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Did you know...
edit31 March 2004
edit- ...that in the late 1940s the USAF Northrop YB-49 set both an unofficial endurance record and a trans-continental speed record?
- ...that the cause of exploding head syndrome may be a minor seizure in the temporal lobe?
- ...that Power Girl is a cousin of Superman from the DC Comics universe?
- ...that linguicism is a prejudice based on someone's use of language?
- ...that meiosis, a form of cell division, confers a selective advantage?
- ...that a chicken sexer is specially trained to visually determine the sex of chicken hatchlings?
- ...that a Klondike bar is a dessert generally consisting of a vanilla square coated with a thin layer of chocolate?
- ... the Report on the Affairs of British North America stated in 1839 that Canada consisted of "two nations warring in the bosom of a single state?"
30 March 2004
edit- ... the Report on the Affairs of British North America said that Canada consisted of "two nations warring in the bosom of a single state?"
- ...that Greeneyes are hermaphroditic?
- ...that Clint Malarchuk sustained one of the most horrific in-game injuries in NHL history?
- ...that a Chicken sexer is specially trained to visually determine the sex of chicken hatchlings?
- ...that Monique Serf was only ten years old when she had to go into hiding during the German occupation of France in World War II?
- ...that in the 1930s, Australia was home to a paramilitary Fascist organization called the New Guard?
- ...that Dolmabahçe Palace was the administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1853 to 1923?
- ...that the U.S. Academic Decathlon was first organized in Orange County, California?
- ...that until the 1930s, methanol was the most widely used antifreeze?
- ...that the Auditorium Building in Chicago, Illinois was intended to rival New York City's Metropolitan Opera House?
29 March 2004
edit- ...that NASA offers interested individuals opportunities to fly small experiments aboard the space shuttle called Getaway Specials?
- ...that Dido class cruisers fought in the Battle of Cape Matapan, Battle of Okinawa, Operation Overlord, and Operation Torch?
- ...that Zenna Henderson's story "Pottage" was made into an ABC-TV Movie, "The People", starring William Shatner?
- ...that Anne Isabella Milbanke was certain her husband, Lord Byron, had gone mad?
- ...that the Kharosthi script was in use from the middle of the 3rd century BC until around the 3rd century AD?
- ...that the governor of Texas during the American Civil War was Francis Lubbock?
- ...that Measure 51 would have repealed Oregon's Death with Dignity Act?
28 March 2004
edit- ...that, in the U.S. Navy, advancement to Petty Officer First Class is dependent on time in service, performance evaluations, and rate examinations?
- ...that Joan of Arc and Mahatma Gandhi were protagonists in Clone High?
- ...that Signing Exact English is easy for parents and teachers of deaf children to master quickly?
27 March 2004
edit- ...that Jane Delano, a relative of U.S. President FDR, founded the American Red Cross nursing service?
- ...that the Persian king Cyrus the Younger invented the scythed chariot?
- ...that there is no widely accepted explanation for geographic features called Carolina bays, but that meteors may be the cause?
26 March 2004
edit- ...that Ferryland was the first permanent European colony in Newfoundland?
- ...that there is a collection of neurons in the basal forebrain of reptiles called a nucleus accumbens that is implicated in reward responses?
- ...that New York City has been working on the Second Avenue Subway project since 1919?
- ...that the Rift Valley lakes of Africa are a freshwater ecoregion?
- ...the brains of spider monkeys weigh twice as much as the brains of howler monkeys of equal size?
- ...that the UK's Workers Socialist Federation began as a suffragette group?
25 March 2004
edit- ...that people who suffer from anosognosia deny or do not know that they have relatively significant challenges such blindness or paralysis?
- ...that Captain & Tennille now reside in Nevada, United States?
- ...that siblings raised separately may experience genetic sexual attraction if they meet as adults?
- ...the brains of spider monkeys are weigh twice as much as the brains of howler monkeys of equal size?
- ...that according to the ancient doctrine of signatures, the plant hepatica was useful for treating liver disorders?
- ...that Church House is the headquarters building for the Church of England?
- ...that Irving proposed to Cathy on Valentine's Day 2004?
- ...that red mercury is a substance used in making nuclear weapons?
- ...that the USSR named twelve cities and one city-fortress Hero Cities for valor during the Great Patriotic War?
- ...that in Vajrayana Buddhism, a Wisdom King is the third tier of deity after Buddhas and bodhisattvas?
24 March 2004
edit- ...that Comiskey Park was the oldest stadium in Major League Baseball until its demolition in 1991?
- ...that a demisemiquaver is a musical note that is played for 1/32 the duration of a whole note?
- ...that "Persian violet" is another name for cyclamen?
- ...that Ancient Egyptian architect Senemut was allegedly the lover of the Pharoah Hatshepsut?
- ...that the music of the Pointer Sisters combined jazz, scat and be-bop?
23 March 2004
edit- ...that the UN founded the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People in 1975?
- ...that Venetian, spoken in and around Venice, Italy, is not a dialect of Italian?
- ...that collard greens is both a plant and a recipe?
- ...that Hong Kong is made up of a peninsula and 236 islands?
- ...that the Ancient Greek mathematician Polybius invented the Polybius square, a cryptographic technique?
- ...that William X of Aquitaine, father of Eleanor of Aquitaine, was a noted patron of troubadors?
- ...that the term Apostolic Fathers refers to the generation between the Apostles and the Church Fathers?
22 March 2004
edit- ...that Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb led the successful German assault on Leningrad in 1941, but was relieved of duty by a distrustful Hitler?
- ...that Albert R. Broccoli produced Dr. No and remained involved with the James Bond series until his death?
- ...that famous epic poems like Beowulf and Judith were written in Late West Saxon?
- ...the ember days were formerly set aside for fasting and prayer in the Christian liturgical calendar?
21 March 2004
edit- ...that Henri Poincaré first stated the Poincaré duality in terms of Betti numbers?
- ...that a vexatious litigant may be barred from using the courts in common law countries because they have previously undertaken frivolous litigation claims or procedures?
- ...that American frontiersman Hugh Glass traveled 200 miles through the wilderness, alone and gravely injured, after surviving a grizzly bear attack?
- ...that the framework of the cautionary tale became a cliché in 1980s slasher films?
20 March 2004
edit- ...that Abraham Baldwin, one of America's founding fathers, served in both the Senate and the House of Representatives?
- ...that trisecting the angle is one of the three impossible tasks using classical ruler-and-compass construction?
- ...that the Waldorf Astoria in New York City sits on the site of the former home of William Waldorf Astor?
- ...that the Super Friends had two sets of sidekicks: Wendy & Marvin, and then the Wonder Twins?
19 March 2004
edit- ...that Stephen King wrote and starred in the movie Creepshow?
- ...that the False Vampire Bat will fall out of a tree to pounce upon unsuspecting prey?
- ...that "Layla", a song of Eric Clapton, was inspired by a Persian love story?
- ...that settlers are people who travelled, of their own choice, from their land of birth to live in "new" lands or colonies?
- ...that the United States Naval War College grants a Master of Arts degree?
- ...that the Children of the Corn horror-flick movie series is based on a Stephen King short story?
- ...that the viscosity of a ferrofluid can be controlled with electromagnets?
18 March 2004
edit- ...that the California sea slug is very useful to the study of neurobiology because of its small number of large neurons?
- ...that Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko is famous for his anti-Stalinist work?
- ...that Cornell University in the United States has four statutory colleges?
17 March 2004
edit- ...that the first Mickey Mouse clock was made by Timex?
- ...that mushroom bodies have nothing to do with fungi, but are part of the brain anatomy of arthropods?
- ...that Fritz the Cat was the first X-rated animated feature?
- ...that the biggest telescope in the Southern Hemisphere will be the Southern African Large Telescope, opening later this year?
- ...that the first standard for donated organs was that they be from so-called "non-heart beating donors"?
- ...that Le Corbusier's most famous building is probably Unité d'Habitation in Marseille?
- ...that the dharma wheel of Buddhism represents the collective teachings known as the dharma?
- ...that scientists are testing Einstein's theory of general relativity with Gravity Probe B, an artificial satellite?
- ...that cell adhesion is a product of protein bonding?
16 March 2004
edit
- ...that the Armistice Day Blizzard of 1940 killed at least 140 people?
- ...that Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay is a World Heritage Site?
- ...that male Western fence lizards have blue bellies?
- ...that the Battle of Isandlwana was a major British defeat in the Zulu war?
- ...that Michael Schumacher has won the last three Spanish Grand Prix?
- ...that France was the first country to adopt the 35-hour workweek?
- ...that Napoleon once commissioned Louis-Marcelin de Fontanes to write an éloge on George Washington?
15 March 2004
edit- ...that the Hubble Ultra Deep Field is a Hubble Space Telescope image that contains roughly 10,000 galaxies?
- ...that Michael Clarke Duncan worked as a bodyguard for people like Will Smith before making it big in acting?
- ...that Daniel S. Goldin spearheaded the "faster, better, cheaper" approach at NASA?
- ...that the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is rusting?
14 March 2004
edit- ...that Mark Catesby published the first account of the flora and fauna of North America?
13 March 2004
edit- ...that a Street artist is someone who draws pictures for the pleasure of passers-by?
- ...that Severnaya Zemlya was the last archipelago on Earth to be discovered?
- ...that Harrington Lake in Quebec is the official country retreat of the Canadian Prime Minister?
- ...that the Tibetan Plateau is known as the "roof of the world"?
- ...that chocolate contains large quantities of oxalic acid?
- ...that the only remaining dock on the south side of London's River Thames is Greenland Dock, the city's oldest riverside dock?
- ...that Caedwalla of Wessex conquered southeast England during his brief 7th century reign?
- ...that the Transverse Ranges of California run east-west because of a bend in the San Andreas fault?
- ...that the full force of the Great Depression in Canada lasted until WWII in parts of the country, particularly Western Canada?
- ...that Monument Valley was once mined for uranium ore?
- ...that during World War I thimbles were used as currency?
- ...that the Magellanic subpolar forests of South America are the world's southernmost forests?
11 March 2004
edit- ...that SBD Dauntless dive bombers sank four Japanese aircraft carriers and a cruiser during the Battle of Midway?
- ...that Jimmy Piersall ran the bases backwards after hitting his hundredth home run?
- ...that the first British merchant navy ship lost to enemy fire since World War II was the Atlantic Conveyor, sunk by an Argentinian Exocet missile during the Falklands War?
- ...that there are at least 18 different distinct video game genres?
- ...that the tallest mountain in the Pyrenees is Aneto?
10 March 2004
edit- ...that Orson Squire Fowler, who popularized the octagon house, was also a phrenologist?
- ...that Voltaire's dismissive line about Canada being but "A few acres of snow" is, in fact, a misquote?
- ...that Tetricus I was the last of the Gallic Emperors?
- ...that Wite-Out correction fluid was invented in 1966?
8 March 2004
edit- ...that the infamous man-eating lions of Tsavo attacked workers who were building the Uganda Railway which connects Uganda and Kenya?
- ...that the Assembly of First Nations is an advocacy group for aboriginal people in Canada?
- ...that Oriental metal is a kind of death metal music that originated in Israel which has traditional Jewish and "Oriental" influences?
- ...that Chicago mayor Jane Byrne moved into the notoriously miserable Cabrini-Green housing project in 1981?
- ...that the Valdivian ecoregion contains the only temperate rainforest in South America?
7 March 2004
edit- ...that George H.W. Bush flew a TBF Avenger while he was in the U.S. Navy?
- ...that Henry Wade never lost a case until Roe v. Wade?
6 March 2004
edit- ...that most "tin cans" are actually made of steel?
- ...that Striptease won the 1997 Golden Raspberries award for Worst Picture?
- ...that the Fairey Barracuda was a British carrier-borne torpedo bomber used during World War II?
- ...that the author Pai Hsien-yung's father was Kuomintang general Pai Chung-hsi?
- ...that left-handed specialists in baseball frequently enjoy long careers since their pitching arm suffers lesser stress?
5 March 2004
edit- ...that American Zoetrope was originally housed in a warehouse in San Francisco in 1969?
- ...that the 555th Parachute Infantry Company was the first African-American airborne unit in the United States Army?
- ...that Singapore's first elected President was Ong Teng Cheong?
4 March 2004
edit- ...that the gestation period of the ring-tailed lemur is approximately 146 days?
- ...that NASA astronaut Stephen Robinson has logged 497 hours in space?
- ...that the original "dreamer of dreams" was British poet Arthur O'Shaughnessy?
- ...Vlad II Dracul, ruler of Wallachia, was the father of the infamous Vlad the Impaler?
3 March 2004
edit- ...that industrialist Nazi Party member John Rabe saved more than 50,000 Chinese nationals from the Rape of Nanking?
- ...that Enrico Fermi was awarded the Hughes Medal in 1942?
- ...that the improper use of a flag of truce or of the national flag is a forbidden ruse of war?
2 March 2004
edit- ...that the Palau Congressional Library was founded in 1981, and has a staff of two?
- ...that Thutmose I was the first Pharaoh to be buried in the Valley of the Kings?
- ...that the Reduced Shakespeare Company performs all 37 of Shakespeare's plays in 97 minutes?
- ...that aniridia is the congenital condition of being born without irises?
1 March 2004
edit- ...that children born between 1901 and 1910 are said to be from the Interbellum Generation?
- ...that because of an effort to curb the spread of STDs, prostitution in Germany has been legal since the 1920s?
- ...that the Chinese tallow tree is used to make soap, candles, and medicine?