Wikipedia:Recent additions/2004/May

30 May 2004

 * ...that the Oxford University Museum was the site of a major debate in evolutionary biology?


 * ...that toothed whales and baleen whales use different means to produce the sounds that comprise whale songs?
 * ...that Chick Gandil was the ringleader of the 1919 Black Sox scandal in American baseball?
 * ...that Galileo's father Vincenzo Galilei was a noted Italian lutenist?
 * ...that Canada Dry ginger ale became a popular mixer during Prohibition, when its flavor helped mask the taste of homemade liquor?

28 May 2004

 * ...that British Columbia provincial highway 2 is a short road from Dawson Creek to the B.C./Alberta border?
 * ...that four planes were simultaneously hijacked in the 1970 Dawson's Field hijackings?
 * ...that the caterpillars of the Anise Swallowtail butterfly like to eat fennel?



27 May 2004

 * ...that Battleship Row bore the brunt of the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor?
 * ...that Sale of the Century was Australia's longest-running game show?
 * ...that freak waves are common near Cape Algulhas off the southern tip of Africa?

26 May 2004

 * ...that Andante in C was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's first composition?

25 May 2004

 * ...that in Irish politics, no ordinary referendum has ever occurred?

24 May 2004

 * ...that the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption in Washington was the first major volcanic eruption to occur in the U.S. since the 1915 eruption of Lassen Peak in California?
 * ...that bag people were common in the USSR following the Russian Revolution?
 * ...that women are twice as likely as men to have pulmonary hypertension?
 * ...that some people believe that the Angels of Mons helped protect British forces during World War I's Battle of Mons?

23 May 2004

 * ...that the most popular brand of absinthe was Pernod Fils?
 * ...that Canada's tax policy does not include an inheritance tax?
 * ...that an oast house is a traditional Kentish structure for drying hops before brewing?
 * ...that George Rogers Clark, older brother of William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, captured two British forts during the American Revolutionary War?
 * ...that Emilio Carranza was known as "the Lindbergh of Mexico"?


 * ...that Kawaiahao Church is known as the Westminster Abbey of Hawaii?
 * ...that corals, graptolites, brachiopods and trilobites are frequently used as index fossils?
 * ...that the assassination in Sarajevo of Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria led to World War I? (Okay, you probably did know that one.)
 * ...that many old buildings near Government Center in Boston once hid fugitive slaves riding the Underground Railroad?

21 May 2004

 * ...that the Irish Supreme Court sits at the Four Courts building in Dublin?
 * ...that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 banned literacy tests as a voting qualification in the U.S.?
 * ...that surgery patients who experience anesthesia awareness may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder?
 * ...that rapid single flux quantum is an electronics technology that relies on quantum effects in superconducting materials rather than the present-day transistor standard?

20 May 2004

 * ...that Pizza Hut was founded by Dan and Frank Carney?
 * ...that the cucumber sandwich is an integral part of polite tea?
 * ...that in 1934 Leonid Nikolaev was executed for the murder of Sergei Kirov, the popular chief of the Leningrad Communist Party?
 * ...that after the Red Baron, French ace René Fonck had the most confirmed World War I aerial victories?


 * ...that the Australian Corps was the largest corps fielded by the British army in France during World War I?
 * ...that authentic shrunken heads have nose hair?
 * ...that an apartment building known as Pavlov's House became a symbol of Soviet resistance during World War II's Battle of Stalingrad?
 * ...that public broadcasting in New Zealand of color television began in 1975?
 * ...that the first branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia was located in Philly's city hall?

19 May 2004

 * ...that the Lion's Mane Jellyfish is the biggest jellyfish in the world?
 * ...that residents of California buy more earthquake insurance than residents of any other U.S. state?
 * ...that in architecture, there are at least five kinds of buttress: clasping, angle, flying, set-back and diagonal?
 * ...that during the Cold War, Soviet leaders used "And you are lynching Negroes..." as an ad hominem attack against the U.S.?
 * ...that the Temple Bar marks the western edge of the City of London?

18 May 2004

 * ...that hoodoos are tall skinny spires of rock that protrude from the bottom of arid basins and badlands?
 * ...that the evolution of sex is a major puzzle of evolutionary biology, due to the so-called two-fold cost of sex?
 * ...that the hyper engine was a hypothetical aircraft engine design meant to deliver 1 horsepower from 1 cubic inch of displacement?
 * ...that Gatianus of Tours was one of seven bishops sent by Pope Fabian from Rome to Gaul to preach the Gospel?
 * ...that quantum optics is a field of research in physics, dealing with the application of quantum mechanics to phenomena of light?

16 May 2004

 * ...that hoodoos are tall skinny spires of rock that protrude from the bottom of arid basins and badlands?


 * ...that the Hubbard Glacier is the longest tidewater glacier in Alaska?
 * ...that former U.S. decathlete Rafer Johnson ignited the Olympic Flame during the opening ceremonies of the 1984 Summer Olympics?
 * ...that it was the British geologist Joseph Prestwich who confirmed the findings of Boucher de Perthes?
 * ...that England brokered the 1617 Treaty of Stolbova between Sweden and Russia?

15 May 2004

 * ...that One Hundred Years of Solitude is considered Gabriel García Márquez's magnum opus?
 * ...that Groundskeeper Willie, a character on The Simpsons, coined the phrase cheese-eating surrender monkeys?
 * ...that the Mid-Canada Line was a line of radar sites across Canada designed to be an nuclear attack early-warning system?
 * ...that what was probably the last living Spix's Macaw died in 2000?
 * ...that the caterpillar of the Western Tiger Swallowtail butterfly has large yellow eyespots?
 * ...that on Dagen H, or H Day, (Sunday September 3, 1967) at 5:00 am, Swedes switched from driving on the left to the right?
 * ...that Taiwan professional baseball was started in 1989, and the two leagues merged in 2003?

14 May 2004

 * ...that the All-China Youth Network Civilization Convention is a short statement promulgated by the authorities in the People's Republic of China, regulating the use of the internet by the Chinese youth?

13 May 2004

 * ...that the Vickers machine gun was the standard weapon on all British and French military aircraft after 1916?
 * ...that nearly half the eligible male population of New Zealand served in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force during World War I?
 * ...that the Pascha greeting is an Easter custom amongst Orthodox Christians?

12 May 2004

 * ...that the Homestead Grays were the Negro League world champs every year from 1937 through 1945?
 * ...that the Duchy of the Archipelago was an alliance of islands in the Aegean Sea organized after the Fourth Crusade?

11 May 2004

 * ...that the Siam Tulip is not a tulip, but is related to ginger?
 * ...that Marcin Kromer was a 16th century Prince-Bishop of Warmia, cartographer, and historian in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth?
 * ...that the so-called Loughall Martyrs were a group of eight men from the Provisional IRA's East Tyrone Brigade who were ambushed and killed on May 8 1987 by the British special forces, the SAS?

10 May 2004

 * ...that the Exotic World Burlesque Museum is located on the site of an abandoned goat farm?

8 May 2004

 * ...that the first helicopter flight was in 1906 in Lisieux, France?
 * ...that most people on a raw food diet won't eat anything heated to more than 46&deg;C (115&deg;F)?
 * ...that the root of the Purple Salsify tastes of oysters?
 * ...that the Homomonument in Amsterdam commemorates all gay men and lesbians who have been subjected to persecution because of their sexual orientation?
 * ...that the Diadochi were generals of Alexander the Great who sought power after his death?
 * ...that when released, the film Waterworld was the biggest failure, in terms of returns?

6 May 2004

 * ...that the saliva of a Common Garter Snake may be toxic to amphibians and other small animals?
 * ...that the Maltese alphabet contains 29 letters but does not contain the Latin letter Y?
 * ...that Abercrombie & Fitch was founded in 1892 and originally sold hunting, camping and fishing gear?
 * ...that in the 19th century the Wörthersee became an exclusive summer retreat for Vienna's nobility?

5 May 2004

 * ...that Broadmoor Hospital is the most famous mental institution in England?
 * ...that the longest extra inning game in professional baseball history was an International League game that lasted 33 innings?
 * ...that the Three-Self Patriotic Movement is part of the only government-sanctioned Protestant church in the People's Republic of China?
 * ...that an American thoroughbred racehorse named Cigar was the first winner of the Dubai World Cup?

3 May 2004

 * ...that all members of the genus Zigadenus are unpalatable to livestock because of the presence of alkaloids?
 * ...that in 1169 Denny Abbey was handed over to the Knights Templar?
 * ...that Dave Righetti was the first player in Major League Baseball history to pitch a no-hitter and lead the league in saves in a career?
 * ...that the co-winner with Jane Addams of the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize was Nicholas Butler?

2 May 2004

 * ...that although opera contralto Ernestine Schumann-Heink had a son fighting on the other side, she toured the United States to raise money for the USA in World War I?
 * ...that Taiwan celebrates a national Teacher's Day holiday each September 28?
 * ...that both serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors and novel antidepressants like bupropion work on multiple neurotransmitters?
 * ...that the HMS Finisterre replaced her sister-ship the Hogue in Far Eastern service after the latter was destroyed by a collision with an Indian cruiser?