Hi! You must have often heard, read or even felt yourself, that there's something special about this city of ours. You may have lived here all your life, and still there can be certain `special' facts about it that you may have not known. So, let's try and know more about our city.

Did you know:

1 )Some archeologists claim that many centuries ago, the island of Mumbai was a part of the mainland. Later, because of the changes under the surface of the earth, it separated from the mainland, to become what it is today.

2) Mumbai takes its name from Goddess Mumbadevi. The Portuguese, who were the first Europeans to land here, pronounced Mumbai as Bambaim and later the British called it Bombay.

3)The Portuguese ruled over Mumbai from the beginning of the 16th century. When England's Prince Charles II got married to the Portuguese to Princess Catherine Briganza, on May 31, 1662, Mumbai was given away by the Portuguese to the British as part of her dowry.

4) Asia's first train ran between Victoria Terminus (Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus) and Thane, on April 16, 1853.

5)Unlike today, trains used to go all the way up to Colaba, till the end of the 19th century. Later, Churchgate was decided upon as the last station on the local tracks.

6) Mumbai had her first tram, that was pulled by horses, on May 9, 1874. The electric tram was introduced on May 7, 1907. And the city's cheapest source of commuting was taken off the roads in March, 1964.

7)The tongas first came to Mumbai in 1880.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.