interesting...

Some more context to Tlaloc's statement. Most European languages (except Basque) as well as Iranian, Sanskrit and some other languages (including Pushtu and I think Urdu) derive from a single proto-indo-european language. Originally this differentiated between animate and inanimate objects, this later was divided into male, female and neuter - and eventually objects no longer needed to correspond to "correct" animate, inanimate,male,female category.
Older languages (such as Latin and Old Greek) had the male, female, neuter distinction - the languages derived from Latin (the Romance languages:French, Spanish, Portuguese, Rumantsch), lost the neuter (it was subsumed into the male) - as demonstrated by Tlaloc in Italian.
Other languages (Russian, German) retain the male, female and neuter. In Danish, Swedish etc. the male and female were again reduced to a "common" gender.
In English, they completely abolished the distinctions - and nouns are genderless.