When you think of Argentina, you might picture couples tangoing passionately down streets or young people crying during football matches. In a nutshell, Argentina lives up to its well-known stereotypes. If you’re planning a trip to Argentina, keep in mind that this lovely country offers so much more! As a result, we’ve compiled a list of 6 facts about Argentina that you probably didn’t know, as well as some odd facts that you won’t find in your typical Argentina travel guide.
The first country to use fingerprints for identification
Argentina was the first country to use fingerprints as a means of identifying individuals. In 1892, there was a gruesome incident in which two children were stabbed in a small town of Argentina. It was in the Buenos Aires Province. Due to a lack of witnesses, local cops were unable to connect the murder to a specific suspect.
A bloody fingerprint left on a door handle was used by a local detective, Eduardo Alvarez, to identify Francisca Rojas, a woman who murdered her two sons and cut her own throat in an attempt to shift blame to someone else. Her bloody print was discovered on a doorknob, proving her role in the murder.
Invented Radio Broadcasting
In 1917, three local students under the leadership of Enrique Susini started experimenting with radio, and on 27th August 1920, they broadcast Parsifal, the world’s first radio opera and only 2nd radio broadcast, by installing transmission equipment at the Coliseo Theatre in Buenos Aires. Radio Argentina LOR, which is the 1st proper radio station in the world, was born from these systems.
At that time, there were approximately 20 recipients in the town. In 1922, LOX became a member of the station, resulting in the first radio advertisement of the world for the restaurant in Los Andes. Multiple more stations were established inside Buenos Aires through the prosperous 1920s of Argentina, and a growing number of artists agreed to live performance contracts for growing several dramas for the radio.
Argentina’s media and culture are dominated by radio. The first radio broadcast of Argentina was in 1920. Radio was a major source of entertainment for the whole two decades after that till the end of the 1930s. There were about 150 active AM stations, 1,150 FM stations, and 6 shortwave transmitters registered. An estimated 24 million receivers were in use in the year 2000.
Pato: Official National Sport in Argentina
Football is undoubtedly Argentina’s favourite sport, but Pato, a lesser-known sport, is the country’s official national sport. It’s a horseback sport that combines elements of polo and basketball. Because a live duck was used instead of a ball in the initial versions, the Spanish language has Pato for “duck” (as early as 1610). Pato was a popular Gaucho pastime that was often played among neighbouring Estates. The first team to arrive at his ranch with the duck was declared the winner.
Pato has been banned several times for being too violent – not only for the ducks but also for the numerous players who were trampled. Perón declared pato Argentina’s official national sport in 1953, and it is still played today, if somewhat in a much less violent version that does not involve ducks!
Created first animated feature film
El Apóstol, which is known as “The Apostle” in English, is a lost Argentine cutout animation film from 1917, in addition to being radio pioneers. Many historians regard it as the first animated film in the world. Director Quirino Cristiani and producer Federico Valle made the film, Italian-Argentine immigrants.
The film started production in less than 10 months or twelve months, depending on the person you ask, after the success of the Cristiani and Valle short film called La intervention en la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Alfonso de Laferrére wrote the script and Andrés Ducaud created the Buenos Aires Background Models. Diógenes Taborda created the first character designs.
The highest number of plastic surgeries
Argentine women have the highest per capita rate of plastic surgery in the world. Argentina is one of the most fashion-conscious countries on the planet. (Unfortunately, over 30% of its female population suffers from an eating disorder.)
Two female presidents
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Argentina’s first female president and current Vice President, was elected in 2005. She is not, however, Argentina’s first female president. Isabél Perón, who was a vice president at that time of her husband Juan Domingo Perón’s death in 1974, became Argentina’s first female president for two years.
The transfer of Néstor Kirchner to Cristina Fernández Kirchner was also the first time a democratic state head was replaced by his wife, and it happened without any of them dying. Néstor Kirchner remained active in politics and collaborated with Cristina Kirchner despite not being president. The press coined the term “presidential marriage” to refer to both of them at the same time. Some political analysts have compared this type of government to a diarchy.