Did You Know...? The 1952 Olympics in Helsinki were the first at which the Soviet Union participated. The Finnish language doesn't have a future tense. Nokia, the global telecommunications company, was a riverside paper mill at its birth in 1865. Helsinki’s Olympic Stadium was built for the 1940 Games, canceled
Did You Know? In 1917, Halifax Harbor experienced the world's largest manmade explosion (until atomic weapons). One hundred fifty Titanic victims are buried in Halifax. Each year Halifax sends a huge Christmas tree to Boston in gratitude for its relief efforts after the 1917 harbor explosion. The Halifax Citadel was
Did You Know? The name Alhambra means Red Castle. Granada was the last Moorish stronghold to be reclaimed for Spain (1492). American writer Washington Irving penned two books about the Arabs (Moors) in Granada. Europe’s highest road (11,148 feet) runs through the Sierra Nevada mountains near Granada. The Alhambra complex
Did You Know...? Glasgow Green is Britain's oldest open public space (from 1450). Glasgow was the first British city to establish a professional police force (1800). TV pioneer John Logie Baird transmitted the first long- distance TV pictures from Central Hotel, Glasgow. The rubberized raincoat, the mac, is named for
Did You Know ... ? The Connemara pony is considered Ireland’s only native breed of horse. The two pilots who were first to fly nonstop across the Atlantic (1919) crash landed at nearby Clifden. Marconi exchanged the first transatlantic radio messages (1907) from a transmitter near Galway City. Galway County
Did You Know? The city was first named Francono Furd because it was near a natural ford in Franconia. Frankfurt was the birthplace for novelist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749) and Anne Frank (1929). Frankfurt hosts the world’s oldest (1478) and biggest book fair (300,000 titles). Residents of Frankfurt are
Did You Know….? The Duomo has the largest cupola ever constructed (diameter: 143 feet). Dante, author of “The Divine Comedy,” was born in Florence but died in exile. Florence was the capital of Italy from 1865 to 1870. Galileo, Machiavelli and Michelangelo are buried in the church of Santa Croce.
Did You Know...? J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book in Nicholson’s Cafe in Edinburgh. Sneaky Pete’s, a pub on the Cowgate, was built on a graveyard with gravestones under foot. The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers is considered the first organized golf club (1744). The Walter Scott monument
Did You Know? Dunedin is home to the world's rarest penguin, the yellow-eyed penguin, or hoiho. Baldwin Street is described as the steepest street in the world. Larnach Castle in Dunedin is New Zealand's only castle. The University of Otago is New Zealand's oldest university (1869). Dunedin was the Scottish
Did You Know? The Placa (the main street) follows a path that was once a strait separating Dubrovnik from the mainland. Dubrovnik’s historic drawbridges were used in Croatia’s 1991-1992 war of independence. Dubrovnik sailors traveled with Columbus on his journeys to the New World. The cravat and, later, the necktie
