Wikipedia:Recent additions 19

Did you know...

 * ...that Australian painter Jeffrey Smart initially wanted to become an architect instead of an artist?
 * ...that the Vanuatu vatu is the currency in Vanuatu?
 * ...that the Aerocar Coot was a two-seat amphibious aircraft designed for home-building by Moulton Taylor?
 * ...that Luis Sotelo was a Spanish Franciscan friar who died as a martyr in Japan in 1624?
 * ...that the Opinel knife has been manufactured since the 1890s in the town of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in the Savoie department of France?
 * ...that Carpenter is a lunar impact crater located in the northern part of the Moon, causing it to appear oval in shape when in fact it is nearly circular?
 * ...that Evan Taubenfeld was Avril Lavigne's lead guitarist from spring 2002 to September 2004?
 * ...that Faye Glenn Abdellah's pioneering work in nursing research has been recognized with 77 professional and academic honors?
 * ...that the Irazú Volcano in Costa Rica erupted violently in 1963, on the day U.S. President John F. Kennedy arrived in the country for a state visit?
 * ...that Edith Thompson and Frederick Bywaters were simultaneously hanged in 1923 for the murder of Thompson's husband, even though Bywaters committed the crime on his own?
 * ...that there have been six submarines and ships named Nautilus in the U.S. Navy, some as early as 1803, 67 years before Captain Nemo's Nautilus appeared in Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea?
 * ...that development on Star Wars Quake lasted for six years, and is probably the most famous Quake mod to never be completed?
 * ...that, although normally run as the last car of a passenger train, the interiors of observation cars could include features of a coach, lounge, diner, or sleeper?
 * ...that Pepsi offered a Harrier Jump Jet in their Pepsi Billion Dollar Sweepstakes game and the Pepsi Stuff game for people accumulating a certain number of points?
 * ...that on December 17, 1973 Pan Am Flight 110 was attacked by six Abu Nidal gunmen at Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Rome?
 * ...that speech balloons are used in comic books and strips to allow the characters words and thoughts to be viewed by the reader?
 * ...that with a total internal reflection fluorescence microscope (TIRFM) specimen regions of less than 200 nm can be observed?
 * ...that the world's first four-engined bomber was the Russian Sikorsky Ilya Muromets and that it flew as early as 1913?
 * ...that the Smithsonian American Art Museum is currently closed due to a major building renovation but is scheduled to reopen on July 4, 2006?
 * ...that World No Tobacco Day is on May 31?
 * ...that The Doll Family played munchkins in The Wizard of Oz and were popular circus performers?
 * ...that John Randolph Tucker served as an officer in the navies of the United States, the Confederate States of America, and Peru?
 * ...that the death of baseball player Jim Creighton at age 21 may have been caused by the force with which he swung his bat?
 * ...that the Black Caiman is both the world's largest alligator and the Amazon Basin's largest predator?
 * ...that during the 1939 Battle of Wizna in Poland, German planes dropped leaflet propaganda asking the Poles to surrender?
 * ...that titanium is the most common material for body piercing jewelries?
 * ...that the well-known tourist guy is a Hungarian?
 * ...that Barbary Sheep can jump over 2 m from a stand-still?
 * ... that actor David Manners lived for 67 years after starring in the 1931 film Dracula, but never watched it?
 * ...that French tennis player Henri Leconte won nine ATP titles over an 11-year period?
 * ...that the peak of Mount Hikurangi (1620 m) is the highest non-volcanic peak on the North Island of New Zealand?
 * ...that the Emerald ash borer currently threatens over seven billion ash trees in the United States?
 * ...that Emperor Qinzong of Song was the last emperor of the Northern Song?
 * ...that the Beaumont children disappeared without a trace from a beach near Adelaide, Australia in 1966?
 * ...that in the history of transportation in Los Angeles, the first California freeway "traffic jam" occurred on January 1, 1940?
 * ...that Hakuin Ekaku's systematization of kōan practice brought about a major revolution in Zen teaching?
 * ...that the Scheutzian calculation engine was invented in 1837 and finalized in 1843 by Per Georg Scheutz?
 * ...that polar dinosaurs could have walked to Australia because during the early Cretaceous the continent of Australia was still linked to Antarctica?
 * ...that "Where Did Our Love Go" became The Supremes' first number one hit after being rejected by The Marvelettes?
 * ...that Keflavík International Airport is the largest airport in Iceland?
 * ...that the 91st Grey Cup was a football game in Regina, Saskatchewan that featured the Edmonton Eskimos and the Montreal Alouettes?
 * ...that nearly all prominent American party switchers in the modern era have switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party?
 * ...that comedian Nipsey Russell got his start as a car hop at the Atlanta drive-in restaurant The Varsity?
 * ...that United States Marine Corps General Ray Davis rescued hundreds of U.S. troops at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir?
 * ...that Seinfeld co-creator Larry David modeled the character Cosmo Kramer after his neighbor Kenny Kramer?
 * ...that the Indian Cuckoo is a brood parasite that lays its single egg mostly in Drongo nests?
 * ...that the first televised nine dart finish was achieved at the World Matchplay championship in 1984 by John Lowe?
 * ...that the Egyptian numeral for 100,000 was a hieroglyph of a tadpole or a frog?
 * ...that the Yazidis think of their god, Melek Taus, as a golden peacock, although some Christians and Muslims think of him as Lucifer?
 * ... that medicine wheels are stone structures built by the indigenous peoples of North America for various spiritual and ritual purposes?