Wikipedia:Recent additions 171

Did you know...

 * ...that Tirpitz the pig (pictured) rescued after the sinking of the SMS Dresden became a ship's mascot on one of the cruisers that sank the Dresden?
 * ...that Locust Grove, Samuel F. B. Morse's home near Poughkeepsie, was the first Hudson Valley estate to be designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark?
 * ...that Spanish art critic Juan Eduardo Cirlot, of the Dau al Set school, gained international fame for his Dictionary of Symbols?
 * ...that Mzoli's, a popular Cape Town eatery, nightclub and tourist attraction, in the township of Gugulethu, South Africa, started off as a butcher's shop operating from a garage?
 * ...that the Mindoro stripe-faced fruit bat is only the second species in its genus and the 26th endemic bat species from the Philippines to be described?
 * ...that the gorge in China's Flaming Mountains, near the ruins of  the once busy oasis city  of Gaochang,  was an important  pass on the ancient trade route, the Silk Road, skirting the deadly Taklamakan Desert?
 * ...that the only remnants of Mecklenburg Castle, a medieval castle located in present-day Germany, are parts of an earthen wall (pictured)?
 * ...that Justice Hans Raj Khanna was the lone dissenter when the Supreme Court of India ruled that those arrested during India's repressive Emergency period from 1975 to 1977 would have no rights to habeas corpus?
 * ...that the AMP NHL Winter Classic is scheduled to be the first regular-season outdoor National Hockey League game in the United States?
 * ...that Pierre Monatte was one of the few French trade-unionists and members of the French Left to oppose the Union sacrée national bloc during World War I?
 * ...that Oregon's Three Arch Rocks National Wildlife Refuge was the first National Wildlife Refuge established west of the Mississippi River and will be a hundred years old next month?
 * ...that Otton de Grandson participated in three separate military expeditions to the Holy Land: the Ninth Crusade (1270–1272), the Siege of Acre (1291), and a Templar-Hospitaller offensive in Cilicia (1298)?
 * ...that the Mayslake Peabody Estate (pictured), built for Francis Stuyvesant Peabody between 1919 and 1921, has a secret staircase which leads from Peabody's private study to a bomb-proof basement?
 * ...that at the peak of the 1979 student protests in Nepal, radicals tried to humiliate moderate student leaders by painting their faces black, garlanding them with shoes, and parading them on a push-cart through the streets of Kathmandu?
 * ...that partially as a result of the mythical "bomber gap" between the USA and USSR, the USAF built an enormous fleet of over 2,500 jet bombers to deter what turned out to be only twenty Soviet aircraft?
 * ...that Mysore Paints and Varnish Limited is the only company in India authorised to manufacture the indelible ink which is used in elections to prevent fraudulent voting?
 * ...that the appearance of an outline of monkeys on a tree in Singapore drew large crowds as devotees believed that the images are a manifestation of the Monkey God and Hanuman?
 * ...that the last chief of Clan MacQuarrie sold off his clan lands in Scotland and joined the British Army, at age 68, and fought in the American Revolutionary War?
 * ...that the Leopoldov Prison in Slovakia was once the largest prison in the Kingdom of Hungary?
 * ...that the cathedral in Haapsalu Castle (pictured) is the biggest single-naved church in the Baltic countries?
 * ...that Stamford House in Singapore, at first an office building, was for a time in the early 20th century an annex of Raffles Hotel due to a shortage of hotel rooms?
 * ...that Linda Chavez-Thompson was the first woman, colored person, and Hispanic elected an officer of the AFL-CIO?
 * ...that the hearing for the Nanoor massacre case has stalled because of the defendants' repeated failure to appear in court?
 * ...that missionary Josiah Parrish drove the first spike for the Oregon and California Railroad, and had a land dispute reach the U. S. Supreme Court?
 * ...that Alfred D. Jones, the original surveyor of Des Moines, Iowa and Omaha, Nebraska, was known for delivering mail from his stovepipe hat as the first postmaster of Omaha?
 * ...that medieval Liubice, the capital of Prince Henry of the Obotrites, was the predecessor to Lübeck, Germany?
 * ...that Mysore Paints and Varnish Limited is the only firm in India authorised to manufacture the indelible ink used to prevent fraudulent voting?
 * ...that the Pentapolis of North Africa  is believed to be the birthplace of Saint Mark the Evangelist?
 * ...that the renovation of Gardiner, New York's Town Hall (pictured) was criticized because it destroyed a historic outhouse?
 * ...that poet, film producer and journalist Pritish Nandy is credited with opening India's first Internet cafe in 1996?
 * ...that around a third of New Zealanders claim no religious affiliation, including the leaders of both main political parties?
 * ...that the boulevards in Omaha, Nebraska are part of a 1889 system designed by Horace Cleveland that Omaha city planners are currently starting to reutilize to guide suburban street design?
 * ...that the Katsuyama Eiheiji Line was forced to transfer operation companies because of two head-to-head train collisions within a year?
 * ...that after Evelyn Waugh brought a priest to anoint lapsed Catholic Hubert Duggan on his deathbed, Duggan was reconciled to the church, an event Waugh fictionalised in Brideshead Revisited?
 * ...that to further the career of future Naval Minister Takarabe Takeshi, close friend Takeo Hirose asked Admiral Yamamoto Gonnohyoe, father of Takeshi's betrothed, to veto the marriage?
 * ...that Samuel Parker was a lawmaker in the Provisional, Territorial, and State governments of Oregon?
 * ...that Turkish-German professional boxer Hülya Şahin, the undefeated junior flyweight world champion, is the only female member of her club Universum?
 * ...that Nikolai Yevreinov's (pictured) productions included a "monodrama" set inside the human breast and a re-creating of the storming of the Winter Palace by the Bolsheviks?
 * ...that Philippe de Champaigne's 1662 painting Ex-Voto was a votive offering in gratitude for the miraculous cure of his daughter?
 * ...that 12,000-year-old Paleo-Indian artifacts, including a rare fluted point, have been found in a quarry near Goshen, New York?
 * ...that Australian amateur astronomer Gregg Thompson has been acknowledged by supernova hunters for publishing comparison charts of the brightest galaxies?
 * ...that architect John M. Van Osdel drafted the plans for the first architect-designed house in Chicago, formed Chicago's first architectural firm and ensured passage of Chicago's first building codes?
 * ...that the death of Eugene Ejike Obiora, a naturalized Norwegian citizen, was  caused by  positional asphyxiation when he was placed in a chokehold, then handcuffed on his stomach during arrest?
 * ...that the University of North Alabama's Rogers Hall (pictured) served as the headquarters for Confederate Army general Nathan Bedford Forrest in 1864?
 * ...that Florence Boulevard in Omaha, Nebraska was originally called the "Prettiest Mile in Omaha Boulevard" when it was designed by Horace Cleveland in 1892?
 * ...that 18-year-old online poker champion, Annette_15 became the youngest person to ever win a World Series of Poker bracelet at the 2007 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event?
 * ...that of the nine children born of Martina, Heraclius' wife and niece, four died in infancy, one had a twisted neck and another was deaf-mute?
 * ...that Fort Runyon, built to defend Washington, D.C. during the American Civil War, was almost the same size, shape, and in almost the same place as the Pentagon, built 80 years later?
 * ...that an inscribed tombstone of a political dissident, Tan Chay Wa, sparked off a court case in Singapore which eventually made international news in 1983?
 * ...that the blue plumage of the Australian Variegated Fairy-wren (pictured) reflects strongly in the ultraviolet wavelength?
 * ...that the Carmelite Church in Warsaw was the site of Fryderyk Chopin's first employment?
 * ...that coach Spec Keene's Willamette University football team played a game in Honolulu, Hawaii on December 6 1941, and was unable to return home for two weeks following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor?
 * ...that Roosevelt Raceway was the first night-time harness racing track, and saw the first mobile starting gate?
 * ...that wolf collars with long spikes, now widely adopted by the BDSM community, were originally used on dogs to protect them from attacks by wolves?
 * ...that the Ghurni clay dolls of West Bengal have been inaugurated by Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev?
 * ...that every Byzantine Emperor under the Angeloi dynasty was overthrown in a violent coup d'état?
 * ...that the area known as the Wisconsin Heights Battlefield has been inhabited by at least five Native American tribes?
 * ...that Jane Addams was offered burial in the Washington National Cathedral but instead opted for interment at her family's plot (pictured) in Cedarville, Illinois?
 * ...that Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas, one of the founders of the Party of National Progress, was accused of book smuggling during the Lithuanian press ban?
 * ...that despite being hit by two torpedoes that broke her in half, only one life was lost in the sinking of the Liberty ship SS James B. Stephens?
 * ...that Piłsudski's Mound, built in 1937, is the youngest and largest of the four mounds of Kraków?
 * ...that the Newton Food Centre is promoted by the Singapore Tourism Board for sampling Singaporean cuisine, despite allegations of overpricing and mediocre food quality by locals?
 * ...that the Gudgeonville Covered Bridge (pictured) in Girard, Pennsylvania is said by local residents to be haunted by the ghost of a donkey?
 * ...that scientists are concerned that the Bangali River in northern Bangladesh may merge with the Jamuna River and cause loss of 100,000 hectares of land in the region?
 * ...that Carnegie Medal-winning children’s author Berlie Doherty has written the libretti for three operas?
 * ...that the James Bruce Round Barn was designed with a distinctive single hip roof style because of the inability of many carpenters to build a self-supporting roof?
 * ...that director Zhang Yuan's 1999 film Seventeen Years was the first Chinese film allowed to film inside a Chinese prison?
 * ...that neither the United States nor Canada use UNESCO-defined mandatory signs (example pictured) for traffic?
 * ...that the 371-acre Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge provides nesting for 1.2 million seabirds—more than California and Washington combined?
 * ...that the Pyramid of Senusret I was built in single-cell units instead of all at once, as was the norm?
 * ...that Major League Baseball pitcher Sam Zoldak's only home run in his major league career did not count after the game was cancelled because of rain?
 * ...that Welshman Sir Gore Ouseley arranged for Azerbaijan to become part of the Russian Empire in 1814?
 * ...that Thomas Milton Gatch (pictured), an Ohioan educator and politician, was the first president of Oregon State University to hold a doctorate degree?
 * ...that former Italian Prime Minister Mario Scelba was known as the "Iron Sicilian"?
 * ...that Lucas Bols is the oldest extant Dutch distillery?
 * ...that Duleep Singh, the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, was the first member of the Sikh diaspora?
 * ...that Fox Point State Park, a Delaware State Park which opened in 1995 along the Delaware River, was built atop a hazardous waste site?
 * ...that zero is even?
 * ...that the rare Northern colletes bee was recently found to be thriving in the unique machair seaside habitat of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland?
 * ...that Alexandru Papana competed in bobsleigh for Romania at two Winter Olympics and later was involved in test flying the P-61 Black Widow?
 * ...that in Greek mythology, Arion (or Areion) was an extremely swift immortal horse that could talk?
 * ...that the Plano Stone Church (pictured) was constructed in 1868 to serve as the world headquarters for the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints under the leadership of Joseph Smith III?