This is a record of material that was recently featured on the Main Page as part of Did you know (DYK). Recently created new articles, greatly expanded former stub articles and recently promoted good articles are eligible; you can submit them for consideration.
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Did you know...
edit30 May 2004
edit- ...that the Oxford University Museum was the site of a major debate in evolutionary biology?
- ...that toothed whales and baleen whales use different means to produce the sounds that comprise whale songs?
- ...that Chick Gandil was the ringleader of the 1919 Black Sox scandal in American baseball?
- ...that Galileo's father Vincenzo Galilei was a noted Italian lutenist?
- ...that Canada Dry ginger ale became a popular mixer during Prohibition, when its flavor helped mask the taste of homemade liquor?
28 May 2004
edit- ...that British Columbia provincial highway 2 is a short road from Dawson Creek to the B.C./Alberta border?
- ...that four planes were simultaneously hijacked in the 1970 Dawson's Field hijackings?
- ...that the caterpillars of the Anise Swallowtail butterfly like to eat fennel?
27 May 2004
edit- ...that Battleship Row bore the brunt of the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor?
- ...that Sale of the Century was Australia's longest-running game show?
- ...that freak waves are common near Cape Algulhas off the southern tip of Africa?
26 May 2004
edit- ...that Andante in C was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's first composition?
25 May 2004
edit- ...that in Irish politics, no ordinary referendum has ever occurred?
24 May 2004
edit- ...that the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption in Washington was the first major volcanic eruption to occur in the U.S. since the 1915 eruption of Lassen Peak in California?
- ...that bag people were common in the USSR following the Russian Revolution?
- ...that women are twice as likely as men to have pulmonary hypertension?
- ...that some people believe that the Angels of Mons helped protect British forces during World War I's Battle of Mons?
23 May 2004
edit- ...that the most popular brand of absinthe was Pernod Fils?
- ...that Canada's tax policy does not include an inheritance tax?
- ...that an oast house is a traditional Kentish structure for drying hops before brewing?
- ...that George Rogers Clark, older brother of William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, captured two British forts during the American Revolutionary War?
- ...that Emilio Carranza was known as "the Lindbergh of Mexico"?
- ...that Kawaiahao Church is known as the Westminster Abbey of Hawaii?
- ...that corals, graptolites, brachiopods and trilobites are frequently used as index fossils?
- ...that the assassination in Sarajevo of Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria led to World War I? (Okay, you probably did know that one.)
- ...that many old buildings near Government Center in Boston once hid fugitive slaves riding the Underground Railroad?
21 May 2004
edit- ...that the Irish Supreme Court sits at the Four Courts building in Dublin?
- ...that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 banned literacy tests as a voting qualification in the U.S.?
- ...that surgery patients who experience anesthesia awareness may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder?
- ...that rapid single flux quantum is an electronics technology that relies on quantum effects in superconducting materials rather than the present-day transistor standard?
20 May 2004
edit- ...that Pizza Hut was founded by Dan and Frank Carney?
- ...that the cucumber sandwich is an integral part of polite tea?
- ...that in 1934 Leonid Nikolaev was executed for the murder of Sergei Kirov, the popular chief of the Leningrad Communist Party?
- ...that after the Red Baron, French ace René Fonck had the most confirmed World War I aerial victories?
- ...that the Australian Corps was the largest corps fielded by the British army in France during World War I?
- ...that authentic shrunken heads have nose hair?
- ...that an apartment building known as Pavlov's House became a symbol of Soviet resistance during World War II's Battle of Stalingrad?
- ...that public broadcasting in New Zealand of color television began in 1975?
- ...that the first branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia was located in Philly's city hall?
19 May 2004
edit- ...that the Lion's Mane Jellyfish is the biggest jellyfish in the world?
- ...that residents of California buy more earthquake insurance than residents of any other U.S. state?
- ...that in architecture, there are at least five kinds of buttress: clasping, angle, flying, set-back and diagonal?
- ...that during the Cold War, Soviet leaders used "And you are lynching Negroes..." as an ad hominem attack against the U.S.?
- ...that the Temple Bar marks the western edge of the City of London?
18 May 2004
edit- ...that hoodoos are tall skinny spires of rock that protrude from the bottom of arid basins and badlands?
- ...that the evolution of sex is a major puzzle of evolutionary biology, due to the so-called two-fold cost of sex?
- ...that the hyper engine was a hypothetical aircraft engine design meant to deliver 1 horsepower from 1 cubic inch of displacement?
- ...that Gatianus of Tours was one of seven bishops sent by Pope Fabian from Rome to Gaul to preach the Gospel?
- ...that quantum optics is a field of research in physics, dealing with the application of quantum mechanics to phenomena of light?
16 May 2004
edit- ...that hoodoos are tall skinny spires of rock that protrude from the bottom of arid basins and badlands?
- ...that the Hubbard Glacier is the longest tidewater glacier in Alaska?
- ...that former U.S. decathlete Rafer Johnson ignited the Olympic Flame during the opening ceremonies of the 1984 Summer Olympics?
- ...that it was the British geologist Joseph Prestwich who confirmed the findings of Boucher de Perthes?
- ...that England brokered the 1617 Treaty of Stolbova between Sweden and Russia?
15 May 2004
edit- ...that One Hundred Years of Solitude is considered Gabriel García Márquez's magnum opus?
- ...that Groundskeeper Willie, a character on The Simpsons, coined the phrase cheese-eating surrender monkeys?
- ...that the Mid-Canada Line was a line of radar sites across Canada designed to be an nuclear attack early-warning system?
- ...that what was probably the last living Spix's Macaw died in 2000?
- ...that the caterpillar of the Western Tiger Swallowtail butterfly has large yellow eyespots?
- ...that on Dagen H, or H Day, (Sunday September 3, 1967) at 5:00 am, Swedes switched from driving on the left to the right?
- ...that Taiwan professional baseball was started in 1989, and the two leagues merged in 2003?
14 May 2004
edit- ...that the All-China Youth Network Civilization Convention is a short statement promulgated by the authorities in the People's Republic of China, regulating the use of the internet by the Chinese youth?
13 May 2004
edit- ...that the Vickers machine gun was the standard weapon on all British and French military aircraft after 1916?
- ...that nearly half the eligible male population of New Zealand served in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force during World War I?
- ...that the Pascha greeting is an Easter custom amongst Orthodox Christians?
12 May 2004
edit- ...that the Homestead Grays were the Negro League world champs every year from 1937 through 1945?
- ...that the Duchy of the Archipelago was an alliance of islands in the Aegean Sea organized after the Fourth Crusade?
11 May 2004
edit- ...that the Siam Tulip is not a tulip, but is related to ginger?
- ...that Marcin Kromer was a 16th century Prince-Bishop of Warmia, cartographer, and historian in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth?
- ...that the so-called Loughall Martyrs were a group of eight men from the Provisional IRA's East Tyrone Brigade who were ambushed and killed on May 8 1987 by the British special forces, the SAS?
10 May 2004
edit- ...that the Exotic World Burlesque Museum is located on the site of an abandoned goat farm?
8 May 2004
edit- ...that the first helicopter flight was in 1906 in Lisieux, France?
- ...that most people on a raw food diet won't eat anything heated to more than 46°C (115°F)?
- ...that the root of the Purple Salsify tastes of oysters?
- ...that the Homomonument in Amsterdam commemorates all gay men and lesbians who have been subjected to persecution because of their sexual orientation?
- ...that the Diadochi were generals of Alexander the Great who sought power after his death?
- ...that when released, the film Waterworld was the biggest failure, in terms of returns?
6 May 2004
edit- ...that the saliva of a Common Garter Snake may be toxic to amphibians and other small animals?
- ...that the Maltese alphabet contains 29 letters but does not contain the Latin letter Y?
- ...that Abercrombie & Fitch was founded in 1892 and originally sold hunting, camping and fishing gear?
- ...that in the 19th century the Wörthersee became an exclusive summer retreat for Vienna's nobility?
5 May 2004
edit- ...that Broadmoor Hospital is the most famous mental institution in England?
- ...that the longest extra inning game in professional baseball history was an International League game that lasted 33 innings?
- ...that the Three-Self Patriotic Movement is part of the only government-sanctioned Protestant church in the People's Republic of China?
- ...that an American thoroughbred racehorse named Cigar was the first winner of the Dubai World Cup?
3 May 2004
edit- ...that all members of the genus Zigadenus are unpalatable to livestock because of the presence of alkaloids?
- ...that in 1169 Denny Abbey was handed over to the Knights Templar?
- ...that Dave Righetti was the first player in Major League Baseball history to pitch a no-hitter and lead the league in saves in a career?
- ...that the co-winner with Jane Addams of the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize was Nicholas Butler?
2 May 2004
edit- ...that although opera contralto Ernestine Schumann-Heink had a son fighting on the other side, she toured the United States to raise money for the USA in World War I?
- ...that Taiwan celebrates a national Teacher's Day holiday each September 28?
- ...that both serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors and novel antidepressants like bupropion work on multiple neurotransmitters?
- ...that the HMS Finisterre replaced her sister-ship the Hogue in Far Eastern service after the latter was destroyed by a collision with an Indian cruiser?