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Did you know...

Arch of the Philaeni

... that the Arch of the Philaeni (pictured) drew parallels between the dictator Benito Mussolini and the Roman emperor Augustus?
... that George Lincoln helped draft the document which ended World War II 80 years ago today?
... that a music publication apologized after reporting that Ghostholding was the work of a fictional indie rock band?
... that Bosnian Olympic runners Islam Ðugum and Kada Delić were both nearly killed by snipers during their training?
... that brothers Craig and Scott Hendrickson played gridiron football together in college and professionally?
... that Andrea Enisuoh campaigned to retain the name of her local library, honouring Trinidadian writer C. L. R. James?
... that Somalia bans abortion in its constitution, one of only three countries to do so?
... that Amrom Harry Katz, using aerial photographs of tides, helped to capture Seoul during the Korean War?
... that the restaurant Megatron was reported to police as a UFO when it first opened?

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Suggestions

Latest comment: 20 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Got a new article you think is DYK-worthy? List it here, under the date of creation (not the date of submission), with the newest entries at the top. If there's a suitable picture, place it after the suggestion.

May 29

...that Joseph Rainey became the first black person to serve in the United States House of Representatives on December 12, 1870? (Image:Ac.rainey.jpg) (self-nom by User:Nat Krause)

...that the Washington State Capitol has been hit by three major earthquakes since its construction? (by User:Tradnor) (Image:Washington State Capitol Legislative Building.jpg)

May 28

...that the Runyang Bridge and the Jiangyin Suspension Bridge are the two largest suspension bridges in China and the fourth and sixth largest suspension bridges in the world? (Image:Jiangyin bridge.jpeg) TWO new articles, one from 28 May and one from 29 May Samuel Wantman 09:36, 29 May 2005 (UTC)Reply

27 May

Inform these users

Please inform the creators of the newly listed template items about the status of their article by adding {{UpdatedDYK|[[Article name]]}} to their talk page. Then remove or strikethrough the listing in this section.

Archive

Suggestions that have appeared on Template:Did you know are automatically archived at Wikipedia:Recent additions by one of AllyUnion's bots.

...that Tell Halaf in Syria contains the archaeological remains of a Neolithic culture characterized by glazed pottery painted with geometric and animal designs? (Image:Halafhunting.jpg)
...that Fala, Franklin D. Roosevelt's beloved Scottish terrier and one of the most famous presidential pets, has a bronze statue in his likeness at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial? (Image:FDR memorial.jpg)
...that Leo Abse (born 1917) was a Labour Member of Parliament largely responsible for legalising male homosexuality in the United Kingdom? (Image:Leoabsepicture.jpg)
...that Nippon Steel Corporation, the Japanese steelmaking giant, once ventured into mushroom cultivation in an earnest bid to avoid layoffs?

...that the Blister Beetles are so named because they secrete cantharidin, a poison causing blistering of the skin and painful swelling if consumed? (Image:Leatherhead Beetle above Mesquite Springs in Death Valley NP-crop.jpg)
...that Indian-born English cricketer Hugh Bartlett died whilst watching a cricket match at Hove in 1988?
...that in Greek mythology, Antiope was the only Amazon known to have married?
...that the Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago built the first nuclear reactor and achieved a self-sustaining nuclear reaction in December 1942?

...that the Scottish composer and pianist Ronald Stevenson composed an 80-minute passacaglia for solo piano based on the four-note motif D-E♭-C-B? (Image:Dschmotif.png)
...that backlash from the 1897 Lattimer Massacre in Pennsylvania, an important event in the U.S. history of labor relations, resulted in the addition of some 15,000 new members of United Mine Workers of America union? (Image:UMWAseal.jpeg)
...that footballer Antonín Panenka famously scored the winning penalty for Czechoslovakia in the 1976 European Championship final against West Germany by chipping the ball?
...that extension conflicts helped give Macintosh computers a reputation for instability before the release of Mac OS X?

...that Jinnah House was the Mumbai residence of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan and is the centre of a property dispute? (Image:Jinnahhouse (2).jpg)
...that Australian tennis players Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde, known as The Woodies, are the most successful men's doubles pair in history, winning a record six Wimbledon titles?
...that the Iowa Interstate Railroad is being considered for high speed passenger train service between Wyanet, Illinois, and Iowa City? (Image:iais_logo.jpg)
...that Microphallus is a genus of parasitic trematode, some species of which are notable for the manipulation of the behaviour and growth of their hosts?
...that William Bergsma wrote an opera about a dog who turned into a man in 1920s Moscow as the result of a crazy experiment?

...that Didiereaceae is a family of cactus-like flowering plants that make up the spiny thickets of Madagascar? (Image:Alluaudia montagnacii.jpg)
...that the feminist Madeleine Pelletier was the first female psychiatrist in France and that she dressed as a man to protest the oppression of women? (Image:Madeleine Pelletier.jpg)
...that the Delaware Basin in Texas contains fossilised coral reefs from the Permian?
...that Harvey Hubbell (1857–1927) invented the electrical plug? (Image:HarveyHubbell.png)

... that Gilbert Mabbot (1622–1670) was a pioneering journalist during the English Civil War who also served as an official licenser of the press? (Image:Perfectdiurnall.gif)
... that Ken Loach's 1995 film Land and Freedom tells the story of a British volunteer who joins the POUM militia and fights for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War? (Image:Land and freedom.jpg)
... that the Vietnam War protest song "War", originally recorded by The Temptations, was Motown artist Edwin Starr's only number 1 hit?
... that Temple Beth-El, built in 1876, is the oldest synagogue in the U.S. state of Florida?

... that Bigleaf hydrangeas bloom in different colors depending on the soil pH? (Image:Hydrangea macrophylla - Hortensia hydrangea.jpg)
...that Hampshire County Cricket Club has produced three England cricket captains in its 141 year history? (Image:Logo of Hampshire County Cricket Club.gif)
...that British actress Stephanie Beacham played a nun on American sitcom Sister Kate after playing the glamorous Sable Colby on the drama Dynasty?
...that Paula Ackerman was the first woman to serve as a rabbi in the United States?
...that Kuttanad in Kerala, India, is that country's only region below sea level?

...that the FTSE 100-listed company Hays plc dates back to the 1600s, when they owned warehouses and wharves on the River Thames?
...that Willi Münzenberg (1889–1940) was known as "The Red Millionaire" because he combined high living with communist propaganda?
...that Kentucky State University, at 2,300 students, is the smallest of the public universities in the U.S. state of Kentucky? (Image:Kentuckystate.png)
...that bishop William McKendree (1757–1835) earned the nickname "Father of Western Methodism" for his travels through his vast see of Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri, and Illinois? (Image:William McKendree.jpg)
... that silent E is a convention in English spelling added to the ends of words, that makes short vowels long?
... that until it was looted in 1204 by the Fourth Crusade, the Church of the Holy Apostles was the busiest place of worship in Constantinople?
... that in the 1977 film That Obscure Object of Desire directed by Luis Buñuel, the leading role of Conchita is played by two actresses and voiced by a third?

... that the group portrait Banquet of the Amsterdam Civic Guard in Celebration of the Peace of Münster by Dutch painter Bartholomeus van der Helst (1613–1670) was considered by Sir Joshua Reynolds to be the finest he had seen? (Image:Helst, Peace of Münster.jpg)
... that the 1868 encounter between Kasuga and Kaiyō was the first naval battle between two modern fleets in Japan? (Image:Kasuga.jpg)
... that the Chilean football club Cobreloa reached the finals of South America's principal club competition, the Copa Libertadores, in 1981, only four years after the club's founding? (Image:Cobreloa.GIF)
... that Palwankar Baloo was a Dalit (Untouchable) who helped break down the Indian caste system with his prowess at cricket?

... that Graham Berry (1822–1904), 11th Premier of Victoria, attempted to break the power of the Victorian Legislative Council, the stronghold of the landowning class? (Image:Grahamberry.jpg)
... that in the National Lacrosse League of North America, the Coach of the Year Award is named after the late Les Bartley?
... that Carl Zuckmayer wrote the script for the 1930 movie Der Blaue Engel starring Marlene Dietrich?
...that Quantum praedecessores was a papal bull issued on 1 December 1145 by Pope Eugenius III, calling for a Second Crusade?
...that the Mann Gulch fire of 1949 was a wildfire in Montana which claimed the lives of 13 firefighters?

... that Dutch admiral Egbert Bartholomeusz Kortenaer (1604–1655) kept Maarten Tromp's standard raised to maintain morale after the latter died in the Battle of Scheveningen in 1653? (Image:Helst, Egbert Kortenaer.jpg)
...that infectious salmon anemia is a viral disease of Atlantic Salmon which affects fish farms in Canada, Norway, and Scotland? (Image:Atlantischer Lachs.jpg)
... that the Spinifex people are the last Aboriginal nomadic people in Australia, taking their name from the Spinifex grass that survives in the desert?
... that the History of Swansea includes an epidemic of yellow fever in 1865, the only outbreak of that disease on the British mainland?
... that Ralph Samuelson invented water skiing in 1922?

...that spatiotemporal gene expression refers to the patterns in which genes are expressed in different tissues as an organism develops? (Image:Frog_GFP_eye.gif)
...that only five people have been decorated Hero of Belarus, the highest title that can be bestowed on a citizen of Belarus?
...that Jean Kambanda, prime minister of Rwanda during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, is the first and only head of government to plead guilty to genocide?
...that Ariwara no Narihira (825–880) was one of six waka poets named in the preface to the great Heian period poetry collection Kokin-wakashu?

...that the Eastern Newt changes its skin color from bright red to olive green when it becomes an adult, and is known as the red eft before adulthood? (Image:Red Spotted Newt.jpg)
...that because Adelaide del Vasto was divorced by King Baldwin I of Jerusalem in 1117, her son Roger II of Sicily refused to give assistance to the Crusader states during the Second Crusade?
...that the decoration of the 1877 Papal Tiara includes 540 pearls, 68 rubies, 37 emeralds, and many other precious stones? (Image:Tiara-1877.jpg)
...that the Battle of Bun'ei in 1274 was Mongol emperor Kublai Khan's first attempt to invade Japan?

...that when Lady Frances Brandon failed to marry her daughter Lady Jane Grey to Edward VI of England, she plotted instead to raise Jane to the throne by means of a coup d'état in 1553? (Image:Eworth, Frances Brandon and Henry Grey.jpg)
...that the European White Elm is distinguished from other European elms by its long flower stems? (Image:Llandegfan Elm tree.jpg)
...that the Free French corvette Aconit was awarded the Ordre de la Libération for her service in World War II?
...that the incorrect climatological theory that "rain follows the plow" was promoted in the 1870s to justify the settlement of the arid Great Plains of the American West?

...that Pancho Barnes was a pioneer of women's aviation and owner of the Rancho Oro Verde Fly-Inn Dude Ranch? (Image:Pancho Barnes.jpg)
...that the Humboldt Squid is a large, aggressive predatory squid which can grow to 2 m long and weigh 40 kg?
...that Götz von Berlichingen, a knight of the Holy Roman Empire, wore a prosthetic hand made of iron after losing his hand in the siege of Landshut in 1508? (Image:Goetz von berlichingen.jpg)
...that the Swabian War of 1499 was fought between the Old Swiss Confederacy and the emperor Maximilian I and his Swabian League? (Image:Battle of Hard.jpg)

...that the male pink salmon develops a large hump on its back when it is time to spawn, leading to the species nickname "humpie"? (Image:Pink salmon.jpg)
...that a freak decompression accident on board the oil rig Byford Dolphin in 1983 literally caused a man to explode?
...that Scottish cyclist Robert Millar finished fourth in the 1984 Tour de France, the best ever finish by a British cyclist?
...that Marcus Loew, whose family's poverty forced him to give up on schooling and go to work at age nine, became the owner of the largest chain of movie theaters in the United States and the founder of MGM Studios?

...that Starry Night Over the Rhone, painted by Vincent van Gogh in 1888, shows the constellation Ursa Major over the Rhone at Arles? (Image:rhone.jpg)
...that when Theodora Comnena married King Baldwin III of Jerusalem in 1158, her dowry was 100,000 hyperpyra?
...that the fungus Magnaporthe grisea destroys enough rice to feed more than 60 million people annually and was prepared as an anti-plant biological weapon during World War II? (Image:Rice blast.jpg)
...that Buzzie Bavasi was the general manager of the Brooklyn & Los Angeles Dodgers for eighteen years, helping the team win their first four World Series championships?

...that cloud-busters can allegedly use energy from their brain's prefrontal lobe to dissipate clouds? (Image:Cloud.jpg)
...that the first witches persecuted by the Inquisition believed in Madonna Oriente, the Moon goddess?
...that Elsie Tanner was a core character on the British soap opera Coronation Street for over twenty years?
...that Leonard Shoen was an entrepreneur who founded the first American vehicle rental company called U-Haul in 1945?

...that the Dutch ship Brederode was the flagship of the United Provinces in the six largest battles of the First Anglo-Dutch War? (Image:De Vlieger, Brederode off Hellevoetsluis.jpg)
...that Dutch maritime painter Simon de Vlieger was influential in the move away from the monochrome grisaille to a more colourful style of sea painting?
...that Malin Space Science Systems operates the camera on the Mars Global Surveyor?
...that Video-Enhanced Grave Markers turn headstones into talking video displays for the deceased?

...that some original sources on medieval hunting contain detailed instructions on how to capture a unicorn? (Image:DomenichinounicornPalFarnese.jpg)
...that Brooklyn Brewery hired Milton Glaser, best known as the creator of the logo for the I Love New York campaign, to create their company logo?
...that Josiah Belden was a member of the first party to use the California Trail, and the first mayor of San Jose, California?
...that Project Exile was a program of prosecuting illegal gun offenses in federal court, helping reduce gun violence in Richmond, Virginia?
...that the Plague of Athens devastated ancient Athens in 430 BC, perhaps leading ultimately to the city's defeat in the Peloponnesian War? (hidden on main page, not used)

...that NGC 3314 is a pair of almost perfectly overlapping spiral galaxies, giving astronomers a unique opportunity to observe the properties of interstellar dust? (Image:Ngc3314.jpg)
...that Showmen's Rest in Forest Park, Illinois is a 750 plot section of Woodlawn Cemetery where members of a circus troupe were interred following the Hammond circus train wreck in 1918?
... that Sarah Brady became an advocate of gun control and led actions to reduce gun violence after her husband White House Press Secretary James Brady sustained a disabling head wound during the Reagan assassination attempt in 1981?

...that Julia Tuttle was the citrus plantation owner that owned the land upon which Miami, Florida, was built, and that she gave half her land to Henry Flagler to entice him to build a station for the Florida East Coast Railroad there?

(Image:Miami_skyline_from_Biscayne_Bay.jpg)

...that Project Aqua was a proposed hydroelectric scheme for the lower Waitaki River in New Zealand that would have diverted up to 77% of the river's flow into a separate canal?
...that different stages of the fish parasite Myxobolus cerebralis were originally thought to be three different organisms in two different classes?
...that it was Jack Clement who discovered and recorded future Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer Jerry Lee Lewis for Sun Records while Sam Phillips was away on a trip?

...that the Paradesi Synagogue, built by the Malabar Yehudan people, is the oldest synagogue in the British Commonwealth of nations ? (Image:Cochin Jewish Inscription.JPG)
...that the Slovenian folk instrument bird-scaring rattle is used to drive birds from vineyards?
...that the astronomer Tycho Brahe calculated products quickly using Prosthaphaeresis, a 17th century algorithm exploiting trigonometric identities?
...that John Ritter made one of his first film appearances in the 1972 horror film The Other? (Text is new, article used to be redirect)

...that the principles of bird flight are the same as used in aircraft, with lift being provided by an aerofoil? (Image:Rubythroathummer65.jpg)
...that by passing as a man, Isobel Gunn became in 1806 the first woman of European descent employed by the Hudson's Bay Company in Rupert's Land?
...that Fred Gipson was an American author best remembered for creating a fictional dog featured in a book and the classic 1957 movie Old Yeller?
...that the English politician Charles Mohun, 4th Baron Mohun fought a duel with James Douglas, 4th Duke of Hamilton in Hyde Park on November 15 1712 which resulted in the deaths of both men?

...that Lover's Leap is a name given to a number of locations of great height where legends take place involving couples leaping to their mutual death? (Image:Bridgerivervalley 500px.jpg)
...that French painter Adélaïde Labille-Guiard was ordered to destroy her royal portraits after the French Revolution?
...that admiral Michiel de Ruyter saved the United Provinces from invasion in the two Battles of Schooneveld in June 1673?
...that 11 of the 13 members of the Hong Kong cricket team died when their steamship, SS Bokhara, was lost in a typhoon in 1892?

...that the National Socialist Motor Corps was a motorized paramiltiary group of the Nazi Party, numbering almost 500,000 in membership? (Image:NSKKBadge.jpg)
...that Reverend Mother Superior Dolores Hart is the only nun to be an Academy Award-voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences?
...that the racehorse "Your Host" of hollywood producer William Goetz won the 1950 Santa Anita Derby?
...that time discipline is the set of social and economic rules, conventions, customs, and expectations about time and its measurement?

...that the Iceland hotspot is partly responsible for the frequent volcanic eruptions and geothermal activity experienced in Iceland? (Image:Lava flow at Krafla, 1984.jpg)
...that Zara Yaqob was the first Emperor of Ethiopia (1434 – 1468) to send a diplomatic mission to Europe?
...that in Hindu mythology, Meenakshi was born with three breasts, fish-eyes and a smell of fish?
...that the composer Zbigniew Preisner wrote the title music for the monumental BBC documentary the People's Century which spans 26 parts?

...that French painter Charles-André van Loo was the principal court painter to Louis XV of France? (Image:Vanloo, Painting.jpg)
...that English explorer James Knight died on an expedition in search of the Northwest Passage in 1719?
...that Joseph Cornelius O'Rourke, an Irish Count born in Estonia, became a Russian Lieutenant General, and was honoured with a statue in Belgrade for his victory over the Ottoman Empire in 1810?
...that American golfer Tony Lema died when the plane he was travelling in crashed into a golf course?
...that the Truro murders were among the earliest serial killings in Australia?

...that Perley A. Thomas was a Canadian millsmith who attended night courses, learned drafting and design skills, and became a renowned streetcar and bus manufacturer in High Point, North Carolina? (Image:Post245.jpg)
...that American actress Susan Oliver, after surviving a plane crash that almost ended her life, became the first woman to fly a single-engined aircraft solo from New York City across the Atlantic Ocean?
...that the Windows Template Library is perhaps the only open source library by Microsoft?
...that the two airplanes on the Bar Harbor Airlines fleet that had accidents were numbered N200WP and N300WP respectively?

All older items have been archived at Wikipedia:Recent additions.

Changes to existing entries

Please discuss changes at Wikipedia talk:Did you know.