Portal:Poland/Did you know: Difference between revisions
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...that from [[1572]] until [[1791]] [[King of Poland|Polish kings]] were '''[[free election|elected]]''' by the [[szlachta]]? |
...that from [[1572]] until [[1791]] [[King of Poland|Polish kings]] were '''[[free election|elected]]''' by the [[szlachta]]? |
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...that the Polish climber '''[[Jerzy Kukuczka]]''' became only the second man to climb all fourteen [[eight-thousanders]]? |
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Revision as of 23:54, 12 June 2005
Did you know...
...that the Henryk Arctowski Polish Antarctic Station was founded in 1977 and is situated in the Admiralty Bay, King George Island?
...that in the Polish language the numeral "two" has all of 13 different forms: dwa, dwaj, dwie, dwu, dwóch, dwom, dwóm, dwoma, dwiema, dwoje, dwojga, dwojgu and dwojgiem?
...that according to Polish folk belief, it is unlucky to get married in any month that does not have the letter "r" in its name (in the Polish language such unlucky months are: styczeń/January, luty/February, kwiecień/April, maj/May, lipiec/July)?
...that it is traditional to have an additional place-setting at the Wigilia (Christmas Eve) table for a stranger?
...that during the partitions of Poland the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau advised the Poles: "If you can't prevent being swallowed, then at least make sure they don't digest you"?
...that Poland's last execution took place when a serial killer was hanged in Kraków in 1988, the last year of communist rule?
...that Poland's earliest capitals had been in Gniezno and Poznań, then Kraków and finally Warsaw?
...that whistling in a Polish theatre or stadium is an expression of an audience's displeasure and is the same as booing or jeering in America?
...that Poland is the only country whose uniformed personnel use the two-finger salute?
...that the semi-legendary Polish sailor Jan z Kolna reached the shores of The Americas prior to Columbus in 1476?
...that the world's highest railway was built in 1871-1876 in the Peruvian Andes by Polish engineer Ernest Malinowski?
...that the world petroleum industry was founded by Ignacy Łukasiewicz?
...that the Battle of Warsaw in 1920 has been called the 18th most decisive battle in world history?
...that the Polish engineer Edmund Obiala directed the the construction of the Olympic Stadium in Sydney, Australia ?
...that Warsaw is Europe's third biggest construction site after Berlin and Moscow?
...that the statue of Poland's King Zygmunt III Waza was the first secular figure to be placed atop a column anywhere in Europe?
...that the world's largest sculpture, the Crazy Horse Memorial was begun in 1948 by the Polish-American sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski?
...that Rogalin near Poznan has Europe's largest concentration of old oak trees (about 1,000 old trees)?
...that the American banking family of Chase, as in Chase Manhattan, is descended from Polish Jews whose original name was "Cieśla", which means "carpenter" in Polish?
...that contrary to prevailing Western beliefs that consign Poland to Eastern Europe, Poland is actually situated in the very heart of Europe (the town of Suchowola in northeastern Podlasie Voivodship is located at the very geographic center of the European continent)?
...that the chivalrous custom of kissing women's hands is still common in Poland?
...that Poles often call themselves the Nation of the free people?
...that Poland was the fourth largest contributor to the Allied effort in the European theater, after the Soviet Union, the United States, and Britain and its Commonwealth during the Second World War?
...that the longest word in the Polish language is "Konstantynopolitanczykowianeczka", which means a "little girl from Constantinople"?
...that according to a legend a dragon called the Smok Wawelski, lived in a cave under the Wawel Hill on the banks of the Vistula river?
...that a 62-year-old retired coal-miner Oswald Górecki of Zabrze has built a model of the Eiffel Tower using 450,000 wooden matches?
...that according to a legend Prince Popiel was eaten alive by mice in the tower of Kruszwica?
...that the only remaining ancient virginal forest in Europe, the Bialowieza Forest , is situated on the Polish-Belorusian border and that the last free-living Wisents (Polish: Żubry) living there?
...that the Hejnal Mariacki is played on the towers of St. Mary's Church in Krakow, four times an hour in four different directions, but never to the end and the melody always ends abruptly?
...that the szlachta (Polish nobility) believed to be alleged descendents of the Sarmatians?
...that during the Crusades the Polish prince Leszek the White explained to the pope that Polish knights couldn't participate in the crusades because there is no mead in Palestine?
...that the Polish Air Forces "Kościuszko Squadron" achieved the highest number of kills from amoungst 66 Allied fighter squadrons engaged in the Battle of Britain?
...that the most famous tree in Poland is Bartek, an about 1200 years old oak?
...that Miroslaw Hermaszewski was the first citizen of Poland to make a spaceflight in 1978?
...that the Rally of Poland (Rajd Polski) is the second oldest rally in the world after the famous classic Monte Carlo?
...that the Polish alchemist Michal Sedziwój assumed that air contains oxygen, 170 years before Scheele and Priestley?
...that the most famous Polish knight was Zawisza Czarny?
...that Maria Skłodowska-Curie a Polish chemist and pioneer in the early field of radiology and a two-time Nobel laureate, discovered the elements radium and polonium?
...that the biggest medieval battle was fought in the plains between the villages of Grunwald and Stębark?
...that from 1572 until 1791 Polish kings were elected by the szlachta?
...that the Polish climber Jerzy Kukuczka became only the second man to climb all fourteen eight-thousanders?