Thursday Thirteen

New York is one of my favourite places to visit. So, this week, I thought we would look at 13 fun facts that you may or may not know about Manhattan and New York City.

1.In the 1660s New York City's “skyline” was dominated by a two-story-high windmill.

2.When the Dutch still controlled the region, Wall Street was the city limit and there was actually a wall there.

3.Manhattan's Chinatown is the largest Chinese enclave in the Western Hemisphere.

4.Cleopatra's Needle, a 3,000-year-old Egyptian ruin, can actually be found in New York's Central Park. In 1879 it was given to the city as a gift by the Khedive of Egypt. The 220-ton, 66-foot-high monument took a decade to be fully transported.

5.Why are New York Yellow Cabs yellow? Because John Hertz, the company's founder, read a study that concluded yellow was the easiest color for the eye to spot.

6.The first American chess tournament was held in New York in 1843.

7.The Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan is the only school in the world offering a Bachelor of Science Degree with a Major in Cosmetics and Fragrance Marketing.

8.Dairying is New York's most important farming activity with over 18,000 cattle and or calves farms.

9. New York City has 722 miles of subway track.

10. The "New York Post" established in 1803 by Alexander Hamilton is the oldest running newspaper in the United States.

11.New York's highest waterfall is the 215 foot Taughannock.

12.The Big Apple is a term coined by musicians meaning to play the big time.

13.New York State is home to 58 species of wild orchids.