Wikipedia:Recent additions 165

Did you know...

 * ...that during his administration, Kentucky governor William J. Fields forbade drinking alcohol and dancing in the Governor's Mansion?
 * ...that University of Oregon athletic director Leo Harris gained the right to use Donald Duck as the school's mascot through an informal handshake deal he made with Walt Disney in 1947?
 * ...that 20th century attorney Joseph Scott made so many contributions to civic life in Los Angeles that he earned the nickname "Mr. Los Angeles"?
 * ...that in 1835, Warren A. Cowdery, an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement, accused a local Quorum of the Twelve of neglecting their fund-raising activities while serving as Mormon missionaries?
 * ...that the Chicago Race Riot of 1919, which resulted in 38 deaths, 537 injuries and approximately 1,000 displaced, was the worst riot of the Red Summer of 1919?
 * ...that influential make-up artist, Pat McGrath takes between 30 and 50 bags of tools, materials, and reference books whenever she travels to fashion shows?
 * ...that to make space for passenger seats in the racing cars used in the TVR Tuscan Challenge (pictured), the fuel tank has to be moved from the driver's side to the rear of the car?
 * ...that Héctor López was the first Panamanian-born Major League Baseball player to play in the World Series with the New York Yankees?
 * ...that before the 17th century, it was believed that all organisms grew from miniature versions of themselves that had existed since the beginning of creation?
 * ...that Italian fascist propaganda referred to the Mediterranean Sea as Italian Mare Nostrum, as by 1942 Italy controlled nearly two-thirds of the sea's area?
 * ...that William E. McAnulty, Jr., the first African American to sit on the Kentucky Supreme Court, injured himself playing basketball on Election Day in 1983 with future NBA star Allan Houston?
 * ...that the northernmost miles of pavement of the Kettle Moraine Scenic Drive in Wisconsin were part of the original track circuit for Road America?
 * ...that the 2006 Japanese film Hula Girls is set in the coal mining town of Iwaki in the 1960s when a Hawaiian spa resort was built to resolve the community's faltering fortunes?
 * ...that the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the Northwest, a precursor to the modern day Big Ten Conference, survived for only two seasons of college football competition before disbanding?
 * ...that male Shortnose sturgeon (pictured) breed annually and live to age 30, while females breed triennially and live to age 67?
 * ...that Puerto Rican third baseman Félix Torres, who only played three Major League seasons, topped the home run charts in the 1960 Caribbean Series?
 * ...that the automatic tide signalling system at Irvine harbour, North Ayrshire, invented and patented by its harbourmaster Martin Boyd, is probably unique, opened in 1906?
 * ...that the dialogue Julius Excluded from Heaven, credited to Desiderius Erasmus, involves Pope Julius II trying to convince Peter to allow him into heaven by threats of armed force and excommunication?
 * ...that Tawfiq Canaan, a Palestinian physician and medical pioneer, was also known for his research on Palestinian popular heritage?
 * ...that after the English took control of the Mysore Kingdom in the 19th century, they had a strong influence on Kannada literature?
 * ...that the Brazil's 1838 Balaiada uprising was named after the job of one of its leaders, a basketmaker?
 * ...that Edward A. Halbach was the first official president of the Astronomical League?
 * ...that in his 1915 Kentucky gubernatorial campaign, Augustus O. Stanley advocated a one dollar tax for every dog a person owned?
 * ...that Utkala Brahmins are the historical caretakers of the Jagannath Temple in Puri?
 * ...that the Falklands Crisis of 1770 nearly caused a war between Great Britain and Spain?
 * ...that of the twenty signatories of the Act of Independence of Lithuania (pictured) in 1918, six were sent to prison or executed, and six died in exile?
 * ...that a pub in Old Whittington was the shelter for three men in 1688 who were plotting the replacement of James II of England with a Protestant foreigner?
 * ...that 1965 Records was founded by James Endeacott, who also originally discovered The Libertines and The Strokes?
 * ...that Sir Cecil Hunter Rodwell was awarded the Queen's South Africa Medal for bravery in the Second Boer War and went on to serve as Governor of Southern Rhodesia?
 * ...that W. H. Auden's poem "In Praise of Limestone" has been called topographic, sui generis, and a "postmodern pastoral"?
 * ...that the Silpathorn Award is given to significant living Thai contemporary artists and that the name of the award means "upholder of art"?
 * ...that Catholic priest Cornelius Loos was forced to recant his view in 1593 that witch trials in early modern Europe were not required as witchcraft didn't exist?
 * ...that Joseph "Blueskin" Blake, accomplice of notorious 18th-century thief Jack Sheppard, grievously wounded the self-styled "Thief-Taker General" Jonathan Wild outside the courtroom where he was subsequently convicted of burglary and sentenced to death, hastening Wild's fall from power?
 * ...that children up to the age of five can find it difficult to distinguish between television programmes and toy advertising campaigns?
 * ...that Singaporean dancer, choreographer and teacher Neila Sathyalingam, who dances in the classical Indian style (example pictured), decided to devote her life to dance after performing for Queen Elizabeth II on Sri Lanka's independence?
 * ...that prior to the development of binoculars, bird collections, collections consisting of birds and parts of their anatomy, were the dominant method of bird observation and study among ornithologists?
 * ...that a picture of Mary Ann Bevan, "the ugliest woman in the world", was featured on a birthday card until a complaint led to its withdrawal?
 * ...that Sholakia, a tiny town in Bangladesh, draws 300,000 Muslims for Eid prayers every year on Eid ul-Fitr?
 * ...that Sooriyakanda mass grave is alleged to contain 300 bodies of school children but only few were recovered?
 * ...that Kazys Lozoraitis was independent Lithuania's first ambassador to the Holy See and to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta?
 * ...that the Second Manifesto, a 1904 declaration made by Joseph F. Smith, the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, confirmed that the church was opposed to plural marriage?
 * ...the oldest stud farm in India, Kunigal stud farm, was used by Tipu Sultan for breeding horses for cavalry regiments to fight the British?
 * ...that the Polish Resettlement Corps was tasked with organizing the 250,000 members of the Polish Armed Forces in the West, over half of whom eventually chose to settle in the UK instead of returning to communist Poland?
 * ...that Howe Yoon Chong played a key role in establishing Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit system, Changi Airport (pictured) and public housing?
 * ...that in 1973, Margaret Thatcher temporarily saved the Strand Grammar School, famous for its contribution of young men to the British Civil Service, from closure?
 * ...that after publishing his National Book Award-winning Invisible Man in 1952, Ralph Ellison continued writing for a further 42 years without ever finishing his second novel, Three Days Before the Shooting?
 * ...that Father Boleslaus Goral was one of the key persons in the "news war" between the Milwaukee Archdiocese and Michał Kruszka?
 * ...that Den, a fictional character in the Battle Angel Alita, is actually a giant remote-controlled slave unit run from a transmitter embedded in the chest of one of the story's main characters?
 * ...that in 1967, a group of Latin American writers including Mexican Carlos Fuentes started a series of biographies depicting caudillos, which became the basis of the Dictator Novel genre?
 * ...that Charles Chilton was the first academic rector in Australasia?
 * ...that Hurricane Georges had the strongest effects on the Dominican Republic of any hurricane since Hurricane David in 1979?
 * ...that a camel is led through the streets of Béziers (pictured), France on the feast day of Saint Aphrodisius, a semi-legendary saint said to have come from Egypt?
 * ...that North Dakota's location in the Upper Midwest allows it to experience some of the most extreme weather in the United States?
 * ...that the name Flying fox refers to bats as well as a freshwater algae-eating aquarium fish?
 * ...that Frank Rosenfelt, CEO of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from 1972 until 1982, was wounded at the Battle of the Bulge and received a Purple Heart for his injuries?
 * ...that after spending seven years traveling across the Saskatchewan District, Rev. Robert Rundle was allowed to establish a mission in 1847, only to be forced to leave a year later due to health issues?
 * ...that the Chinese high fin banded shark (Myxocyprinus asiaticus) has 20 other common names in the aquarium trade?
 * ...that the 13th-century troubadour Guilhem Figueira was a strong critic of the contemporary Papacy, going so far in his sirventes contra Roma as to consign Rome to hell?
 * ...that the Minnesota Twins made Joe Nathan their closing pitcher for the 2004 Major League Baseball season, despite the fact that Nathan only had converted one save in five opportunities?
 * ...that the leader of the Dick Cheney protests at Brigham Young University refused an offer to appear on The Daily Show, out of a concern that the show would poke fun at the university?
 * ...that during World War II, United States Army officer Colonel Louis Gonzaga Mendez, Jr. (pictured) parachuted behind enemy lines to lead an attack that captured the town of Pretot, France leading the main Plaza of the town to be named "La Place de Colonel Mendez"?
 * ...that Kuryer Polski was the first daily Polish language newspaper in the USA?
 * ...that members of Sub-Carpathian Reformed Church were persecuted by communists in the Soviet Union and were sent to Gulag labour camps in Siberia?
 * ...that the Rani people, a West Slavic tribe inhabiting the island of Rugia, maintained their native paganism, its ritual, temple, and priesthood, well into the twelfth century?
 * ...that Flight Lieutenant Wallace McIntosh was recognised as the most successful air gunner in RAF Bomber Command during the Second World War, having shot down 8 German aircraft, including three during one mission?
 * ...that the 14 remaining children of the Jewish Children's Home in Oslo, Norway were evacuated to Sweden by the Norwegian resistance movement in November 1942?
 * ...that Nobel Peace Prize recipient Jane Addams was born in the house at the John H. Addams Homestead (pictured)?
 * ...that the uniformly fine quality of surviving Roman copies of Lysippean bronze Hermes Fastening his Sandal indicates that it stood high in Roman esteem?
 * ...that the German neo-Nazi German Alternative party was banned in 1992 after the group was associated with an arson attack on an asylum seeker refuge?
 * ...that Vice-Admiral Sir Ian McGeoch lost the sight in one eye when his submarine, HMS Splendid, was sunk in 1943?
 * ...that in the folklore of the Celts, a fairy path is a route taken by these supernatural beings, usually in a straight line and between sites of traditional significance, such as Stone Age monuments?
 * ...that in 1989, some 300,000 people created a 300 mile human chain stretching from Lviv to Kiev on the 71st anniversary of the Act Zluky?
 * ...that the South American rubber boom ceased in 1912 when plantations in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and tropical Africa grown from seed smuggled out of Brazil 36 years earlier began producing rubber?
 * ...that the São Francisco Church (pictured) in Salvador is known as the "Golden Church", because its interior, from floor to ceiling, is covered with intricate gold-leaf carvings?
 * ...that Illinois Senator John H. Addams was the primary influence on his daughter Jane Addams's social activism?
 * ...that the Treaty of Kyakhta between the Russian and Qing Empires was negotiated by a Bosnian Serb from Dubrovnik, Sava Vladislavich?
 * ...that during the First Battle of Ypres, Edward Bulfin organized an impromptu formation of six battalions, later known as "Bulfin's force," that was instrumental in stopping the German advance?
 * ...that the Indian Congress of 1893 drew more than 500 Native Americans representing 35 tribes to Omaha, Nebraska?
 * ...that Fr. Thiruchelvam Nihal Jim Brown barely escaped the August 2006 St. Phillip Neri church bombing only to disappear a week later?
 * ...that the site of the hermitage of Ginés de la Jara retained its reputation for holiness even during Spain's Moorish occupation?
 * ...that the popular YouTube star Christine Gambito attributes her nickname Happyslip to her Filipino mother's mispronunciation of half slip?