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Hungary, officially the ‘Republic of Hungary’ (Magyar Köztársaság), is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin in Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of EU, NATO, OECD, V4 and is a Schengen zone country. The official language is Hungarian,
which is part of the Finno-Ugric family, thus one of the four official languages of the European Union that are not of ‘Indo-European’ origin.
Following Celtic (after c. 450 BC) and Roman (9 BC – c. 430) period, the foundation of Hungary was laid in the late 9th century by the Hungarian ruler Árpád, whose great-grandson Stephen I of Hungary was crowned with a crown sent from Rome by the pope in 1000. The Kingdom of Hungary lasted for 946 years, and at various points was regarded as one of the cultural centers of the Europe. The Battle of Mohács
resulted in partial Ottoman occupation, followed by an integration into the Habsburg Monarchy, and later constituting half of the Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy.
A great power until the end of World War I, Hungary lost over 70% of its territory, along with one third of its population of Hungarian ethnicity, under the Treaty of Trianon, the terms of which have been considered very harsh by many in Hungary. The kingdom was succeeded by a Communist era (1947–1989) during which Hungary gained widespread international attention regarding the Revolution of 1956 and the move of
opening its border with Austria in 1989, thus accelerating the collapse of the Eastern Bloc. The present form of government is a parliamentary republic since 1989.
Today, Hungary is a high-income economy, and a ‘regional leader’ regarding certain markers. Hungary is ranked 20th globally (out of 194 countries) on International Living's Quality of Life index (2010) and 6th in an environmental protection index by GW/CAN. It was also listed as one of the 15 most popular tourist destinations in the world. The country is home to the largest thermal water cave system and the
second largest thermal lake in the world (Lake Hévíz), the largest lake in the Central Europe (Lake Balaton), and the largest natural grasslands in Europe (Hortobágy).
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| BUDAPEST |
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it serves as the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. The population of Budapest is about 1,775,000. The Budapest Commuter Area is home to about 3,280,000 people. The city covers an area of 525 square kilometres within the city limits. Budapest became
a single city occupying both banks of the river Danube with a unification on 17 November 1873 of right (west)-bank Buda and Óbuda with left (east)-bank Pest.
Aquincum, a Celtic settlement, was the beginning of Budapest, becoming the Roman capital of Lower Pannonia. Magyars arrived in the territory in the 9th century. Their first settlement was pillaged by Mongols in 1241-42. The re-established town became one of the centres of Renaissance humanist culture in 15th century. Following the Battle of Mohács and nearly 150 years of Ottoman rule, development of the region entered a new age of prosperity in the 18th and 19th centuries, and Budapest became a global city after the 1873 unification. It also became the second capital of Austria-Hungary, a great power that was dissolved in 1918. Budapest was the focal point
of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the Hungarian Soviet Republic of 1919, Operation Panzerfaust in 1944, the Battle of Budapest of 1945, and the Revolution of 1956.
Regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, its extensive World Heritage Site includes the banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter, Andrássy Avenue, Heroes’ Square and the Millennium Underground Railway, the second oldest in the world. Other highlights include
a total of 80 geothermal springs, the world’s largest thermal water cave system, second largest synagogue, and third largest Parliament building in the world.
Considered an important city in the Central Europe, Budapest ranked 3rd (out of 65 cities) on Mastercard’s Emerging Markets Index (2008) and
ranked as the most livable Central European city on EIU’s quality of life index (2009 and 2010). It is also ranked as Europe’s 7th most idyllic place to live by Forbes.
It attracts over 22 million visitors a year. The headquarters of European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and the first foreign office of the CIPA are in Budapest
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| WHAT HAS HUNGARY GIVEN TO THE WORLD? |
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Airship, Artificial Blood, Ballpoint Pen, BASIC Computer Programming Language,
Binocular, Camera, Carburettor, Coach, Coach Suspension, Colour Television,
Computer, Computer Science Course, Dynamo, Dobos Cake, Electrical Motor,
Electrical Generator, Gramophone, Helicopter, Holography, Horse Stirrup,
Hydrogen Bomb, Light Bulb, Laser Light Therapy, Match Stick, Nuclear Reactor, Pilotless
Aircraft, Plasma TV Display, Pulitzer Prize, Rubik Cube,
Slide Projector, Steel Spring, Stencil, Soap, Soda Water, Telephone Exchange,
Thermo-Nuclear Fusion, Transformer, Turbo Generator,
Vitamin-C, Underwear and Watt Meter
Wherever we go in the world, we bump into the ‘Hungarians’. If not personally, then through their inventions and achievements. There are many ordinary objects used all over the world that have been invented or made popular by Hungarians, even if most people don't realise this. We are used to the comfort that surrounds us at home,
in our offices, or in our cars and on the trains, but we do not often think about where all this came from. Yet, we should be thankful to those ‘inventors’ who gave us the ball-point pen, the light bulb or the film-camera. Having mentioned different means of transport, the first name that needs to be noted is Kálmán Kandó, who invented and realised the three-phase hauling for railways. His invention was first put in use in Italy, where the first electric trainline was built using method invented by Kandó. Another Hungarian revolutioniser in transport was Donát Bánki, who invented the carburettor, which has remained an indispensable part of cars ever since. His invention was first presented at the World Expo in Paris in 1900. The name of József Galamb is associated with the beginnings of mass production,
while György Jendrassik invented low-capacity, light diesel and gas turbines and motor trains and track inspection trains run by the engines Jendrassik had developed.
The first master of air travel was definitely Dávid Schwarz - in spite of the fact that aerial navigation is not associated with him now.
Yet, it was Schwarz who invented the aluminium-made airship, which became well-known later through Zeppelin. The Hungarian inventor didn't live to see the day when
first test flight was held. Zeppelin bought the plans from Schwarz’s widower and made this method of transport world famous. Tibor Kármán was also experimenting
airship in the air: he was an important researcher of flight at above the speed of sound and of the modern rocket technology.
Another Hungarian who made his mark as a basic researcher was Ányos Jedlik, who had built a ‘dynamo’ before Siemens did, and who prepared plans for a soda water
producing machine. József Eötvös became world famous for a pendulum named after him, which represented a great step forward in oil exploration.
János Neumann put down the basics of information technology, one of his famous conclusions being that the brain does not use the language of computers.
János György Kemény asociated the BASIC language he had developed to this idea. Albert Szent-Györgyi received a Nobel-prize for the formula of
hezuronic acid and for vitamin C, which has become widely available in thousands of variations. When Leó Szilárd was preparing his plans for a nuclear reactor,
it never crossed his mind that his creation would be used in a war one day. He sent the description of nuclear reactors to the Physical Review in 1940 and the
US government bought the patent for one dollar. The rising middle class in Hungary in the early 1900s could enjoy a series of new articles for personal use.
János Irinyi gave households matches that made the use of open flames much safer.
Tivadar Puskás invented the telephone exchange and then later the telephonograph, a predecessor of wired radio.
Dezsõ Korda gave the world a receiver by inventing the rotating plate condenser, which enabled continuous tuning. The tungsten lamp, also called incandescent lamp,
was the result of cooperation between Sándor Just, Ferenc Hanaman and Imre Bródy, researchers of the Tungsram laboratory. Semi-automatic cameras and film-cameras were
also designed by Hungarians - József Mihályi and Ödön Riszdorfer. Mihályi’s Super Kodak Six 20 camera was first presented
in New York World Expo in 1939. The slide projector and film are Hungarian inventions as well. Ottó Bláthy was the inventor of the kilowatt-hour meter,
or electric meter. In cooperation with other researchers, he created the transformer. Dénes Mihály invented the predecessor of the talking film and the television,
while the first colour TV used in practice was the creation of another Hungarian inventor Péter Károly Goldmark, who was also involved in developing the
first ‘microgroove record-player’. The stereo broadcasting is another Hungarian invention. László József Bíró patented the ball-point pen, Dávid Gestetner
introduced the duplicator or stencil plate, while Dénes Gábor invented holography. This could be continued for long because we may find many more outstanding
Hungarians in all fields of history, science and art. We should mention such great figures of Hungarian music as Kodály and Bartók, the renowned poets
Sándor Petõfi and Attila József, and the great politicians István Széchenyi or Lajos Kossuth would also deserve a few words.
The inventors are least remembered in spite of the fact that their great inventions surround us each and every day.
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