Incredible Facts Around the World

“Famous” Miser

Many years ago in France, there lived a man named Meynard, one of the richest landowners. For sixty years he had his meals from an open drawer in his writing desk so that he could close it immediately if a guest arrived.

297 Years to Write a Book

It took the French Academy 297 years to write a book of 263 pages. This book was called “French Grammar” and was written from 1635 to 1932. When it was finally published, it still contained 50 mistakes.

The Christmas Tide

In December 1940, Mrs. A. E. Gadsby in Canada sent a Christmas parcel to her daughter in Prestwick, Scotland. The ship carrying the parcel was sunk by the Germans near the west coast of Ireland. Luckily, a favorable tide carried the parcel to the shore near Prestwick. The parcel was wet, but the address could be read easily, and it reached Mrs. Gadsby's daughter two days after Christmas.

Fishermen's Custom

The fishermen in the seaport of Saint Malo, France, never keep the first fish they catch in the season. As soon as they pull the first fish out of the water, they pour half a bottle of wine into its mouth and throw it back. They believe that all the other fish will gather around it, smell the wine, and come to the surface to be caught.

Sweet and Salty

Sambhar Lake in India is 80 square miles in area and is sometimes sweet and sometimes salty. During eight months of the year, there is so much salt that 200,000 tons of sodium chloride are collected from the lake between October and May. The lake provides salt for all Central India.

For the other four months—from June to September—the salt disappears and the water is sweet. These months are the rainy season. After the rainy season, the lake becomes salty again.

The Strangest Street in the World

There are 3,658 people in the French town of Ponts-de-Ce. The town has only one street, which is 2 miles long. The street crosses 3 islands and 4 bridges, and people live along its entire length!