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."

It's an earthquake hazard area. Although several earthquakes have been reported in and around the Black Sea, the greatest recorded magnitude was 7.2 in the 1901 Black Sea earthquake (also known as the Balchik earthquake in Bulgaria). The mainshock triggered a 1-16 foot tsunami, wreaking havoc on the Romanian and Bulgarian shores. The aftershocks continued four years longer.

According to new research based on minutes of conversations between Japanese government officials in the run-up to capitulation, the Soviet Union's surprise entry into the conflict with Japan had a more crucial impact.

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.

If you go shopping at the Christmas Market in Nuremberg, Germany, you'll be participating in a tradition that dates back hundreds of years. Proof of this can be discovered in a little box kept safe by the Germanisches Nationalmuseum. The modest gift is inscribed, "Sent to Regina Susanna Harßdörfferin by Miss Susanna Eleonora Erbsin (or Elbsin) on the occasion of the Christmas Market of 1628."

Most of you must be thinking of SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS as the longest word in the language that simply means ‘fantastic’ and was popularized by the movie Mary Poppins eventually added to the dictionary. But there is a longer word than this, i.e., PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS, which is the name of a type of lung disease caused by inhalation of dust and ashes. So, now try pronouncing it!

Chocolate bars were not the first chocolate treat, but hot chocolate was. And that hot chocolate was nothing like we get today. It was just a bitter concoction that was often enjoyed during weddings and other occasions. Isn't this interesting?.

Even after being harvested, most fruits can still respond to their surroundings. Take, for example, the banana: A quick Google search will yield numerous methods for hastening the ripening of green bananas, as well as tips for preventing them from ripening too quickly. Avocados ripen or'soften' after being harvested as well!

Though pig includes some sodium naturally (as does all meat), the saltiness we appreciate in ham, bacon, and a variety of other pork products is really the result of curing and brining procedures. After soaking in salt or salt water, fresh meat gets dehydrated, seasoned, and preserved. This is also the method used to make salami, pepperoni, and other cured meats.

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.

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.

The mayor of Paris has approved a resolution prohibiting Tom Cruise from being made an honorary citizen. Tom Cruise is a member of Scientology, a controversial religious group that has been labelled a cult in France. Tom Cruise sought to become an honorary citizen of Paris in 2005, but the city's officials refused because of his involvement with Scientology.

Being the first president of the United States apparently wasn't enough for George Washington throughout his lifetime. Following his presidency, Washington established a whiskey distillery. Washington's distillery was the largest in the country by 1799, producing 11,000 gallons of unaged whiskey. However, after the president's death, the company was no longer in operation.

Another shocking fact about Russia is that it has 12 active volcanoes! Because of its convenient position, Kamchatka is one of the most visited of these volcanoes. If you enjoy nature and stunning scenery, you should go to Kamchatka. This active volcano is home to approximately 1,000 plant species. Brown bears, lambs, and wolves also live there. You may explore Kamchatka on your own or as part of a guided excursion. If you are not fluent in Russian, an organised trip is the better alternative.

According to scientists, all of the pyramids were erected between the 26th and 23rd centuries BC. Mammoths first arose approximately 1.6 million years ago and were extinct in the 10th century BC. This indicates that when Cheops was ecstatic about a new pyramid named after him, enormous beasts were terrorizing our forefather's thousands of kilometers distant.

Almost three-quarters of adults with Internet access have at least one social media account, with 52 percent having two or more. This means that your current and potential customers are not only likely to use social media, but they are also likely to use multiple sites.

In Japan, people don’t have signatures – they have their own seal. Known as Hanko, the seal is typically your name translated into Kanji characters, and are made from silk or plant-based paste. Adults will often have three Hankos; one for signing off letters and personal matters, a bank seal and an identify seal. They’re not necessary for tourists, but foreigners living in Japan can have one handmade in small, local shops.

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.

Geocaching is an international game in which players use GPS and a geocaching app to decipher clues and go on stash-seeking adventures, similar to a digital/analog scavenger hunt. There is even a geocache target on the International Space Station as of 2008.

Kraft Foods once polled hundreds of Oreo eaters (see out these cookie butter Oreos!). They discovered that biters are more laid-back and self-assured, whereas dunkers are more active and daring. Twisters, on the other hand, are delicate and fashionable.

Countries having borders within the Arctic Circle are members of the Arctic Council, which, according to its website, "is the sole circumpolar platform for political talks on Arctic problems, comprising all Arctic governments and with the active involvement of its Indigenous Peoples." The Council strives to examine and solve the environmental and social concerns that the people and wildlife that live there confront.

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.

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.