One of the Earth's hottest and driest places, Sahara Desert might not seem like a likely spot for a bit of snowfall. However, the near-impossible has actually happened a few times. The first record snowfall was in 1979 – the snowstorm lasted around half an hour. Most recently, it happened in 2018, when the desert was covered in a blanket of snow for almost a day before melting under the hot sun.
Here are more out-of-season weather events that shocked the world
Egypt might be famous for its pyramids and the ancient history surrounding them but it's actually Sudan that has the most. There are more than 220 pyramids – around twice as many as in Egypt – in the Sudanese region of Nubia. And if you think the name sounds familiar, that's because it was actually part of the Egyptian Empire for centuries. Several of Ancient Egypt's pharaohs were also of Nubian decent.
Uluru, or Ayer's Rock, is well known as one of Australia's most significant landmarks. Rising higher than the Eiffel Tower, Uluru can actually be seen from space so you might be surprised to find there's actually an even bigger rock. Monumental Mount Augustus in Western Australia is twice the size of Uluru, rising 3,625 feet (1,105m) above sea level and covering an area of 18.5 square miles (48sq km). However, it's still disputed whether this is the world's largest single rock as Mount Augustus may be composed of many layers of sand and gravel rather a single rock.
We all know the iconic images of San Francisco's Lombard Street winding down the steep slope, but it's not even the steepest street in the city (that's Filbert Street). The current world's steepest street record holder is Baldwin Street in Dunedin, New Zealand. The street lies at a gradient of 34.8% and rises from 90 feet (27m) above sea level at its bottom to 330 feet (100m) at the top.
A common belief, this "fact" is nothing more than a space-based myth. The fact was disproven by a Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei, who confirmed in 2003 that the historic structure couldn't be seen from the International Space Station, let alone the Moon. It's thought that because the wall follows the natural contours and colors of the surrounding landscape, it's impossible to see it with the naked eye.
As Canada's largest and most populous city, Toronto might seem like a likely candidate for the honor of the capital city. In fact, a Washington Post poll showed that 73% of Americans were sure about Toronto as the Canadian capital. In reality, it's only the provincial capital of Ontario and the true capital lies some 280 miles (450km) away. Ottawa earned the official title in 1866.
When visiting London, you'll find a trip to the Buckingham Palace on most travelers' itineraries. It only makes sense that this would also be the Queen's official residence as it's located right at the center of the British capital. Well, while the Queen does reside in Buckingham Palace, her official London residence, the real official residence and also her private home is 21 miles (34km) outside of London in Windsor Castle – the world's largest inhabited castle.
Dutch cities like Amsterdam and Utrecht do feature on the list, but it's actually Copenhagen that's been declared the most bike-friendly city for several years in a row. It's estimated that normally around 62% of the city's residents cycle to work or school, clocking in a total of 894,000 miles (1,438,000km) cycled every day. By 2019 there were already more than 250 miles (402km) of bike lanes in Copenhagen and around 600 miles (966km) in the greater Copenhagen area.
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COVID-19 restrictions aside, it's a common misconception that traveling to Iran isn't possible. Generally, Iran is a very safe country to travel to, most Westerners just need a travel visa. It's worth noting, though, that Iran doesn't recognize dual passport holders and Canadian, American and British tourists in particular face a greater risk of arrest, questioning and detention. They can also only travel to Iran as part of an organized tour.
With 12 time zones stretching both east and west from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), it makes sense that the world is divided into 24 time zones. Except it doesn't. There are some time zones that only have 30 or 45 minute offsets. Then the International Date Line complicates things further as it doesn't run in an imaginary straight line and on top of that not all countries follow Daylight Saving Time which creates further confusion. Currently, there are 38 defined time zones – 24 standard time zones plus 14 time offsets.
This one is a bit hard to get your head around. The westernmost point of the US is the outer Aleutian Islands, located right between Russia and Alaska. But what if we told you it's also the country's most easternmost point? This is only because the easternmost point on the uninhabited Semisopochnoi Island in Alaska sits less than 10 miles (16km) west of the 180-degree meridian that separates the two hemispheres. In simple terms, this point is so far west, it's actually already in the east. That means the easternmost and westernmost points of the US are only 65 miles (105km) apart.
If we're talking about continental United States, it obviously is Key West in Florida. But take all 50 states into account and it's actually in Hawaii. Ka Lae, also known as the South Point, on the Big Island of Hawaii sits roughly on the same parallel as central Mexico. It's also believed to be the first place Polynesians reached when they came to Hawaii in as early as AD 750.
Arguably North America's most famous river, it's quite understandable why the Mississippi might be mistaken for the longest as well. In reality, the title is held by the Missouri River that runs a course of 2,540 miles (4,088km) – 200 miles (322km) more than the Mississippi, according to the US Geological Survey. The Missouri is formed by the confluence of three other rivers in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Montana and flows all the way to north of St Louis, where it joins the Mississippi River.
It's understandable why Norway might seem like the obvious candidate, but its remote archipelago of Svalbard is actually only fourth on the list after Russia, Canada and Greenland. Lying at the northern tip of Greenland, the Kaffekluben Island (yes, that translates as the Coffee Club Island) is just 443 miles (713km) from the North Pole. And as Greenland is still a part of Denmark, it technically makes this European country the northernmost in the world.
The small yellow songbirds are actually named after the islands, but where does the name itself come from then? The Latin term for the island is Insula Canaria, meaning the Island of Dogs. The story goes that Mauritanian king Juba II sent an expedition to the islands, who then reported finding "vast multitudes of dogs of very large size". Pliny the Elder recorded the discoveries in AD 77 and specifically referred to the big dogs. Today, it's thought that the expedition party might have mistaken Lanzarote's and Fuerteventura's big colonies of monk seals for dogs.
For a long time those who assumed English was the most popular language in the world were quickly corrected that actually it's Chinese (Mandarin). Well, not anymore. Research carried out in 2019 showed that in the last decade English has overtaken Spanish and Chinese (Mandarin) to claim the top spot with 1.2 billion native and second language speakers. It's a different story when it comes to native speakers though – Chinese is top with 1.3 billion speakers (including around 917 million who speak Mandarin).
Both Russia and Turkey have significant parts of the country that lie in Europe and Asia, but turns out they're not the only two. The three Transcaucasian nations of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia are situated right on the imaginary line between Europe and Asia. Similarly, portions of Egypt and Panama are separated by Suez and Panama Canals respectively. That means the eastern part of Egypt sits in the Middle East, which is in Asia, and the Panama Canal (pictured) is often regarded as the border between North and South America, splitting the country over two continents.
Although not technically wrong, a heated debate surrounds the title of the world's longest river. Most of us probably learned in school that the river Nile is the world's longest. However, an expedition in 2007 traced the Amazon river's source to mountains in southern Peru thus extending its length to 4,345 miles (6,992km). Although, because of the Amazon's complex and variable streambed, affected by seasonal factors, an accurate measure is complicated to get and the total length remains open to interpretation.
Undoubtedly Route 66 is America's most famous and storied highway, featured in many a movie, but it's more than a thousand miles (1,609km) shorter than America's longest. That title goes to US 20 – an east-west highway that stretches the whole width of the country, from the Pacific Northwest to New England. Covering 3,365 miles (5,415km), it crosses 12 states and runs parallel to the newer I-90 (Interstate 90).
Sorry Mont Blanc, it's Mount Elbrus. Located in the western Caucasus mountain range, near the Georgian-Russian border, Mount Elbrus is technically an inactive volcano rather than a mountain. Rising 18,510 feet (5,641m), it's part of the Caucasus Range that separates Europe and Asia, but most geographers place the towering mountain in Europe. It's also a certified member of the seven summits – the highest mountains on each continent.
If you're not from the UK, you might be using terms England and the UK interchangeably, but actually England is just one of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom – there's also Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. What’s more, the term Great Britain only refers to the island that contains England, Scotland and Wales, hence the country's full name The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
A popular story says that Walt Disney ensured a secret suite was built for his family within the Cinderella Castle at Disney's Magic Kingdom. It's true that there is a Cinderella Castle Suite inside, however, Walt Disney had nothing to do with it as he died around four years before the construction was even started. In reality, the suite was created specifically for Disney's Year of a Million Dreams celebrations in 2007 in the unused space. Today, only those who've won competitions or have been invited to stay can spend the night within the castle walls.
Something called Mercator projection, a type of map introduced in the 16th century, is the reason why our understanding of the world and the size of the continents and countries is extremely skewed. In reality, Greenland is not much bigger than the Arabian Peninsula, while Africa is large enough to hold the US, China, India, Japan, Mexico and most of Europe.
It kind of is... and isn't. The statue is officially recognized as a National Monument under the state of New York, however, the island itself (as well as Ellis Island) reside in the waters of New Jersey. To complicate things further, New York has had jurisdiction over the two islands since 1834 with New Jersey ruling the water surrounding the islands. When both islands were artificially expanded, a 1987 ruling split Ellis Island between the states while there's still been no court ruling over Liberty Island.
A similar issue concerns the Netherlands. Holland is often used when people speak about the Netherlands, but due to complicated history it's not one and the same. In simple terms, the Netherlands consists of 12 different provinces. Only two of the provinces, Noord- (North) and Zuid-Holland (South), form Holland. Other countries started calling the country Holland as this area made the biggest contribution to the entire nation's wealth in the 19th century and was a major maritime power before that.