1. The Royal Albert Hall (RAH) was built from 1867-71 “to promote art and science”. 2. Originally its proposed name was “Central Hall of Arts and Sciences” but Queen Victoria proposed naming it after Prince Albert who had died in 1861. 3. During the First World War, the height of […]
10 Facts
185 posts
1. The great American comic Sid Caesar was also born on September 8 in 1922. 2. US comic actor Zero Mostel broke the pattern by dying on September 8, 1977. 3. For the ancient Greeks and Romans, the word “commedia” was applied to any stage play with a happy ending. […]
1. The Portuguese Empire had ruled over Brazil since 1500, so the declaration of independence in 1822 ended 322 years of Portuguese rule. 2. With a population of around 210 million, Brazil is the world’s fifth most populous country. 3. Three Brazilians are born every minute. 4. They speak Portuguese […]
1. Swaziland is the world’s smallest monarchy and the smallest country in the Southern hemisphere. 2. The country is named after Mswati II who was king from 1840-1868 and greatly extended the area of the country through victories in tribal wars. 3. The current king, Mswati III, has ruled since […]
1. Mary Shelley was born on August 30, 1797. 2. Her father was the political philosopher William Godwin, her mother was the philosopher and feminist Mary Woolstonecraft; her husband was the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. 3. August 30 was also the birthday in 1400 of Vlad II Dracul, father of […]
GETTY – STOCK IMAGE Hippopotamus has been an English word since the 1300s 1. The Hippo in Hippo Regius came from a Carthaginian word meaning harbour and had nothing to do with hippopotamuses. 2. Oxford dictionaries accept either hippopotami or hippopotamuses as the plural of hippopotamus but suggest the former […]
1. Uruguay is the only country whose name in English features the same letter three times in its first five letters. 2. Uruguay is named after the Uruguay River which takes its name from the local name of a bird, the uru, or possibly a snail or mussel, the urugua. […]
1. Hamburgers take their name from Hamburg steak, which was a term first recorded in 1884 for fried flat balls of meat. 2. It turned from Hamburg steak to Hamburger steak, then just hamburger and finally burger, which was first recorded in 1939. 3. Beefburger and porkburger followed rapidly, but […]