Almanac: Esperanto

On February 16, 1905, America's first Esperanto club was founded in Boston.

Polish physician L.L. Zamenhof created the new and simple language a few years before, an attempt at a universal language that would help bring the world's people together.

Though that hasn't quite happened, Esperanto isn't entirely unheard.

The year 1966 saw future "Star Trek" star William Shatner boldly go where few had gone before in "Incubus," a low-budget film spoken entirely in Esperanto:  

      
Today the internet offers many Esperanto "covers" of some familiar songs, including David Bowie's hit, "Space Oddity":

Terkontrol', Majoro Tom
Terkontrol', Majoro Tom
Prenu la pilolojn kaj la kaskon metu jam

And the group Esperanto-USA says more than a million people have taken an online Esperanto course since its launch five years ago.

The dream lives on!

      
For more info:

• Esperanto-USA (Esperanto League for North America)
• Esperanto.org
• A beginners guide to Esperanto (The Guardian)
• How an artificial language from 1887 is finding new life online (The Verge)

        
Story produced by Robert Marston.