Wikipedia:Did you know archive/2004/March

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This is a record of material that was featured on the Main Page as part of Did you know (DYK). Recently created new articles, greatly expanded former stub articles and recently promoted good articles are eligible; you can submit them for consideration.

Archives are generally grouped by month of Main Page appearance. (Currently, DYK hooks are archived according to the date and time that they were taken off the Main Page.) To find which archive contains the fact that appeared on Did you know, go to the article's talk page and follow the archive link in the DYK talk page message box or the Article Milestones box.

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Did you know...

31 March 2004

...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

... 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?

Dolmabahçe Palace

...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

...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

...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

Jane Delano

...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

...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?

Black-handed spider monkey

...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

...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

...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

...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

...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?

Dr. No

21 March 2004

Henri Poincaré

...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

Abraham Baldwin

...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

100x100px|Poster of Creepshow

...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

...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

...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

...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

...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

...that Mark Catesby published the first account of the flora and fauna of North America?

13 March 2004

...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

...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

...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

...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

...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

...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

...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

...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

...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

...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

...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?