The purchase of Core's parent company by Eidos Interactive in 1996 was the final step in Lara's evolution. Laura Cruz was replaced because Eidos wanted the game to appeal to a wider audience in the United Kingdom. So, how did they come up with Lara's new surname in the United Kingdom? The Core team in Derby, England, took out a phone book and began looking for names that sounded similar to Laura Cruz. They landed on Lara Croft, and all of a sudden, some random Derbyite became famous.

Because Lara's polygon count was so limited, one of her trademarks, the braid she wears in all promotional and concept art, had to be removed from the game.

Assassin's Creed has inspired a long-running series of novels rooted in the game environment, in addition to a slew of spin-off comics. Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants, the second of two young-adult novels authored by English historian Anton Gill under the pen name Oliver Bowden, is set to be released in January.

The city's official name, like one of its nicknames, has an intriguing backstory. In the 1920s, a 'Big Apple' was a prize awarded at a horse racing event. Many musicians and journalists began referring to New York as "the ultimate" prize or "the best" because the term meant "the ultimate" prize or "the best." In 1971, the New York Tourism Board adopted The Big Apple as an official nickname in an attempt to boost tourism following some negative press.

The Stonewall Inn in New York's Greenwich Village was raided by the police in 1969. It was a safe haven for the LGBT community, and rather than submitting, they fought back. Riots erupted as a result of the event, which sparked a global movement that has helped New York remain one of the most welcoming cities for gay people to this day. Indeed, more people identify as LGBTQ+ in New York than in any other American city (yes, we're giving you more NYC facts for free!).

According to the Pizza Hall of Fame, the first pizzeria in the United States opened in New York City in 1905. Lombardi’s Pizza on 32 Spring Street is still going strong and it is now one of around 1,600 pizzerias in the city. New Yorkers have noticed that when the price of subway tickets rises, so does the price of pizza. It's known as "the pizza principle."

One quiet little secret exists in Grand Central. The whispering gallery, also known as the whispering wall, is a modest secret that stands apart from the surrounding turmoil of city life. It is located on the less frenetic lower level and has no great fanfare to indicate its presence. Four arched entryways make a square shape in the whispering gallery. And if you whisper something into the arch and someone else stands 30 feet away with their ear to the arch diagonal from yours, they'll be able to clearly hear what you said — despite the distance and the acoustic deafening noise that is typical of Grand Central.

While the core games' stories span around 821 years, from the first Assassin's Creed in 1191 to around 2012 and Desmond Miles' modern-day plot, Ubisoft has constructed a large, Star Wars Expanded Universe-style backstory loaded with mythology and intertwined with historical events. According to the publisher, the first known assassin was Xerxes, who assassinated King Darius of Persia, according to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, indicating that the custom dates back millennia.

Tomb Raider was cutting-edge stuff in 1996, but cutting-edge didn't always necessitate a staff of hundreds or thousands. The game was developed by Core Design over the course of three years (1993–96), with only six people on staff at the time.

When all of the time spent by every gamer playing Call of Duty back-to-back is added together, it equals 2.85 million years of gameplay. Humans haven't even been on the planet that long. Call of Duty has far outpaced evolution!

It is common knowledge that Athens was the most powerful and glorious city-state of ancient Greece. Its inhabitants created a great culture that is still respected today. It is also believed that the city was named after Athena, the goddess of knowledge and courage.

While Assassin's Creed is already a household brand, it almost became something quite different. The original crusade-era period game was inspired by a Prince of Persia game called Prince of Persia: Assassin, which had a prince's bodyguard as the protagonist. Unhappy with the thought of a Prince of Persia game not being about a prince (which, interestingly, Nintendo doesn't see as an issue with when it comes to Zelda), Ubisoft's upper brass insisted on a new brand, and Assassin's Creed was created.

It's no secret that Greece is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. But did you realise that Greece receives approximately 17 million tourists each year? That is nearly double Greece's overall population. It is one of the few countries in the world where tourist numbers exceed the population (along with Malta, Cyprus and Luxembourg). Tourism accounts for over 20% of Greece's GDP, one of the highest percentages of any industrialised country.

You've most likely heard of Santorini, Mykonos, and Crete... But did you know that Greece has dozens of more gorgeous islands? Greece is thought to have up to 6,000 islands and islets, with just about 200 of them inhabited.

If you enjoy seeing historical landmarks, Greece is a must-see. The nation has 18 UNESCO World Heritage Landmarks, including world-famous sites such as Athens' Acropolis, the Temple of Apollo, Meteora, and the Old Town of Corfu.

Sure, many civilizations have their own calendars that they prefer to the Western Gregorian calendar, but the majority still obey the unwritten rule of "12 months to a year." Ethiopia is not one of them. Trying to buck the trend, Ethiopians picked up on Spinal Tap's conviction that one more is always better many thousand years ago, and have been counting 13 months to their year ever since. What exactly does this imply? Well, it's still 2009 there in 2017. And so savvy tourist boards can confidently assert that the nation has "13 months of sunlight."

Don't use the mild weather in the middle of January to justify leaving the house without a jacket. The weather records from January 10, 1911, in Rapid City, South Dakota, show how quickly temperatures can drop. The temperature began at a pleasant 55°F, then dropped to 8°F in 15 minutes due to a powerful cold front. That day still holds the record for the world's fastest cold snap.

When the weatherman reports a "real feel" temperature of -10 degrees outside, it may appear as if he made up the figure on the spot. Wind chill, on the other hand, is calculated using a complex equation devised by meteorologists. Wind Chill = 35.74 + 0.6215T – 35.75(V0.16) + 0.4275T(V0.16) for math nerds who want to try it at home.

When there is too much snow for cities to handle, it is usually hauled away to parking lots or other wide-open spaces where it can sit until the weather warms up. Cities are sometimes forced to dump snow in the ocean during particularly snowy seasons, only to be chastised by environmental activists. Snow melters, which use hot water to melt 30 to 50 tonnes of snow per hour, are used in some cities. This method is quick but expensive—a single machine can cost $200,000 and consume 60 gallons of fuel in an hour.

Physics confirms what you've probably known since childhood: wet or moist snow is ideal for making your own backyard Frosty. According to one scientist, the ideal snow-to-water ratio is 5:1.

Snow crystals usually form unique patterns, but there has been at least one instance of identical snowflakes in history. Two snowflakes collected from a Wisconsin storm were confirmed to be twins in 1988 at a Colorado atmospheric research centre.

It is not necessary for the air to be extremely moist in order to produce significant amounts of snow. Unlike rain, a bank of fluffy snow contains a lot of air, which adds to its bulk. As a result, what would have been an inch of rain in the summer becomes about 10 inches of snow in the winter.

The average snowflake can be as small as a penny or as large as a human hair. However, some unconfirmed sources claim they can grow much larger. Witnesses to a snowstorm in Fort Keogh, Montana in 1887 reported seeing milk-pan-sized crystals fall from the sky. If this is correct, they would be the largest snowflakes ever seen, measuring about 15 inches across.

Lepioshka, or good luck bread, is a regional bread. An age-old tradition states that it should never be put upside down, since this is said to bring ill luck. Even if it's in a bag, you shouldn't leave it on the ground!