A few more facts about planet Switzerland

I'm not sure if more than my parents, my wife, and one or two other people ever read my Blog, but I really do enjoy writing it. If nothing else, it will be a great reminder of my time here in Switzerland. For that reason alone, and for the entertainment of those who so enjoyed my last post on the ever so strange idiosyncrasies of Swiss culture, here is a few more odd facts on the mind-blowingly strange planet Switzerland!

Velcro was invented by George de Mestral, a Swiss engineer, in 1945

Switzerland has four official languages: German, French, Italian, and Romansh. Most Swiss speak these four languages, and many also speak English. There are also 26 dialects of Swiss German, and 5 dialects of Romansh, which is only spoken here, and only as a first language by 2 percent of the population. Insane in the membrane!

Switzerland has the second largest military, per capita, in the world, and the highest private gun ownership rates in the world, all with virtually zero violent crime

It is illegal to mow your lawn on Sundays

It is illegal to wash your clothes on Sundays and Holidays

California is more than 10 times bigger than Switzerland, Oregon is six times bigger. Oregon has a population of about 4 million, and Switzerland has a population of about 7.5 million

Swiss Miss cocoa did not come from Switzerland. It came from Italy.

There are more banks than dentists in Switzerland

Switzerland has the second highest number of 100+ year old people, per capita, in the world. Second only to Japan. This will soon change, seeing as all young people now chain smoke

It is against the law to slam your car door in Switzerland between 10pm and 7am . It causes undo heart rate elevations among all the 100+ year old people

Switzerland was the last country to hold a legal execution for a witch in 1782

In 1471 a chicken in Basil, Switzerland was found guilty of laying a brightly colored egg "in defiance of natural law". It was burned at the stake as a "devil in disguise". The Swiss have not changed much since.

Switzerland has enough bomb shelters to protect every resident currently living in the country

The song "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple is about the smoke from a casino fire when a fan at a Frank Zappa concert accidentally burnt down the casino at Montreaux, leading to smoke over the waters of Lake Geneva

Every Swiss citizen is required by law to have their own bomb shelter or have access to a bomb shelter

In Switzerland, "Swiss cheese" is not called "Swiss cheese", it is called Emmentaler, and has been made in the Emmental valley since at least the 15 century

Switzerland is one of only two countries with a square flag. This flag was the basis for the Red Cross symbol, which was founded here

About 20% of the people living in Switzerland are foreigners

The thumb is used to indicate "1" when counting with fingers, not the index finger. This can be very confusing

Here, FM radio stations use both even and odd frequencies. In America, only odd frequencies are used

Switzerland has the highest number of hospital beds per capita in the world: 5.8

The same barbarian tribes, the Celts, settled Switzerland, as well as parts of England, Scotland, and Ireland. You can seriously hear the similarities between Swiss German and Gaelic.

Swiss provinces are called cantons

And last, but definitely not least....................In Switzerland, it is illegal to mow your front lawn while dressed as Elvis!!!!!