Wikipedia:Recent additions 213

Did you know...

 * ...that a spite house is a house built to annoy and aggravate someone, usually a neighbor?
 * ...that the discovery of antennae swords at Kallur in the Indian state of Karnataka, was the first instance of the Copper Hoard culture being found in South India?
 * ...that systems art is an art movement from the 1960s influenced by systems theory, which reflects on natural systems, social systems and social signs of the art world itself?
 * ...that the oldest known lemon squeezers were found in Kütahya, Turkey and date to the first quarter of the 18th century?
 * ...that Sinnott Memorial Observation Station is a sheltered viewpoint built into the caldera cliff 900 ft above Crater Lake in Oregon?
 * ...that the voter turnout of the 2006 DPP chairmanship election in Taiwan was only 19.96%?
 * ...that Saint Foutin was a syncretic amalgam of the first bishop of Lyon, France and pre-Christian Gaulish phallic worship?
 * ...that Signor Brocolini (pictured), the original Pirate King in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance, took his stage name in honor of Brooklyn, where he grew up?
 * ...that the Russian composers Peter Tchaikovsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Serge Rachmaninoff used Ukrainian folk melodies in their works?
 * ...that Ho people, in Jharkhand, India, have a literacy rate of 39.2%, lower than the state average which is amongst the lowest literacy rates in India?
 * ...that the San Francisco-based electro-acoustic improvisation music ensemble Maybe Monday features a traditional Japanese musical instrument, the koto?
 * ...that St.Thomas, the apostle of Jesus Christ, established the Church in India in 52 AD?
 * ...that Conall Guthbinn continued the feud begun when his father, Suibne mac Colmáin, was killed by Áed Sláine by killing two of Áed's sons, Congal and Ailill; soon after he was killed by Diarmait, a third son of Áed?
 * ...that the larvae of primary screw-worm flies feed on living tissue, but secondary screw-worm flies feed only on necrotic tissue?
 * ...that despite a wartime career lasting less than a year, HMS Codrington transported a number of dignitaries, including King George VI, Neville Chamberlain and Winston Churchill?
 * ...that Polish–Ukrainian relations have been steadily improving since the fall of communism, and both countries now have a strong strategic relationship?
 * ...that a song about the 1973 Mountjoy Prison helicopter escape topped the popular music charts in the Republic of Ireland despite being banned by the government?
 * ...that soccer became the last Olympic sport to sign up to the World Anti-Doping Agency code, when FIFA ratified it in 2006?
 * ...that as National Secretary for Students for a Democratic Society, Michael Klonsky advocated revolution in the U.S., but now focuses on education reforms such as creating small schools?
 * ...that following the collapse of Renaissance Cruises in late 2001, MS R Two and five of her sister ships were laid up together, first at Gibraltar and later at Marseille?
 * ...that soccer became the last Olympic sport to sign up to the World Anti-Doping Agency code, when FIFA ratified it in 2006?
 * ...that Pollyanna, a 1920 melodrama/comedy starring Mary Pickford, grossed $1.1 million, equivalent to about $10 million in 2008?
 * ...that the Dragon Bridge (pictured) is the first bridge in Slovenia paved with asphalt and the first reinforced concrete bridge in Ljubljana?
 * ...that the blue bottle fly (Calliphora vicina), the green bottle fly (Lucilia illustris), the hairy maggot blowfly (Chrysomya rufifacies), the black blow fly (Phormia regina) and the coffin fly (Megaselia scalaris) are useful tools to forensic entomologists in determining the time of death of a corpse?
 * ...that the cruise ship MS Columbus C. sank in Cádiz harbour after accidentally ramming the harbour's breakwater in 1984?
 * ...that African American artist James W. Washington, Jr. first gained visibility in 1938 working with the WPA in his native Mississippi, but was later associated with the Northwest School?
 * ...that the olive tree is the ultimate symbol of sumud, a key ideological theme among Palestinians since the 1967 war?
 * ...that since 2006 Beijing has a legal limit of one dog per family?
 * ...that the career of Tiia Piili, four-time FISAF World Champion in sport aerobics, was threatened when she got food poisoning attending a competition in Morocco?
 * ...that in his print Columbus Breaking the Egg (pictured) William Hogarth attempted to draw parallels between himself and Christopher Columbus?
 * ...that the Intelligencer Journal of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, established in 1796, is one of the oldest newspapers in the United States?
 * ...that the 2003 documentary Prisoner of Paradise is a chronicle of the life of Kurt Gerron, a German Jewish actor who was forced to make a Nazi propaganda film and later murdered in a Nazi concentration camp?
 * ...that the shot tower of the Colonial Ammunition Company is the only surviving tower of its kind in New Zealand?
 * ...that there are hints of political opposition to the land acquisition for the Special Economic Zone and industrial hub at Saltora in the "neglected" Bankura district in India?
 * ...that the U.S. Department of Defense pays the owners of the MV Baffin Strait (T-AK W9519) US$12,550 per day to carry cargo from Singapore to Diego Garcia?
 * ...that Vaux-de-Cernay Abbey in Ile-de-France, founded in 1118, had a saintly abbot, was bought by a Rothschild and is now a hotel?
 * ...that in 1669, the Jesuit missionary and astronomer Ferdinand Verbiest persuaded the Kangxi Emperor to remove a month from the Chinese calendar?
 * ...that Fahmida Mirza is the first female Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan?
 * ...that Peter Carl Fabergé crafted the Czarevich Fabergé egg in 1912 as a tribute to Czarevich Alexei after his survival from a hemophilia-related illness?
 * ...that Roman Catholic priests afflicted with alcoholism or other ailments can use unfermented grape juice, known as mustum, in place of sacramental wine during the Eucharist?
 * ...that the American southern gospel group The Dixie Nightingales at one time included future Temptations lead singer David Ruffin among its ranks, and later evolved into the secular Stax Records soul group "Ollie & the Nightingales"?
 * ...that Walter of Pontoise was the last person to be canonized in Western Europe by someone other than the Pope?
 * ...that 15th-century heralds attributed a coat of arms to Jesus based on the instruments of the Passion?
 * ...that chef and restaurateur Suzanne Goin won the 2006 James Beard award for Best Chef in California as well as being a five time James Beard foundation award nominee?
 * ...that Bhutan has a low crime rate and is the first nation in the world to ban tobacco sales?
 * ...that Helen Bee identified that people make both an inner and outer journey through adulthood?
 * ...that according to the old hexachordal principle, the sixth aria of Hexachordum Apollinis should have been in B-flat major, but the composer Pachelbel wrote it in 1699 as an F minor?
 * ...that Clarence Lightner was the first African-American elected mayor of any metropolitan Southern United States city?
 * ...that Hans Gude replaced Johann Schirmer as the professor of landscape painting at the Düsseldorf school, even though as a professor Schirmer had told Gude to give up painting?
 * ...that the late 18th-century watercolor The Old Plantation (pictured) contains the first known depiction of a banjo precursor in American art?
 * ...that the Rev. James Hackman, Rector of Wiveton in Norfolk, was hanged for the murder of Martha Ray, mistress of the fourth Earl of Sandwich?
 * ...that the Eva archaeological site in Tennessee was inhabited from about 6000 to 1000 BC, but it is now below water?
 * ...that three-foot-tall stone slabs were placed every five miles to mark the boundary between Kentucky and Tennessee?
 * ...that 1050 AM ESPN Radio in New York City was launched by American politician Rob Astorino?
 * ...that Edgar Allan Poe wrote "The Raven" while living at what is now called Edgar Allan Poe Cottage in the Fordham section of The Bronx in New York City?
 * ...that from 1908 the Cone Mills Corporation (mill pictured) was the world's largest producer of denim fabric, making its founder Moses H. Cone the "Denim King?"
 * ...that after the Aztec Coatlicue statue was discovered, it was buried again to prevent it becoming the object of a cult?
 * ...that the only black college to field a NCAA lacrosse team was the Morgan State University Lacrosse Bears?
 * ...that after Norwegian film maker Odd F. Lindberg made a documentary exposing inhumane Norwegian seal hunting methods, the hostile reaction encouraged him to emigrate?
 * ...that the script for the Lost episode "Meet Kevin Johnson" was completed on the same day as the first day of the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike?
 * ...that one of Catherine de' Medici's court festivals featured an artificial whale that spouted red wine when harpooned?
 * ...that the Anekāntavāda philosophy of Jainism encourages its adherents to consider the beliefs of their rivals and opposing parties?
 * ...that according to Hindu mythology, the deity Revanta (pictured) was born from the union of the sun-god Surya and his wife Saranya in the form of horse and mare?
 * ...that four of the fifteen head coaches of the Green Bay Packers are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
 * ...that the Rose bedeguar gall was used as a cure for baldness, colic and toothaches?
 * ...that Scripps marine chemist Edward D. Goldberg suggested using mussels to measure the amount of pollution in the oceans?
 * ...that when built in 1868, Louisville's Fourteenth Street Bridge was the longest iron bridge in the United States?
 * ...that Polish novelist Bolesław Prus, who had been a young soldier in the Polish 1863–65 Uprising, wrote a short story, "Fading Voices", whose protagonist had served in the 1830–31 Uprising?
 * ...that English sculptor Henry Weekes ' monument to Percy Bysshe Shelley, modelled on Michelangelo's Pietà, included realistic touches such as seaweed wrapped around the drowned poet's arm?
 * ...that microorganisms in the Archaea domain produce antimicrobial protein toxins known as archaeocins?
 * ...that an honors student was suspended from a New Haven school for buying Skittles brand candy?
 * ...that the Da Ming Hun Yi Tu‎ Chinese world map (pictured), painted on silk in 1389, includes the earliest surviving depiction of the Drakensberg mountains in southern Africa?
 * ...that General Benjamin Tupper ' s horse was killed under him at the Battle of Monmouth during the American Revolutionary War?
 * ...that the Zamość Uprising was one of the major operations of the Polish resistance movement in World War II, and succeeded in significantly delaying German plans to evict the Polish inhabitants and colonize the region?
 * ...that several private homes in the Los Cerritos neighborhood of Long Beach, California have been used in movies, including depicting the Bueller family's Chicago home in the 1986 comedy film Ferris Bueller's Day Off?
 * ...that Joseph Canyon was named after Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce tribe, who was born in a cave at the mouth of the canyon?
 * ...that in 1962 doctors went on strike in Saskatchewan for 23 days in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the introduction of universal health insurance?
 * ...that British wine critic Stuart Pigott (pictured) published five commandments regarding wine drinking and appreciation, including "for wine, there is no connection between price and quality"?
 * ...that homoclines are tilted rock structures that can form ridges?
 * ...that John Tavener's "Song for Athene", sung at the funeral of Princess Diana, combines texts from the Orthodox funeral service and Shakespeare's Hamlet?
 * ...that after discovering a suitcase with US$800,000 in Maletinazo (the suitcase scandal), policewoman Maria de Lujan Telpuk appeared on the cover of the Argentine and Venezuelan editions of Playboy?
 * ...that in the 1944 Battle of Murowana Oszmianka, the Polish resistance Armia Krajowa dealt a significant defeat to the Nazi-Lithuanian Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force?
 * ...that in the days immediately following the revelation of her role in the Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal, the MySpace page of Ashley Alexandra Dupré was viewed over 9 million times?
 * ...that the British Expeditionary Force in 1914 included 90% of the British Army units normally based in the United Kingdom, leaving less than a division of regular soldiers for home defence?
 * ...that traditional Easter games such as egg rolling, egg tapping, egg tossing, egg hunting and egg dancing date back hundreds of years to a time when the egg was considered a symbol of rebirth?
 * ...that despite its name, the Togian White-eye, a species of bird endemic to the Togian Islands of Indonesia, lacks the white eye rings typical of its genus?
 * ...that after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, former President Ronald Reagan established the Ronald and Nancy Reagan Research Institute to work toward a cure for Alzheimer's?
 * ...that the Virginian Railway Passenger Station in Roanoke was named to the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places after it was extensively damaged in a fire?
 * ...that actor Daniel Dae Kim was arrested for driving under the influence just days before shooting Ji Yeon, an episode of Lost's fourth season?
 * ...that Van Nuys Boulevard, running through the heart of LA's San Fernando Valley, was a center of teenage cruising from the 1950s through the 1970s?
 * ...that Cymric Oil Field has the fastest-growing production of any oil field in California?
 * ...that the Upper Brook Street Chapel in Manchester, designed by Sir Charles Barry shortly before he designed the Palace of Westminster, is said to be the first neogothic Nonconformist chapel?
 * ...that Gustave Courbet's erotic painting Femme nue couchée (pictured), recovered in 2005 after disappearing during World War II, had been given to a Slovak doctor in return for medical treatment?
 * ...that Hamilton Disston purchased four million acres of land&mdash;larger than the state of Connecticut&mdash;for just $1 million in 1881 in a failed attempt to drain the Everglades?
 * ...that the discovery of horse bones at the archaeological site of Hallur in south India refuted the theory that horses were introduced to this region as part of the Indo-Aryan migration?
 * ...that Sixty Rayburn, a 44-year member of the Louisiana State Senate who died in 2008, was the driving force behind the establishment of the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine?
 * ...that Sami Hadawi, author of works on the land rights of Palestinian refugees, was exiled by Israel in 1948 and denied permission to have his remains returned to his native Jerusalem for burial in 2004?
 * ...that Still Restless, a 2004 album by country band Restless Heart, was their first album of all-new material in fourteen years?
 * ...that Czech hockey player Stanislav Konopásek lost five years of his playing career when he was imprisoned for allegedly trying to defect from Czechoslovakia in 1950?
 * ...that the creation of Grosvenor Museum, Chester (pictured) was inspired by a society formed by Charles Kingsley, then a canon of Chester Cathedral?
 * ...that the Eurymedon vase has been cited as evidence of Ancient Greek sexual mores?
 * ...that Labour Party politician Hugh Brown was a British negotiator with Iceland during the third Cod War in the 1970s?
 * ...that Tajikistan was one of the deadliest countries for journalists in the 1990s, with  dozens of journalists killed, including Belarusian documentary filmmaker Arcady Ruderman and Bukharan Jewish journalist Meirkhaim Gavrielov?
 * ...that Virgil Johnson, the lead singer of the doo wop group The Velvets, retired from his career as a school principal and is now a deejay in Lubbock, Texas?
 * ...that in 1964, units of No. 81 Wing RAAF were deployed to Darwin, Northern Territory as contingency in the event of an air attack on Australia during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation?
 * ...that the inbred villagers of Stoccareddo in Italy are a medical phenomenon, with unusually low frequencies of hypertension, strokes and heart attacks despite a high-cholesterol diet?
 * ...that Meeker's Hardware (pictured), a hardware store in Danbury, Connecticut, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, sold Coca-Colas for five cents until 2005?
 * ...that Thursday of the Dead is a springtime feast day shared by Muslims and Christians in the Levant that involves colouring eggs, visiting the cemetery and distributing food to the poor?
 * ...that the Māori name for the New Zealand Agency for International Development is Nga Hoe Tuputupu-mai-tawhiti, which means 'the paddles that bring growth from afar'?
 * ...that Samuel Lines ' art lessons in Birmingham started at 5 a.m.?
 * ...that a skyscraper in Croydon has been nicknamed the 50p Building because it resembles a pile of 50p coins?
 * ...that, before signing to Career/Arista Records in 1996 and charting three singles, country singer and pianist Tammy Graham was a regular performer at Caesars Palace?
 * ...that Robert H. Pruyn, the second American Minister to Japan, was instrumental in negotiating reparations over the 1863 Bombardment of Shimonoseki?
 * ...that a group of Forest Grove, Oregon residents posed nude for a calendar to raise funds to buy the Alvin T. Smith House (pictured)?
 * ...that chemist Ernest Beaux created Chanel No. 5 perfume?
 * ...that The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency is the first major film or television production to be shot on location in Botswana?
 * ...that the military theories of the 18th-century Welsh soldier Henry Lloyd were studied by George Washington and George S. Patton?
 * ...that despite being involved in high school theatre, Darla Vandenbossche only decided to pursue acting when she reached the age of 36?
 * ...that the Central Library in Portland, Oregon was one of the first libraries in the United States to feature an open plan design?
 * ...that Filipino jazz singer Katy de la Cruz was once a top-billed performer at the famed Forbidden City nightclub in San Francisco?