Wikipedia:Recent additions 89

Did you know...

 * ...that, before his departure from Saint Petersburg, Giacomo Casanova gave a party for thirty guests at the imperial estate Catherinehof (pictured)? (Catherinehof)
 * ...that Ansett Airlines Flight 232 from Adelaide to Alice Springs in 1972 was the first aircraft hijacking to take place in Australia?
 * ...that Dutch polymath Theodoor Jansson compiled a list of authors who plagiarized expressions from other writers?
 * ...that Nathaniel Currier, of Currier and Ives, first achieved prominence creating newspaper illustrations of current events and political cartoons?
 * ...that Joseph Maca played on the United States men's national soccer team in the 1950 FIFA World Cup even though he wasn't a U.S. citizen?
 * ...that Mehrauli, a neighbourhood of Delhi housing the famous Qutb complex, was the capital of the Slave dynasty from 1206 to 1290?
 * ...that halomon (chemical structure pictured), a natural halogenated organic compound isolated from red algae, shows early preclinical promise as a potential antitumor agent? (Image:Halomon.png)
 * ...that Matir Moina, a Bangladeshi film by Tareque Masud, was temporarily banned by censors in Bangladesh before becoming the country's first film to compete for the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category?
 * ...that Peter and Jane are the main characters in a series of 36 children's early readers for the English language published by Ladybird Books that have been in print for over 40 years, and have sold over 80 million copies?
 * ...that Portugal's leading satirical poet of the 18th century, Nicolau Tolentino de Almeida, made the first literary reference to the "Brazilian modinha"?
 * ...that the Sidrapong Hydel Power Station is the oldest hydroelectric power station in India?
 * ...that roll call is the only legal means to establish a quorum in the United States Senate and until the next roll call the quorum is assumed to be present, so that less important business may be performed even without physical presence of the whole quorum of 51 Senators?
 * ...that "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" is a grammatically valid sentence? (Image:American bison k5680-1.jpg)
 * ...that Vasyl Karazin (pictured), the founder of Kharkiv University, was not allowed to attend the opening ceremony? (Image:Karazin.jpg)
 * ...that the first two books by Argentine author Ricardo Güiraldes were such a commercial and critical failure that he gathered up the unsold copies and threw them in a well?
 * ...that Lieutenant-Colonel Sir John Johnston, Comptroller of the Lord Chamberlain's Office from 1981 to 1987, co-ordinated the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer and of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, and the funeral of the Duchess of Windsor?
 * ...that the Wild Ass Wildlife Sanctuary in Gujarat, home to the endangered Asian Wild Ass, is the largest wildlife sanctuary of India?
 * ...that during the Gallic War Julius Caesar built the first bridge over the Rhine river in only 10 days and cut it down 18 days later?
 * ...that the nearly completed Sivand Dam project in Fars Province, Iran will flood 130 archaeological sites and hasten the destruction of the ancient Persian city of Pasargadae?
 * ...that an explosion in 1854 sparked off a great fire (pictured) killing 53 and levelling significant parts of Gateshead and Newcastle? (Image:Great fire of Newcastle 1854.jpg)
 * ...that Mordvin sculptor Stepan Erzya developed a project of transforming entire mountains in the Andes into monuments to the heroes of the war for independence?
 * ...that Proverb, a piece by Steve Reich, was influenced both by minimalist techniques and medieval polyphony?
 * ...that Joint Forest Management between villagers and the government of India was started to prevent theft of forest resources at Arabari, but now accounts for the management of at least 14 million hectares in 27 states?
 * ...that Walerian Łukasiński, a 19th century Polish Army officer, was sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment by the Russian Empire, and died in prison after 44 years, becoming one of the martyrs of the Polish struggle for independence under the partitions?
 * ...that in 1961, retired bus driver Kempton Bunton stole Francisco Goya's painting Portrait of the Duke of Wellington as a protest, and demanded £140,000 to be donated to charity to allow the poor to pay for television licenses?
 * ... that chef Austin Leslie (pictured), known as the Godfather of Fried Chicken, died in Atlanta after being evacuated from New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina? (Image:Austin-leslie.jpg)
 * ...that the Islamic Emirate of Waziristan is a rebel organization that gained de facto recognition from the Government of Pakistan on September 5, 2006 as a result of negotiations between Islamabad and local tribesmen to end the Waziristan War?
 * ...that in addition to 8,000 Scouts, the 1st World Scout Jamboree of 1920 also hosted, amongst other animals, an alligator, a crocodile, an elephant, and a lioness cub?
 * ...that the Blood In The Water match was one of the most famous matches in water polo history, and was won by Hungary after the match was stopped in the final minutes following crowd trouble?
 * ...that Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov referred to his opera Kashchey the Immortal as a "short autumnal fairy tale", as opposed to Snegurochka, a "spring fairy tale"?
 * ... that the Explorer 32 satellite was able to determine the density of the upper atmosphere through ground-based observations of the effect of drag on the satellite?
 * ...that only two months after abolitionist William W. Patton (pictured) wrote new lyrics to the battle song "John Brown's Body" to glorify the attack by the "nineteen men so few", Julia Ward Howe wrote another set of lyrics&mdash;the iconic "Battle Hymn of the Republic"? (William W. Patton)
 * ...that the Battle of Shusha in May 1992 was the first significant Armenian military victory during the Nagorno-Karabakh War, and marked a turning point during the conflict?
 * ...that many plants avoid seed predation through a process called mass seeding, whereby so many seeds are produced at once that it is impossible for predators to eat all of them?
 * ...that in 1935, David Townsend was the last England Test cricketer not to have played for one of the English first-class cricket counties?
 * ...that the Venus de' Medici's elegant arms are by Ercole Ferrata?
 * ...that due to the rarity of the recently-discovered Old World babbler Bugun Liocichla, no type specimen was collected; instead, feathers from the mist net and notes were used as the holotype?
 * ...that Ivan the Terrible commemorated his conquest of Kazan with the construction of St. Basil's Cathedral (pictured) on Red Square? (Image:St Basils Cathedral-500px.jpg)
 * ... that the Bara Katra palace in Dhaka, now dilapidated and half-destroyed, was built originally to be the residence of Mughal prince Shah Shuja?
 * ...that Coop NKL opened Norway's first self serve food store on October 1 1947?
 * ...that according to legend, any immigrant to the city of Agroha, established by Emperor Agrasen in ancient India, would receive a hundred thousand bricks to build a home, and a hundred thousand rupees to start a business of his own?
 * ...that although the name of Pennsylvania's western Conewago Creek means at the rapids in the Lenape language, there are no rapids in the creek itself?
 * ...that the popular Lithuanian fairy tale hero Eglė the Queen of Serpents transformed herself and her children into trees as a punishment?
 * ...that archeological excavations proved that the Visoko valley (pictured) was the center of the medieval Bosnian state and later kingdom? Image:VisokoPanorama.jpg
 * ...that while The Goons may have joked about exploding trousers, farmers in New Zealand in the 1930s actually experienced the phenomenon when herbicide that they were using caught fire?
 * ...that the Obscure Berrypecker of New Guinea is a small forest bird known from two specimens and a handful of sightings?
 * ...that nutcracker esophagus, a cause of difficult swallowing, takes its name from high amplitude contractions of the esophagus being likened to a mechanical nutcracker?
 * ...that Charlie Williams, one of the first black football players in Britain after the Second World War and later Britain's first well-known black comedian, responded to heckling by saying: "If you don't shut up, I'll come and move in next door to you"?
 * ...that Royal Castle in Poznań was once the largest castle in the Polish Kingdom?
 * ...that the Cabinet des Médailles is the oldest museum of Paris, and houses the largest gold coin of Antiquity, a 20-stater of Eucratides I (pictured)? Image:EucratidesStatere.jpg
 * ...that the 2003 aggressive skating video game Rolling featured a roster of professional skaters including Fabiola da Silva and Brian Shima?
 * ...that the USS Robert H. McCard, a United States Navy destroyer, was named after U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant Robert H. McCard, a recipient of the Medal of Honor?
 * ...that fried spiders are a popular food in the Cambodian village of Skuon?
 * ...that Anne Gregg, best known as former presenter of the BBC's travel programme Holiday through the 1980s, was one of the first people from Northern Ireland to become a national British television personality?
 * ...that in order to get him to agree to write and perform the "Theme from Shaft", Isaac Hayes was promised an audition for the film's title role?
 * ...that the Saqqara Bird, an Egyptian artifact dating to at least 200 B.C.E., has led some scholars to speculate whether the Ptolemaic Egyptians possessed rudimentary airplane technology?
 * ...that the Dundas Aqueduct (pictured) was named after the British politician Charles Dundas, 1st Baron Amesbury? (Image:Dundas.JPG)
 * ...that at 7'3" (2.21 m), Swede Halbrook became the tallest person to ever play college basketball when he joined the Oregon State Beavers in 1954?
 * ...that the fort at Arki, India was captured by Gurkhas in 1806 and used as their stronghold till 1815, when they ceded it during the Gurkha War?
 * ...that French Communist Party politician Jeannette Vermeersch was elected to to every sitting of the National Assembly from 1946 to 1958?
 * ...that "Stormtrooper in Drag", the debut single by Paul Gardiner, was co-composed by friend and former Tubeway Army bandmate Gary Numan, and marked the first time in four years of working together that they had collaborated on the writing of a published song?
 * ...that Karan Bilimoria invented Cobra Beer and was the first Parsi in the House of Lords?
 * ...that in 1967 Mohawk Airlines Flight 40 crashed after a fire was sparked by a non-return valve being installed backwards?
 * ...that the original stained glass windows of the Saint George's Church (pictured) in Singapore were packed away for safekeeping before the Japanese Occupation of Singapore but have never been found since?(Image:Saint George's Church 2, Singapore, Sep 06.JPG)
 * ...that the Blood Parrot, a cross-bred fish, has neither a binomial nomenclature nor a distinctly known parentage?
 * ...that Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation can be used instead of chlorine in wastewater treatment, eliminating toxic by-products of chlorine?
 * ...that three years after being arrested for dealing in cocaine, former quarterback of the Oklahoma Sooners Charles Thompson managed to win a national championship with Central State University?
 * ...that Major-General F.F. Worthington, father of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps, was buried with his wife in his own memorial park at Canadian Forces Base Borden, which also serves as home to the tank collection of the Base Borden Military Museum?
 * ...that the defunct Portsmouth Naval Prison (pictured), considered the "Alcatraz of the East", housed German U-boat crews after WWII? (Portsmouth Naval Prison
 * ...the Shuka Saptati, written originally in Sanskrit, is a collection of seventy erotic tales narrated by a parrot to prevent its mistress from committing adultery while her husband is away from home?
 * ...that a Chicago urban legend states that 90,000 people died in Chicago of typhoid fever and cholera in 1885?
 * ...that Polmos Łańcut, one of the oldest vodka distilleries in Poland, was established by Duchess Lubomirska and existed already in 1784?
 * ...that Wyndham Robertson, a Virginia politician who was a member of the Committee of Nine that helped Virginia be re-admitted to the Union after the American Civil War, was a descendant of Pocahontas?
 * ...that Brian Cappelletto won the World Scrabble Championship in 2001 but has not played in the event since?
 * ...that hundreds of love padlocks (pictured) have been attached to a fence in Pécs, Hungary by couples professing their commitment to one another? (Love padlocks)
 * ...that the librettoes for Tchaikovsky's operas Vakula the Smith and Cherevichki were adapted from Gogol's stories by the poet Yakov Polonsky?
 * ...that the Castilian Civil War resulted in the removal of many Jewish people from high offices of state?
 * ...that Indian entrepreneur Jamsetji Tata conceptualized Tata Steel, Tata Power and the Indian Institute of Science, but that they were only established after his death in 1904?
 * ...that twirling is a key component of many artforms, hobbies, and sports where an object, such as a pen, baton or stick is spun or rotated to achieve the desired effect?
 * ...that since the genome sequence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was published in 1996, the complete genome sequences of over 50 other eukaryotes have been completed?
 * ...that casually shaking either one of the minarets at the Sidi Bashir mosque (pictured) in Ahmedabad causes the other minaret to vibrate a few seconds later? (Sidi Bahir mosque)
 * ...that the Civilian War Memorial in Singapore was built in 1967 in memory of the civilians massacred during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore from 1942 to 1945?
 * ...that Dmitry Chernov's discovery of the polymorphous transformations in steel has been thought to mark the transition of metallurgy from an art to a science?
 * ...that Chillingham Cattle have lived as an isolated herd for 700 years, and are believed to be closely related to the aurochs, an extinct species domesticated in the Stone Age?
 * ...that the English explorer and geologist Sir Vivian Fuchs led the first successful overland expedition across Antarctica in 1958&mdash;a journey of 2,158 miles (3,453 km)?
 * ...that the fictional goat Koziołek Matołek has been a popular Polish children's literature character since first appearing in 1933?
 * ...that the Northern Barred Frog of Australia (pictured) has a tadpole which reaches 12.5 centimetres (4.9 in) in length? (Image:Mixophyes_schevilli.jpg)
 * ...that virtuoso double bassist and composer Frantisek Kotzwara asked a prostitute to cut off his testicles and died from erotic asphyxiation?
 * ...that Rocco Petrone was the first non-German administrator of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center?
 * ...that in addition to their use on early sailing ships, early trains had "crow's nests" as well?
 * ...that Ichikawa Danjūrō V, one of the most famous and successful Kabuki actors, was briefly forced out of the theater after being accused of misappropriating funds?
 * ... that Islam Khan was the founder of the modern city of Dhaka and the first Mughal general to subjugate Bengal?
 * ...that scholars of Japanese theatre have been able to identify the subjects of many yakusha-e (ukiyo-e actor prints, pictured) down to not only the kabuki actors, roles, and the play depicted, but even the theater and month in which it was performed? (Toshusai Sharaku)
 * ...that studies in phage ecology indicate that viruses may be the most abundant organisms on Earth?
 * ...that the first British fighter pilot to die in World War II was killed in a friendly fire incident known as the Battle of Barking Creek?
 * ...that American engineer Elmer William Engstrom was involved in the development of television by RCA in the 1930s?
 * ...that line source is a mathematical construct used to analyze roadway air and noise pollution, but was not developed as a meaningful tool until 1970 when major U.S. laws spurred extensive environmental modelling?

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