Minox was made in Latvia

The famous Minox miniature “spy” camera was developed and manufactured by Latvian engineer Walter Zapp in Riga, Latvia. The first production model was even named for the city.
Zapp created the camera in 1936, but the first commercial model—the “Riga”—was made in 1938 and carried a “Made in Latvia” marking.
Walter Zapp wanted to create a portable camera that would fit easily into the palm of the hand and yet take high quality, spontaneous pictures. The Minox subminiature camera, in its various models, was for years the world’s most widely used spy camera . Considered a marvel of technology when it first became available, the camera was originally produced from 1937 - 1944 in Riga. It used film one quarter the size of standard 35 mm film, with 50 frames loaded in a cassette.

We pay pay pay...

After joinig EU in May 2004, Latvia faced EU fines over sugar surplus. Latvia had to eliminate its excess stocks or pay a fine into the EU budget, under the Commission regulation.

“As is usual before every enlargement, the new Member States were required to ensure that there was no speculative stockpiling of agricultural products, which would upset the balance of the entire EU market,” said the Commission.
Producers had to prove to national government that stocks had been destroyed and the government had to provide evidence of elimination to the EU until March 31, 2006. This statement faced discussions and up to this moment the situation has reached the point, where Latvia has to pay fine, unluckily, because we had more than 10,000 tonnes of sugar surplus. This fine is approximately 3,1 million Lats. More over, just recently European Commision came up with new calculations of approximately 880 156 Lats, which will have to be paid as fine for meat, vine and garlic surplus in Latvia before joining EU.

Probably EU will come up with more fines...and Latvians just pay pay pay...

Recordsman in Latvia

Latvia has the dubious honour of holding the record for the world’s drunkest person. A few years ago an unnamed vagrant was found unconscious by the police and rushed to hospital where his blood test revealed an astounding 7.22 parts per million of alcohol. Before this man was saved by law enforcement, the medical community had agreed that 4 parts per million was a lethal dose for any human.

Flying Latvians Known Worldwide

Company Aerodium became known after the 2006 Torino XX Winter Olympic Games closing ceremonies, because Aerodium Latvia helped to produce the part of the show that featured flying acrobats. Aerodium Latvia is a company based in Sigulda, Latvia, which owns and runs the first vertical wind tunnel in Eastern Europe. The vertical wind tunnel (VWT) is located near Sigulda, the most visited tourist area in Latvia. The company built the biggest mobile vertical wind tunnel in the world especially for the Torino show. The tunnel blows a wind stream of 200 km/h within a diameter of 3.7 meters. See what they are doing here.

Latvian discovery in Egypt

Latvian scientists in Egypt have discovered the original entrance of Djoser’s Pyramid, which could provide the answer to how the pyramid was built. The entrance to the 5,000-year-old pyramid was discovered using a 3D scanner. Historians said the entrance was walled up when rebuilding mastaba into a pyramid, but the Latvian scientists discovered that the original entry was only partly covered. The discovery carries great importance, as it knocks out current theories and allows us to restore Djoser’s Pyramid, built by Egyptian architect Imhotep. Besides Latvian expedition had managed to discover three new galleries with human bones and numerous ceramic objects. There were also discovered eleven other galleries with the bodies of governor Jossers family in sarcophagus.

Christmas Knavery

Christmas time is harvest time for supermarkets and different other shops. This is not only because of approaching Christmas and New Year. This is not only because everyone need to buy presents and food for their festive boards. It is true that flow of people at this time in supermarkets is "huge", and it is one of the reasons why supermarkets have this great profit. One other reason why profit is so great, is that supermarkets cheat on their clients.
We have got used to different campaigns like "Buy two, pay for one" or just ordinary discounts for different products. Good cheating example is supermarket chain "Maxima", which is known in all Baltic countries for sure. Before the New Year's celebration, when people buy champagne and small dressings like those sweet, colourful champagne cherries, there was a campaign in "Maxima"; one cherry pot costs Ls 1,29, but if you buy two sweet colourful cherry pots-then each of them should cost Ls 1,19. But cashier's check does not show any discounts and people at this time have so many things to buy that they do not follow on numbers that are punched out on these checks. To tell the truth, this is not the only knavery case-those who understand latvian and russian languages can have a small anti-advertisement and commentary tour here

Sour Milk

Milk “Lāse” is a high-quality milk. Latvia’s best raw milk is used for the production of “Lāse”. Thanks to contemporary production and packaging technologies, a sealed carton of “Lāse” can be kept at room temperature for up to 6 months. No preservatives are used. Milk “Lāse” is produced with various flavours; it contains natural vitamins. A pack of “Lāse” is environment-friendly and convenient to use.
Really? Interesting what is that thing they put in that milk so that it can be kept at room temperature for up to 6 months??? Doesn't this already demonstrate that this is not a purely healthy product? Ok, maybe it can be kept unopened at room temperature, but evidently it is weird when just bought in a shop on one of the first days of 2007, this "fresh" milk with expiration of validity marked May 17, 2007 spoiled coffee, because it was sour.