FACTS

                   FACTS ABOUT INDIA

1. A floating post office

India has the largest postal network in the world with over 1, 55,015 post offices. A single post office on an average serves a population of 7,175 people. The floating post office in Dal Lake, Srinagar, was inaugurated in August 2011.

2. Kumbh Mela gathering visible from space

The 2011 Kumbh Mela was the largest gathering of people with over 75 million pilgrims. The gathering was so huge that the crowd was visible from space.

3. The wettest inhabited place in the world

Mawsynram, a village on the Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, receives the highest recorded average rainfall in the world. Cherrapunji, also a part of Meghalaya, holds the record for the most rainfall in the calendar year of 1861.

4. Bandra Worli Sealink has steel wires equal to the earth's circumference

It took a total of 2,57,00,000 man hours for completion and also weighs as much as 50,000 African elephants. A true engineering and architectural marvel.

5. The highest cricket ground in the world

At an altitude of 2,444 meters, the Chail Cricket Ground in Chail, Himachal Pradesh, is the highest in the world. It was built in 1893 and is a part of the Chail Military School.

6. Shampooing is an Indian concept

Shampoo was invented in India, not the commercial liquid ones but the method by use of herbs. The word 'shampoo' itself has been derived from the Sanskrit word champu, which means to massage.

7. The Indian national Kabaddi team has won all World Cups

ndia has won all 5 men's Kabaddi World Cups held till now and have been undefeated throughout these tournaments. The Indian women's team has also won all Kabaddi World Cups held till date.

8. Water on the moon was discovered by India

In September 2009, India's ISRO Chandrayaan- 1 using its Moon Mineralogy Mapper detected water on the moon for the first time.

9. Science day in Switzerland is dedicated to Ex-Indian President, APJ Abdul Kalam

The father of India's missile programme had visited Switzerland back in 2006. Upon his arrival, Switzerland declared May 26th as Science Day.

10. India's first President only took 50% of his salary

When Dr Rajendra Prasad was appointed the President of India, he only took 50% of his salary, claiming he did not require more than that. Towards the end of his 12-year tenure he only took 25% of his salary. The salary of the President was Rs 10,000 back then.

                                 

11. The first rocket in India was transported on a cycle

The first rocket was so light and small that it was transported on a bicycle to the Thumba Launching Station in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

                    

12. India has a spa just for elephants

Elephants receive baths, massages and even food at the Punnathoor Cotta Elephant Yard Rejuvenation Centre in Kerala. Now that's a BIG step for the country.

                    

13. India is the world's second-largest English speaking country

India is second only to the USA when it comes to speaking English with around 125 million people speaking the language, which is only 10% of our population. This is expected to grow by quite a margin in the coming years.

14. Largest number of vegetarians in the world

Be it because of religious reasons or personal choices or both, around 20-40% of Indians are vegetarians, making it the largest vegetarian-friendly country in the world.

15. The world's largest producer of milk

India recently overtook the European Union with production reaching over 132.4m tonnes in 2014.

            

16. The first country to consume sugar

India was the first country to develop extraction and purifying techniques of sugar. Many visitors from abroad learnt the refining and cultivation of sugar from us.

17. The human calculator

Shakuntla Devi was given this title after she demonstrated the calculation of two 13 digit numbers: 7,686,369,774,870 × 2,465,099,745,779 which were picked at random. She answered correctly within 28 seconds.

                           

18. Rabindranath Tagore also wrote the national anthem for Bangladesh

Rabindranath Tagore is credited not only for writing the Indian national anthem, Jana Gana Mana, but the Bangladeshi national anthem, Amar Sonar Bangla, as well. He was also offered knighthood by the British but refused the honour after the Jalianwala Bagh massacre.

               

19. Dhyan Chand was offered German citizenship

After defeating Germany 8-1 in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Major Dhyan Chand, the wizard of hockey, was summoned by Hitler. He was promised German citizenship, a high post in the German military and the chance to play for the German national side. Dhyan Chand however declined the offer.

20. Freddie Mercury and Ben Kingsley are both of Indian descent

Freddie Mercury, the legendary singer of the rock band 'Queen' was born a Parsi with the name Farrokh Bulsara while the famous Oscar winning Hollywood star Ben Kingsley was born Krishna Pandit Bhanji.

21. Astronaut Rakesh Sharma said India looks saare jahaan se achcha from space

Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi asked the first Indian in space, Rakesh Sharma, about how India looked from space. His response was our famous patriotic song, "Saare Jahaan Se Achcha."

22. Havell's is purely an Indian brand & named after its first owner

Though the company was bought for just 10 lakh Rupees a long time ago and is now a multi-billion electrical goods company, it's an Indian company and is still named after its original owner, Haveli Ram Gupta.

23. Diamonds were first mined in India

Initially, diamonds were only found in the alluvial deposits in Guntur and Krishna District of the Krishna River Delta. Until diamonds were found in Brazil during the 18th century, India led the world in diamond production.

24. A special polling station is set up for a lone voter in the middle of Gir Forest

Mahant Bharatdas Darshandas has been voting since 2004 and during every election since then, a special polling booth is set up exclusively for him as he is the only voter from Banej in Gir forest.

25. Snakes and Ladders originated in India

Earlier known as Moksha Patamu, the game was initially invented as a moral lesson about karma to be taught to children. It was later commercialized and has become one of the most popular board games in the world.

26.Chess was invented in India.

27.Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus are studies, which originated in India.

28.The 'Place Value System' and the 'Decimal System' were developed in India in 100 B.C.

29.The World's First Granite Temple is the Brihadeswara Temple at Tanjavur, Tamil Nadu. The shikhara of the temple is made from a single 80-tonne piece of granite. This magnificent temple was built in just five years, (between 1004 AD and 1009 AD) during the reign of Rajaraja Chola.

30.The world's highest cricket ground is in Chail, Himachal Pradesh. Built in 1893 after leveling a hilltop, this cricket pitch is 2444 meters above sea level.

31.India has the largest number of Post Offices in the world.

32.The world's first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.

33.Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to mankind. The Father of Medicine, Charaka, consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.

34.India was one of the richest countries till the time of British rule in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus, attracted by India's wealth, had come looking for a sea route to India when he discovered America by mistake.

35.Bhaskaracharya rightly calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the Sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. According to his calculation, the time taken by the Earth to orbit the Sun was 365.258756484 days.

36.Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus also originated in India.Quadratic Equations were used by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10*53 (i.e. 10 to the power of 53) with specific names as early as 5000 B.C.during the Vedic period.Even today, the largest used number is Terra: 10*12(10 to the power of 12).

37.The Baily Bridge is the highest bridge in the world. It is located in the Ladakh valley between the Dras and Suru rivers in the Himalayan mountains. It was built by the Indian Army in August 1982.

38.Sushruta is regarded as the Father of Surgery. Over2600 years ago Sushrata & his team conducted complicated surgeries like cataract, artificial limbs, cesareans, fractures, urinary stones, plastic surgery and brain surgeries.

39.Sushruta is regarded as the Father of Surgery. Over2600 years ago Sushrata & his team conducted complicated surgeries like cataract, artificial limbs, cesareans, fractures, urinary stones, plastic surgery and brain surgeries.

40.India exports software to 90 countries.

41.The four religions born in India - Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, are followed by 25% of the world's population.

42.Jainism and Buddhism were founded in India in 600 B.C. and 500 B.C. respectively.

43.Islam is India's and the world's second largest religion.

44.The oldest European church and synagogue in India are in the city of Cochin. They were built in 1503 and 1568 respectively.

45.The largest religious building in the world is Angkor Wat, a Hindu Temple in Cambodia built at the end of the 11th century.

46.The Vishnu Temple in the city of Tirupathi built in the 10th century, is the world's largest religious pilgrimage destination. Larger than either Rome or Mecca, an average of 30,000 visitors donate $6 million (US) to the temple everyday.

47.Sikhism originated in the Holy city of Amritsar in Punjab. Famous for housing the Golden Temple, the city was founded in 1577.

48.Varanasi, also known as Benaras, was called "the Ancient City" when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 B.C., and is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world today.

49.Martial Arts were first created in India, and later spread to Asia by Buddhist missionaries.

50.Yoga has its origins in India and has existed for over 5,000 years.

OTHER FACTS

1.  Adolf Hitler was Time's Man of the Year for 1938.

2.  A violin actually contains 70 separate pieces of wood.

3.  It took approximately 2.5 million blocks to build the Pyramid of Giza, which is one of the Great Pyramids.

4.  The Sea of Tranquility on the moon is deeper than the highest mountain on Earth.

5.  The first household refrigerator cost about $16,000, in today's money.

6.  A famous bullfighter, Lagarijo, killed 4,867 bulls in the 19th century.

7.  The largest pig on record was a Poland-China hog named Big Bill, who weighed 2,552 lbs.

8.  Carolyn Shoemaker, famous astronomer, has discovered 32 comets and approximately 300 asteroids.

9.  By recycling just one glass bottle, the amount of energy that is being saved is enough to light a 100 watt bulb for four hours.

10. In the United States, the first cookbook was published in 1796 and it contained a recipe for watermelon rind pickles.

11. In a lifetime, the average driver will honk 15,250 times. 

12. Buckingham Palace has over six hundred rooms.

13. Niagara Falls actually stopped flowing in 1848 for about 20 hours because there was ice that was blocking the Niagara River.

14. Fossilized bird droppings are one of the chief exports of Nauru, an island nation in the Western Pacific.

15. The colors yellow, red, and orange are used in fast food restaurants because those are the colors that stimulate hunger. 

*16.  Albert Einstein was offered the presidency of Israel in 1952, but he declined.

17.  A penguin swims at a speed of approximately 15 miles per hour.

18.  A baby octopus is about the size of a flea when it is born.

19.  If all the salt were to be extracted from the Earth's oceans, you would have enough salt to cover all of the continents five feet deep.

20. The country of Andorra has a zero percent unemployment rate.

22. In 1685, New France used playing cards as currency because of the shortage of coins.

23. In North America there are approximately 618 roller coasters.

24. If someone was to fly once around the surface of the moon, it would be equal to a round trip from New York to London.

25. Soldier’s disease is a term for morphine addiction. The Civil War produced over 400,000 morphine addicts.

26. According to Scientists, vampire bat saliva is the best known medicine for keeping blood from clotting.

27. The coliseum in Rome was used regularly for about 400 years.

28. Vincent Van Gogh's "Portrait of Dr. Gachet is the most expensive painting sold at an auction. It was purchased for $85.2 million dollars. 

29. There are about 125 million multiples (twins, triplets, etc.) worldwide.

30. One tree can filter up to sixty pounds of pollutants from the air each year.

31. A squash ball moving at 150 kilometers per hour has the same impact of a .22 bullet.

*32. Your brain is 80% water.

33. Poll results: Nachos is the food most craved by mothers-to-be.

34. The parents of Albert Einstein were worried that he was mentally slow because it took him a long time to learn how to speak.

35. The amount of aluminum that Americans throw out in three months is enough to rebuild all American commercial planes.

36. The material to build the Taj Mahal was brought in from various parts of India by a fleet of 1000 elephants. 

37.  Gardening is said to be one of the best exercises for maintaining healthy bones.

38.  The best time for a person to buy shoes is in the afternoon. This is because the foot tends to swell a bit around this time.

39.  Daytime dramas are called Soap Operas because they were originally used to advertise soap powder. In America in the early days of TV, advertisers would write stories around the use of their soap powder.

40.  The revenue that is generated from gambling is more than the revenue that comes from movies, cruise ships, recorded music, theme parks, and spectator sports combined.

41.  Angel Falls in Venezuela is the world's highest waterfall, at 979 meters. This waterfall is sixteen times the height of Niagara Falls.

42.  There are mirrors on the moon. Astronauts left them so that laser beams could be bounced off of them from Earth. These beams help give us the distance to the moon, give or take a few meters.

43.  There are six million parts in the Boeing 747-400. 

44.  At just four years old Mozart was able to learn a piece of music in half an hour.

45.  Bamboo plants can grow up to 36 inches in a day.

 

46.  Abraham Lincoln's mother died when she drank the milk of a cow that grazed on poisonous snakeroot.

47.  A galactic year is 250 million Earth-years. This is the time it takes for our solar system to make one revolution around the Milky Way Galaxy.

48.  Leather skin does not have any smell. The leather smell that you sense is actually derived from the materials used in the tanning process.

49.  In a year, an average person makes 1,140 phone calls.

50.  The largest ketchup bottle is a 170 feet (52 m) tall water tower.

51.  Every three seconds a baby is born somewhere in the world.

52.  The University of Plymouth was the first university to offer a degree in surfing.

53.  In only eight minutes, the Space Shuttle can accelerate to a speed of 27,000 kilometers per hour. 

54.  It takes about 570 gallons of paint to cover the outside of the current U.S. President's home, the White House.

55.  Central air conditioners use 98% more energy than ceiling fans.

56.  In 1989, twenty-three people were hired in Jacksonville Florida just to flush toilets so the pipes would not freeze.

57.  By weight, the sun is 70% hydrogen, 28% helium, 1.5% carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen, and 0.5% all other elements. 

58.  A Singapore singing group by the name of "The Oriental Singers," sang non-stop for 74 hours and five minutes.

59.  Hockey pucks were originally made from frozen cow dung.

60.  Enough paper is recycled in the USA every day, that a 15 mile long train of boxcars could be filled up with paper.

61.  People in France own more pets in the world per person than any other country. 

62.  There are dolphins that live in the Amazon River that are the color pink.

63.  The projection light used for IMAX theaters can be seen from space.

64.  An orca whale can hold its breath for up to 15 minutes.

65.  The Flintstones cartoon was the first thirty-minute cartoon to be aired during prime time.

66.  It has been suggested that shepherds are responsible for inventing the game golf. It is said that they used to use their staffs to hit the stones.

67.  Every day, over five billion gallons of water are flushed down toilets in the United States.

68.  There are about 6,800 languages in the world. 

69.  Bill Bowerman, founder of the shoe company Nike, got his first shoe idea after staring at a waffle iron. This gave him the idea of using squared spikes to make the shoes lighter.

70.  Every day, the Hubble telescope transmits enough data to fit 10,000 standard computer disks.

71.  A one kilogram packet of sugar will have about 5 million grains of sugar.

72.  In 1819, the USA purchased Florida from Spain for the cancellation of a $5 million debt.

73.  The three wealthiest families in the world have more assets than the combined wealth of the forty-eight poorest nations.

74.  A leech has 32 brains.

75.  Charlie Chaplin once lost a contest for a Charlie Chaplin look a like.