Australia used to be called New Holland.
Thailand used to be called Siam, Ethiopia was once known as Abyssinia, and Australia was initially christened New Holland when Dutch navigators “discovered” it in the 17th century. The land down under received its current English name courtesy of British explorer Matthew Flinders, the first to circumnavigate the continent, who made a hand-drawn map a year later in 1804 referring to it as Australia. Britain formally adopted that name for the country in 1824, and by the end of the 1820s it was widely used.
For centuries, European cartographers had referred to the land as Terra Australis Incognita (Unknown South Land). They believed there was a massive, uncharted landmass somewhere in the southern hemisphere, even if they didn’t yet know the details. Of course, Australia’s Indigenous people have inhabited the continent for more than 50,000 years — or by their own account, since the beginning of time.
With a population around 5.4 million, Norway eats more than 47 million frozen pizzas every year — nearly half of which are made by Grandiosa. The brand is so popular among Norwegians that 20% of respondents to a 2004 survey said they considered it an unofficial national dish. The 2006 single “Respekt for Grandiosa,” made by the company, was the country’s #1 single for eight consecutive weeks, and the company’s 2007 song “Full Pakke” even spawned its own dance a year later. Your move, DiGiorno.
