As India turns 70 tomorrow, we bring to you 10 amazing facts about our country that most of us didn't know. So, let the fun read begin...
- Hikkim, Himachal Pradesh, has the world’s highest post office, at 14,567 ft above sea level.
- The Chail Cricket Stadium in Himachal Pradesh is the highest cricket ground in the world, at 7,380 ft above sea level.
- India is the second-largest English-speaking country in the world.
- India has the third-largest rail network in the world, with a length of 115,000 km. It carries approximately 23 million passengers every day.
- Bollywood makes the largest number of films in the world.
- The Royal Calcutta Golf Club is the oldest golf club outside of the UK, established in 1829. The Calcutta Polo Club is the oldest in the world, established in 1862.
- The total length of steel wires used in the Bandra Worli Sea link is equal to the circumference of the Earth. It was completed in 2,57,00,000 man hours.
- The first general elections in India were recorded as the longest — polling went on from October 1951 to February 1952.
- Chess has its origins in India and can be traced back to 6th century AD. The earliest forerunner of the game was known as chaturanga, meaning ‘four members of an army’.
- ISRO transported its first rocket to Thumba Launching Station in Thiruvananthapuram on a cycle.