Despite the fact that Afrikaans uses vocabulary with Malay, African, and French roots, it differs significantly from Dutch and wasn't recognized as an official language until 1925. Prior to this, it was sometimes referred to as "Kitchen Dutch" and was seen as a poor or mixed variety of Dutch used only by individuals with little formal education.

Sri Lanka's flag, popularly known as the Lion Flag, is one of the world's oldest, going back to 162 BC. It is also claimed to be the world's only flag that recognises diverse religious views, with the bo leaves signifying Buddhism, orange representing Hinduism, and green representing Islam.

His interviews on the red carpet always brought a certain pizzaz; he talked about fashion like no other and as a fashion man himself held extensive expertise! His Gala days go all the way back to when Vreeland was in charge, so he witnessed so many great looks for years. It will be sad to no longer him have at these events but hopefully guests can feel his fashion fierce energy as they arrive!

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.

An orange tabby cat called Stubbs was the mayor of Talkeetna, a small town in Alaska for 20 years! He had several uncontested elections and although he didn’t hold any legislative power, he was loved by locals and tourists alike.

Ashton Kutcher has syndactyly, sometimes known as webbed toes. In 2008, the actor displayed his linked numbers on a British chat program. "Something has to give when everything else is this good-looking," he joked.

Whether you're sporting a landing strip, going naked, or leaving things natural, your doctor isn't going to give a hoot about your pubic hair choice. "It makes no difference whether you're groomed or not," claims one male OB-GYN. He has seen certain patterns in his profession, however: "Most individuals appear to be groomed these days." Add these nighttime beauty items to your usual regimen for those occasions when you want to feel a little more polished.

Marvel offers a plethora of famous and powerful characters, and a prevalent debate is who is the most powerful. This prize may go to the One Above All, an all-powerful, all-knowing being who interacts with others in the guise of Jack Kirby. A level below him is the Living Tribunal, a cosmic entity tasked with maintaining all universes in balance and capable of causing stars to go supernova on the spur of the moment. In the 2016 film Doctor Strange, he was mentioned as a relic possessed by Mordo.

A precious tooth relic of Lord Buddha, transported from India in the fourth century CE, is still kept in Kandy's Temple of the Tooth. Every summer, one of Sri Lanka's seven finest festivals, Esala Perahera (Festival of the Tooth), is held to honour the tooth. More information about the Kandy Festival of the Tooth may be found here: Kandy Festival of the Tooth.

Did you know that bamboo can withstand high temperatures that most plants cannot? Bamboo was the only plant to withstand the radiation from the Hiroshima atomic explosions in 1945. Except for one bamboo grove, the incinerating heat obliterated all trees and other plant life. The grove has since been demolished, but culms from it are kept in a museum in Hiroshima.

With four Best Actress Oscars to her name, Katharine Hepburn is the actress with the most of them. With a total of 4 awards under his belt, Clint Eastwood is the male actor with the most Oscars; however, he didn't receive any for acting. For Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby, he received two Oscars for Best Director as well as two for Best Picture.

In China, restoring virginity is both possible and popular. This plastic surgery is also known by a medical term: hymenorrhaphy. Chinese ladies spend a lot of money to get their hymens reconstructed before their wedding night. They simply do not want their future spouses to discover that they are no longer virgins...

Glass is made by heating sand, lime, and soda ash at extremely high temperatures. Glass is formed when the liquid mixture cools down.

The Hurt Locker' broke another film industry record when it bagged six Oscars out of a total of nine nominations - including the coveted Best Picture gong - as the lowest-grossing movie to ever win at the Oscars. It is estimated to have earned $21 million at the box office, that's less than 2% of what its competitor 'Avatar' made in ticket sales in the same year.

One of the few whale species with unfused cervical neck vertebrae is the beluga. They have highly flexible necks as a result of this, and their heads may move in all directions.

At least among women, that is. A 2013 survey of 10,000 U.K. women reported by Hello! found that Leos were twice as likely to go to the gym compared to any other sign.

Eczema is not a contagious condition, despite how unpleasant it may appear when it flares up. Both of you and the other person cannot contract eczema from the other.

Have you ever wondered where the superstition that breaking a mirror would bring seven years of bad luck originated? This ancient superstition dates all the way back to Roman times, according to our fun fact about mirror number 8.

The Romans believe that breaking a mirror would harm both your soul and your life, which are renewed every seven years. As a result, seven years of bad luck followed.

Fairy wasps are not suitable as pets. They don't even have life spans that can last a week, and first of all, they are usually too small to be seen.

Akira, a highly praised film, was also a significant technological success for the Japanese animation industry. It had 2,212 shots and 160,000 single images. This is around 2-3 times the cost of the average anime film. The majority of the film's scenes were planned to take place at night, which was normally avoided by animators during those days due to such sequences needing exceptionally high colour utilisation and that too with tremendous precision to make the picture seem pleasant. Akira defied all expectations by employing an incredible 327 hues throughout the picture, 50 of which were produced specifically for the film and its scene needs.

Lipstick is more ancient than you would imagine. It actually dates back to Queen Shubad of ancient Sumeria. The queen wore lip paint consisting of crushed red pebbles and white lead. The queen's stylish crimson lip was not her only historical contribution. When Shubad's tomb was unearthed in Ur in the 1920s, experts were astounded at the wealth on show. The tomb also housed the remains of 23 female servants who were executed for the sole purpose of being buried close to the queen so that they may serve her in the afterlife.

There are quite a few landmarks around the Harvard campus. The most famous one is known as the statue of three lies. It’s called so to account for its three inaccuracies. The sculpture states that it is of John Harvard, the founder of Harvard and that Harvard was founded in 1638. However, John Harvard was not the founder of the university, he was the first major benefactor. Also, Harvard was founded in 1636 and not 1638. What’s more? The sculpture isn’t of John Harvard at all, but that of some unknown student.
 

Snacking on that yummy leftover just before bed may not be a good idea if you want to sleep well and peacefully. According to this study, eating close to bedtime might have a detrimental impact on sleep efficiency, particularly in women. Furthermore, another study shows that ingesting dairy products before bedtime is more likely to result in unsettling and unusual dreams than other forms of food.

Your thoughts become your reality. And your thoughts are what you see every day. You will feel pleased and cheerful when you think about positive things like winning the game, reaching your goals, taking vacations, and so on. On the other side, if you constantly worry about bad luck, traffic, arguments, and other such things, you will be pessimistic and anxious. This is why you should create a vision board. The images you select in your board will reflect your dreams and the things you most desire in life. When you picture them, they will inspire, motivate, and make you happy.