Fun facts about different things (inspired by the game world)

Ashraf

Fun Facts about cows.

🔴 Cows are devotional mothers and are known to walk for miles to find their calves.

Ashraf

Fun Facts about cows.

🔴 Cattle get excited when they solve problems. When faced with a challenge of finding out how to open a door to reach food, their heartbeat goes up, their brainwaves shows excitement, and some even jump into the air.

Ashraf

Bubble Gum Fun Facts: 

🔴 The head of the Philadelphia Chewing Gum Company (who happens to be the makers of Swell Bubble Gum), Edward L. Fenimore, has been said to have blown a bubble within a bubble within a bubble, that is, a triple whammy.

Ashraf

Fun Facts about wooden German Nutcrackers

The wooden nutcrackers that were created in the early years by the Erzgebirge wood carvers were given to children as Christmas presents. It is said in German legend that the possession of a nutcracker in a home will bring good luck to all that live there, and also to the home itself.

Some claim the origins of the nutcracker was not to originally crack open nut shells but to mock local politicians that were not doing their job correctly. The tops of them were in the shapes of people. Resemblance to real people was just a coincidence it is said. The mouths were also used to crack the nuts. This could be by a lever or a screw action device. The saying “a nut is hard to crack” is in reference to the bad politicians of the time since they never listened to the people they were governing.

Ashraf

Fun Facts about wooden German Nutcrackers

The largest collection of German Nutcrackers in the world has 4,334 of them in one place. This is a nutcracker museum and is owned by the Loschner Family in the town of Neuhausen, Germany.

Nut crackers made of wood first used a leather strap to force 2 pieces of wood together. 

In the dictionary of the Brothers Grimm is the term Nutcracker. The definition is “often in the form of a misshaped little man, in whose mouth the nut, by means of a lever or screw, is cracked open”. 

Wilhelm Fuchtner is the father of the wooden nutcrackers. With the use of a mechanical lathe he began mass producing the same version of a nutcracker in the year of 1872. He was an old miner from the Ore Mountain area of Germany. His family is carrying on the creating of wooden Nutcrackers, and now the sixth generation Fuchtner is busy creating wooden German Nutcrackers. The Fuchtner family still makes some of the finest Nutcrackers available, and they are highly collectible, and often are signed by one of the Feuchtner family members who are creating these whimsical fellows.

Ashraf

Fun Facts about wooden German Nutcrackers

In 2008 the largest known nutcracker was made and put on display in Germany. It stands 33 feet and 1 inch tall and is included in the Guinness World Records Book.

The menacing look on the faces of nutcrackers originates as part of a protest back in the days when kings and war lords ruled the land in Germany. Often, German Nutcrackers are representative of the power people back in the late 1800s. That list would include the King Nutcrackers, Nightwatchmen Nutcrackers and Forest Warden Nutcrackers whose job was to catch the local poachers, which were more often than not, the hungry miners trying to feed his family by hunting on the Kings land. It is believed the frowning look that some Nutcrackers have show the evil the powerful possessed and inflicted on the local inhabitants. Presently, many figurines of the past come to life in the German Nutcracker, such as the Chimney Sweep Nutcracker, who brings good luck to all who have him in their home.

Nutcrackers historically come in a wide variety of shapes and colors. Most from Germany are made out of wood, but a few were made from bone and porcelain. Those were for decoration purposes only and can still be seen in many of the museums in Germany today.

Ashraf

Interesting Facts and Details About "The Nutcracker" Ballet

The classic fairy-tale ballet "The Nutcracker" popular the world over and performed at Christmas time, revolves around the personal awakening of a young girl over one Christmas holiday. The well-known Christmas story has been published in books, including colorful books for children. It has become the most frequently performed ballet in the world.

Fact 1: Tchaikovsky Composed the Music

In 1891, world-renowned Imperial Russian Ballet choreographer Marius Petipa commissioned Peter Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) to compose the music for Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) adaptation of E.T.A. Hoffman’s (1776-1882) fantasy story “​The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.”

Fact 2: The Story Originally Wasn't for Children

The story is about a girl who befriends a nutcracker that comes to life on Christmas Eve and wages a battle against the evil Mouse King. Hoffman's original work showed humanity's dark-sided nature and was definitely not appropriate for children. Choreographer Petipa chose to follow a light adaptation of the story written by Dumas — a prolific French author in the 19th century.

Fact 3: It Premiered in St. Petersburg in 1892

"The Nutcracker" ballet premiered at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg on December 18, 1892. It was performed along with Tchaikovsky's one-act opera "Iolanta."

Fact 4: Tchaikovsky Didn't Think It Compared to His Other Scores

In 1892, Tchaikovsky finished composing the music for "The Nutcracker." Afterward, he wrote that he felt the fairy-tale's music was "infinitely poorer" than that of "Sleeping Beauty" which he finished two years prior. It was the last of his three ballets — the first of which was "Swan Lake"

Fact 5: The Sugar Plum Fairy's Sound Was Based on a New Instrument

Tchaikovsky based the "voice" of the Sugar Plum Fairy on a new instrument he discovered in Paris: the celesta. The instrument had a clear, bell-like tone with ethereal notes, perfect for the fairy-tale ambiance of "The Nutcracker." He also used children's toys as instruments in keeping with the tale as a children's story.

Fact 6: The Nutcracker Suite Was a Precursor to the Ballet

Despite Tchaikovsky's feelings toward the music in "The Nutcracker," he released "The Nutcracker Suite" prior to the ballet's premiere. The suite was a success.

Fact 7: Vsevolojsky Was Instrumental to the Ballet's Existence

Without Ivan Alexandrovitch Vsevolojsky, "The Nutcracker" ballet may not have happened. He was responsible for gathering and securing the artists and talent involved with creating the ballet.

Fact 8: Two Different Choreographers Created "The Nutcracker"

Choreographer Petipa became ill during the creation of "The Nutcracker" and withdrew. His assistant of seven years, Lev Ivanov, took his place and completed the choreography. Though Ivanov's style of dance differed from Petipa, it was hardly noticeable, as Petipa left strict guidelines for Ivanov to follow.

Fact 9: The Very First Performers

The first performance of the Christmas ballet was conducted by Riccardo Drigo. Antoinetta Dell-Era was the Sugar Plum Fairy and Pavel Gerdt was her prince. Stanislava Belinskaya played Clara/Masha, Sergei Legat was the Nutcracker Prince and Timofei Stukolkin was Uncle Drosselmeyer.

Fact 10: The First Full-Length Production Was in the U.S.

The Christmas ballet was first performed outside of Russia in England in 1934, but the full-length production first appeared in the United States in 1944 at the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the direction of William Christensen.