Template:Did you know nominations/John Joseph Merlin


 * The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as |this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Cwmhiraeth (talk) 05:34, 4 August 2018 (UTC)

John Joseph Merlin

 * ... that John Joseph Merlin appeared in Hyde-park in January 1803 in a carriage without horses, powered by a windlass? Source: "In January 1803, Merlin made what may have been his last public appearance, when a newspaper reported that he had 'appeared in Hyde-park on Sunday last, in a carriage without horses, and attracted universal notice. He kept the vehicle in motion by means of a windlass...'" Debenham, 2014
 * ALT1:... that John Joseph Merlin was the most striking Character of 900 masqueraders in 1778 in a wheelchair he designed? Source: "An extract from a newspaper report of a Masquerade Ball at the Pantheon, identified by the author, illustrates Merlin's penchant for self-promotion. ‘The company, about 900 in number, consisted of a more equal and agreeable mixture than usual, of Characters and Dominos: the most striking of the former, were, Mr. Merlin, the mechanic, as a gouty gentleman, in a chair of his own construction, which, by a transverse direction of two winches, he wheeled about himself, with great facility to any part of the room … '  4 March 1778" Debenham, 2014
 * ALT2:... that John Joseph Merlin crashed into a mirror at Carlisle House while playing the violin on roller skates that he invented? Source: "One of his ingenious novelties was a pair of skaites contrived to run on wheels. Supplied with these and a violin, he mixed in the motley group of one of Mrs Cowleys' masquerades at Carlisle House; when not having provided the means of retarding his velocity, or commanding its direction, he impelled himself against a mirror of more than five hundred pounds value, dashed it to atoms, broke his instrument to pieces and wounded himself most severely." Highfill, 1984 (Note: citation applies to a quotation given as a block, which includes several sentences. It would be inappropriate to cite sentences within the block,  since that wasn't in the original. For purposes of the DYK, please treat the quoted material as if it was a single sentence.)
 * Reviewed: Zoë Porphyrogenita

5x expanded by Mary Mark Ockerbloom (talk). Self-nominated at 23:24, 15 July 2018 (UTC).


 * I am interested in reviewing this nomination. The first thing I noticed is that the QPQ of Zoë Porphyrogenita was claimed by User:HLHJ at Marketing of e-cigarettes. I also checked QPQ requirements for User:Mary Mark Ockerbloom, and it does not appear to be required? Since I haven't had this problem before, I am asking for advice, before starting the full review. Thanks. Flibirigit (talk) 03:59, 24 July 2018 (UTC)
 * this is an example of one editor doing a (rather lengthy) QPQ and then for some reason not returning to finish it. picked it up, did her own full review, and brought the nomination to completion. Both editors can be credited for the same QPQ. Yoninah (talk) 10:44, 24 July 2018 (UTC)
 * It does seem that has less than 5 DYK credits per QPQ check. Her help reviewing is appreciated. Yoninah (talk) 10:45, 24 July 2018 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure why QPQ is reporting that, since I've actually done quite a few -- though not in the past year. If anyone knows where to report that as a bug, that would be helpful. I've also been working on a number of other QPQ's this week, helping to clear up the backlog, c.f. Val Gagné, Ontario, Jean-François Bony, Dafydd Gibbon.  Mary Mark Ockerbloom (talk) 12:40, 24 July 2018 (UTC)


 * Starting the review. Thanks for the clarifications folks. Flibirigit (talk) 15:04, 24 July 2018 (UTC)

I highly recommend adding Template:Infobox person to this article, and moving the birthplace out of the birth and death date brackets as per MOS:LEADBIO. There is a red link error for "Template:73" which needs to be corrected. Thanks. Flibirigit (talk) 15:20, 24 July 2018 (UTC)


 * Thanks for catching the link error; I've made the changes and added the infobox. Mary Mark Ockerbloom (talk) 16:59, 24 July 2018 (UTC)


 * Symbol confirmed.svg Thanks, everything looks good to go. Flibirigit (talk) 17:54, 24 July 2018 (UTC)