Romania may not be as well-known in North America as the Western European countries, but that doesn't mean it is an insignificant part of the world. Here are some facts of significance you might not have known about or have associated with Romania.
History:
The name "Romania" comes from the Latin word "Romanus" which means "citizen of the Roman Empire.
Trajan's Column one of the most distinctive monumental sculptures to have survived the fall of Rome, represents a visual history of the wars between the Romans and the Dacians, with Trajan as the hero and Decebalus, the Dacian king, as his worthy opponent. Completed in 113 A.D., the column has stood for more than 1,900 years. Trajan's war on the Dacians, a civilization in what is now Romania, was the defining event of his 19-year rule.
Geography:
With an area of 92,043 square miles (238,391 square kilometer), Romania is the largest country in Southeastern Europe. It is roughly the same size as the United Kingdom and slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Oregon.The Carpathian Mountains are home to one of the largest undisturbed forests in Europe.
400 unique species of mammals, including the Carpathian chamois, call the Carpathian Mountains home 60% of European brown bear population lives in the Carpathian Mountains.
Science / Technology
Bitdefender – one of the best antivirus / Internet security software suites - was developed by Romanian company Softwin.
Romanian Inventor Traian Vuia was the first European to built and fly a fully self-propelled, fixed-wing 'automobile airplane' (March 18, 1906).
The first substance proved to have a normalizing effect on blood sugar levels - pancreatine (the predecessor of insulin) was discovered by Romanian physiologist, professor of medicine: Nicolae Paulescu! Between 1914 and 1916, Dr. Paulescu performed experiments in which he obtained an anti-diabetic pancreatic extract. In 1916 his extract, injected into diabetic dogs, reduced blood glucose levels. The jet engine used by modern airplanes was invented by Bucharest-born inventor Henri Coanda. Romanian inventor and aerodynamics pioneer, Henri Coanda designed and built in 1910 the world's first jet powered aircraft, known as the Coandă - 1910, which he demonstrated publicly at the second International Aeronautic Salon in Paris. Romania's main international airport, Bucharest Otopeni - Henri Coanda, is named after the great inventor. Romanian physician, biologist, and one of the earliest bacteriologists, Victor Babeş, discovered more than 50 germs and a cure for a disease named after him, "Babesiosis".The birth of the Theory of Sonics can be considered the publication of the book 'A treatise on transmission of power by vibrations' in 1918 by the Romanian scientist George Constantinescu. Mathematician Ştefan Odobleja is regarded as the ideological father behind cybernetics – his work The Consonantist Psychology (Paris, 1938) was the main source of inspiration for N. Wiener's Cybernetics (Paris, 1948).
Another Romanian biologist, Emil Palade, received the Nobel Prize for his contributions to cell biology. The first fountain pen was invented by Craiova-born Petrache Poenaru (1799-1875). Mr. Poenaru's invention was patented in May 1827. The Romanian city of Timisoara was the first in Europe to have electric street-lighting (in 1889). Timisoara was also the first European city to introduce horse-drawn trams, in 1869.The Peles Castle was the first European castle entirely lit by electrical current. The electricity was produced by the castle's own plant. The castle's central heating and vacuuming systems, built in 1883, are still in use today.
People:
Michael Horodniceanu, Ph.D., P.E., - the President of MTA Capital Construction – was born in Bucharest, Romania. Dr. Horodniceanu led the largest transit infrastructure construction program in the USA, and the largest subway expansion program in over 60 years, overseeing $18 billion dollars in network expansion for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority's mega projects including East Side Access, Second Avenue Subway, the No. 7 Line Extension, Fulton Center and the MTA Capital Security program. Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci was the first to achieve a perfect routine and get the first score of 10.00 in the history of gymnastics, during the Olympics in Montreal (1976). The scoring displays of the time lacked the technical capability to show a perfect 10.00. They could only display three-digit grades (0.00 to 9.99 but not a 10.00) In 2000 Nadia was named as one of the athletes of the 20th century by the Laureus World Sports Academy. The real Dracula (Vlad Draculea) nicknamed Vlad Tepes (Vlad the Impaler) was a Romanian prince and military leader who fought bravely against the invading Turkish army in the mid 1400's. Count Dracula - the Vampire - was created by Irish writer, Bram Stoker in 1897. Goalkeeper Helmuth Duckadam saved a record four consecutive penalty kicks in the 1986 European Football Champions Cup Final, securing victory for his team Steaua Bucuresti.
(Steaua Bucuresti defeated FC Barcelona in Seville, Spain)
Culture:
The Romanian language currently spoken by over 25-milion people is 1,700 years old. Romania is a member of the Francophonie, an organization of governments that use French as their primary language or have a special affiliation with the French language or culture. Most Romanians are of Christian faith. The oldest church still standing – Densus Church (St. Nicholas')– was built in 600s, in Transylvania, on the site of a 2nd-century Roman temple. Ruins of a mid-300s Christian worship building were found in north-eastern Romania in the town of Mihaileni (Botosani county). Voronet Monastery, located in northeastern Romania, is also known as the 'Sistine Chapel of the East'. The monastery – built in 1488 – is known worldwide for its abundance of interior and exterior frescoes (wall paintings) featuring an intense shade of blue commonly known as 'Voronet blue.' The Brukenthal museum in Sibiu was established three years prior to the Louvre Museum in Paris. Founded in 1790 by Samuel Brukenthal, the governor of Transylvania, the museum opened to the public in 1817. It is the oldest museum in Romania and one of the first museums in Europe. The art collection includes paintings by Rubens, Van Dyck and Teniers, as well as works of German, Austrian and Romanian masters.The modernist "Dada" movement (Dadaism) of the 1920s was co-founded by Romanian artists Tristan Tzara and Marcel Iancu. Romania's national poet - Mihai Eminescu - used to relax and reflect under this linden three. Eminescu's creation "The Evening Star" (Luceafarul) is considered to be the longest love poem ever wrote. It's a miracle how this tree survived for so long" - says Dr. Mandache Leocov, former director of Iasi botanic garden.
Wine and
miscellaneous:
Romania and wine started their common history 4000 years ago (2000 BC) when the Greeks arrived from the Black Sea, making it one of the world's oldest viticulture regions (in comparison the Greeks introduced wine in France around the 6th century BC and it was further developed during the Roman time).
Because too much wine was produced, and consumed, in 50 BC King Burebista had to set a limit to cultivation of wine grapes and wine production through his empire: Dacia (present-day Romania).
Today Romania is the # (9) nine wine producer in the world! 11 "indigenous" varieties of grapes that cannot be found anywhere else in the world are still produced by some wine growers in the country.
According to the World Records Academy, The Palace of Parliament, located in Bucharest, is the world's largest and most expensive civil administration building in the world. It also ranks as the biggest office building in Europe (3.9 million square feet) and second-largest in the world, after the U.S. Pentagon. More than a million tons of marble, steel, crystal and wood have been used to build this palace! The city of Brasov (Transylvania) is home to the largest gothic church east of Vienna (Austria). Brasov's famous landmark and Romania's leading gothic church, the Black Church was built between 1385 and 1477 and got its nickname after the Great Fire of 1689 blackened its the walls. Brasov is home to one of the narrowest streets in Europe: "The Rope Street" (Strada Sforii). It is less than four feet wide and connects Cerbului Street with Poarta Schei Street. This street was initially used as an access-route by firefighters. The Pastrami - a popular sandwich ingredient in America - has its origins in Romania. Little Romania in lower Manhattan was a neighborhood within a neighborhood, tucked into the blocks bound by East Houston Street, Allen Street, Grand Street, and the Bowery. When the Romanian-born writer Marcus Ravage arrived in New York in 1900, he found the area thriving; restaurants had opened everywhere, he recalled in a memoir, and the first Romanian delicatessens were displaying "goose-pastrama and kegs of ripe olives". The six hour mini-series "Hatfields & McCoys" starring Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton - a historical drama inspired by a famous feud between two families, in the aftermath of the American Civil War - was filmed in Romania in 2012. Thanks for your time.
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