Wikipedia:Recent additions 146

Did you know...

 * ...that the Mid-Delaware Bridge (pictured) over the Delaware River between Pennsylvania and New York is the uppermost four-lane bridge on the river's main stem?
 * ...that Tsar Alexis of Russia wrote a detailed instruction to his falconers?
 * ...that after criticising the Australian Cricket Board, its captain Bill Lawry was sacked without being informed, and only learned of his fate on the radio?
 * ...that Prussian uprisings refer to several uprisings of Prussians, one of the Baltic tribes, against the Teutonic Knights, in the 13th century during the Northern Crusades?
 * ...that Church of Scientology private investigator Eugene Martin Ingram was charged with impersonating a police officer, in Hillsborough County, Florida?
 * ...that Gia Long, the first Emperor of Vietnam's Nguyen Dynasty unified the country for the first time in its modern state with French military assistance from his friend and Catholic priest Pigneau de Behaine?
 * ...that composer Takanori Arisawa won three JASRAC International Awards for most international royalties, due to the worldwide popularity of the Sailor Moon anime soundtrack?
 * ...that when the first Legislative Assembly of Vancouver Island was elected, there were only five qualified voters in the three-member district of Victoria?
 * ...that the 1892 Thomas Gale House was one of at least eight "bootleg houses" designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in breach of his contract with architect Louis Sullivan?
 * ...that Frank Lloyd Wright was eventually dismissed from the architecture firm Adler and Sullivan for designing side projects such as the Robert P. Parker House (pictured)?
 * ...that Bona of Pisa, after seeing a vision of James, son of Zebedee, became a leader of pilgrimages to his shrine at Santiago de Compostella?
 * ...that Robert Burnaby is the namesake of at least eleven places in British Columbia, including a city, a lake, and a hill?
 * ...that Sylvia Seegrist was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences for killing three people in 1985 in a Pennsylvania shopping mall, even though she had a history of paranoid schizophrenia?
 * ...that Richard Petty won the 1979 Daytona 500 by passing race leaders Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough who were involved in a fight in the infield?
 * ...that Maria Bertilla Boscardin, who was rejected by one religious order for her slowness, became a nurse and was eventually canonized a saint in the presence of several of her earlier patients?
 * ...that Chicago theater-owner Tony DeSantis survived two near-fatal explosions in his life?
 * ...that the painter Andrés de Santa Maria (pictured) was the pioneer of impressionism and modern art in Colombia?
 * ...that one of the largest slave escape attempts in American history occurred in Kentucky in August 1848?
 * ...that Pinirampus pirinampu, a species of migratory catfish, is one of the most important fishery resources in certain reservoirs in its native range?
 * ...that Bona of Pisa, after seeing a vision of James, son of Zebedee, became a leader of pilgrimages to his shrine at Santiago de Compostella?
 * ...that since his capture, Hassan Ghul has been labelled everything from a simple mail courier to top lieutenant of figures ranging from Osama bin Laden to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to al-Zarqawi?
 * ...that some areas of the Finnish Lakeland have up to 1,000 lakes per 100 km²?
 * ...that Robert Burnaby is the namesake of at least eleven places in British Columbia, including a city, a lake, and a hill?
 * ...that Lorenz Christoph Mizler founded a musical society whose members included Georg Philipp Telemann, George Frideric Handel, and Johann Sebastian Bach?
 * ...that American Sylvia Seegrist was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences for killing three people in 1985 in a Pennsylvania shopping mall, even though she had a history of paranoid schizophrenia?
 * ...that the city of Quneitra in Syria was captured on the last day of the Six-Day War, was later destroyed and never rebuilt, and is today preserved as a memorial to the Arab-Israeli wars?
 * ...that zuclopenthixol is a medication that can be given every two weeks to treat people suffering from schizophrenia who are unable to take tablets daily?
 * ...that the sex scenes in the Thai film Ploy that were shown at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival had to be re-edited by director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang (pictured) so the film could be shown in cinemas in Thailand?
 * ...that Melbourne rock band The Strangers appeared on weekly television for nine years straight?
 * ...that the first private radio station in India was Akashvani which was set up in 1935 in Mysore, Karnataka?
 * ...that Virginia Lamp Thomas, wife of United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, collected résumés for appointments in the George W. Bush Administration while working at the Heritage Foundation?
 * ...that, in connection with the 7th-century Turkic conquest of Aghvania, the invaders were reported "to suck the children's blood like milk"?
 * ...that during the G8 Summit in Germany on June 7-8, Russian president Vladimir Putin offered to deploy elements of an American anti-misssile shield in Qabala Radiolocation Station in Azerbaijan instead of Poland and the Czech Republic?
 * ...that Matt Wieters, the fifth pick in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft, was the third player in Georgia Tech history to earn first-team All-America honors twice?
 * ...that Polish Baroque historian and poet Wespazjan Kochowski (pictured) was considered to be one of the most typical representatives of the szlachta philosophy of Sarmatism?
 * ...that the Caves of Nerja were discovered in 1959 and opened as a tourist attraction a year later?
 * ...that western-style Japanese painter Kawabata Ryushi, was so impressed with the Japanese art collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston that he switched to the Japanese-style Nihonga genre?
 * ...that Australian soldier Ringer Edwards survived 63 hours of crucifixion by Japanese soldiers during World War II?
 * ...that the Wiseman hypothesis proposes the accounts of the book of Genesis were written hundreds or thousands of years before Moses, and that Genesis names the authors?
 * ...that Erica Larson, a chemist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, won the Pikes Peak mountain marathon five times in six years between 1999 and 2004, more than any other woman in the event's history?
 * ...that the Brandenburg Navy (pictured) fought in many battles in the Baltic Sea before merging with the Prussian Navy in 1701?
 * ...that worm charming, grunting, and fiddling competitions are held around the world?
 * ...that Europe's largest sewage treatment plant is in Psyttaleia, Greece?
 * ...that the performance of La liberazione di Ruggiero dall'isola d'Alcina in Warsaw in 1628 was the earliest performance of an Italian opera outside of Italy?
 * ...that Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana, and Cyprien Ntaryamira, the Hutu president of Burundi were assassinated by two surface-to-air missiles?
 * ...that poor performance in the twilight of the career of Graham McKenzie, Australia's leading pace bowler of the 1960s, led to mistaken fears that he had contracted hepatitis?
 * ...that Charles Wilfred Orr wrote more settings of A. E. Housman's poetry than any other composer?
 * ...that the 1909-built Wright-Bock Fountain, (pictured) attributed to both Frank Lloyd Wright and Richard Bock, was completely replaced with a replica in 1969?
 * ...that religion in the Western Ganga Dynasty included influences from Jainism and the Hindu sects Shaivism, Vedic Brahminism and Vaishnavism?
 * ...that Scottish clergyman Alexander Edward was deprived of his parish after the establishment of Presbyterianism, and later became an architect?
 * ...that males of the endangered South Andean Deer have a distinctive black "face mask" that forms an elongated heart-shape?
 * ...that the Andrew O. Anderson House in DeKalb, Illinois, a design by architect John S. Van Bergen, has long been mistaken for a Frank Lloyd Wright building?
 * ...that Deborah Lawrie became the first female pilot with an Australian airline after winning a landmark sex discrimination case against Ansett Airlines?
 * ...that Frank Lloyd Wright's 1915 Emil Bach House (pictured) in Chicago was originally a "country home" that now stands on a busy city street in the Rogers Park neighborhood?
 * ...that Ernest Austin set the whole of John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress for solo organ, at a length of nearly three hours?
 * ...that in order to stem a population decline a "dollar block" promotion was held in the Australian town of Jandowae, Queensland where 38 parcels of land were sold for one dollar each?
 * ...that World War II historian Janusz Piekałkiewicz fled Poland in 1956, relying on mountaineering and secret resistance routes?
 * ...that Dutch amateur football club IJsselmeervogels received the Dutch Sports Team of the Year Award in 1975, for reaching the semi-final of the KNVB Cup?
 * ...that 2006 Winter Olympics speedskating champion, Shani Davis', welcome-home celebration was held at the Harold Washington Cultural Center?
 * ...that the Russo-Japanese War vintage Japanese cruiser Yakumo (pictured) was the only warship in the Imperial Japanese Navy (aside from prizes-of-war) to have been built in Germany?
 * ...that the Orange Mill Historic District between Newburgh and Gardnertown, New York, features the only remaining 19th-century gunpowder mill complex in the state?
 * ...that Oleh Lysheha, educated at Lviv University, was the first Ukrainian poet to receive the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation?
 * ...that Henry Pering Pellew Crease was appointed British Columbia's first Attorney General by Governor (and ex-HBC Chief Factor) Sir James Douglas?
 * ...the crash of Aero Flight 311, which claimed the lives of all 25 people on board, was the worst aviation accident ever to occur in Finland?
 * ...that, in 1999, General Abdulsalami Abubakar was responsible for converting Nigeria's government system from military rule to democracy?
 * ...that Leyla Mammadbeyova (pictured) was the first Azerbaijani female aviator and the second parachutist woman in the former Soviet Union?
 * ...that Shakespeare's religion is speculated by many scholars to have been Catholic?
 * ...that B. V. Karanth trained alongside Dr. Rajkumar under Gubbi Veeranna, one of the pioneers of Kannada theater?
 * ...that Slabsides, John Burroughs' historic log cabin in West Park, New York, is only open to the public two days every year?
 * ...that Neil Harvey once helped the Australian cricket team win a Test by deliberately throwing away his wicket when Pakistan attempted to thwart a victory by time wasting?
 * ...that a massive mudflow destroyed two-thirds of the Valley of Geysers last week?
 * ...that Ronald Reagan is the only American President to have his diaries published into a best selling book?
 * ...that Gasparo Berti's experiment (pictured) in atmospheric pressure and vacuums led to the invention of the barometer?
 * ...that the original painting of Hogarth's Strolling Actresses Dressing in a Barn (pictured) was destroyed in a fire in 1874?
 * ...that William A. Brady is the only person to have managed two undisputed heavyweight champion boxers?
 * ...that the Australian Harvey family includes the leading Australian batman of the 1950s Neil Harvey as well as his grandnephew Robert Harvey, who won consecutive Brownlow Medals as the best player in Australian Football?
 * ...that the Sicilian revolt caused so many slaves to leave mainland Rome that the Vestal Virgins prayed for the desertion to stop?
 * ...that the Aberfeldy Distillery closed for two years during World War I, because they could not get barley?
 * ...that Paul Philippoteaux was a noted painter of cycloramas, cylindrical paintings over 100 yards long, whose effect was so realistic they have been likened to IMAX movies?
 * ...that Kung Fu Jimmy Chow is a cartoon parody that has the appearance of a dubbed Japanese anime?
 * ...that Frank Lloyd Wright designed the George W. Smith House (pictured) in 1895 as one of a series of low-cost homes but it was not constructed until 1898?
 * ...that nearly one in every twelve suicides by firearm is a multiple gunshot suicide?
 * ...that the first Western abbot of Singapore's Buddhist Poh Ern Shih Temple was an American?
 * ...that in a few of the international cricket matches played by India in the 1990s, more than half of the players in the Indian team belonged to the state of Karnataka?
 * ...that Lake Taupo's Hatepe eruption around 180 AD devastated much of New Zealand's North Island and turned the skies red over China and Rome?
 * ...that the Soviet MT-55 bridge layer tanks were modified by the Czechoslovakians using their gap measuring mechanism and infrared equipment and renamed as the MT-55A?
 * ...that German composer Christian Geist died of the bubonic plague in 1711, along with his wife and children?
 * ...that the 1863 Battle of Shimonoseki (pictured) was the first naval confrontation between the U.S. Navy and a Japanese fleet?
 * ...that the New York Giants, an NFL American football team, were founded in 1925 by a bookmaker with an investment of US$500, and their estimated value has increased to nearly $900 million?
 * ...that the father of cricketer Peter Burge had to resign from Queensland's selection committee when his son was being discussed for selection?
 * ...that French Minister of Marine Jean-Marie Charles Abrial fought in both World Wars and was imprisoned on accusations of collaboration with the Nazis?
 * ...that Robert Kotei, then Ghana's high jump record holder, once successfully foiled a military coup against the NRC government, only to be executed years later after a successful coup against his own SMC government?
 * ...that famed Swiss cartographer Eduard Imhof lived in a Tibetan monastery while he recorded the height and location of the highest peak outside of the Himalayas, Minya Konka?
 * ...that the Wallachian poet Ion Heliade Rădulescu (pictured) advocated a radical transformation of the Romanian language on the basis of Italian neologisms?
 * ...that the catfishes of the genus Batasio are found in fast-flowing hillstreams throughout South and mainland Southeast Asia?
 * ...that for Lee Ritenour's first album, First Course, he drafted his friends, including Dave Grusin, Frank Rosolino and Tom Scott, from Dante's and the Baked Potato club in Studio City?
 * ...that the recently released diary of teenaged Polish Holocaust victim Rutka Laskier has been compared to the diary of Anne Frank?
 * ...that giant vegetables are entered in competitions around the world, with seeds being traded over the Internet?
 * ...that Germerius is said to have been given as much land as the shadow of his cloak could cover (about a six miles radius) by Clovis I in exchange for his prayers?
 * ...that footballer George Wynn was Manchester City's leading goalscorer in three consecutive seasons?
 * ...that the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Edward R. Hills House (pictured) was almost completely destroyed by fire in 1976?
 * ...that the repertoire of the Australian passerine, the Red-capped Robin includes "tinkle" and "blurt" calls?
 * ...that Mahalo.com is a human-powered search engine whose lead investor Sequoia Capital helped start both Yahoo! and Google?
 * ...that, after playing the solo for the disastrous premiere of Elgar's Cello Concerto, the English cellist Felix Salmond never taught the piece to his students, even though he taught cello in America for 18 years?
 * ...that, dating back to 1682, Connecticut has suffered more than 100 tornadoes, including the sixth most damaging in United States history and one which killed up to 34 people?
 * ...that the bombing of Zurich in World War II led to court martial proceedings with Jimmy Stewart as presiding officer?
 * ...that Mammes of Caesarea is said to have been breast-fed by his father?
 * ...that Manson Family member Paul Watkins gave testimony to the Los Angeles District Attorney which helped explain Helter Skelter?
 * ...that the nest of the Scarlet Honeyeater (pictured) is a tiny cup of shredded bark bound with spiders' webs?
 * ...that the house of University President Marion L. Brittain was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places?
 * ...that Donald Johanos, music director and conductor of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, was given an award by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers in 1991 for "adventuresome programming of contemporary music"?
 * ...that pachamanca is a Peruvian dish which has its origins in Inca cuisine?
 * ...that some species of fish undergo a genetically programmed sex change during their development?
 * ...that the disinvestment from South Africa campaign in the late 1980s was a key factor pressuring the South African Government to embark on the negotiations which ultimately led to the dismantling of apartheid?
 * ...that Bidhannagar College had to move out of its old premises because of student overpopulation?