Afrikaans-only instruction was mandated in schools by the National Party since it was thought to be a protected language. In 1994, it was added to the list of South Africa's 11 official languages following the end of Apartheid.

In a breakdown of all the U.S. presidents in history, Scorpio and Aquarius birthdays pop up more often than any other sign. Five presidents, including Joe Biden, are Scorpios, and four presidents were born under the Aquarius sign. There have only been two Aries and two Virgo presidents, making them the two least common signs in that office.

The Netherlands could be crammed into Mongolia 37 times. It is the world's 18th most populous country (Iran is 17th).

The Water Festival, also known as Thingyan, is one of the biggest festivals in the country. Thousands take to the streets for a huge water fight to celebrate the Burmese New Year in April. Everyone has a great time and it’s one of the most important facts about Myanmar culture you should be aware of as a tourist. Taking part is probably the best travel experience you can have here.

In truth, Sweden is Europe's sixth biggest country. The overall land area of 450,295km2 is more than that of Norway and Denmark combined. Despite being one of the biggest countries in Europe, Sweden has one of the lowest population densities.

The mantis shrimp uses its two tentacles, which have the same velocity as a rifle gunshot, and dismember other shellfish by boiling the water around them to produce a shockwave that can kill animals. To put that into perspective, a human could have thrown a rock into space if they had used the same force in their arms! Additionally, the intensity of their shell is so great that it served as a model for true human body armour.

Over the centuries, a few false words have appeared in dictionaries due to human error. Some words, such as phantomnation, which appeared in a Webster's edition in 1864, are the result of missing hyphens. Others are typographical mistakes. Dord was defined as density in a 1934 edition of Webster's New International Dictionary as a result of spacing confusion. To protect their copyright, some dictionary editors have purposefully included fake words, such as equivalence in The New Oxford American Dictionary.

According to Commonwealth University studies, a single month of sleeping in a 66-degree room increased respondents' fat-burning abilities by up to 10%. Sleeping in the cold can help you lose weight, according to research, since the body's metabolism speeds up to keep you warm.

It is one of the oldest shops in the city and serves the most authentic samosas in the city. Also, heavenly gulab jamun is another specialty of the city.

It was at a party in Cambridge that Plath met her eventual husband, poet Ted Hughes. On June 16th, 1956, Plath married Hughes, paying homage to the day on which James Joyce's Ulysses takes place. Unfortunately, the writers' marriage was tumultuous and painful and recently discovered letters reveal that Hughes abused Plath.

The wax forms an unsightly ring of hard wax around the edges when you can only melt it close to the wick. Tunneling is the term for this. All you need to do is wrap some foil around the top of your candle. After that, make a hole for the wick in the center. The hard exterior wax is encouraged to melt evenly and soften. 
To make sure the entire top layer is liquid, burn your candle for a number of hours with the foil cover on.

According to a number of historical sources, Genghis Khan and his offspring were Caucasians. For instance, Rashid Al-Din, an ancient historian, asserts that he had red hair and green eyes. There isn't any solid proof that Genghis Khan was Caucasian, though.

Einstein fell in love with sailing as a student in Zurich, a passion that lasted the rest of his life. The only problem was that he was a terrible sailor. He frequently flipped his boat over and had to be rescued dozens of times. (Tinef, Yiddish for "worthless," was the name of his ship.) The New York Times headlined a 1935 story on Einstein's sailing escapades, "Relative Tide and Sand Bars Trap Einstein."

Bruce Wayne, Batman's secret identity, was inspired by two historical persons. Scottish national hero Robert the Bruce: And Mad Anthony Wayne, a Revolutionary War hero:

We say "cheese" because it makes us happy, but if Victorian-era people saw our delighted grins, they'd laugh. Smiling in pictures was once considered demeaning and reserved for the impoverished and inebriated. To maintain a more serious appearance in their photographs, they would utter "prunes," a word so uninteresting that the odds of it eliciting a grin were minimal to none.

M. Night Shyamalan comes from a family of doctors. He was expected to be one as well, but he fell in love with film at a young age. As a tribute to his family, he appeared as a doctor in The Sixth Sense.

In 1938, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the young cartoonists who created Superman and launched the superhero comics craze, sold the character and all rights to the publisher for $130. In turn, the character would make billions for DC Comics and Warner Bros. through comics, movies, licencing, and other means. Siegel and Shuster filed multiple lawsuits against the company for proper royalties in the decades following the character's debut, with little success. Though the duo would later receive medical insurance and yearly stipends from the company, they never saw the type of money they had hoped for.

This was the straight arcade sequel to Donkey Kong's original game. Mario, fed up with Donkey Kong's kidnapping, confines him in a cage. He had no idea Donkey Kong Junior would show there to help his father. Players must guide the young ape through numerous stages in order to save Donkey Kong. Are you still not persuaded that Nintendo meant Mario to be a villain in this game? The Japanese video game studio had given him a minor makeover, with a big nose, protruding chin, and curling moustache. He was designed to resemble a spindly silver screen villain who ties women to railroad tracks. In fact, if he wore a purple cap and shirt, he could pass for Waluigi.

Lara Croft has a distinctive appearance, but her voice isn't always consistent. Lara was only voiced by Shelley Blond for one game. Lara's lines have been delivered by five different voice actresses.

Although the origin of the name "Jolly Roger" is unknown, one theory attributes it to the use of red flags. A red flag was commonly used during naval warfare centuries ago to signal that no mercy would be shown and that anyone captured would be killed immediately. According to theorists, the French called it a Joli Rogue ("pretty red"), which was then translated into English as Jolly Roger. Another theory holds that the name Jolly Roger was derived from "Old Roger," a term for the Devil. Oh, these pirates are so enigmatic!

Monkeypox is uncommon. However, the number of cases is increasing in Africa, as well as in formerly uninfected areas.