Pullasorsa's Interesting Facts #1
Last updated: Tuesday November 2nd, 2021
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1. Art competitions were part of the Olympics from 1912-1948. In fact, Monaco won their only Olympic medal in 1924, in architechture. [1]
2. Well-known superpowers weren't the only European countries to have overseas colonies. Courland and Semigallia, a small duchy, had colonies in Gambia and Tobago. [1]
3. Only about 0.89% of islands in Åland are inhabited. [1] Finnish source
4. Sergio Ramos is the most carded footballer in La Liga, Champions League, and the Spanish national football team. [1]
5. World's lowest capital city by elevation is Baku, which lies 28 meters (92 ft) below sea level. It's the only capital below sea level along with Amsterdam. [1]
6. William Harrison's presidency of the U.S. lasted for only one month, but he still had time to break several records. He was the first Whig to win the presidency, had the longest inaugural address, was the oldest person to be elected president (this lasted for 145 years), and was the first president to die while in office. [1]
7. The articles translated to the most languages in Wikipedia are about Finland and Japan. [1]
8. Televisions were banned in Bhutan until the year 1999. [1]
9. Rutheford B. Hayes was the first U.S. president to have the telephone in the White House. The phone number was "1". [1]
10. About 10% of the world's nickel reserves are contained in New Caledonia. [1]
11. In the last 30 years, Canada has taken part in more wars than Iran. [1][2]
12. Everyone has heard of Berlin and the wall that used to divide the city between the East and the West. It's not, however, one of its kind. The small village of Mödlareuth was situated in the middle of the border of West and East Germany and was divided by a wall until 1989. It earned the nickname "Little Berlin". [1]
13. Golf was banned in 1457 by the Parliament of Scotland to preserve the skills of archery. [1]
14. Luxembourg is bigger in size than the world's 13 smallest countries put together.
15. Mikhail Gorbachev ran for the president of Russia in 1995, but lost in the first round. [1]
16. Detroit tried to host the Summer Olympics six times in a row in 1952-1972. [1]
17. So'x is an exclave of Uzbekistan, surrounded by Kyrgyzstan, which is mostly populated by Tajik people. [1]
18. Nepal's time zone is UTC+5.45 - the only independent country to have a time zone not divisible by one hour or 30 minutes. [1]
19. Adolf Hitler never visited any concentration camps. [1]
20. Franz Josef Land is a Russian archipelago located in the Arctic Ocean. Originally spotted by Norwegian sealers, it was discovered by an Astro-Hungarian expedition and named after Franz Joseph I. [1]
21. Terra nullius is a territory that is not considered to be owned by any country. These include Marie Byrd Land in Antarctica and outer space. [1]
22. Due to hyperinflation, Hungary introduced a bill worth 100 quintillion pengő in 1946. That's 1 with 20 zeroes. [1]
23. Uruguay is the smallest country with a research station in Antarctica. [1]
24. Switzerland has its own merchant navy despite being a landlocked country. Iceland is part of NATO despite not having a standing army. [1][2]
25. The U.S. Virgin Islands weren't part of the United States until 1917. Before that, the islands belonged to Denmark. It's also the only U.S. jurisdiction where people drive on the left side of the road. [1][2]
26. San Marino has more restaurants with Michelin stars than Russia and Australia combined.
27. The world's longest film ever made is the Swedish experimental art film Logistics. The running time is 35 days and 17 hours. [1]
28. Olympic gold medals are 92.5% silver. [1]
29. Only about 20% of the world's Muslims live in the Middle East. [1]
30. Homosexuality was decriminalised in France in 1791. [1]
31. The French Caribbean territory of Saint Barthélemy has the Maltese cross (✠) in its coat of arms. Why? At one point, the island was a colony of Knights Hospitaller. [1]
32. The state of Oklahoma didn't repeal prohibition until 1959, 26 years after the 21st Amendment was ratified. [1]
33. During WWII, there was a serious proposition to evacuate every citizen of Finland to Alaska, in fear of the Soviet Union attacking and committing a genocide against the Finns. [1] Finnish source
34. The men's marathon at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis was a complete disaster. 32 athletes took part but only 14 managed to make it to the finish. Only one water station was allowed in the course. The winner received several doses of rat poison and lost eight pounds during the race. [1]
35. Parts of Japan can be found north of Montreal. [1][2]
36. There are six uninhabited communes in France. They were destroyed during WWI and are still maintained as administrative subdivisions for memorial reasons. They even have mayors. [1]
37. Dominican Republic is the only country in the world to have the Bible in its national flag. [1]
38. Monaco is very well-known for its casinos. At the same time, gambling is illegal for Monaco's citizens. [1]
39. The Madagascar Plan was a proposal by Nazi Germany to forcibly relocate European Jews to the island of Madagascar. The plan was ditched in 1942. [1]
40. There are 21 countries where the citizens are allowed to visit North Korea visa-free. These include China, Russia, Cuba, and Switzerland. [1]
#12 - I'm sure that there are more small villages that were divided by a wall. Mödlareuth was the first one I saw.
#14 - I did the calculations myself, so no sources. I got the numbers from Wikipedia.
#18 - My Geography teacher has a Nepalese friend and, according to him, the reason for this is that Nepal dislikes India so much that they want to be in a completely separate time zone.
#26 - No sources for this one either. I couldn't find a reliable source that would list every country with a Michelin-star restaurant. I simly searched up countries in the official Michelin website.
I did use Wikipedia pretty liberally, altough I did my best to find good secondary sources. If you find anything that isn't true, feel free to let me know.
Anyways, an amazing blog and I enjoyed reading it! I would be glad to see a sequel to this blog if possible.
What I really appreciate is that you've taken the time to verify all of these facts.
Excellent blog, content like this is why I still check the 'Recent User Blogs' tab :D
On fact number 32, I was interested to learn that while Prohibition ended nearly 90 years ago, there are still a number of counties which have restrictions on the sale of alcohol across the United States and even here in Canada. I live next to a 'dry-county' and it has been largely alcohol free since the Canadian Prohibition Era.
Once again, this is a quality blog and I'd love to see more, if you decide to make them!