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

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

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

Basque is a language isolate, not related to any other language family

The longest word in English without a repeated letter is 'uncopyrightable' — 15 letters

'uncopyrightable' is the longest English word without repeating letters, 15 letters long

The capital of Hungary is Budapest — originally two cities, Buda and Pest, merged in 1873

Budapest, formed from Buda and Pest in 1873, is Hungary's capital

OK is the most widely understood word in the world — origins debated since the 1830s

"OK" origin debates began in the 1830s, with no single definitive source

The word 'salary' comes from 'salarium' — Roman soldiers were sometimes paid in salt

Salary originates from 'salarium,' Roman soldiers' salt-based payment