India is a huge country with history that dates backs to several hundred BC. So it is obvious that there are a lot of facts about our country that we don’t know. Well, let’s solve that problem with some of the most intriguing facts about India that you probably never knew.
#01
The ‘Place Value System’ and the ‘Decimal System’ were developed in India in 100 B.C.
#02
Shampooing is an Indian concept. The word ‘shampoo’ has been derived from the Sanskrit word ‘champu’, which means massage.
#03
Water on the moon was discovered by India. In September 2009, India’s ISRO Chandrayaan- 1 detected water on the moon for the first time in the world.
#04
Science day in Switzerland is dedicated to Ex-Indian President, APJ Abdul Kalam. Switzerland declared May 26th as Science Day after a visit by APJ Abdul Kalam in 2006.
#05
The first rocket in India was transported on a cycle. It was so light and small that it could be transported on a bicycle to the Thumba Launching Station in Kerala.
#06
The Human Calculator: Shakuntla Devi solved a problem involving two 13 digit numbers which were picked at random. She did it in just 28 seconds. After which she was awarded the title of The Human Calculator.
#07
Takshila is said to be the first every university in the world; it started around 700 BC.
#08
India has the world’s largest school in terms of students, the City Montessori School in Lucknow. It has more than 45 thousand students.
#09
The whole region of Kashmir was “bought” for a measly 7.5 million rupees in the mid 19th century by the Hindu rulers. It even had a bill of sale.
#10
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.
#11
A floating post office: The floating post office in Dal Lake, Srinagar, was inaugurated in August 2011.
#12
Kumbh Mela gathering visible from space. The 2011 Kumbh Mela was the largest gathering of people with over 75 million pilgrims.
#13
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.
#14
The Indian national Kabaddi team has won all World Cups. India 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.
#15
India has a spa just for elephants. Elephants receive baths, massages and even food at the Punnathoor Cotta Elephant Yard Rejuvenation Centre in Kerala.
#16
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.
#17
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.
#18
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.
#19
Largest number of vegetarians in the world. Around 20-40% of Indians are vegetarians, making it the largest vegetarian-friendly country in the world.
#20
India has been the largest troop contributor to the United Nations Peacekeeping Missions since its inception.
#21
India has three antarctic stations, Dakshin Gangotri, Maitri and Bharathi.
#22
India has more mosques (300,000 mosques) than any other nation in the world.
#23
Magnetic Hill is a gravity hill located near Leh in Ladakh, India. The hill is alleged to have magnetic properties strong enough to pull cars uphill and force passing aircraft to increase their altitude in order to escape magnetic interference.
#24
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.
#25
Lonar Lake, a saltwater lake in Maharashtra, was created by a meteor hitting the Earth and is one of its kinds in India.
#26
Snakes and Ladders and Chess were invented in India.
#27
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. Near 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.
#28
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.
#29
Rabindranath Tagore was also offered knighthood by the British but refused the honor after the Jalianwala Bagh massacre.
#30
Viswanathan Anand is the first player in chess history to have won the World Championship in three different formats: knockout, tournament, and match.
#31
Freddie Mercury and Ben Kingsley are both of Indian descent. Freddie Mercury’s name was Farrokh Bulsara while Ben Kingsley’s name was Krishna Pandit Bhanji.
#32
India recently overtook the European Union with production reaching over 132.4m tonnes in 2014.
#33
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.
#34
Dhyan Chand was offered German citizenship. After defeating Germany 8-1 in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Major Dhyan Chand 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 declined the offer.
#35
Havell’s is actually an Indian brand. 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.
#36
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.
#37
That there are people of African origins living in India for the last 1400 years. They are known as Siddi.
#38
More than 54 crore people voted in the 2014 General Election – more people than the population of USA, UK, Australia and Japan combined.
#39
Number of births in India every year is more than the total population of Australia, and many other nations.
#40
India has the third largest Muslim population in the world.
#41
Buttons were invented in India. The ones that are on apparels.
#42
Rulers, the measuring instruments, were invented in India.
#43
India has banned all captive dolphins, stating that dolphins should be viewed of non human persons.
#44
The India-Pakistan World Cup semi-final match in Mohali drew 150 million viewers worldwide.
#45
Indian Railways employs more than 1.3 million people. That’s more than the population of many nations.
#46
The Tirupati Balaji temple and the Kashi Vishwanath Temple both, receive more visitors than the Vatican City and Mecca combined.
#47
The world’s largest road network is in India—over 1.9 million miles of roads cover the country.
#48
Martial Arts was first created in India.
#49
Pizza Hut, McDonalds and KFC had to introduce a vegetarian menu only for India.
#50
India has never invaded or attacked a country. All of India’s wars were in defense of its own territories.