The languages of the individuals who were brought to South Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries had an impact on the formation of Afrikaans. These included the now mainly extinct Khoisan languages, several Bantu languages (primarily Xhosa and Zulu), Malay, Portuguese, French, German, Scottish, Yiddish, and South African English.

In Germany, the most common last name is Müller. This last name is shared by nearly 900,000 people in Germany! In Germany, surnames are frequently based on professions. The German equivalents of Smith, Weaver, and Baker are Schmidt, Weber, and Becker, respectively. English and German nomenclature are fairly similar.

While the Alien franchise swaps in different androids for (almost) every installment, there is an interesting consistency to them: they go in alphabetical order. Ash, Bishop, Call, and, most recently, David (played by Michael Fassbender in Prometheus and Alien: Covenant).

Sideshots are no longer available, but updated Snack Bites make it (sort of) acceptable to eat Hot Pockets in between meals. They're similar to Totino's Pizza Rolls, except they come in more varieties, such as Cheesy Beef Nacho, Buffalo-Style Chicken, and Sausage, Egg & Cheese.

The music of Wilhelmus, the Dutch national anthem, dates back to between 1569 and 1572. This makes it the oldest melody used in a country’s national anthem, although it did not become the official Dutch anthem until 1932. 

The lyrics were also written at least 400 years ago and they refer to “Dietse Bloed”, an old word for Nederlands (Dutch).

Back in the 10th century, carrots were originally white, purple, or pale yellow. So how did they get their distinct orange colour? The story goes that when William of Orange (King William III) helped the Dutch win independence from Spain in the 17th century, Dutch farmers honoured the King by turning their carrots orange through clever breeding. The new colour became hugely popular and is still the Netherlands official colour and the colour of the Dutch Royal family. The Dutch celebrate King’s Day by wearing orange and even the national sports teams wear orange.

The lifespan of Chinese porcelain is very long. Authentic Chinese porcelain made in the proper proportions of kaolin, quartz, and feldspar is a highly durable and translucent material.

"We don't really know who first came up with the idea for looking at things in nature and divining influences on humans," NASA astronomer Sten Odenwald told Time. "There's some indication that cave art shows this idea that animals and things can be imbued with some spirit form that then influences you, and if you appease that spirit form, then you will have a successful hunt. That was taken over by the idea of divination, where you can actually look at things in nature and study them carefully, such as tea-leaf reading."

When Einstein was a patent clerk, he started the "Olympia Academy" book club with two pals. The trio's favourite foods were sausages, Gruyere cheese, fruit, and tea. On Einstein's birthday, though, his pals surprised him with pricey caviar. Einstein, who had a habit of compulsively eating when discussing something he was enthusiastic about, started filling his face while explaining Galileo's theory of inertia, completely unconscious of what he was eating. He subsequently said, "Well, you know, if you provide sophisticated dishes to peasants like me, you know they won't like it."

Our almond milk recipe is quite simple. You only need three materials to get started! To produce a sweeter milk, mix in a Medjool date. You can also make almond meal from the leftover 'pulp' by spreading it on a baking pan and roasting it on a low heat for a few hours. Check out our almond milk recipe here.

Taz became a popular cartoon character thanks to Looney Tunes. In reality, though, the devil is anything but. According to one research, it possesses the most powerful bite in the planet. Despite weighing just 20 pounds on average, these creatures can apply up to 94 pounds of pressure, giving them a "Bite Force Quotient" of 181. That's about twice as powerful as a hyena and 60 points stronger than a lion.

Switzerland has multiple mountains that rise above 3,000 meters. The Chamonix-Zermatt Haute Route, a 12-day traditional Alpine climb that takes you directly to the well-known Matterhorn, is a stunning experience for fit hikers. Switzerland has 48 peaks higher than 4000 meters, more than any other country in Europe.

The other 97.7% are ethnically Chinese. This is because Taiwan was ruled by the Qing Dynasty for 200 years from 1683 to 1895. During this time, the locals were pushed out in the same way native Americans, Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders were by Europeans. This isn’t an upbeat Taiwan fact but it’s important to know.

Nowadays, there are just 500,000 indigenous people made up of eight different tribal groups. Sadly, their 26 native languages have become almost extinct. Unemployment rates are high and education levels low. However, since the 80s there has been a bit of a revival and several cities host indigenous cultural events. Will it be enough?

Section 32 of the Salmon Act 1986 stipulates that it’s an offence to handle salmon under suspicious circumstances. This section creates an offence in England and Wales for any person who receives or disposes of any salmon in circumstances where they believe or could reasonably believe that the salmon has been illegally fished. The maximum penalty is two years imprisonment.

During World War I, there was a cotton scarcity, therefore Kimberly-Clark created a thin, flat cotton replacement that the army sought to employ as a filter in gas masks. Because the war ended before scientists were able to perfect the material for gas masks, the firm redesigned it to be smoother and softer, then sold Kleenex as facial tissue instead.

Thanks to its microscopic budget and major success at the box office, the 2007 film Paranormal Activity, scored a return on investment of 19,758 percent, absolutely blowing away the next most profitable film (2015 horror film Gallows, with an ROI of 6,843 percent). It cost just $60,000 to make and another $400,000 or so to market, yet ultimately brought in more than $89 million.

One of our favourite amusing facts about Poland is that it is home to the world's first upside down house. The topsy-turvy wooden home was erected upside down in a forest and appears to be something out of a storybook. Visitors must enter the home through the attic windows and may walk around the furnished interior, which is evocative of Communist Poland in the 1970s, to symbolise how Communist control turned life in Poland upside down. Hundreds of interested visitors have visited the home since its unveiling in 2007, and it is located in the little Polish town of Szymbark, which has a population of roughly 500 people.

The Banasura Sagar Dam in Wayanad is India's only earth dam. It is also Asia's second biggest earth dam. Speedboating and camping are available here, with spectacular views of the Banasura hills in the background.

Furthermore, it is not the only novel that has abandoned the letter. Ernest Vincent Wright, an American novelist, wrote Gadsby in 1939, a 50,000-word novel in which the letter "e" appears just once. In 1969, author Georges Perec also published the French-language novel La Disparition sans the letter 'e.' That's even more remarkable when you realize that the letter 'e' is the most often used in English. And here are the 23 Words You Should Stop Mispronouncing.

We also learned that Swiggy has had no problem securing venture capital backing from wealthy investment firms. It is considered a late-stage venture capital company that has held more than 13 rounds of VC fundraising. The most recent round of fundraising closed on April 5, 2021, in the form of a Series J funding round that was led by Carmignac and Falcon Edge Capital, most recent investors were joined by a group of 21 other investors.

Banquo, like the other characters in Shakespeare's Macbeth, is based on a real person. King James I (James VI of Scotland) claimed his ancestry could be traced back to Banquo, a friend of the real Macbeth, via the Stuart dynasty. In the play, Shakespeare portrays Banquo in a favourable light, which he may have done in order to please King James.

The majority of iguanas lay eggs, however, the amount of eggs varies per species. The female rock iguana normally lays five to twenty eggs, whereas the female green iguana lays roughly 65 eggs. In a warm, sunny location, eggs are placed in a burrow.

Only three years after it was adopted, Ambedkar was dissatisfied with the document. Why? He argued vehemently for the governors to be given more authority. "Sir, my friends claim that I am the author of the Constitution." However, I am willing to bet that I will be the first to burn it out. It's not something I want. In the Rajya Sabha in 1953, he stated, "It does not suit anyone."

In China, stories of an undead creature known as Jiangshi have existed since the Qing Dynasty. Though the word literally translates to “stiff corpse,” these reanimated bodies are often referred to as “hopping vampires” because they move by hopping with arms outstretched and hide in coffins or unlit areas during the day. The pale, lifeless creatures are often depicted as rotting or decomposing and are believed to kill the living with one touch. Chinese residents who fear the dead place a six-inch piece of wood at the bottom of the door to prevent them from entering their homes.