For thousands of years the speed of communications was determined by the speed of the swiftest runner or the fastest horse. The development of the telephone was a major step towards speeding up communication worldwide.

In 2011 we celebrate the 200th anniversary of Ferenc Liszt’s birth. The year-round series of programs includes more than a thousand concerts, exhibitions and conferences worldwide, dedicated to one of the greatest piano virtuosos of all times.

It seems that the exhibition ‘Treasures from Budapest’ at London’s Royal Academy of Arts is a surefire block-buster. Visited by 5,000 people in one weekend, the show proves to be so popular that it might take a European tour next year.

Double festivity: Madagascar House opens in the Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden as the island nation celebrates the 50th anniversary of its independence.

Hungarian-born, legendary actress Zsa Zsa Gabor continues to show signs of improvement, after she was given her last rites in hospital on Aug 15. Her spokesperson says she is "still bed ridden but is eating a little, talking a little and sleeping a lot."

Time is the main theme of the 13th edition of Photoespana 2010 (PHE10). The festival features an exhibition on Hungarian-born artist László Moholy-Nagy as a main attraction.

The Faculty of Humanities of Budapest's Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) is building bridges between Hungary and the world.

The European Capital of Culture programs in Pécs, southern Hungary, kicked off in January and the city awaits visitors with more than 450 programs in 2010. Pécs is one of the best venues to go to this spring.

The story of Count Móric Benyovszky's life is stranger than fiction, according to György G. Németh, President of the Hungarian-Madagascar Friendship Association.