Wikipedia:Recent additions 205

Did you know...

 * ...that Laporte (courthouse pictured), one of thirteen municipalities in Sullivan County, is Pennsylvania's smallest county seat by population?
 * ...that Lactarius helvus, a mushroom whose smell has been likened to Maggi instant soup or fenugreek, was implicated in the poisoning of 418 people near Leipzig, Germany?
 * ...that William Bambridge, the father of England Football international Charles Bambridge was a member of the Te Waimate mission, New Zealand who became official photographer to Queen Victoria?
 * ...that NASCAR official Robin Pemberton's decision concerning the final outcome of the 2007 Daytona 500 resulted in his brother's team finishing second instead of first?
 * ...that the 1989 Malta Summit between the United States and Soviet Union was held onboard SS Maxim Gorkiy, a Soviet cruise ship that had partially sunk near Svalbard less than six months before?
 * ...that Annie Fargé, who played a scatterbrained French wife to an American architect in the 1960 CBS sitcom Angel, was described by Time as "easily the brightest newcomer to situation comedy" though the series folded after one season?
 * ...that a poster in the 2003 Estonian European Union membership referendum called on Estonians to vote yes 'for access to millions of sexier men'?
 * ...that the Métro léger de Tunis, a public transport system using light rail, is the only one of its kind in Africa?
 * ...that Dr. John Roberton proposed "medical police" and advocated use of cantharides whilst another Dr. John Roberton was a pioneer of obstetrics?
 * ...that most of the American Civil War events in Midway, Kentucky, including that which the Martyrs Monument in Midway commemorates, involved the stealing of horses?
 * ...that the Atlantic Marine ecozone, with its dense fog and massive icebergs, has been feared by mariners who have dubbed its northern extent "Iceberg Alley"?
 * ...that Narmada Bachao Andolan, a NGO in India, was the main reason for World Bank to conduct its first-ever independent review of any of its projects?
 * ...that the 20-year tenure of District Attorney Joe Rubio, Jr. was marred by corruption which led to his father having spent more than three years in U.S. federal prison for conspiracy and extortion?
 * ...that key donors of land to Louisville, Kentucky's 26-mile parkway system included a veteran of the Confederate Army and a notorious political boss?
 * ...that the old block of the Bank of China Building in Singapore was the tallest building in the central business district, Raffles Place, from 1954 till 1974?
 * ...that upon completion, the Mausoleum of Khomeini, under construction since Ayatollah Khomeini died, will have a tourist center, a university and a shopping mall?
 * ...that the kiss between Luke Snyder and Noah Mayer on As the World Turns is the first kiss between gay male characters on a daytime American soap opera?
 * ...that Saint-Bris is the only appellation out of 150 in the French wine region of Burgundy where the wines may contain the grape variety Sauvignon blanc?
 * ...that Edgar Allan Poe satirized the concept of a self-made man in his story "The Business Man" using a character that makes his fortune cutting the tails off cats?
 * ...that every year 70,000 to 80,000 migratory birds visit Raiganj Wildlife Sanctuary, an artificially created forest in West Bengal, India?
 * ...that judge Michael W. Mosman was involved in U.S. Supreme Court justice Lewis F. Powell's voting to uphold Georgia's sodomy law in Bowers v. Hardwick while working as his law clerk?
 * ...that the small private rooms called cabinets, gave rise to the political sense of cabinet, after English monarchs began to discuss matters of state in these settings?
 * ...that when the 18th century artist Alexis Simon Belle (pictured) had his son baptized, the godmother was only six years old?
 * ...that the postage stamps of the Palestinian National Authority have featured many well-known figures, but those with Pope John Paul II might be fake illegal stamps?
 * ...that many villages in Tajikistan received only one to two hours of electricity per day during an on-going energy crisis in Central Asia?
 * ...that Mi%C5%9B Uszatek, a children's cartoon about a bear and his friends, is one of the best-selling export products of Polish TV?
 * ...that the charitable Sheffield Town Trust funded a cricket match which aimed to "prevent the infamous practice of throwing at cocks"?
 * ...that Robert Parker's newsletter The Wine Advocate was the first to widely adopt the 50-100 scale wine rating scale, using it as parallel to the American educational grading system?
 * ...that Bill Keightley is one of only two people who have never played for nor coached the Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team to have their jerseys retired by the University of Kentucky?
 * ...that the ocean liner SS Leonardo da Vinci was constructed in 1960 with provisions to be nuclear powered?
 * ...that an ongoing strike by Gaelic footballers and hurlers in County Cork, Ireland, has led to Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern asking for the players and the county board to resolve their dispute?
 * ...that according to his Memoir, 18th-century painter Julius Caesar Ibbetson (work pictured) was named after the caesarean section which delivered him after his mother fell on the ice?
 * ...that Equine Hippique Canada, Canada's official national equestrian federation, describes itself as a "little known and hardly recognized" entity in Canada, despite the fact that it selects the country's Olympic teams?
 * ...that vin jaune, from the French wine region of Château-Chalon, is made with a layer of yeast that grows on top of the wine while in the barrel?
 * ...that the rivalry between Leeds United and Manchester United football clubs has its roots in the 15th century English civil war, the Wars of the Roses?
 * ...that John "Willy" Williams , the Australian World War II air ace who later took part in the "The Great Escape", became a POW merely three days after being promoted to command No.450 Squadron RAAF?
 * ...that in a college prank televised across the United States, spectators at the 1961 Rose Bowl unknowingly displayed the word "CALTECH" in an altered card stunt instead of the nickname of one of the teams on the field?
 * ...that paintings by Henry Howard (pictured) in the "Grand Revolving Temple of Concord" in Green Park had to be saved by the cavalry from "the multitudes of idle and dissolute spectators"?
 * ...that TenneT, the Dutch transmission system operator, is a joint owner of the ±450 kV, 580-km NorNed, the longest high-voltage undersea power line in the world?
 * ...that Seattle pioneer David Denny married his own stepsister, made and lost a fortune worth US$3 million, and survived an axe-blow to his head at age 67?
 * ...that the European fungus Ramaria formosa, found under beech trees, resembles a yellow-tipped pink piece of many-branched coral?
 * ...that English publishers John Stockdale and his son John Joseph Stockdale were involved in separate lawsuits decades apart, which led to changes in the law in 1792 and in 1840, respectively?
 * ...that the Mauch Chunk and Summit Hill Switchback Railroad, the second railroad built in the United States, was a major precursor to the roller coaster?
 * ...that Michiko Maeda, the first Japanese actress to appear nude in a mainstream film, was banned from Japanese cinema for 42 years for disobeying a director?
 * ...that, of the 2.6 million hectares of cultivated land in Peru, approximately 1.7 million hectares have an irrigation infrastructure (example pictured) but only 1.2 million hectares are actually irrigated?
 * ...that the French wine region of Châteauneuf-du-Pape has a wine law banning the overhead flying, landing or taking off of flying saucers?
 * ...that before he became involved in the Ituri conflict, alleged war criminal Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui was a nurse?
 * ...that the Great Phenol Plot of 1915 was to divert phenol from U.S. explosives production to prop up German Bayer's aspirin business?
 * ...that rubrics were originally anything written in red letters in a manuscript, but now most often mean instructions, especially for officiating clergy, or even scoring tools for tests in education?
 * ...that Wally Weber, football player, coach and broadcaster at Michigan for 45 years, was renowned for his "polysyllabic fluency" and sounding like an "an educated foghorn"?
 * ...that Grey Towers (pictured) is the only U.S. National Historic Site managed by the U.S. Forest Service, since it was the home of its first director, Gifford Pinchot?
 * ...that British Labour MP James Lamond was criticised in the 1980s as an apologist for the Soviet Union because he defended the invasion of Afghanistan?
 * ...that Tunisian Railways operates a standard gauge network in the North and a meter gauge network in the South of Tunisia?
 * ...that financier Gurdon Wattles was responsible for building the historically significant Wattles House in Omaha and the Wattles Mansion in Hollywood?
 * ...that Juliusz Wertheim, a Polish pianist, conductor and composer, was a mentor of Arthur Rubinstein, considered one of the greatest piano virtuosi of the 20th Century?
 * ...that the WWII-era Windsor-class attack transport USS Queens (APA-103) was sunk as an artificial reef off Texas in 2007?
 * ...that the SS Charles W. Wetmore (pictured) negotiated the St. Lawrence River rapids in 1891 to become the first whaleback ship to operate outside the Great Lakes?
 * ...that Jake Simmons Jr. was the most successful African-American entrepreneur in the history of the petroleum industry?
 * ...that the New Zealand Railways Department's experimental RM class Westinghouse railcar was the first railcar to enter revenue service in New Zealand?
 * ...that Sir Neville Francis Fitzgerald Chamberlain, head of the Royal Irish Constabulary from 1900 to the aftermath of the 1916 Easter Rising, is credited with inventing the game of snooker?
 * ...that Independent Operational Group Polesie, composed of mostly reserve and second line troops, was nonetheless the last regular unit of the Polish Army to capitulate during the German invasion of Poland in 1939?
 * ...that USOC president Doug Roby initially took no action against Tommie Smith and John Carlos after their Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics, but expelled them after an IOC threat to expel the entire U.S. track team?
 * ...that Oak marble gall (pictured) contains large amounts of tannic acid, which was used for making iron gall ink?
 * ...that while Isko Moreno was running for vice mayor in Manila in 2007, posters were distributed of him wearing only a speedo?
 * ...that William Hogarth's prints Beer Street and Gin Lane contrast the misery of gin drinkers with the happiness and good health of those who drink beer?
 * ...that Swiss watchmaker Parmigiani Fleurier made the Bugatti 370 – a $200,000 watch in honour of the supercar Bugatti Veyron – which won the 2006 "Watch of the Year" Award from the Japanese press?
 * ...that the CPF Building, which houses the Central Provident Fund Board, was the site of a silent protest by four people demanding greater transparency and accountability in Singapore?
 * ...that tais weaving in East Timor is performed solely by women, using techniques passed down through generations in an oral tradition?
 * ...that Heimir was a Gothic hero who evolved into a traitor through centuries of story-telling?
 * ...that the tide of the Texas-Indian Wars was turned at the Battle of Bandera Pass when six-shot revolvers were used for the first time against the Comanches?
 * ...that Captain Philip Broke personally led the boarding party from HMS Shannon onto the USS Chesapeake (pictured)?
 * ...that Avenue Charles de Gaulle in N'Djamena is a rare street in Chad to have retained its French name despite President François Tombalbaye's Authenticité Africanization program?
 * ...that state senator Mike Kopp is the only Gulf War veteran currently serving in the Colorado General Assembly?
 * ...that two members of No. 450 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, were among the 50 Allied POWs murdered by the Gestapo, following The Great Escape in 1944?
 * ...that Keith Munyan, Jr., the Los Angeles photographer who has done publicity shots for Hilary Duff, Cindy Crawford, Jessica Simpson, and other celebrities is himself a former model?
 * ...that during the later stages of World War II, the Bordeaux wine estate Château Lascombes served as a headquarters for the Allied forces?
 * ...that John Percival, when headmaster of Rugby School, gained the nickname "Percival of the knees" because he was concerned about "impurity" and insisted that boys secure their football shorts below the knee with elastic?
 * ...that Cullen Football Club played on a golf course when they were first formed in 1890?
 * ...that Khotyn Fortress (pictured), site of the Battle of Khotyn between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Ottoman Empire in 1621, is one of the Seven Wonders of Ukraine?
 * ...that about 12 million people were forced laborers in Nazi Germany during World War II, and less than 2 million received direct compensation after the war?
 * ...that after the New Zealand Railways Department's RM class Thomas Transmission railcar was written off in 1925, the railcar's body was used as a private dwelling?
 * ...that Margaret Downey's first major public activism for atheism was in response to the Boy Scouts of America refusing to renew her son's membership due to his professed atheism?
 * ...that the first bank in Oregon was co-founded by William S. Ladd who had previously built the first brick building in Portland, Oregon?
 * ...that Thaddeus Radzilowski, a Polish-American historian, is a cofounder of the Piast Institute?
 * ...that dozens of tornadoes were produced during a two-day tornado outbreak in 1997, killing at least 27 people in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee, USA?
 * ...that 6 Battery Road, a high-rise in Singapore, was on completion the largest building for the Standard Chartered Bank Group worldwide, and represented the largest single investment by a British company?
 * ...that fungus Tricholoma pardinum (pictured) was responsible for over 20% of cases of mushroom poisoning in Switzerland in the first half of the 20th century?
 * ...that a 1907 mansion in Hollywood, California known as Jualita was the location for scenes from the film Rain Man and the TV show The O.C.?
 * ...that while repelling Soviet advances across the frozen Lake Suvanto, Finland managed to capture 12 anti-tank guns, 140 machine guns, 200 light machine guns and 1500 rifles in the Battle of Kelja in 1939?
 * ...that after surviving the battles at Badoeng Strait and Midway, the Japanese destroyer Asashio was sunk in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea while picking up survivors from her sister ship, the Arashio?
 * ...that Louisville's Union Station was reported to be the largest such facility in the southern United States?
 * ...that Herbert Armitage James, who was headmaster of Rugby School for 14 years, had one of the best stamp collections in England?
 * ...that when Indian Agent Robert Neighbors was introduced to Comanche Chief Old Owl, the Comanches were so pleased with the agent’s generosity that they proposed adopting him into their tribe?
 * ...that during the construction of Samsung Hub (pictured), a high-rise commercial building in Singapore, the building sunk on one side from 3 mm to 39 mm in just four months?
 * ...that the lead ship of the Frederick Funston class, the USS Frederick Funston (APA-89), was named after a US Army General lampooned by Mark Twain?
 * ...that vineyard owners in the Provence wine region of Cassis used to hire prostitutes from Marseilles to assist with picking grapes at harvest time?
 * ...that Raymond Jacobs maintained that he was the last surviving member of the original party of Marines who raised the first flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima?
 * ...that French actuary Maurice Princet is known as "the mathematician of cubism" for the role he played in birth of the art movement?
 * ...that the Peachtree Road Race, held annually on July 4 (U.S. Independence Day) in Atlanta, Georgia, is the world's largest 10 kilometer road race with 55,000 runners participating in 2007?
 * ...that Colorado state senator Chris Romer has proposed using a wiki-like web site to involve citizens in drafting legislation?
 * ...that the first stamps of Palestine (Rachel's tomb stamp, pictured) under the British Mandate were trilingual, due to a League of Nations requirement?
 * ...that the two parts of California State Route 139 were constructed by a joint highway district of Lassen and Modoc Counties and by the U.S. federal government before being turned over to the state?
 * ...that at 2,300 miles (3,700 km) long the Missouri River Valley drains one-sixth of the United States, and is the longest river valley on the North American continent?
 * ...that the Michigan Railroad Commission twice condemned the St. Joseph Valley Railroad because of the poor condition of the latter's line?
 * ...that the death of Orvil Dryfoos, publisher of The New York Times from 1961 to 1963, was attributed to stress from a 114-day strike by his staff?
 * ...that award-winning biographer Jenny Uglow described her dictionary of women's biographies as "a mad undertaking, born of a time when feminists wanted heroines and didn't have Google"?