Dalmatian dogs

Although you might think that the original cartoon from the 1960s was based on a new breed of dog, the reality is different. The Dalmatian dog got it’s name from Dalmatia, the beautiful region of Croatia where it served as a family and work dog. Since Dalmatia was under the rule of Venice, it spread to there, and it became a noble dog in the 19th century in England.

Flashlight for astronauts

Anthony Maglica, the owner of the well-known company Mag-Lite, comes from Dalmatian island Zlarin. Mag-Lite flashlights are among the ten most famous American export products, used by astronauts and deep sea explorers, amongst others

Game of Thrones

Like GOT? Well then get on a plane and come to Split and hike to Klis or well known filming location Dubrovnik, the Pearl of the Adriatic, as the famous English poet Lord Byron called it.  Why? Because King’s Landing, the home of the Lannisters, is the actual Old town of Dubrovnik. Apart from that, several other locations near Dubrovnik were used in the filming of the popular TV show.

Necktie is Croatian

It’s a fact, we Croatians gave the world a symbol of it’s culture, the necktie. The modern necktie spread by Europe traces back to the time of the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) when Croatian mercenaries from the Croatian Military Frontier in French service, wearing their traditional small, knotted neckerchiefs, aroused the interest of the Parisien. Due to the slight difference between the Croatian word for Croats, Hrvati, and the French word, Croates, the garment gained the name “cravat” (“cravate” in French). The boy-king Louis XIV began wearing a lace cravat about 1646, when he was seven, and set the fashion for French nobility. This new article of clothing started a fashion craze in Europe, the rest is history.

Nikola Tesla was born in Croatia

Nikola Tesla, the man without whom the modern world would not look the way it does and the inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer who is best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current electricity supply system was born in Croatia, in the small village of Smiljan. It’s just near the main A1 highway in Croatia which connects Zagreb (capital) and Split (Dalmatia), and there is a Tesla museum in his home village which is open for public.

We have the smallest town in the world

Hum is located in Istria, and it really is the smallest town in the world, without a doubt. It was confirmed so by the Guinness World Records book. The first mention of it was in documents dating from 1102, at which time it was called Cholm which is derived from the Italian name Colmo. It has a population of 21 as per the 2011 census, but is officially a town.

The pen is Croatian

If you have a pen somewhere near, you will be surprised to find that it’s origin is Croatian, as well as it’s name. It was invented in 1906. by Slavoljub Eduard Penkala as the mechanical Pencil, then called the ‘automatic pencil’. He also invented the solid-ink fountain pen a year later and among his 80 patents was a hot water bottle – the ‘Termofor’.

The best electric hypercar in the world is Croatian

Rimac Automobili, a young start-up is based in Croatia and it has one very exclusive product – an all-electric hypercar Concept One which is produced by hand, is an all-Croatian product, and it costs a 1,6 million dollars. However, the Concept One is not the only thing Rimac Automobili produces – it also is the maker of electric drive and batteries for Aston Martin Valkyrie, a 3 million dollars Formula 1 one derived hypercar.

Truffles are a Croatian thing too

Like truffles? Maybe you ate some Alba ones from Italy? Well, chances are that they may have been from Croatia, where in Istria truffles, black and white, have been hunted down and used in cuisine for centuries. We have black and white truffles, and Buzet in Istria is known as the city of truffles.

 We have an extremely diverse cuisine

If you want to eat well – come to Croatia. Because of it’s geopolitical positioning Croatia haw been the interest of many conquerors over the centuries, which has made our cuisine a combination of Mediterranean, oriental (Turkish), Austrian and even French cuisine, the latter because of Napoleon’s 50 year rule in some parts of Croatia. Also, Croatian old wine variety, Crljenak Kastelanski, is the same grape variety as Zinfandel, which was proven by a DNA test.

Early inventor from Croatia invented the parachute in 17 century

Faust Vrancic (1551-1617) is known as the inventor of the parachute who constructed a device based on Da Vinci’s drawings. He constructed a rectangular parachute and tested it by jumping from a tower in Venice in 1617. In island Prvic (Sibenik region) next to the new church, is his summerhouse. His descendants still live there.

First exhibition of a living artist in Metropolitan Museum of New York

Most famous Croatian sculptor Ivan Mestrovic, as well as one of the biggest modern world artist in 1947 organized in the Metropolitan Museum of New York an exhibition about his work, which was the first exhibition of a living artist.

Among first public parks in the world is park Maksimir in Zagreb

In the late 18th century, when Zagreb had only 10.000 inhabitants the construction of park Maksimir had begun. Maksimir is one of the first public parks in Europe and worldwide. At that time most parks were private gardens close to the royal and aristocratic residences and public parks were extremely rare.

First Public Theater in Europe

was opened in 1612 on the island of Hvar, in the town, which “Conde Nast Traveler Magazine” entered at the fifth place on its Top Ten list of best island towns in the world.

The White House was built of Croatian stone

Stone is from the island of Brac. From same stone was build the New Palace (Vienna, Austria), the Parliament building (in Vienna, Austria), the Parliament Building (Budapest, Hungary) and the palace of Roman emperor Diocletian (Split, Croatia).

First hydro power plant in the world

Was “Iskrice”, made in the city of Sibenik, on the river Krka, Croatia – 1895.

Gric Cannon in Zagreb

Each day at noon in Zagreb you can hear Gric Cannon. Since January 1st 1877 the cannon is fired from the Lotrscak Tower on Gric to mark midday. The cannon was to give the sign for sharp noon for the bell-ringers of the city’s churches