Facts about cultures and customs around the world
The oldest dish
Pancake is the oldest dish of all. Even Stone Age people baked it! The basic recipe- milk, eggs and flour- is the same the world over, but the kind of flour changes from place to place.
Chanoyu
Chanoyu is Japan’s special ancient tea ceremony. The tea is made slowly and sipped so carefully, that it takes about half of a day to have a cup of tea.
Table manners
Table manners change from place to place. The British think you are rude if you put your elbows on the table, while the French think it’s perfectly all right!
Where marriage costs more
On the island of Madagascar, a man makes a speech to his bride –to- be before she will marry him. If the speech is not good, he pays a fine and starts again!
New technique of harvesting
In Thailand, coconut farmers train monkeys to harvest their coconut crop. The monkeys scamper up the trunks of the palm trees and thrown down the fruits.
Passenger pushers
Train in Tokyo, Japan, are so crowded that railway staff called crushers have to push in the passengers and close the doors.
Green food
In Ireland, people eat green food and drink green liquid on Saint Patrick’s Day. It is celebrated on March 17, every year. Green is the national colors of Ireland.
Great voyages
Fact abut voyages, discoveries and exploration
*In 1580 AD, Sir Francis drake became the first Englishman to sail round the world. En route, he visited what is now California.
*In 330 BC the Greek sailor Pytheas sailed out into the Atlantic through the straits of Gibraltar and hound his way to ``Thuele’.
*Around AD 1000 the Viking Leif Ericsson became the first European to cross the Atlantic to reach North America.
*In 1405 AD Chinese admiral Cheng Ho began a series of seven epic voyages around the Indian Ocean in huge fleet of junks.
*In 1492 AD Genoese Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic from Cadiz in Spain and discovered the new world. His ship was the Santa Maria.
*From 1499 – 1504, Italian Amerigo Vespucci sailed to Atlantic and realized South America was a continent. America is named after him.
*In 1492 AD Italian John Cabot crossed the north Atlantic from Bristol in England and discovered Canada.
*In 1498 AD Portuguese Vasco da Gama became the first European to reach India by sea, sailing all round Africa.
*In 1642 AD Dutchman Abel Tasman sailed to what is now Australia and New Zealand. The island of Tasmania is named after him.
*From 1768 -79 James Cook explored the south Pacific in his ship the endeavor and landed at Botany Bay.