Wikipedia:Recent additions 192

Did you know...

 * ...that artist John LeKay exhibited crystal skulls (pictured) made from paradichlorobenzene, which is usually employed as a toilet deodoriser?
 * ...that Google's knol project is widely seen as an attempt to compete with Wikipedia?
 * ...that Jeanne Labuda, a Democratic member of the Colorado House of Representatives elected in 2006, was a Peace Corps volunteer in Liberia?
 * ...that Colombia and India established diplomatic relations on January 19, 1959?
 * ...that, though records from the era are sketchy, press accounts reported that All-American football player Frank Steketee once kicked a 100-yard punt?
 * ...that after selecting the wine to make their Grand vin many Bordeaux estates like Château Margaux will use the remaining cuvee to make a second wine?
 * ...that the historian and geographer Robin Donkin served in Egypt and Jordan as a lieutenant in the Royal Artillery?
 * ...that the liwan, a long narrow-fronted hall or vaulted portal often open to the outside, has been a feature of Levantine homes for more than 2,000 years?
 * ...that a Belgian, Robert Goffin, was the first person to write a serious book on the indigenous American art-form, jazz?
 * ...that seeds of redtop (Agrostis gigantea, pictured) are long-lived and display a high germination rate even after years of storage in an uncontrolled environment?
 * ...that All-American footballer Merv Pregulman, the Green Bay Packers' first pick in the 1944 NFL Draft, nearly died in a kamikaze attack on his ship before ever playing a pro football game?
 * ...that artifacts discovered at Mound Bottom, Tennessee show that the site was part of a vast Native American trading network extending to the Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Appalachian Mountains during the Mississippian era?
 * ...that Joseph Finegan, an attorney, politician, and railroad builder, was the commander of Confederate forces at the Battle of Olustee, fought in 1864 during the American Civil War?
 * ...that meetings of the Committee of Public Safety, the de facto executive government during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution, were convened at the Pavillon de Flore in Paris' Palais du Louvre?
 * ...that during her first year in the Colorado General Assembly, Democratic legislator Claire Levy sponsored three successful bills regarding energy efficiency standards?
 * ...that the Gomez Mill House (pictured), near Marlboro, New York, is the oldest surviving Jewish American residence?
 * ...that the Panhellenic Union of Fighting Youths, a Greek Resistance organization, set a bomb that destroyed the headquarters of the pro-Nazi ESPO organization in the very centre of occupied Athens?
 * ...that the Tribal class destroyer HMS Tartar received the nickname 'Lucky Tartar' due to her numerous escapes from dangerous situations in World War II?
 * ...that the titles of the thirteen episodes of the Japanese animated television series Gunslinger Girl were given in Italian as well as Japanese?
 * ...that drag racer Bob Glidden had the most winnings in National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) history when he retired?
 * ...that during the mid-20th century, wine from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia accounted for nearly two-thirds of all internationally traded wine?
 * ...that the Daguin machine was a cancelling machine first used in post offices in Paris in 1884?
 * ...that Bill Klem (pictured), a major league baseball umpire who retired in 1941 holds umpiring records for most games officiated, most World Series officiated and most appearances as the home plate umpire?
 * ...that in Hindu mythology, after Lakshmindara, son of Chand Sadagar, died of snakebite on his wedding night, his bride Behula accompanied his corpse on a raft floating in a river?
 * ...that the title of psychiatrist Hervey M. Cleckley's book The Mask of Sanity refers to the mask of sincerity, generosity, and trustworthiness the psychopath wears to disguise his inability to feel emotion for others?
 * ...that the fleet of the Royal Naval Patrol Service, also known as "Harry Tate's Navy" or "Churchill's Pirates", consisted of hundreds of requisitioned trawler‎s, whalers, drifters, paddle steamers, yachts, tugs and the like?
 * ...that dealkalizing glass enhances its resistance to corrosion?
 * ...that in return for reinforcements against the Lombards, Cunimund offered Emperor Justin II the city of Sirmium on two separate occasions?
 * ...that The Love of Siam director Chukiat Sakweerakul (pictured) intentionally sought to downplay the 2007 Thai film's gay love story in marketing materials, in hopes of the film reaching a broader audience?
 * ...that the New Orleans Saints first-round draft picks have included Reggie Bush and Archie Manning?
 * ...that Romanian princess Catherine Caradja was nicknamed the "Angel of Ploieşti" by American and British airmen who were taken prisoner during the bombing of Romania in World War II for her humanitarian deeds?
 * ...that Ernst Heinrich August de la Motte Fouqué, a Prussian general and confidant of Frederick the Great, was wounded thrice in the Battle of Landeshut, fought in 1760 during the Seven Years' War?
 * ...that "bunchers" are criminals involved in kidnapping pets from residences, trapping stray animals illegally, and selling them to laboratories for animal testing purposes?
 * ...that John Rogers, who helped to prepare a version of the Hebrew Bible, also helped to introduce the man engine, an important reform in Cornish mining?
 * ...that there was once an estuarine valley with a rich abundance of New Zealand flounders near Waipatiki, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand, but it became a stream system after an earthquake in 1931?
 * ...that according to Hindu mythology, the Tandava, a vigorous dance by Hindu god Shiva (pictured), is the source of the cycle of creation, preservation and dissolution of the universe?
 * ...that The Australian Golf Club, arguably the oldest in Australia, is holding its 17th Australian Open between the 13th–16th December 2007, after holding the inaugural edition in 1904?
 * ...that department store chain Sakowitz was purchased by shopping mall developing firm L. J. Hooker in 1988, so that a location could be opened at Cincinnati's Forest Fair Mall?
 * ...that Judeopolonia was a proposed buffer state between the Russian and German Empires with a projected population of 30 million Jews, Poles, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Lithuanians, Latvians, and Baltic Germans?
 * ...that Generalissimo Francisco Franco lifted the exile of Francisco Vidal y Barraquer, a Spanish prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, only after reaching a concordat with the Vatican?
 * ...that The Cannonball Adderley Quintet in San Francisco, a 1959 album by jazz band The Cannonball Adderley Quintet, reached the bestseller charts with 50,000 copies sold by May 1960?
 * ...that following his capture after the Battle of Badajoz in 1812, Major General Armand Philippon (pictured) was paroled to stay in the Shropshire town of Oswestry?
 * ...that the Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben across Ontario from Montreal to  Lake Nipissing, a depression formed by ancient faults, is a failed arm of the ancestor of the Atlantic Ocean?
 * ...that Snyder Middleswarth Natural Area lost its status as a Pennsylvania state park in the 1990s despite being a National Natural Landmark and Snyder County's only state park?
 * ...that discards are the portion of a catch of fish which is not retained on board during commercial fishing operations and is returned, often dead or dying, to the sea?
 * ...that though only one melody for every ten songs has been preserved among the work of the troubadours, a remarkable three-quarters of Berenguier de Palazol's surviving poems have melodies?
 * ...that the U.S. Defense Department issued archaeology awareness playing cards to educate soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan on the importance of respecting ancient monuments?
 * ...that the twelve episodes of the Tsukihime, Lunar Legend anime were developed by the Tsukihime Production Committee, which included companies such as Geneon Entertainment, Movic, Tokyo Broadcasting System, and J.C. Staff?
 * ...that the New Norcia Cricket Team (pictured) was a team of mainly indigenous cricketers who played in Western Australia between about 1879 and 1906?
 * ...that the highly prolific Carignan wine grape is one of the leading culprits of France's wine lake and that the European Union has resorted to paying farmers to uproot their Carignan vines to help alleviate the problem?
 * ...that the molecular weight of a polymer can be determined from data on its intrinsic viscosity using the Mark-Houwink equation?
 * ...that Elizabeth Woodville was the first English royal mistress to become the English queen consort?
 * ...that Zeta Orionis, known as 'the girdle' in Arabic, is the brightest O-type blue supergiant and one of the hottest bright stars in the sky?