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Did you know...
edit28 February 2005
edit- 10:10, 28 February 2005 (UTC)
- ...that school bus yellow is a specific shade of yellow formally adopted as the standard color for school buses in the United States in 1939, following a conference funded by the Rockefeller Foundation?
- ...that an amateur baseball tournament held on August 16, 1933 in the Christie Pits, ended with Nazi-sympathisers unveiling a flag depicting a swastika?
- ...that during the "dawn-to-dusk" publicity run for the CB&Q's Pioneer Zephyr on May 26 1934, the train reached a top speed of 112.5 mph (181 kph)?
27 February 2005
edit- 12:22, 27 February 2005 (UTC)
- ...that The Yiddish King Lear by Jacob Gordin is not a translation of Shakespeare's King Lear, but that the title is an acknowledgement of the roots of the plot?
- ...that Ulysses S. Grant awarded Bolama to Portugal, who made it the first capital of Portuguese Guinea?
- ...that when he was promoted to president of the Great Northern Railway in 1919, Ralph Budd was the youngest American railroad president up to that date?
- ...that Boxcar is an Australian electronic band that sometimes performed wearing gas masks?
25 February 2005
edit- 08:42, 25 February 2005 (UTC)
- ...that the Slovak National Theatre hosted its first performance, the Czech opera Hubička by Bedřich Smetana, at its opening on March 1, 1920?
- ...that in the history of neurology, Ancient Egyptians described the effect of high transection of the spinal cord in humans?
- ...that empty nest syndrome is a form of depression that affects parents when a child leaves home?
- ...that Sue Rubin, the subject of the documentary film Autism Is a World, was considered mentally challenged until she learned to communicate with a keyboard?
23 February 2005
edit- 13:12, 23 February 2005 (UTC)
- ... that the Slovakia Summit 2005 between Presidents Bush and Putin will mark the first occasion when a sitting President of the United States visits Slovakia?
- ... that Representative Edith Nourse Rogers sponsored the G.I. Bill and the legislation that created the Women's Army Corps before becoming the longest-serving woman in the U.S. Congress?
- ... that The Patty Duke Show challenged the scope of special effects on television in the 1960s, with Patty Duke playing two roles?
- ... that John Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset was one of the most noted cricketers of the mid-to-late 18th century?
21 February 2005
edit- 06:41, 21 February 2005 (UTC)
- ...that Elmer Robinson was the 33rd mayor of San Francisco?
- ...that Ferdinandea was a volcanic island near Sicily which was claimed by four countries when it appeared in 1831, but was destroyed by erosion less than a year later?
- ...that Andy the Clown performed at Chicago White Sox games for 30 years, outlasting an attempt to replace him with two new mascots?
- ...that Arthur Ronald Nall Nall-Cain, 2nd Baron Brocket—grandfather of British TV celebrity Lord Brocket—was a known Nazi sympathiser?
19 February 2005
edit- 16:48, 19 February 2005 (UTC)
- ...that Devils & Dust, the upcoming folk album from Bruce Springsteen, will be his nineteenth released album?
18 February 2005
edit- 23:13, 18 February 2005 (UTC)
- ...that Hungarian-born composer Mátyás Seiber was killed in a car crash while on a lecture tour of South Africa?
- ...that a Pd/H2 electrode is a reference electrode similar to a standard hydrogen electrode (with platinum), but with the added ability to absorb molecular hydrogen?
- ...that Hamilton Palace in Scotland was lent for use as a naval hospital during World War I, by Alfred Douglas-Hamilton, 13th Duke of Hamilton?
- ...that Obolon CJSC, the largest Ukrainian brewer based in Kiev, was the first private company of the independent Ukraine?
16 February 2005
edit- 13:39, 16 February 2005 (UTC)
- ...that the ancient marketplace of Rhapta on the east African coast is believed to have been an important link in bringing the spices cinnamon and cassia west by merchants?
- ...that Leonid Kadeniuk, the first astronaut of the independent Ukraine, made his first space flight on NASA's space shuttle Columbia in 1997, and had been training for such a mission since 1976?
- ...that Godfrey Ho, a Hong-Kong based filmmaker, has been credited under more than 20 different pseudonyms?
- ...that the clapping game Mary Mack may refer to the Battle of Hampton Roads?
15 February 2005
edit- 09:07, 15 February 2005 (UTC)
- ...that the Western Railway Corridor, built in the late 1800s, links Limerick to Sligo through the West of Ireland?
- ...that scotopic sensitivity syndrome is a form of dyslexia which makes it very difficult for a person to read black text on white paper?
- ...that Playland, often called Rye Playland, is America's only government owned and operated amusement park?
- ...that faculty members at the Stanford Institute for International Studies include Condoleezza Rice and William Perry?
13 February 2005
edit- 17:12, 13 February 2005 (UTC)
- ...that the first person to formally convert to Buddhism in America was Charles T. Strauss, a New York businessman, in 1893?
- ...that a fire-control system is a computer which is designed to assist a weapon system in hitting its target(s)?
- ...that girls in Poland wear red lingerie underneath their dresses during a studniówka (high school ball)?
- ...that the poorly studied Evermannellidae family, or Sabertooth fish, have oversized, inward curving teeth suggestive of the sabertooth cats' teeth?
12 February 2005
edit- 14:11, 12 February 2005 (UTC)
- ...that Julia A. Moore inspired the character of Emmeline Grangerford in Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?
- ...that the Asiatic Society of Bombay possesses one of the only two surviving original copies of Dante's The Divine Comedy?
- ...that rugby player Wayne Shelford suffered a ripped scrotum during an All Blacks match against France?
11 February 2005
edit- 23:11, 11 February 2005 (UTC)
- ...that the film David and Lisa, shot in black-and-white for just $183,000, was nominated for the 1962 Academy Award for Directing?
10 February 2005
edit- 07:24, 10 February 2005 (UTC)
- ...that the Battle of Appomattox Court House signalled the end of the American Civil War?
- ...that Reginald Hill's novel "A Clubbable Woman" was his first story about Dalziel and Pascoe?
- ...that tumor markers are chemical substances found in blood that arise from the presence of cancerous tissues?
- ...that the Squirrel Nut Zippers were influenced by the energetic sounds of 1920s hot jazz?
9 February 2005
edit- 13:27, 9 February 2005 (UTC)
- ...that there are multiple theories why LMLK seals were stamped on the handles of large storage jars in and around Jerusalem circa 700 BC?
- ...that Aquarius is the world's only underwater research facility?
- ...that Elecia Battle, who claimed to have a 162 million dollar lottery winning ticket, is a professional female boxer?
- ...that the film Dangerous Minds was based on the true story by the high school teacher Louanne Johnson, My Posse Don't Do Homework?
8 February 2005
edit- 11:26, 8 February 2005 (UTC)
- ...that black seadevils are a family of anglerfish named for their baleful appearance and pitch black skin?
- ...that ignorantia juris non excusat is Latin for the legal doctrine, "ignorance of the law is no excuse"?
- ...that medieval pilgrims on the Way of St James would join up at the French Basque town of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port before crossing the Pyrenees?
- ...that in the animated Laff-a-Lympics, non-competing Hanna-Barbera characters such as Fred Flintstone and Jabberjaw made appearances as guest announcers?
7 February 2005
edit- 14:16, 7 February 2005 (UTC)
- ... that the Great Lakes Storm of 1913 was the deadliest natural disaster to hit the Great Lakes basin region, killing over 250 people?
- ... that professional wrestler Gorilla Monsoon grew a long beard and billed himself as a terrifying giant from Manchuria as a heel gimmick?
- ... that U.S. Ambassador Charles E. Bohlen received the secret protocol to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which contained an understanding between Hitler and Stalin to split Central Europe, from German diplomat Hans von Herwarth?
- ...that Nancy Olson was nominated for an Oscar for playing the "good" girl in Sunset Boulevard shortly after being considered for the role of the temptress Delilah in the film Samson and Delilah?
6 February 2005
edit- 12:08, 6 February 2005 (UTC)
- ... that Franz Liszt's Piano Sonata in B minor was influenced by Franz Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy?
- ... that the only international cricket in South Africa between 1971 and 1981 comprised 6 private tours and 1 women's test match, because no test match playing nation was willing to tour the country because of its apartheid policy?
- ... that in the ionization chamber of a smoke detector, ions strike smoke particles and are neutralized, and this drop in current triggers the alarm?
- ... that the Saladin tithe was levied in England in 1188 to help finance the Third Crusade?
5 February 2005
edit- 15:36, 5 February 2005 (UTC)
- ... that Catsear is sometimes mistaken for dandelions, and has similar culinary uses?
- ... that Mary Magdalene realized that Jesus had returned from the dead after his crucifixion in the Bible verse John 20:16?
- ... that the Fox television series Herman's Head used characters to represent different aspect of the main character's psyche, similar to Eric Berne's concept of transactional analysis?
- ...that tusk shells are a class of marine mollusks that resemble elephants' tusks, and were used by the natives of the Pacific Northwest as wampum?
- 00:24, 5 February 2005 (UTC)
- ...that Senator William A. Blakley of the U.S. state of Texas worked as ranch hand as a young man?
- ...that the tangent piano is a rare keyboard instrument that fuses the sound of the harpsichord and piano?
- ...that in 1944, Gwethalyn Graham was the first Canadian writer to reach number one on The New York Times bestseller list, with a novel depicting an interfaith romance between a Protestant woman and a Jewish man?
- ...that the earliest record of Gaelic handball is the 1527 town statutes of Galway, Ireland, which forbade the playing of ball games against the walls?
3 February 2005
edit- 11:26, 3 February 2005 (UTC)
- ... that DONKEY.BAS was a computer game cowritten by Bill Gates and included with early versions of the PC-DOS operating system for the original IBM PC, in which the player must avoid hitting donkeys?
- ...that the 1995 documentary film Anne Frank Remembered contains the only known film footage of the young diarist?
- ... that the Beatles' song "Polythene Pam" was partly inspired by a Liverpool fan who ate polyethylene?
- ...that the Fairy Queen is the longest-operating steam locomotive in the world?
1 February 2005
edit- 22:07, 1 February 2005 (UTC)
- ...that the English outsider artist Madge Gill claimed to be guided by a spirit she called Myrninerest (my inner rest), and often signed her works with this name?
- ...that Fastnet Rock, a small clay-slate island with quartz veins, is the southernmost point of Ireland?
- ...that in the court case Trop v. Dulles, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that it was unconstitutional for the government to cancel the citizenship of a U.S. citizen as a punishment?
- ... that Nica de Koenigswarter of the Rothschild family was known as the "bebop baroness" for her patronage of jazz musicians, including Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker?