User:Smurrayinchester/DYK


 * 1) ...that Chester Racecourse is the oldest horse racing course in the England, built on the site of a blocked harbour in 1533? (9 Jan 2006)
 * 2) ...that a puddle was blamed for the death of a medieval merchant who drowned while crossing it, believing it to be only shallow, when it was actually deep enough to engulf him and his horse? (18 Jan 2006)
 * 3) ...that Preparing for Emergencies was a British Home Office programme to increase public safety after several major disasters, including the Madrid bombings, SARS outbreak and UK foot and mouth crisis? (6 Mar 2006)
 * 4) ...that the British Rail flying saucer was an unbuilt nuclear fusion powered space craft, proposed and patented in the 1970s by British Rail? (16 Mar 2006)
 * 5) ...that the Transport typeface was created for use on British road signs (pictured) following the introduction of the motorway network? (19 May 2006)
 * 6) ...that Dogs Trust, a British animal welfare charity, provided AA wardens with pistols to painlessly euthanise animals injured in road accidents? (17 May 2006)
 * 7) ...that the music video for the song "Vindaloo" was a direct parody of that of "Bitter Sweet Symphony" by The Verve, which was in turn a mocking recreation of the music video for "Unfinished Sympathy" by Massive Attack? (14 Jun 2006)
 * 8) ...that the A8(M) motorway is the shortest motorway in Northern Ireland at only one mile long, and has no junctions with any other roads along its entire length? (21 Jun 2006)
 * 9) ...that the planned M4 Toll motorway will be the second toll section of the United Kingdom's M4 motorway, despite being under 10 miles from the first? (8 Aug 2006)
 * 10) ...that a small cottage in the Chester, England suburb of Handbridge inspired the song "Nowhere Man" by The Beatles? (21 Aug 2006)
 * 11) ...that Roald Dahl Plass, a plaza in Cardiff Bay, has been used as the setting for both Doctor Who and its spin-off Torchwood? (29 Oct 2006)
 * 12) ...that funeral trains (pictured) were once a common method of transporting coffins to cemeteries, but are now almost exclusively used for state funerals? (15 Nov 2006)
 * 13) ...that the Grosvenor Bridge in Chester, England, was the world's largest single-span arch for 30 years? (13 Dec 2006)
 * 14) ...that despite using sharp needles, bird control spikes do not harm the animals, and are recommended by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds? (28 Feb 2007)
 * 15) ...that the Eastgate Clock (pictured) in Chester is the second most photographed timepiece in the United Kingdom, after Big Ben? (2 Mar 2007)
 * 16) ...that the medieval bylaw, which states any Welshman loitering within Chester city walls (pictured) after sunset may be shot with a longbow, has never been officially repealed? (3 Mar 2007)
 * 17) ...that Kasongo Ilunga, incumbent Minister of Foreign Trade for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is widely believed to be a non-existent person? (7 Mar 2007)
 * 18) ...that Canford Cliffs, an affluent suburb of Poole, Dorset, includes an exclusive branch of HSBC bank which requires that customers without large accounts or mortgages pay to enter? (17 Apr 2007)
 * 19) ...that, as well as being used to clear snow, winter service vehicles (pictured) can be used to repair roads which have melted in hot weather? (14 Feb 2007)
 * 20) ...that the Chester Roman Amphitheatre was the largest amphitheatre in Roman Britain, seating over 8,000 people? (5 Aug 2007)
 * 21) ...that almost 1 in 10 of the inhabitants of Pingelap (pictured), a Micronesian atoll, have complete achromatopsia, a rare form of colourblindness which normally only affects 1 in 33,000? (17 Jun 2007)
 * 22) ...that road maintenance depots have been used as fronts to disguise entrances to military installations? (27 Jul 2007)
 * 23) ...that loose wheel nut indicators (pictured) are fitted to vehicle lug nuts to allow mechanics to identify loose nuts before the wheel falls off? (25 Aug 2007)
 * 24) ...that neither the U.S. nor Canada uses UNESCO-defined mandatory signs (example pictured) for traffic? (19 Sep 2007)
 * 25) ...that road slipperiness causes over 53,000 accidents a year in the United Kingdom alone? (25 Oct 2007)
 * 26) ...that in the United Kingdom, speed limits imposed by variable-message signs are advisories only, and there are no legal sanctions for drivers who exceed them? (1 Nov 2007)
 * 27) ...that there is more variation in the design of direction signs (example pictured) internationally than in any other class of road sign? (5 Nov 2007)
 * 28) ...that the 1928 movie Gang War was overshadowed by the short film attached to it, Steamboat Willie, which marked the début of Mickey Mouse? (6 Dec 2007)
 * 29) ... that Handkäse mit Musik, popular in Hessian cuisine, gets its name from the flatulence it causes? (24 Jan 2013)
 * 30) ... that Fanny Murray, a mistress of John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, once reputedly ate a £20 note between two slices of bread? (19 Mar 2013)
 * 31) ... that the suffragist Hugh Franklin, in protest against police brutality, once attacked Winston Churchill with a whip? (6 Aug 2013)
 * 32) ... that 280 people were injured, 30 cars were set on fire, and 8 bus stops were destroyed during a protest by the Blockupy movement? (30 Mar 2015)
 * 33) ... that the Cheshire West and Chester Council election was the only one in the 2015 UK local elections in which Labour won control of a Conservative council? (17 Jun 2015)
 * 34) ... that Henderson's bookshop was used to shelter fugitive activists for women's suffrage? (3 Dec 2015)
 * 35) ... that you are more likely to die on or near your birthday than at other times? (2 May 2016)
 * 36) ... that musicians 5ive, Alesha Dixon, DJ Luck and MC Neat, East 17, Electric Swing Circus, Sigma, and Sister Sledge all pulled out of the pro-Brexit concert Bpoplive after learning it was political? (28 May 2016)
 * 37) ... that mining waste from Shotton Surface Mine was used to build a giant naked woman (face and breast pictured)? (4 Aug 2016)