Canadian toymaker Spin Master Corp. is taking the legendary Hungarian invention, the Rubik’s Cube for $50 million to join the brand in Toronto, Canada. The Rubik’s Cube will join a family of brands including Paw Patrol, Hatchimals and Gund.
HuffPost reported that Hungarian puzzle enthusiast and teacher Ernő Rubik invented the multi-coloured cube in 1974 and the toy became a commercial success after it launched globally in 1980. Since then, everyone is familiar with the legendary Hungarian invention that became so popular that even international competitions are held where people from all around the world compete to complete the cube the quickest way.
The Toronto-based Spin Master ― which includes Paw Patrol, Hatchimals and Gund among its toy brands ― stated on Tuesday to pay USD 50 million for Rubik’s Brand Ltd. “The Rubik’s Cube is an iconic puzzle that has permeated pop culture and captivated fans for more than 40 years,” Spin-Master vice-president Elizabeth LoVecchio said in a statement.
Ernő Rubik said that he is excited that Spin Master will “fulfil my vision of nurturing smarter future generations through play.” According to “Cubed: The Puzzle of Us All,” a book published in 2018, Rubik says the cube has attracted more attention than he ever imagined.
“It is a curious fact ― one that surprises me as much as anyone ― that for so many decades during a time of an unprecedented technological revolution, fascination with such a simple, low-tech object has survived,” Rubik writes.
On the occasion of Gedeon Richter’s 148th birthday, we would like to introduce the beginnings of the Hungarian pharmaceutical industry and show you how the company with his name has conquered several international markets with their high-quality products.
The company does it all: original research, manufacturing and sales and marketing. Richter Gedeon has over 200 medicines which offer treatment in almost every therapeutic area. Still, they are mainly focusing on researching and making products for three major areas: gynaecology, cardiology and the central nervous system. Their emergency contraceptives are available in more than 100 countries. Thanks to their research, they might be able to develop drugs that could treat schizophrenia, depression, or other bipolar disorders.
Portrait of Gedeon Richter
Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Richterbg
As the company puts it: “Our goal as a Hungarian pharmaceutical manufacturer is to improve people’s quality of life and treat patients with innovative, effective and affordably priced products”. The company was not always as big as it is today, so let us see its humble beginnings.
Richter’s Laboratory
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Fortepan (archive) / Ofner Károly
Gedeon Richter was born on the 23rd of September 1872 in ‘Ecséd’, Hungary. When he was 18, he worked as a trainee pharmacist in ‘Gyöngyös’, and five years later, in 1895, Richter has graduated from the University of Budapest (Eötvös Lóránd University) with a degree in pharmacology. It might have been an early sign of success that he graduated with an outstanding title, but he wanted to know, even more. Hence, he travelled to other pharmaceutical companies throughout Europe in order to study their methods. This bore fruit as in 1901, he purchased the ‘Sas’ (Eagle) Pharmacy at the corner of Üllői út (road) in Budapest. This marked the humble beginnings of what is now a worldwide company that pursues medicine to help people make their lives better. By the way, according to the company’s website, the very first ‘gyógyszertár’ (pharmacy) owned by Gedeon Richter is still under the company’s ownership and has been operating since.
At first, Gedeon Richter manufactured organo-therapeutic preparations by using extracts from the organs of animals, which was considered groundbreaking even in international standards. According to the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office (HIPO), his first preparation, the Tonogen suprerenale is still used in medicine today. Seven years later, the company outgrew its old laboratory and moved to a bigger one.
Tonogen Suprarenale, one of the company’s well-known products
Photo: Richter Archívum / facebook.com/RichterGedeonOfficial
In 1907 Gedeon Richter built the first pharmaceutical factory in Hungary in ‘Kőbánya’. Thanks to his hard work, success followed soon in the form of Kalmopyrin and Hyperol. The former is a type of Aspirin (without some side-effects), a fever and pain reliever which is still sold by the company to this very day. The latter is a disinfectant (hydrogen peroxide) in the form of tablets for easier dosage, which had a significant role in World War I. In 1923, the company was renamed Gedeon Richter Chemical Works and became a limited company.
According to the company’s website: “the Company had nearly a hundred pharmaceutical specialities before the First World War. Between the two world wars, the Company had 10 subsidiaries and 40 representative offices operating abroad and agents on all five continents. By the Second World War, Richter was one of the largest exporters in Hungary” – emphasis added.
The company was also among the first to market insulin in Europe, and according to HIPO in 1941, at the same time as international research, they produced the first synthetic oestrogen (Stilbestrol) in Richter’s laboratory.
Unfortunately, the era of the Second World War is a dark spot on the company’s formerly uninterrupted development. Due to the anti-Semitic laws, they stripped his position of director from his own company. At first, Gedeon Richter tried to lead the company from home with the help of staff members he trusted the most, but by 1944 it was made almost impossible for the company to operate. Richter had the opportunity to flee to Switzerland, but he did not want to leave his life’s work and he and his family were hidden with more than a thousand other Jews by Raoul Wallenberg. Tragedy struck when the Hungarian Arrow Cross Party found him in December 1944. Along with many other Jews, Gedeon Richter was shot and thrown into the Danube on the 30th of December 1944.
Richter Gedeon Company Car
Photo: Richter Archívum / facebook.com/RichterGedeonOfficial
In 1948 the company was nationalised and became the ‘Kőbánya’ Pharmaceutical Company. One of the greatest discoveries of the company was its own method to produce vitamin B12. Richter’s company became the largest supplier of the Soviet Union, but in the 70s exports to the West increased. The company was undaunted by the hardships and determined to stay alive. It developed a line of herbal products named Richtofit and a line of cosmetic called Fabulon, which was very popular in Hungary, but
what might be the company’s best know products is Cavinton, which was released in 1977 and is used to improve circulation in the brain.
The company was renamed Gedeon Richter in the 1980s. In the 1990s, due to the changes to the political, social and economic systems in the region, Richter’s company also took a hit and according to their website, became loss-making. They refocused their efforts on pharmaceuticals for human use and put a pause to their other fields, such as pesticides and veterinary drugs. The company’s new leadership in 1992 helped it to establish itself again and to have a strong base to build on.
Richter Gedeon Then and Now
Photo: facebook.com/RichterGedeonOfficialPhoto: facebook.com/RichterGedeonOfficial
Gedeon Richter, the Hungarian pharmaceutical company, named after its founder is one of the largest Hungarian companies of medicine and it is also an important part of the sector in Central Eastern Europe. It has a wide range of markets all over the world, such as in CIS countries, the EU, Japan, China and the US.
“The Company is present in more than 38 countries with five manufacturing facilities, 29 representative offices, and 38 sales subsidiaries and wholesale companies,” – as stated on the company’s website.
Hungarian scientists have contributed to the development of numerous things that we take for granted in our everyday lives, like the electric motor, the telephone, the computer, the helicopter, the noiseless match, or the ballpoint pen. In this article, we introduce 4 notable 19th−20th-century inventors to complement our PREVIOUS COLLECTION of lesser-known Hungarian geniuses whose outstanding achievements left their mark on the technologies we utilise today.
Zoltán Bay was a Hungarian physicist, a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and one of the most notable scientists and inventors of the 20th century. After finishing his studies in Mathematics and Atomic Physics, he was appointed as a lecturer at the Institute of Theoretical Physics at Pázmány Péter University. In 1926, he obtained his doctorate degree, and he spent several years in Berlin on scholarships, doing research at both the prestigious Physikalisch-Technische-Reichanstalt and the Physikalisch-Chemisches-Institut of the University of Berlin.
From 1930, Bay worked at the University of Szeged as a professor of Theoretical Physics. He continued his research at the United Incandescent Lamps and Electric Company (Tungsram), and as laboratory head, Bay contributed to the development of high-intensity gas discharge lamps, fluorescent lamps, radio tubes, radio receiver circuitry, and decimeter radio wave techniques, history.nasa writes. He is also credited with the invention of the first usable photoelectron multiplier. In 1938, Bay organised the Department of Atomic Physics at the Technical University of Budapest with the support of Tungsram. He studied metal-vapour lamps and fluorescent light sources, and
together with György Szigeti, Bay invented the ancestor of the light-emitting diodes (LEDs). They received a U.S. patent on “Electroluminescent light sources” made of silicon carbide.
In 1942, the so-called Bay-team was established, the task of which was to perform micro-wave experiments. Four years later,
the team had a revolutionary achievement in space research by detecting the reflection of radar beams aimed at the moon.
This was the first time that men “reached” an extraterrestrial object. Between 1948 and 1955, he worked as a professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Washington, and from 1955 to 1972, he was a departmental head at the U.S. Bureau of Standards. In 1981, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Eötvös Loránd Society of Physics elected Bay an honorary member.
Albert Fonó (1881−1972)
Albert Fonó was one of the early pioneers of turbojet and ramjet propulsion. He studied mechanical engineering at the Royal Joseph University and gained considerable experience through working for German, Belgian, French, and Swiss manufacturers. He specialised in energetics and received 46 patents in 20 research topics, including a steam boiler and an air compressor for mines.
His first and most significant invention was an aerial torpedo, which operated on the jet propulsion principle and increased the effective range of artillery.
Nonetheless, the proposal for Fonó’s invention was initially rejected by the Austro−Hungarian army. After World War I, he returned to the subject of jet propulsion and developed an “air-jet engine” (ramjet) suitable for high-altitude aircraft travelling faster than the speed of sound. After a 4-year-long period of examination, Fonó received a patent in 1932.
In 1947, he became a private teacher at the Budapest University of Technology, and in 1954, he was elected as a corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. From 1968, he was a corresponding member of the International Academy of Astronautics.
György Jendrassik (1898−1964)
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
According to Arcanum, Jendrassik completed his education at the Royal Joseph University in Budapest and at the University of Berlin. After obtaining his degree in mechanical engineering in 1922, he worked at Ganz Works where he created
his first invention, the four-stroke, small diesel engine, known as the Ganz-Jendrassik engine.
The Ganz-Jendrassik engine started the process of dieselisation of domestic railways and shipping. In 1927, he became the head of the engine design department at Ganz works, and a decade later,
Jendrassik developed the world’s first small gas turbine.
He registered approximately 80 patents for engine and gas turbines. In 1936, he established the Invention Development and Marketing Co. Ltd. In recognition of his scientific work, he was elected as a corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In 1947, he left Ganz Works and moved to London where he continued to work on the development of the gas turbines. His last invention was a turbine-related pressure exchanger.
Mária Telkes (1900−1995)
Photo: Wikimedia Commons by New York World-Telegram and the Sun staff photographer
Mária Telkes, or the “Sun Queen”, was a Hungarian-American biophysicist, scientist, and prolific inventor, mostly known for her achievements in the field of solar energy technology, writes Oakes in the Encyclopedia of World Scientists. Born in Budapest, she studied at the University of Budapest and graduated in Physical Chemistry. In 1924, she immigrated to the United States after visiting her uncle, who was the Hungarian consul in Cleveland. In 1925, she was appointed as a biophysicist for the Cleveland Clinic Foundation where she contributed to the development of a photoelectric device that recorded brain waves.
In 1939, Telkes moved to Boston and became a teacher and researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and joined the Solar Energy Conversion Project. Her research focused on the possibilities of solar energy application. As part of a long-term research project,
Telkes developed a solar-heating unit for the so-called Dover Sun House, which was built in 1948 by architect Eleanor Raymond.
The system designed by Telkes was different from that used in previous MIT houses since she used crystallised sodium sulfate solution as a storage device instead of water. The sun collector was located on the south-facing wall. Warmed air was circulated by fans into heat bins with a metal drum filled with crystallised sodium sulfate solution. As the warm air circulated around the drums, the salt was melted, enabling it to store heat at a constant temperature.
Telkes
also saved the lives of airmen and sailors who were abandoned at sea without
fresh water.
She designed a portable water evaporator, which removed salt from seawater.
From 1953, she studied solar energy at the New York University College of Engineering. Later, she turned towards the practical application of her research and designed solar-powered dryers and water heaters.
She also developed space- and sea-proof materials for temperature-sensitive devices for the Apollo and Polaris projects.
In
1952, Telkes won the first Society of Women Engineers Achievement Award.
Hungarian New Energy Ltd. was founded in 2003 and it specialises in waste tire pyrolysis. The company developed a method with which they can make tires and other plastic components 80−85% recyclable by decomposing them into smaller molecules.
Every year, approximately 3.5 million tonnes of car tires are produced in Europe, and only a small portion of waste tires are recycled for surfacing playgrounds or during the production of rubber bitumen, Infostart reported. In the latter case, the crumb rubber from scrap tires is blended with bitumen and the final product has improved durability, longer lifetime, lower life cycle/maintenance cost, increased permanent deformation resistance and traffic noise reduction effect compared to conventional bitumen. MOL and the University of Pannonia developed this environmentally friendly recycling technology. Nonetheless, most waste tires are burnt or used as construction material waste.
The Hungarian-owned New Energy aimed to develop a rubber recycling method that can permanently solve the environmental impact of discarded tires. After conducting pyrolysis-focused research for approximately a decade, the company found a solution for recycling tires without generating secondary pollution to the environment. During the process of pyrolysis,
the pre-shredded tires are converted into gas and distilled into oil. This oil is used as fuel or further transformed into plastic and soot, which are reused in the tire industry and the recovered steel is reused in the steel industry,
explained László Ürge, one of the Managing Directors at DBH Group. He also added that
New Energy is among the first companies in the world to create a fully circular economy for tire recycling.
Rubber waste is usually treated as a kind of plastic; thus, the technology mentioned above be applied in the case of other plastics. With this solution, a vast amount of plastic waste can be eliminated, reducing water pollution.
Nowadays, more and more leading companies are committed to working on solutions for the global plastic waste problem. BASF recently signed an uptake supply agreement with New Energy as part of the ChemCyclingTM project which was started in 2018 and focuses on chemically reprocessing post-consumer plastic waste on an industrial scale. According to the agreement, New Energy will supply BASF with up to 4,000 metric tons of pyrolysis oil per year derived from waste tires.
Hungary has given a great number of talented geniuses to the world, whose inventions contributed to numerous scientific fields. Oszkár Asbóth, László Bíró, Ányos Jedlik, Tivadar Puskás, Ernő Rubik, or Ede Teller are just a few of the most outstanding Hungarian inventors, whose names are known all over the world. Nonetheless, there are several lesser-known Hungarian geniuses whose outstanding achievements left their mark on the technologies we utilise today.
Béla Barényi (1907–1997)
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
The Austro-Hungarian engineer was a prolific inventor − more than 2,500 patents originated from him − and a defining figure of automotive engineering. Barényi was born in an era when the presence of automobiles on the streets was rather uncommon, and these vehicles were unaffordable for most people, writes Mercedes-Benz on its website. In 1924, he enrolled as an engineering student at the Viennese Technical College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. As a student, he already thought about the “future people’s car” and, based on the sketches he made in 1924−25,
Barényi is considered the intellectual father of the “people’s car” or “Volkswagen”.
He was first employed by the Gesellschaft für Technischen Fortschritt (GETEFO, Society for Technical Progress) in Berlin, and he registered over 150 patents during the time he worked for the company. After he lost his job at the beginning of 1939, Barényi applied to Mercedes-Benz. He was rejected at first, but he did not give up. During his second application, Barényi was interviewed by chairman Wilhelm Haspel, who immediately recognised his potential: “Mr Barényi, you are fifteen to twenty years ahead of your time. You will be put under a bell jar in Sindelfingen. Everything you invent will go straight to the patent department”, said the business executive.
One of his main goals was to design vehicle interiors without dangerous components, and he urged Mercedes manufactures to put more emphasis on safety in automotive manufacturing. In 1925, Barényi developed the telescoping safety steering shaft to prevent the steering column from impaling the driver during a collision.
He achieved his biggest breakthrough in 1951 when he registered patent DBP 854.157 – commonly known as the “crumple zone” – and revolutionised the entire automotive industry with his discovery.
Crumple zones are areas of a vehicle that are designed to deform and crumple in a collision to absorb some of the kinetic energy of the impact, thus preventing the forces from being transmitted to the passengers. The first Mercedes-Benz vehicle with bodywork developed according to this patent was the 1959 W111 series. Barényi retired in 1972. He became Honorary Member of the Deutsche Aktionsgemeinschaft Bildung-Erfindungen-Innovationen (the German Action Group for Education, Inventions, and Innovations) and was awarded a professorship by the Federal President of Austria. In 1994, Barényi was inducted into the Detroit Automotive Hall of Fame in Detroit.
Ottó Titusz Bláthy
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ottó Titusz Bláthy was born in Tata, and he studied as a mechanical engineer at the Technical University of Vienna. He began working at the Ganz factory as a mechanical engineer in 1883, and the factory provided an ideal environment for Bláthy to unfold his remarkable talent. After studying Faraday’s experiments and Maxwell’s work,
he outlined the practical application of Ohm’s law of magnetism, and in 1883, he transformed the shape of the magnets in direct-current (DC) machines.
His most important invention was the closed-core transformer, developed jointly with Károly Zipernowsky and Miksa Déri in 1885. This joint effort resulted in one of the most important electronic inventions of that period. From 1887, Bláthy experimented with alternating current (AC) generators connected in parallel. This arrangement was implemented one year later at an Italian power station. In 1889,
he designed the first induction kilowatt-hour meter.
By 1912, he perfected its structure and reduced its weight significantly. The kilowatt-hour meters used today operate on the same principle as his original invention. He also developed his own water and steam turbines, which have powered many European cities in the first decade of the twentieth century.
Bláthy was the first in the world to successfully connect a thermal power station to a hydroelectric power station.
Bláthy was an honorary member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the Association of Hungarian Engineers and Architects, and the Hungarian Automobile Club.
Jenő Fejes (1877−1951)
Jenő Fejes was one of the most talented automotive engineers in Hungary. After graduating from the Higher Industrial School in 1896, he worked in the Arms and Machine Manufacturing Company. From 1902, Fejes worked as a design engineer at the Westinghouse Factory in Le Havre, France, and he later became the workshop manager of the company’s Arad branch, Arcanum writes. As the director of the Ganz−Fiat Airplane Engine Works, he was one of the organisers of the domestic car and aircraft production from 1917.
His most notable invention was the “disc engine”, constructed of welded and pressed iron.
László Heller (1907−1980)
Photo: Wikimedia Commons by Akela3
Born in Nagyvárad, Heller graduated in Budapest in 1925 and took a degree in mechanical engineering in 1931 at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule in Zürich. He worked as a research engineer at the university for two years where he studied the special areas of statics. In 1933, Heller returned to Budapest and started to work as a thermal engineering designer. He contributed to numerous significant improvements in the field of energetics, such as the construction of the first high-pressure industrial power station in Ajka or the development of different systems that utilise the exhaust fumes of explosion engines.
In the 1940s, he developed a process for the dry cooling of power stations, known as the “Heller-System”, and based on his principles and the designs of Forgó, the Heller−Forgó cooling tower system was born in 1958.
Their joint invention solved an important problem at power stations by utilising cooling water more efficiently. After World War II, Heller founded EGART Rt which became an internationally-known innovation institute. From 1951, he was a professor at the Budapest University of Technology. In 1954, he was elected to be a corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and he became a full member in 1962.
Read about the strongest, the bravest, the smartest, and the greatest Hungarians in our Myth, literature, history series.
The first Hungarian commercial satellite will launch in 2024 and will be able to broadcast, to spread Internet and phone service, and to transmit data and help scientific research.
According to szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu, the CarpathiaSat Hungarian Space Telecommunications Corporation will operate the satellite which was founded by 4iG, a company that had been winning public procurements in the Hungarian information technology sector one after the other since 2018 when it became part of the Mészáros-empire.
The 4iG has 51 pc in the CarpathiaSat Hungarian Space Telecommunications Corporation, and it also obtained the right to control it. Further shareholders are Antenna Hungária Ltd with 44 pc and New Space Industries Ltd with 5 pc. The new company is going to have the right to operate the satellite’s geostationary orbit for 20 years after 2024.
The strategic goal of the 4iG is to become the leading telecommunications and IT company in the East-Central-European region
by establishing strong positions in the sector. They highlighted that the satellite will be able to broadcast, to spread Internet and phone service, and to transmit data and help scientific research. Moreover, operating it fits well into the long-term development strategy of the 4iG. CEO Gellért Jászai said in a statement that 4iG is 25-year-old this year and launching a satellite means a new, ice-breaking cornerstone in their history providing further business possibilities.
The company was founded in 1990 by Hungarian software developers who aimed to create Hungarian competencies on such open-source technologies like Java, Ingres etc. They entered the Hungarian stock market in 2004. Since then,
they have carried out many successful acquisitions
widening their portfolio and activity. Today, among others, they do software development, bank informatics, they implement management schemes, build IT infrastructure and integrate IT applications.
Interestingly, Hungary – as a member of the International Telecommunication Union – had the right to launch their satellite to provide service for the country’s telecommunications needs. However, in 2004, the government leased that orbit to a foreign private company, but the agreement expires in 2024 – napi.hu reported.
The New Space Industries Ltd has been working on the development of the new satellite for two years and it is also part of the current project as an investor.
Thanks to the concept behind the first scanned image of his newborn son, Russell A. Kirsch laid the foundations for a wide range of scientific developments since the 1950s.
Russell A. Kirsch was born in Manhattan on 20 June 1929 to Jewish immigrants from Russia and Hungary. After his studies at the New York University, Harvard, and MIT, he started working at the National Bureau of Standards where, as the head of a research group, he created the first digital image in 1957. As TechCrunch writes,
“His research was being undertaken from the perspective that computers […] could eventually simulate the human mind and perception.”
His first scanned image was a photograph of his then 3-month-old son, Walden. It was a grey-scale image of 179 by 179 pixels – a word which, created from the words picture and element, would not be used for years to come.
Kirsch’s accomplishment has left a crucial impact on the world of technology. According to a 2010 article by Science News, his work laid the foundations for satellite imaging, CT scans, virtual reality, and social media. Even if Kirsch never worked for NASA, “his invention was crucial in the development of space research technologies, including the Apollo Moon landing project”, says the article on Szeretlek Magyarország.
He was a devoted researcher of digital imaging even after his retirement. In his free time, he led an active life rich in arts and travelling with his wife and family. Russell Kirsch died on 11 August at the age of 91 in his home in Oregon.
Diego Lago Mendoza became interested in the world-famous “Magic Cube” in 2015. Since then, the young man has gained thousands of followers on social media sites where he shares his new acquisitions and the methods to solve them as quickly as possible.
The idea of Rubik Squad was created by the young man, Diego Lago Mendoza from A Coruña whose Instagram profile has gained almost 12,000 followers so far. As the Spanish news portal El Espanol reports, Diego became interested in the Hungarian logic game in mid-2015 when he was 16 years old, and found the 3D puzzle quite relaxing. Accordingly, resolving the Magic Cube has become a hobby for him.
“A friend of mine bought one and I thought I had to improve myself. I started and did not stop until I finished it. I became interested when I found a Youtube channel of another Galician who had many cubes and tutorials on how to solve them.”– commented Diego regarding the beginnings.
Initially, he created the Instagram account to share photos of the cubes, and show the different models he collected of the popular Hungarian 3D puzzle. Rubik Squad, whose name came from a clan of the Clash of Clans video game has become so popular that Diego plans to start a Youtube channel to make his collection even more popular. The young man has many videos, including the algorithms to solve the standard 3×3, 2×2 and 4×4 cube cases; however, he only shared a few of them on YouTube due to lack of time.
Most of his followers are from South America and Asia, meanwhile, #rubiksquadofficial counts almost 12,000 followers so far.
In his collection, we can discover several types of the Magic Cube, including the typical 3×3 cubes and other modifications. There are numerous methods of solving the Rubik’s Cube, but their difficulty is not determined by the number of pieces or the shape. Diego, who has several favourite categories (2×2, 3×3, 4×4, 5×5 and 3×3 with one hand), shares some of the ways how to resolve the game on his social networks.
The 3D puzzle of Ernő Rubik has become so popular all around the world that series makers were also inspired by the logic game.
The Speed Cubers is a documentary on Netflix that tells the lives of the two best Rubik’s cube players in the world, Max Park and Feliks Zemdegs.
According to Diego, this is quite important for this world as it provides visibility. “Let us see if people begin to understand that it is not just children’s game and that there are even tournaments in which people win valuable prizes.” – explained the young man.
Hungary has given many great people to the world. Scientists, thinkers, inventors and doctors alike. Throughout the years many achieved great things either by inventing something to make our lives simply easier, like the ballpoint pen by László Bíró or the telephone exchange by Tivadar Puskás, some made it safer for doctors to practice medicine, such as Ignác Semmelweis and other revolutionised the world, such as Oszkár Asbóth or Ede Teller, without whom the world would not be where it is today.
Today we celebrate the birthday of a person of similar magnitude. Today, on the 27th of July, we celebrate the 172nd anniversary of the birth of ‘vásárosnaményi báró Eötvös Loránd Ágoston’, Baron Loránd Eötvös de Vásárosnamény in English, or Baron Roland von Eötvös, as he was commonly referred to in English Literature. He was a physicist, politician, university professor, academic and mountaineer. His scientific successes have contributed significantly to how we live today, and one of the most successful universities of Hungary bears his name. Eötvös Lóránd University is even recognised among the international elite universities.
Lóránd Eötvös
Wikimedia Commons / print by Gustav Morelli
Early life
He was born in Buda in 1848, the year of the Hungarian revolution – which could be viewed as a sign that he would be destined to achieve great things. Eötvös was the son of the Baron József Eötvös de Vásárosnamény, a well-known poet, writer, politician, and Minister of Religion and Public Education. His father also played an important part in the Hungarian political and intellectual life of the 19th century. His mother was the Hungarian noble lady Ágnes Rosty de Barkócz.
He studied in the Piarist High School and graduated in 1865. He continued his studies in Budapest in both law and natural sciences, under many great scientists in the fields of chemistry, geology, and mathematics.
As it would seem evident, he preferred natural sciences and chose to pursue natural sciences and went to the University of Heidelberg in 1868. This was the very best where one could learn natural sciences at that time, and fortunately for Eötvös, three very famous scientific figures have been teaching him; Gustav Robert Kirchhoff, German physicist, Hermann Ludwig von Helmholtz, German physicist and physician and Robert Wilhelm Bunsen, German chemist. He also studied at Königsberg for a semester.
He finished his doctorate with a summa cum laude acknowledgement in 1870.
In 1871, after his return to Hungary, he wanted to be a private tutor at the university that bears his name since 1950. The peculiarity of it was that his application was assessed by Ányos Jedlik, the inventor of the dynamo and great physicist, among others. In 1875, he received his own laboratory, where he could conduct his experiments.
A few years later, after Ányos Jedlik’s retire, he became the head of the department of experimental physics when he was only 30.
In 1873, he received a correspondent member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and ten years later became a full-time member, but only a few years later, he held the title of President between 1889 and 1905.
This is not everything, but we need to reserve some space for his revolutionary achievements. He also held many positions outside sciences; he established a scientific association and started a magazine, was the president of the Hungarian Tourist Association, and he loved to climb mountains. One of the peaks – a 2837 metres high – in South Tirol was named after him.
He played a leading part in the field of sciences in Hungary for almost 50 years but had a significant impact on international research as well. He was first recognised internationally for his work and experimenting with capillarity, which is the phenomenon when liquid flows in narrow spaces without the assistance of external forces, or even seemingly acting against opposing forces, such as gravity. You can see this effect every day, as this is the reason why tissue paper can absorb water so well. Interestingly, the first paper of Albert Einstein was also on capillarity.
Lóránd Eötvös also studied the surface tension, and he achieved quite a few things in his own laboratory. He was so successful with his research that
he was able to develop a new method for determining surface tension.
This method is the ‘Eötvös rule’ named after him, which was later used and improved upon by other scientists.
In the 1880s he was fascinated by gravity and mass movement, so he started experimenting in his laboratory. In order to be able to measure the spatial change of the gravitational forces, he created a new type of torsion balance. He modified the balance made by Cavendish in order to suit his needs better. He changed it in two different ways, the first of which is the curvature variometer, and the second one is the horizontal variometer. This device could not only detect the direction of the force of gravity, but it could measure the change in the force of gravity’s extent in the horizontal plane, which meant that
it was able to determine the distribution of masses in the Earth’s crust.
The Eötvös torsion balance soon became an important instrument of geodesy and geophysics throughout the whole world. For many years it was used for mine exploration, searching for minerals, oil, coal and different types of ores.
The Eötvös torsion balance
Wikimedia Commons / Zátonyi Sándor
Among many other sites, the vast oilfields of Texas were discovered using this device.
There was also another important use for this device. With the help of his invention, the Eötvös torsion balance, the Hungarian scientist was able to prove the equivalence of the inertial mass and the gravitational mass accurately quite accurately. Lóránd experimented with this as early as 1890 and in 1909, he and two other scientists have won a prize for their discovery in Göttingen.
This is a very important step as this equivalence is the basis of Albert Einstein’s relativity.
Einstein, not aware of Lóránd’s measurements that proved this equivalence, stated it instinctively, only after Wilhelm Wien pointed out in 1912 that Lóránd Eötvös was able to prove it with measurements, was when Einstein referred to Lóránd’s findings in 1913.
If you thought that this was everything he achieved, you are wrong. There is a unit named after him: ‘Eotvos’ (E) which is the unit of the gravitational gradient of the Earth. Well, there is also the ‘Eötvös effect’, which is the change in perceived gravitational force caused by the change in centrifugal acceleration resulting from eastbound or westbound velocity. There is the ‘Eötvös number’, which is a dimensionless number measuring the importance of gravitational forces compared to surface tension forces and is used to characterise the shape of bubbles or drops moving in a surrounding fluid. Last but not least, there is also a mineral named after him: ‘Lórándite’. It is a thallium arsenic sulfosalt. It was first discovered in the Allchar deposit, near Kavadarci, Macedonia in 1894.
The resting place of Lóránd Eötvös
Wikimedia Commons / Dr Varga József
So on the 27th of July, please think about Hungary and Lóránd Eötvös, who helped develop a device to be able to find the oil fields that are now used to make fuel, medicine, plastic products and a million other things that make our lives easier.
A consortium of companies and research institutes announced on Saturday that they have created a type of reusable mask capable of inactivating the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19 disease.
Named MOxAd-Tech, the textile mask “successfully passed the tests carried out by the Joao Lobo Antunes Institute of Molecular Medicine,” the consortium said in a statement sent to journalists.
The creators claimed that the mask has an “innovative coating that neutralizes the SARS-CoV-2 virus when it comes into contact with the fabric, an effect that remains even after 50 washes.”
Pedro Simas, a virologist, explained that the tests on the MOxAd-Tech mask revealed a “99 percent viral reduction after one hour of contact with the virus, according to the test parameters indicated in the international standard.”
“In a simplified way, these tests consist of analyzing the tissue after contact with a solution that contains a certain amount of virus, whose viability is measured over time,” said Simas.
The masks, being produced in Portugal, will be sold for 10 euros (11.6 U.S. dollars) in the country and throughout the European Union.
Portugal recorded four more deaths from COVID-19 and 263 new infections in the last 24 hours, bringing the totals to 1,716 and 49,955 since the beginning of the pandemic.
Hungarian company Graboplast came up with their world-patented product which has special surface treatment that eliminates microorganisms including viruses and bacteria without the use of chemicals. Since COVID-19 does not seem to disappear anytime soon, demand is very high.
According to their website, Grabo Silver Knight eliminates harmful bacteria without the use of chemicals. The disinfecting activity is achieved by a double defence line: the first line is silver ion, a natural antibiotic, and the second line is a light-activated protective layer, which transforms harmful substances into harmless compounds.
Through the flow diffusion of silver ions, microbes, such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses, are inactivated and destroyed. The second line of defence is Titanium dioxide (NanoTiO2), which helps to decompose germs, and it transforms harmful substances into harmless compounds through a chemical oxidation process without being consumed.
Graboplast recommends using the self-disinfecting floors and walls in social institutions like hospitals, schools, and nursing homes.
Main properties:
High sound insulation (19 dB)
Excellent abrasion resistance
Extreme stain-and chemical resistance
Bfls1 flame resistance
Pleasant foot comfort
Antibacterial
Forbes writes that customers within and outside the EU are more and more interested in Graboplast’s product. This year (Q2), huge shipments were delivered to Germany, France, Scandinavia, the United States, and to countries in the Middle East.
In 2019, Graboplast made a profit of 18.1 billion forints (50.6 million euros), 90% of which came from exports.
The little “Magic Cube” was born more than 40 years ago and has become world-famous thanks to the Hungarian engineer-inventor, Ernő Rubik. The iconic logic game conquered millions of people since then and also turned up in the most celebrated Hollywood films, spinning in the hands of Will Smith or Ryan Gosling. Come along and discover ten interesting facts about the Rubik’s Cube that might surprise you! 😉
Even though Ernő Rubik invented the famous Magic Cube in 1975, it received its patent only two years later 31st December 1977, so the Hungarian game designer could start the year of 1978 as an inventor.
The original name of the iconic game was Magic Cube, which was changed to Rubik’s Cube by the Hungarian inventor in 1980.
Ernő Rubik originally developed his invention for teaching purposes; he wanted to introduce the spatial movement of bodies to his university students.
Solving the “three-dimensional puzzle game” can be challenging, which is not a coincidence, as its sides can be rotated into an unspeakable number of different positions; numerically: 43,252,003,274,489,856,000.
The inventor also admitted that initially, it took him weeks to solve the riddle of the cube. According to Ernő Rubik, his invention is a “reminder never to give up. There is always a solution.”
As redbull.com reports, in order to solve the Magic Cube, a robot has already been developed. The robot, called CUBESTORMER 3, can solve the cube in just 3,253 seconds.
This is very close to the time of the world recorder, Feliks Zemdegs; the Australian man solved the Rubik’s Cube within 4.22 seconds, with which he still holds the world record to this day.
Donnie Darko, The Engineer, Armageddon or In the Footsteps of Happiness are just a few of the films in which the Hungarian iconic cube turned up.
The Rubik’s Cube has conquered the whole world over the years; more than 500 million units have already been sold around the world.
Besides several national and international acknowledgements, Ernő Rubik was awarded with the Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Stephen in 2014, which is the highest medal awarded by Hungary.
A ventilator designed by a team at Budapest’s Technical University, developed in the space of two months, is being put into production.
Miklós Kásler, the minister of human resources, Sándor Pintér, the interior minister, and László Palkovics, the minister of innovation and technology, visited the ventilator’s production hall.
Palkovics said domestic production of the device was a “milestone”, noting that at the start of the novel coronavirus epidemic, ventilators were being purchased from abroad.
He said his ministry is financing 24 projects related to coronavirus worth 3 billion forints. Soon, a national laboratory dedicated to viruses will be up and ready, he added.
Kásler insisted that the ventilator was “world-class”, saying the device had the functions of machines already in use but its electronics allowed additional ones.
He said that whereas Hungary has a sufficient number of ventilators, it was unknown how the epidemic would develop in the future. Unlike many countries, the Hungarian government has taken timely measures to control the epidemic, he added, noting the country’s favourable statistics.
The prototype of the ventilator was made by the university, while state-owned company BM Heros Zrt is putting it into production. The production hall, incorporating special hygiene and safety conditions, was built in five weeks and is expected to produce ten ventilators each day.
Hungary is not just a special country because of its culture, history, and natural features, but because of all the amazing Hungarian inventors who created something that became well-known in the entire world.
Magyarországom collected some of the greatest Hungarian inventions we can all be proud of.
Chess-playing machine by Farkas Kempelen
He was a genius of his age since he made a typewriter for a blind girl, a steam engine, and a special bed for Empress Maria Theresa, and he was also a poet, a writer, and a goldsmith at the same time. His chess-playing machine defeated not only grandmasters of the time but also Napoleon Bonaparte and Benjamin Franklin.
János Irinyi invented the noiseless and non-explosive match in 1836, at the age of 19. This became his most well-known invention, although he greatly contributed to the spreading of modern chemistry in Hungary as well. He also had a significant political role in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848.
Dynamo by Ányos Jedlik
Many inventions are connected to his name, for example, the creation of the electric motor, the discovery of the self-excitation, writing down the dynamo principle, the manufacturing of carbonated water, and the recognition of voltage multiplication.
Telephone exchange by Tivadar Puskás
The first experimental model was built in Boston in 1877, based on the plans of Puskás. Later, he also invented the multiplex telephone switchboard, which further contributed to the development of communication. He was the first man in history to invent the most modern telecommunication method.
Fire extinguisher by Kornél Szilvay
Szilvay was an engineer and fireman who, on 30 June 1928, presented the first-ever fire extinguisher of the world which you can also see today.
Helicopter by Oszkár Asbóth
Oszkár Asboth, a Hungarian aviation engineer and the inventor of the helicopter, was known for presenting the first helicopter structure which could take off the way today’s machines do. He lives in common knowledge as an important mechanic. At the same time, evidence shows that he was only a mountebank, with no original and usable ideas.
The Canadian-Hungarian doctor wrote down stress in 1934 for the first time in the history of medicine and presented his stress theory.
Ballpoint pen by László Bíró
Bíró was originally a journalist of Argentinian descent, and it was the South American country where his invention was first used in history before becoming known in the entire world.
Rubik’s Cube by Ernő Rubik
Probably the most well-known Hungarian invention would be the Rubik’s Cube, one of the most popular logical games in the world.
Béres drops by György Béres
The Hungarian scientific researcher became well-known for inventing his medical drops, which is a medicine repairing the inner biology and immune system of people.
Since last time you seemed interested to learn that Hungarian language and culture had also some effect on the English language, I dug a little deeper and managed to find some more words that are borrowed from Hungarian. Many of the items on this list are actually significant in Hungarian culture and are defining elements of it. Let’s have a look at them.
Before you go any further, you can check out the first part of this article by clicking here. Just a quick clarification that you might need for this article: if something is Hungarikum, it represents Hungary and Hungarian people due to its attribute, uniqueness, or quality.
Source: facebook.com/GerbeaudCafe/
Dobos torte
“A torte made of multiple thin layers of sponge cake often containing ground hazelnuts, put together with a mocha-chocolate filling, and topped with caramel glaze,” – Merriam Webster Dictionary
“The layered pastry is named after its inventor, Hungarian chef József C. Dobos, a delicatessen owner in Budapest. Dobos cake was first introduced at the National General Exhibition of Budapest in 1885; King Franz Joseph I and Queen Elisabeth (Sisi) were among the first to taste it. The cake soon became popular throughout Europe, both for its durability through shipping and for its unique appearance.” – Collection of Hungarikums
We have already written several articles about this delicacy. We do not know for sure when confectioneries will reopen after the pandemic, but if you crave this delicacy, we also have the original recipe you can try.
Although it is not part of dictionaries, as it is a proper name, many of you might be familiar with this word. If it does not ring a bell, well, I am going to tell you all about it. It comes from none other than Ernő Rubik, the inventor of the world-famous Rubik-kocka, or Rubik’s cube. He invented it around 1975, but he only got the patent after 1977, and it was called ’bűvös kocka’ (magic cube) back then. Shortly after, it was nicknamed Rubik-kocka, and the name stuck. Since then, it has become a kind of brand, and there are many varieties of brain-teasing puzzles under Rubik’s name.
“A name of a town in Upper Hungary (‘Tokaj’). Also, Tokay (‘Tokaji’) wine, rich sweet wine of an aromatic flavour, made near Tokay in Hungary. Tokay grape is the variety of grape from which Tokay wine is made.” – Oxford English Dictionary
“The Tokaj aszu (or ‘Tokaji aszú’ in Hungarian) is a special wine produced in the Tokaj wine region; it is the nectar of individually hand-picked “aszu” berries botrytized on the vinestock. It is made by bathing the dough in high quality must or wine of the same year from the Tokaj wine region. Following fermentation, it is maturing and refining in oak casks placed in a constant-temperature cellar.” – Collection of Hungarikums
You need to taste it, but until you can get your hands on a bottle, you can read our articles about this Hungarikum.
“An Eastern European fish (Lucioperca sandra) resembling a perch, especially one from Lake Balaton in Hungary that is highly esteemed as food,” – Merriam Webster Dictionary
In Hungarian, it literally means ‘having teeth’, which becomes evident if you look at this fish. It is certainly food you might encounter in establishments near Balaton, but a dish made from this fish is present all over the country, and you can order it in many restaurants. Not everyone likes fish, but it is certainly regarded as one of the best fish in Hungary, right after our next word.
‘Fogas’ or also referred to as ‘süllő’ depending on its size; the latter is smaller than 1.5 kg
Source: Wikimedia Commons / Tiia Monto
‘Halászlé’ or fisherman’s soup
Although ‘fogas’ is very popular in Hungary, ‘halászlé’ or ‘fisherman’s soup’, sometimes ‘fish soup’ as it is referred to in English, has not only become a Hungarikum, but it is almost just as known worldwide as ‘goulash’ is.
Every cook does it differently, but only two kinds became Hungarikums. One is the ‘Tisza’ (river in eastern Hungary) fish soup and the other is the ‘Baja’ (a city in southern Hungary, next to the Danube). They may be different in how you prepare them, but the next word is one ingredient they both need.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it is a word borrowed from Hungarian. It is a powdered spice that looks deep-orange or red, made by grinding the dried fruits of peppers. In many languages, ‘paprika’ also refers to the plant itself, but not in English. ‘Paprika’ has been part of Hungarian cuisine since the plant’s arrival to the country around the 16th century. It is so characteristically Hungarian that paprika made from the peppers of Szeged and Kalocsa have become Hungarikums. Wow! It is the fourth Hungarikum on this list, which is a coincidence, I swear, but it is an essential ingredient, perhaps even the soul of Hungarian cuisine.
Well, we sure love food, or at least the world recognises us by our foods. After a filling ‘goulash’, you might need something sweet to finish your meal. That is where this dish comes into the picture. “In Hungarian cuisine: a thin pancake eaten as a dessert, often filled with jam, cheese, nuts, or chocolate.” – Oxford English Dictionary
True, it is a pancake, but it might actually be closer to the French ‘crêpe’. Regarding the fillings, there are a lot more than that. Do not get scared, it is not the savoury cheese you might think of. It is a Hungarian ingredient that is only a little similar to cheese or cottage cheese, and it is called ‘túró’. It is a milk product, but it is hard to explain. If we put it in pancakes, we usually sweeten it with some sugar – I personally like a little vanilla flavouring, but while many people add raisins, I avoid that. Now, there are a plethora of other things you can use as fillings. Another one of my favourites is cinnamon with some sugar, but feel free to use pudding, any kind of jam or marmalade, or even Nutella, and there is the famous Gundel ‘palacsinta’.
One more thing. You might have seen it on menus, but there is also a savoury type of this dish that restaurants usually list with appetisers. It is called the ‘Hortobágyi húsos palacsinta’, meaning Hortobágy (a region in eastern Hungary) meat pancake. It contains minced meat, and it is drizzled with sour-cream and paprika gravy.
“The principal monetary unit of Hungary; a coin of this denomination.” – Oxford English Dictionary. Many of you might have only seen it written in its international code HUF, but it is actually called ‘forint’.
Pengö
In Hungarian, it is written ‘pengő’. It was “the basic monetary unit of Hungary from 1925 to 1946.” – Merriam Webster Dictionary
“A borrowing from Hungarian, the ‘verbunkos’ was originally danced by uniformed Hussars to the music of gypsy bands in Hungary in order to attract new recruits to the army. The Hungarian word comes from the German ‘Werbung’, meaning recruitment.” – Oxford English Dictionary
Lassu
From the Hungarian word ‘lassú’, meaning slow. “The slow part of a Hungarian ‘csárdás’ (opposed to friss).” – Oxford English Dictionary
Friss
“Less commonly ‘friszka’, is the fast section of a ‘csárdás’ (contrasted with lassú).” – Merriam Webster Dictionary
Borrowed from the Hungarian ‘hajdú’ or ‘hajdúk’ (plural). A ‘haiduk’ is a type of peasant irregular infantry found in Central and Southeast Europe from the early 17th to mid-19th centuries (originally, in Hungary, they were thought to be armed shepherds of cattle). They had reputations from bandits to freedom fighters depending on time, place, or their enemies.
‘Hajdú’ Warrior on Horseback
Source: Wikimedia Commons
The etymology is unclear. One theory is that it was derived from the Turkish word ‘haidut’ or ‘haydut’, used by the Ottomans to refer to Hungarian and Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth soldiers. The second theory is that the word comes from the Hungarian ‘hajtó’ or ‘hajdó’ (plural hajtók or ‘hajdók’), meaning a drover of cattle.
Other spellings in English can be: ajduk, haydut, haiduk, haiduc, hayduck, hayduk.
Here are two more interesting words that originate from Hungary:
Rezbanyite A mineral consisting of lead, copper, and bismuth sulfide. According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, it comes from the German ‘rezbanyit’, it was mined in Rézbánya (literally meaning ‘copper mine’), Hungary (now Băiţa, Romania).
Vashegyite A mineral that is hydrated basic aluminium phosphate. According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, it comes from the German ‘vashegyit’, mined in Vashegy (literally meaning ‘iron mountain’), a village formerly in Hungary, now Železník, in north-eastern Slovakia.
To find innovative solutions for the various challenges imposed by the current coronavirus pandemic, the European Commission hosted the Pan-European hackathon on 24, 25, and 26 April. Three Hungarian teams closed the weekend with great success. With their 3D printed glasses, Team Discover became the overall winner of the Health & Life category; the MassVentil Team won the challenge category of Ventilators/respirators, and the Linistry customer queue management system became the winner of the category of Business Continuity, reported the Ministry for Innovation and Technology (abbreviated ITM in Hungarian).
Origo reported that the Ministry, in cooperation with the Design Terminal, provided support for nearly 250 Hungarian applicants as a national curator.
The #EUvsVirus Pan-European hackathon was organised in collaboration with the European Innovation Council and the EU Member States.
The international jury evaluated a total of 2,150 submissions, and 117 of them were awarded during the weekend.
After the domestic recognition, Team Discover, a Hungarian team of university students (Márton Elődi, Levente Mitnyik, Péter Dános, Miklós Knébel, Péter Lakatos, Kristóf Nagy), was also awarded at a European level.
Photo: video still from Team Discover – #EUvsVirus Health & Life WINNER
In 48 hours, they managed to create a fully-functional pair of 3D printed glasses that can “give nurses superpowers” by allowing them to monitor 100 patients at the same time.
As the winner of the Life & Health category, Team Discover will be invited to the Matchathon organised at the end of May by the European Innovation Council.
In the category of Business Continuity, the Hungarian developers of the Linistry application, Dániel Boross, Gyula Kövesdán, Zsigmond Kővári, and Gábor Surányi, won a cash prize of 3,000 euros. The flexible customer queue management system offers a solution to the elimination of the traditionally time-consuming process of queuing and waiting.
Photo: www.facebook.com/Linistry
The team of MassVentil from the University of Óbuda came first in the challenge category of Ventilators/respirators with their
revolutionary mass patient ventilation system that can ventilate up to 50 or even more people at once.
This solution can also be operated outside of hospitals, in temporary emergency camps.
Photo: www.facebook.com/massventilproject
The aim of the competition was “to connect civil society, innovators, partners, and investors across Europe in order to develop innovative solutions for coronavirus-related challenges,” claim the organisers. Numerous innovative solutions were submitted in the fields of healthcare, business continuity, remote working and education, social and political cohesion, and digital finance. In addition to applicants from the EU Member States, more than 20,000 registrations had arrived from the UK, Switzerland, Israel, Turkey, India, and the United States.
The Ministry for Innovation and Technology added that the winners would be invited to join the European Innovation Council platform, which provides access to healthcare providers, foundations, investors, and other EU funding opportunities.
English is a global language, there is no denying that, but over the course of its history, it has been influenced and impacted by many other languages and cultures, from French to German, from Greek and Latin to Spanish, but also Hungarian. Although the Hungarian language and culture did not impact English as much as some other languages, there are still some words in English that originate from the Central-Eastern European country of Hungary.
Magyarországomcollected some of these words for you, and we tried to find sources (sometimes with added emphasis) to support their origin.
Itsy-bitsy
We should start with the outlier. Although it might not have a true etymological connection to the Hungarian phrase of the same meaning, as I could not find any truly reliable sources, the resemblance is uncanny. In Hungary, we use the phrase ‘icipici’, which not only looks very similar, but it sounds almost identical and has an almost identical meaning.
Coach
“Found in nearly all European languages since the 16th century; Spanish ‘coche’, Italian ‘cocchio’, German ‘kutsche’, Polish ‘kocz’, etc. All originate from the Hungarian ‘kocsi’, used in Hungary from the reign of King Matthias Corvinus, 1458–90.” – Oxford English Dictionary
‘Kocsi’ is an adjective, meaning ‘of Kocs /kɔtʃ/’, a place south of Komorn, between Raab and Buda, which was the Hungarian post town from the 15th century onwards. The full original name was ‘kocsi szekér’ i.e. ‘Kocs cart’, which was the name of a fast, light vehicle pulled by horses that later spread across Europe. Now, the word can be used to describe train passenger cars and types of buses as well.
The ballpoint pen is widely referred to as a ‘biro’ in many countries, including the UK, Ireland, Australia, and Italy. Although the word is a registered trademark that comes from the name of its inventor, in some countries, it has become genericised.
László József Bíró was a Hungarian-Argentine inventor who patented the first commercially successful modern ballpoint pen. Bíró presented his idea at the Budapest International Fair in 1931 and patented the invention in Paris in 1938. During World War II, Bíró fled to Argentina. In 1943, he filed another patent, issued in the US as 2,390,636 Writing Instrument. In 1945, Marcel Bich bought the patent from Bíró for the pen, which soon became the main product of his BIC company. BIC has since sold more than 100 billion ballpoint pens worldwide.
This might be one of the most well-known and most commonly used words in English that originate from Hungary. It is not uncommon for foreigners to identify Hungarians with this dish. If you are abroad and say that you are Hungarian, the first thing that comes to mind for many people is ‘goulash’.
“It originates from Hungarian ‘gulyáshús’, from ‘gulyás’ (herdsman of ox) + ‘hús’ (meat). A beef or lamb soup originally made by herdsmen while on the fields.” – Online Etymology Dictionary
“It means light-cavalryman. The original Hussars were bodies of light horsemen organized in Hungary in the late 15th century, famed for courage and elaborate, semi-oriental dresses. They were widely imitated all over Europe (for example the Polish winged hussars), hence the spread of the word.” – Online Etymology Dictionary
Historically, the term in Hungarian derives from the cavalry of late medieval Hungary under Matthias Corvinus with mainly Serb warriors, but there are also other theories about its origin:
According to Webster’s Dictionary, the Hungarian ‘huszár’, originates from the medieval Serbian husar, meaning brigand (because early hussars’ shock troop tactics used against the Ottoman army resembled that of brigands; in modern Serbian, the meaning of ‘gusar’ is limited to sea pirate, more like ‘corsair’).
Another theory is that the term is an original Hungarian one, having nothing in common with the Serbian ‘gusar’. The hussars’ tactics and riding skills are characteristic of the early Hungarian warriors and were used by many ethnicities on the Eurasian steppe, like Huns, Avars, etc., and later by the Mongols and Tatars. This type of light cavalry was especially characteristic of the Hungarian armies, equipped with bows, arrows, spears, and sabres, and they later adopted the use of firearms.
Shako
“Also ‘chako’ is a cylindrical soldier’s hat with plume. It comes from the Hungarian ‘csákó’, short for ‘csákós süveg’ (peaked cap)”. – Online Etymology Dictionary
Originally, it would look similar to a hussar’s hat, but if you say the word ‘csákó’ in Hungary, many people, especially children, will associate the word with the simple hat you can fold from paper.
Sabre
“It is a type of single-edged sword, from French ‘sabre’ (heavy, curved sword) an alteration of ‘sable’, from German ‘Sabel’, ‘Säbel’, probably ultimately from Hungarian ‘szablya’ (saber), literally means a tool to cut with, from the verb ‘szabni’ (to cut or to tear).” – Online Etymology Dictionary
A sabre, also spelt as saber, depending on which side of the pond you are from, is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the early modern and Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central-Eastern European cavalry, such as the hussars, the sabre became widespread in Western Europe a bit later. The predecessor of these weapons, the ‘proto-sabre’ (the Turko-Mongol sabre), had become the usual sidearm on the Eurasian steppes by the 9th century. The sabre probably arrived in Europe with the Magyars and Turks.
Photo: www.facebook.com/Hortobágy Nonprofit Kft.
Pusta
Pusta or Puszta is a Hungarian traditional landscape meaning “a large plain, a steppe; a flat treeless region.” – Oxford English Dictionary
Czárdás
‘Csárdás’, often seen as ‘czárdás’ or ‘csardas’, is a traditional Hungarian folk dance. The name is derived from ‘csárda’, an old Hungarian term for roadside tavern and restaurant. It originated in Hungary and was popularised by bands in Hungary as well as the neighbouring lands of Slovakia, Slovenia, Transylvania, etc.
Hungarian Dog Breeds
Hungarian dog breeds are referred to in English by their original Hungarian names. Vizsla might be the most widely known among these breeds, but all of them can be loyal companions.
Puli: “More fully Hungarian Puli is a breed of large black, grey, or white sheepdog characterized by a long, thick coat with a corded appearance.” – Oxford English Dictionary
Komondor: “Large, powerful, shaggy-coated white dogs of Hungarian origin that are used to guard sheep” – Merriam-Webster
Kuvasz: “A large, white, long-coated Hungarian breed of dog used as a guard dog” – Oxford English Dictionary
Vizsla: They are short-coated, golden-brown hunting dogs, specifically “pointers, with large pendant ears” – Oxford English Dictionary. They are robust but rather lightly built; they are lean dogs that have defined muscles.
Pumi: “It is a medium-sized alert, intelligent, energetic, and agile Hungarian herding breed” – American Kennel Club
Hungarian research into the antibody to the novel coronavirus is showing promising results, and doctors have started to administer it to a patient on Thursday, Chief Medical Officer Cecília Müller said on Friday.
Speaking at the online press conference of the operative board coordinating the response into the novel coronavirus epidemic, Müller said Hungarian researchers were among the first in the world to produce the antibody to the virus, from the blood plasma of recovered patients.
A gravely ill patient is already being treated with the antibody, she said, and called on recovered patients to donate blood plasma.
Meanwhile, the National Centre of Public Health is examining the presence within the environment, and has reported that no trace of the virus has been found in the Budapest sewage system, she said.
Currently, 877 are hospitalised with Covid-19, 61 of whom are on ventilators, Müller said.
The operative board’s spokesman, Róbert Kiss, told the same press conference that an old border crossing between Austria and Hungary has been opened to commuters and people living close to the border. Re-opening the Hegyeshalom crossing is helping farmers as well, Kiss added, who cannot use the motorway with farming vehicles.
Meanwhile, hospitals in Hungary are being supplied continuously with protective gear, Kiss said. On Friday, deliveries will arrive at four Budapest hospitals and in the cities of Veszprém, Székesfehérvár, Tatabánya, Ajka and Szekszárd, he added.
