When Nobel Laurate Enrico Fermi was asked if he believed in extraterrestrials, he replied, “They are already here... they are called Hungarians!”

Here you may find some well known facts and some surprising information about Hungary and the Hungarians.

Famous Persons

• the “Father of California Wine Culture”, the Hungarian born Ágoston Haraszthy established the famous Buena Vista Winery in Sonoma, California
• the greatest magician on earth, Harry Houdini was born in Budapest
• the first white man ever to reach the Kilimanjaro was a Hungarian explorer, Count Sámuel Teleky
• “for his invention and development of the holographic method” the Hungarian physicist Dennis Gabor (Dénes Gábor) received a Nobel Prize in 1971
• some outstanding photographers of the 20th century, Robert Capa, André Kertész and László Moholy-Nagy are from Hungary as well

Gastronomy

• Paprika is not a simple spice — Albert Szent-Györgyi received the 1937 Nobel Prize for Medicine for his discoveries in connection with the biological combustion processes, with special reference to vitamin C and the catalysis of fumaric acid, that he discovered while examining the Hungarian paprika
• The most well known Hungarian wine, “the golden colored dessert wine of Tokaj” was one of the favorite delicacies of Louis XIV who named this noble nectar “the wine of the kings and the king of the wines”
• Gulyás (or as also known: Gulash) is not a stew but a rich soup that was originally prepared by the “gulyás”, the herdsmen who looked after the cattle in the fields

Inventions

• Kisföldalatti, the old underground of Budapest was the first one on the continent to open to the public in 1896 (the first one in Europe opened 33 years earlier in London)
• The development of coaches started in Hungary in the 15th century. The horse-drawn carriages were produced by local craftsmen in the village of Kocs. The carriage workshops of Kocs were the first ones to use spring suspensions which made these carts very favored by Hungarian and European nobility since it was far more comfortable to ride in these than in the ones produced before. The expression “coach” in many European languages derives from the Hungarian expression “kocsi szekér”, meaning “cart of Kocs”.
• Ball point pen was invented by László Bíró in 1938, this tool could write for a year without refilling which was a great development in the time of the fountain pen which needed regular refill

Nature

• Europe’s largest thermal lake can be found in Hévíz, Hungary. It’s surface is over 4 hectares, two springs from some 40 meters below bring up to 80 million liters of warm water a day, renewing itself in every 48 hours. Temperature of the water in summer is 30 C while in winter it never gets colder than 26 C.
• The Cave-bath of Miskolc-Tapolca is a unique establishment of Europe where visitors can enjoy the benefits of the thermal water as well as the natural beauty of the cave itself