Naught (naughty meaning coming from nothing, now wicked)
"The concept of zero as a written digit in the decimal place value notation was developed in India."
"The word zero came into the English language via French zéro from the Italian zero...first known English use of zero was in 1598."
"The Italian mathematician Fibonacci (c. 1170 – c. 1250), who grew up in North Africa and is credited with introducing the decimal system to Europe, used the term zephyrum."
Zero Marks the Spot: Stuff the British Stole
Other gifts from India:
Chess (7th century, Chaturanga)
Buttons (Indus Valley, Kot Diji era, used as ornaments or seals rather than fasteners (circa 2800-2600 BC)
Shampoo (boiling a lychee with dried Indian gooseberry (amla)
Ayurveda (alternative medicine with eight components: general medicine, perinatal care of mother/pediatrics, surgery, upper cavities including eyes and ENT, pacification of possession spirits, toxicology, rejuvenation/anti-aging, aphrodisiacs )
Cashmere (goat hair from Kashmir in NW Indai)
USB (Did you know it stood for Universal Serial Bus?) This is a stretch since Indian born Ajay Bhatt was working for Intel in the US as a computer architect when he did it. We'll call him a "global Indian". I get it. As a Canadian, we do like to keep our global exports near and dear.
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