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... that Betty James came up with the name of the
Slinky toy created by her husband,
Richard T. James, and ran the business for decades after he left her and their six children to live in
Bolivia?
... that Tom Gish's newspaper The Mountain Eagle was the first newspaper in eastern
Kentucky to challenge the damage caused to the environment resulting from
strip mining?
... that although Fairfield Grammar School,
Bristol, expelled
Cary Grant for going into the girls' lavatories, the city later erected a life-size bronze statue of him?
... that
ABC moved the Roseanne episode "December Bride", which featured a
same-sex wedding, from its usual broadcast time slot to one 90 minutes later, citing the episode's "adult humor"?
... that, on the way to
Liverpool, the engine of the diesel-powered cargo liner MV Rakaia failed and the crew had to design makeshift
sails to complete the journey?
... that Byron Brown was the first African-American to be elected mayor of
Buffalo, New York, even though six African-Americans had been the
nominee before him?
... that at least five
mutations are known to cause diplopodia in
chickens, resulting in the development of extra toes or other structural abnormalities in the hind limbs?
... that almost all documentation of PZL.49 Miś, a development of advanced Polish medium bomber
PZL.37 Łoś, was destroyed during the
siege of Warsaw to prevent it from falling into
Nazi German hands?
... that the rebuilding of the Kumusi Bridge in
Papua New Guinea, destroyed by the flooding of the Kumusi River(pictured) during
Cyclone Guba, will cost upwards of
K70 million?
... that in 1909, the American Brass Company manufactured two-thirds of all the
brass in the
United States, consumed a third of all
copper produced in the U.S., and was the largest fabricator of
nonferrous metal in the world?
... that
Jeffrey Blitz wrote Rocket Science based on his own adolescence despite claiming to be "allergic" to autobiographical films?
... that Irish journalist Willie Wilde was described by
Max Beerbohm as a "dark, oily suspect" sharing the "coy, carnal smile & fatuous giggle" of his younger brother,
Oscar Wilde?
... that Lucky Dragons have not only released 19 albums, but also run an art society called Sumi Ink Club and an internet community called Glaciers of Nice?
... that the
cave paintings at La Marche in France, which include detailed depictions of humans rather than stick figures, were met with skepticism when discovered in 1937?
... that Jane Brody was at first reluctant to write the Personal Health column in The New York Times, which has since been syndicated to more than 100 newspapers in the U.S.?
02:20, 27 November 2008 (UTC)
... that according to
Hindu legend, the
yogiVisoba Khechara taught his disciple
Namdev the omnipresence of God by magically filling a whole temple with
lingas—the symbols of god
Shiva(pictured)?
... that the majority of the more than 90 stage works composed by Thomas Arne(pictured) are now lost, probably destroyed in the disastrous fire at
Covent Garden in 1808?
... that historic
Bordeaux wine estate Château d'Angludet was derelict after
World War II, but its fortunes were reversed when wine producer Peter Sichel noticed it during an afternoon stroll?
... that according to the
U.S. copyright law, musicians who accuse others of plagiarising their work must prove "access" and "similarity", in the absence of a confession?
... that Nabi Shu'ayb,
Arabic for "the Prophet
Jethro", is used in English to refer to the site where
Druze tradition holds he was buried?
... that openly gay actor Robert La Tourneaux considered his role as the gay hustler in the 1970 film The Boys in the Band to be the "kiss of death" for his career?
... that
Karl Marx called the Daily Express of
Dublin "the Government organ" and accused it of "false rumours of murders committed, armed men marauding, and midnight meetings"?
... that the tower located at 100 McAllister St(pictured) in
San Francisco used to be a
Methodist church, a hotel and an
IRS office building before it was refurbished for residential use by students at
UC Hastings?
... that until the former
Arab village of Nabi Rubin was captured by
Israel in 1948, it was the site of a large annual religious festival with tens of thousands of
Muslims participating?
... that a 12-mile (19 km)-long railway ride was planned to be built on Dunderberg Mountain in the 19th century, but was never completed?
... that mushrooms of the genus Calostoma are sometimes called "prettymouth" because of
peristome tissue that appears on them when they expand?
... that Chuck Churn won only three games in his Major League Baseball career, one of them handing
Elroy Face his only loss in 1959 when he finished with an 18–1 record?
25 November 2008
19:55, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
... that
Caspar David Friedrich's 1824 painting The Sea of Ice(pictured) was seen as too radical in composition, and went unsold until after his death in 1840?
... that the
bell tower of the Bărboi Church in
Iaşi,
Romania, is over a century older than the present church, and once contained a private library?
... that
Fr. Finn wrote the 1890 novel Tom Playfair, telling the adventures of a 10-year-old at an all-boys
Jesuitboarding school, to illustrate his ideal of a genuine Catholic American boy?
... that Hacienda Arms on the
Sunset Strip was the "most famous brothel in
California" in the 1930s and now houses a celebrity-owned restaurant described by Newsweek as "so hip it hurts"?
... that local legend in Lajjun, a district center in
Palestine under the
Abbasids, held that the spring that served as its primary water source sprang from a stone after
Abraham struck it with his staff?
... that after serving in U.S. embassies in
Egypt and
Lebanon, Edward Sheehan wrote his debut novel Kingdom of Illusion about the playboy king of a fictional
Middle Eastern country?
... that Worthy Streator never set foot in the city of
Streator, Illinois, the town named for him, even though it was founded 36 years before his death?
... that after a plane crash killed the
Governor of Oregon and the next two people in line for that office, the new governor's first act was to appoint Earl T. Newbry as Secretary of State?
... that the 1806 settlement of Chinese in Trinidad was the first organised settlement of
Chinese people in the
Caribbean, preceding the importation of Chinese-indentured labour by over 40 years?
... that
Michigan highway M-97 was simultaneously named both Reid Highway and Groesbeck Highway by different levels of government from 1927 until 1949, the year it was dedicated to
Alex Groesbeck?
... that Father Goose: His Book, an 1899 collection of poetry for children and considered at the time a liberal portrayal of
multi-culturalAmerica, is now seen as stereotyped, racist and offensive?
... that when completed in 1967,
MS Finlandia was the largest ferry in the world?
... that Dr. Jay Katz, who escaped from
Nazi Germany to the U.S. in the 1930s, opposed use of data from
Nazi human experimentation, because "we cannot separate the data from the way they were obtained"?
... that artist Adam Neate left 1,000
prints, valued at £1 million, on
London streets for anyone to pick up and keep?
... that for the 1967 television documentary CBS Reports: The Homosexuals, the network concealed the identity of one of the gay interview subjects by seating him behind a potted palm tree?
... that research done by C. Harmon Brown showed that female athletes were more loose-jointed and more prone to
dislocated shoulders than male athletes?
... that Mount Wycheproof, standing just 43 metres (141 ft) high, is the smallest registered mountain in the world?
... that the
single "Don't Tear It Down" from
Spy vs Spy's album A.O. Mod. TV. Vers. was inspired by a government agency's attempts to demolish a building the band were
squatting in?
06:40, 22 November 2008 (UTC)
... that the empire ruled by Agustín I of Mexico(pictured) lasted less than one year?
... that the 23
home runs hit by Johnny Rizzo in 1938 set a
Pittsburgh Pirates team record at the time, and his nine
RBI in a 1939 game set a single game team record that still stands today?
... that C/1743 X1, the Great Comet of 1744 (pictured), is thought to have been the sixth intrinsically brightest on record and went on to develop six tails?
... that Toralv Øksnevad was known as the "voice from London" during the
Second World War, when listening to foreign radio was a crime punishable by death in
Norway?
... that assassinated
Israeli mobsterYaakov Alperon was tied to a
protection racket in which restaurant owners paid by allowing the gangsters to collect empty returnable bottles from their businesses?
... that in addition to being a
general in the
Union Army, James Sanks Brisbin was also a prolific writer, and authored several works on a variety of subjects?
... that for his 2004 film Drum, director
Zola Maseko received the top prize at
FESPACO, the Golden Stallion of Yennenga, in addition to a cash prize of 10 million
CFA francs (
US$20,000)?
... that the Interstate Income Act of 1959 prevents a
U.S. state from collecting
income tax on solicited sales within its borders, as long as the orders are filled or shipped outside of the state?
... that the Nassak Diamond(replica pictured), pillaged in the 1800s from a
Hindu temple where it had resided for 300 years, was later used as a gimmick to attract partygoers to a 1976 benefit?
... that
Anita Bryant's participation in Save Our Children, a coalition working to overturn gay rights ordinances in
Miami and other cities in 1977 and 1978, destroyed her career?
... that 99 percent of
Japanese municipalities collect and recyclesteel cans despite not being required by law, giving the country one of the world's highest
recycling rates for these cans? (Japanese recycling bins pictured)
... that Leo the Mathematician, called by some the cleverest man in 9th-century
Byzantium, invented a system of beacons to warn of Arab raids and a fabled levitating throne for the emperor?
... that the Montecito Tea Fire, which destroyed more than 200 homes in
California, was caused by smoldering
embers from a bonfire party at an abandoned tea house?
... that the Sayre Fire resulted in the worst loss of homes due to fire in the history of
Los Angeles, surpassing the loss of 484 residences in the
1961 Bel Air fire?
...that George Julian Zolnay(pictured), the so-called "sculptor of the
Confederacy," was actually
Hungarian and did not move to the United States until decades after the Confederacy had ceased to exist?
... that as Director of the
Voice of America, Henry Loomis oversaw the introduction of
Special English, in which news is read slowly with a limited vocabulary of about 1,500 words and a simplified grammar?
... that throughout his lifetime,
cyclistReggie McNamara broke his collarbone 17 times, broke his skull, nose, jaw, and leg once, had 500 stitches, and accumulated 47 scars?
... that the
SemitictriliteralQ-D-S meaning "holy" has been used in ancient and modern Semitic languages since at least the 3rd millennium BCE?
... that when asked what the most beautiful place he had ever seen in all his travels was,
Gore Vidal chose the view from the
belvedere at Villa Cimbrone?
... that after testing the
biologicalBrucella cluster bomb on 11,000
guinea pigs, a U.S. general remarked "Now we know what to do if we ever go to war against guinea pigs"?
... that
pre-operative transsexualMiki Mizuasa was nominated for the Best Actress award at the 2007 Adult Broadcasting Awards even though she was born a male?
... that Hugo Bettauer, author of a satire depicting
Vienna after expulsion of its Jews, was shot and killed in 1925 after Nazis branded him a "Red poet" and "corruptor of youth"?
... that most of the place names in Palestine are
Arabised words with ancient
Semitic roots that were preserved by the local indigenous population, facilitating their identification with
biblical sites?
... that the graphical plot of the Sabatier principle, a concept used in
chemical catalysis, is often called a "volcano plot" because of its distinctive shape?
... that at one time, the Sneath Glass Company produced almost 90 percent of the
glassware used in consumer refrigerators in the United States?
... that
Beijing Communist Party chief Li Ximing was a leading supporter of military action against the
Tiananmen Square protests that resulted in the deaths of hundreds, possibly thousands, of people?
... that at the inauguration of the sixth
AztecTemplo Mayor in 1487 (scale model pictured), thousands of prisoners of war were
ritually sacrificed, bathing the steps of the pyramid in blood?
... that Symphony in C by
Georges Bizet(pictured) was a completely unknown piece until it was discovered at the
Paris Conservatory library in 1933, nearly 60 years after Bizet's death?
... that Anarchy Alive!, a 2007 book by
Oxford-educated academic and anti-authoritarian activist Uri Gordon, has been cited as a "defining text" of the contemporary
anarchist movement?
... that Li Yong(pictured with
Guido Mantega) was the first and second secretary to the United Nations Mission from
China?
... that the day after his birthday, General Archibald Gracie III was looking out at the
Union lines through his telescope when an artillery shell exploded in front of him killing him instantly?
... that Sir Philip Cohen has written over 470
peer-reviewed papers, and was the third most cited academic in the
UK during the 1990s?
... that John Trudeau established the
Britt Festival in
Oregon in 1962, the first of its kind in the
Pacific Northwest of the U.S., and now a four-month long celebration of music and musical theater?
... that the first journal articles written by the
entomologistRobert Perkins were published when he was a
classics student with no scientific education?
... that Henry Pitkin and his brother produced the first American-designed
pocket watches(pictured) with machine-made parts?
... that when the SS Mahratta ran aground on the
Goodwin Sands in 1939, it settled on top of a ship that had sunk thirty years earlier and was also named Mahratta?
... that the Sheffield Iris newspaper's
first editor fled the
UK when troops tried to arrest him, and its
second was imprisoned for six months on charges of malicious
libel?
... that on July 8, 1942,
pitcherDoyle Lade threw a
no-hitter and won the game 1–0, with his solo
home run providing the only run support for his team?
... that the Ropar Wetland, in addition to being home to several
endangered and
threatened species, was the site of the signing of an 1831 treaty between the English and the
Sikhs?
... that despite having only 28 men to his opponent's 92, William Rogers (pictured) not only defended his ship from a
privateer, but boarded and captured her with just five men?
... that former
American Medical Association president Ronald Davis played a major role in the AMA's 2008 apology to black doctors for the organization's history of racial discrimination?
... that
Rear AdmiralJohn Adams of the
Royal Navy was the author of The Adventure of Charlie the Cone, based on stories about a
traffic cone, that he made up for his children on long trips?
... that the Banc Ty'nddôl sun-disc, a gold ornament discovered at
Cwmystwyth, is over 4,000 years old, making it the earliest gold artifact discovered in
Wales?
... that the Lebanese Navy SEALs undergo heavy military training, which spans three months and sometimes reaches 20 hours per day?
... that
U.S. PresidentBenjamin Harrison appointed James R. Tanner Commissioner of the Pension Bureau in 1889, but had to remove him six months later because he vastly exceeded his office's budget?
... that the first same-sex kiss on an American
soap opera was between fictional characters Lena Kundera and Bianca Montgomery in 2003, who were also American soap opera's first lesbian couple?
... that in 2005, Shannon Sohn became the first helicopter news reporter to win a national
Emmy Award, which she won for her coverage of the crash of the helicopter of a rival TV station?
... that among other methods, archaeoparasitologists study historical human
parasites by looking for references to them in art and literature?
... that editor Kenneth P. Johnson, who ran a story that led to the article subject's suicide as threatened, stated that "if a story is newsworthy and supported by the facts, it is our policy to publish"?
... that Henry Fitz was the first
American to make
refractor telescopes and constructed the largest refracting telescopes in America on five different occasions?
... that BOHICA is an
acronym that means "Bend Over, Here It Comes Again"?
... that
ballerinaRosella Hightower received critical acclaim in 1947 after filling in for the sick
Alicia Markova and learning the role of Giselle in five hours, having never danced the part before?
... that Harrison Gray Dyar erected the first
telegraph line and dispatched over it the first message ever sent, making him the real inventor of the telegraph?
... that Clarence W. Spangenberger was the last president of Cornell Steamboat Company, whose more than sixty vessels once made it the largest
tugboat company in the
United States?
... that pianist and composer Moshe Cotel chose to become a
rabbi after meeting a
Holocaust survivor who was so inspired by his retelling of the story of
Alfred Dreyfus that she had returned to
Judaism?
... that the Kohler-Andrae State Park(pictured) consists of two separate state parks, one donated by an electric company president and another by
Kohler Company?
... that Manny Harris was the first player to start for three consecutive Detroit Public School League Basketball Champions since
Jalen Rose and
Voshon Lenard?
... that Thomas Paton worked on the construction of the
Owen Falls Dam which was responsible for the first complete stoppage of the
White Nile in history?
... that Castle Rushen in the
Isle of Man was founded by the Norse king
Magnus III in the 13th century and used today as a museum and lawcourt?
... that
Tang Dynasty official Li Mian kept places at feasts for two deceased subordinates for three years after their deaths, offering meals and wine to their spirits?
... that
Kentucky's Paducah Freight House was bigger than required because it was originally intended to service a larger rail network?
... that the meaning of "Der Pleier", the
pseudonym of the 13th-century author of the romance Garel, is unknown, though it might refer metaphorically to
glassblowing?
... that Nemattanew, a renegade
Powhatan captain dubbed "Jack-of-the-Feather" in 1611 for his extravagant
regalia, believed he was invincible to
English bullets?
... that the Fodder Scam involved the alleged
embezzlement of about
Rs. 950 crore (US$ 199 million) from the treasury of the
Indian state of
Bihar?
... that broadcaster Tony Dean was eulogized by a
South Dakota Senator for striking a balance in "his advocacy on behalf of conservation and sportsmen alike"?
... that the original owner of the
diamondStar of the South(replica pictured) sold it for a mere £3,000, and the buyer later deposited it in the bank of
Rio de Janeiro for £30,000?
... that the Sunday Closing Act of 1881, which restricted the opening of
public houses in
Wales, was the first legislation for over three centuries to recognise that country as distinct from
England?
... that
Richard Petty and his crew chief Dale Inman presented the first artifact to the
NASCAR Hall of Fame, the car that Petty drove to a record 27 victories in 1967?
... that shortly after architect Ralph Anderson's early "
modernist glass-box phase" he began rehabilitating turn-of-the-century buildings (example pictured) in
Seattle's
Pioneer Square district?
... that at
Washington State University from 1948 to 1950, Bob Gambold was the quarterback of the school's
football team and the starting forward for its basketball team during all three of those years?
... that after retiring from the stage opera singer Emma Carelli managed the
Rome Opera House for almost 15 years?
... that when
Adobe Systems acquired the company Scene7 in May 2007, its CEO, Doug Mack, became vice president of the Creative Solutions Services division at Adobe?
... that
sopranoMeagan Miller, accustomed to wearing US$10,000 gowns on stage in her opera performances, chose to wear her mother's simple gown for her summer 2008 wedding?
... that Jean Robic, winner of the
1947 Tour de France, was so light that at mountain summits he was handed
lead and
mercury-ballasted drinking bottles for gravity-assisted descents?
... that when
Tang Dynasty general Zhang Yi signed a peace treaty with
Tufan, he made an
offering of goats instead of the customary cattle and horses because he was embarrassed to be dealing with "barbarians"?
... that the Export Control Act of 1940 ceased the exportation of military equipment to pre-
WWII Japan which pushed the
United States and Japan closer to war?
... that the elongated tails possessed by the males of some species of paradise-flycatchers(pictured) are thought to be the products of
sexual selection?
... that Bernard Sainz, known as "Dr Mabuse" because of his success in
horse racing and
cycling, was jailed for three years for administering
doping products?
... that HMS Braak was seized and brought into the
Royal Navy when the former
Dutch ship anchored in
Falmouth, unaware that the Dutch had gone to war with
Britain?
... that
PolishcomposerRafał Augustyn′s Symphony of Hymns took twenty years to complete, typically lasts for 100 minutes and requires an
orchestra of over 170 players?
... that Tsomoriri(pictured), with an
altitude of 4,595 metres (15,075 ft) in
Ladakh, is the largest of the High Altitude Lakes in the Trans-
Himalayan biogeographic region entirely within
India?
... that
Tang Chinese General
Guo Ziyi would not let the women in his household meet government official Lu Qi when he visited the Guos' mansion because he considered Lu too ugly and treacherous?
... that there are 30 million smokers in Japan, making the country one of the largest
tobacco markets in the world?
... that the liberal film company Brave New Films has produced full-length videos and paper advertisements in addition to the
viral videos for which it is known?
... that Henri Pépin extended the notion of riding the
Tour de France to stopping in good restaurants and sometimes finishing 12 hours behind the leaders?
... that Actionable Offenses is a
CD compilation of profane and sexually explicit
phonograph recordings from the 1890s, which
Anthony Comstock’s Society for the Suppression of Vice managed to get banned?
... that the 2007
Bengali filmKaal, based on the lives of four women trapped in the world of
human trafficking, is in trouble with the Bengali regional
censor board over some scenes considered too graphic?
... that
New Yorknoise-rock band Flux Information Sciences's 2001 album Private/Public was recorded before an invited audience of 50 friends who stood around the studio naked and blindfolded?
... that in order to get her first and only
film role, actress Phyllis Welch MacDonald had to sign a contract pledging not to marry or become engaged for six months?
... that purity of the Sasthamkotta Lake water for drinking use is attributed to presence of a large number of
larvae called cavaborus, which consume much of the lake's
bacteria?
... that the teenage couple in
Nicholas Sparks' 1999 novel A Walk to Remember refrain from sex, due partly to the author's concern that such a plot twist might offend his readership?
... that children have trouble attributing implicit meaning to aspect
verbs implicating non-completion such as start, but find implicit meaning in degree modifiers such as half, as in half-finished?
... that the roof of the 12th-century St Nicolas Church, Portslade had to be
jacked back into place over several months in 1959, having moved a foot (30 cm) out of alignment over the centuries?
07:38, 1 November 2008 (UTC)
... that Wycoller Hall(pictured) is supposedly haunted by the
ghost of a murdered wife, who foretold the hall's ruin?
... that a tour guide at
Fond du Lac's Octagon House claims that visitors hear the ghosts of an earlier owner's small children laughing and playing?
... that lawyer Hal Kant spent 35 years as principal lawyer and general counsel for the
Grateful Dead, exercising so much influence with the band that his business cards identified his role as "Czar"?
... that when
New Paltz's Elting Memorial Library caught a possible ghost on its security camera, the
YouTube video received more views than the village has residents?
02:11, 1 November 2008 (UTC)
... that the DR 6 nebula(pictured) was nicknamed "The Galactic Ghoul" by scientists at
NASA because of its resemblance to a human face?