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Did you know...[edit]

31 May 2005

11:51, 31 May 2005 (UTC)

File:Ac.rainey.jpg

...that Joseph Rainey became the first black person to serve in the United States House of Representatives on December 12, 1870?
...that the Runyang Bridge and the Jiangyin Suspension Bridge are the two largest suspension bridges in China and the fourth and sixth largest suspension bridges in the world?
...that Brancaleon, a 15th century Venetian painter who gained fortune, fame and notoriety in his adopted home of Ethiopia, is an example of early contacts between Europe and sub-Saharan Africa?
...that the short-lived Maryland Constitution of 1864 emancipated the state's slaves and disenfranchised Marylanders who fought for or supported the Confederacy?
...that the 1st century Greek historian Nicolaus of Damascus reported the embassy of holy men from India to the Levant, Athens and Rome during the time of Jesus?

30 May 2005

17:00, 30 May 2005 (UTC)

...that Tell Halaf in Syria contains the archaeological remains of a Neolithic culture characterized by glazed pottery painted with geometric and animal designs?
...that Fala, Franklin D. Roosevelt's beloved Scottish terrier and one of the most famous presidential pets, has a bronze statue in his likeness at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial?
...that Leo Abse (born 1917) was a Labour Member of Parliament largely responsible for legalising male homosexual relations in the United Kingdom?
...that Nippon Steel Corporation, the Japanese steelmaking giant, once ventured into mushroom cultivation in an earnest bid to avoid layoffs?

29 May 2005

14:48, 29 May 2005 (UTC)

...that the Blister Beetles are so named because they secrete cantharidin, a poison causing blistering of the skin and painful swelling if consumed?
...that Indian-born English cricketer Hugh Bartlett died whilst watching a cricket match at Hove in 1988?
...that in Greek mythology, Antiope was the only Amazon known to have married?
...that the Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago built the first nuclear reactor and achieved a self-sustaining nuclear reaction in December 1942?

27 May 2005

23:37, 27 May 2005 (UTC)

...that the Scottish composer and pianist Ronald Stevenson composed an 80-minute passacaglia for solo piano based on the four-note motif D-E♭-C-B?
...that backlash from the 1897 Lattimer Massacre in Pennsylvania, an important event in the U.S. history of labor relations, resulted in the addition of some 15,000 new members of United Mine Workers of America union?
...that footballer Antonín Panenka famously scored the winning penalty for Czechoslovakia in the 1976 European Championship final against West Germany by chipping the ball?
...that extension conflicts helped give Macintosh computers a reputation for instability before the release of Mac OS X?

25 May 2005

23:52, 25 May 2005 (UTC)

File:Jinnahhouse (2).jpg

...that Jinnah House was the Mumbai residence of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan and is the centre of a property dispute?
...that Australian tennis players Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde, known as The Woodies, are the most successful men's doubles pair in history, winning a record six Wimbledon titles?
...that the Iowa Interstate Railroad is being considered for high speed passenger train service between Wyanet, Illinois, and Iowa City?
...that Microphallus is a genus of parasitic trematode, some species of which are notable for the manipulation of the behaviour and growth of their hosts?
...that William Bergsma wrote an opera about a dog who turned into a man in 1920s Moscow as the result of a crazy experiment?

10:37, 25 May 2005 (UTC)

... that Didiereaceae is a family of cactus-like flowering plants that make up the spiny thickets of Madagascar?
... that the feminist Madeleine Pelletier (1874–1939) was the first female psychiatrist in France and that she dressed as a man to protest the oppression of women?
... that the Delaware Basin in Texas contains fossilised coral reefs from the Permian era?
... that Harvey Hubbell (1857–1927) invented the electrical power plug?
... that Gilbert Mabbot (1622–1670) was a pioneering journalist during the English Civil War who also served as an official licenser of the press?

23 May 2005

22:18, 23 May 2005 (UTC)

...that Ken Loach's 1995 film Land and Freedom tells the story of a British volunteer who joins the POUM militia and fights for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War?
...that the Vietnam War protest song "War," originally recorded by the Temptations, was Motown artist Edwin Starr's only number-one hit?
...that Temple Beth-El, built in 1876, is the oldest synagogue in the U.S. state of Florida?

09:00, 23 May 2005 (UTC)

... that Bigleaf hydrangeas bloom in different colors depending on the soil pH?
... that Hampshire County Cricket Club has produced three English national cricket captains in its 141-year history?
... that Paula Ackerman was the first woman to serve as a rabbi in the United States?
... that British actress Stephanie Beacham played a nun on American sitcom Sister Kate after playing the glamorous Sable Colby on the drama Dynasty?

07:26, 23 May 2005 (UTC)
... that Kuttanad in Kerala, India, is the country's only region below sea level?

22 May 2005

18:26, 22 May 2005 (UTC)

Kentucky State University logo

... that Kentucky State University, with 2,300 students, is the smallest of the public state universities in the U.S. state of Kentucky?
... that the FTSE 100-listed company Hays plc dates back to the 1600s, when they owned warehouses and wharves on the River Thames?
... that the predecessor to the Imperial Russian Navy first sailed during the Second Azov campaign of 1696 under Peter the Great?
... that Willi Münzenberg (1889–1940) was known as "The Red Millionaire" because he ran a whole network of publishing and business companies, all dedicated to his Workers International Relief organisation and to promoting socialism.

20 May 2005

20:06, 20 May 2005 (UTC)

...that bishop William McKendree (1757–1835) earned the nickname "Father of Western Methodism" for his travels through his vast see of Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri, and Illinois?
... that silent E is a convention in English spelling added to the ends of words, that makes short vowels long?
... that until it was looted in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade, the Church of the Holy Apostles was the busiest place of worship in Constantinople?
... that in the 1977 film That Obscure Object of Desire directed by Luis Buñuel, the leading role of Conchita is played by two actresses and voiced by a third?

11:58, 20 May 2005 (UTC)

... that the group portrait Banquet of the Amsterdam Civic Guard in Celebration of the Peace of Münster by Dutch painter Bartholomeus van der Helst (1613–1670) was considered by Sir Joshua Reynolds to be the finest he had seen?
... that the 1868 encounter between Kasuga and Kaiyō was the first naval battle between two modern fleets in Japan?
... that the Chilean football club Cobreloa reached the finals of South America's principal club competition, the Copa Libertadores, in 1981, only four years after the club's founding?
... that Palwankar Baloo was a Dalit (also called Untouchable) who helped break down the Indian caste system with his prowess at cricket?

18 May 2005

16:16, 18 May 2005 (UTC)

...that Graham Berry (1822–1904), 11th Premier of Victoria, attempted to break the power of the Victorian Legislative Council, the stronghold of the landowning class?
...that in the National Lacrosse League of North America, the Coach of the Year Award is named after the late Les Bartley?
...that Carl Zuckmayer wrote the script for the 1930 movie Der Blaue Engel starring Marlene Dietrich?
...that Quantum praedecessores was a papal bull issued on 1 December 1145 by Pope Eugenius III, calling for a Second Crusade?
...that the Mann Gulch fire of 1949 was a wildfire in Montana which claimed the lives of 13 firefighters?

17 May 2005

22:50, 17 May 2005 (UTC)

...that Dutch admiral Egbert Bartholomeusz Kortenaer (1604–1655) kept Maarten Tromp's standard raised to maintain morale after the latter died in the Battle of Scheveningen in 1653?
...that infectious salmon anemia is a viral disease of Atlantic Salmon which affects fish farms in Canada, Norway, and Scotland?
...that the Spinifex people are the last Aboriginal nomadic people in Australia, taking their name from the Spinifex grass that survives in the desert?
...that the history of Swansea includes an epidemic of yellow fever in 1865, the only outbreak of that disease on the British mainland?
...that Ralph Samuelson invented water skiing in 1922?

20:17, 17 May 2005 (UTC)
...that Infectious Salmon Anaemia is a viral disease of Atlantic Salmon which affects fish farms in Canada, Norway, and Scotland?
... that the Spinifex People are the last Aboriginal nomadic people in Australia, taking their name from the Spinifex grass that survives in the desert?
... that the History of Swansea includes an epidemic of yellow fever in 1865, the only outbreak of that disease on the British mainland?

08:29, 17 May 2005 (UTC)

...that spatiotemporal gene expression refers to the patterns in which genes are expressed in different tissues as an organism develops?
...that only five people have been decorated Hero of Belarus, the highest title that can be bestowed on a citizen of Belarus?
...that Jean Kambanda, prime minister of Rwanda during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, is the first and only head of government to plead guilty to genocide?
...that Ariwara no Narihira (825–880) was one of six waka poets named in the preface to the great Heian period poetry collection Kokin-wakashu?

16 May 2005

15:51, 16 May 2005 (UTC)

...that the Eastern Newt changes its skin colour from bright red to olive green when it becomes an adult, and is known as the red eft before adulthood?
...that because Adelaide del Vasto was divorced by King Baldwin I of Jerusalem in 1117, her son Roger II of Sicily refused to give assistance to the Crusader states during the Second Crusade?
...that the decoration of the 1877 Papal Tiara includes 540 pearls, 68 rubies, 37 emeralds, and many other precious stones?
...that the Battle of Bun'ei in 1274 was Mongol emperor Kublai Khan's first attempt to invade Japan?

15 May 2005

17:20, 15 May 2005 (UTC)

...that when Lady Frances Brandon failed to marry her daughter Lady Jane Grey to Edward VI of England, she plotted instead to raise Jane to the throne by means of a coup d'état in 1553?
...that the European White Elm is distinguished from other European elms by its long flower stems?
...that the Free French corvette Aconit was awarded the Ordre de la Libération for her service in World War II?
...that the incorrect climatological theory that "rain follows the plow" was promoted in the 1870s to justify the settlement of the arid Great Plains of the American West?

14 May 2005

20:06, 14 May 2005 (UTC)

Pancho Barnes

... that Pancho Barnes was a pioneer of women's aviation and owner of the Rancho Oro Verde Fly-Inn Dude Ranch?
... that the Humboldt Squid is a large, aggressive predatory squid which can grow to 2 m long and weigh 40 kg?
... that Götz von Berlichingen, a knight of the Holy Roman Empire, wore a prosthetic hand made of iron after losing his hand in the siege of Landshut in 1508?
... that the Swabian War of 1499 was fought between the Old Swiss Confederacy and the emperor Maximilian I and his Swabian League?

13 May 2005

23:30, 13 May 2005 (UTC)

...that the male pink salmon develops a large hump on its back when it is time to spawn, leading to the species nickname "humpie"?
...that a freak decompression accident on board the oil rig Byford Dolphin in 1983 literally caused a man to explode?
...that Scottish cyclist Robert Millar finished fourth in the 1984 Tour de France, the best ever finish by a British cyclist?
...that Marcus Loew, whose family's poverty forced him to give up on schooling and go to work at age nine, became the owner of the largest chain of movie theaters in the United States and the founder of MGM Studios?

10:14, 13 May 2005 (UTC)

...that Starry Night Over the Rhone, painted by Vincent van Gogh in 1888, shows the constellation Ursa Major over the Rhone at Arles?
...that when Theodora Comnena married King Baldwin III of Jerusalem in 1158, her dowry was 100,000 hyperpyra?
...that the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea destroys enough rice to feed more than 60 million people annually, and that its spores were prepared as an anti-plant biological weapon during World War II?
...that Buzzie Bavasi was the general manager of the Brooklyn & Los Angeles Dodgers for eighteen years, helping the team win their first four World Series championships?

12 May 2005

21:56, 12 May 2005 (UTC)

...that cloud-busters claim to use energy from their brain's prefrontal lobe to dissipate clouds?
...that the first witches persecuted by the Inquisition believed in Madonna Oriente, the Moon goddess?
...that Elsie Tanner was a core character on the British soap opera Coronation Street for over twenty years?
...that in 1945, entrepreneur Leonard Shoen founded U-Haul, first American cargo trailer-rental company?

11:15, 12 May 2005 (UTC)

...that the Dutch ship Brederode was the flagship of the United Provinces in the six largest battles of the First Anglo-Dutch War?
...that Dutch maritime painter Simon de Vlieger was influential in the move away from the monochrome grisaille to a more colourful style of sea painting?
...that Malin Space Science Systems is a San Diego, California company that operates the camera on the Mars Global Surveyor?
...that Video-Enhanced Grave Markers turn headstones into talking video displays for the deceased?

11 May 2005

09:49, 11 May 2005 (UTC)

...that some original sources on medieval hunting contain detailed instructions on how to capture a unicorn?
...that Brooklyn Brewery hired Milton Glaser, best known as the creator of the logo for the I Love New York campaign, to create their company logo?
...that Josiah Belden was a member of the first party to use the California Trail, and the first mayor of San Jose, California?
...that Project Exile was a program of prosecuting illegal gun offenses in federal court, helping reduce gun violence in Richmond, Virginia?

10 May 2005

01:17, 10 May 2005 (UTC)
...that the Plague of Athens devastated ancient Athens in 430 BC, perhaps leading ultimately to the city's defeat in the Peloponnesian War?

9 May 2005

23:13, 9 May 2005 (UTC)

...that NGC 3314 is a pair of almost perfectly overlapping spiral galaxies, giving astronomers a unique opportunity to observe the properties of interstellar dust?
...that Showmen's Rest in Forest Park, Illinois is a 750 plot section of Woodlawn Cemetery where members of a circus troupe were interred following the Hammond circus train wreck in 1918?
...that Sarah Brady became an advocate of gun control and led actions to reduce gun violence after her husband White House Press Secretary James Brady sustained a disabling head wound during the Reagan assassination attempt in 1981?

21:50, 9 May 2005 (UTC)

Julia Tuttle

... that citrus plantation owner Julia Tuttle owned the land upon which Miami, Florida was built, and that she gave half her land to Henry Flagler to entice him to build a station for the Florida East Coast Railroad there?
... that Project Aqua was a proposed hydroelectric scheme for the lower Waitaki River in New Zealand that would have diverted up to 77% of the river's flow into a separate canal?
... that different stages of the fish parasite Myxobolus cerebralis were originally thought to be three different organisms in two different classes?
... that Jack Clement discovered and recorded future Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer Jerry Lee Lewis for Sun Records while Sam Phillips was away on a trip?

8 May 2005

16:39, 8 May 2005 (UTC)

...that the Paradesi Synagogue, built by the Malabar Yehudan people, is the oldest synagogue in the British Commonwealth of nations?
...that the Slovenian folk instrument bird-scaring rattle is used to drive birds from vineyards?
...that the astronomer Tycho Brahe calculated products quickly using Prosthaphaeresis, a 17th century algorithm exploiting trigonometric identities?
...that John Ritter made one of his first film appearances in the 1972 horror film The Other?

7 May 2005

19:09, 7 May 2005 (UTC)

...that the principles of bird flight are the same as used in aircraft, with lift being provided by an aerofoil?
...that by passing as a man, Isobel Gunn became in 1806 the first woman of European descent employed by the Hudson's Bay Company in Rupert's Land?
...that Fred Gipson was an American author best remembered for creating a fictional dog featured in a book and the classic 1957 movie Old Yeller?
...that the English politician Charles Mohun, 4th Baron Mohun fought a duel with James Douglas, 4th Duke of Hamilton in Hyde Park on November 15 1712 which resulted in the deaths of both men?

6 May 2005

19:42, 6 May 2005 (UTC)

...that Lover's Leap is a name given to a number of locations of great height where legends take place involving couples leaping to their mutual death?
...that French painter Adélaïde Labille-Guiard was ordered to destroy her royal portraits after the French Revolution?
...that admiral Michiel de Ruyter saved the United Provinces from invasion in the two Battles of Schooneveld in June 1673?
...that 11 of the 13 members of the Hong Kong cricket team died when their steamship, SS Bokhara, was lost in a typhoon in 1892?

5 May 2005

13:43, 5 May 2005 (UTC)

NSKK Badge

...that the National Socialist Motor Corps was a motorized paramilitary group of the Nazi Party, numbering almost 500,000 in membership?
...that Reverend Mother Superior Dolores Hart is the only nun to be an Academy Award-voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences?
...that Hollywood producer William Goetz's racehorse "Your Host" won the 1950 Santa Anita Derby?
...that time discipline is the set of social and economic rules, conventions, customs, and expectations about time and its measurement?

4 May 2005

09:15, 4 May 2005 (UTC)

...that the Iceland hotspot is partly responsible for the frequent volcanic eruptions and geothermal activity experienced in Iceland?
...that Zara Yaqob was the first Emperor of Ethiopia (1434–1468) to send a diplomatic mission to Europe?
...that in Hindu mythology, Meenakshi was born with three breasts, fish-eyes and a smell of fish?
...that the composer Zbigniew Preisner wrote the title music for the monumental BBC documentary People's Century, which spans 26 parts?

2 May 2005

09:00, 2 May 2005 (UTC)

...that French painter Charles-André van Loo was the principal court painter to Louis XV of France?
...that English explorer James Knight died on an expedition in search of the Northwest Passage in 1719?
...that Joseph Cornelius O’Rourke, an Irish Count born in Estonia, became a Russian Lieutenant General, and was honoured with a statue in Belgrade for his victory over the Ottoman Empire in 1810?
...that American golfer Tony Lema died when the plane he was travelling in crashed into a golf course?
...that the Truro murders are among the earliest reported serial killings in Australia?