Wikipedia:Recent additions/2006/February

28 February 2006

 * 12:24, 28 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that three Byzantine emperors ended their lives as monks of the Studion, the largest monastery of Constantinople?
 * ...that the real name of the G.I. Joe character Dusty is Ronald W. Tadur?
 * ...that on January 8 1956, five Evangelical Christian missionaries from the United States were speared to death after attempting to reach the Huaorani people of Ecuador in "Operation Auca"?
 * ...that the Cormorant is a project for a submarine launched aircraft currently under development at Lockheed Martin's Skunk works research facility?
 * ...that a count room is a room that is designed and equipped for the purpose of counting large volumes of currency?


 * 03:30, 28 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that the Church of St. Elisabeth in Marburg was one of the earliest purely Gothic structures in Central Europe and served as the model for the Cologne Cathedral?
 * ...that the shooting of the government critic Archbishop Óscar Romero on March 24, 1980 was one of the causes of the El Salvador Civil War, in which 75,000 people died?
 * ...that the song "Deep in the Heart of Texas" was first recorded by Perry Como in 1941?
 * ...that Erich Kempka was a chauffeur of Adolf Hitler and was called to testify at the Nuremberg trials?

27 February 2006

 * 06:48, 27 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that hyperboloid structures in architecture are doubly-curved surfaces that may be formed entirely from a lattice of straight angle-iron and flat iron bars?
 * ...that Islam in Poland traces its history to the 13th century, with the advent of Tartar settlers?
 * ...that the development of molecular biology was made possible due to the convergence between biochemistry and genetics?
 * ...that as a result of t'aarof, it is not uncommon for Iranian employees to work unpaid for a week before even discussing wages?


 * 00:02, 27 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that The University of Texas Longhorn Band performed for inaugurations of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush?
 * ...that John Rut sent the first known letter from North America and that it was from St. John's, Newfoundland on August 3, 1527?
 * ...that Castorocauda lutrasimilis, a recently described mammal relative that looked like an otter with a beaver's tail, evolved a semi-aquatic lifestyle 110 million years earlier than any other mammal-like animal?
 * ...that James Foster was a Scottish-born Canadian goalie who helped lead Great Britain to its first and only Olympic gold medal in ice hockey in 1936?

24 February 2006

 * 17:45, 24 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that Roger II's Palatine Chapel in Palermo combines the Byzantine dome and mosaics with Arabic arches and inscriptions?
 * ...that the Hood Event was an incident following the US invasion of Iraq where a group of Turkish special forces operating in northern Iraq was captured and interrogated by the US military, later becoming the basis for the 2006 film Valley of the Wolves Iraq?
 * ...that some Australian Aboriginal languages use the aversive case to indicate that an object is feared?
 * ...that Vanessa Mendoza, Miss Colombia 2001, was the first Black woman to win that title?


 * 11:37, 24 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that retired General Counsel Alberto J. Mora of the U.S. Navy championed an effort within the Defense Department to end coercive interrogation tactics at Guantanamo Bay?
 * ...that "ultra" was a phrase frequently used in 1960s Malaysia and Singapore to describe racial chauvinists?
 * ...that Swiss artist Harald Naegeli spent several months in jail in 1984 for the graffiti he had painted in Zürich from 1977 to 1979?
 * ...that Television House on Kingsway in London served as the headquarters of Associated-Rediffusion, Independent Television News, the TV Times magazine, Associated TeleVision and Thames Television between 1955 and the early 1970s?


 * 05:20, 24 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that klezmer musician Josef Gusikov became world-famous playing his invention — a xylophone made out of wood and straw?
 * ...that Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk was established as the public broadcaster for the British Zone of Germany after World War II?
 * ...that Salleh Abas was sacked as the Lord President of Malaysia for clashing with the government on the independence of the Malaysian judiciary?
 * ...that the battle of Krasnobród of 1939 was one of the last battles of World War II in which cavalry units fought on both sides?

23 February 2006

 * 17:50, 23 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that the Provençal women troubadours of the 12th and 13th centuries were known as trobairitz?
 * ...that Vladimir Sukhomlinov, who was the Russian Minister of War at the outbreak of WWI, was relieved of duty amid accusations of espionage on behalf of Germany?
 * ...that the heavyweight champion boxer Thomas King became a successful bookmaker and rower after his retirement from the ring in 1863?
 * ...that the Chinese regent Sima Daozi (364-403) was described by historians as spending too much of his time drinking and feasting?


 * 09:40, 23 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that Scleroderris canker is a fungal disease among coniferous trees, sometimes spread by imported Christmas trees, that can kill an entire forest within a few years?
 * ...that Syed Hussein Alatas is a Malaysian academic who formed two political parties before going on to become Vice-Chancellor of the University of Malaya?
 * ...that the terms of the 1991 Sino-Russian border agreement between the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China took over 6 years to implement?
 * ...that the National Black Law Students Association was formed to serve the needs and goals of black law students in 1968 and is one of the largest student organizations in the United States?


 * 02:56, 23 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that the Elfin-woods Warbler, an endemic bird of Puerto Rico first observed in 1968, is the last New World warbler to be discovered?
 * ...that Broadcasting in East Germany was modelled after the Soviet Union's broadcasting system and East Germany rushed to try to beat West Germany to be first on-air with television?
 * ...that The Silent World, an Academy Award winning documentary film by Jacques Cousteau, was the first film to use underwater cinematography to show the ocean depths in color?
 * ...that until the late 1980s, the most accurate tropical cyclone prediction model was purely statistical?

22 February 2006

 * 12:31, 22 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that a female Western harvest mouse can potentially give birth to as many as forty to sixty offspring in a single year?
 * ...that the popular music artist Maarja-Liis Ilus has entered the Estonian Eurovision Song Contest pre-selection event Eurolaul a record three times, in 1996, 1997 and 2004?
 * ...that French spacing, the typographical practice of adding two (rather than one) spaces after a full stop, is a result of the monospaced fonts used by typewriters?
 * ...that major roads in Hong Kong are numbered from Route 1 to Route 9 under the Hong Kong Strategic Route and Exit Number System?


 * 00:07, 22 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that the Verneuil process, used in ruby synthesis, is considered as the founding step for modern industrial crystal growth technology?
 * ...that Round the Bend was a children's television programme that was televised for three years on Children's ITV, but was supposedly cancelled as a result of Mary Whitehouse calling it politically incorrect?
 * ...that the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority not only promotes Malaysia to foreign investors, but also handles tasks such as the extension of business visit visas?
 * ...that the Teach First organisation which helps top graduate students teach in some of the most deprived areas in London and was inspired by Teach for America, is now expanding to Manchester and Israel?

21 February 2006

 * 06:09, 21 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that the Chatham Garden Theatre in New York City went from haven for prostitution to Presbyterian chapel in the span of one year?
 * ...that the main languages of Renaissance in Poland were Polish and Latin, and that the leading Polish poet of that period, Jan Kochanowski, is regarded as a great Slavic poet?
 * ...that Jackson Ward is a historically African-American neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia where free African-Americans joined freed slaves and their descendants and created a thriving business community known as the "Black Wall Street of America?"
 * ...that between 1922 and 1926, Soviet Russia was the only country in Europe where homosexual relations between consenting adults were legal?

20 February 2006

 * 16:44, 20 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that the body of Dashi-Dorzho Itigelov, who led the Russian Buddhists from 1911 until his death in 1927, is said to exhibit no signs of physical decay?
 * ...that Hochtief AG, the company that moved the Abu Simbel temple complex to save it from the Aswan High Dam, also built the Führerbunker, scene of Adolf Hitler's suicide?
 * ...that Alfred the Great's taking of London in 886 was followed by his treaty with Guthrum, the Viking ruler of East Anglia?
 * ...that Margaret Brundage illustrated most of the covers for the pulp magazine Weird Tales from 1933 to 1939?


 * 00:00, 20 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that the Russian officer Leonid Gobyato is credited with having invented man-portable mine mortars?
 * ...that in Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd., the judge ruled that the video game Donkey Kong could be considered a parody of King Kong?
 * ...that a Lombard warlord, Melus of Bari, was routed in 1018 at the site of the famous defeat of the Romans by Hannibal?
 * ...that the Majlis Amanah Rakyat operates several educational institutes and offers several scholarships for the benefit of Bumiputra students in Malaysia?

17 February 2006

 * 17:44, 17 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that a mountain ash growing in the small Australian town of Thorpdale, Victoria once held the record for the tallest tree in the world?
 * ...that Maj. Henryk Sucharski, one of the commanders of the defence of Westerplatte during the Polish Defensive War of 1939, was allowed to keep his sabre in captivity?
 * ...that the Detroit neighborhood of Poletown was controversially razed under eminent domain to allow General Motors to construct their Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly plant?
 * ...that the Second Malaysia Plan sought to restructure the socioeconomic state of Malaysia through aggressive affirmative action?


 * 07:57, 17 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that the Preobrazhenka Cemetery in Moscow originated in 1771 as an Old Believer monastery under the guise of a plague quarantine?
 * ...that Tan Chee Khoon was given the moniker of "Mr. Opposition" due to his outspoken opposition to the government in the Parliament of Malaysia?
 * ...that in Russian Orthodox bell ringing, the bells are never pealed, but only tolled?
 * ...that Ernest Rogers Millington, former "Baby" of the British House of Commons, is one of only two living former MPs to have been elected before the 1945 UK general election?

16 February 2006

 * 17:05, 16 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, site of the 1963 church bombing, was designed in 1911 by noted African American architect Wallace Rayfield?
 * ...that the failure of the First Malaysia Plan may have indirectly led to the May 13 Incident of racial rioting?
 * ...that Pigeon Post, winner of the first ever Carnegie Medal for children's literature, is the only Swallows and Amazons book that does not feature some sort of sailing adventure?
 * ...that the word "Indonesia" was first used in print by Sam Ratulangi, a high school science teacher who briefly held the post of Governor of Sulawesi and was posthumously awarded the title of National Independence Hero?


 * 05:52, 16 February 2006 (UTC)


 * ...that in 1860 Thomas Sayers became the first English boxer to fight an international match?
 * ...that the longest of the Kiev bridges, the 1,543 metres long Paton Bridge over the Dnieper River, constructed in 1953 was the first fully welded steel construction of such length at that time?
 * ...that in the Vatha pagan rising of 1046, Saint Gellert became a martyr after being pushed off a hill in a cart?
 * ...that romanization of Belarusian, the transliteration of Belarusian-language text from the Cyrillic alphabet to the Latin alphabet, is distinct from writing in Łacinka, the historical native Latin alphabet of Belarus?
 * ...that Lewis Adams, a former African American slave in Macon County, Alabama is known for helping found the normal school which later became Tuskegee University?

15 February 2006

 * 17:53, 15 February 2006 (UTC)


 * ...that the Puerto Rican Spindalis is the national bird of Puerto Rico and often participates in mobbing, a behavior in which it attacks predators to defend hatchlings?
 * ...that Arbit Choudhury is the first ever business school student comic strip and web comic?
 * ...that the text on Nestor's Cup, one of the oldest known inscriptions in the Greek alphabet (c.740 BCE), is believed to be the result of a humorous drinking-party game?
 * ...that John Honeyman was a spy who worked for George Washington and who provided intelligence crucial to the success of Washington's foray against the Hessian troops at Trenton, New Jersey on December 26, 1776?
 * ...that the Speaker of Dewan Rakyat has the power to amend written copies of speeches made by members of the house before they are given verbally?


 * 05:36, 15 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that the Iberian Gate and Chapel in Moscow were destroyed on behest of Stalin in order to make room for heavy armored vehicles driving through Red Square during military parades?
 * ...that Antonio Bosio, the first systematic explorer of the Catacombs of Rome was known as the "Columbus of subterranean Rome" ?
 * ...that the German KarstadtQuelle AG is the largest department store corporation in Europe with over 100,000 employees?
 * ...that before R. L. Stevenson became a successful novelist with Treasure Island in 1883, he was a struggling author of travel narratives who published An Inland Voyage, Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes and Silverado Squatters?

14 February 2006

 * 16:58, 14 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that Dmitry Milyutin, the last Field Marshal of Imperial Russia, was responsible for introducing the general levy system into Eastern Europe?
 * ...that the 1st and Ten System creates the yellow line seen on American football telecasts which shows where a team will earn a first down?
 * ...that Charles Nqakula, the Minister of Safety and Security of South Africa and chairperson of the SACP underwent military training in Angola, East Germany, and the Soviet Union in order to fight in Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the ANC?
 * ...that the Gourd Dance is performed to "cleanse" the dance arena prior to a Native American pow-wow?


 * 04:46, 14 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that the American Thanksgiving holiday was moved a week earlier from 1939—1941 because of The Great Depression and was referred to as Franksgiving after President Franklin D. Roosevelt?
 * ...that Prathapa Mudaliar Charithram was the first novel in Tamil?
 * ...that Isabelle Romée was the mother of Joan of Arc and petitioned the Pope before her daughter's conviction for heresy was overturned?
 * ...that basketball player Mike Gansey is the only men's player in NCAA Division I shorter than 6 ft. 5 in. to figure in USA's top 50 in field-goal percentage for the 2005-06 season?

13 February 2006

 * 16:42, 13 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that Vera Kholodnaya, the first Russian silent film star, was rumoured to have been poisoned by the French Ambassador with whom she reportedly had an affair and who believed that she was a spy for the Bolsheviks?
 * ...that there are as many as two million illegal immigrants in Malaysia, half of whom may be receiving Bumiputra privileges?
 * ...that the dress Marilyn Monroe wore on the night she sang Happy Birthday, Mr. President was so tight she had to be sewn into it?
 * ...that the UK National Industrial Relations Court was controversial throughout its short life from 1971 to 1974, and was abolished soon after the Labour government of Harold Wilson came to power?


 * 04:24, 13 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that the Summer Garden in St Petersburg contains a hundred Venetian marble statues that are 300 years old?
 * ...that the Park Ujazdowski, founded in 1893 by Sokrates Starynkiewicz, features the second bridge in the world built of reinforced concrete?
 * ...that Soviet fighter pilot Mikhail Devyataev and nine other POWs took over a German He 111 H22 bomber and escaped from the concentration camp on Usedom island?
 * ...that the 1963 Hotel Roosevelt fire was the worst fire Jacksonville, Florida had witnessed since the Great Fire of 1901?
 * ...that the Old Ford Motor Factory, Ford's first assembly plant in Southeast Asia and built in 1941, was the site of the historic surrender of the British to the Japanese in World War II, later described by Winston Churchill as the "largest capitulation in British history"?

10 February 2006

 * 17:36, 10 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that Government House in Perth, Western Australia is the official residence of the Governor of Western Australia and was built between 1859 and 1864 largely with convict labour?
 * ...that the model for the doctor in William Hogarth's The Harlot's Progress was the often satirized French physician John Misaubin?
 * ...that two out of three most notable monuments by Edward Wittig were destroyed during the World War II, while the third one was not erected until 2001, 60 years after Wittig's death?
 * ...that the first fluorescent blacklight paint was invented by Bob Switzer and named Day-Glo?
 * ...that the R-100 Series is a series of fictional mass-produced robots which have featured in every TimeSplitters game created?


 * 02:54, 10 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that Weingarten Abbey, a Benedictine monastery near Ravensburg, Germany, which was founded in 1056, was once one of the richest monasteries in Southern Germany?
 * ...that the Dewan Rakyat is prohibited from discussing the repeal of certain articles of the Constitution of Malaysia?
 * ...that scientific transliteration, a method used in linguistics to transliterate Slavic languages from the Cyrillic to the Latin alphabet, was first standardized over a century ago based on the Croatian alphabet?
 * ...that the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways add about 500 km of new track each year to their network with planned links to Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan?
 * ...that the Ampulex wasp can disable a cockroach's escape reflex, and use the roach to feed its larva?

9 February 2006

 * 12:09, 9 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that Program 437 was a United States military antisatellite program using nuclear weapons delivered by Thor ballistic missiles as the primary mechanism of defeating enemy satellites?
 * ...that the traditional Russian carnival of Maslenitsa lasts for a week and culminates in the burning of a straw effigy representing winter and all the left-over blintzes?
 * ...that pendatang asing is a pejorative phrase used in Malaysia to imply non-Malays are not welcome?
 * ...that Lillian Too, renowned feng shui expert, was once chief executive officer of a bank, and has written over 80 books since her retirement?


 * 03:34, 9 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that Tori Busshi, a Japanese artist, most likely learned to sculpt while working as a saddle maker?
 * ...that Tristán de Luna y Arellano built the first European settlement within the continental boundaries of the United States at modern-day Pensacola?
 * ...that New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms was the first player to announce "I'm Going to Disney World!" after a Super Bowl?
 * ...that the fictional Anaheim Electronics docking ship La Vie en Rose is so named due to the fact that it opens up like a blooming rose when not docked with a spaceship?
 * ...that Teresa Pizarro de Angulo, Miss Colombia's organizer for more than 40 years, was also Cartagena's first female farm owner?

8 February 2006

 * 16:30, 8 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that William Shakespeare was an avid gardener and that modern Shakespeare gardens cultivate dozens of plant species mentioned in his plays?
 * ...that the Ancient Romans played a game called Trigon, which likely involved three players standing in a triangle and passing a hard ball back and forth?
 * ...that when the Etruscan bronze Chimera of Arezzo, carefully buried near the city walls of Arezzo some time in Antiquity, was rediscovered in 1553, it was quickly claimed for the collection of  Cosimo I de' Medici?
 * ...that among many historic landmarks at the Andrew's Descent in Kiev, there is a medieval Gothic style castle that locals call the "Castle of Richard the Lion Heart" due to the legend the 12th century King of England had visited the building?


 * 04:11, 8 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that the St. Bernard de Clairvaux Church in North Miami Beach, Florida is a medieval Spanish monastery that was purchased by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, disassembled, and then kept in 11,000 crates in a warehouse in Brooklyn for 26 years?
 * ...that Nikolay Danilevsky was the first writer to present an account of history as a series of distinct civilisations?
 * ...that the name teonanácatl, referring to a sacred mushroom of the Aztecs, translates to "the flesh of God"?
 * ...that the Trow Ghyll skeleton, found near Clapham in the West Riding of Yorkshire in August 1947, was claimed to have been the decomposed remains of a German spy who died during the war?

7 February 2006

 * 18:10, 7 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that SS Ko?ciuszko, a former Russian passenger ship, mobilized by the Polish navy, was visited by Winston Churchill and King George VI during World War II?
 * ...that according to UFO religions, aliens exist, and would reveal themselves in the future to enable humans overcome their ecological, spiritual and social problems?
 * ...that during the era of Ryukyu Kingdom the noodle soup Okinawa soba could only be eaten by royalty until Okinawa's annexation by Japan in the late 19th century?
 * ...that Cambridge House on Piccadilly used to be home to Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge and Lord Palmerston, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom?


 * 11:57, 7 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that three former Presidents of the United States currently appear on American currency two times each (one coin and one bill)?
 * ...that the theory of the permanent arms economy is a Marxist theory to explain the long economic boom after World War II?
 * ...that Sonjo, a Bantu language of northern Tanzania, has been spoken for centuries in an isolated enclave in Maasai territory?
 * ...that les Brasseries du Cameroun controls 75 percent of the market for beer and soft drinks in Cameroon?
 * ...that Indiana Jones suffers from ophidiophobia, the fear of snakes?


 * 05:15, 7 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that the expression Children of Lieutenant Schmidt has become a Russian cliché for con men who use false pretenses in order to extract money from the victims?
 * ...that in 1876, Edward Bouchet became the first black American to earn a Ph.D. from an American university?
 * ...that Xianxingzhe, China's first bipedal humanoid robot was satirized in Japan for having a joint that resembles a "crotch cannon"?
 * ...that Howard Thomas created three of the most popular wartime radio programmes for the BBC and discovered Vera Lynn, but was forced to resign from the company?

6 February 2006

 * 17:41, 6 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that two glazed shopping arcades of the 1840s — the Passage in St Petersburg and the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert in Brussels — accommodated luxury shops, coffee houses, museums and even theatres?
 * ...that a large portion of the vocabulary of the coastal Mozambiquean language Ekoti derives from a past variety of Swahili?
 * ...that Thomas Brownrigg went from being a Midshipman to being Naval Aide de Camp to Queen Elizabeth II to creating Europe's first commercial television company, Associated-Rediffusion?
 * ...that the July 2005 NKF scandal led to a backlash from the donors to the charity, resulting in the resignation of the board of directors?


 * 10:48, 6 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that the Roman de Fergus is the earliest piece of non-Celtic vernacular literature to have survived from Scotland?
 * ...that the Philharmonia Hungarica made the first complete recording of Haydn's symphonies, was an orchestra founded by Hungarian exiles and funded by the West German government during the Cold War?
 * ...that the dachas of the Russian poets Boris Pasternak, Korney Chukovsky, and Bulat Okudzhava in the village of Peredelkino near Moscow are open to the public as memorial houses?
 * ...that "La Vie en Rose" is the signature song of French singer Édith Piaf?

5 February 2006

 * 23:16, 5 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that an aerosan is a type of air-powered, armoured snowmobile, which was used for transport, reconnaissance, and raiding by the Red Army in the Winter War and the Second World War?
 * ...that a Push-Pull Converter is a type of DC to DC converter that uses a transformer to step the voltage of a DC power supply?
 * ...that the Chicana artist Yolanda Lopez became famous with the painting "Virgen de Guadalupe", which represents Lopez's personal investigation into Virgen de Guadalupe's status in Mexican society?
 * ...that the actions of Australian soldiers at the Battle of Epehy during World War I led to German officers in the area saying that they would not fight Australian troops?

3 February 2006

 * 17:56, 3 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that Giles Mompesson was officially branded a "notorious criminal" by the House of Lords in 1623 after a career of graft and extortion as licensor of inns?
 * ...that the L'Arlésienne Suites were composed by Georges Bizet in 1872 to accompany the play of the same name by Alphonse Daudet?
 * ...that Lady Macbeth wore a crown of saucepan lids in the 1933 production of Shakespeare's play, staged by Theodore Komisarjevsky in Stratford-on-Avon and popularly dubbed "Aluminium Macbeth"?
 * ...that Sofia Petrovna, a book by Russian writer Lydia Chukovskaya written in 1939-1940, and published in the West in 1960s, was published in the Soviet Union only in 1988?
 * ...that only three Super 14 rugby union teams ever won the Super 12?


 * 05:59, 3 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that from 1858 Sydneysiders could set their clocks by the ball dropped at 1 pm each day at the Sydney Observatory and that the observatory replaced Fort Philip which was never needed to be used for defending Sydney?
 * ...that the Brothertown Indians were the first tribe of Native Americans in the United States to become United States citizens, which caused the tribe to relinquish their tribal sovereignty?
 * ...that Jan Nagórski, Polish pioneer of aviation and the first person to fly an airplane over the Arctic, was presumed dead for 38 years?
 * ...that, for the Dutch Old Masters, still lifes were a great opportunity to show one's aptitude in painting textures and surfaces in great detail and with realistic light effects?

2 February 2006

 * 22:19, 2 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that Mikhail Lomonosov's granddaughter was the wife of General Nikolay Raevsky, one of the leading Russian commanders during the Napoleonic Wars?
 * ...that the 1939 cantata "Ballad For Americans" by John La Touche and Earl Robinson was performed that year at both the Republican National Convention and that of the American Communist Party?
 * ...that the Lagonda Straight-6 engine that vaulted Aston Martin to fame in the 1950s was designed by Walter Owen Bentley, who also created the Bentley automobile?
 * ...that Owasippe Scout Reservation, established in 1911, is the oldest continuously operating Boy Scout camp in the United States?


 * 10:25, 2 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that the neo-classical Verkhovna Rada building in Kiev features a hundred-tonne glass dome over the chamber where the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine convenes to enact legislation?
 * ...that parts of California were declared a disaster area when Hurricane Kathleen killed several people and caused millions of dollars in damage due to widespread flooding?
 * ...that Operation Safed Sagar which was launched by the Indian Air Force to aid the Indian Army during the 2 month long Kargil War, was the first time air power was used on such a large scale in Kashmir since the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971?
 * ...that Arthur Ransome used his own memories of a frozen Windermere during the Great Freeze of 1895 when he wrote Winter Holiday, his fourth Swallows and Amazons book?


 * 04:10, 2 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that Robin Miller was a female Australian pilot and nurse who borrowed money to buy a Cessna 182 and then began flying to remote outback areas in Western Australia to vaccinate Indigenous Australian children against polio and thus became known as the "Sugarbird Lady"?
 * ...that Jan Stanisław Jankowski, the World War II political leader of the Polish Secret State, was kidnapped by the NKVD and killed in a Soviet prison?
 * ... that commotio cordis is a sudden and unexpected cardiac arrest observed mostly in young people during participation in sports, and that is the most frequent cause of accidental deaths in Little League baseball games?
 * ...that Romanian violinist Ion Petre Stoican got his recording contract in Communist-era Romania because he caught an American spy?

1 February 2006

 * 21:01, 1 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that Vladimir Shukhov, often compared to Edison and Eiffel for his innovative work on metallic structures, decided to abandon engineering at the age of 24 and enrolled at a medical school instead?
 * ...that Gongche notation was once popular in transcribing the music of China before the modern jianpu and standard notation?
 * ...that during the Russo-Turkish War, 1828-1829 more Russian soldiers died in hospitals from contagious diseases than fighting on the battlefield?
 * ...that the title of the movie I Married a Communist was so unappealing to audiences that their response led the film to be rereleased under the title The Woman on Pier 13?


 * 10:54, 1 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that the physician Marie Equi became an anarchist after being attacked by police, while she was picketing during a strike supported by the Industrial Workers of the World?
 * ...that Mazhar Hussain has scored more runs in one-day international cricket then any other United Arab Emirates batsman?
 * ...that the Podhale rifles are the only soldiers within the Polish Army to wear uniforms based on folk attire?
 * ...that in the United Kingdom and Australia a tuck shop is a small food retailer found in schools?


 * 04:43, 1 February 2006 (UTC)
 * ...that the Polish Navy cruiser ORP Conrad was to be named ORP Wilno, but the name was changed for political reasons?
 * ...that the Russian victory at Molodi in 1572 put a stop to the northward expansion of the Ottoman Empire into present-day Russia?
 * ...that more than 100 gamelan ensembles (a musical performance group of Indonesian origin) have been formed in the U.S. since the first was established at UCLA in 1958?
 * ...that secret passages have helped people to hide in or flee from a building, or even to enter it without being spotted?