Wikipedia:Recent additions 196

Did you know...

 * ...that the 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion was the first tank destroyer battalion of the United States Army to see combat in World War II?
 * ...that Section 121 of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act in U.S. law is named the “Megan Nicole Kanka and Alexandra Nicole Zapp Community Notification Program”, after two victims of violent crimes?
 * ...that the Battle of Szkłów in 1654 occurred during a solar eclipse?
 * ...that after screenwriter Chuck Tatham ' s brother and writing partner Jamie quit their first job and returned to their hometown, Chuck went on to be nominated for two Emmys?
 * ...that scenic State Route 160 crosses California's Sacramento River twice on 1923 bascule bridges (one pictured) patented by Joseph B. Strauss, who went on to design the Golden Gate Bridge?
 * ...that William Cunningham became Michigan's first All-American based on his performance in an 1898 game against Chicago that inspired Louis Elbel to write the school's fight song, The Victors?
 * ...that The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less by Barry Schwartz explains the counterintuitive result that consumers are often more frustrated and anxious with more shopping choices rather than fewer?
 * ...that New Harmony's Atheneum is named after the ancient Greek temple to the goddess Athena, the Athenaion?
 * ...that the ancient Chinese text Huangdi Yinfujing, attributed to the mythical emperor Huangdi in the 3rd century BCE, may have been a forgery from the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE)?
 * ...that Judges Cave and Regicides Trail in West Rock Ridge, Connecticut, USA were named for two judges who hid in the area in 1660 after signing the death warrant of the King, Charles I?
 * ...that some members of the Nazi SS became eligible for their 25-year SS Long Service Awards well before their completion of 25 years of service?
 * ...that in March 2007, Agnes Devanadera (pictured) became the 41st and first woman Solicitor General of the Philippines?
 * ...that the country music band Pearl River was hired as a backing band for Bryan White, a singer who previously sold T-shirts for the band?
 * ...that the current Foreign Minister of Albania, Lulzim Basha, used to work for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and helped prepare the file against Slobodan Milosevic?
 * ...that Wichita, Kansas mayor Russell Jump was, at the time of his death at the age of 105, recognized as one of the longest lived individuals to have held public office?
 * ...that television director Michael Lange's Jewish heritage landed him a non-speaking role as a rabbi in the episode "The Chrismukkah Bar-Mitzvahkkah" of The O.C., a show for which he had previously directed?
 * ...that the Celts and Illyrians introduced winemaking to Slovenia long before it was commonly practiced in France, Germany and Spain?
 * ...that Eadfrith of Lindisfarne, bishop of Lindisfarne from 698 to 721, is said to have been the creator of the Lindisfarne Gospels (pictured), a Hiberno-Saxon illuminated manuscript which took an estimated two years to complete?
 * ...that television director and editor Norman Buckley ' s older sister Betty landed him his first editing job on Tender Mercies, a film she featured in?
 * ...that the Peshwa general Chimnaji Appa built the Vajreshwari temple to thank the goddess Vajreshwari for the conquest of the Bassein Fort in 1739?
 * ...that the Toyota 7 was the first sports prototype racing car built by Toyota Motor Corporation, debuting at the 1968 Japanese Grand Prix?
 * ...that Haridas Mundhra got the Indian government in 1956 to invest $10 million in his sinking firms, a scandal which further exposed the rift between Feroze Gandhi and his wife Indira Gandhi, daughter of Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru?
 * ...that Gustave Ferbert quit his job as head football coach at the University of Michigan in 1900 to prospect for gold in the Klondike Gold Rush and returned home in 1909 as a millionaire?
 * ...that the 477th Fighter Group is the first and only unit of F-22A Raptors (pictured) in the U.S. Air Force Reserve Command?
 * ...that the Tigmamanukan, a Philippine mythological bird, can be a good or bad omen depending on the direction of its flight?
 * ...that the role of Osmin in the German opera The Abduction from the Seraglio was tailor-made by Mozart for his friend Ludwig Fischer?
 * ...that in the history of commercial tobacco in the United States, an African slave named Stephan changed the process of curing tobacco by using charcoal taken from a local blacksmith’s fire rather than the usual logwood?
 * ...that the Australian Test cricketer Colin McCool bowled his leg spin deliveries with a round arm action so pronounced that his arm was almost parallel to the pitch?
 * ...that the Deperdussin Monocoque was the first aircraft to fly faster than 100 miles per hour?
 * ...that American artist Sybil Gibson started painting in 1963, aged 55, using the medium of powdered tempera paints on brown paper grocery bags?
 * ...that studies of the inshore marine fish small-scale whiting (Sillago parvisquamis, pictured) suggest the female starts life smaller than the male, but grows faster and is larger than the male within two years?
 * ...that footballer Roy Cheetham was the first Manchester City player to be used as a substitute?
 * ...that Jimmie Lewallen turned down an offer to buy into NASCAR because "it would never amount to anything"?
 * ...that the town of Orlová in the Czech Republic was named for the eagle that, legend has it, caused the premature birth of Kazimierz, son of Duke Mieszko and his wife, Ludmiła, on the spot where the town was founded?
 * ...that the ANAK Society, Georgia Tech's oldest secret society, claims to have covertly protected the university's first African American students during Georgia Tech's racial integration in the 1960s?
 * ...that despite his never having been emperor, Li Chengqi was posthumously honoured as such by the Tang Chinese Emperor Xuanzong?
 * ...that during his U.S. Air Force career, Colorado state representative Kent Lambert oversaw military support for the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster investigation at Air Force Space Command?
 * ...that signs of spring trending to earlier arrivals are evidence of season creep?
 * ...that the plans for renovation of the Mausoleum of Yugoslavian Soldiers (pictured) in Olomouc, the Czech Republic had to be stopped due to the breakup of Yugoslavia, which owned the property rights?
 * ...that the All-American football player John Maulbetsch was known as the "Featherweight Fullback" because he weighed only 155 pounds and ate two pies a day for dinner during his playing career?
 * ...that the Rhone Rangers, winemakers who promote the use of grapes from the Rhône Valley in France, were a driving force behind Syrah's increased popularity among Californian wines?
 * ...that Section 44 of the Australian Constitution has been interpreted as meaning that persons with dual citizenship are ineligible to run for the Australian parliament?
 * ...that the projected Russian hypersonic aircraft Ayaks was supposed to use novel "magneto-plasmo-chemical engines" capable of working in the mesosphere?
 * ...that Vannimais were feudal divisions of Sri Lanka?
 * ...that Ilha dos Marinheiros, the largest and most fertile island in the lagoon Lagoa dos Patos, produces about 80% of the vegetables consumed in Rio Grande, Brazil?
 * ...that besides utility poles (example pictured), anonymous knitters from Knitta have also left their tags on the Great Wall of China and the Notre Dame de Paris?
 * ...that paramilitary loyalist Tommy Herron declared war on the British Army, but called it off after two days?
 * ...that Utricularia inflata is one of the few invasive species of carnivorous plant?
 * ...that Shruti Haasan, the daughter of Indian actors Kamal Haasan and Sarika, is a singer turned model who is now also venturing into acting?
 * ...that the producer of White Zinfandel originally wanted to name the wine after the old rosé style Oeil de Perdrix?
 * ...that rugby union footballer Robert Wilson Shaw was so influential in Scotland's Triple Crown winning victory over England in 1938 that the match became known as "Wilson Shaw's match"?
 * ...that the Theatre on Terazije is a Broadway-style theatre in Belgrade where the Serbian version of Chicago, Kiss Me, Kate, A Chorus Line and other musicals are performed?
 * ...that a hook gauge (pictured) detects irregularities in manufacturer sizing of crochet hooks and knitting needles?
 * ...that Oregon State University’s Wave Research Laboratory has the world’s largest tsunami simulator?
 * ...that the 17th chief of the Clan Maclachlan was killed by a cannonball while leading his Jacobite clansmen at the Battle of Culloden in 1746?
 * ...that during the French and Indian War Henry Timberlake was an emissary to the Overhill Cherokee whose journals became a primary source for later studies of eighteenth-century Cherokee?
 * ...that in the landmark case Riggins v. Nevada, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that a mentally ill person cannot be forced to take antipsychotic medication while on trial merely to maintain his competency during trial?
 * ...that the philosophical question of temporal finitism has never been fully settled?
 * ...that the closing of Nittany Furnace (pictured) in 1911 marked the end of modern iron-production in Bellefonte, and presaged the decline of the Pennsylvanian town?
 * ...that 67 Australian, Canadian, and New Zealand Article XV squadrons were formed during World War II from graduates of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan?
 * ...that Portugal was taken to court over its failure to implement EU directives regarding its water supply and sanitation systems?
 * ...that one of the earliest references to Indian wine was the writings of Chanakya in the 4th century BCE commenting on its prevalence in the court of Emperor Chandragupta Maurya?
 * ...that John Considine, pioneering American vaudeville impresario, once shot and killed a former chief of police of Seattle who had come gunning for him?
 * ...that without adequate scouting, Russian forces advanced blindly into the Battle of Lubar in 1658 during the Russo-Polish War, and were soundly defeated by a Polish army much larger than expected?
 * ...that an F4U Corsair from Marine Fighting Squadron 441 (insignia pictured) clipped the superstructure of the USS Laffey (DD-724) while chasing a kamikaze aircraft during the Battle of Okinawa?
 * ...that in the 13th and 14th centuries, the Mongol Empire had an alliance with the Armenians against their common enemy, the Muslim Mamluks?
 * ...that the city of West Sacramento, California is converting the former State Route 275 freeway into a surface road by replacing interchanges with at-grade intersections?
 * ...that Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, a Nigerian Senator from the People's Democratic Party, is the daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo?
 * ...that there are two separate churches dedicated to St Werburgh in the village of Warburton, Greater Manchester?
 * ...that Associated Press correspondent Edward Kennedy violated a news embargo to break the story of the surrender of the Germans in World War II?