Wikipedia:Recent additions 37

Did you know...

 * ...that Simeon Solomon was a British painter who regularly had works displayed at the Royal Academy in the 1860s?
 * ...that the jihad of Modibo Adama led to the spread of Islam?
 * ...that the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Labrador was the first ship to circumnavigate North America?
 * ...that the last African American jockey to win the Kentucky Derby was James Winkfield in 1902?
 * ...that the 1936 hanging of Rainey Bethea in Owensboro, Kentucky was the last public execution in the United States?
 * ...that the Minchiate was a deck of playing cards similar to the tarot, but with 40 trumps?
 * ...that bulk vending machine operators often spray Mike and Ikes and Hot Tamales with cooking spray to keep them from sticking together?
 * ...that Yrausquin Airport in the Caribbean island of Saba has commercial air service despite prohibition for airline airplanes to land there?
 * ...that Coya Knutson, Minnesota's first woman U.S. Representative, sang and played her accordion at campaign events?
 * ...that a Starets is a spiritual leader unique to the Russian Orthodox Church?
 * ...that the only active volcano in South Asia is on Barren Island, one of India's Andaman Islands?
 * ...that the Muslim state of Ifat was completely annexed by Ethiopia in 1415?
 * ...that the 1892 farce Charley's Aunt has been the basis of at least six different films, as well as the successful 1950s Broadway and West End musical, Where's Charley?
 * ...that the Mongols, led by Genghis Khan's grandson Hulegu Khan, executed Al-Musta'sim, the Abbasid caliph of the Islamic state, following the 1258 Battle of Baghdad?
 * ...that Cherubina de Gabriak, subject of the famous duel between the two first-rank Russian poets Maximilian Voloshin and Nikolay Gumilyov, did not even exist?
 * ...that Charles Brooks, Jr., was the first person to be executed by lethal injection in the United States?
 * ...that Roger Penzabene, co-author of the 1968 Temptations hit "I Wish It Would Rain," used a real-life breakup as inspiration for the song and then committed suicide when the song was released?
 * ...that the Presidio of Santa Barbara, built by the Spanish in 1782, is the second-oldest building in the U.S. state of California?
 * ...that Liugong Island is considered the "birthplace of the Chinese navy" and is also the site of its defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War?
 * ...that Closer Economic Relations is a free trade agreement between the governments of New Zealand and Australia?
 * ...that during the Elizabethan era opening a message in a bottle without authorization was a capital crime?
 * ...that Antarctosaurus was one of the largest dinosaurs ever to live in South America?
 * ...that the hungry i nightclub was instrumental in launching the careers of Lenny Bruce, Barbra Streisand, and Woody Allen?
 * ...that the American toad (Bufo americanus) is a common species of toad found throughout the eastern United States and Canada?
 * ...that in 2001 Watercolour Challenge won a Royal Television Society award in the category of Best Features - Daytime television?
 * ...that Phil Spector considered the song "River Deep - Mountain High," his 1966 production for Ike & Tina Turner, his best work, despite its commercial failure in the United States?
 * ...that the War of Canudos, an armed conflict in the 1890s in Canudos, Brazil that resulted in the death of more than 15,000 people, was instigated by Christian mystic and messianic leader Antônio Conselheiro and a band of fanatic followers?
 * ...that Liberty Displaying the Arts and Sciences is a 1792 work of American art that depicts the Goddess of Liberty and is the first known painting to celebrate the emancipation of slaves in the United States?
 * ...that although Archibald Leitch was the foremost football stadium architect in the United Kingdom in the early 20th century, only two of his works have been listed for preservation?
 * ...that men who practice snake charming often also use their skills as a form of pest control?
 * ... that Simone Niggli-Luder from Switzerland won all four women's competitions at the orienteering world championships 2005 in Aichi, Japan, repeating her performance of 2003?
 * ...that the border between Nilo-Saharan and Bantu languages among the languages of Uganda roughly coincides with the Victoria Nile?
 * ...that the defeat of Vijayanagara Empire at the Battle of Talikota in 1565 ended one of the last great Hindu kingdoms in South India?
 * ...that the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, founded in 1968, is one of the three inaugural satellite launch sites of the People's Republic of China?
 * ...that Charles Atangana was the first Ewondo to be baptised a Catholic in Kamerun (German colonial Cameroon)?
 * ...that the largest known organism is a honey fungus that covers more than 3.4 square miles (8.9 km²) and is thousands of years old?
 * ...that a gorgonian is a form of sessile colonial cnidarian, similar to a sea pen or a soft coral, found in tropical and subtropical seawater?
 * ...that the Finnish speed skater Clas Thunberg is the oldest Olympic speed skating champion, winning gold at the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz at age 35?
 * ...that umchwasho is a traditional chastity rite in Swaziland restricting the sexual relations of unmarried women?
 * ...that detonating nuclear weapons is specifically forbidden in Britain under the Nuclear Explosions (Prohibition and Inspections) Act 1998?
 * ...that the 1888/9 South African cricket season marked the beginning of first-class cricket in South Africa?
 * ...that the Devil's Beef Tub was used to hide cattle stolen by the Border Reivers?
 * ...that Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav was independent India's first individual Olympic medalist when he won the wrestling bronze medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki?
 * ...that Sergio Blass was the only singer to be a member of both Los Chicos and Menudo, Puerto Rican rival boy bands during the early 1980s?
 * ...that the Battle of Asal Uttar fought during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 was the largest tank battle in the history of the Indian subcontinent?
 * ... that Lake Enriquillo is the only saltwater lake in the world inhabited by crocodiles?
 * ...that about half of Ireland's citizens live outside of the Republic of Ireland?
 * ...that the Nurek Dam in Tajikistan is the tallest dam in the world, and in 1994 the hydroelectric power it produced made up three-quarters of that country's energy generation capacity?
 * ...that Stalking Cat is a San Diego man who has spent more than 150,000 USD on tattoos and cosmetic surgery working towards his goal of resembling a live tiger?
 * ... that the Narita Shinkansen from Tokyo to Narita International Airport, which took nine years to build 9 km of track bed, is the only bullet train line ever officially cancelled?
 * ...that Canadian media cannot legally reprint their own stories mentioning the name of convicted school shooter Todd Cameron Smith?