Amazing Things about Capital Cities

 

1.In the late eighteenth century, there were around 63,000 prostitutes working in London - amazingly, this was around one in every five women! They generated an annual turnover of around £1.5 billion (in today’s money), and the famous prostitutes were the celebrities of their time, one of the most well-known being Lady Hamilton, Lord Nelson’s mistress. 

 

2.In 1251, the King of Norway gave Henry III a polar bear as a present. He kept it in the grounds of the tower of London on a chain that was long enough to allow it to swim in the river Thames. 

 

3.Property is often left on the trains of the London Underground. Unusual items that have found their way into the lost property office include a coffin, a samurai sword, a stuffed puffer fish and a human skull. 

 

4.Berlin’s Zoologischer Gardens is the largest zoo in the world, containing 14,000 animals of 1,500 different species. 

 

5.There is a real medical condition for which Japanese tourists are sometimes treated after visiting Paris. It is called Paris Syndrome, and symptoms include depression and nausea due to realising that the city isn’t as beautiful and romantic as they had previously been led to believe. 

 

6.In the early 20th century, one of the most popular visitor attractions in Paris was a human zoo, which millions of people visited every year to see ‘specimens’ from Madagascar, India, China, Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco and the Congo. 

 

7.In 1450, a pack of wolves killed and ate forty people in the middle of Paris. The leader of the wolves was called Courtaud (which translates as ‘Bobtail’) and was said to be a deep red in colour. The wolves were lured into the heart of the city and were speared and stoned to death in front of Notre Dame Cathedral. 

 

8.The Washington Monument is just one part of the original design - there were due to be another thirty or so columns and statues of famous Revolutionary Americans. Unfortunately, the entire budget was used on the tower, and there was nothing left for the rest. 

 

9.Bangkok, capital of Thailand is the city holds the record for the world’s longest place name. Its full ceremonial name is Krungthepmahanakhon Amonrattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharatratchathaniburirom Udomratchaniwetmahasathan Amonphimanawatansathit Sakkathattiyawitsanukamprasit. 

 

10.The Vatican City has a much higher crime rate than any other world capital. In 2006, there were more crimes reported than there are citizens; this is of course due to the huge number of tourists visiting the Holy See, and the majority of the crimes are of course not committed by its inhabitants.