Swedish is a language derived from Old Norse, and its closest relatives are Danish and Norwegian. These languages are so similar that a Swede can easily understand a Norwegian, but they often struggle to understand a Dane due to pronunciation differences. More distant cousins to Swedish include Icelandic, which also descends from Old Norse, and…
Tag: Sweden
(Not So) Fun Fact: The Final Days of Rene Descartes
René Descartes spent his last days in Sweden being a guest of its monarch, Queen Christina. Ironically, the pair did not like each other very much. He ended up getting a fatal case of pneumonia before he could leave the country.
Fun Fact: The Peach Tree War
During the settlement of New Sweden (present-day Delaware) a European immigrant had murdered a Native American woman picking peaches and started The Peachtree War. While the war was nominally started in the defense of a murder, it was more of a war against the Netherlands who had conquered New Sweden, whom had protected the Native…
Fun Fact: When A Swedish Guy Failed To Mention He Discovered Oxygen
Oxygen was discovered in 1771 by a Swedish pharmacist named Carl Wilhelm Scheele but he didn’t immediately publish his results, so he never got the proper credit.
Fun Fact: Salmon in Norse Mythology
In Norse mythology, Loki tricks one god into killing another and escapes punishment from the gods by turning into a salmon. But before getting off scott free, he’s caught by Thor who catches him by the tail.