Did You Know????

Did you know that... Israeli scientists from Motorola Israel developed the cell phone?

Did you know that... four young Israeli programmers developed the technology behind AOL's Instant Messenger. Would we have MSN if Israel didn’t exist?

Did you know that... Intel's new high-speed Centrino chip - which doubles battery life on laptops - was developed entirely in Israel? While watching a DVD for hours on your Centrino laptop, thank Israel for the extra battery life.

Did you know that... in the field of medicine, Israel is saving your heart and making innovations in early cancer detection. Did you know that researchers in Israel developed a new device that directly helps the heart pump blood, an innovation with the potential to save lives among those with congestive heart failure?

Did you know that... Israeli scientists also developed the first fully computerized, no-radiation, diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer. Israel's Given Imaging developed the first ingestible video camera, so small it fits inside a pill to help doctors diagnose cancer and digestive disorders; this is best known as the “pill cam!”

Did you know that... Israel has more engineers and scientists per capita than any other country? It also produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation. But Israeli heroes of medicine and science don't just stay in the lab; they rush into the fray and save people, not only in Israel, but around the world: When the U.S. Embassy in Kenya was bombed in 1998, Israeli rescue teams were on the scene within a day - and saved three victims from the rubble. A year later they were on the ground in Turkey rescuing earthquake victims.

Did you know that... Israeli tennis player Anna Smashnova is the 15th ranked female player in the world?

Did you know that…Israel's Maccabi basketball team won the European championships in 2001, and Europe's SuproLeague MVP was Israeli center Nate Huffman?

Did you know that… actress Natalie Portman was actually born in Jerusalem?

Did you know that… The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers show was developed by Haim Saban, an Israeli whose family fled Egypt.

Did you know that… this month, the rap group Wu-Tang Clan will visit Israel on a solidarity music tour? Wu-Tang member Cappadonna said, "No one thinks that a Hebrew-speaking country has anything do with hip-hop, but hip-hop is alive in Israel."

Did you know that… during the 1991 Gulf War, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra played a concert wearing gas masks as scud missiles fired by Saddam fell on Tel Aviv?

Did you know that… Israel has more museums per capita than any other country, and Israel has the world's second highest per capita output of new books?