Basque is a language isolate — unrelated to any other known language on Earth

There are about 7,000 languages in the world — one goes extinct roughly every two weeks

Languages face extinction at a rate of approximately 14 per year

Tomatoes were considered poisonous in Europe for 200 years — they're in the nightshade family

Tomatoes, nightshades, were Europe's poisonous food for two centuries

Mandarin Chinese is the most spoken first language — about 920 million native speakers

Mandarin Chinese has approximately 920 million native speakers

The word 'quarantine' comes from 'quaranta giorni' — 40 days ships waited in Venice during plague

'Quarantine' originates from 'quaranta giorni' of Venice's plague-era ship isolation

Chili peppers are native to the Americas — they didn't exist in Asian cuisine before Columbus

Chili peppers originated in the Americas, not Asia, pre-Columbus era

The Caspian Sea is the world's largest lake — technically not a sea despite the name

The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, not a sea