Template talk:Did you know

Did you know?
Did you know?
Introduction and rules
Introduction	WP:DYK
General discussion	WT:DYK
Guidelines	WP:DYKCRIT
Reviewer instructions	WP:DYKRI
Nominations
Nominate an article	WP:DYKCNN
Awaiting approval	WP:DYKN
Approved	WP:DYKNA
April 1 hooks	WP:DYKAPRIL
Holding area	WP:SOHA
Preparation
Preps and queues	T:DYK/Q
Prepper instructions	WP:DYKPBI
Admin instructions	WP:DYKAI
Main Page errors	WP:ERRORS
History
Statistics	WP:DYKSTATS
Archived sets	WP:DYKA
Just for fun
Monthly wraps	WP:DYKW
Awards	WP:DYKAWARDS
Userboxes	WP:DYKUBX
Hall of Fame	WP:DYK/HoF
List of users ...
... by nominations	WP:DYKNC
... by promotions	WP:DYKPC
Administrative
Scripts and bots	WP:DYKSB
On the Main Page	T:DYK
Main Page errors	WP:ERRORS
To ping the DYK admins	{{DYK admins}}
	v; t; e;

After you update the template, please click this link to purge the main page cache,
so the update is shown to everyone.

Chesmac running on a Telmac-1800 computer

... that as the 1979 computer chess game Chesmac (pictured) could not display a chessboard on screen, players had to replicate the game on a physical chessboard?
... that Samuel Barber said that he could not adequately play his own Piano Sonata?
... that geographer Michael Chisholm and contemporaries became known as "Caesar's Praetorian Guard", in reference to their teacher Gus Caesar?
... that Anne Morrow Lindbergh tried to warn her husband Charles Lindbergh of the backlash that his antisemitic Des Moines speech would receive?
... that Rose Betts wrote the song "Driving Myself Home" as a joke after a blind date, only for it to go viral on TikTok?
... that an art critic felt that Rooms by the Sea was one of Edward Hopper's "strangest" works?
... that when Swedish soccer player Beata Olsson transferred from Florida to Florida State, she said that she did not really know about the schools' rivalry?
... that John Passmore Edwards erected a library in memory of his mother?
... that researchers want Hymenophyllum axsmithii rhizomes so that they can tell whether the filmy fern was up a tree?

This page Template:Did you know is the "Did you know" section on the Main Page. To counter vandalism the template has been protected from editing.

Images

Please include suggested images, but only free images (PD, GFDL, CC etc.) can appear on the Main Page. Fair use images are not permitted.

Editors:

Make suggestions for "did you know" entries on this page.
See Special:Newpages to look for recently created pages that could be included.
Please keep suggestions NPOV and attempt to have items from different fields of interest in an update.
Please read the rules at Wikipedia:Did you know.
Discussion about this section and its rules is located at Wikipedia talk:Did you know.
Please discuss errors on the template at Talk:Main Page

Administrators:

If you're an administrator, please be bold and update the template. Just follow the rules.
For exact guidelines as to how to update see the Guide to Updating DYK (still a work in progress).
When you add an image to DYK, you must protect it and add {{mprotected}} to the image description page.
When the time comes to refresh, please remember to include the oldest fact first.
Stale entries are no fun, but please try to give every entry the exposure it deserves.
If possible, please consider informing the initial creators of the new status of the used articles on their talk pages using Template:UpdatedDYK.
THESE ITEMS MUST BE NO MORE THAN 120 HOURS (5 days) OLD!

Earliest time for next refreshment is October 18 2005 4:20 Wikipedia time (UTC).

Today is Tuesday, October 15, 2024; it is now 10:22 (UTC)

Time since last refreshment: 0 hours
Minimum time to next refreshment: 6 hours

Suggestions

Got a new article you think is DYK-worthy? List it here, under the date of creation (not the date of submission), with the newest dates at the top. If there's a suitable picture, place it after the suggestion.

October 20

. . . that in 1878, Sam Lucas became the first African American actor to play the role of Uncle Tom in a serious production of Uncle Tom's Cabin, only to do the same for film 37 years later? BrianSmithson 00:45, 20 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

October 19

...that Euclid Beach Park, an amusement park in Cleveland, Ohio that was modelled after Coney Island, was home to a race riot in 1946? (self-nom) --Jacquelyn Marie 00:26, 20 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

...that the Central Railroad of Pennsylvania was a failed plan by the Central Railroad of New Jersey to avoid certain taxes from 1946 to 1952? (self-nom)

...that E. Sreedharan, the MD of Delhi Metro earned the sobriquet of Metro Man for ensuring that the first phase of the metro project was executed without any cost and time overruns? --Gurubrahma 18:14, 19 October 2005 (UTC) (self-nom) image available-suggested pic on the right.[reply]

File:The Mauritius Command Cover.jpg

...that Commodore Josias Rowley's campaign to capture the Indian Ocean islands of Reunion and Mauritius in 1810 was the source material for the exploits of Jack Aubrey in Patrick O'Brian's novel The Mauritius Command? suggested image: Image:The Mauritius Command Cover.jpg

(self nom.) Dabbler 16:31, 19 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

File:Advertisement for 1975 Wayne Busette.jpg

...that Busette in 1973 was the first successful small school bus to be built on a cutaway van chassis with a low center of gravity and dual rear wheels? suggested image: Image:Advertisement for 1975 Wayne Busette.jpg

NOTE: This has two new articles referenced (Busette and cutaway van chassis). Vaoverland 04:39, 19 October 2005 (UTC) (self-nom)[reply]

. . . that after Joel Sweeney popularized the banjo in the United States he did the same in Europe as a member of the Virginia Minstrels? BrianSmithson 02:38, 19 October 2005 (UTC) [Sweeney image to right][reply]

October 18

...that Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is India's richest woman? --Gurubrahma 21:18, 18 October 2005 (UTC) (self-nom)[reply]
...that the Tucson Citizen is the oldest newspaper in Arizona? Toothpaste 07:22, 18 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
...that Sigmund Freud's theory of childhood sexuality was strongly influenced by a dream by his patient Sergei Pankejeff, whom he dubbed the "Wolf Man"? image (of dream) (self-nom) --Fastfission 16:04, 19 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
...that Luis Ramirez will be the 15th person executed in 2005 in the U.S. state of Texas? Evil Monkey∴Hello 00:37, 20 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
...that James Autry received a stay on his execution in October 1983 after the needles had been inserted into his arms? (Not the original creator but did expand it. Evil Monkey∴Hello 01:17, 20 October 2005 (UTC))[reply]

October 17

...that Torchwood will be the first spin-off from Doctor Who since an unsuccessful pilot for K-9 and Company in 1981? OpenToppedBus - Talk to the driver 13:56, 18 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
...that with a dynamometer car in tow, the Northern Pacific Railroad was able to drive Timken 1111 on a demonstration run as fast as a sustained 88 mph (142 km/h) while pulling the North Coast Limited passenger train past Willow Creek, Montana, in 1931? slambo 13:01, 18 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
...that Cleveland would be spelled "Cleaveland," if it were not for a newspaper dropping the first 'a' to fit the name onto their masthead, a change which stuck, and ironically outlasted the paper itself? (Bushytails 05:59, 17 October 2005 (UTC))[reply]
...that Roger Lemerre has won the Football World Cup, European Football Championship, Confederations Cup and the African Nations Cup? --Wonderfool 11:03, 17 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
. . . that New Orleans street vendor Old Corn Meal is one of the earliest known African Americans to have had a documented influence on the development of blackface minstrelsy specifically and American popular music in general?" BrianSmithson 01:34, 18 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

... that the Imperial Japanese Navy's 1888 warship Kotaka　is considered as the first effective design of a destroyer? PHG 01:38, 20 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

October 16

...a caregiver is a spouse, relative, friend or neighbor of a disabled person who assists with activities of daily living, often helping that person continue to live in their own home? Vaoverland 22:49, 16 October 2005 (UTC) (self nom)[reply]

October 15

...Burchard of Worms wrote his twenty-volume Decretum in the four years between 1008 and 1012, while raising Conrad II?

(suggested image Image:Worms Doom 2005-05-27b.jpg) (self-nom)

October 14

October 13

Jkelly 01:31, 16 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

...that the original 1963 version of "Needles and Pins" barely made it to the top into the top 100? Spawn Man 03:40, 13 October 2005 (UTC) (self-nom).[reply]
- Bit too short.--nixie 09:02, 17 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

- - Wasn't short until someone deleted the words!!! Spawn Man 21:20, 17 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Inform these users

Please inform the creators of the newly listed template items about the status of their article by adding {{subst:UpdatedDYK|[[Article name]]}} to their talk page. If you can't do that, list the suggestions in this section.

Archive

Suggestions that have appeared on Template:Did you know are automatically archived at Wikipedia:Recent additions by one of AllyUnion's bots.

All older items have been archived at Wikipedia:Recent additions.

...that David Laird negotiated the Qu'Appelle Lakes Treaty with resident natives of Saskatchewan in 1874 to procure land for the Canadian Pacific Railway? (Image:Davidlaird.png)
...that tradition credits King Gebra Maskal Lalibela with carving the monolithic churches of Lalibela from stone with his own hands, helped only by angels?
...that a strap-on dildo may be used by heterosexual couples for the sexual practice of pegging?
...that the Liverpool Blitz was a sustained bombing campaign on the city of Liverpool, United Kingdom, by the German Luftwaffe during the Second World War?

...that a strap-on dildo may be used by heterosexual couples for pegging?
...that Nobuo Fujita of the Imperial Japanese Navy conducted the only wartime bombing on the continental United States in 1942?(Image:FujitaNobuo.jpg)
...that the Mandara kingdom of West Africa was conquered by Modibo Adama of the Fulani Empire, Muhammad Ahmad of Sudan, and Germany within a single hundred year span?
...that in Scots law the civil action known as lawburrows—in use since 1429 and intended to prevent violence—is a simple, bond-based alternative to interdicts or court orders?
...that Robert Meeropol, son of Communists Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, was adopted by "Strange Fruit" lyricist Abel Meeropol following the Rosenbergs' execution for espionage?

...that the Victorian parlour game of Snap-dragon involved children plucking raisins out of burning brandy and eating them? (Image:SnapDragon.jpg)
...that the Paragould Meteorite is the third-largest meteorite ever discovered in North America?
...that Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches, an 1899 book by Charles Godfrey Leland, was one of the foundational texts of Wicca, but has been suspected of being a fraud?
...that more than 700 of the caricatures on display at Sardi's restaurant in New York City were drawn by a Russian refugee in exchange for meals at the restaurant?

...that identical Norwegian Lady Statues commemorating a shipwreck are located in the sister cities of Moss, Norway and Virginia Beach, Virginia facing each other across the Atlantic Ocean? (Image:Norwegian Lady figurehead postcard.jpg)
...that British archaeologist J. Desmond Clark discovered a site at Zambia's Kalambo Falls containing artifacts from over 250,000 years of human culture?
...that Operation Gibraltar was the name given to the failed plan by Pakistan to infiltrate Jammu and Kashmir, India and start a rebellion and that it eventually sparked the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965?
...that Francisco Pradilla Ortiz was a prolific Spanish painter who not only produced over 1,000 paintings but also was briefly the director of the Prado Museum?

...that Vermilion Lighthouse is a replica of the 1877 iron lighthouse that was forged from recycled smooth-bored cannons that had been obsoleted after the American Civil War? (Image:Vermilion Lighthouse in Vermilion, Ohio.jpg)
...that Naseeruddin Shah could not bag the title role in Gandhi, but later had opportunities to portray the Mahatma in a play and in a film?
...that the Tremont Street Subway in Boston, Massachusetts is the oldest subway tunnel in North America?
... that religious identity in Israel for Jews differs strikingly from that recognized in the Jewish diaspora?
... that Dolores Erickson, the woman on the album cover for Whipped Cream & Other Delights by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, was actually covered in shaving cream?

...that Taprogge GmbH supplies cleaning systems to clean condenser tubes from debris with sponged rubber balls? (Image:CleaningBalls.jpg)
...that Abelisaurus had a lighter skull than other dinosaurs due to large fenestrations behind its eyes?
...that Papillon is a famous memoir written by Henri Charrière about his numerous escape attempts from a French penal colony in French Guiana?
...that Varina Farms, the plantation of John Rolfe and Pocahontas, was site of the first successful cultivation of export tobacco in the Virginia Colony in 1612?

...that the anabolic steroid Methandrostenolone was prescribed to women in the 1960s as a tonic, until its masculinising effects were discovered? (Image:Methandrostenalone.gif)
...that Iannis Xenakis wrote Metastasis to represent the sounds of warfare and Einsteinian views of time?
...that parts of the first law passed by the U.S. Congress are still on the books?
...that Nagesh Kukunoor made Hyderabad Blues, the most successful independent film from India in just 17 days?

...that Hurricane Gordon was a Category 1 hurricane that killed 1,122 people in Haiti in 1994 and that the hurricane name was not retired by the World Meteorological Organization? (Image:Hurricane-gordon.gif)
...that Major League Cricket plans to launch a professional cricket league in the United States, with the goal of qualifying the U.S. for the Cricket World Cup by 2011?
...that the Valley Pike was a toll road managed by Harry F. Byrd which followed a Native American migratory trail in the Shenandoah Valley?
...that to prepare for future examinations, Singapore students use the ten year series to practice on past years' examination papers, some of which date back to before they were born?
...that "Toro Mata" ("The Bull Kills" in Spanish) is one of the most famous folk songs in Peru?

...that according to an old Polish legend, the sorcerer Pan Twardowski was the first man on the Moon? (Image:Barbara Radziwill ZjawaBarbary 19th century.jpg)
...that a single verb in the Nez Percé language, which is currently spoken by fewer than 100 people, can contain as much information as a complete sentence in English?
...that there are only 75 nonprismatic uniform polyhedra?
...that Norge, an unincorporated town in James City County, Virginia was established by Norwegian-Americans in the late 19th century?
...that the well-publicized defection of German agent Erich Vermehren in early 1944 led directly to the demise of the Abwehr?

...that the Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railway opened in 1904 as a leg of George J. Gould's planned transcontinental railroad, but went bankrupt in four years and later became part of the Alphabet Route? (Image:414px-P&WV map.svg.png)
...that amorphous ice is a solid form of water that, like glass, has no crystal structure?
...that American novelist Harold MacGrath had 18 of his 40 novels and 3 of his fictional short stories made into motion pictures?
...that the single "F.E.A.R." is based on Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise", which was in turn adapted from Stevie Wonder's "Pastime Paradise"?

...that the Third Battle of the Aisne was the final battle of the Aisne river during WWI? (Image:Carte France Département 02.png)

...that when the Toledo Harbor Lighthouse was automated with solar cells by the United States Coast Guard in 1965, it was staffed by a uniformed mannequin officer in order to prevent vandalism?
...that Farkhor Air Base in Tajikistan is India's only extraterritorial military base?
...that Bertrand Russell is the longest-lived of any Nobel Prize in Literature winner?
...that in 1969, a world record number of 15 million people attended the funeral of C.N.Annadurai, the first non Congress Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, India?

...that Glasgow's Wellington Church was founded in 1792 as an Anti-Burgher congregation? (Image:Wfm wellington church.jpg)
...that the contradictory term foot cavalry was first used to describe the rapid movement of infantry troops of General Stonewall Jackson during the American Civil War?
...that Elbert Frank Cox was the first black person in the world to get a Ph.D in mathematics?
...that Manga Sewa of Falaba surrendered his city to Mandinka conqueror Samori Ture by detonating himself and his family in the city's powder magazine?

...that the British Army used the Gatling gun in combat for the first time at the Battle of Ulundi during the Anglo-Zulu War? (Image:Gatling.gif)
...that former Moroccan prime minister Abderrahmane Youssoufi involved himself in socialist causes as early as the age of 20, by attempting to organize the Casablanca working class?
...that the New York-New Jersey Line War lasted more than half a century until it was finally settled by action of the King of Great Britain?
...that French officer Charles Mangin was despised by his troops during World War I due to his aggressive tactics, which earned him the nickname "The Butcher"?

...that Marguerite Clark left school at age 16, debuted on Broadway a year later, and then quickly became one of the major stage and film stars of the first two decades of the 20th century? (Image:ClarkMarguerite1916.jpg)
...that the Tu’i Tonga Empire was the most influential local empire in the history of Oceania?
...that Yunfa, a 19th-century ruler of the Africa kingdom of Gobir, made a personal attempt on the life of Fulani reformer Usman dan Fodio, triggering the Fulani War?
...that Ed Roberts became one of the founders of the disability rights movement when he lobbied for basic accommodations at the University of California, Berkeley?
...that Wash Woods is a lost town on Virginia's False Cape, which was built by survivors of a shipwreck using cypress wood that washed ashore?

...that the Sicilian cart is a colorful folk art form based on a cart design adopted from the ancient Greeks? (Image:Carretto.jpg)
...that not all Polish names end in -ski?
...that in 1930, the footballer Gerard Keizer played for both Arsenal and Ajax Amsterdam simultaneously, flying between England and the Netherlands to play in matches?
...that a sailor from the SS Thames owed his life to a cask of porter after the ship wrecked on the Isles of Scilly in 1841?
...that the town of Moronvilliers was totally destroyed in WWI and was also a site for French dry-nuclear testing?

...that Shakespeare and Company, an English-language bookstore in left bank Paris, first published James Joyce’s Ulysses in 1922, but the book was subsequently banned in the United States, United Kingdom and the author's home country Ireland? (Image:Shakespeare and Company store in Paris.jpg)
...that 1980s video game publisher BudgeCo was formed to distribute just two games?
...that the Reverend Dr. James Blair of Scotland was a clergyman and missionary to the Virginia Colony, and is best known as the founder in 1693 of the College of William and Mary, where he served as President for 50 years?
...that the Bombay Quadrangular cricket tournament originated in an 1877 game to foster interracial harmony, but was abandoned in 1946 over fears that its racial basis threatened Indian independence?

...that the 18th century Governor's Palace, originally completed in 1722 and last occupied by Thomas Jefferson in 1780, was carefully reconstructed, opening in 1934 as one of the two larger buildings at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia?
...that booth capturing is a kind of electoral fraud that is seen mainly in India, where armed gangs belonging to political parties try to "capture" a polling booth and indulge in bogus voting?
...that at the Second Battle of the Aisne in World War I, the French suffered over 187,000 casualties?
...that Lott Cary was an African American slave who became educated, bought his freedom, became a minister and physician, and helped found the Colony of Liberia in Africa in 1822?

...that Green Spring Plantation in James City County was home of Sir William Berkeley, who served three non-consecutive terms as governor of the Virginia Colony, and for whom Berkeley Plantation is named? (Image:Green Spring - NPS.jpg)
...that a young Aruna Asaf Ali had to commence the Quit India Movement in 1942 as all the major leaders were arrested the night before to prevent them from reaching the venue?
...that the Nivelle Offensive during World War I involved around 1.2 million French troops and over 7,000 guns?
...that American comics writer and artist Don Rico started his creative career in the Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project during the Great Depression?

...that Batman's Treaty was a treaty made between settler John Batman and local Wurundjeri elders in 1835 for the sale of land around Port Phillip and that it was one of the few attempts made by white settlers to negotiate with Australian Aborigines? (Image:Ac.johnbatman.jpg)
...that the 1970 Ancash earthquake and the landslide that followed killed at least 47,194 people and was the worst natural disaster ever recorded in the history of Peru?
...that Herman Ashworth was the fourth person to drop his appeals since the U.S. state of Ohio resumed the death penalty in 1999?
...that Indonesian women's rights organisation Gerwani was banned when General Suharto became President in

...that A. R. R. A. P. W. R. R. K. B. Amunugama has more initials than any other first-class cricketer?

...the the Torre del Oro, a watchtower constructed in the 13th century by the Almohad dynasty, protected the entrance to Seville's port with a large chain that stretched underwater from the tower's base across the river to stop unwanted ships? (Image:Sewilla-TorreDelOro.jpg)
...that W. G. Collingwood, John Ruskin's secretary and assistant was a noted scholar of Norse history and art?
...that during the 1976 Pacific hurricane season three consecutive storms made landfall?
...that Vicente Leñero, a prominent Mexican novelist, journalist and playwright, was a screenwriter for El Crimen del Padre Amaro, one of Mexico's all-time highest grossing films?
...that the U.S. Navy has been training Bottlenose Dolphins to subdue terrorists as part of the Cetacean Intelligence Mission?

...that the extinct Australian dromornithids, which included the largest birds known, are related to ducks and geese? (Image:GenyornisSmall.jpg)
...Sir Conrad Hunte was a West Indian cricketer who in 1965 set the record (550 runs) for the highest Test series aggregate score without scoring a century?
...that when the eight-mile Texas and Northern Railway began operations in 1948, it was designated a Class I railroad, in the same class as giants like the Pennsylvania Railroad?
...that Carmen Boullosa is a leading Mexican novelist, poet, and playwright whose award-winning play Teatro herético satirically addresses the issue of gender roles?

...that in 1915, Hollywood actress Anita King became the first female to ever drive an automobile across the continental United States alone and whose only companions, according to the Los Angeles Times, were "a rifle and a six shooter"? (Image:AnitaKingNYC.gif)
...that Valrhona, a company based in the small town of Tain l'Hermitage in the Rhône Valley in France, is one of the world's leading manufacturers of high-quality chocolate?
...that the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, which was passed by the Nazi regime on April 7, 1933, prohibited Jews and political opponents of the Nazis from working
...that it is estimated that more than 85 percent of all business information exists as unstructured data, commonly appearing in e-mails, memos, reports, letters, presentations and Web pages?

...that Elizabeth Taylor made her London stage debut in 1982 at the Victoria Palace Theatre in a revival of Lillian Hellman's play The Little Foxes?
...that Adolf Hitler was a self-proclaimed vegetarian and had a large greenhouse built to keep him supplied with fresh fruits and vegetables throughout World War II?
...that John W. Peoples, Jr. tried to have his execution carried out by electric chair instead of lethal injection?
...that Science Service used to broadcast information from its Science News magazine on the radio?
... that Igor Spassky, the head of the Russian Rubin Design Bureau, was the chief designer of 187 submarines (91 diesel-electric and 96 nuclear) as well as Halliburton oil platforms and the marine part of the Sea Launch complex?

...that the Casino Goa in Goa is the only legal casino in India?
...that Lancelot Blackburne was thought to have spent time in the Caribbean as a buccaneer as a young man, and lived openly with his mistress whilst Archbishop of York?
...that Nağaybäk Tatars of Russia constructed their own Paris, with Eiffel Tower?
...that the current German Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth Renate Schmidt was forced to quit school at the age of seventeen because of a pregnancy?
...that virtual plagues can infect and kill the characters in a massively multiplayer online role-playing game and are usually caused by unexpected problems with the programming code?

...that the 1994 Rwandan genocide led to a Great Lakes refugee crisis, which ended when nearly two million refugees returned to Rwanda at the start of the First Congo War? (Image:Rwandan refugee camp in east Zaire.jpg)
...that the Shell Lake murders were committed by Victor E. Hoffman three weeks after his release from a mental hospital and that he claimed to have had fought the Devil just before committing the murders?
...that the Battle of Garibpur fought between India and Pakistan preceded the official start of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, and was the first battle where dog fighting occurred over East Pakistan?
...that Maurice Tillet was disfigured by acromegaly from a young age, but cashed in on his appearance by becoming an early wrestler?
...that despite its federal mandate to provide only intercity rail service, Amtrak operated the Calumet commuter train between Chicago, Illinois and the Indiana suburb of Valparaiso from 1979 to 1991?

...that the obscure T-44 Soviet medium tank, designed and first built in Kharkiv, Ukraine, was the missing link between the T-34 of WWII and the T-54/55 series of the Cold War? (Image:T44 2.jpg)
...that passengers aboard JetBlue Airways Flight 292 were able to watch their own malfunctioning aircraft circle Los Angeles International Airport on the satellite television screens at each seat until the flight crew disabled the system in preparation for the aircraft's successful emergency landing?
...that more than one thousand people are caned in Singapore each year using a bamboo cane that has been soaked in water overnight to prevent splitting?
...that Egyptian actor Farid Shawki starred in 361 films?
...that Harry Thomas Thompson, a former yeoman of the United States Navy, was the first American to be convicted of espionage since World War I?

...that Patience Cooper, an Anglo-Indian actress, was the first to play a double role in an Indian film? (Image:Patience Cooper.jpg)
...the original Norfolk Southern Railway was a small regional railroad in Virginia and North Carolina for 98 years before it became the namesake of the current Norfolk Southern Railway in 1982?
...that, as a tribute to Arthur Stace, the Sydney Harbour Bridge was lit up with the word "Eternity" as the new millennium began?
...that the first ever golden goal was scored in the Cromwell Cup final at Bramall Lane, Sheffield in 1868, giving Sheffield Wednesday a 1-0 victory?
...that Charles Butler McVay III, commander of the USS Indianapolis, was blamed when it was lost at sea in 1945 and only finally exonerated by the United States Congress posthumously in 2000?

...that the 1985 Nairobi Agreement called for a ceasefire between the Ugandan government and rebels, the demilitarization of the capital (Kampala) and the absorption of the rebel leadership into the government? (Image:Uganda flag large.png)
...that the newly-discovered trans-Neptunian object 2003 UB313 is native to a distant region of our solar system known as the scattered disc?
...that in 2004, the world spent US$896,235 million on military expenditures and the U.S. military budget constituted 41 percent of this, placing the nation at the top of the list of countries by military expenditures?
...that Ithaa iin Maldives is the world's first and only underwater restaurant?
...that Subramanian Swamy worked towards normalizing Sino-Indian relations and persuaded Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping to open the Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet to Hindu pilgrims from India?

...that actor Mona Darkfeather, promoted as the first Native American movie star, was actually of English and Mestizo ancestry and a member of the prominent Southern California Workman family? (Image:MonaDarkfeather.jpg)
...that Baqa'a is the largest refugee camp for Palestinians in Jordan?
...that Henry Perky invented a machine to produce shredded wheat breakfast cereal and that he made his fortune selling the cereal rather than the machine?
...that in 1855 the Howard Association of Norfolk, Virginia received contributions during the yellow fever epidemic from the U.S. Gulf Coast areas and that 150 years later, they sent $50,000 of leftover funds to Louisiana to help with Hurricane Katrina relief?

...that the Buckingham Branch Railroad in Central Virginia was formed in 1989 and has expanded from a 16-mile railroad to operate over 200 miles of track? (Image:Charlottesville-2-20-2005---1.jpg)
...that the Flying Dragon is a lizard that has skin membranes which it uses to glide distances over 7 metres?
...that American photographer George W. Ackerman took over 50,000 photographs during a nearly 40-year career with the United States Department of Agriculture?
...that Serbia and Montenegro and Italy were co-hosts of the 2005 European Volleyball Championship?

...that the Emancipation Oak located on the campus of Hampton University is where the Virginia Peninsula's black community gathered in 1863 to hear the first Southern reading of President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation? (Image:Emanicipation oak hampton-cropped.jpg)
...that the modern Arms of the Principality of Wales are based on those borne by the 13th century Welsh prince Llywelyn the Great?
...that Dravidar Kazhagam formed in 1944 was the first fully Dravidian party in India?
...that conifer Torreya taxifolia was one of the first plant species listed as endangered in the United States?

...that Hendrick ter Brugghen was the artist primarily responsible for introducing the style of Caravaggio into Dutch painting? (Image:Hendrick ter Brugghen Flute Player.jpg)
... that the Old Well at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a neoclassical rotunda modelled after the Temple of Love at the Palace of Versailles?
...that the incisors of blesmols are visible even when their mouths are closed?
...that Australian swimmer Fanny Durack was considered to be the world's greatest female swimmer from 1910 until 1918?

...that the endangered American Burying Beetle is one of the only beetle species that exhibits parental care? (Image:American burying beetle.jpg)
...that the University of Dhaka is the oldest and largest public University in Bangladesh?
...that at 23.8 hours, The Hazards of Helen is believed to be the longest motion picture serial ever made?
...that Nicolas-Charles Bochsa, who helped found the Royal Academy of Music in 1822, was only in London because he had fled France five years earlier to avoid prosecution for multiple counts of forgery and fraud?
...that Fort Story at Cape Henry in Virginia Beach, Virginia was the site of the first landing of the Jamestown settlers in 1607, and the Cape Henry Lighthouse, first in the U.S., in 1792?

...that the Stavelot Triptych is a 12th century masterpiece of Mosan art created to display pieces of the True Cross? (Image:Stavelot.Triptych.jpg)
...that there have been six Indian Ocean Island Games, the latest being held on the isle of Mauritius in 2003?
...that Duke University anthropologist Anne Allison worked as a hostess girl for four months while researching Nightwork, her study of white-collar entertainment clubs in Japan?
...that Neuromarketing is a new field of marketing that uses functional magnetic resonance imaging to scan consumers' brains in order to determine which products they subconsciously like?
...that change of venue is the legal term for moving a jury trial away from a location where a fair and impartial jury may not be possible due to widespread publicity about a crime and/or the defendant?

...that Raj Ghat and other memorials are sometimes considered India's modern day equivalent of Westminster Abbey? (Image:Gandhi's Tomb.jpg)
...that the remains of Mungo Man are the oldest anatomically modern human remains found in Australia?
...that the anti-smuggling activities of the British frigate HMS Rose in 1775, provoked the Rhode Island government to commission the first warship, the Sloop of War Providence in what became the United States Navy?
...that "Blue Tail Fly" or "Jimmy Crack Corn" is a blackface minstrel song dating from the 1840s, and that on the surface, it is a black slave's lament over his master's death; the subtext is that he is glad his master is dead, and may have killed him by deliberate negligence?

...that the Perth Mint is the oldest operating mint in Australia and that it has produced over 4,500 tonnes of refined gold which represents about 3.25 percent of the total tonnage of gold ever produced? (Image:Perth Mint.jpg)
...that in 1910 the Kalem Company became the first American film studio to ever make a motion picture outside the United States when a film crew went on location in Ireland?
...that there were three more cancelled Apollo missions planned to land on the Moon after Apollo 17?
...that Indra Lal Roy of the Royal Air Force became India's first flying ace after he achieved 10 victories in thirteen days during World War I?

...that during the 1878 flood in Miskolc, Hungary, the water level rose 50 cm per minute and in some parts of the city water was 4 to 5 m high? (Image:Memorial of the Flood 1878.jpg)
...that the first U.S. state agricultural experiment station was established at Wesleyan University in Connecticut in 1875?
...that the Judean date palm, which was thought to have died out around 1 CE, was resurrected using a single seed found in the palace of Herod the Great on Mount Masada in southern Israel?
...that the naval victory of Travancore State over Dutch East India Company in the Battle of Colachel in 1741 is considered the first example of an Asian power defeating a European navy?

...that in the next five years, 40,000 African soldiers will be trained to conduct peace support operations and humanitarian relief under the African Contingency Operations Training and Assistance program? (Image:ACRI.jpg)
..that in 1982, 68 kg of gold bars were stolen in a robbery that became known as the Perth Mint Swindle, and that seven years later 55 kg of the gold was found dumped outside a Perth television station?
...that the Isles of Scilly and the Netherlands fought the Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years' War from 1651 to 1986, and that not a single shot was fired during this war?
...that Caesar Augustus, his wife Livia and numerous other members of Julio-Claudian dynasty were entombed in the Mausoleum of Augustus?

...that Ernst Litfaß was the inventor of the free-standing advertising column which bears his name?(Image:Litfaß column Feb05.JPG)
...that Rosa Montero is a leading author of contemporary feminist literature and a senior journalist for Spain's largest newspaper, El País?
...that Hazelwood power station is the single largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in Australia, although it is only the sixth-largest power station?
...that the name of the Congolese writer Tchicaya U Tam'si means small paper, which speaks for a country in Zulu?
...that silent film actor Harrison Ford and present-day star Harrison Ford each have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?

...that the famous Wallace fountains in Paris were provided by English philanthropist Richard Wallace as a source of free water for the poor? (Image:Fontaine paris.JPG
...that the University Students' African Revolutionary Front was a political student group formed in 1967 at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania?
...that the only remaining instance of active use of the death penalty in Europe is in capital punishment in Belarus?
...that Fort Atkinson was the first U.S. Army post established west of the Missouri River?