User talk:AllyUnion/Did you know archive

...that a Grand Illumination is an outdoor ceremony involving the simultaneous activation of electric Christmas lights and is derived from an English tradition of placing lighted candles in the windows of homes and public buildings to celebrate a special event? (The courthouse in Marshall Texas illuminated with christmas lights) ...that invasion literature, such as The War of the Worlds, was a literary genre influential in foreign politics during the years leading up to World War I? ...that Come Out by composer Steve Reich was made out of the recorded speech of a young man injured in a race riot who was wrongly arrested for murder? ...that the Combined Islands cricket team were dissolved the year after they won their first - and thus last - domestic trophy in West Indian cricket?

...that the Coffin Handbills were created as a smear attack on Andrew Jackson during the 1828 U.S. presidential election? (A coffin handbill used in the 1828 U.S. presidential election.) ...that the North Pacific Gyre was responsible for depositing hundreds of lost Nike sneakers on the western shores of North America in 1991? ...that Françoise Gilot married the Spanish painter Pablo Picasso and later in life was also wed to the famous doctor, Jonas Salk? ...that the characters in the name of Mamoru Takuma, who stabbed eight first and second-grade students to death in the Osaka school massacre, mean "protect the home"?

...that over 50 parents contacted Gonzaga University's athletic department on the first day that a Sports Illustrated issue featuring a story on Gonzaga basketball player Adam Morrison and his life with Type 1 diabetes was available at retail outlets? ...that the oldest school and the the oldest public school in the U.S currently hold the oldest continuous rivalry in high school football? ...that the Baldock Beer Disaster occurred on March 14, 1904 when an unstable storage room floor collapsed at the Simpson Brewery, in what is now the Twitchell, in the North Hertfordshire town of Baldock? (Image:Simpsons.jpg) ...that Chetan Sharma, a former Indian cricketer, was the first Indian ever to get a ten wicket haul overseas, taking 10/188 against England in a Test Series in 1986? ...that the Suramadu Bridge, connecting the islands of Java and Madura, will become the longest bridge in Indonesia when completed in 2008?

...that George W. Atherton served as president of the Pennsylvania State University for 24 years and is buried on the university's main campus? (Atherton's grave, on the campus of Pennsylvania State University) ...that Lamb Chop is a fictional sheep that was created by comedienne and ventriloquist Shari Lewis and first appeared on the children's morning television show Captain Kangaroo in 1957? ...that the Alfa Romeo Montreal was so named because it was first unveiled in prototype form at Montreal's Expo 67 world's fair? <li>...that F.I.B.S is the earliest backgammon server on the internet and has been actively operating since July 19, 1992?

<li>...that Nadezhda Durova was a woman who became a decorated soldier in the Russian cavalry during the Napoleonic wars, started as a private in 1807 and retired with the rank of stabs-rotmistr in 1816? (Nadezhda Durova) <li>...that silicosis is a lung disease caused by inhalation of silica, the second most common mineral on earth's crust? <li>...that a sheriff officer is an officer of the Scottish Sheriff Court, responsible for serving documents and enforcing court orders within the area of their commission? <li>...that Odoardo Beccari was an Italian naturalist best known for discovering the titan arum, the plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world, in Sumatra in 1878?

<li>...that Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park in Oyster Bay, New York was the historic 353-acre estate of Gilded Age millionaire William R. Coe? (Planting Fields, estate of William R. Coe, Oyster Bay, New York) <li>...that the first person shooter computer game Requiem: Avenging Angel was influenced by the Bible and Christian Mythology? <li>...that the genera Bergerocactus and Bergeranthus are named after Alwin Berger, a German botanist best known for his contribution to the nomenclature of succulent plants, particularly agaves and cacti? <li>...that a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, directly elected by citizens of member countries, has been proposed by legislators in an effort to counter the influence of the World Trade Organization and other unelected international bodies?

<li>...that Typhoon Vamei formed only 92 nautical miles north of the equator, a record at the time? (Typhoon Vamei) <li>...that the Sanhedrin, which is part of the Mishnah, a major Jewish religious text,  focuses on criminal law, and that  commentaries on the Sanhedrin by rabbis, as recorded in the Talmud,  are noteworthy as precursors to the development of common law principles? <li>...that Jean Laplanche, French psychoanalyst and co-author of the definitive Language of Psycho-Analysis, is also an accomplished vintner? <li>...that Beau Sia, a perennial Nuyorican Poets Cafe favorite, first discovered slam poetry through MTV as a teenager?

<li>...that the Schmidt-Pechan prism is a type of roof prism used for image erection in binoculars? (Schmidt-Pechan prism) <li>...that Jacob Bruce, a Russian nobleman of Scottish descent and one of the most educated people in Russia at the time, was famous among the 18th century Muscovites as an alchemist and mage? <li>...that the 1972 case of Yvonne Wanrow, a Colville Indian, charged with the  murder of a child molester, brought about changes in U.S. criminal law as it affects women and Native Americans? <li>...that Badruddin Amiruldin is a Member of the Parliament of Malaysia who has told those who oppose Malaysia's status as an Islamic theocracy to leave the country?

<li>...that the first Intercolonial cricket match in Australia was played in Launceston, Tasmania between players from Port Phillip and Van Diemen's Land in February 1851? (Melbourne Cricket Ground, 1st January 1864) <li>...that a condenser is used to condense steam from a steam turbine to obtain maximum efficiency? <li>...that Samuel Andrews (1836–1904) was an English-born chemist and inventor whose request for investment capital to build an oil refinery in 1862 led to a partnership with John D. Rockefeller and the formation of the Standard Oil companies? <li>...that Sandia Pueblo in central New Mexico was discovered by Spanish conquistador Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in 1539 while on an expedition to discover the seven Cities of Cibola? <li>...that according to Breton folklore, not completing the 600 km long Tro Breizh in one's lifetime would condemn their soul to repeating a tour of equivalent length every seven years from within their coffin?

<li>...that Chicanismo is a cultural movement by Mexican Americans to recapture their Mexican, Native American culture, which began in the 1930s in the Southwestern United States? <li>...that Newman and Baddiel in Pieces was the final show on which the comic partnership of Robert Newman and David Baddiel worked together before going their separate ways? <li>...that the parents of Rachel Whitear allowed a photograph of her dead body to be used in a campaign against heroin? <li>...that at 67 years old, Elias Syriani was the oldest person executed in the United States since James Hubbard was executed by Alabama at the age of 74 in 2004?