73 Facts on our 73rd Independence Day

As millions across the country come together to celebrate the 73rd birth of Independent India here are 73 interesting facts about the largest democracy in the world:

1. The name 'India' is derived from the River Indus, the valleys around which were the home of the early settlers.
2. India’s Srinagar is home to the world’s only floating post office.
3. India has the most number of post offices.
4. The Tulsi Shyam hills of Ladakh, have an uphill road that is known to have an anti-gravitational force.
5. The first rocket launched by India was so light that it was transported on a cycle.
6. In 1980, India’s first satellite was carried via a bullock cart for its initial launch.
7. The people of North Sentinel Island, India, are among the last people to remain virtually untouched by modern civilization.
8. India has the longest constitution in the world.
9. India has the second-largest network of roads, falling right behind the USA.
10. The Bandra-Worli Sea Link in Mumbai has steel wires the total length of which are equivalent to the Earth’s circumference.
11. At about 35 meters taller than the Eiffel Tower, the arch-shaped Chenab bridge in Jammu & Kashmir is set to become the world’s tallest rail bridge. It stands at a height of 1,178 feet over the river Chenab.
12. The road between the Chisumle and Demchok villages in Ladakh is the world’s highest motorable road at a height of over 19,300 feet.
13. India’s Lifeline Express is the world’s first hospital train that has services such as surgeries and cancer treatment.
14. According to the Gemological Institute of America, diamonds were first mined in India. For 1,000 years, starting in roughly the 4th century BC, India was the only source of diamonds.
15. The Indian railway system is the largest employer in India and one of the largest employers in the world, with a staggering 1.3 million employees as of 2015.
16. India has the second-largest newspaper market in the world, with daily newspapers reporting a combined circulation of over 240 million copies as of 2018.
17. The number zero was invented by a Hindu astronomer and mathematician called Brahmagupta in 628.
18. For years, English scientist Isaac Newton and German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz both claimed credit for inventing calculus, but it was actually invented in India 250 years before Newton.
19. The Himalayan blue sheep is found only in India.
20. Indian notes are made of cotton and cotton rag.
21. Chandrayaan - 1 a mission by India’s space organization was the first to find evidence of water on the moon.
22. The Siachen Glacier in Ladakh is the highest battlefield in the world at over 6,000 meters above sea level.
23. The highest mountain in India is Kangchenjunga, standing at 8,598m (28,209 ft), which it shares with Nepal. Kangchenjunga is the third highest mountain in the world.
24. Lonar Lake in Maharashtra was formed by a plummeting meteor about 52,000 years ago.
25. Switzerland celebrates Science day each year on 26th May in memory of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.
26. The game Snakes and Ladders was invented in India.
27. Chess was invented in India and was used by rulers to plan their battles.
28. In 700 BC India was home to the world's first university- Takshila.
29. India has never hosted the Olympic games.
30. India is home to the largest number of vegetarians in the world.
31. The Kumbh Mela which is held every 12 years is the world’s largest gathering of people with over 70 million attendees. A gathering so big that it can be seen from space.
32. Mawsynram in Meghalaya gets about 11,873 millimetres of rainfall each year, making it the wettest habitable place on earth.
33. Chail in Himachal Pradesh has the world’s highest cricket ground situated at 24144 meters above sea level.
34. India has the second-largest army in the world after China, in terms of active military personnel.
35. In a village called Banej, in the middle of Gir forest in Gujarat, there is a polling booth set up each election for just one voter, Mr. Mahant Bharatdas.
36. The biggest air evacuation in the history of mankind was done by India when 1,70,000 Indians were airlifted from Kuwait during the Gulf War.
37. Shampoo was a concept first developed in India.
38. The Fibonacci numbers were first discovered and described by Indian mathematicians.
39. India is the world's largest producer, consumer and exporter of spices; the country produces about 75 of the 109 varieties listed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and accounts for half of the global trading in spices.
40. In 2017, a small village in the Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh, Madhopatti created history by producing the most number of IAS officers. The 75 households have given 47 officers to the Indian administration. The same village also holds the record for four siblings who have all cleared the exam.
41. The game of kabaddi originated in India during prehistory.
42. India’s Bollywood is the world’s largest film industry in terms of quantity of movies produced.
43. Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala is the world’s richest temple.
44. The art of navigation originated in India 6000 years ago. The word ‘navigation’ is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Navgatih’.
45. The Samrat Yantra in Jaipur is the world’s largest sundial.
46. Bhaskaracharya was the first person to calculate the amount of time the earth took to complete one rotation before the European astronomer, Smart. He calculated the time to be approximately 365.2588 days. The modern accepted measurement is 365.25636.
47. An Indian named Sushruta is hailed as the father of surgery and invented operations like the Cataract.
48. Martial Arts were invented in India by monks around 3000 years ago.
49. After India defeated Germany in the 1936 Olympic hockey games, Hitler offered the captain Major Dhyan Chand German citizenship.
50. India is the only country to have a spa dedicated just to elephants in Guruvayur.
51. The Himalayan mountain range bordering the country has 9 out of the world’s 10 highest mountain peaks.
52. The Indian Banyan tree is the national tree of India.
53. His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, runs his government in exile from Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh
54. India is the world’s largest tea producer, and tea (chai) is its most popular beverage in the country.
55. India's Hindu calendar has 6 seasons: spring, summer, monsoon, autumn, winter and prevernal.
56. An Indian man by the name of Benny Prasad holds the world record for being the fastest man ever to visit all 195 countries in the world.
57. Shakuntla Devi was given the title of ‘Human-Computer after she demonstrated the calculation of two 13 digit numbers: 7,686,369,774,870 × 2,465,099,745,779 which were picked at random. She answered correctly within 28 seconds.
58. India is the world’s largest producer of dried beans, such as kidney beans and chickpeas. It also leads the world in banana exports.
59. Rabindranath Tagore, the first non-European to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature, has written the national anthem for India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
60. The atomic theory was invented in India by Acharya Kanad over 2600 years ago.
61. Built in the 2nd century AD, the Kallanai Dam is one of the oldest dams in the world. It straddles the Kaveri river in Tamil Nadu, India, and is still in use today.
62. The Statue of Unity in Gujarat standing at 182 meters is the world’s largest statue.
63. Police officers in one district in Madhya Pradesh are given a slight pay upgrade for having a moustache because bosses believe it makes them command more respect.
64. 22 of the top 30 most polluted cities in the world are in India.
65. India buys gold more than any other country.
66. A con man in India called Natwarlal repeatedly "sold" the Taj Mahal, the Indian parliament, the Red Fort and various other heritage sites. He was sentenced to 113 years but managed to escape prison 9 times. The last time, he was 84 years old.
67. By successfully placing its spacecraft in orbit around Mars, India became the first country in the world to succeed in an interplanetary mission in the maiden attempt itself.
68. When Dr Rajendra Prasad was appointed the President of India, he only took 50% of his salary, claiming he did not require more than that. Towards the end of his 12-year tenure, he only took 25% of his salary. The salary of the President was Rs 10,000 back then.
69. India is expected to be the world's most populous country by 2050. With 1.6 billion people, it will almost equal the U.S. and China's population combined.
70. In 1957 V.K Krishna Menonset the record for the world’s longest speech of 7 hours and 48 minutes, before the UN Security Council defending Kashmir.
71. The largest funeral attendance in history was observed at the funeral of Tamil Nadu’s first Chief Minister C.N Annadurai.
72. India is the only country to win all 3 Kabaddi World Cups.
73. The Indian flag was designed by Pingali Venkayya.