Nobility Polish Very Inclusive Vraniak

The Polish Trivia Book, by John M. Vraniak.

Huge Polish Nobility. Borscht Was Originally Polish, Not Russian. Assorted Polish Achievements

Though the book is a bit dated (1988), every imaginable aspect of Polishness is covered: Polish language, history, culture, immigration to America, Polish-American personages, customs, etc.

This book consists of a series of 616 questions and answers. The questions are on the left-side page of the open book, and the answers on the right. The questions are mostly multiple choice, but some are fill in the blank.

Although the 616 questions and answers are not organized by topic as written out, they are organized by topic in the index. For instance, there are entries on Polish-American athletes (apportioned by sport), entries on Polish actors, on Polish scientists, on Polish inventors.

This book is full of interesting information, of which I mention a few items, omitting Polish-American athletes and actors/actresses.

EARLY DRIVE TO SOCIAL EGALITARIANISM: THE HUGE POLISH NOBILITY

Poland did not have a hereditary monarchy after 1572. (pp. 71-72). Instead, all the nobility voted for a new king. Nor was nobility particularly selective in Poland. Between the 16th and 18th centuries, 7-10% of the Polish population was nobility, against no more than 3% in other European countries at the time. (p. 78).

MISCELLANEOUS LITTLE-KNOWN FACTS

The name Szymanski comes from Simon. (p. 21).

Borscht was originally Polish, not Russian. (p. 119).

Polish pilot Francis Jarecki defected to the West with a Soviet MIG in 1953. (p. 55).

As for Polish explorers, Francis Fernandez (Warnadowicz) was a crewman with Christopher Columbus. (p. 149). Polish explorers were companions of Daniel Boone. (p. 15). Sir Pawel Strzelecki explored Australia, and named its tallest mountain Mt. Kosciuszko. (p. 131). More recently, Henryk Arctowski explored Antarctica. (p. 1).

Consider Soviet Poles. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the father of Soviet astronautics, had a Polish noble father. (p. 137). Nikolai Przewalski, after whom a Mongolian horse is named, was a Russian of Polish descent. (p. 115). [According to another source, he was a Pole who had been exiled to Siberia.]

Polish-American astronomer Charles Kowal discovered Jupiter’s 13th moon in 1974. (p. 75). Prior to that time, Jupiter was, for quite a long time, believed to have 12 natural satellites.