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1
...that the
Belgian military leader
Herman Baltia (
pictured ) exhibited his
watercolour paintings on the
Yser Front while he was serving as a
commander in
World War I ?
...that
Byron N. Scott was a public school teacher in
Long Beach, California prior to being elected to the
United States House of Representatives in 1934?
...that the
Mecelle , the
Ottoman
civil code of 1877, was the first attempt to
codify part of the laws of an
Islamic state?
...that mathematician
Đuro Kurepa lectured at almost every university in
Yugoslavia ?
...that the
Florida Education Association led the first statewide
teachers '
strike in
American history in
1968 ?
...that approximately one-third of nearby
galaxies contain
low-ionization nuclear emission-line regions ?
...that the
McCarthy-style interrogations of the
Florida Legislative Investigation Committee caused the firing or expulsion of scores of professors and students from
Florida
universities between 1956 and 1966?
...that among the earliest accounts of the use of a
man-lifting kite is in the story of
Ishikawa Goemon 's robbery from
Nagoya Castle ?
...that Major
Megan McClung , the first female
United States Marine Corps officer killed in combat in
Iraq , organized and competed in the first satellite running of the
Marine Corps Marathon in Iraq?
...that
John Litchfield trod on the foot of one
Prime Minister , sat on the lap of another, and was the first person to toast the health of
Queen Elizabeth II ?
...that the future mother-in-law of
Kunikida Doppo urged her daughter to commit suicide rather than marry the Japanese author?
...that the
Hearthstone House (pictured) became the first residence in the world to be lit by a centrally located
hydroelectric
station using the
Edison system?
...that for seven centuries
Runamo was famous in
Scandinavia as a
runic inscription until scientists determined it to be natural cracks in the
rock ?
...that the
Union of Salvation , a
Russian
secret society of revolutionary
Decembrists , was organized according to a complex
Masonic style system of rituals and vows?
...that
Nobel Prize -winning author
Kawabata Yasunari was a houseguest of fellow author
Kambara Ariake for almost two years after the end of
World War II ?
...that
Sandra Feldman , former president of the
American Federation of Teachers , was mentored by
civil rights activist
Bayard Rustin and arrested twice during the
Freedom Rides ?
...that
British
MP
Anthony Courtney was
blackmailed by the
KGB using
photographs of him with a
tour guide ?
...that
Nikki Haley of
South Carolina is the first
Republican
Indian American state legislator in the
USA ?
...that the
Edmonson sisters (
pictured ) were
African American
slaves who tried to escape to freedom and became
celebrity
abolitionists ?
...that the
mentally ill
Egyptian policeman who perpetrated the
Ras Burqa massacre , killing seven
Israeli tourists, including four children, was hailed in the Egyptian opposition press as a national hero?
...that former
California
representative
Allan O. Hunter was appointed as the president and chairman of
Fannie Mae by
President
Richard Nixon in
1970 ?
...that sixteen people were killed during a
general strike in Nepal in 1992 , an incident that contributed to the breakout of a
civil war four years later?
...that a
pentimento is an alteration to a
painting that can often only be seen in an
X-ray or an
infra-red
photograph ?
...that
Japanese poet
Kitahara Hakushu was jailed for
adultery in 1912?
...that those crossing the
Fallasburg Bridge (
pictured ) , a
Brown truss
covered bridge in
Vergennes Township ,
Michigan at a speed faster than a walk may be subject to a $5 fine?
...that
Nepalese politician
Radha Krishna Mainali , once a
communist revolutionary and a political prisoner for 16 years, was appointed Minister of Education & Sports by
King Gyanendra after the king's seizure of power in February 2005?
...that the
2006 Insight Bowl featured the biggest comeback in
NCAA
Division I-A
football
bowl history?
...that 2006 was the 650th anniversary of the
1356 Basel earthquake , the most significant earthquake to have occurred in
Central Europe in recorded history?
...that
children's
writer and
illustrator
Shirley Hughes has written more than fifty stories, and illustrated over two hundred?
...that
Georgie White was the first woman to run a commercial
Grand Canyon river guiding service?
...that the
2006 Alamo Bowl (
pictured: the Alamodome ) set a record for the most people to view a sporting event live in
San Antonio, Texas , as well as the most television viewers ever to watch a
bowl game on
ESPN ?
...that in
Johnson Tan Han Seng v. Public Prosecutor , the
Malaysian
Federal Court held that a Proclamation of
Emergency remains in force after the circumstances it was meant for have expired?
...that
The Mall at Turtle Creek in
Jonesboro, Arkansas was the only enclosed mall to open in the
United States in 2006?
...that
Powelliphanta Sp.Augustus is found only on a five
hectare area northeast of
Westport ,
New Zealand ?
...that
Hillsborough County, Florida Commissioner
Ronda Storms was the author of an ultimately successful proposal that banned the county from acknowledging "gay pride"?
...that
Tigranakert was a center of
Armenian culture until the
Armenian Genocide of
1915 , when the population was eradicated and replaced by
Kurds ?
...that some
four-leaf clovers are actually
ferns in the family
Marsileaceae (
pictured ) ?
...that an editor for
Kangura
magazine was convicted at the
International Criminal Tribunal for inciting the
Rwandan Genocide ?
...that the first
radiosonde was made by
Soviet
meteorologist
Pavel Molchanov ?
...that
Beard Liberation Front efforts led to the inclusion of
beard
ism in the
Oxford English Dictionary ?
...that in
1936 , 11-term
U.S. Congressman
Frederick R. Lehlbach closely lost his re-election bid to a political newcomer,
Frank W. Towey, Jr. ?
...that
Bharatiya Janata Party leader
Rajnath Singh has been active in the party since age 13?
...that in
1945 ,
Frederick C. Branch became the first
African-American
U.S. Marine Corps officer?
...that
Ichikawa Danjūrō I (
pictured ) was killed onstage by a fellow
Kabuki actor?
...that the
Swedish forces at the
Siege of Jasna Góra were actually
German
mercenaries and
Polish supporters of
Charles X Gustav ?
...that
jazz musician
Roscoe Mitchell , while in
Germany for the
U.S. Army , studied under the first
clarinetist of the
Heidelberg
Symphony ?
...that the
Australian
punk rock
single "
(I’m) Stranded " pre-dated the
Sex Pistols ' debut release?
...that
Jaya Bharata Jananiya Tanujate , a
Kannada poem, was declared the official
anthem of the
Indian state of
Karnataka in
2004 ?
...that
Plagiostomum vittatum , the "
Candy Cane
Worm ", is a
flatworm with red
stripes ?
...that the
Normal School for Colored Girls was incorporated into the
University of the District of Columbia ?
...that
Haghpat Monastery (
pictured ) in
Armenia was placed on the
World Heritage List over 1,000 years after it was founded?
...that
Randy Shilts was the first openly
gay man in the mainstream
U.S.
media ?
...that the
chaperon was a
hat from the
Middle Ages that could be worn in at least six different ways?
...that
Millennium City, Hong Kong has
skyscrapers numbered 1, 2, 3, and 5, possibly because 4 is considered
unlucky ?
...that the
Louvre describes
Virgin and Child from the Sainte-Chapelle as the most beautiful
ronde-bosse
ivory carving ever made?
...that in his
1560s work the
Zimmern Chronicle Count Froben Christoph von Zimmern tried to establish a lineage to the ancient
tribe of
Cimbri just because his name sounded similar?
...that
New York 's
Panther Mountain (
pictured ) was the site of a
prehistoric
meteor crash?
...that
British
MP
Will Owen was nicknamed "greedy bastard" by the
Czechoslovak
intelligence agency to whom he sold secrets?
...that
2-methylhexane and
heptane are liquids with the same
molecular formula but they have different
density ,
freezing points and
boiling points ?
...that despite being a
Soviet citizen and a confirmed
NKVD agent,
Alexandru Nicolschi served as head of
Communist Romania 's
secret police ?
...that a
botánica is a
Latin American store that sells
religious goods,
magical paraphernalia and
brand name health care products?
...that
Josef Frings ,
Archbishop of Cologne , was observed by the
Gestapo during
World War II ?
...that
Elizabeth Margaret Chandler (
pictured ) introduced the famous
abolitionist image of the kneeling female
slave with the slogan "Am I not a Woman and a Sister"?
...that despite
Irish neutrality , weather reports from
Met Éireann were used to plan the
D-Day landings ?
...that
Scottish language prodigy
James Murdoch , after participating in a failed
communist
commune in
Paraguay , was hired by the
Australian Ministry of Defence as an expert on
Japanese issues?
... that
Ira Goldstein , an advertisement campaign character for the
ASB Bank in
New Zealand , supposedly drives a metallic-brown 1979
Leyland Princess 2000 HL?
...that former
New Jersey
Representative
Henry Helstoski was charged with receiving bribes from
illegal aliens in
1976 ?
... that the
Ayles Ice Shelf at
Ellesmere Island in the
Canadian Arctic Archipelago collapsed in less than an hour in August 2005, setting a 66 km² (25 mi²) ice island adrift in the
Arctic Ocean , but the collapse was only discovered during the recent analysis of satellite images captured by
MODIS ?
...that the history of the carom billiards disciplines,
balkline and straight rail (
balkline table pictured ) , features a veritable billiards
evolutionary arms race , in which each new rule implemented was interdicted by a shot developed to counter it?
...that former
New Jersey
Representative
Edward J. Patten was unanimously cleared by the
House Ethics Committee of charges associated with the
1978
Koreagate scandal?
...that
Bruce Campbell was removed from office as a Circuit Court Judge in the
United Kingdom after being convicted of importing whisky and cigarettes without paying customs duty on them?
...that
sleeve garters were first used in the
19th century and are still worn by
poker dealers and
barbershop musicians ?
...that
sonofabitch stew is a
cowboy dish made with meats and organs from a freshly killed
calf ?
...that after two thousand years or more of continuous habitation the
Scottish island of
Mingulay (
pictured: old school house ) was abandoned by its residents in
1912 ?
... that
Gregoria de Jesus was the founder and vice-president of the woman chapter of the
Katipunan
partisan society during the
Philippine Revolution ?
...that the
Polish community is the only national (or ethnic) minority in the
Czech Republic that is linked to a specific geographical area?
...that Indian chess player
Umakant Sharma was banned from playing competitive
chess for 10 years after being caught cheating with a
Bluetooth device sewn into his cap?
...that retired
Spanish
road bicycle racer
Igor González de Galdeano holds the record for the fastest stage win in the
Vuelta a España at an average of 55.17 kph, a feat which earned him the nickname Speedy González ?
...that the site of
SSAWS , once the world's largest indoor ski slope, now hosts
Japan 's first
IKEA superstore?
...that in 1962,
Peter Samson and fellow students at
MIT built
T-Square , an early
drafting program and ancestor of
CAD (
pictured ) software?
...that after the death of
New Jersey
Representative
George N. Seger , a
Liberty ship used in
World War II was commissioned in his honor?
...that
John Nyathi Pokela , having served 13 years in prison on
Robben Island on charges of sabotage, assumed chairmanship of the
Pan Africanist Congress after the previous chairman resigned to make way for him?
...that
surveying errors in
New England created areas known as
gores , which are not part of any towns, have few or no inhabitants, and have no self-government?
...that
Virgin Unite , the independent charitable arm of
Richard Branson 's Virgin Group founded in 2004, ran an ad campaign that juxtaposed the
seven deadly sins with seven good deeds?
...that the
Satversme is intended to
hold together all other
laws in
Latvia ?
...that
Thomas Cole painted
The Oxbow (
pictured ) in 1836 after taking a break from working on his famous series of paintings The Course of Empire ?
...that the
Barker Inlet in
South Australia contains one of the southernmost
mangrove forests in the world ?
...that although
Pueblo Revival Style architecture draws its inspiration from the
Pueblos and the
Spanish missions of
New Mexico , it first appeared in
California ?
...that
Trdat the Architect reconstructed the dome of the
Hagia Sophia in
989 and built the
Cathedral of Ani ?
...that the
Roman Catholic
prelature of
Trondheim was founded in 1843 and based on the archbishop diocese abandoned in 1537 with the
Reformation on the
shrine of St. Olav , one of the most important pilgrim destinations in the
Middle Ages ?
...that 22-year-old
Indian
cricketer
Vikram Singh , regarded by many as the
fastest bowler in
India , played only 5 matches for his state before being selected for the national squad against
Sri Lanka ?
...that despite running for only 3 years,
Aušra (
pictured ) , the first national
Lithuanian newspaper, gave its name to the period between 1883 and 1904 in the
history of Lithuania ?
...that
Robert Bristow , the
British harbour engineer credited for the development of the
Indian port of
Kochi , also founded the first non white-exclusive club in the state?
...that in
Star Wars: Storm in the Glass, the Russian parody of
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace , a bottle of
vodka resides on almost every table shown in the movie?
...that
Charles S. Joelson resigned from the
United States House of Representatives on
September 4 ,
1969 in order to become a judge in the
New Jersey Superior Court ?