While Bulgaria is the oldest European country by name, the Republic of San Marino, an autonomous state inside Italy's borders, is Europe's oldest independent state. It was born in the year 301 AD. As other Italian republics fought and collectively became part of Italy, San Marino was able to maintain its independence for centuries, thanks in large part to its steep geography.

One of the reasons pirates wore eye patches, according to legend, was to keep one eye adjusted to night vision for seeing below deck.

Floating Stones That Are Interesting In the Ramayana, it is mentioned that floating stones were used to build the Setu Banda. Surprisingly, these floating stones are still visible throughout Rameswaram today. According to scientific ideas, some volcanic boulders float in water. This may help to explain why the rocks that make up this bridge are arranged in a line.

 Fennel seed essential oils increase the release of digestive fluids and enzymes, which helps digestion. Fennel seeds include antispasmodic and anti-inflammatory compounds such as anethole, fenchone, and estragole. They are excellent for constipation, indigestion, and bloating. To have the best benefits, drink fennel tea to maintain your digestive system healthy and happy. Fennel seeds contain fiber as well, and despite their small size, they have a significant fibre content. This can help your gut health even more. Fennel seeds help to better heart health by increasing fibre levels in your diet, since multiple studies have connected higher fibre diets with a decreased risk of cardiac illnesses.

It's strange to think of the founder of modern science dabbling in astrology. But two things should be kept in mind: First, historians warn us that judging historical events by today's standards is tricky. We all know that astrology is nonsense, yet astrology was only just beginning to separate from astronomy at the time of Galileo. Besides, Galileo was not wealthy: A professor who can teach astrological methods will be more in demand than one who cannot.

Chhath puja is also associated with the celebration of the new crop. The followers present Surya Dev with food prepared from the current crop and fruits.

According to the Ancient History Encyclopedia, Herodotus wrote in 440BC that when a pet cat died in Ancient Egyptian times the family members would shave off their eyebrows in mourning. Now that’s an interesting cat fact!

Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, got the idea for the company back in 1997 when Blockbuster had charged him a late fee of $40 for a VHS copy of Apollo 13. His little idea soon grew into something a lot bigger and he eventually launched Netflix in 1998. 

Danielle Fernandes' formal name is Danielle Fernandes Fernande Dominique Schuelein-Steel, better known as Danielle Steel, is an American novelist who is the best-selling author alive today and the fourth-bestselling author of all time, with over 800 million copies sold.

The city got its name from the Hindi word khaujur, which means "date," since the city walls were covered in date palms. Khajuraho was known as Khajjurpura in ancient times.

Stonehenge is made up of two types of stones: sarsen stones (the bigger outside stones) and bluestones (the smaller inside stones). Sarsen stones are a form of sandstone that can be found in the nearby area, around 20 miles away. The bluestones, on the other hand, come from the Preseli Hills in south-west Wales. more than 140 miles away

The name Dussehra is derived from the Sanskrit phrase Dash Hara, which in English means "the defeat of the Sun." Hindu scriptures claim that the Sun would never have risen again if Lord Rama had not vanquished Ravana.

You may know Benjamin Franklin as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America and the man who performed the lightning rod experiment, but did you know he also invented bifocal lenses? He was both far-sighted and near-sighted, and he was sick of constantly changing his glasses. As a result, he devised the idea of combining both lenses into a single frame.

Billions (rather than millions)... MILLIONS of Call of Duty multiplayer battles have already been played long before Modern Warfare 3, Black Ops 2, or even the impending Ghosts. In total, 1.4 billion matches have been played, which is far more than all known battles in human history combined.

Only a few witches were ever burned at the stake in real life. Even during the well-known Salem Witch Trials, 165 people were charged, with 31 imprisoned and 19 sentenced to death. Eighteen of the 19 people who were hanged were women. The only survivor was a man who refused to admit he was a witch and was stoned to death. As a result, because it was illegal, immolation was never used as the primary method of execution. In fact, none of the accused were burned in America.

According to studies, those who consume more vitamin C in their diets had a lower risk of contracting cancer. Additionally, there is a small body of evidence suggesting consuming citrus fruits like grapefruit may reduce the incidence of stomach and lung cancer.

In his Poor Richard's Almanac, founding father Benjamin Franklin got one over on rival Titan Leeds, also an almanac writer, by "predicting" the exact date and time of his death. When Leeds obviously didn't die on the given date, Franklin kept the prank going, claiming that he actually had passed on and that an imposter was publishing his almanac.

 

Barbie's official birthday commemorates her first public appearance at the American International Toy Fair in New York in 1959. In her black and white striped one-piece, she stood 11 inches tall and was dressed for a pool party. Barbie was instantly recognizable as the only toy in the doll aisle that wasn't modelled after a baby or a small child—having an adult woman as a plaything for children was a novel concept. One thing she lacked at first? A navel button. That was added to her design in 2000, more than 40 years later.

Zeus had a large family outside of his marriage to Hera. This enraged Hera, and in order to exact her vengeance, she claimed that their son, Hephaestus, was the result of a virgin birth. This meant that Hephaestus was not descended from Zeus, which infuriated the Thunder god. And he vented his rage on Hephaestus by tossing him off the summit of Mount Olympus.

The Brahmaputra is considered to be among the most majestic rivers in the world. The Brahmaputra enters India in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, where it is called Siang. It makes a very rapid descent from its original height in Tibet, and finally appears in the plains, where it is called Dihang. It flows for about 35 km (22 mi) and is joined by the Dibang River and the Lohit River at the head of the Assam Valley. Below the Lohit, the river is called Brahmaputra, enters the state of Assam, and becomes very wide—as wide as 10 km (6 mi) in parts of Assam.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, women are twice as likely as men to suffer from insomnia. Sleeplessness at night is noticed in women due to regular hormonal changes caused by menstruation cycles, pregnancy, menopause, or other comparable factors.

In an interview with The Guardian, Teletubbies co-creator Anne Wood explained that the show's adorable and fluffy rabbits are not your typical pet bunnies. "They have to be enormous to match the scale," Wood explained. There was also an issue with their health. "The only ones we could discover that were acceptable had been bred on the continent to be eaten," Wood explained. "We provided them wonderful circumstances, ranging free across the Teletubby grasslands, but their breeding had given them enlarged hearts, and the animal trainer would greet me in grief practically weekly, telling me another had died."

Santa's way of expressing happiness and joy is 'Ho Ho Ho'; if he said 'Ha Ha Ha,' people might think he was laughing at them!