By: Lucas Wantuck Hello everybody, and welcome to the 12th edition of “Five Interesting Facts About the World!” For this week's edition, I’m going to be doing facts about music and movies, so grab your popcorn, put on your headphones, and get ready for some amazing facts! 1. Someone played music in space! On December 19, 2012, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield flew into space in the Soyuz TMA-07M rocket and went on a mission to the ISS. During his time there, he recorded many songs like “Jewel in the Night”, which was actually the first song recorded in space! In October 2015, Chris released “Space Sessions: Songs From a Tin Can", an album of all the songs he had recorded during his time on the ISS. 2. The first movie was made over 135 years ago! Created by Louis Le Prince in 1888, the Roundhay Garden Scene is, while incredibly short coming in at about 2 seconds, the first movie ever made. (Technically it is considered a “Short Film” but whatever) The Roundhay Garden Scene depicts four people walking and dancing in a large garden. The movie was filmed at Oakwood Grange in Roundhay, Leeds, a city in Northern England. (If you would like to see the movie, click here: Video) 3. The first song is over 3,000 years old. Found on a clay tablet in what is now modern-day Syria, the Hurrian Hymn is the first song ever made. The Hurrian Hymn was written in cuneiform writing on a clay tablet. Alongside the actual music, the tablet describes the use of 9 lyre strings (the lyre is an ancient instrument) and also gives the intervals between those strings. The song is said to have been dedicated to the Hurrian goddess, Nikkal. Sadly, no historians or archaeologists have been able to find any information about the composer, but it is still an amazing find. (If you would like to listen to the piece, you can do so here: Video) 4. The first instrument is over 50,000 years old! Found in the Divje Babe in Slovenia, the Neanderthal Bone Flute is said to be over 50,000 years old. The flute was discovered by a group of archaeologists led by Ivan Turk near the Idrijca River in 1995. According to Ivan Turk, the bone flute was said to have been laid beside a hearth, which is thought to have once been used by the Neanderthals. The flute is made from the left thighbone of a cave bear and has four pierced holes in it. (If you would like to listen to the flute being played, click here: Video) 5. You can visit Tatooine from Star Wars! Now, if you know me, you’ll know that I’m a HUGE Star Wars fan, so when I saw this, I was so excited! Anyways, yes, you can visit the fictional planet of Tatooine from Star Wars in real life! (Though it’s really just the filming locations) Many of the famous Star Wars locations and movies were filmed in Tunisia. From Luke Skywalker’s home being filmed in Chott El Jerid to its giant interior being in the Sidi El Driss Hotel in Matmata, the filming locations were all over the place! As a bonus fact, you can also visit Hoth from the fifth movie by visiting the “Hardangerjøkulen Glacier” in Norway! Sources:
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By: Lucas Wantuck Hello everybody and welcome to the 11th edition of “Five Interesting Facts About the World!” For this edition, I’m going to be doing another “Wildcard” article, which means that there will be no real theme, but will instead have random facts! Anyway, let’s get on with the facts! 1. Siberia has the deepest lake in the world. Coming in at an astonishing depth of over 5,315 feet, or roughly 1,620 meters, Lake Baikal is the deepest lake ever found in the entire world. This lake is found in southeast Siberia and is considered to be the oldest lake in the world with an age of roughly 25 million years! Lake Baikal also contains about 20% of the world’s total unfrozen freshwater reserves. 2. The countries with the largest and smallest populations are China and Vatican City. For the largest population, China is a no-brainer because of their large family sizes and huge amount of food and farmland, but the actual population number is quite crazy. China’s population is roughly 1.4 Billion people! The smallest population technically is Vatican City with about 750 people, but since it is more of a city-state, I will also put the country with the second smallest population: Nauru with about 11,200 people. 3. There was a war that only lasted 38 minutes! Now, this probably sounds crazy given that most wars can last for years, but the Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896 didn’t even last an hour. This war had a lot of stuff that led up to it, so I’ll try to make this quick. So, basically, in the late 1800s, many European countries, like Britain, were trying to colonize as much of Africa as possible. Britain took over the Sultanate of Zanzibar, an island nation near the Indian Ocean; however, when the ruler of the country died, a new ruler who disliked Britain took over against Britain’s wishes. Britain wanted to get rid of the royals and fully take over the country, but when the Sultan would not surrender, Britain waited thirty minutes and then destroyed the Sultan’s palace in a matter of eight. 4. Sweden has over 200,000 islands. Coming in at a total of 267,570 islands, Sweden has the most islands out of any other country. Interestingly, a large majority of those islands are completely uninhabited. Another interesting thing about these islands is that Sweden’s capital city of Stockholm is actually built on a 14-island archipelago. As an extra fact, Japan was recently found to have over 7,000 islands. They were previously thought to have roughly 6,800 islands. 5. Over 70% of Greece is covered in mountains.
From Mount Olympus to the Pindus Mountains, Greece is well known for their rough and rocky terrain. What’s interesting is that there are so many mountains, that it is estimated that 70 to 80% of Greece is mountainous. As another fact, Greece has over 300 mountains. The tallest one is Mount Olympus coming in at roughly 9,570 feet in height. And, as a quick little detail, Mount Olympus was said to be the home of the gods, so it makes sense that it would be the largest and tallest! By: Lucas Wantuck Hello everybody and welcome to the 10th edition of “Five Interesting Facts About the World”! In today’s edition, I am going to cover interesting facts about food all around the world. So, without further ado, let’s get on with the facts! 1. Rice is the most popular food in the world. Even though it isn’t the most flavorful food, it is without a doubt the most popular. This is because, for centuries, people have cooked and eaten rice, made it with meals, and made it a primary ingredient in thousands of dishes. Now, rice is mainly popular because it is cheap, filling, and can be affordably bought in bulk if needed. Because of how versatile rice is, it makes sense that it is the most popular. 2. Japan sells a meal that could kill you! While it seems crazy, there is a meal sold in Japan that can be poisonous. This meal is called “Fugu” or pufferfish, and what’s crazy about it is that it is roughly 1,200 times more deadly than cyanide, which is a very dangerous poison. Another interesting thing about Fugu is that if prepared in a very specific way, it is edible and is said to have a “Refreshing, light, fish-like taste.” 3. China is the largest producer of food in the world! Being the largest exporter of grains, wheat, rice, and potatoes, the Asian country of China is the largest producer and exporter of foods. The reason for China’s large export of food is that a huge part of their country and society consists of agriculture and commerce. Because of this, they sell and ship food and other goods all around the world. 4. The oldest pizza could be over 2,000 years old. Found in the ruins of Pompeii in Italy, a 2,000-year-old painting of a platter of food could depict pizza. People believe that the image portrays pizza because the food in the image has a puffy, circular shape; it has a crust to it; and it looks like it has melted mozzarella cheese and some kind of tomato sauce on it as well. Sadly, though it may be pizza, it is more likely that it is a “Plakous”, or “Placenta Cake”, which is a Greek meal consisting of a baked flatbread usually dressed with cheese! 5. A chocolate pudding in the UK sold for over 30,000 dollars! Made by chef Marc Guibert of the Lindeth Howe Country House Hotel found in the Lake District of England, a chocolate pudding could be bought for over 35,000 dollars. Though the price seems completely unreasonable, there are a few key ingredients that make the dessert so expensive. For starters, the dessert has 24-carat gold and a literal 2-carat diamond inside of it, which is just crazy! Along with the gold and diamonds, the dessert is also made with Belgian chocolate, champagne jelly, and a gold leaf. It is also served with a bottle of champagne and caviar, which is a notoriously expensive meal. Overall, it seems that every part of this meal is either really expensive or really hard to get, so the price is a little more justifiable. Sources:
By: Lucas Wantuck Hello everybody and welcome to the first edition of February for “Five Interesting Facts About the World”! For today’s edition, I will cover everything about vehicles! That means cars, planes, bikes, boats, and everything else! So, without further ado, let’s get on with the facts! 1. The first ever car was a Mercedes Benz. Created by Karl Benz, the “Benz Patent-Motorwagen” was built in 1885 in Germany. The car was not very good and looked more like a tricycle if anything. The car had three wheels, a large bike steering wheel, and an engine in the back that was not well covered. 2. The first bicycle doesn’t look how you think it would! Another vehicle from Germany that also comes from a guy named Karl is the first ever bicycle, or “Laufmaschine”, as the German inventor Karl von Drais called it. This bicycle was created in 1817 and, strangely, had no pedals! The bike had one wooden beam as a frame, and in many of the pictures of it, people were seen riding it down hills. This makes sense because, without pedals, the only way to ride it was by going down a slope and using the momentum from the fall to speed up. 3. The most expensive car was sold for 142 million dollars! Sold at a private auction in a carmaker’s museum in Stuttgart, Germany, the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe Prototype sold for roughly 142 million dollars in 2022. The car was sold by RM Sotheby’s on behalf of the Mercedes-Benz company, and it was bought by Simon Kidston, also on behalf of someone, though the real owner remains anonymous to this day. 4. The US Space Shuttles are the most complex flying machines ever built. Created by Rockwell International in partnership with NASA, the space shuttles were built at the Rockwell Downey plant in 1981, and they are the most complex flying machines ever built. This is because every component of the shuttle has its complicated systems, and they all have a unique function. As well as having intricate systems, the shuttles were also designed to be reusable, which means that they had to be even stronger than normal ships to ensure that they could work multiple times. 5. The Concorde was the first supersonic passenger plane. The Concorde was created by a group of aircraft manufacturers from Great Britain and France. The plane was first built in February 1965. The speed for the Concorde is 1,354 miles per hour, or roughly Mach 2. And for those of you who don’t know, Mach 2 is more than twice the speed of sound! Sadly, the Concorde was retired for several reasons including: It was extremely noisy, it was very expensive to operate as it used a lot of gas, and it had restricted flight availability, so it was expensive to ride. Finally, the seating wasn’t the best and it was quite crowded compared to other luxury planes at that time. Sources:
By: Lucas Wantuck Hello, and welcome to the 8th edition of “Five Interesting Facts Around the World!” For today’s edition, I will be covering landmarks and their fascinating history! So, with no further delay, let’s get on with the facts! 1. China has a copy of the Eiffel Tower. Located in Hangzhou of the Zhejiang Province, the life-sized replica of Paris, France has many famous locations such as the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Champs Elysées Main Square, just to name a few. Though the 1 billion dollar project is fascinating in and of itself, what intrigues me the most is that most people describe the city as nothing more than a ghost town, and they’re not wrong. The city looks heavily abandoned and while you might see a few tourists, the city is not nearly as populated as the real Paris. 2. Big Ben isn’t actually a clock tower. Though many people call the ginormous tower by the name “Big Ben”, they’re actually calling it the wrong name. You see, “Big Ben” is the name of the bell that rings inside of the tower. The name of the actual tower is Elizabeth Tower. Interestingly, the tower used to just be called “The Clock Tower” and also had the nickname of “St. Stephen’s Tower”. 3. The Great Pyramid is the only wonder of the ancient world still standing. The Great Pyramid, the largest of the Pyramids of Giza and obviously located in Giza, is the only wonder of the ancient world that still stands to this day. The Great Pyramid was built over 4,500 years ago and is one of the oldest monuments in the world. Unlike The Great Pyramid, the other six wonders have been lost to earthquakes, fires, and other mysterious causes. And, if you were curious, the other six wonders of the ancient world are the Colossus of Rhodes, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, the Temple of Artemis, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. 4. The Great Wall of China is the longest man-made structure in the world. Coming in at an astonishing length of 21,196 kilometers, or 13,171 miles, the Great Wall of China is without a doubt the longest man-made structure to ever exist. Construction of the Great Wall of China started around 770 BCE and finished in 220 BCE. The wall was created to protect the Chinese borders from the Mongolians and other hostile forces. 5. The Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world. The Burj Khalifa is a building that was built in the city of Dubai, and it only took six years to finish construction, which started all the way back in 2004. The Burj Khalifa is roughly 2,717 feet or 828 meters, and with over 160 stories, it is the tallest building to ever be built. As a bonus fact, the Burj Khalifa holds seven world records, all having something to do with its incredible height. Sources:
By: Lucas Wantuck Hello everybody, and welcome to the seventh edition of “Five Interesting Facts Around the World”, which also happens to be the first edition of 2024! Before we begin, I just want to say Happy New Year to all of you who read the Griffin Post! For today’s article, I want to shake things up, so this article will be a “Wild Card” and won’t have a specific theme! So, let's get on with the facts! 1. Oymyakon is the coldest inhabited place in the world. Oymyakon, Russia is considered the coldest inhabited city in the world because, in the winter, it can get to temperatures of -70 degrees Celsius, or -94 degrees Fahrenheit! Though it is inhabited, it only has a population of roughly 500 people. Interestingly, there are actually a lot of tourists that go there despite the harsh temperatures. 2. You can walk from one side of Liechtenstein to the other in under a day! The European country that is well known for its tiny size is actually so small, that you could theoretically walk from one end to the other in under 24 hours. I say theoretically because, even though it's only 25 kilometers long and four kilometers wide, it’s right in the middle of the Swiss Alps. So, while you could do it, it would be a bit challenging. 3. Coca-Cola is actually banned in two countries. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s actually true! In both North Korea and Cuba, there is no way to find, buy, or drink Coca-Cola! The reason for this is actually quite simple. You see, both countries have had long-term trade embargoes from the U.S., which basically means that they won’t have any trade or send any products to Cuba and North Korea. 4. There is actually a country that has more pyramids than Egypt. Though Egypt is known for its pyramids, Sudan actually has twice as many as Egypt with around 200. This is due to the Nubian Empire's rule over Egypt from 750 B.C. to 712 B.C. This, in turn, led to the creation of the Kushite Empire in modern-day Sudan after they were kicked out by the Egyptians. Because of Kush's long reign in Egypt, a lot of Egyptian culture, like pyramids, was included in their empire. 5. France is the most visited country in the world. Unsurprisingly, France has more annual visitors than any other country but, what’s really interesting, is how many people actually visit. So, without further ado, the total number of annual visitors is roughly 80 million people! More importantly, about half of those visitors go to Paris, which makes a lot of sense. If you’re curious, the second and third most visited countries are the United States with 50 million visitors, and Spain with around 70 million visitors! Sources:
By: Lucas Wantuck Hello and welcome to the sixth edition of "Five Interesting Facts Around the World"! Since there are many gift-giving holidays, I’m going to write about toys and games! So, without further ado, let’s get on with the facts. 1. One of the oldest toys was found in King Tut’s tomb! One of the oldest toys in history is a little wooden spinning top that was found in King Tutankhamen’s tomb in Egypt. Because the spinner was found in his tomb, the toy is about 3,500 years old! 2. LEGO has been around for over 90 years! Founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen in Billund, Denmark, the popular brick-building company has been making toys for 91 years. As a bonus fact, the word LEGO, is an abbreviation of “leg godt,” which is Danish for “play well.” 3. LEGO didn’t originally make bricks. Keeping with the LEGO theme, the widely popular toy brand originally started off making wooden toys. This was because the original LEGO workshop was just a carpenter's shop. Of the 91 years that LEGO has been around for, 26 of those years were spent making wooden toys. LEGO only made the switch to toy bricks in 1958. 4. The yo-yo has very ancient origins. Dating back to the fifth century BC, both adults and children in ancient Greece carved hourglass forms out of clay, stone, or wood, then wrapped the shapes with thread. This was a very early version of the modern yo-yo we know today. Because of this, the yo-yo is one of the oldest toys ever created. 5. The oldest toy is actually a baby rattle!
Found in the remains of the ancient Kingdom of Kanesh’s capital, a baby rattle-looking item was found. The rattle looks a lot like a normal baby rattle except for the fact that it is severely worn out and has many holes inside. Because of where it was found, the rattle is most likely over 4,000 years old, making it the oldest toy that anybody has ever found! By: Lucas Wantuck Hello everybody and welcome to the fifth edition of the new “Five Interesting Facts Around the World!” Before we get into the facts, I’d like to quickly talk about why we took off a few facts from the articles. You see, by having five facts instead of ten, we can save more facts for the years to come, and not have to worry about running out of ideas for facts. Anyway, since we’re now in the month of December, I’m gonna be talking about fun winter holiday traditions! So, without further ado, let’s get on with the facts! 1. People in Japan have a “Finger Lickin’ Good” Christmas dinner! Though Christmas isn’t a national holiday in Japan, people still celebrate it, and many like to have KFC for their Christmas dinner. The whole tradition started back in 1974 after KFC created a campaign called “Kurisumasu ni wa kentakkii!” or “Kentucky for Christmas!” which caught on well and gave birth to the popular tradition. 2. France has a very interesting Hanukkah tradition! In many parts of France, people who celebrate Hanukkah like to open new bottles of wine at the end of the holiday and go to many friend’s houses. They share the wine with their friends and toast to the holiday! It’s fun because it’s a great way to socialize with others and maybe make friends! 3. One of Kwanzaa’s traditions is all about gifts! During Kwanzaa, there is a popular tradition in which people give gifts to children. These gifts normally have some sort of cultural value or significance, and the point of giving the gifts is to educate the children about their African roots and culture. 4. China has many Lunar New Year festivals. In China, there are many traditions that are all about watching festivals. There are many different Lunar New Year festivals, but the two most popular festivals are the lion/dragon dances, and the Lantern Festival. 5. People in Scandinavia have a very interesting winter tradition. In Scandinavia, there is a holiday named Yule. This holiday symbolizes the return of long days and lasts from the winter solstice until the end of January. One of the most popular traditions is taking Yule logs and setting them on fire to bring back the sun. Sources:
By: Lucas Wantuck Welcome to the fourth edition of “Ten Interesting Facts Around the World,” and the first edition in November! For this edition, we will be covering sports! So, without further ado, let’s get on with the facts! 1. The first Olympic Games were held over three thousand years ago. Created in 776 BC, the Greeks held the first Olympic Games! They included foot races, wrestling, javelin throwing, and much, much more! The first Olympic Games were held in Olympia, hence the name, and were mainly held to honor the Greek god Zeus. 2. The first sport is much older than you’d think. Wrestling, an ancient sport with evidence of people playing it in prehistoric cave paintings and in the Epic of Gilgamesh, has been present in various cultures for over 5,000 years! Some of the first places that first participated in wrestling were Japan, Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Mongolia, making wrestling both a prominent ancient sport, and one of, if not the first, sports ever! 1. American football didn’t start in America. Football, a popular American sport, developed from rugby, a sport originally from England. Rugby was first created during a soccer match in Rugby, England when a player grabbed the ball and ran across the field. 4. The longest match in tennis history was over 11 hours long! Taking place in the Wimbledon Championships in Wimbledon, London, John Isner and Nicolas Mahut played the longest match ever, coming in at 11 hours and 5 minutes! The game took place over three days because the way the rules of tennis were made didn’t prevent the game from lasting that long! 5. The largest amount of non-stop push-ups is over ten thousand! Coming in at 10,507 push-ups, Minoru Yoshida of Japan was able to set a world record that I don’t think anyone else could ever beat! The record was broken in 1980, breaking the then-current record of 7,650 push-ups. Because the new record was practically unbreakable, Guinness stopped recording non-stop push-ups and switched to most push-ups in 24 hours. 6. The king of Scotland once banned golf! In 1457, King James II of Scotland banned golf entirely because Scotland was preparing to defend themselves against the Auld Enemy. Because of this, they needed as many soldiers as they could get, but because most of the people were obsessed with golf, nobody wanted to enlist in the army. So, the king had to ban golf so that he could recruit more people. 7. The first winner of the Olympic Games was actually a cook! Going back to the first Olympic Games, the winner of the footrace wasn’t a soldier or gladiator, but actually a cook and baker by the name of Coroebus of Elis. He came from the ancient city of Elis, and he represented his home during the race. 8. Chess has been around for a very long time. Though most people know chess as the sport with knights, rooks, queens, kings, pawns, and bishops, chess wasn’t exactly the same now as it was when it originated in India around 600 AD. The game was called chaturanga, and it was played similarly to modern chess with players attempting to protect a specific piece while also trying to defeat their opponent’s piece. Later on, the game caught on all around the world, and in the 16th century, the game evolved into the chess we know today. 9. Golf is one of the only sports to ever be played on the moon! In 1971 during the Apollo 14 mission, Alan Shepard played a quick game of golf on the moon and hit a golf ball using a six-iron. Along with golf, the other sport to be played on the moon was javelin toss. What’s even cooler, is that both games were played during the same visit to the moon. 10. Japan has the world's largest bowling alley. Consisting of 116 lanes, the Inazawa Bowling Centre in Inazawa City, Japan is the largest bowling alley to ever exist. The bowling alley got a Guinness world record because of its sheer size coming in at a whopping 182,000 square feet! I hope that you learned something new about the exciting world and history of sports!
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By: Lucas Wantuck Welcome to another edition of “Ten Interesting Facts Around the World!” This edition will cover the wonderful world of technology! I hope you enjoy it! 1. The world’s most famous video game company didn’t start with video games! Though Nintendo, the popular Japanese company, is most famous for its consoles and games, they originally sold Japanese card games back in 1889! They made the switch to video games 90 years after they started making card games! 2. Nokia didn’t start off selling phones. The Finnish phone-making company known for its practically indestructible devices didn’t originally make phones. They started with making, believe it or not, toilet paper! While this might seem crazy to think about, it actually makes sense if you know their origins. You see, Nokia started as a paper mill company in 1865, and, after producing toilet paper, tires, televisions, and rubber boots, they finally created their famous, durable, Nokia phones! 3. The first photograph took eight hours to make. Taken from Niépce’s estate in the Burgundy region of France, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce took a picture using one of the first cameras ever made, and it took him over eight hours just to take one picture! 4. A man accidentally threw away over 226 million dollars! In 2009, James Howells accidentally threw away a hard drive with 8,000 bitcoins. In today’s money, that would be about 226 million dollars, but back then it was only 30 thousand. James was a computer programmer and a crypto miner. When he was getting rid of some old computer parts in a metal recycling facility in Wales, he accidentally threw away the hard drive that had the money. 5. The Gameboy actually went to space. In 1993, Soviet cosmonaut Aleksandr A. Serebrov brought his Nintendo Game Boy and a copy of Tetris with him to his space mission. When it was brought back, it sold at an auction for $1,220! Along with that, it was also said to have orbited the Earth over 3 thousand times. 6. The name for spam mail didn’t come from where you’d think. "Spam mail" was named after the processed meat brand Spam, but its origins can be traced back to a Monty Python sketch. The sketch features a restaurant where customers realize that everything contains Spam, leading to a group of Vikings singing about Spam. The repetitive nature of Spam in the sketch led many people to call the messages they got constantly "Spam mail." 7. You can still access the oldest website in the world. Created by Tim Berners-Lee in the United Kingdom in 1989, the CERN, or European Council for Nuclear Research, was the first website in the world. The purpose of the website was to work on the World Wide Web project, which served as the backbone of the Internet. The coolest part is that you can still access it and see how it looked back when it was first created! 8. The first electronic device was made over 100 years ago. Created by the father of electronics, Sir John Fleming, the vacuum tube was created in the United Kingdom as a way to control the flow of electrons in a vacuum. This device led to many breakthroughs and new technologies such as digital computations, radios, televisions, radar equipment, and even telephones. 9. The first search engine wasn’t Google. Though Google is the most popular search engine, it wasn’t the first. Archie was the first search engine, and it was created by Alan Emtage, a student at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. The search engine was a lot like Google and was just as simple, though the Internet wasn’t nearly as good back then. 10. Someone accidentally cut off the internet in two countries. Back in 2011, a Georgian woman was scavenging for copper, and she accidentally sliced through a cable running to Armenia. Because of this, both countries suffered major power outages and couldn’t use the internet! It is crazy to think that one cable is responsible for maintaining the internet in two countries! Sources:
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