BBC.News. June 2008. Accessed: June 29, 2009.

^k Rosen, Steven J. 2002. The Hidden Glory of India. Los Angeles, CA: The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.

^l Srinivasan, Radhika and Leslie Jermyn. 2002. Cultures of the World: India. New York, NY: Benchmark Books.

^m Swan, Erin Pembrey. 2002. India: Enchantment of the World. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc.

ⁿ Tortora, Phyllis and Keith Eubank. 1998. A Survey of Historic Costume. 3^rd ed. New York, NY: Fairchild Books and Visuals.

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47 Interesting Facts About . . .

Mexico

The official name of Mexico is Estados Únidos Mexicanos (United Mexican States).^d
A Mexican tamale called the zacahuil is three feet long and weighs about 150 pounds.^c
Mexico introduced chocolate, corn, and chilies to the world.^f
Mexico is home to a very rare rabbit called the volcano rabbit which lives near Mexican volcanoes.^c
The largest wildcat in North America is the jaguar, which can be found in Mexico's southern jungles.^c
The first printing press in North America was used in Mexico City in 1539.^c
The National University of Mexico was founded in 1551 by Charles V of Spain and is the oldest university in North America.^d
Millions of monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico every year from the U.S. and Canada, though logging operations are rapidly destroying their habitat.^d

The poinsettia is named after the first American ambassador to Mexico

The border between Mexico and the United States is the second largest border in the world (only the U.S.-Canadian border is longer).^c
Mexico is second only to Brazil in the number of Catholic citizens.^c
The red poinsettia (which the Aztecs called cuetlaxochitl) originated in Mexico and is named after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States ambassador to Mexico (in the 1820s).^d
Mexican children do not receive presents on Christmas Day. They receive gifts on January 6, the day on which Mexicans celebrate the arrival of the Three Wise Men.^f
Mexico is located in the “Ring of Fire,” one of the earth’s most violent earthquake and volcano zones.^d
Mexico City is built over the ruins of a great Aztec city, Tenochtitlán. Because it is built on a lake, Mexico is sinking at a rate of 6 to 8 inches a year as pumps draw water out for the city’s growing population.^f
Mexico’s flag is made up three vertical stripes. The left green stripe stand for hope, the middle white stripe represents purity, and the right red stripe represents the blood of the Mexican people. The picture of an eagle eating a snake is based on an Aztec legend (see fact #25).^f

Chihuahuas are named after a Mexican state

The Chihuahua is the world’s smallest dog and is named for a Mexican state.^c
Mexico’s size is 756,066 square miles, which is almost three times larger than Texas.^h
Only ten countries in the world have a larger population than Mexico’s 109,955,400 million people.^h
Mexico City has the highest elevation and is oldest city in North America. It is also one of the largest cities in the world.^d
Mexico is the 14th largest country in the world by total area.^d
Modern Mexicans are a unique blend of many ancient civilizations, including the Olmec, Zapotec, Toltec, Maya, Aztec, Inca, African, French, and Spanish.^f
The first great civilization in Mexico were the Olmecs (1400-300 B.C.) who established many cities along the eastern coast of Mexico, sculpted the famous Colossal Heads, and worshipped a mysterious, unnamed god that was part human and part jaguar.^b
The Zapotec civilization (600 B.C.-A.D. 800) established great cities along southern Mexico and developed the first writing system in the Americas.^b
One unusual Mayan weapon was a “hornet bomb,” which was an actual hornet’s nest thrown at enemies during battle.^f

The symbols on the Mexican flag are based in Aztec mythology

In the fourteenth century, a group of Chichmecas (warrior nomads) called the Aztecs (or Mexicas) settled in Mexico when they saw an eagle (representing the sun) standing on a cactus (a symbol of the heart) clutching a snake (a symbol of the earth or Quetzalcoatl)—an image which is now depicted on the Mexican flag.^f
Snakes appear repeatedly in Mexican mythology, from the serpent god Kukulcan which can be found the side of the Chichen Itza pyramid to the feathered serpent god, Quetzalcoatl.^c
The Aztecs adopted human sacrifice from earlier cultures (such as the Olmecs) because they believed the universe would come to an end and the sun would cease to move without human blood. There are many ancient statues of gods sticking out their tongues, such as Huitzilopochtli, which may be a sacred gesture that suggests their thirst for blood.^a
During an Aztec human sacrifice, five priests, sometimes with their faces painted with different colors, held the sacrificial victims’ arms and legs. The heart, referred to as “precious eagle cactus fruit,” was cut from the live victim and burned on a fire in the temple.^a
Shells and stones on the Aztecs' ritual blades symbolized the faces of the gods for which the sacrificial hearts were intended. They would sacrifice between 10,000 to 50,000 victims per year. Under the rule of Montezuma II, 12,000 victims were sacrificed in one day.^a
The Aztecs played ritual ball game known as tlachtli in which the losers were often sacrificed to the gods.^a
When Spanish Conquistador Hernan Cortés arrived in 1519, the Aztecs believed he was their returning god, Quetzalcoatl, and offered him the drink of the gods: hot chocolate.^f
The descendants of the Aztecs speak a form of the Aztec language called Nahuatl. Many of its words, particularly for types of food, passed into English...such as tomatoes (tomatl), chocolate (chocolatl), and avocados (ahuacatl).^c
Hernán Cortés had a native mistress and able translator Marina (La Malinche). She gave birth to his first son, who is considered the first mestizo (Indian-Spanish).^d
Hernan Cortés had a native mistress and able translator Marina (La Malinche). She gave birth to his first son, who is considered the first mestizo (Indian-Spanish).^g
About 60% of the modern Mexican population is mestizo (Indian-Spanish), 30% is Indian or predominately Indian, 9% is Caucasian, and 1% is other.^f
Creoles are descendants of the Spanish people who first arrived in Mexico. Now they are the name of Mexico's small population: Caucasian Europeans, Americans, and Canadians.^f
Mexico remained under Spanish control for nearly 300 years until the Mexican people, led by a priest named Father Hidalgo, rose up against the Spanish on September 16, 1810. Hidalgo is widely considered the father of modern Mexico, and Mexican Independence is celebrated on September 15-16.^f

Spanish Conquistadors introduced bullfighting to Mexico

Spanish conquerors brought bullfighting to Mexico, which is now the national sport of Mexico. Bullfighting takes place from November to April, and the Plaza Mexico is the largest bullring in the world.^f
While bullfighting is Mexico's national sport, fútbol (soccer in the U.S.) is currently more popular.^d
Even though over 50 native tongues are still spoken in rural locations, Spanish is the national language of Mexico. In fact, Mexico is the most populated Spanish-speaking country in the world.^c
Texas was a Mexican province which declared its independence from Mexico in 1836, resulting in war with the United States (1836-1838).^e
In 1910, under the guidance of Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa, Mexican peasants revolted against the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz to gain equality and land. The civil war lasted 10 years and took the lives over 1 million people.^e
Before 1958, women could not vote in presidential elections. Women, however, did play an important role in the 1910 revolution, serving as spies, arms smugglers, andsoldaderas or soldiers.^e
In 1994, a group of Mexican peasants and farmers called the Zapatistas (named after Emiliano Zapata) started another revolt to highlight the differences between the rich and poor.^e
The North Atlantic Free Trade Association (NAFTA) was created in 1994 to encourage trade among the United States, Canada, and Mexico. But NAFTA has largely failed to lift Mexico out of poverty due to Mexico's repeated economic crises, a weak public education system, government corruption, and Mexico's inability to enforce the rule of law.^c
Actor Anthony Quinn was the first Mexican to win an Academy Award for his role in the 1952 movies Viva Zapata.^e
The Chichen Itza Pyramid in Mexico was named one of the new Seven Wonders of the World.^c

-- Posted November 25, 2008. Updated January 19, 2009.

References

^a Ackroyd, Peter. 2004. Cities of Blood: Voyages Through Time. New York, NY: DK Publishing.

^b Bernal, Ignatio. 1968. 3000 Years of Art and Life in Mexico. Trans. Carolyn B. Czitrom. New York, NY: Henry N. Adams, Inc.

^c Cobb, Allan B. 2004. Mexico: A Primary Source Cultural Guide. New York, NY: PowerPlus Books.

^d Goodwin, William. 1999. Mexico. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books.

^e Gruzinski, Serge. 2001. Images at War: Mexico from Columbus to Blade Runner (1492-2019). Trans. Heather MacLean. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

^f Kalman, Bobbie. 2002. Mexico the People. New York, NY: Crabtree Publishing Company.

^g Merrell, Floyd. 2003. The Mexicans: A Sense of Culture. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

^h The World Fact Book: Mexico. November 20, 2008. Accessed: November 25, 2008.

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85 Interesting Facts About . . .

Greece

With an area of 50,949 square miles (131,958 square kilometers), Greece is roughly the size of Alabama. The population of Greece is more than 10 million people.—comparatively, the population of Alabama is around 4.5 million.^f
Approximately 16.5 million tourists visit Greece each year, more than the country’s entire population. Tourism constitutes nearly 16% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).^c
No one in Greece can choose to not vote. Voting is required by law for every citizen who is 18 or older.^b
About 7% of all the marble produced in the world comes from Greece.^b
Greece has more international airports than most countries because so many foreign tourists want to visit.^b
The world’s third leading producer of olives, the Greeks have cultivated olive trees since ancient times. Some olive trees planted in the thirteenth century are still producing olives.ⁱ
According to Greek mythology, Athena and Poseidon agreed that whoever gave the city the best gift would become guardian over the city. Though Poseidon gave the gift of water, Athena’s gift of an olive tree was deemed by the other gods to be more valuable.^f

Most of Greece is mountainous and rocky terrain

Greece has zero navigable rivers because of the mountainous terrain. Nearly 80% of Greece is mountainous.^f
Approximately 98% of the people in Greece are ethnic Greeks. Turks form the largest minority group. Other minorities are Albanians, Macedonians, Bulgarians, Armenians, and gypsies.^b
About 12 million people around the world speak Greek. They live mostly in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, the United States, among other countries.^c
Thousands of English words come from the Greek language, sometimes via the Roman adaptation into Latin and then to English. Common English words from Greek include “academy,” “apology,” “marathon,” “siren,” “alphabet,” and “typhoon.”^b
In the 1950s, only about 30% of Greek adults could read and write. Now, the literacy rate is more than 95%.^b
An old Greek legend says that when God created the world, he sifted all the soil onto the earth through a strainer. After every country had good soil, he tossed the stones left in the strainer over his shoulder and created Greece.^f
Greece has more than 2,000 islands, of which approximately 170 are populated. Greece’s largest island is Crete (3,189 sq. miles) (8,260 sq. km.).^f
Over 40% of the population lives in the capital Athens (Athina in Greek). Since becoming the capital of modern Greece, its population has risen from 10,000 in 1834 to 3.6 million in 2001.^f
Continuously inhabited for over 7,000 years, Athens is one of the oldest cities in Europe. It is also the birthplace of democracy, Western philosophy, the Olympic Games, political science, Western literature, historiography, major mathematical principles, and Western theories of tragedy and comedy.^g
Some scholars say that the Greek civilization has been around for so long that it has had a chance to try nearly every from of government.^g

Greece has nearly 3,000 sunny hours a year

Greece enjoys more than 250 days of sunshine—or 3,000 sunny hours—a year.^f
Currently, Greek men must serve from one year to 18 months in any branch of the armed forces. The government spends 6% of the annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on the military.^b
Ancient Greece was not a single country like modern Greece. Rather, it was made up of about 1,500 different city-states or poleis (singular,polis). Each had its own laws and army, and they often quarreled. Athens was the largest city-state.ⁱ
Until the late 1990s, the greatest threat to Greece was Turkey, as the two nations have had historical disputes over Cyprus and other territory for decades. After coming to each other’s aid after a devastating earthquake that hit both countries in 1999, their relationship has improved.^f
The life expectancy for ancient Greek women was 36, and the average for males was 45. Of the children born, only half survived infancy.ⁱ Currently the life expectancy for Greek females is 82 years and for men, 77 years. Greece is ranked #26 in the world for life expectancy rates. The United States is ranked #49.^c
Greece is the leading producer of sea sponges.^f
Greek ships make up 70% of the European Union's total merchant fleet. According to Greek law, 75% of a ship’s crew must be Greek.^f
Greece has more archaeological museums than any other country in the world.^f
Football, or what Americans call soccer, is the national sport of Greece.^b
Retirement homes are rare in Greece. Grandparents usually live with their children’s family until they die. Most young people live with their families until they marry.^b
Many Greek structures such as doors, windowsills, furniture, and church domes are painted a turquoise blue, especially in the Cyclades Islands. It is used because of an ancient belief that this shade of blue keeps evil away. They called the color kyanos, which the words “cyan” and “cyanide” are derived from.^f
Feta, which is made from goat’s milk, is the Greece’s national cheese. It dates back to the Homeric ages, and the average per-capita consumption of feta cheese in Greece is the highest in the world.^d
In Greece, people celebrate the “name day” of the saint that bears their name rather than their own birthday.^b
Thousands of birds stop in Greece’s wetlands on their migrations. As many as 100,000 birds from northern Europe and Asia spend their winters there.^b
The saying “taking the bull by its horns” comes from the Greek myth of Hercules saving Crete from a raging bull by seizing its horns.^f

Rhodes has been inhabited since the Stone Age

The city of Rhodes (the capital of the island of Rhodes) is the most popular location for tourists in Greece. The city is famous for housing one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: the Colossus of Rhodes (from which the word “colossal” is derived). This gigantic 98-foot (303-meter) statue of the god Helios, whose legs straddled the harbor, was destroyed by an earthquake in 226 B.C.^f
The first Olympic Games took place in 776 B.C. The first Olympic champion was a Greek cook named Coroebus who won the sprint race.ⁱ
Slaves made up between 40% and 80% of ancient Greece’s population. Slaves were captives from wars, abandoned children, or children of slaves.^g
A long-standing dispute between Britain and Greece centers around the Elgin Marbles (the Greeks prefer to call them the Parthenon Marbles), which are housed in a London’s British Museum. The British government believes that it acquired them fairly through its purchase from Lord Elgin, while the Greeks claim the purchase was illegal.^f
Greece has one of the richest varieties of wildlife in Europe, including 116 species of mammals, 18 of amphibians, 59 of reptiles, 240 of bird, and 107 of fish. About half of the endemic mammal species are in danger of becoming extinct.^f
The monk seal has been a part of Greek’s natural and cultural heritage and is described in The Odyssey. The head of a monk seal was even found on a coin dated 500 B.C. Now, however, only 250 monk seals are left.^f
Greece organized the first municipal dump in the Western world around 500 B.C.^g
During the Nazi occupation of Greece in WWII, most Jews were taken to concentration camps across Europe. The Jewish population in Greece fell sharply from 78,000 to less than 13,000 by the end of the war.^b
In Greece, the dead are always buried because the Greek Orthodox Church forbids cremation. Five years after a burial, the body is exhumed and the bones are first washed with wine and then placed in an ossuary. This is done in part to relieve the shortage of land in Greek cemeteries.^f

Greece’s huge debt is straining the euro

Government corruption cost Greece about $1 billion in 2009. Currently Greece’s national debt is larger than the country’s economy.^h Its credit rating, or its perceived ability to repay debts, is the lowest in the euro zone. The EU and the International Monetary Fund are considering a bailout package for the heavily indebted nation.^j
Greek has been spoken for more than 3,000 years, making it one of the oldest languages in Europe.^b
Greeks do not wave with an open hand. In fact, it is considered an insult to show the palm of he hand with the fingers extended. Greeks wave with the palm closed.^f
After giving a compliment, Greeks make a puff of breath through pursed lips, as if spitting. This is meant to protect the person receiving the compliment from the “evil eye.”^f
No point in Greece is more than 85 miles (137 kilometers) from water. Greece has about 9,000 miles of coastline, the 10th longest in the world.^f
Greece was once a mass of rock that was completely underwater. When a tectonic plate crashed into Europe, the collision created Greece’s mountainous ranges. The plate is still moving and causes earthquakes all around the Aegean.^g
Soldiers (hoplites) in ancient Greece wore up to 70 pounds (33 kilograms) of bronze armor.ⁱ
The first historian is considered to be the Greek writer Herodotus (c. 484-425 B.C.), the author of the first great book of history on the Greco-Persian Wars.ⁱ Herodotus’ book is a major symbol in the novel The English Patient.
The ancient Greeks are often called the inventors of mathematics because they were the first to make it a theoretical discipline. The work of Greek mathematicians such as Pythagoras, Euclid, Archimedes, and Apollonius lies at the basis of modern mathematics.ⁱ
The first Greek philosopher is considered to be Thales of Miletus (c. 624-546 B.C.). He was the first to give a natural explanation of the origin of the world rather than a mythological one.^a
The Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C.) between Athens and the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta left ancient Greece in ruins and marked the end of the golden age of Greece.^a
A Spartan specialty was a black soup made from salt, vinegar, and blood. No one in the rest of Greece would drink it.^a
The British poet Lord Byron (1788-1824) was so enamored with the Greeks that he traveled to Greece to fight against the Turks in the Greek War of Independence. He contracted a fever there and died at the age of 36. The Greeks consider him a national hero.ⁱ

Greeks called anyone who did not speak Greek “barbarians”

The word “barbarian” comes from Greek barbaroi, which means people who don’t speak Greek and therefore sound like they’re saying “bar-bar-bar-bar.”ⁱ
One of the dishes enjoyed by ancient Greek men at feasts was roast pig stuffed with thrushes, ducks, eggs, and oysters. Most feasts were for men only, though there were female entertainers (this was not considered a respectable occupation for women).ⁱ
The first Greek tragedy was performed in 534 B.C. and was staged by a priest of Dionysus named Thespis. He also wrote and performed a part separate from the traditional tragic chorus, which also designated him as the first actor. In fact, the word “thespian” (actor) derives from his name.ⁱ
At its height, Greek colonization reached as far as Russia and France to the west and Turkey to the east.^g
Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher Anaximander (c. 610-546 B.C.) is credited with writing the first philosophical treatise and making the first map of the known world. He can also be considered the first scientist who recorded a scientific experiment.^g
Spartan warriors were known for their long, flowing hair. Before a battle, they would carefully comb it. Cowardly soldiers would have half their hair and half their beards shaved off.ⁱ
Wealthy people would sacrifice animals at the temples. Poor people who couldn’t afford live animals offered pastry ones instead.^g
Ostracism allowed Athenian citizens to temporarily exile people thought dangerous to the public. If it was voted that ostracism was necessary, each citizen inscribed a name on a piece of pottery or ostracon in a secret ballet. The person with the most names had to leave town in 10 days for 10 years.^g
Only boys and men were actors in ancient Greek plays. They wore large masks so audience members could see what part they were playing. Theater staff carried big sticks because sometimes the huge audiences would get excited by a play and would riot.^a
The term “Ancient Greece” usually refers to the time between Homer (c. 750 B.C.) and the Roman conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt (Antony and Cleopatra, 30 B.C.).ⁱ
Democracy in Athens was significantly different from modern democracies in that it was both more participatory and exclusive. There were also no political parties in Athenian democracy.^g
The Greeks would sacrifice one hundred bulls to Zeus during each Olympics.ⁱ
The Greeks revolutionized the art of sculpture. Instead of stiff poses and blank faces, Greek artists began to carve statues of people that showed both movement and emotion.^g
The Greek Temple of Artemis, built on the site of two earlier shrines dating back as far as the eight century B.C. in modern-day Turkey, was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was built around 550 B.C. and was destroyed in 356 B.C. by Herostratus.^a

The Parthenon is a physical embodiment of classical Greek ideals

The Parthenon (“Place of the Partheons,” fromparthenos or “virgin”) was built almost 2,500 years ago and sits on the Acropolis above the city of Athens. It actually featured colorful sculptures and a large gold-and-ivory statue of Athena. It took 15 years to build.^a
The ancestors of the Greeks were Indo-Europeans who entered Greece around 1900 B.C. They lived alongside the Minoans for many centuries before giving rise to the Mycenaean civilization which ended abruptly in the twelfth century B.C. After a “dark ages” of 300 years in which the knowledge of writing was lost, Greece gave birth to one of the most influential civilization the world has ever known: Classical Greece.^g
By law, the only people eligible for citizenship in Sparta were direct descendants of the original Doric settlers. Because of this, there were never more than about 6,000-7,000 male citizens in Sparta, compared with up to 40,000 in Athens.ⁱ
Greek’s highest elevation is the legendary home of Zeus and other Olympian gods and goddesses, Mount Olympus at 9,750 feet (2,917 meters). Its lowest elevation is the Mediterranean Sea, or sea level.^b
Alexander the Great was the first Greek ruler to put his own face on Greek coins. Previously, Greek coins had shown the face of a god or goddess.^g
The word “tragedy” is Greek for “goat-song” because early Greek tragedies honored Dionysus, the god of wine, and the players wore goatskins. Tragedies were noble stories of gods, kings, and heroes. Comedy or “revel,” on the other hand, were about lower-class characters and their antics.^g
Grece’s most famous modern writer is Nikos Kazantzakis (1883-1957). His novelsZorba the Greek and The Last Temptation of Christ were both made into movies, though the Greek Orthodox Church expelled him for The Last Temptation of Christ.^f
Greece’s official name is the Hellenic Republic. It is also known as Ellas or Ellada.^c
The Greek flag is includes nine blue-and-white horizontal stripes, which some scholars say stand for the nine syllables of the Greek motto “Eleftheria i Thanatos” or “Freedom or Death.” Blue represents Greece’s sea and sky, while white stands for the purity of the struggle of freedom. In the upper left-hand corner is the traditional Greek Orthodox cross.^f
Greece has two major political parties: the Socialists (Panhellenic Socialists Movements or PASOK) and the Democrats (the New Democracy Party). Both were founded in 1974 after Greece’s military dictatorship collapsed.^c

Greece has one of the highest abortion rates in Europe

Greece has one of the lowest divorce rates in the EU.^eGreece traditionally also has the highest abortion rates.^k
About 10% of a Greek worker’s pay is taken for taxes and another 10% for national health care. The government provides free hospitals and other medical services.^b
Greek workers get at least one month of paid vacation every year.^b
About 10% of Greek adults are unemployed. Even with a college education, it’s hard to find a job.^b
Greece’s currency, the drachma, was 2,650 years old and Europe’s oldest currency. The drachma was replaced with the Euro in 2002.^b
Throughout history, Greeks have loved the sea. With more than 1,800 merchant ships in service, Greece has one of the largest fleets in the world. Aristotle Onassis and Stavros Niarchos (“The Golden Greek”) are some of the better-known Greek shipping businessmen.^f
When the Roman Empire split in two in A.D. 285, the eastern half, including Greece, became known as the Byzantine Empire. In 1453 A.D., Greece fell to the Ottoman Empire. Greece wouldn’t achieve independence until 1829.^f

-- Posted April 19, 2009

References

^a Ackroyd, Peter. 2005. Ancient Greece: Voyages through Time. New York, NY: DK Publishing, Inc.

^b Dubois, Jill et. al. 2003. Cultures of the World: Greece. New York, NY: Benchmark Books.

^c “Greece: The World Factbook.” CIA. Accessed: March 27, 2010.

^d “The Greek Cheese Page.” HELLAS. Accessed: March 30, 2010.

^e Halkias, Alexandra. “Abortions in Greece.” Accessed: March 30, 2010.

^f Heinrichs, Ann. 2002. Greece: Enchantment of the World. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc.

^g Kilzer, Nicholas et. al., eds. 2009. Ancient Greece. Chicago, IL: World Books, Inc.

^h Koutantou, Angeliki. “Corruption Costs Greek Economy $1 Bln a Year.” IBTimes. March 2, 2010. Accessed: March 30, 2010.

ⁱ Pearson, Anne. 2007. Ancient Greece. New York, NY: DK Publishing, Inc.

^j “Q&A: Greece’s Financial Crisis Explained.” CNN. March 26, 2010. Accessed: March 30, 2010.

^k “World Divorce Statistics.” Divorce Magazine. Accessed: March 30, 2010.

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88 Little Known Facts About . . .

Haiti

Native Haitians were pre-Columbian Amerindians called Taíno, “the good people.” The Taíno named their land “Ayiti,” meaning “Land of Mountains”—a term that evolved into “Haiti.”^a
More than 10% of Haitian children die before age five.^b
Eighty percent of Haitians live under the poverty line and 54% live in abject poverty. The average per capita income in Haiti is $480 a year, compared to $33,550 in the United States.^b
Because of both violence and AIDS, Haiti has the highest percentage of orphans of any country in the Western Hemisphere. Before the 2010 earthquake, the United Nations estimated there were 430,000 orphans.^e
Nearly 1.5 million people left Haiti in the early 1990s.^a
A typical worker in Haiti makes only $2.75 a day. Because jobs are so scarce (approximately 70% do not have regular jobs), those who do have jobs are afraid to speak out against unfair labor practices.^e
Only 53% of Haitians can read and write.^b
Haiti’s national sport is soccer. Haiti first competed in the World Cup in 1974.^d
Eighty percent of Haitians are Roman Catholic, 16% are Protestant, and 4% are other. Voodoo is often practiced alongside Christianity.^h

Haitian currency is named after the gourd

Gourds were so important to the Haitian people that in 1807, President Henri Christophe (1761-1820) made them the base of national currency and declared all gourds the property of the state. Today, the Haitian currency is called “gourdes.”^h
In the eighteenth century, St. Dominique (Haiti) was the richest colony in the French Empire and was known as the “Pearl of the Antilles.” It grew rich mainly through the importation of slaves and through devastating environmental degradation. Haiti is currently one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere.^b
In 1801, ex-slave Toussaint L’Ouverture (1743-1803) led nearly one-half million Haitian slaves against Haiti’s French colonialists. Their eventual victory was the first successful slave revolt and helped establish Haiti as the first black republic. After a betrayal from the French, L’Ouverture died in a French prison.^a
In 1803, Jean-Jacques Dessalines (1758-1806), Haiti’s first ruler, created the nation’s flag by ripping out the white stripe in the French red, white, and blue flag, claiming he would rip white people from the nation. The remaining blue and red stripes represented blacks and mulattos of Haiti. Haiti’s coat of arms sits in the center.^b
Haiti is the third largest country in the Caribbean, after the Dominican Republic and Cuba, which is the largest.^b
The Citadel is a large mountaintop fortress located in northern Haiti. It is the largest fortress in the Western Hemisphere.^h
In 2008, almost 1.8 million people (20% of the entire population) were living in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.^b
When Columbus first saw Haiti (and the entire Hispaniola island), he thought he had found India or Asia.^h
After the death of revolutionary leader Toussaint L’Ouverture in 1802, his principal lieutenant, General Jean-Jacques Dessalines, proclaimed himself Jean-Jacques the First, Emperor of Haiti. He ordered the killing of most of the whites in Haiti.^h
In the eighteenth century, Haitians developed elaborate tables of genetic descent, dividing mulattos into over a hundred shades of black and white. These ranged from the Sacatra which were seven-eighths black, to the several varieties of Sangmeles,which are only one-sixteenth black. Technically, a mulatto is someone who is half black and half white.^h
Only about 10% of all Haitian children enrolled in elementary school go on to a high school.^b
Haitians love to gamble. Its popularity is a result of the Haitian belief that so much depends on the fancy of the gods. During voodoo ceremonies, Haitians implore the gods to reveal winning lottery numbers.^h
Cock fighting is a traditional sport in Haiti. The roosters are fed raw meet and hot peppers soaked in rum to make them aggressive and tough. The winner might bring home $67, which is more than a person would earn in an entire month.^e

Haiti is one of the most deforested nations in the world

Haiti is the most mountainous nation in the Caribbean.^h
Haiti is one of the few countries in the world where the destruction of the original woodland is almost complete due to competition over scarce land, intense demand for charcoal, unsound agricultural practices, and feral goats which overgraze. This massive deforestation has led to lethal mudslides and flash floods. A muddy brown ring surrounds the country’s coastline where topsoil has washed into the sea.^e
When early Spanish explorers encountered a female Haitian ruler named Anacaona, or “Golden Flower” (1464-1504), in 1503 who resisted them, they killed many of her people, arrested, and hanged her.^e
Christopher Columbus initially called the island La Isla Espanola, meaning “The Spanish Isle” when he landed there in 1492. Over time, the name became Hispaniola and includes both Haiti, which covers the western third of the island, and the Dominican Republic (or Santo Domingo), which covers the eastern two thirds.^h
The United States did not recognize Haiti as an independent nation until 1862 even though it was freed in 1804.^h
Author, statesmen, and ex-slave Frederick Douglass (c. 1818-1895) was an ambassador to Haiti.^h
Haiti’s highest peak is the Pic la Selle at 8,793 feet (2,680 meters).^e
One of Haiti’s islands, Tortuga Island (Île de la Tortue in French), was a pirate stronghold in the seventeenth century.^e
Île a Vache (Cow Island) lies off Haiti’s southern coast and is so named because it was once overrun by wild cows descended from animals abandoned by the Spanish.^e
Haiti and Canada are the only two independent nations in the Americas that have French as an official language. Though approximately 90% of Haitians use Creole as their primary language, Creole wasn’t made an official language alongside French until 1987.^b
Most of Haiti’s current citizens are descendants of Africans shipped to the Caribbean to work as slave laborers in earlier centuries.^b

Haiti is one of the most densely populated nations in the Western Hemisphere

With an area of 10,714 square miles (27,750 square kilometers), Haiti is only slightly larger than Vermont. The United States is 3,794,100 square miles (9,826,675 sq. km.).^j
Haiti is one of the least developed yet most densely populated countries in the Western Hemisphere. Its population density is 747 people per square mile (295 per sq. km.).^c Comparable in size to Haiti, Vermont’s population density is 65.8 people per square mile (25.9 sq.km.).^k The United States' is 79.55 people per square miles (30.71 sq. km.).^c
The population of Haiti is approximately 9.7 million. It is expected to reach 10.2 million in 2015.^b Comparable in size to Haiti, Vermont’s population is approximately 621,760.^k The population of the U.S. is 308,891,000.^b
The hurricane season in 2008 stripped approximately 70% of Haiti’s crops. This damage was the most expensive in Haiti’s history at an estimated $1 billion.^j
The capital Port-Au-Prince was founded in 1749 and was named for the Prince, a French ship anchored in the bay.^h
When Christopher Columbus landed on what he later named Hispaniola in 1492, the people greeted him with offerings, unaware that he was claiming their lands for Spain. By 1508, the Hispaniola's native Arawak/Taíno population had fallen from about 400,000 to just 60,000 due to the devastating social, political, ecological, and immunological effects of Spain’s arrival. Ten years later, less than 3,000 Arawak/Taínos remained alive on Hispaniola.^b
Pirate activity off the northern coast of Haiti weakened Spanish control in Hispaniola and, in 1697, Spain gave France the western third of Hispaniola, which is today's Haiti. That left the remaining part of the island, the Dominican Republic, under Spanish control.^h
Haitian revolutionary leader Francois-Dominique Toussaint earned the nickname Toussaint-L’ Ouverture (the opening), which referred to his ability to find an opening in the enemy lines as well as opening the way for Haiti’s independence.^e
Haiti’s former president, Francois Duvalier (“Papa Doc”), created the National Security Volunteers in 1957. A dreaded security force, it was also called the Tonton Macoutes, after the Haitian folk figure Tonton Macoute (Uncle Knapsack) who carries off small children at night.^d
Throughout the mid and late twentieth centuries, Haiti experienced a “brain drain” as educated professionals and business people left the nation to escape brutal dictators. This exodus weakened Haiti because it was left with fewer and fewer skilled workers to run businesses, health centers, government offices, and schools.^b
Descendants of African slaves make up 95% of Haiti’s population. The other 5% are mulattos, descendants of French planters and African slaves, and whites. Haiti also has a small population of Middle Easterners, descendants of Syrian and Lebanese people who came to Haiti in the nineteenth century.^d
Nearly 79% of Haiti’s people live in rural areas.^d
Haiti is the second oldest independent nation in the Western Hemisphere, after the United States.^b
From 1804-1915, more than 70 dictators ruled Haiti.^j
Jean-Bertrand Aristide won Haiti’s first free election in December 1990. He fled the country a year later after being ousted in a military coup. He was president again from 1994-1996 and then from 2001 to 2004, when he was ousted again.^b

There is one hospital bed for every 10,000 Haitians

In Haiti, there is one hospital bed for every 10,000 inhabitants. There are only about eight doctors and 10 nurses for every 100,000 inhabitants.^b
The life expectancy for Haiti is low: 50 years for men and 53 years for women.^b
Haitians have the lowest caloric intake in the Americas, which has led to chronic and often fatal diseases.^d An estimated 25-40% of children under five suffer chronic malnutrition.^e
Anemia affects 59% of Haitian children between the ages of six months and five years.^b
The first recorded smallpox outbreak in the Americas occurred in Hispaniola in 1507.^b
Families who live in the country spend almost 60% of their income on food. The poorest groups spend more than 70%.^b
Haiti has been ranked as one of the five most corrupt countries.^b
The infant mortality rate in Haiti is high at 74 deaths per 1,000 births. The maternal mortality rate is also high: about 520 deaths per 100,000 births (compared to just 14 maternal deaths per 100,000 births in the United States).^j
Even before the 2010 earthquake, only 54% of Haitians had access to sanitation facilities (toilets, indoor plumbing, sewer systems). Less than half had a regular source of safe drinking water.^j
Most rivers in Haiti are polluted with human and other waste. Diseases such as hookworm and typhoid, which are transmitted by contaminated food and water, are common in Haiti.^e
In the early 1980s, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention traced a number of the first AIDS cases in the U.S. to Haitian immigrants.^d
Eighty percent of schools in Haiti are private, and religious groups run many of them. The remaining 20% are state-run. Students learn their lessons in both French and Creole.^b
Haiti has only one public university: the University of Haiti in Port-au-Prince founded in 1944. Most wealthy students attend college outside of Haiti.^b

On average, girls in Haiti attend just two years of school

Only about 40% of school-aged children attend school regularly.^b
Women were granted the right to vote in 1957, though many women still suffer from discrimination and mistreatment. The Haitian justice system rarely punishes men for abusing women.^b
The typical Haitian woman will have five children in her lifetime. Because the Roman Catholic Church discourages birth control, birth control is not readily available. Less than 20% of married women use birth control, andabortion is illegal.^b
Most human rights experts agree that the worst abuses of Haitian children involve young people called retavecs, or poor children who work as house servants for urban families. Their parents hope that host families will feed and educate their children, but some hosts physically and sexually abuse the resavecs. Experts estimate that 300,000 Haitian children are living as slaves.^d
Before the 2010 earthquake, the U.S. Labor Department estimates that between 5,000 and 10,000 Haitian children were homeless. Many resort to begging or prostitution to survive. Other children are trafficked to foreign countries.^b
During radical ex-priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s second term as president, the government established Voodoo as a state religion along with Catholicism.^e
Haiti’s entire annual budget is $300 million, less than that of many small cities in the United States. Since the 1980s, its economy has shrunk steadily.^b
Thousands of Haitians were ruined when pyramid investment schemes collapsed. While Haitians lost about $200 million investing in these scams, the co-op founders acquired millions on the proceeds.^j
In 2003, the U.S. Coast Guard picked up 2,000 Haitian boat people trying to reach U.S. shores, more than from any other Caribbean nation. Most were returned to Haiti.^j
Over 40% of the population is under 14 years old, creating a high dependency ratio.^j
Haiti has the highest incidence of HIV/AIDS in the Western Hemisphere. One in 50 people are infected.^e
Half of the children in Haiti are unvaccinated, and just 40% of the population has access to basic health care.^b
Approximately 1% of Haiti's population owns more than 50% of the nation’s wealth.^b
An estimated 1.5 million Haitians live outside the country, mostly in Miami, New York, Boston, and Montreal. About 300,000 Haitian immigrants live in Florida alone.^b
The United States is Haiti’s biggest trade partner. More than half of Haitian imports come from the United States, and more than 80% of its exports go to the United States.^j
Haiti is a hub for the trafficking of illegal drugs—especially cocaine—between South and Central America, Europe, and the United States. Some Haitians even traffic human laborers, especially children.^b
Haiti has 2,583 miles (4,160 km.) of highways. Only 628 miles (1,011km.) of those roads are paved.^j

Rebuilding Haiti after the January 2010 earthquake could take decades

More than 200,000 Haitians died and millions were left homeless in a devastating earthquake in January 2010. It was the strongest earthquake to hit the region in more than 200 years.^f
Since 2004, approximately 8,000 peacekeepers from the U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) help keep peace in Haiti.^j
Very few Haitians own cars: fewer than 5 out of 1,000. There is no railroad in Haiti. In the cities, people often take communal taxis and colorful public buses called “taptaps.”^j
Haiti has 14 airports, of which only four have paved runways.^j
In 1963, Hurricane Flora killed approximately 8,000 people in Haiti, the sixth highest death toll from an Atlantic hurricane in recorded history.^j
In 2008, Haiti had only 108,000 telephone lines. The country with the most telephone lines in 2008 was China with 356,600,000 million. The United States was second with 150,000,000.^j
In 2008, Haitians used 3,200,000 cell phones. Chine had the most cell phones in the world with 634,000,000; India had 545,000,000, and the United States was third with 270,000,000.^j
In 2008, one million people in Haiti had access to the Internet (users who had access anywhere from several times a week to only once over several months). China had 298 million, and the United States had 231 million.^j
Rape in Haiti has long been a problem and is often used as a political weapon. After the 2010 earthquake, some men handing out coupons for food distribution would demand sexual favors.ⁱ
Experts claim that it will take decades for Haiti to recover from the January 2010 earthquake. Nearly 75% of the capital will need to be rebuilt, not from zero, but from, as officials declare, “below zero.” Recovery plans include completely rebuilding basic sectors such as health, agriculture, governance and security, and infrastructure.^g

-- Posted April 12, 2010

References

^a Anthony, Suzanne. 1999. Haiti. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House Publishers.

^b Blashfield, Jean F. 2008. Haiti: Enchantment of the World. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc.

^c “Countries of the World: Populations.” WorldAtlas.com. Accessed: March 21, 2010.

^d Dash, J. Michael. 2001. Culture and Customs of Haiti. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

^e Goldstein, Margaret J. 2006. Haiti in Pictures. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications.

^f “Haiti Raises Earthquake Toll to 230,000.” MSNBC.com. February 9, 2010. Accessed: March 22, 2010.

^g “Haiti Recovery to Take Decades.” BBCNews. January 29, 2010. Accessed: March 22, 2010.

^h NgCheong-Lum, Roseline. 1995. Haiti (Cultures of the World). New York, NY: Times Editions Pte Ltd.

ⁱ “Women, Girls Rape Victims in Haiti Quake Aftermath.” The New York Times. March 16, 2010. Accessed: March 24, 2010.

^j “The World Factbook: Haiti.” Central Intelligence Agency. Accessed: March 20, 2010.

^k “Vermont.” U.S. Census Bureau. Accessed: April 11, 2010.

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43 Interesting Facts About . . .

Canada

Kanata is the St. Lawrence-Iroquoian word for "village" or "settlement."^m
“O Canada,” originally named “Chant national,” was written by Adolphe-Basile Routhier (French lyrics) and Calixa Lavallée (music) and first performed in Quebec City in 1880. The song was approved by the Parliament of Canada in 1967 as the unofficial national anthem and adopted officially on July 1, 1980.^c
The border between Canada and the United States is officially known as the International Boundary. At 5,525 miles, including 1,538 miles between Canada and Alaska, it is the world's longest border between two nations.^m
The Canadian motto, A Mari Usque ad Mare, means "From sea to sea."^m

The Canadian flag is known as The Maple Leaf or l'Unifolié

Although Nova Scotia was granted the British Empire's first flag by King Charles I in 1625, Canada did not have a national flag until February 15, 1965, when its maple leaf flag was adopted by its parliament. Before that, the red ensign, a British maritime flag, was in general use.^m
At 3,855,103 square miles, Canada is the second largest country in the world, behind Russia.^f
Its population density is 8.6 people per square mile, making Canada the ninth-most sparsely populated nation in the world.^f
The average life expectancy at birth for a Canadian is 81.16 years, the eighth highest in the world. The United States ranks 46th, at 78.14 years.^f
The east coast of Canada was settled by Vikings around the year A.D. 1000. Archaeological evidence of a settlement has been found at L'anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland.^k
Snorri, the first North American child to be born of European parents (Thorfin and Gudrid), was born in Vinland around A.D. 1000.^m
Newfoundland was the first part of Canada to be explored by Europeans. Ironically, it was the last area to become a province, in 1949.^l
In 1642, a group of religious mystics from France were inspired by a vision to build a missionary city in the Canadian wilderness. Led by Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve and an Ursuline nun name Jeanne Mance, they founded Montreal.^b
According to the 2001 census, 42.6% of Canadians are Roman Catholic, 23.3% are Protestant, and 16% claim to have no religion.^c
Alert, in Nunavut territory, is the northernmost permanent settlement in the world.^m
Canada became a country on July 1, 1867, when the British North America Act was passed by the British Parliament.^l
The Mounted Police were formed in 1873, with nine officers.^g In 1920, the Mounted Police merged with the Dominion Police to become the famous Royal Canadian Mounted Police, an organization that now has more than 28,000 members.^j
Ice hockey is Canada's official national game.^a The modern game of ice hockey was developed in Canada, based on games that have been played since the tenth century.^c The rules were first published in the Montreal Gazette in 1877.^a

Basketball has become popular around the world since being invented by a Canadian

Canadian James Naismith invented basketball to give his physical education students at the YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, an indoor team sport to play during the long winters.^e
The capital city, Ottawa, was originally named Bytown after Colonel John By, who headquartered there while building the Rideau Canal to connect the Ottawa River with Lake Ontario.^k
Canada has the longest coastline of any country in the world at 151,600 miles.^m
The regent of England, currently Queen Elizabeth II, is the Canadian head of state.^l
North America's earliest undisputed evidence of human activity, 20,000-year-old stone tools and animal bones have been found in caves on the Bluefish River in northern Yukon.^m
North America's lowest recorded temperature was -81.4 degrees Fahrenheit (-63 C) at Snag, Yukon Territory, on February 3, 1947.^m
Canada is known as the home of large animals like the moose and grizzly bear, but it is also home to about 55,000 species of insects and about 11,000 species of mites and spiders.^d
Canada contains 9% of the world's renewable water supply.^m
The official languages of Canada are English and French. Throughout Canada's history up to the current time, there have been conflicts between English and French-speaking Canadians.^b
Tensions between French Canada and English Canada reached a head in October 1970, when the Front de Liberation du Quebec (FLQ)—a terrorist organization that had bombed cities, robbed banks, and committed a number of other crimes—kidnapped the U.K. Trade Commissioner, Richard Cross. The army put an end to the revolt and arrested several hundred suspects.^l
In 1527, John Rut of St. John's, Newfoundland, sent a letter to King Henry VIII—the first letter sent from North America.^m
Charles Fenerty, a poet from Halifax, Nova Scotia, was the first person to use wood fibers to make paper. He started experimenting in 1839 and produced paper from wood pulp in 1841.^m

Thomas Ahearn of Ottawa invented the electric cooking range in 1882

Canadians have made many important inventions, including Kerosene, the electron microscope, the electronic organ, insulin, the IMAX film system, the snowmobile, and the electric cooking range.^c
Canada is a major producer and consumer of cheese. In 1997, Canadians produced 350,000 tons of at least 32 varieties of cheese and ate an average of 23.4 pounds per person, with cheddar being the most popular.^c
Many famous authors have come from Canada, including Lucy Maud Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables), Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid's Tale), and Alice Munro (Lives of Girls and Women).^c
A black bear cub from Canada named Winnipeg (or “Winnie,” for short) was one of the most popular attractions at the London Zoo after it was donated to the zoo in 1915. Winnie became a favorite of Christopher Robin Milne and inspired the stories written by his father, A.A. Milne, about Winnie-the-Pooh.^c
The Moosehead Brewery in Saint John, New Brunswick, turns out 1,642 bottles of beer per minute.^m
Guy Lombardo of London, Ontario, first heard “Auld Lang Syne” as a teenage musician, when he and his brothers toured the rural areas that had been settled by Scots around his hometown.ⁱ
Canada has made a significant contribution to rock and roll, beginning with “Sh-Boom” by the Crew-Cuts in 1954.^h Other famous Canadian rock-and-rollers include Paul Anka, Neil Young, the Guess Who, Bachman Turner Overdrive, Steppenwolf, Avril Lavigne, Rush, Bryan Adams, and Barenaked Ladies.^e
Cryptozoologists claim that Canada is the home of several cryptids, including Sasquatch, a giant sloth-like creature known as the beaver-eater, a cannibalistic wildman named Windigo, and a number of lake monsters, such as Ogopogo in Lake Okanagan, British Columbia.^c
The natives of eastern Canada tell several stories of a mythical giant named Glooscap, who carved out many of the region's natural features to help him overcome his evil twin brothers. It is believed that these Glooscap stories might be the origin of many of the Paul Bunyan legends.^c
The world's strongest current is found in the Nakwakto Rapids at Slingsby Channel, British Columbia. The current has been measured at speeds up to 18.4 miles per hour.^m

Galaxyland at the West Edmonton Mall is the world's largest indoor amusement park

The West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta, was once the world's largest shopping mall. It now ranks fifth, but it still contains the world's largest indoor amusement park.^m
Alberta has 50% of the world's supply of bitumen.^m
The CN Tower in Toronto was the world's tallest free-standing structure until it was eclipsed in 2007.^c
Manitou Lake on Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron is the world's largest lake within a lake (41.1 square miles).^m

-- Posted January 15, 2009. Updated February 22, 2009.

References

^a Backcheck: Hockey for Kids. “Early Days of Hockey.” Accessed: January 29, 2009.

^b Brown, Craig. 1987. The Illustrated History of Canada. Toronto, Canada: Lester & Orpen Dennys Limited.

^c The Canadian Encyclopedia. Accessed January 30, 2009.

^d Canadian Museum of Nature. "Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods)." Accessed January 30, 2009.

^e Canadians.ca. Accessed: January 29, 2009.

^f Central Intelligence Agency. “The World Fact Book: Canada.” January 22, 2009. Accessed: January 31, 2009.

^g Cruise, David and Alison Griffiths. 1997. The Great Adventure: How the Mounties Conquered the West. New York, NY: St Martin's Press.

^h Encyclopedia of Music in Canada. “The Crew-Cuts.” Accessed January 30, 2009.

ⁱ Marsh, James. 2008. “Auld Lang Syne.” HistoryWire.

^j Royal Canadian Mounted Police. "The RCMP's History ." Accessed: January 29, 2009.

^k Story, Noah. 1967. The Oxford Companion to Canadian History and Literature. Toronto, Canada: Oxford University Press.

^l Watkins, Mel (ed.). 1993. Canada. New York, NY: Facts on File, Inc.

^m Weihs, Jean. 1995. Facts about Canada, Its Provinces and Territories. Bronx, NY: H.W. Wilson Company.

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51 Random Facts About . . .

Africa

Africa is the second largest of the earth’s seven continents and makes up approximately 22% of the earth’s total land area.^g
With the inclusion of the disputed Western Sahara territory and the island nations off the continental coast, there are a total of 54 independent nations in Africa.^a
The current population of Africa is nearly one billion people. Due to rapid population growth in the continent over the last 40 years, its general population is relatively young. In many African states, more than half of the population is under the age of 25.^g
Africa is the most centrally located of all of the continents with both the prime meridian (0 degrees longitude) and the equator (0 degrees latitude) passing through it.^a
The primary region of Africa is often called sub-Saharan Africa and excludes the mostly Islamic countries of North Africa: Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt. Sub-Saharan Africa includes 42 nations on mainland Africa and the six island nations.^a
While Africa makes up about 16% of the world’s population, fully one quarter of the world’s languages are spoken only in Africa.^g
Arabic (in various dialects) is the most common language spoken in Africa with about 170 million speakers, primarily residing in North Africa. In the continent as a whole, there are over 2,000 recognized languages spoken.^g
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, with an estimated population of 125–145 million people. Egypt is the second most populous country with over 76 million people.^g
The most populated city in Africa is the Egyptian capital of Cairo with an estimated 17 million residents in the metropolitan area.^g
The largest country in Africa is Sudan with a total area of 967,490 square miles (2.5 million square kilometers), and the smallest country is the island nation of The Seychelles with a total area of just 175 square miles (453 square kilometers).^g
Population experts estimate that there are at least 3,000 distinct ethnic groups (tribes) in Africa. Nigeria alone has more than 370 recognized tribes within its population.^h

The Nile River is the longest river in the world with a total length of 4,132 miles

Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa and the second-largest freshwater lake in the world, covering an area of 26,830 square miles (69,490 square kilometers).^e
The Nile River, which drains into the MediterraneanSea at the northeastern edge of Africa, is the longest river in the world with a total length of 4,132 miles (6,650 kilometers). It is formed from the juncture of two smaller rivers: the White Nile and the Blue Nile.^e
Africa contains the world’s largest desert, the Sahara, which makes up an area greater in size than the entire continental U.S.^e
Egypt is the most popular tourist destination in Africa, attracting around 10 million visitors per year.^e
While Egypt is most well known for its pyramids, the Republic of Sudan actually has 223 of its own pyramids, double the number of pyramids in Egypt. Smaller and steeper than their Egyptian counterparts, the pyramids of Sudan are not nearly as famous.^e
Four of the five fastest land animals reside in Africa: the cheetah, the wildebeest, the lion, and the Thomson’s gazelle. All of these animals can run at speeds above 50 miles per hour, with the cheetah reaching a top speed of about 70 miles per hour.^e
Africa is home to the world’s largest living land animal, the African elephant, which can weigh between 6 and 7 tons.^e
The novel Tarzan of the Apes, set in Africa and published by American author Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1912, created such a compelling image of Africa and the book’s title character that a New Orleans newspaper writer only half-jokingly suggested that if Tarzan were to run for president in 1929, he would receive as many votes as incumbent president Herbert Hoover.^e
The deserts of Tunisia housed the original Star Wars movie sets for the film's planet Tatooine. More than 30 years after the premier of the first movie in the series, the sets are still very well preserved and visitors to Tunisia can even stay in Luke Skywalker’s home.^e
Africa is the poorest and most underdeveloped of all of the continents, despite its wealth of natural resources. The average poor person in sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to live on just $.70 a day.^g
More than 17 million people in sub-Saharan Africa have died of AIDS, and experts estimate that at least 25 million more people in Africa are HIV-positive.^f
Approximately 90% of all cases of malaria worldwide occur in Africa, and 3,000 African children die each day from its effects.^f

The African continent has not moved much from its original position in the super-continent Pangaea

Scientists believe Africa was once joined with Earth’s other continents in a super-continent called Pangaea. While Asia and South America split from Africa in the late Cretaceous epoch (roughly 80 million years ago), the African continent remained relatively stable and has not moved much throughout time. Geologists believe the large island of Madagascar split from the African continent as early as 160 millions years ago.^h
Central eastern Africa is believed by most scientists to be the origin place of both humans and great apes. The earliest remains of the modern human species Homo sapiens have been found in Ethiopia and date to roughly 200,000 years ago.^h
The scientist Charles Darwin was the first to suggest that the ancestors of human beings may have originated in Africa. However, prejudicial attitudes toward the continent made many people in the Western world highly resistant to the idea until well into the twentieth century.^h
In 1974, the skeleton of “Lucy,” a hominid who lived approximately 3.2 million years ago and has been considered a common ancestor to the human family, was discovered in Hadar, Ethiopia. In 1979, a 165-foot trail of the earliest hominid footprints was discovered in the Kibish region of Tanzania. The two discoveries indisputably marked northeastern Africa as the birthplace of humanity.^h
Throughout human prehistory, Africa contained no major nation-states and was inhabited primarily by small groups of hunter-gatherers. Scientists believe that cattle were domesticated by hunter-gatherers in Africa as early as 6000 B.C., long before the advent of agriculture on the continent.^d
The oldest literate civilization in Africa is the Pharaonic civilization of ancient Egypt. Historical records date the rise of the Egyptian state to about 3300 B.C. and the fall from influence at 343 B.C., making it one of the world’s oldest and longest-lasting civilizations.^d
Europeans first began exploring the northern coast of Africa around 332 B.C., when Alexander the Great came into Egypt and established the city of Alexandria. The Roman Empire soon after began to integrate much of North Africa’s Mediterranean coastline into the Roman system.^d
While there are several different theories regarding the origin of the name “Africa,” most etymologists believe the name derived from Afri, the title for a group of people who dwelt in North Africa near Carthage around the third century B.C., and -ca, the Roman suffix for “country” or “land.”^d

The name ”Africa” was derived from Greek and Latin words that highlighted the continent's sunny, warm climate

Ancient Greeks and Romans originally used the term “Africa” to apply only to the northern region of the continent. In Latin, the word Africa means “sunny,” and the word Aphrike in Greek means “without cold.”^e
By the first century A.D., Africa had been subdivided by geographers into three distinct regions: Egypt, Libya, and Ethiopia. The last term was more or less used to describe the whole of sub-Saharan Africa.^d
The African region of Ethiopia is featured prominently in several ancient Greek dramas and poems. The Greek poet Homer mentions Ethiopians in both the Iliad and theOdyssey as a “blameless race” and “amongst the noblest of men.”^e
Islam became a prominent influence in North Africa by the seventh century A.D. and spread into sub-Saharan Africa through trade routes and migration. The population of North Africa is still considered widely Muslim today.^d
Prior to the colonization of the African continent, historians believe Africa was made up of as many as 10,000 different states and autonomous groups, ranging in size from small family groups of hunter-gatherers to large kingdoms.^d
While slavery has been practiced in Africa all throughout recorded history, Africa is the only continent to have a large percentage of its inhabitants transported elsewhere for slave labor. Historians estimate that approximately 7–12 million slaves were transferred from Africa to the Americas between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries.^d
Only two African nations have never been under European colonial power: Liberia, an independent nation settled largely by African Americans, and Ethiopia, an Orthodox Christian nation known in Europe as Abyssinia. The rest of the continent was colonized by European imperial powers in the nineteenth century “scramble for Africa.”^d
During the 1950s, colonized African states began to fight for independence from imperial rule with Libya being the first African nation to declare its independence. The independence movements brought great hope and inspired U.S. civil rights leaders like Malcolm X to fight for increased freedoms at home.^d
South Africa was one of the first African nations to gain its independence from colonial rule after the imperial period. However, black residents of the state lived under a forced system of segregation called Apartheid (meaning “separateness”) until 1994 when the country held its first democratic elections with universal suffrage. The famous civil rights leader Nelson Mandela was elected as president.^d

Children were commonly recruited and even compelled to serve as soldiers in the Second Congo War

The Second Congo War, which began in 1998 and involved eight African nations, is the largest war in African history. An estimated 5.4 million people died as a result of the war and its aftermath, making it the deadliest worldwide conflict since World War II. The war officially ended in 2006, but hostilities still continue today.^g
Africa is currently politically organized into the African Union, a federation created in 2001 and consisting of all of Africa’s nations except Morocco.^a
Islam is currently the largest religion in Africa, with Christianity following closely behind. These two religions make up 85% of the continent’s population, while just 15% of the population are nonreligious or follow traditional African religions.^g
While Africa is the second largest of the earth’s seven continents, it has the shortest coastline, due to very few jutting edges and bays in its landscape.^a
Among the native population of Africa, there are more physical variations than on any other continent in the world.^h
There are fewer people with Internet access in the entire continent of Africa than in New York City alone.^a
The average life expectancy on the African continent ranges from 74 years in the island nation of Mauritius to just under 32 years in sub-Saharan Swaziland.^{b, c}
Two of the most popular sports in Africa are soccer (called football) and cricket. Both sports were introduced during colonial times and have flourished on the continent due to the international success of African teams.^a
A popular fashion statement in eastern Africa is to wear a kanga, a large cotton cloth with a message printed on it. Kanga are worn by both men and women and they originated during the nineteenth century in Zanzibar and Mombassa.^a
The “evil eye” is a term that originated in North Africa and the Mediterranean and is widely believed to cause harm, especially to the sick and vulnerable. In Morocco, it is common for men and boys to decorate the backs of their cloaks with bright red eyes to reflect back and cast off the look of the evil eye.^a
In Tunisia, images of fish are often used to protect against evil. New buildings often have fish bones or tails embedded in them as they are built, and cars have brightly colored plastic or cloth fish attached to them to provide protection to the people inside.^a

-- Posted July 23, 2009

References

^a Bowden, Rob. 2005. Africa. Strongsville, OH: Gareth Stevens Publishing.

^b Central Intelligence Agency. “The World Factbook – Mauritius.” Accessed: July 17, 2009.

^c Central Intelligence Agency. “The World Factbook – Swaziland.” Accessed: July 17, 2009.

^d Fage, J.D. & William Tordoff. 2002. A History of Africa. New York, NY: Routledge.

^e Gates, Henry Louis Jr. 1999. Wonders of the African World. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.

^f Gelletly, LeeAnne. 2006. AIDS and Health Issues. Broomall, PA: Mason Crest Publishers.

^g Habeeb, William Mark & Robert I. Rotberg. 2004. Africa: Facts and Figures. Broomall, PA: Mason Crest.

^h Reader, John. 1999. Africa: A Biography of the Continent. New York, NY: Knopf Publishing Group.

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Egypt

The shape of ancient Egyptian pyramids is thought to have been inspired by the spreading rays of the sun.^a
An Egyptian father named his newborn daughter “Facebook” to commemorate the roleFacebook played in the 2011 Egyptian revolution. Her full name is Facebook Jamal Ibrahim.^g
There are five million Facebook users in Egypt, more than any other Middle Eastern country. As of 2009, Egypt has 20.136 million Internet users, ranking 21st in the world.^g
Egypt has the largest Arabic population in the world.^c
The formal name of Egypt is the Arab Republic of Egypt.^c
Approximately 90% of Egyptians are Muslim (primarily Sunni), 9% are Coptic, and 1% is Christian.^c
Pharaoh Pepi II (2246-2152 B.C.) had the longest reign in history—94 years. He became Egypt’s king when he was only 6 years old.^f
Pharaoh Pepi II allegedly would smear naked slaves with honey to attract flies away from him.ⁿ

Abusing the Egyptian flag in any way is a criminal offense in Egypt

The Egyptian flag is similar to the flags of Syria, Iraq, and Yemen and consists of three bands of colors from the Arab Liberation flag—red, white, and black—with the golden eagle of Saladin on the white band. On the Egyptian flag, black represents oppression, red represents the bloody struggle against oppression, and white is symbolic of a bright future.^a
The literacy rate for Egyptian men is 83% and 59.4% for women.^c
On average, only an inch of rain falls in Egypt per year.^c
Egyptian history is generally considered to have begun in 3200 B.C. when King Menes (also called Narmer) united the Upper and Lower Kingdoms. The last native dynasty fell to the Persians in 341 B.C. and was replaced by Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines. Arabs introduced Islam and the Arabic language into Egypt in the seventh century.^c
As of July 2011, the population of Egypt was 82,079,663, making it the 15th most populated country in the world. Approximately 99% of the population lives on about 5.5% of the land.^c
Ramses II (1279-1212 B.C.) is often considered the greatest pharaoh (“great house”) of the Egyptian empire. He ruled Egypt for 60 years and was the only pharaoh to carry the title “the Great” after his name. He had over 90 children: approximately 56 boys and 44 girls. He had eight official wives and nearly 100 concubines. He also had red hair, which was associated with the god Seth.^f

The temperature inside theGreat Pyramid equals the average temperature of the Earth (68F)

The famous Great Pyramid at Giza was built as a burial place for King Khufu (2589-2566 B.C.) and took more than 20 years to build. It is built from over two million blocks of limestone, each one weighing as much as two and a half elephants. It stands about 460 feet (149 m) high—taller than the Statue of Liberty. The base of the Great Pyramid takes up almost as much space as five football fields.^h
Ancient Egyptians believed that mummification ensured the deceased a safe passage to the afterlife. The mummification process had two stages: first the embalming of the body, then the wrapping and burial of the body. Organs were stored in canopic jars, each jar representing a god.^h
Ancient Egyptians mummified not only people but animals as well. Archeologists discovered a 15-foot- (4.5-m-) long mummified crocodile. The crocodile is known as the “devourer of human hearts” in the ancient Book of the Dead.^a
Fly swatters made from giraffe tails were a popular fashion item in ancient Egypt.^a

Egyptian women enjoyed more rights than other women in the ancient world

Ancient Egyptian women had more rights and privileges than most other women in the ancient world. For example, they could own property, carry out business deals, and initiate divorce. Women from wealthy families could become doctors or priestesses.^a
In Egypt, both men and women wore eye make-up called kohl, which was made from ground-up raw material mixed with oil. They believed it had magical healing powers that could restore poor eyesight and fight eye infections.^f
For ancient Egyptians, bread was the most important food and beer was their favorite drink. Models of brewers were even left in tombs to ensure that the deceased had plenty of beer in the next world.^h
The ancient Egyptians had three different calendars: an everyday farming calendar, an astronomical calendar, and a lunar calendar. The 365-day farming calendar was made up of three seasons of four months. The astronomical calendar was based on observations of the star Sirius, which reappeared each year at the start of the flood season. Finally, priests kept a lunar calendar that told them when to perform ceremonies for the moon god Khonsu.^h
Hieroglyphs were developed about 3,000 B.C. and may have started as early wall paintings. In contrast to English’s 26 letters, there are more than 700 different Egyptian hieroglyphs.^h
Egypt’s first pyramid was a step pyramid built by famed Egyptian architect Imhotep for the pharaoh Djoser in 2600 B.C.^a
The ancient Egyptians worshipped more than 1,000 different gods and goddesses. The most important god of all was Ra, the sun god.^a
Over its long history, Egypt has been known by many different names. For example, during the Old Kingdom (2650-2134 B.C.), Egypt was called Kemet or Black Land, which referred to the dark, rich soil of the Nile Valley. It was also called Deshret, or Red Land, which referred to Egypt’s vast deserts. Later, it was known as Hwt-ka-Ptahor “House of the Ka of Ptah.” Ptah was one of Egypt’s earliest gods. The Greeks changed Hwt-ka-ptah to Aegyptus.^f
Tourism compromises 12% of the work force in Egypt.^c

Scientists unearthed a "SuperCroc" fossil in the Sahara Desert in 2001

The Sahara Desert at one time was lush grassland and savannah. Overgrazing and/or climate change in 8000 B.C. began to change the area from pastoral land to desert. Now it is the world’s largest hot desert at over 3,630,000 square miles—roughly the size of the United States. Antarctica is considered the largest desert (of any type) in the world.^{^a}
The first pharaoh of Egypt is considered to be King Menes, who united the Upper and Lower Kingdoms in 3150 B.C. He named the capital of the united lands Memphis, which means “Balance of Two Lands.” Legend says he ruled for 60 years until he was killed by a hippopotamus.^k
The life expectancy of Egyptians is approximately 72.66 years, which ranks 124th in the world. The life expectancy of males is approximately 70.07 years and 75.38 years for females. Monaco has the world’s highest life expectancy at 89.73 years old. The United States is 50th, with a life expectancy of 78.37 years.^c
The fertility rate in Egypt is 2.97 children per woman, which is the 66th highest fertility rate in the world. Niger ranks first with 7.60 children per woman. The United States is 124th with 2.06 children per woman.^c
Egypt is the 30th largest country in the world by area. Slightly three times larger than New Mexico, Egypt’s area is 386,560 square miles (1,001,450 square km).^c
The 2011 Egyptian revolution began on January 25th. Egyptian protestors focused on lack of free speech and free elections, police brutality, government corruption, high unemployment, inflation, and continued use of emergency law. An estimated 800 people died and over 6,000 were injured in the process. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigned on February 11th. The Egyptian revolution sparked other revolutions in Yemen, Syria, Jordan, Libya, and Bahrain.^m
To stay cool and avoid lice, both men and women in ancient Egypt shaved their heads and often wore wigs. In fact, because wigs indicated social status, they became one of the most important fashion accessories in ancient Egypt. Rich people wore wigs made from human hair, while poor people wore wigs made from wool or vegetable fiber.ⁿ
The ancient Egyptians were the first people to have a year consisting of 365 days divided into 12 months. They also invented clocks.ⁿ
The Egyptian polymath Imhotep (“the one who comes in peace”) is known as the first physician, the first engineer, and the first architect.^a

The Nile is the world's longest river and currently runs through nine countries

Egypt’s Nile River is the world’s longest, running 4,135 miles (6,670 km). Ancient Egyptians would measure the depth of the Nile using a “nilometer.” The English word “Nile” is derived from the Semitic nahal, meaning “river.” Ancient Egyptians called the river iteru, meaning “great river.”^f
In an attempt to control the annual flooding of the Nile, one of the largest dams in the world was built in Egypt in 1971: Aswan High Dam. Unfortunately, the rich silt that normally fertilized the dry Egyptian land settled in Lake Nasser after the building of the dam, forcing farmers to use one million tons of artificial fertilizer every year.^c
Ancient Egyptians believed the tears of the goddess Isis made the Nile overflow each year. They celebrated the flood with a festival called the “Night of the Tear Drop.”^a
A priest often wore the jackal-headed mask of the god Anubis when making a body into a mummy. Ancient Egyptians associated Anubis (the god of the death) with jackals because jackals would uncover bodies from Egyptian cemeteries and eat them.ⁿ
The Copts are the largest Christian community in Egypt and in the Middle East. Because Christianity was the main religion in Egypt between the fourth and sixth centuries, the term “Copt” originally meant all Egyptians.^h
In France, a glass pyramid stands outside the famous Louvre museum as a tribute to the ancient Egyptians and their amazing world.ⁿ
The quality that ancient Egyptians valued most was called ma’at, which means good behavior, honesty, and justice. Ma’at is also the name of the goddess of truth who, according to myth, weighs every Egyptian heart after death.^h
Before an ancient Egyptian scribe wrote anything, he always poured out some water mixed with ink as an offering to the god Thoth, the messenger of the gods and patron of scribes and learning. Egyptians who could write were believed to have power from the gods.^k
The ancient Egyptians believed that the god Thoth invented writing and passed its secret to humans. His symbols were a bird called an ibis and a baboon.^k
Just 150 years ago, Americans and Europeans believed that mummies had great healing powers. They ground up the mummies into powder and used it as medicine for all kinds of diseases.ⁿ
The word pharaoh began as a nickname for the Egyptian king. It means “great house” because everyone believed the king’s human body was home to a god. The term wasn’t actually used until the 20th dynasty (1185-1070 B.C.).^k
The Great Pyramid at Giza has vents pointing to the constellation of Orion so the mummy’s spirit could fly straight up to the gods.^a
Ancient Egyptians believed they were made from clay on a potter’s wheel by the river god Khnum.^f
In ancient Egypt, every big city supported one favorite god, similar to people who support football teams today.ⁿ
Ancient Egyptians needed to predict when the Nile would flood, which led to the development of the world’s first calendar.^h
Mexico, not Egypt, has the largest pyramid in the world in terms of volume. The Cholula Pyramid (sometimes referred to as Quetzalcoatl) was built around the year A.D. 100. Though it is 40% the height of Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Cheops at Giza, it covers an area of 39.5 acres. In contrast, the Great Pyramid is 480 feet high and covers 13 acres. Additionally, the Mexican pyramid has a volume of 4,300,000 cubic yards, while the Great Pyramid has 3,360,000.ⁿ
The pyramids of Egypt are not only the oldest of the seven wonders of the ancient world, they are the only ones to survive today. An Arab proverb captures the pyramids endurance: “Man fears Time, yet Time fears the pyramids.” The other six wonders are (1) the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, (2) the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, (3) the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, (4) the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, (5) the Colossus of Rhodes, and (6) the Lighthouse of Alexandria.^f
The oldest surviving work about mathematics was written by the ancient Egyptian scribe Ahmes around 1650 B.C. Found on the Rhine Mathematical Papyrus, it is titled “The Entrance into the Knowledge of All Existing Things and All Obscure Secrets.”^h
The oldest death sentence recorded is found in ancient Egypt. Found in the Amherst papyri, a teenaged male in 1500 B.C. is sentenced to kill himself by either poison or stabbing for practicing magic.^h
Hieroglyphs were used only for ritual purposes and official inscriptions. For everyday use, Egyptians used a script called “hieratic.” In 700 B.C., a second script called “demotic” was used, of which a derivative is used by Coptic Christians today.^k
Ancient Egyptian tomb builders had their own guarded villages. They were well fed and looked after because their work was so important.^h
The oldest recorded standard of weight is the beqa, an ancient Egyptian unit equal to between 6.66 and 7.45 ounces. It is still used today.^a
In 2011, archeologists discovered an enormous statue of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep III (grandfather of Tutankhamen). One of the largest statues ever found, it was actually first discovered in 1923 and then rehidden.^e
The ancient obelisk known as Cleopatra’s Needle has suffered more damage in the 125 years it has stood in New York City from pollution and weather than in the thousands of years it stood in Egypt.^a
The last known hieroglyphic inscription was made in A.D. 394 in the temple of Isis in Philae.^f

The Sphinx is the largest monolith statue in the world

Although it is a popular notion that Napoleon’s troops shot off the nose of the Sphinx at Giza, sketches of the Sphinx from 1737 show it without a nose, more than 60 years before Napoleon reached Egypt. The only person known to have damaged it was an Islamic cleric, Sa’im al-dahr, who was hanged in 1378 for vandalism. He reportedly disapproved of “graven images.”^b
Scholars believe that ancient Egyptians were the first to sew wounds closed some 4,000 years ago. Egyptian doctors would often store their surgical needles in a case made from a hollowed-out bird bone.^a
Hippos were considered bad omens and were associated with the evil god Seth. They were more dangerous than crocodiles and they often capsized boats traveling the Nile.^a
The first person in Egypt identified by name (Mery) for tax evasion was sentenced to 100 blows for his crime.^a
Medical examinations reveal that parasites such as worms were a problem for ancient Egyptians. One common parasite, the Guinea worm, would mature into a three-foot long worm inside the body and then painfully exit through the skin after a year.^a
In Egypt, children (even girls) were considered a blessing. The Greeks who sometimes left unwanted infants (most often girls) outdoors to die, were shocked to discover that the Egyptians did not.^a
The Berlin Papyrus (c. 1800 B.C.) contains directions for the oldest known pregnancy test. The test involved wetting cereals with urine. If barley grew, it meant the woman was pregnant with a male child; if the wheat grew, she was pregnant with a girl. If neither grew, the woman would not give birth.^f
To keep the hook shape of Ramses II’s nose from collapsing, embalmers stuffed his nostrils with peppercorns.^a
The scarab beetle was sacred to the Egyptians and represented life after death or resurrection.^a
Toilets were also included in some ancient Egyptian tombs.^b
Some people blamed the sinking of the Titanic on a mummified Egyptian priestess the doomed ship was transporting.^b
“The Beautiful House” is the name of the house or tent where mummification took place in ancient Egypt.^b
British monarch, Charles the II (1630-1685) would rub mummy dust on his skin, believing “Greatness” would rub off.^b

Cleopatra was Greek, not Egyptian or African

Contrary to popular belief, Cleopatra was actually Greek, not Egyptian or African. When Angelina Jolie was cast as Cleopatra in the 2011 movie, many erroneously argued that the role should have gone to an African American. Others claimed that the role should have gone to an actress of Greek descent, such as Jennifer Aniston.^j
Near Tuna el-Gebel on the edge of Egypt’s Western Desert, scientists have unearthed more than four million mummies of a stork-like bird called an ibis.^h
Ramses II was publicly unwrapped in June 1886 in just 15 minutes. His body became contaminated by fungi and bacteria, which literally ate him little by little. In 1975, scientists used gamma rays to sterilize his body. He is now stored in an antibacterial case.^f
The embalmer who made the first cut in the flank during the mummification process was called “the ripper.” The Egyptians considered any cut an offense to the body—so in a symbolic performance, the rest of the embalmers threw stones at the ripper and chased him away with curses.ⁿ
The Egyptians called the pyramids mer, a word whose etymology is debated. The English word “pyramid” comes from the Greek word pyramis, a type of wheat cake shaped like a pyramid.^a
If the Great Pyramid were chopped into 12-inch cubes, there would be enough cubes to circle the moon almost three times.^a
Early pharaohs were buried with their real servants. Later, model servants calledshabti were used.^b
“Pyramid Power” or “pyramidology” refers to the belief that pyramids possess supernatural powers. For example, in 1959, Czech Radio engineer Karel Drbal patented the idea that pyramids could sharpen blunt razor blades. Late actress Gloria Swanson slept with a miniature pyramid under her pillow because it “made every cell in her body tingle.”ⁱ
Egypt’s Health Ministry banned female circumcision (when a women’s clitoris is removed) in 1996, except in cases of emergency. This loophole, however, is so vague that female genital mutilation is still virtually universal in Egypt.^l
The first mummy is, according to legend, Osiris who was murdered by Seth. Isis wrapped him in bandages and he came back to life as the god of the dead, or the afterlife.^k
Mud was pushed under the mummy’s skin to pad it out. False eyes could be made from onions. Hooked tools pulled the brain (which was always removed, along with the kidneys, liver, lungs, and heart) through the nose.^a
The oldest dress in the world comes from Egypt. It is 5,000 years old.^a
Egyptians knew the existence of Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Mars, and Jupiter. They had names for them such as Sebequ,a god associated with Set , (Mercury), “god of the morning” (Venus), “bull of the sky” (Saturn), “Horus the red” or “Horus of the horizon” (Mars), and “Horus who limits the Two Lands” (Jupiter).^k
For the ancient Egyptians, the Nile was mysterious. Unlike most other rivers, it flows south to north, it floods in the summer, and no one knew where the water came from. Explorers discovered the source of the Nile in East Africa just 150 years ago.^a
The ancient Egyptians may have been the first people to keep cattle.^h
There were three female pharaohs, of whom the greatest was Hatshepsut (reigned 1498-1483 B.C.).^a
The giant sphinx guarding the three pyramids of Giza is thought to represent the pharaoh Khafre (Chephren), son of Khufu. Sphinxes are generally believed to have been built to guard tombs.^f
The known tombs of Egyptian kings were all raided by robbers with one exception, the tomb of Tutankhamen (reigned 1334-1324 B.C.). It was discovered in 1922 and was full of priceless materials and beautiful workmanship.^a
For the ancient Egyptians, the world began when Atum-Ra (the sun god)—who personifies life, goodness, light, and energy—created the Earth (Geb) and the Sky (Nut) and the rest of the world. For the Egyptians, creation was a daily occurrence, repeated with every rising and setting of the sun.^h
Ancient Egyptian women wore wigs topped with a cone of a greasy substance that gradually melted, giving off a pleasing scent of myrrh.^f
Ancient Egyptians kept such good flood records on the Nile that scientists today use their data to better understand rainfall patterns.^a

The loop of the ankhmay symbolize the union of male and female principles

Scholars believe the Egyptian symbol called the ankh is the origin of the much later Christian cross. It also looks like a key—for ancient Egyptians, the key to eternal life.^a
Because hieroglyphs have no vowels, we will never know for sure how the ancients pronounced their words.^a
The Greeks called Egyptian symbols hieroglyphs (hieros + glyphe= “sacred” + “carving”) because they saw them carved into the walls of temples and other sacred places.^a

During the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, some women protestors were not only forced to take virginity tests, but they were also threatened with prostitution charges.^d

Important Gods and Goddess of Ancient Egypt ^k

Amun	Creator god, associated with fertility. Sometimes pictured as a goose, but most often represented as a man.
Anubis	Necropolis god, connected with mummification. Usually has the head of a dog or jackal.
Bastet	War goddess, Has the head of lioness or cat.
Hathor	Goddess of women; also sky goddess, tree goddess, or necropolis goddess. Has the head of a cow or cow’s horns, often with a sun disk on her head.
Horus	Sky god. Has the head of a hawk, often with a double crown.
Isis	Wife of Osiris; guardian and magician. Often has the hieroglyph of her name on her head.
Montu	War god. Often has the head of a hawk with a sun disk and two plumes on top.
Neith	Goddess of war and hunting. Wears a red crown or has two crossed arrows and a shield on her head.
Osiris	Ruler of the Underworld, god of dying vegetation, and husband of Isis. Usually shown as a mummy, holding a scepter, and wearing a white crown with plumes and horns.
Ptah	Creator god; the patron of all craftsmen, including architects, artists, and sculptures. Frequently shown as a man dressed as a mummy.
Re	Sun god. Has the head of hawk, often with a sun disk on his head.
Seth	God of disorder, deserts, storms, and war. Usually has the head of an unidentified animal.
Thoth	God of writing and counting. Has the head of an ibis, often with a moon crescent. Sometimes depicted as a baboon.

Important Dates ^f,m,c

c. 5,000 B.C.	People begin to settle down to live and grow crops along the banks of the Nile for the first time.
c. 3200 B. C.	Writing begins in Egypt.
c. 3100 B.C.	Legendary King Menes (Namer) unites Egypt. Upper and Lower Egypt are joined together under one pharaoh for the first time.
c. 2630 B.C.	Imhotep builds the first pyramid.
c. 1500 B.C.	Earliest examples of the Book of the Dead.
c. 1380 B.C.	Temple of Luxor by Amenhotep III is built.
1367-1350 B.C.	Reign of Amenhotep IV (Akhenaton) who abandons Egyptian polytheism for monotheism.
1347-1339 B.C.	Reign of Tutankhamen.
1182-1151 B.C.	Reign of Ramses III; Hebrew migration out of Egypt.
1070-712 B.C.	Collapse of the New Kingdom.
669 B.C.	Assyrians conquer and rule Egypt.
332 B.C.	Alexander the Great conquers Egypt and founds Alexandria. A Macedonian dynasty rules until 31 B.C.
31 B.C.	Rome conquers Egypt. Cleopatra commits suicide after Octavian’s armies defeat her forces.
A.D. 642	Arab conquest of Egypt. Egypt becomes Islamic.
969	Cairo is established as the capital of Egypt.
1250-1517	Mamluk (armies of slaves, often Turks/Cumans) rule.
1517	Egypt is absorbed into the Turkish Ottoman Empire.
1822	Jean Francois Champollion deciphers the system of Egyptian hieroglyphs from the Rosetta Stone.
1882	British troops take control of Egypt.
1914	Egypt becomes a British protectorate.
1922	Egypt gains independence from Britain.
1953	Egypt is declared a Republic.
1954	The British finally leave Egypt.
1970	The Aswan High Dam is completed.
1971	Egypt’s new constitution is introduced. The country is renamed the Arab Republic of Egypt.
1979	Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., between Anwar El Sadat and Menachem Begin, making Egypt the first Arab country to official recognize Israel.
1981	President Anwar El Sadat is assassinated and Hosni Mubarak becomes president of Egypt by a national referendum.
2011	President Mubarak steps down amid protests.

-- Posted May 15, 2011

References

^a Cline, Eric H and Jill Rubalcaba. 2005. The Ancient Egyptian World. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

^b Deary, Terry. “Ancient Egypt’s Fantastic and Weird History.” The Telegraph. November 17, 2007. Accessed: April 28, 2011.

^c “Egypt.” CIA—The World Factbook. April 6, 2011. Accessed: April 18, 2011.

^d “Egyptian Women Protestors Forced to Take Virginity Tests.” BBC. March 24, 2011. Accessed: May 5, 2011.

^e “Enormous Statue of Powerful Pharaoh Unearthed.” MSNBC. April 16, 2011.

^f Goldschmidt, Arthur, Jr. 2008. A Brief History of Egypt. New York, NY: Checkmark Books.

^g Hartley-Parkinson, Richard. “Meet My Daughter ‘Facebook’: How One Egyptian Father Is Commemorating the Part the Social Network Played in Revolution.” February 21, 2011. Accessed: April 18, 2011.

^h Malek, Jaromir. General Editor. 1993. Cradles of Civilization: Egypt. Sydney, Australia: Weldon Russell Pty Ltd.

ⁱ “Modern Living: Pyramid Power.” Times. October 8, 1973. Accessed: April 24, 2011.

^j Papapostolou, Anastasios. “Angelina Jolie Goes Greek as Cleopatra but Some Don’t Like It.” Greek Reporter. June 19, 2010. Accessed: April 30, 2010.

^k Remler, Pat. 2010. Egyptian Mythology A to Z. New York, NY: Infobase Publishing.

^l Slackman, Michael. “Female Circumcision Focus of Ferocious Debate in Egypt.” September 19, 2007. Accessed: April 24, 2011.

^m Sutter, John. “The Faces of Egypt’s ‘Revolution 2.0.’” CNN.com. February 21, 2011. Accessed: April 18, 2011.

ⁿ Walker, Jane. 2003. 100 Things You Should Know about Ancient Egypt. Broomall, PA: Mason Crest Publishers.

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