Category: Interesting facts

Hindi, the language spoken by 342 Million Native Speakers is spelled phonetically, that is, there is a 1-1 correspondence between “glyphs” (what we think of as “letters”) and sounds. 

Hindi is one of India’s official languages but it is also spoken in Mauritius, Fiji, Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago and Nepal. The language is a standardised form of Hindustani, as is Urdu. The Hindi language was standardised in the 19th century.

There are many English words which originate in the Hindi language. Examples of this include bungalow, guru, jungle, karma, mantra, nirvana, punch, pyjamas, shampoo and, of course, yoga!

Art was once an Olympic event! During the 1912 through the 1952 Olympics, achievements through painting, literature, architecture, sculpture, and music, received medals. The only condition was that each work must be somewhat inspired by the concept of sport.

In 1924, Irish writer Oliver St. John Gogarty entered the Paris Olympics for the first time and won Ireland’s first Olympic bronze medal as an independent nation. The poem made a connection between the former Tailteann Games in Ireland and the Olympics.

In Spain and some other Spanish-speaking countries, children who lose their milk teeth are not visited by the tooth fairy, but by the “tooth mouse”, which takes away their teeth in exchange for gifts.

The first colour television was created in Mexico by 17-year-old inventor Guillermo González Camarena. He made his first colour transmission in Mexico City in 1946.

Japan is one of the world’s great baseball-playing nations. The game was introduced to the country during the Meiji Period (1868-1912, when Japan industrialised and established closer contact with the rest of the developed world) and gained in popularity after the Second World War, when many American soldiers were based in Japan. There are two professional baseball leagues in the country.

Pizza was invented in Naples, Italy in the mid-nineteenth century using simple, inexpensive ingredients. Pizza is still a delicacy of Naples and the Campania area in general, and it has also gone on to conquer the world, becoming one of the most widely consumed convenience foods.

Belarus has two official languages, Belarusian and Russian. However, most communication takes place in Russian, while Belarusian is primarily an academic language taught at school. In some border areas, however, people speak Trasyanka, a blend of Belarusian and Russian, with influences from the languages of neighbouring countries.

Australia is home to the world’s largest Greek population outside Greece. Melbourne has a large Greek Precinct, as well as a Hellenic Museum and a Foundation for Hellenic Culture.

Estonia has one of the largest proportions of women in the world, partly because women typically outlive men by as much as ten years. There are only about 84 men to every 100 women in Estonia.