Zarathustra had a religious vision in which he received the basic tenets of his creed. He then set out to preach the word, but was forced to flee his homeland because of his unorthodox views. He made his most important convert in 588BCE in the person of King Vishtaspa, ruler of a minor kingdom in eastern Iran. Thereafter he was able to count on state support in spreading his message. He is said to have died at the age of seventy-seven in 551BCE.

Xerxes, Darius's successor, provoked the first signs of trouble for the Persian Empire when he tried to extend Achaemenid power into Europe by invading Greece. The disunited Greek city-states came together in face of the common threat and inflicted a stunning defeat on the huge Persian force, destroying its navy at the Battle of Salamis and its army at Plataea. Xerxes was forced to withdraw, and the Persians' formidable reputation was shattered; although their army would win later battles, there were no more attempts at territorial expansion.

An extraordinary fusion of Gothic and Art Nouveau in style, the model was painted in vibrant colors that further enhanced the exuberant design. The plans called for spotlights to direct shafts of light into parts of the interior. Three sets of bell towers, housing both manually operated and electronically controlled tubular bells, were to be topped by stone statues of cherubim with wings that would move in the wind.

In Sweden over 570 daily newspapers are sold for every 1,000 of the population, making them the biggest newspaper-readers on earth. Rwanda in Africa has a population of ten million people but the total circulation of their only daily newspaper is just 200.

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Although America is named after the Italian navigator, Amerigo Vespucci, who made several voyages to the New World and drew up many important charts, it was another Italian, Christopher Columbus, born Cristoforo Colombo, who first reached the Americas in October 1492. Columbus had spent eight years to persuade the rulers of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella, to give him three ships and ninety men for the first voyage. His flagship, Santa Maria, was wrecked in Hispaniola and only two vessels returned to Spain. Later Columbus made three further voyages, probably touching the mainlands of both North and South America.

When the Hapsburg Emperor, Rudolf II, went mad, he allowed lions, tigers and other exotic animals and birds to run free in the empty galleries and corridors.
Napoleon Bonaparte, the Emperor of France, who came near to conquering the whole of Europe, was scared of cats.
The Empress Josephine, wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, changed her underclothes three times a day.
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The Great Pyramid of Cheops was built between 4,000 and 3,000 BC. It took 100,000 men twenty years to construct using 2,300,000 huge, stone blocks which weighed an average of two tonnes each. Forty men were needed to manhandle each block into place. It is the tallest pyramid at 146 m (480 ft). Read More: http://purpleslinky.com/trivia/20-interesting-weird-historical-facts-from-around-the-world/