If you want to learn, you can learn a lot about Croatia. Mostly things that can come in handy in pub quizzes.
1. The official flower of the Republic of Croatia is Iris (perunika in Croatian – word derives from Perun – highest of all Slovenian gods, god of thunder).
2. Croatia has more than a thousand islands on the Adriatic sea - 1185 (66 inhabited). The name of the Adriatic sea, as well as its Croatian version Jadran, seem to originate from the ancient name of a very old Croatian city Zadar – Jadera.
3. The smallest town in the world - having city walls, two streets, two churches, and 23 inhabitants – is Hum (Istria).
4. Dalmatia is the coastal region of Croatia from the Kvarner Riviera in the north to Dubrovnik in the south. Dalmatia is named after the Dalmati, an Illyrian tribe who lived in the area around 1200 BC. The Dalmatian dog, also known as the Dubrovnik hunter, originally came from Dalmatia.
5. The necktie can be traced back to the time of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) when Croatian mercenaries from the Military Frontier in French service, wearing their traditional small, knotted neckerchiefs, aroused the interest of the Parisians. Due to the slight difference between the Croatian word for Croats, "Hrvati", and the French word, "Croates", the garment gained the name "Cravat".
6. Slavoljub Eduard Penkala became renowned for further development of the mechanical pencil (1906) – then called an "automatic pencil" – and the first solid-ink fountain pen (1907). Among his patented inventions were also a hot water bottle – his first patented invention, the "Termofor"; a type of bluing detergent, a rail-car brake, and an anode battery.
7.Auguste Marmont, Napoleon’s general, in his memories quotes Napoleon's words about Croatians: ˝If I had 100 000 Croatian soldiers I would conquer the World.˝
8. During European wars with Ottoman Empire (Turkish) Croatia was a shield that defended Europe. In that time Croatia lost most of its territory and it was often referred to as Relics of the relics of the famous Croatian kingdom - "Reliquiae reliquiarum olim magni et inclyti regni Croatiae".
9. The first quarantine was practiced as a measure of disease prevention related to the plague. The word "quarantine" originates from the Venetian dialect form of the Italian quaranti giorni, meaning 'forty days'. This is due to the 40-day isolation of ships and people prior to entering the city of Dubrovnik in Dalmatia.
10. Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), Croatian Serb, was the most known scientist. Tesla registered patents for over seven hundred inventions and in 1942 the American Supreme Court decided that it was Tesla who invented the radio and not Marconi. Electricity, as we know it today, is also one of his inventions. Tesla refused a joint Nobel Prize with T.A Edison.
11. Croatian stone is one of the biggest Croatian (Dalmatian) prides. Stone from island Hvar was built in the German parliament – Reichstag, and the stone from the island of Brač – in the White house.