The term "housewarming party" is derived from a literal tradition that existed prior to the invention of electricity. Whenever someone built or purchased a new home, guests would bring firewood as a gift and light fires in the home's fireplaces. Not only was the house "christened," but it was also said to ward off evil spirits.
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Among those accompanying the Queen on her journeys is usually the Queen's medical practitioner. The doctor is accountable for knowing where all local hospitals are in the cities that they visit. She also has to transport a large medical bag with a mobile defibrillator and emergency medication. Aside from that, the doctor possesses Queen Elizabeth's own blood bag, which will be used for a transfusion if necessary.
With 3863 hours of sun every year, Aswan is the third sunniest spot in the planet, averaging 10 hours of sun per day!
However, Moldova's second language, Gagauz, is on the verge of extinction. The Turkic language, which is spoken in the Autonomous Region of Gagauz, is classified as severely endangered by Unesco.
Snow White was originally drawn with big red lips, long lashes, and a shorter dress by the animators. Walt Disney, on the other hand, wanted Snow White to appear more "wholesome" (to be fair, she was 14 at the time) and chose more subdued features and a peasant-style dress.
CărtureÈ™ti Carusel launched in 2015 in a 19th-century structure that has been refurbished. It has over 10,000 books, 5,000 music and DVDs, plus a café on the top level.
There are five UNESCO World Heritage sites in Uzbekistan. Itchan Kala, which boasts more than 250 historic buildings, was one of the last resting spots of caravans in the mediaeval times before crossing the desert to Iran. Itchal Kala was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1990. Bukhara is a mediaeval city in central Asia located on the famed Silk Road, and it is said to be over 2000 years old, with various structures that are still intact. UNESCO designated the complex as a cultural World Heritage site in 1993. Other attractions in the nation include Samarkand, which is a crossroads of civilizations and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007.
Shakespeare produced some of the world's most renowned and cherished works of literature. Yet, to build his plays and poetry, he occasionally made up his own words. In fact, Shakespeare is credited with coining over 1,700 terms, including moonbeam, hilarious, eyeball, bump, vomiting, champion, bedroom, thrill, and zany.
As of July 2019, Spain had 47 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the third-highest number in the world. These include old cities, massive churches, and other structures. Only Italy and China have more UNESCO World Heritage Sites, with each having 55.
Plenty of Japanese celebrate Christmas, but the festive fare isn’t what you might expect. In Japan, it’s traditional to head to your local KFC on Christmas Eve. An estimated 3.6 million Japanese feast on the KFC Christmas Dinner and hours of queuing and ordering weeks in advance is expected. Some say turkey and chicken wasn’t widely available for the Christmas-curious Japanese, so Colonel Sanders stepped in to answer the demand…
Have you ever thought how many languages are there in the world. There are 2,700 languages, however most widely read spoken languages are English, Chinese, Spanish and Hindi. Chinese is the most spoken language with over 50,000 characters. Interesting, right??
Ethiopians also have a distinct system for counting the hours of the day. They feel it is less confusing if the clock starts when the day does, for reasons that are difficult to refute. As a result, dawn is at 1 o'clock and sunset is at 12 o'clock. The 12-hour night clock then kicks in. So, while purchasing bus tickets or other forms of transportation, make careful to inquire as to whether the departure time is in Ethiopian or Western time.
Ukraine is the cheapest country in Europe, with everything available at rock-bottom costs. All kinds of transportation, including buses and railways, are reasonably priced. Even the food is inexpensive in comparison to other parts of Europe.
Pilots are paid hundreds of dollars per day to stand by during the summer in case it rains and trees require emergency blow-drying. It may appear absurd, but it is worthwhile for farmers who grow the delicate, expensive fruit. The work is hazardous; pilots are frequently injured in orchard crashes.
Speaking of heavily inhabited places, Manhattan, the most densely populated of New York City's five boroughs, has over 200 zip codes. Some buildings are even large enough to have their own elevator. The Empire State, Chrysler, and MetLife buildings are just a few examples of structures that have exclusive rights to their own unique zip code.
If you ate a Macintosh apple and planted the seed, the tree that grew would produce apples that didn't look or taste like Macintoshes. Instead of planting seeds, growers graft a cutting from a genetically desirable tree onto an existing branch or sapling (called the "rootstock"), resulting in apples that are genetically identical to those on the tree from which it was cut. If you look closely at the tree in the photo, you can see that there are several different types of apples on the various branches, all of which are grafted onto the same rootstock tree.
Although the now-retro rainbow design is undoubtedly Apple's most well-known, the very first Apple logo depicted Sir Isaac Newton seated under a tree with an apple ready to fall on his head. The Newton logo was created by Apple's lesser-known creator Ronald Wayne and was only used briefly in 1976. Its high degree of detail didn't show up well when scaled down and put on a device.
We all know Kim Ju Meok’s love for the drama, Stairway to Heaven, transcends the 38th parallel. What you may not know is that the beanie Ju Meok wears is a replica of the one that actually appeared in Stairway to Heaven. Actor Kwon Sang Woo, the star of Stairway to Heaven, wears the same red beanie in his drama. Even the bunny detail is on point.Ju Meok even pulls down his beanie the same way actor Kwon Sang Woo did in his past work, Sad Love Story.
Bananas contain potassium, which decays and makes them mildly radioactive, making them one of our weirdest scientific facts. But this is one of those amusing science facts about which you need not be concerned. According to Forbes, you’d have to consume 10,000,000 bananas all at once to die of radiation exposure.
Einstein was not a participant in the Manhattan Project, although he was essential in its inception. German scientists discovered nuclear fission of uranium in the late 1930s, which was a crucial step toward the construction of the atomic bomb. Much of the world's uranium was stored in the Congo, which was then a Belgian territory, so two Hungarian-American physicists called Leo Szilard and Eugene Wigner persuaded Einstein to send a letter to his friend, the Queen of Belgium. Instead, Einstein advised writing a letter to a Belgian minister, but a chance meeting with an economist who knew President Roosevelt resulted in a change of heart and a letter that pushed America to begin its own tests.
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."
Coffee is also one of the most addictive substances. It's a stimulant, similar to cocaine. When someone says they need a cup of coffee or that they are grouchy in the morning before coffee, they aren't joking. They might be experiencing withdrawal symptoms. Caffeine is a stimulant, which means it speeds up the transmission of signals between the brain and the body. It may be found in the seeds, nuts, and leaves of a variety of plants.
You probably don’t know this, but the calendar that we use today was invented by ancient Egyptians. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the first calendar known to humankind was invented in Egypt. In fact, it is the year 6264 in the Egyptian calendar.
The ancient Egyptians used the 12-month calendar like we do today. However, each month was always 30 days which meant that their years were only 360 days in total causing the years to fall out of sync with the seasons. So to make up for the lost time, they held a 5-day festival at the end of each year.
The ancient Egyptians used the 12-month calendar like we do today. However, each month was always 30 days which meant that their years were only 360 days in total causing the years to fall out of sync with the seasons. So to make up for the lost time, they held a 5-day festival at the end of each year.