Facts of The World – 27 921. Prince Jozef (1763-1813) of Poland had been warned by a gypsy that he would be killed by a magpie. He avoided birds all his life but was drowned while crossing the river Elster in Germany. ‘Elster’ means magpie. 922. Pollution is not a new problem. In 1306, King Edward I of England complained of the ‘unbearable stench’ caused by burning coal in London and...

Facts of The World – 26 911. ‘Bus’ comes from the word ‘omnibus’, which in turn comes from the Latin ‘omnis’, meaning ‘for all’. 912. Jumbo jets are the beigest passenger planes. They can carry as many as 400 passengers on board at a time. 913. More than 6,000 kilograms of ash is dumped into the sea every year. 914. Norman Pritchard, an Anglo – Indian form Kolkata, was the first...

Facts of The World – 25 901. The word ‘Typhoon’ (meaning, high wind) comes from the Chinese word , ‘Taifu’. 902. In the religious life of the Hindus, the lotus represents Lakshmi the Goddess of Wealth. Through the ages, the lotus more than any other flowers, has been a source of inspiration for the people of India, earning itself a unique position in the field of literature, art and religion, Goddess...

Facts of The World – 24 891. The Rhododendron is called the Himalayan ruby because at low altitudes its colour is a rich crimson. 892. The groundnut is also called the Portuguese nut as the Portuguese introduced it to India about 500 years ago. 893. Chandragupta II was also known as Vikramaditya. He ruled the Gupta Empire in India between 376-415 A.D. 894. The first ever rubber plantation in Indian was...

Facts of The World – 23 881. In school Albert Einstein was dull in Mathematics. 882. The ‘ right side’ traffic rule of the U.S.A., originated from the American Practice of holding the reins of the horse in the left-hand and using their right hand to operate their guns. 883. In Mediaeval England. Knights carried lances in the right hand to knock off an enemy. 884. Elizabeth Taylor wore a range...

Facts of The World – 22 871. The earliest evidence of table tennis is found in the catalogue of London sporting Goods Manufactures in the 1880’s. the Ping Pong Association was formed in England in 1902. 872. In China, table tennis players practice with heavy iron bats and weights strapped to wrists so that at competitive games, the tough practice will lead to lighting fast strokes. 873. The word ‘calculate’ comes...

Facts of The World – 21 861. In Florida (U.S.A) , the rattlesnake is a much favoured delicacy. 862. Workers in Japanese silk factories cook and eat the grub found inside the silkworm cocoons. 863. The world’s earliest bank notes were issued in Stockholm (Sweden), in 1661 A.D. 864. The only domestic animal no mentioned in the Bible is the cat. 865. When feats were held in honour of the dead...

Facts of The World – 20 851. The ‘X-ray’ came to be so called under peculiar circumstances. Dr Wilhelm Roentgen, the scientist who discovered the x- ray process in 1895 , did not quite know what it was that made the x-ray pictures. Since the latter ‘X’ in science and math is often used to refer to the unknown, he called the process ‘x-ray’. 852. Reita Faria was the first India...