Arvīds Blūmentāls - The in spiration for Crocodile Dundee

After leaving Latvia in 1945, Blumentāls began a legendary life in Australia where he, among other things, hunted reptiles, studied the Aborigines, and dug for opals. His colorful personality and fame inspired the Crocodile Dundee films and even led to the erection of a crocodile monument in his Latvian hometown of Dundaga. As an opal miner, he built an extravagant residence in Coober Perdy, Australia, which remains a popular tourist attraction.

Walter Zapp - Putting a camera in every spy’s pocket

Walter Zapp invented the world’s first high resolution mini camera. The VEF Minox (17 x 27 x 80mm, 125 g) was first produced in 1937 in the Riga VEF factory. It made fine resolution photocopies of detailed documents without losing detail when enlarged. In 2005, to celebrate Walter Zapp’s 100th birthday, MIN OX presented a Special Edition of this legendary spy camera. Miniature cameras in the 8×11 film format are still today being made by hand in Wetzlar, Germany.

Gunnar Birkerts - The architect who bends light into inspiration

Born in Latvia, educated in Germany and now living in the United States, Birkerts is one of America’s most innovative and distinctive architects. Among his most celebrated works are the Houston Contemporary Arts Museum, the IBM Corporate Computer Centre in New York, the Corning Museum of Glass, the U.S. Embassy in Helsinki, the Federal Reserve Bank in Minneapolis and the University of Michigan Law Library. His projects have won 58 major awards around the world. His gift to his homeland is the stunning riverfront National Library building under construction in Riga.

Jacob Davis - A riveting fashion inventor

Although American blue jeans were invented in the Wild West, it took a tailor from Riga to invent a way to keep them together. In 1854 Jacob Davis left Riga for Reno, Nevada, where he opened a tailor shop. When asked to strengthen a pair of canvas overalls, Davis used small copper rivets to fasten the harnesses. The sturdy work pants became the first riveted jeans. In 1873, Davis patented his invention together with a merchant, who supplied him with the canvas–type material: Levi Strauss.