Did You Know? Lewis Carroll named Alice in Wonderland for the daughter of the dean of Oxford’s Christ Church. Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world (1191, maybe earlier). Blenheim, Winston Churchill’s birthplace, is Britain's only private palace. Oxford University Press (first book, 1478) is the world’s largest
Did You Know? In winter, a section of Rideau Canal is the world’s longest ice skating rink, five miles. Queen Victoria selected Ottawa to be Canada’s capital. Ottawa’s tulip festival is the world’s largest, attracting some 600,000 people annually. Holland’s Princess Margriet was born in Ottawa, the first European
Did You Know? For 300 years, Oslo had another name, spelled two ways, Christiania then Kristiania. Norwegians have rejected European Union membership in two referenda (1972 and 1994). The first Nobel Peace Prize, presented in Oslo, was awarded in 1901. Sonja Henie, three times the Olympic figure-skating champion and a
Did You Know? The iconic Osaka Castle is a 20th century reconstruction. Osaka hosted Expo ’70, the first world exposition ever held in Asia. As in most Japanese cities, many Osaka streets don't have names. Shitennoji Temple is Japan’s oldest temple (founded 593). The local Nissin food company introduced the
Did You Know ... ? Ian Fleming wrote 13 of his James Bond books at his Ocho Rios home, Goldeneye. Also, Fleming's master spy was named for James Bond, author of "Birds of the West Indies." The name Ocho Rios is a poor rendition of Chorreras (river rapids) and doesn't
Did You Know ... ? Nice is the only French city to boast a vineyard with rights to a protected place name (AOC status). Giuseppe Garibaldi, the hero of Italian unification, was born in Nice (1807). The American dancer, Isadora Duncan, accidentally strangled herself in front of the Hotel Negresco
Did You Know...? Nassau was a base for pirates until the Spanish and French emptied the hornets’ nest in 1703. Cable Beach was the entry point for the first U.S.-Bahamas telegraph cable (1892), hence the name. At least six James Bond films, beginning with “Thunderball” (1965), have filmed scenes in
Did You Know...? Naples is considered the birthplace of modern pizza (1889). The University of Naples is the world’s oldest state-run university (1224). Dormant since 1944, Vesuvius is the only active volcano in continental Europe. Some Neapolitan pizzas carry the D.O.C. designation in the way wines do. Vesuvius has erupted
Did You Know? Oktoberfest is the world’s largest beer fest, attracting more than 6 million visitors annually. Pope Benedict VXI was born in Bavaria’s Marktl am Inn in 1927. Munich can accommodate about 150,000 at once in its beer gardens. Bavaria was the first German state with a written constitution
Did you know ... ? Just more than half of Montrealers are bilingual in French and English. The Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery has more than 1 million graves. Hockey originated in Montreal, in 1875, with a game that ended in a fight. There are more than 400 islands in the greater Montreal urban
