On this day a 40-page booklet in Russian was published in Warsaw. The slim booklet however was heavier than many volumes: it was called The International Language. Preface and complete textbook. It contained sixteen grammar rules and nine hundred- and twelve-word roots of the language we now call Esperanto. The author of the book was Doctor Esperanto, which, according to the norms of the new language, signified Doctor Who Hopes. It was the pseudonym – and this is now common knowledge – of Dr. Ludwig Zamenhof, an ophthalmologist and amateur linguist. The doctor's hopes that the new language would conquer the world were not fulfilled, but Esperanto is not destined to be completely forgotten either: it is now spoken by up to two million people. It is the language of books, songs and films that are made every year. As well as newspapers and radio stations such as China Radio International, Vatican Radio and Polish Radio, broadcast in Esperanto.