World Facts

There is a misconception that Europeans owe the invention of rubber to Columbus. In fact, the navigator only left a description of how the natives of the islands of Haiti played with a ball made of thickened milky juice that flowed from cuts on the bark of the Brazilian hevea. When the sap dripped from the tree, it seemed to the Indians that it was crying. Therefore, they began to call this plant a "crying tree– - from the Indian words kau ("tree") and uchu ("cry"). Much later, Europeans who visited America got to know rubber better and even learned, like the locals, to soak their raincoats with the juice of a rubber-bearing tree. But rubber came to the Old World only in 1751. A little frozen juice was brought by mathematician Charles La Condamine. He watched his "trophy" for a long time, but could not figure out what benefit rubber could bring to him personally and to humanity as a whole. Interesting facts about rubber Elasticity syndrome...

The ancient Vikings took on board several ravens, freeing them one by one. If the raven flew away in the direction of the ship's movement, then they sailed on, and if the raven turned aside, they changed course. Dublin was founded by Vikings in the ninth century. When marching to England around 1000 AD, the Vikings assembled a fleet of eighty ships, each with 100 soldiers on board. Vikings discovered a large icy island in 982 AD, Eric the Red named it Greenland. Interesting fact, Vikings founded settlements in North America almost 500 years before Columbus. In the tenth century, the largest slave market in the world was in Dublin, in the possession of the Vikings. Vikings served as guards for some Byzantine emperors. The Icelandic language is very similar to Old Norse. Icelandic schoolchildren easily read epics and sagas in Old Norse It took up to 80 oaks to build one (ship) drakkar. Viking means "pirate in Old Norse. The Scandin...

A liger is a hybrid cross between a lion and a tigress. Ligers are the largest of all cats, reaching the height of a lion and the length of a tiger. They carry characteristics from both parents, such as a love of swimming from tigers and social behavior from lions. Currently, Ligers can only be found in captivity, but there have been cases in history of finding them in the wild. Ligers were thought to be infertile for a long time, but this theory was disproved in 1953 when a 15-year-old liger successfully mated with a lion. The cub survived despite having poor health. On Jungle Island, a theme park in Miami, you can see Hercules. Hercules is a huge liger weighing 410 kg, who got into the Guinness Book of Records as the largest cat in the world.

The fork was first mentioned in the Middle East in the IX century. An interesting fact, a fork was used to prick fruit so as not to get smeared with juice. However, there is evidence that the fork was born in 1072 in Byzantium in the city of Constantinople in the imperial palace. It was made in one copy of gold, and its handle was decorated with inlaid mother-of-pearl on ivory. This fork was intended for the Byzantine Princess Maria of Iver, who can be considered the inventor of the fork. Considering it humiliating for herself to eat with her hands, she invented it herself. But since the XVII century, the fork has become a necessary attribute at the meals of the Italian nobility and merchants. In Northern Europe, the fork appeared much later. For the first time in English, it was described by Thomas Coriet in a book about his Italian travels in 1611, but the fork was widely used in England only in the XVIII century. Interestingly, the Catholic Church did not welcome its use...

In 1946, engineer Percy Spencer, who worked at Raytheon Corporation, experimented with a magnetron tube. And suddenly he saw that the candy in his pocket had melted! This surprised him, and he continued experimenting with products by placing a magnetron in a metal box. Electromagnetic waves of small length (12 cm) cannot pass through metal and are absorbed by products, causing the latter to heat up. An interesting fact, the first commercial microwave oven was released in 1947, it cost $ 5,000 and had dimensions of about 2 meters. Microwave ovens have enjoyed great success in countries that have little gas, such as Japan.

Potato chips were invented in 1853 in Saratoga Springs, New York. Interestingly, a chef named George Cram invented potato chips by accident. The fastidious client did not like the thickly sliced fried potatoes, in retaliation, the cook cut the potatoes into thin slices and served them to the client after roasting. The harmful visitor came into a pig's delight from such a dish and the cook realized that he had made a new discovery in cooking. When George Crum opened his own restaurant, he put a basket of potato chips on every table and called them Saratoga Chips. An interesting fact is that chips based on dry mashed potatoes were the first to be produced by Pringles in 1969. They were of the same size and shape and were packed in airtight bags. The popularity of chips has reached such an extent that Potato Chips Day is celebrated on March 14.

Many have heard that rats and cockroaches can survive even a nuclear explosion. But the most viable organism on Earth is a slow-moving, tiny creature with a length of 0.1 to 1.5 mm. Tardigrades look like annelids, with 8 pairs of very primitive legs and a chitinous body. An interesting fact is that the slow-moving can resist temperature fluctuations from -270C (-273C is absolute zero) to 151C. The slow-moving boat is not affected by radiation 1000 times higher than the lethal dose and the pressure is 6 times higher than at the bottom of the deepest ocean (7000 atmospheres). Interestingly, tardigrades can remain in a latent stage for decades and be reborn when conditions become favorable. These animals can fall into a coma when their body size decreases by 85%. There are cases when they came to life after hundreds of years of hibernation in museum exhibits of mosses. However, with constant activity, tardigrades live only one year.   There are more than 1000 s...

Interesting facts about the tie Interesting facts about the tie It is interesting that during the Thirty Years' War, Croatian mercenaries wore scarves around their necks as a distinctive sign. French soldiers took an example from them and eventually, by the middle of the 17th century, the fashion for a tie spread throughout Europe. A good silk tie for making will require about 110 cocoons of silkworm. China is one of the world's largest manufacturers of ties, producing 200 million pieces every year. A special bulletproof tie can stop a 9mm bullet. An interesting fact, a tie is the most common gift to a man for his birthday. In 1924, Jesse Langsdorf patented a modern tie. Interestingly, his know-how was the shape of a tie at an angle of 45 degrees.

Interestingly, over the past 20 years, human sugar consumption has increased to 40 kilograms per year. The fact is that sugar is part of most foods (bread, butter, seasonings, sauces, etc.). Sugar increases insulin levels, which prevents the release of growth hormone and inhibits the immune system.In addition, too much insulin contributes to fat accumulation. An interesting fact is that sugar gives the body calories (4 calories in 1 gram of sugar), but has no useful substances. The consumption of food with a high sugar content allows you to gain weight quickly and increases the level of triglycerides, which is associated with the risk of cardiovascular diseases. In some countries, sugar from sugar cane and corn is fermented into alcohol, which is mixed with gasoline and used as fuel for cars called gasohol. A teenager between the ages of 11 and 14 should eat no more than 65 g of sugar in one day (13 teaspoons). A bottle of cola contains about 35g of ...

The father of botany Theophrastus (371-286 BC) first classified plants and named the rose - Centifolia (one hundred petals). The oldest roses are more than 1000 years old. They grow on the wall of the Hildesheim Cathedral in Germany, and the first mention of these roses dates back to 815. According to legend, the rose bush symbolizes the prosperity of the city of Hildesheim, as long as it is alive. An interesting fact is that in 1945 Allied bombers destroyed the cathedral, but the bush survived. Its roots remained intact under the rubble, and soon the roses grew again.   Interestingly, the Roman Emperor Nero liked to shower his guests with fresh rose petals. In the Middle Ages, rich ladies filled baths with rose petals. Early Christians saw a parallel between the five petals of the holy Rose and the five wounds of Christ. The red rose meant the blood of Christ, and the white rose was the symbol of the Virgin Mary. In the 17th century, the French ...

At the age of 32, during the filming of the movie "The Game of Death", Bruce Lee died unexpectedly. Interestingly, the film company rewrote the script as if Bruce's character faked his death to get away from the mafia. Moreover, the film included footage from the real funeral of Bruce Lee — including close-up shots of an open coffin. Most martial arts movies speed up to make beautiful fighting scenes, but not in the case of Bruce Lee. His movements were too fast for the eye and therefore the battle scenes were shot at a frequency of 32 frames per second, and then slowed down so that the audience could see his movements. Bruce Lee's family gave him the feminine name "Little Phoenix" because they believed that evil spirits did not like boys in the family (their first-born son died in infancy). And the name Bruce was recorded in his documents by a nurse from the hospital in San Francisco, where he was born (Bruce's father was traveli...

Cockroaches have white blood that flows freely through the body. In other words, they do not have blood vessels designed to conduct blood. Interestingly, even the heart of this insect is like a simple tube that pumps blood to the front and back of the body. The eye of this insect has 4000 segments that help to see all directions at one time.   An interesting fact is that a cockroach can live without a head, since the brain of a cockroach is not in the head, but throughout the body. But without a head, they can die within ten days, due to lack of water, because they have nothing to drink. Interestingly, cockroaches spend most of their time (about 75%) in hibernation. Cockroaches are widely used in folk medicine. Cockroach tea is used to treat dropsy, and cockroaches fried with garlic are used to treat stomach upset. In the east, cockroaches are used in dried and powdered form for the treatment of the urinary tract. Cockroaches can live...

Residents of the French town of Cognac were the first to notice the properties of alcohol, which had been standing for a long time in an oak barrel, and one of the most noble alcoholic beverages is named after this village. The recipe for making cognac is both simple and complex at the same time. Grape juice is brought to fermentation and then distilled twice in an alembic over an open flame. Interestingly, after the second distillation, only the middle part of the alcohol is left, using it for the production of cognac. The alcohol is aged in oak barrels for at least two years. At the last stage, the master mixes cognac spirits of different ages to create a harmonious combination of depth and complexity of taste.   There are quite a lot of cognac lovers, but 80% of this drink is consumed as part of cocktails. An interesting fact, cognac helps to dilate blood vessels and relieves headaches. Regular consumption of cognac (about 15 ml per day) protects against ...