Did you know ... ? The Stockholm archipelago has more than 24,000 islands, islets and skerries. Skansen is the world’s oldest open-air museum, dating from 1891. The 1628 Vasa warship sailed a mile, then sank 130 yards off shore in Stockholm’s harbor. Stockholm-born Alfred Nobel left the equivalent of roughly
Did You Know ... ? In 1849, novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky was led to a public square for execution, but the tsar reprieved him (and others). St. Petersburg encompasses 42 islands in the Neva River delta. The Nazi’s World War II siege of St. Petersburg lasted the better part of 29
Did You Know...? Laurance Rockefeller donated 9,500 acres to make the Virgin Islands National Park possible. The only mammals native to St. John are bats — six species of them. There are no traffic lights on St. John. The nickname for one St. John tree is Tourist Tree; it has
Did You Know? The walls of Diocletian’s Palace encircled about 7.4 acres. The nearby Roman town Salona was named for the area’s salt works, sal meaning salt in Latin. The grounds of Diocletian’s Palace are home to about 3,000 of Split’s residents. Diocletian’s mausoleum became part of St. Doimus church,
Did You Know? Soufriere, founded in 1746, was St. Lucia’s first town. There are other Caribbean volcanoes called Soufriere — on Guadeloupe, Montserrat and St. Vincent. St. Lucia boasts Soufriere is the world's only drive-through volcanic crater. A working guillotine was installed in the town square during the French Revolution.
Did You Know? Speakers of Cantonese, Mandarin and Shanghainese cannot understand one another. China’s Communist party held its first national congress in Shanghai, in secret (1921). The verb shanghai, meaning kidnap, recalls a time when men were kidnapped to be sailors on ships to the Orient. Shanghai was first to
Did You Know? The name tapa (lid) refers to the custom of serving wine in a glass topped with bread and meat. Christopher Columbus planned his expeditions in a Seville monastery. The fictitious Don Juan character of literature and opera originated in Seville. The painter Diego Velazquez was born in
Did You Know? Sao Paulo is capital of a state that generates almost half Brazil’s gross domestic product. The city boasts the largest Japanese community outside of Japan. The architecture of the Banespa Building was inspired by New York’s Empire State Building. More than 100 bird species live in the
Did You Know? Santo Domingo claims the New World’s first cathedral, hospital, monastery and university. Vasco de Balboa, Hernando Cortes and Ponce de Leon started their history-making journeys from Santo Domingo. The city boasts the hemisphere’s oldest street (1502), called the Walk of the Ladies. Francis Ford Coppola shot scenes
Did You Know? Santiago was the first permanent Spanish settlement in Chile (1541). There are three wineries within the Santiago city limits. Telefonica CTC built its headquarters in the shape of a 35-story cell phone, a 1996 model. The leader of Chile’s 19th century liberation fight was a fellow named
