Doubly Landlocked

A landlocked country is an independent sovereign state that does not have direct access to an ocean or to a sea. Currently, there are 44 landlocked countries in the world—from Afghanistan to Andorra, from Laos to Lesotho, from North Macedonia to South Sudan, and many more.

Among them, only two countries are landlocked by other landlocked countries, popularly known as doubly landlocked countries. One is Uzbekistan, a country in Central Asia, locked in by its landlocked neighbors: Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.

However, if one entertains the debate of whether the Caspian Sea is technically a sea or a lake, Uzbekistan’s status becomes debatable. If the Caspian is considered a sea, then Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, which border it, would no longer be landlocked—meaning Uzbekistan would no longer be doubly landlocked.

Thus, if there is one country that is undoubtedly doubly landlocked, it is Liechtenstein—a country in Central Europe, surrounded by two completely landlocked nations, Austria and Switzerland, neither of which shares a border with any sea.

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Until now, there have been 32 instances of triple centuries in Test cricket, achieved by 28 different batters. But only one player has ever scored a 300 with a strike rate above 100—107.91, to be exact. He reached his triple ton in just 278 balls and went on to finish at 319, thrashing a formidable South African attack in Chennai that included Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini, Morne Morkel, and Jacques Kallis. The batter was Virender Sehwag.

Perfume of Poop

What if I told you that the very chemical enhancing the flavor of ice creams and lending the sweet, flowery scent to perfumes is also the culprit behind the pungent stench of cat poop? Even stranger — its very name literally means “feces.” First identified in animal excrement, this aromatic organic compound belongs to the indole family. At high concentrations, it reeks with the unmistakable odor of dung. But in trace amounts, the story flips — it gives off floral notes, delicate enough to find their way into perfumes and even food flavorings. The compound is 3-methylindole — more famously known as skatole .

Samuel Beckett

Irish novelist Samuel Beckett holds a unique distinction—he is the only first-class cricketer to have later won the prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature , which he received in 1969 . Beckett played two first-class matches for Dublin University , managing to score a modest 35 runs across four innings .

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