Obvious Facts People Didn’t Realize Were True Until Much Later in Life

Given its size, it’s sort of amazing what an outsized impact France has had on the rest of the world. Want to see what I mean? Open a map of France and see how many place names you recognize. Obviously, you’ll know Paris, but there’s also Cannes, like the film festival, and Dijon, like the mustard.

And then, if you’re a fan of wine, you’ll see even more names you recognize: Champagne, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Chablis—all of these wines are named after the regions of France where they originated. At this point, the drinks they produce are a lot more famous than the places themselves.