Table of Contents
Cuba
Banning Monopoly game
After coming to power, Fidel Castro decided to destroy all copies of the Monopoly game. 1)
Free from occupation
Cuba freed itself from the occupation of the United States on May 20, 1902. 2)
Pico Turquino
The highest point of this country is the Pico Turquino peak, located in the Sierra Maestra mountain range. 3)
Bandera de la Estrella Solitaria
The Cuban flag is sometimes called La Estrella Solitaria (translated as “the lone star”) by the Cuban people. It was designed by the editor of the newspaper La Verdad, the poet Miguel Teurbe Tolón in 1848. 4)
Rio Cauto
The country's longest river is the Rio Cauto. 5)
No Coca-Cola
Only in two countries in the world, you won't find Coca-Cola cans on store shelves. The first is North Korea and the second is Cuba. 6)
Guantanamo
Guantanamo is one of the most notorious prisons in the world. Each year, the United States pays Cuba two thousand dollars in gold for the lease of the site. Due to the sanctions imposed on the country by the U.S., the payment is frozen in an American bank. The Cuban authorities consider this a mere occupation by the American side. 7)
Plea
At the age of 12, Fidel Castro wrote a letter to the then President of the United States Franklin Roosevelt, asking him to send him a $10 bill. As he explained the boy had never seen it with his eyes and would like to have it in his hands. 8)
1,200 Cuban cigars
Even before he signed the sanctions proposal, President Kennedy purchased 1,200 Cuban cigars. 9)
10% on education
Each year, the Cuban government spends 10 percent of its budget on education. By comparison, the United States allocates only 2 percent. 10)
ZunZuneo
In 2009, the U.S. government secretly helped establish the ZunZuneo social network operating in Cuba. 11)
Thallium poisoning
According to some sources, the CIA had a plan to carry out a rather unusual assassination attempt on Fidel Castro. The plan was to poison the dictator with thallium, which would cause his beard to fall out. This would have entailed a disastrous image crisis for Fidel. 12)
No cell phones
Until 2008, Cuban law prohibited cell phone ownership. 13)
Mentirita
A drink made by mixing rum and cola called “Cuba Libre” (Free Cuba) is called the same thing virtually everywhere. Except in Cuba. There you will find it under the heading “Mentirita” (Little Lie). 14)
El Caiman
The country is sometimes called El Caiman or El Crocodrilo, which means crocodile in Spanish. It is this reptile that Cuba resembles when viewed from above. 15)
Rolling Stones concert
61 shipping containers - that's the amount needed to transport the equipment needed to host the Rolling Stones concert in 2016. The event itself was free of charge. 16)