User:Generalissima/Did you know?

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(For my DYK chains, see User:Generalissima/QpQ)

Current DYK count: 88

...that the historical lands and fishing grounds of the Skinpah were buried underwater by the construction of The Dalles Dam? (October 2, 2023)
...that despite having no professional training or experience, DeLancey W. Gill was appointed to take thousands of photographs for the Smithsonian Institution? (October 15, 2023)
...that the Royal Mint reportedly shipped rare silver coins to New Zealand in unsecured bags, claiming they had not been advised to take extra precaution? (November 8, 2023)
...that some ancient Athenian coins featured the faces of gorgons? (November 24, 2023)
...that fridges filled with "frozen duck" sent to Britain actually contained illegal coins? (December 2, 2023)
... that The Math Myth advocates for American high schools to stop requiring advanced algebra? (December 8, 2023)
... that a design for the New Zealand florin was criticized as looking like a violently defecating kiwi? (December 10, 2023)
... that the pastor John Littlejohn went from selling pornographic literature to sailors as a youth to protecting the Declaration of Independence? (December 21, 2023)
... that cabinet-maker Stephen Badlam simultaneously served as a justice of the peace and a brigadier-general? (January 3, 2024)
... that a design for the 1930s New Zealand penny depicted a rugby player? (January 5, 2024)
... that British intervention reversed the lacquering of a statue in New Zealand? (January 6, 2024)
New Zealand Shilling
Qalaherriaq
... that The New Zealand Herald opposed a children's hospital in favour of a statue of Queen Victoria? (January 8, 2024)
... that a New Zealand coin was declared evidence of an atheistic government by detractors? (January 17, 2024)
... that the Māori warrior on the New Zealand shilling (pictured) was actually depicted wearing a dance uniform? (January 24, 2024)
... that a commemorative coin was made for a nonexistent royal visit to New Zealand? (January 25, 2024)
... that two rival designers independently submitted a map for the design of a 1940 New Zealand coin? (January 29, 2024)
... that a hammer and sickle motif was proposed for the New Zealand sixpence? (January 30, 2024)
... that teenage Inuk interpreter Qalaherriaq (pictured) drew an accurate map of northwest Greenland while using a pencil for the first time? (February 6, 2024)
... that the patu clubs on the New Zealand threepence were compared to bottles of ginger beer? (February 9, 2024)
... that a species of butterfly was named in honor of an Inuit interpreter? (February 11, 2024)
... that a law banning Native Americans from living in Seattle was voided when Seattle itself was abolished? (February 12, 2024)
... that despite various proposals, a statue of a renowned Dunedin clergyman was not moved from its location adjacent to a brothel and two parking lots? (February 14, 2024)
... that Eenoolooapik fell ill while kayaking through Aberdeen in traditional Inuit clothing? (February 15, 2024)
... that the "first settler of Asotin County" was the second? (February 24, 2024)
... that a Stone Age Siberian village is the oldest known fortification in the world? (February 27, 2024)
... that Métis guide Pierre St. Germain was forced to remain with an Arctic expedition he considered too dangerous? (March 1, 2024)
... that names have been steadily added to a Bellingham fishermen's memorial as local fishermen are lost at sea? (March 18, 2024)
... that Majed Abu Maraheel, the first Palestinian Olympian, tended flowers for a living before becoming an Olympic runner? (March 29, 2024, conom with Arconning)
... that a massive smallpox epidemic struck the Pacific Northwest shortly before historical records were kept? (March 29, 2024)
... that Native Americans in Seattle sought refuge on an artificial island composed of waste thrown overboard from ships? (March 30, 2024)
... that slave trader Jourdan Saunders greatly profited from a Louisiana law banning slave trading? (April 4, 2024)
... that some Confederate bullets were sourced from a silver mine? (April 6, 2024)
... that a Japanese island has rapidly fluctuated in size? (April 7, 2024)
... that the design on a New Zealand coin was incorrectly alleged to represent a "personified phallus"? (April 10, 2024)
... that Independence Lost argues that most support for the American Revolution was non-ideological? (April 12, 2024)
... that a 17th-century male-authored book was adapted to argue in favor of women's superiority? (April 23, 2024)
... that the Gusuku period saw massive castles built on "virtually every ridge"? (April 30, 2024)
... that John Quincy Adams described Jonathan Elliot, his former printer, as "penurious and venal"? (May 4, 2024)
... that a bust of the notorious slave trader Isaac Franklin was placed on the prow of his slave ship, the Isaac Franklin? (May 7, 2024)
... that ancient humans cared for a 14,000-year-old puppy? (May 13, 2024)
... that after criticizing the political patronage system, John Silva Meehan was hired as Librarian of Congress through "purely an act of political patronage"? (May 20, 2024)
... that an ancient Chinese village likely had its own local pyromancer? (May 23, 2024)
... that Napoleon awarded a medal to English inventor James White? (May 23, 2024)
... that the chief editor of the United States' Telegraph allegedly gouged a rival reporter's eyes inside a Senate office? (May 24, 2024)
... that John Gould Stephenson fought at the Battle of Gettysburg while serving as the librarian of Congress? (May 25, 2024)
... that within years of Aza Arnold inventing a device to improve cotton roving, it was plagiarized across the United States and Europe? (June 7th, 2024)
... that over the course of several decades, the missionaries of New Zealand's German Mission House failed to convert a single person? (June 9th, 2024)
... that academic Bunny Mellor served as a secret agent alongside Peter Fleming? (June 16, 2024)
... that Drake discovered an ancient Chinese city? (June 17th, 2024)
... that the sheep-farming founder of Kekerengu in New Zealand became an international fugitive? (June 21st, 2024)
... that the Creamoata Mill, which once produced a now-nonexistent breakfast food, was listed as Gore's only "place of outstanding historical and cultural influence"? (June 22, 2024)
Obverse of the Auto Dollar
... that a Chinese warlord put his car on coinage (pictured), in lieu of his own portrait? (June 24, 2024)
... that Dick Walker's discovery of Saturn's moon Epimetheus was only realized twelve years later? (June 26, 2024)
Sketch of Capital Bicycle Club uniform, 1883
... that despite specializing in literature and serving as a senior editor of the Zhonghua Book Company, historian Zhang Zhenglang never published a single book of his own? (July 5, 2024)
... that a video game consisting solely of a clickable image of a banana was briefly the second-most played game on Steam? (July 11, 2024)
... that when sales slowed on the Texas Centennial half dollar, Senator Tom Connally suggested minting five separate versions? (July 13, 2024)
... that carpenter Cumming Haswell erected a historic villa, later described as "modestly-scaled but ornamental"? (July 18, 2024)
... that musician Henry Donch witnessed the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and served on the grand jury that indicted the assassin of President Garfield? (July 21, 2024)
... that citizens of New Westminster burnt effigies of Attorney General George Hunter Cary and drowned the ashes? (August 2, 2024)
... that residents reported the first cycling club in Washington, D.C. (uniform pictured), to the police over concerns that bicycles posed a danger to pedestrians? (August 8, 2024)
... that locally endangered Eurasian otters along the river Meghri have become a nuisance to local fish farmers? (August 11, 2024)
... that Lothar von Falkenhausen was appointed an honorary professor of Zhejiang University, an honor usually reserved for Nobel Prize winners? (August 12, 2024)
... that before becoming a commissioner of Indian affairs, William P. Dole was only known to have encountered Native Americans once in his life? (August 14, 2024)
... that Chinese archaeologist Zou Heng was forced to work as a poultry farmer during the Cultural Revolution? (August 15, 2024)
... that Nosy Komba is a destination for both ecotourism and logging? (August 25, 2024)
... that thousands of crocodiles were once farmed on Bazaruto Island? (August 26, 2024)
... that Bangué, the smallest island of the Bazaruto Archipelago, was formed by ocean waves shaped by the surrounding archipelago? (August 30, 2024)
... that architect Ivan Palmaw designed houses in Shanghai and Seattle after fleeing the Russian Revolution? (September 6, 2024)
... that William Aitken, William J. Bain, J. Lister Holmes, John T. Jacobsen, and George W. Stoddard collaborated in the early 1940s to design America's first racially integrated public housing development? (September 7, 2024)
... that Zhong Jingwen was known as the "father of Chinese folklore studies"? (September 14, 2024)
... that Queen Anne Pool opened to the public one day late, after a thermostat glitch accidentally heated the pool to 100 °F (38 °C)? (September 18, 2024)
... that the Republic of China produced coins featuring emperor Yuan Shikai (pictured) for decades after his demise? (September 19, 2024)
Yuan Shikai dollar
... that every summer, the Suiattle River dirties the Sauk with glacial debris? (September 20, 2024)
... that architect Donald MacKay designed a fire station which later burnt down in the Great Seattle Fire? (September 20, 2024)
... that the Dust Bowl refugee Ibsen Nelsen received the Purple Heart and became a fellow of the American Institute of Architects? {September 26, 2024)
... that Benjamin F. McAdoo was the first Black architect to be licensed in the U.S. state of Washington? (September 27, 2024)
... that Nancy S. Steinhardt completed her doctorate on medieval Chinese architecture before she was able to see any in person? (October 9, 2024)
... that Harold C. Hinton was one of the only American academics under McCarthyism to study communist China? (October 14, 2024)
... that Albert Bumgardner's design for an architectural press office was highly publicized in the architectural press? (October 16, 2024)
1912 memento dollar
... that the first silver dollars of the Republic of China were crudely designed mementos (example pictured)? (October 17, 2024)
... that an ancient Canadian archaeological site was discovered during the construction of a dump? (October 23, 2024)
... that some delegates elected in the Qing Dynasty's first provincial elections were secretly affiliated with republican revolutionaries? (October 26, 2024)
Chong Wa Benevolent Association Building
... that Wing Sam Chinn combined Chinese and Beaux-Arts architecture in his design for a building in Seattle (pictured)? (October 29, 2024)
... that John Hawks was the first professionally trained architect to stay in the Thirteen Colonies? (November 13, 2024)
... that China was once the "Kingdom of Bicycles"? (November 14, 2024)
... that Sun Jianai co-founded one of China's first national universities in 1898? (November 16, 2024)
... that the myth of Shunten, the legendary first king of Chūzan, was used to justify the 1872 annexation of Okinawa? (November 28, 2024)
... that Yangginu plotted to defeat Khan Wan to avenge his murdered father? (December 12, 2024)