In the United States, we’ve all heard of the commonly talked-about Native American tribes; the Iroquois, the Navajo, the Lakota, the Cherokee. And some of us know the local tribe whose land we live on; the Chinook, the Seminole, the Ojibwe, and so on. But did you know that a majority of Native languages spoken by indigenous people are not related to each other whatsoever?

We’ve all heard of Hawai’i being the USA’s 50th state. And some of us know that Hawai’i became a state in 1959. But did you know that Hawai’i was annexed by the United States over 60 years prior to it becoming a state - and that it was not a peaceful transition, in fact it was a coup d’etat?

We’ve all heard of the Iron Age. And some of us know that this age is characterized by the production of weaponry through ironworking, aka metallurgy. At least in Europe and the Ancient Near East. But did you know that ironworking was developed in West Africa as many as 800 years before it came to Ancient Greece?

We’ve all heard of the Brothers Grimm and their fairy tales. And some of us know that they published these tales after roaming the countryside collecting folklore. But did you know that Jacob Grimm also published many other books, specifically about German grammar, and has his own law of linguistics, called Grimm’s Law? 

We’ve all heard of Germany’s militaristic past. And some of us know a lot about either Kaiser Wilhelm or Adolf Hitler, the two men at Germany’s helm at the start of both 20th century World Wars. But did you know that between the two World Wars, Germany was actually a hotbed for absurdist and avant-garde art, organic farming and nudism, as well as expressionist film and literature?