Wikipedia:Recent additions 175

Did you know...

 * ...that Florida State Hospital at Chattahoochee originally served as Florida's first penitentiary?
 * ...that Nathaniel Butter published the first English newspaper?
 * ...that the idea of spoofing Soviet radars' blip-to-scan ratio led to the design of the Convair KINGFISH and Lockheed A-12 high-speed aircraft?
 * ...that the cuisine of Gibraltar includes Maltese, Genoese and Portuguese influences?
 * ...that Naval Aircraft Factory PN flying boats were a series of US patrol aircraft in the 1920s and 1930s?
 * ...that German physical chemist Max Volmer became head of a design bureau for the production of heavy water in the Soviet Union after the Second World War?
 * ...that English biochemist Ernest Baldwin (1909 – 1969) was a pioneer in the field of comparative biochemistry?
 * ...that Dutch 19th century scientist Cornelis Rudolphus Theodorus Krayenhoff was his country's War Minister for 10 months?
 * ...that British farmer Sir Nigel Strutt, great-nephew of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Lord Rayleigh, declined an offer of peerage, as did his great-great-grandfather, Joseph Holden Strutt?
 * ...that whether Gaius Stertinius Xenophon, a Roman physician, was involved in the death of Claudius is debated to this day?
 * ...that the Michelsberg culture of Neolithic Central Europe is known for its tulip-shaped pottery (pictured)?
 * ...that R. C. Evans, an apostle in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, became the leader of a schismatic sect in 1918 after concluding that Joseph Smith, Jr. was a false prophet?
 * ...that Major-General John Hill rose high as a courtier and officer in the British Army in the reign of Queen Anne, becoming Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance despite having no particular military ability?
 * ...that Mary Howitt wrote The Spider and the Fly (the poem parodied in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland) and 120 other books, and translated Hans Christian Anderson?
 * ...that the National Bike Registry is a database in the United States that has helped to identify and return stolen bicycles and scooters to their rightful owners since 1984?
 * ...that a tasting room for Twisted Oak Winery in Murphys, California is located in a building that was once the childhood home of Albert Abraham Michelson, the first American to win a Nobel Prize in Physics?
 * ...that Apo Reef in Sablayan, Mindoro is the world's second-largest contiguous coral reef system and the largest in the Philippines?
 * ...that John Harrison (pictured), seventeenth century benefactor of Leeds, is reputed to have slipped Charles I a tankard of gold coins disguised as beer?
 * ...that the 1955 novel Teneke by Turkish author Yaşar Kemal was adapted into an Italian opera of the same title by Fabio Vacchi in 2007?
 * ...that the Chinese national basketball team is guaranteed of a berth in the upcoming Olympics despite finishing ninth in the FIBA Asia Championship 2007?
 * ...that 16th century Indian musician-composer Miyan Tansen laid the foundations of Hindustani classical music by mixing Sufi and Bhakti musical traditions ?
 * ...that the Hillsboro Civic Center was only the second city hall in America to earn an LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council?
 * ...that some editions of Tom Wolfe's first published book, The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby, quoted Kurt Vonnegut, "Verdict: Excellent book by a genius", but omitted the rest of his quote, "who will do anything to get attention"?
 * ...that the Baal teshuva movement refers to the phenomenon during the mid-20th century whereby large numbers of previously highly-assimilated Jews chose to move in the direction of practicing Judaism?
 * ...that the bluestripe snapper (pictured) was introduced to Hawaii in the 1950s as a sport fish, and now outcompetes native fish for space and food?
 * ...that Dominique Strauss-Kahn, recently elected president of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), was a member of the Union of Communist Students in his youth?
 * ...that the Freedman's Savings Bank, created in 1865 for emancipated African-Americans, had 19 branches in 12 states and assets worth $3.7 million at the height of its success?
 * ...that the Building of Bath Museum was originally constructed in 1765 as a chapel for Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon?
 * ...that Nils Alwall initiated the treatment for two of the longest known survivors on dialysis worldwide over 35 years ago?
 * ...that Lord Canning wanted to build a port at Canning, now in West Bengal, that could rival Singapore but gave up when the Matla River surged its fury on the new port town in 1867?
 * ...that "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog" is the most reproduced cartoon from The New Yorker magazine, and its title a phrase still used around the world?
 * ...that over 130,000 species of plants from Colombia have been described?
 * ...that Kalanchoe pinnata (pictured), a succulent plant native to Madagascar, has been recorded in Trinidad and Tobago as being used as a traditional treatment for high blood pressure?
 * ...that the first drive thru in the United States is at Maid-Rite Sandwich Shop along U.S. Route 66 in Springfield, Illinois?
 * ...that the Tsalenjikha Cathedral, a medieval cathedral in Georgia, is decorated with murals of Byzantine Palaeologan art from the 12th to 14th centuries?
 * ...that English inventor Edward Butler produced an early three-wheeled automobile capable of travelling up to 10 mph, but was prevented from adequately testing it because it exceeded the legislated speed limit of 4 mph at the time?
 * ...that although William Quesse was convicted of conspiracy in 1922, less than five years later his union was one of the most politically powerful organizations in Chicago?
 * ...that Prince Dimitri Romanov is the first member of the Romanov dynasty to be married in Russia since its fall in 1917?
 * ...that Reinald, a 13th century Cistercian monk and Bishop of Ross, was nicknamed Macer, French for "skinny"?
 * ...that White House Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery (pictured) in the Ypres Salient contains 1163 World War I burials, including Private Robert Morrow who won a Victoria Cross, and four men executed for cowardice and desertion?
 * ...that the tamburi, the principal drone instrument in Carnatic music to this day, was introduced during the Vijayanagara era in India?
 * ...that George P. Kane, Marshall of Police in Baltimore, Maryland, was imprisoned in Fort McHenry along with Mayor George William Brown and pro-South members of the city council by the Northern Army during the American Civil War?
 * ...that Church of Scotland clergyman William Couper protested against the introduction of episcopacy in 1606, but became Bishop of Galloway four years later?
 * ...that the Blackstone Hotel in Omaha, Nebraska introduced both the Reuben sandwich and Butter Brickle ice cream to the world?
 * ...that Ali Murtopo laid down the party platform for Sekber Golkar, which was instrumental to the party's success in the 1971 legislative elections and the transition to the New Order in Indonesia?
 * ...that notable former residents of Zwanenburgwal (pictured), a canal and street in the centre of Amsterdam, include Dutch painter Rembrandt and philosopher Baruch Spinoza?
 * ...that trade union leader William McFetridge switched from Democrat to Republican in 1948 and supported Thomas E. Dewey for president even though Dewey had successfully prosecuted his predecessor for labor racketeering?
 * ...that Charles B. Thompson, who had converted to Mormonism in 1835, later claimed to be the reincarnation of the biblical figure Ephraim and established a communitarian commune with his followers in Iowa?
 * ...that the legislator from Kultali was sentenced by the Kolkata High Court, in 2005, to life imprisonment in a case where a mob dragged two persons out of their house, and tortured and killed them?
 * ...that every autumn more than 23,000 Common Cranes stop in Matsalu National Park, making it the biggest autumn stopping ground of Common Cranes in Europe?
 * ...that about 22% of all reported species of mammals in Colombia are endangered or critically endangered?
 * ...that the Emin Minaret (pictured) in Turfan, Xinjiang, built in the 18th century during the reign of Qing Emperor Qianlong, is the tallest minaret in China?
 * ...that the once-standing Palmer Mansion in Chicago, Illinois, had a self-supported spiral staircase which rose 80 feet into a tower?
 * ...that natural oil polyols from soy beans are used to make car parts and mattresses?
 * ...that Dale Houston and his singing partner Grace Broussard, both performed as Dale and Grace while singing with other singers?
 * ...that in 1986 the Basque coat of arms had one of its quarters removed following a legal suit by the Navarre Government claiming that the usage of the arms of a region on the arms of another was illegal?
 * ...that Anne Montgomery, who has been a sportscaster for several local television stations as well as SportsCenter, was the first female football referee in Arizona?
 * ...that in graph theory, a pseudoforest can contain trees and pseudotrees, but cannot contain any butterflies, diamonds, handcuffs, or bicycles?
 * ...that in April 1802, Georgian nobles who opposed the Russian annexation of Georgia were assembled in Tbilisi's Sioni Cathedral (pictured), surrounded by Russian troops, and forced to take an oath to the Imperial Crown of Russia?
 * ...that the John R. Oughton House was used to house patients from the Keeley Institute, where over 400,000 people were treated for alcoholism with injections of "bichloride of gold" from 1879 to 1930?
 * ...that Tikigaq Inuit children attending public school in Point Hope, Alaska can take a three-week whaling class to learn specific whaling traditions and skills?
 * ...that Holmöarna, an island group in the Gulf of Bothnia, forms the largest island nature reserve in Sweden?
 * ...that the design for the 1941 Art Moderne Illinois State Police Office in Pontiac was also used for the state police headquarters building in Rock Island, Illinois?
 * ...that the seeds of Capparis masaikai found in Yunnan, China contain mabinlins, sweet-tasting proteins more than 100 times sweeter than sucrose on a weight basis?
 * ...that Icelandic operatic soprano Sigrún Hjálmtýsdóttir, better known as Diddú, began her singing career in the 1970s with a folk and pop group?
 * ...that Singapore's Gallery Hotel (pictured), with its twisted cuboid form and seemingly random and multi-coloured windows, stands like a massive pop art signpost?
 * ...that gold was first discovered in Oregon in 1850 in the Illinois Valley near Cave Junction, Oregon, the same valley in which a 17 pound gold nugget was found, the largest in Oregon history?
 * ...that the ashes of hillwalker and author Alfred Wainwright lie in his favourite fell, Haystacks in the Western Fells of the English Lake District?
 * ...that Romanian writer Dumitru Ţepeneag was a founding member of the Oniric group, an avante garde aesthetic movement, which tries to describe a world which cannot be seen?
 * ...that the autobiography has been called the oldest form of Egyptian literature?
 * ...that in April 1999, Australian Justice Carolyn Simpson joined Margaret Beazley and Virginia Bell to form the first all-female bench to sit in Australia, England or New Zealand?
 * ...that singer Al Bernard, known as "The Boy From Dixie", helped popularize W.C. Handy's blues songs, and also recorded as the female half of a vocal duo with Ernie Hare?