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Czech Republic

Ten interesting facts about the Czech Republic

1. In 1959, a Czech national named Otto Wichterle invented soft contact lenses.

2. There are a lot of Czech people who became famous in many parts of the world. These include tennis champion Martina Navratilova, German-language author Franz Kafka, and classical music composers Bedrich Smetana and Antonín Dvorák.

3. The first Czech who became a Nobel Prize recipient was Jaroslav Heyrovský. He was recognized for his work and discovery in the field of polarography.

4. The word robot was lifted from the play and short novel written by Karl Capek, a Czech playwright. The 1920 story was entitled R.U.R., which means Rossum’s Universal Robots.

5. Gregor Mendel and Sigmund Freud are both Austrian – but they were born in the Czech Republic.

6. Czech etiquette requires a man to precede his female companion when entering a restaurant. If they are entering other buildings, he is expected to let her in first.

7. Restaurant waiters in the country would always presume that drinks are going to be ordered after a meal. So if you want to have drinks before you eat or to accompany your meal, you have to request or order for such before your meal.

8. The Czechs’ national passion is mushroom hunting. They are very serious about it and are quite competitive in finding these fungi. Thousands of Czech nationals gather yearly during the St. Václav Day, which happens during the weekend that is nearest to September 28, to head to the forest and participate in mushroom hunting.

9. During Easter, it is important to Czechs that they wear new items of clothing.

10. Christmas dinner in the country would not be considered complete without serving carp.