Wikipedia:Recent additions 193

Did you know...

 * ...that apart from extensive action in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, the observation squadron VMO-6 (insignia pictured) also represented the U.S. Marine Corps in National Air Races?
 * ...that the Champagne house Cattier resurrected its dormant de Brignac brand and it is now known for its distinctive, golden pewter bottles?
 * ...that the first time that racing promoter Bob Barkhimer went to a midget car race, he wondered what racing had to do with "circus midgets" (little people)?
 * ...that Polish General Jerzy Wolkowicki was not murdered by the Soviets in the Katyn Massacre probably due to his heroic past in the Russian Imperial Navy?
 * ...that Richard A. La Vay was a Republican in the Maryland House of Delegates for Montgomery County, Maryland and once shared his district with Mark K. Shriver, son of Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Sargent Shriver?
 * ...that over 200 towns and cities in Brazil are served with a sewer system known as condominial sewerage?
 * ...that James B. Craig, an All-American football halfback and quarterback, was the brother of Ralph Craig, a sprinter and gold medalist at the 1912 Summer Olympics?
 * ...that handmade lace often begins as crochet thread (pictured)?
 * ...that the Hungarian politician and Nazi collaborator Andor Jaross was also president of the football (soccer) club Ferencvárosi TC?
 * ...that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Foucha v. Louisiana that a person found not guilty by reason of insanity cannot be committed to a mental institution if he has no mental illness?
 * ...that Victorian winemakers sought to capitalize on the French phylloxera epidemic by making enough wine to satisfy the entire British market, but were thwarted when the insect infected their own vineyards?
 * ...that drunken trees result from permafrost thawing?
 * ...that Jeanette Lee managed both The Cranberries and Pulp while signing The Strokes and The Libertines to her Rough Trade label?
 * ...that some Tibetans once thought Britain’s Queen Victoria was a reincarnation of Palden Lhamo, the wrathful deity considered to be the principal Protectress of Tibet?
 * ...that the Royal Danish egg is one of eight Fabergé eggs that are currently missing?
 * ...that harps (pictured) are national musical instruments in Ireland, Wales and Paraguay?
 * ...that Robert Adley became on December 10, 2007, the newest Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate, just fifty-six days after he was easily reelected as a Democrat in the October 20 jungle primary?
 * ...that William Ohnesorge, Party member of the Third Reich, heavily participated in research toward a German atomic bomb while acting as President of the Reichspost, the German postal service?
 * ...that St Mary's Church in Cheadle, Greater Manchester, England, a Grade I listed building, was built in the 16th century and houses a stone cross dating to the 11th century?
 * ...that Hallie Ford made the largest donation in the history of Willamette University in 2006, and the largest donation ever to a cultural group in Oregon in 2007?
 * ...that glacial periods, commonly referred to as ice ages, are actually cold intervals within an ice age?
 * ...that Ann C. Noble, inventor of the "Aroma Wheel", was the first woman hired as a faculty member of the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology?
 * ...that according to some ancient literary sources, Bactrian Greeks led by Demetrius I (coin pictured) and Menander I conquered India and occupied a larger territory than the Macedonians under Alexander the Great?
 * ...that Rudyard Kipling wrote a short story about a group of World War I soldiers who were committed Janeites, that is, fans of Jane Austen novels?
 * ...that three of the four batters faced by Mike Palagyi in his one Major League game were later inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame?
 * ...that Champagne has been featured prominently in popular culture from James Bond to hip hop?
 * ...that Keeley Hawes voices the character of Lara Croft in Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Underworld, the eighth video game in the Tomb Raider series, as she did in Anniversary and Legend?
 * ...that the town of Rogersville, Tennessee was founded in 1789 by Irish-born pioneer Joseph Rogers and his father-in-law Thomas Amis?
 * ...that in 1289, when the Mamluks led by Qalawun captured Tripoli in present-day Lebanon from the Franks, they ended 180 years of uninterrupted Christian rule, the longest of any of the major Frankish conquests?
 * ...that the highest temperature ever recorded in the U.S. state of Georgia is 112 °F (44.4 °C), while the lowest ever recorded is -17 °F (-27.2 °C)?
 * ...that one of the birth places of punk in the 70s was a clothing store in Chelsea, London called Acme Attractions?
 * ...that German rock band Grobschnitt (pictured) have incorporated pyrotechnics and sketch comedy into their extended performances since the mid-1970s?
 * ...that Paul Feyerabend's theory of epistemological anarchism in the philosophy of science led him to be labeled the "worst enemy of science" by his detractors?
 * ...that the very first news article on what became known as AIDS appeared in the New York Native, a now defunct gay newspaper in New York City?
 * ...that Luigi Sturzo, a Roman Catholic priest and founder of the Italian People's Party (1919–1926), collaborated with the OSS while in exile in the United States?
 * ...that the Stelo (plural: Steloj ) was a monetary unit in the Esperanto movement from 1945 to 1993?
 * ...that former Michigan Wolverines rushing leader and teammate of Russell Davis, Harlan Huckleby only scored 13 touchdowns in six National Football League seasons, but three were in a single game?
 * ...that the semantron, intended for summoning Eastern Orthodox Christians to worship, has been used as a deadly weapon in church brawls?
 * ...that American Civil War leader William Tecumseh Sherman (pictured) said, "No single body of men can claim more honor for the grand result than the officers and men of the Louisville Legion"?
 * ...that Paul Casanova drove in the winning run in a game that is considered the longest in Major League Baseball history at 6 hours, 38 minutes?
 * ...that korovai is a traditional Ukrainian wedding bread, baked from wheat flour and decorated with braids?
 * ...that the Polish side tried to keep the Suwałki Agreement limited in scope so that it would not interfere with the planned Żeligowski's Mutiny?
 * ...that in 2002, hundreds of former mobsters incarcerated in eight jails across Italy, supposedly having no way to contact one another, joined a hunger strike to protest against article 41-bis of the Italian Penitentiary Act?
 * ...that naturalist Jonathan Couch wrote the four-volume A History of the Fishes of the British Islands, with his own coloured illustrations depicting the vivid natural colours of the different species?
 * ...that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (pictured), founder of the Republic of Turkey, established the first commercial Turkish winery in 1925?
 * ...that John Turner was the first person to be ordered deported from the United States for violation of the 1903 Anarchist Exclusion Act?
 * ...that the first mill for splitting iron into rods and nails, and the first paper mill in the UK, were situated on the River Darent in Kent?
 * ...that Dallas Cowboy running back Tony Boles once stole Emmit Smith's Nissan Pathfinder for two days when assigned rookie initiation car washing duties?
 * ...that about one million animals are used every year in Europe in toxicology testing?
 * ...that Dove's Evolution is the first entry to win two Grand Prix awards at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival?
 * ...that County Route 91 in Onondaga County, New York is signed as County Route 57 for New York State Route 57, the route it replaced?
 * ...that the Brown mussel Perna perna aggregates in such large amounts that it is able to sink navigational buoys?
 * ...that at the age of 102, former Labour party secretary Haakon Lie (pictured) is still an active participant in Norwegian public life?
 * ...that Rear Admiral Evelyn J. Fields is the first woman and first African American to be the director of the Office of NOAA Corps Operations and the NOAA Commissioned Corps?
 * ...that Ken Schrader became the first driver to win in all of NASCAR's three largest series when he won a Craftsman Truck Series race at Saugus Speedway?
 * ...that Armenian composer and musician Ara Gevorgyan composed the music for Russian prima ballerina Anastasia Volochkova's "Golden cage" ballet dedicated to the Bolshoi Theater?
 * ...the Amarna Princess, an ancient Egyptian statuette, bought by Bolton Museum for £440,000 and displayed at the Hayward Gallery in an exhibition opened by the Queen, was actually a fake by British forger Shaun Greenhalgh?
 * ...that the International Association for Plant Taxonomy organizes international symposia on problems of plant systematics?
 * ...that half of the 23 medals awarded to Egypt at the Olympics so far were given to competitors in combat sports such as wrestling, boxing, judo and taekwondo?