Jack Goldstein - 101 Amazing Facts about World Capitals - Volume 1

Title Page

101 AMAZING FACTS ABOUT WORLD CAPITALS

Volume 1

Jack Goldstein

Publisher Information

Published in 2014 by

Andrews UK Limited

www.andrewsuk.com

The right of Jack Goldstein to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998

Copyright 2014 Jack Goldstein

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Any person who does so may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

All facts contained within this book have been researched from reputable sources. If any information is found to be false, please contact the publishers, who will be happy to make corrections for future editions.

Oriental Bay photograph courtesy of Octagon

Parliament House, Canberra photograph courtesy of Andrea Schaffer from Sydney, Australia

Introduction

Do you know which two people have been granted free food for life at Bens Chili Bowls in Washington? Which countrys capital is known as the city of a thousand minarets? Where could you have found Hairy Bottom Road? And why can you never seem to find the fourth floor in your Seoul hotel? All of these questions and more are answered in this fantastic book of facts. This volume contains over one hundred facts about Berlin, Cairo, Canberra, Cape Town, London, Paris, Seoul, Tbilisi, Washington and Wellington, with the facts separated into sections for easy navigation. So if you want to know which big cats can be found on Table Mountains Lions Head (its not lions) or why the Australians were rather upset by a particular gift from the British, then this is the book for you.

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London

1. London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. The city has a population of around 8.5 million people, who speak in more than three hundred languages - more than in any other city in the world.
2. Whereas coffee houses didnt become popular in many cities across the world until the 20 th Century, London was well ahead of the time - Pasqua Rosees Coffee House opened in 1652, but was sadly burned down during the Great Fire of London.
3. Speaking of the Great Fire, it started in Pudding Lane on the 2 nd of September 1666 and burned for three whole days. It destroyed the houses of 88% of Londons inhabitants as well as 87 churches and of course the old St Pauls Cathedral. Amazingly though, official records show that only eight people died in the fire! It should be noted however that scholars have recently suggested there were actually a few hundred deaths which werent put in the records. One thing that did survive though was wine and cheese belonging to the diarist Samuel Pepys, who had buried the goods in his garden to escape the flames!
4. One of the most recognisable sights in London is that of the Elizabeth Tower, the clock tower which houses the famous bell Big Ben. The entire nation set their watches to the chimes of the bell, which is kept accurate by a whole team of engineers. However, in 1995 a flock of starlings landed on the minute hand of one clock face and the weight of them put the time back by five minutes!
5. The new St Pauls Cathedral, designed by Sir Christopher Wren was the tallest building in London from its construction in 1710 until 1962, when construction on the BT Tower surpassed its 111 metres. The reason there were no other tall buildings in London was that Queen Victoria had introduced a law limited the height of new buildings to just 25 metres after someone had erected a twelve-story apartment building that blocked her view of the Houses of Parliament from her desk in Buckingham Palace!
6. Hitler said that he would take Nelsons Column (which by the way was ten metres shorter than originally planned due to budgetary constraints) to Berlin and display it there when he captured London - it was a symbol of British world domination, and the Nazi leader felt it would send out a message about his Germany. However were guessing he didnt plan to hold a tea-party on the plinth fifty metres in the air, as had the original builders before the statue was placed atop it!
7. A version of the Bible printed in London in 1631 had a rather bad mistake inside; a single word was missing. In some circumstances this may not have made too much difference, however it was quite an important word, being not, and being missing from the seventh commandment which now read Thou shalt commit adultery. Although the destruction of all one thousand copies was ordered (and the printer fined three hundred pounds, a huge sum at the time) some escaped the fate and survive to this day - one is currently for sale at almost one hundred thousand dollars.
8. Not only is the London Underground the oldest underground railway in the world, but is also the first such network to operate electric trains; amazingly, the Uxbridge line was electrified in 1905.
9. As everyone knows, cars drive on the left not just in London but also throughout the rest of England. However, theres one road where everything is different - in Savoy Court, cars drive on the right hand side, and have done since 1902. The reason for this is that with the traffic this way round, theatregoers could exit their carriages directly into the world-famous Savoy Theatre.
10. If you happen to alight at Aldgate station one night, its probably best if you dont remind yourself that youve just stepped onto a platform beneath which is a plague pit containing over a thousand corpses!

London Skyline

Tbilisi

1. Tbilisi is the capital of Georgia, home to around 1.5 million people. It has traditionally been home to a highly diverse population (in culture, ethnicity and religion). It is one of the few places in the world where Asian culture truly meets Western.
2. If you visit Tbilisi, be sure to drink some wine - youll be tasting history. The country of Georgia is in fact believed to be the place in the world where wine grapes were first cultivated!
3. One of the reasons that Tbilisi was founded in the location it stands is the hot springs situated there that pump out around three million litres of water every day. Locals say the water has a special smell you wont find anywhere else, and the baths in the city are a must for any visitor.
4. Although archaeologists have found evidence of human settlements in Tbilisi dating back six thousand years, legend has it that the modern city was founded when King Vakhtang I Gorgasali was hunting in the region with a falcon which caught a pheasant. However, both birds fell into the hot springs, into which the King ventured to rescue his bird. So impressed with the springs was the King that he decided to cut down the forest that was there and build a city.
5. Speaking of pheasants, it is thought that the pheasant, now common across the world, actually originates from an ancient Georgian town called Phasis .
6. Many people visit Tbilisi to start a hiking tour in the mountains nearby. The areas geography is particularly stunning and is a fantastic base for sightseers.
7. Those wishing to visit would be advised to do so as soon as possible. The city is currently in a period of rapid change; one will find massive glossy corporate buildings right next to worn-out old shacks; the rich and the poor often living side-by-side. It is certain that - like many cities undergoing modernisation - eventually this will change, and it is worth getting a feel for the traditional city whilst it still exists!