Wikipedia:Did you know archive/2004/August

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31 August 2004

...that past Olympic mascots include several bears named Misha, Coal, Howdy and Hidy, and dogs Cobi and Waldi ?
...that pineconefish have no apparent sexual dimorphism?
...that Commodore Horatio Bridge was the first officer to employ the idea of comprehensive fleet supply within the United States Navy?
...there are large stands of primeval forest on the border between Poland and Belarus?
...that the Monty Python song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" is a parody of the type of song featured in Disney films?
...that the AVE Mizar was a flying car created by attaching part of a Cessna Skymaster to a Ford Pinto?

30 August 2004

100x100px|this song is available in the foyer

...that the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia pioneered the use of incubators for newborn intensive care?
...that the main sounds made by Lichtenstein's Hartebeest are a bellow and a sneeze-snort?

29 August 2004

...that the Wicked Witch of the West controls the Winged Monkeys through the power of the Golden Cap?
...that some Native Americans called the Douglas Squirrel the "Pillillooeet"?
...that The Brighter Day is the only explicitly religious soap opera ever to air on American network television?

27 August 2004

...that the Seattle Fault is believed capable of producing an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale?

26 August 2004

...that the Supreme Court of Sweden ceased to render verdicts in the name of the Swedish monarch in 1974?
...that You Bet Your Life was a radio and television quiz show hosted by Groucho Marx?

Memorial to Victor Noir

...that rubbing the statue of Victor Noir in Père Lachaise Cemetery supposedly "enhances fertility"?

24 August 2004

...that Dutch bus-building firm Den Oudsten was founded in 1926 and went out of business in 2002?
...that the 16-year part of Donna Beck on the American soap opera All My Children, played by Candice Earley, was originally meant to be just a short-term role?

20 August 2004

The Vitagraph Girl, Florence Turner

...that silent movie actress Florence Turner was originally known to audiences only as the Vitagraph Girl?
...that one cause of the 21 years of military dictatorship in Brazil was the support of president João Goulart for a mariner rebellion, led by a disguised CIA agent, Cabo Anselmo?

...that the Battle of the Bismarck Sea was a devastating Japanese defeat during World War II?
...that bicycle helmets are not designed to be re-used after a major accident?

19 August 2004

Calalyn Rail

...that in England and Wales, most common land is actually privately owned?
...that the Calayan Rail flightless bird is a significant recent species discovery, announced on 16 August 2004?

...the anarchy symbol can be seen as an embodiment of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon's seemingly paradoxical maxim, "anarchy is order"?

The symbol most people associate with anarchism

17 August 2004

...dual gauge railway generally consists of three rails, rather than the standard two rails?

16 August 2004

...that Alexander Pope's "An Essay on Criticism" is a poem written in heroic couplets?

15 August 2004

...that Democrats Abroad began with two small committees in London and Paris in 1965, and has grown to be a large international organization?
...that the average lifespan of a feral cat who survives kittenhood is two years, compared to 16 years for house cats?
...that the Osmond family, known for their musicality, have two siblings who were born deaf?
...that infant teeth emerge in pairs?

12 August 2004

Diagram of wheelbase

...that the Diploma in Computer Science at the University of Cambridge has only a fail, pass and pass with distinction?
...that wheelbase dimensions are crucial to automobile steering and balance?

Diagram of wheelbase

...that the Serendib Scops Owl is Sri Lanka's most recently discovered bird?
...that aboriginal whaling rights are granted to native populations in Greenland, Canada, the United States, Russia and several Caribbean island communities?
...that a pit stop in Formula One autosport involves about 20 mechanics?

11 August 2004

...that soap opera actress Catherine Hickland starred in the Broadway production of Les Misérables as Fantine?
...that the Alpine Ibex of Gran Paradiso were first protected in 1816?
...that an amateur airplane pilot's spatial disorientation during flight can lead to an irreversible graveyard spiral?
...that the ear's hair cells encode the information from the fluid waves of the cochlea for use by the auditory nerve?
...that blackwater fever causes red blood cells to burst, leaking hemoglobin into the plasma?

10 August 2004

...that 43 nations currently participate in the Kimberley Process for keeping conflict diamonds from reaching market?
...that the Turkish military coup of 1971 is known as the Coup by Memorandum?
...that Pickles is George W. Bush's nickname for his wife?
...that the golden age of arcade games began with the release of Space Invaders in 1978?
...that seeds of the Hawaiian baby woodrose contain chemicals with effects similar to LSD?
...that Brownie Wise invented the Tupperware party?
...that Michael Faraday did the first modern research into the nature of colloidal gold?

Space Invaders screenshot

...that the British Royal Family announced the deaths of Katherine Bowes-Lyon and Nerissa Bowes-Lyon, the Queen Mother's nieces, when they were, in fact, merely under psychiatric care?

9 August 2004

...that actress Patsy Kensit has married and divorced three different musicians?
...that the 364-metre pier in Withernsea, England was struck by ships four times, finally leaving it only 15 metres long?
...that most of the Strigolniki were drowned in the Volkhov river in 1376 as a result of pressure from the Russian Orthodox Church?
...that the Norwegian heavy water sabotage was a key part of Allied efforts to prevent Nazi Germany from developing nuclear weapons?

6 August 2004

...that the Canadian constitutional crisis known as the King-Byng Affair led to the Statute of Westminster 1931, which affected all the Dominions in the British Empire?
...that a self number is an integer that cannot be generated by any other integer added up to its digits?
...that the primary Polish Scouting organization is Zwiazek Harcerstwa Polskiego?
...that the famed message "England expects that every man will do his duty" is misquoted on Nelson's Column in London?
...that Santa Maria sopra Minerva is the only Gothic church in Rome and holds the body of Saint Catherine of Siena, but not her head?
...that Englog is English mixed with Tagalog words, while Taglish is Tagalog mixed with English words?
...that Pennsylvania Hospital, cofounded by Benjamin Franklin, was the first hospital in the United States?

5 August 2004

...that Wingy Manone's "Tar Paper Stomp" was used as the basis for Glenn Miller's "In the Mood"?
...that the source of the Naga fireballs of the Mekong river is a topic of much debate in Thailand?

Thailand's coat of arms

...that the Gospel of Philip was one of the many Gnostic writings found in 1946 in the Egyptian village of Nag Hammâdi?
...that the 1702 Spanish treasure fleet was destroyed in the Battle of Vigo Bay?

...that Germans consume up to 300 tonnes of Döner kebab each day?
...that non-standard poker hands in five-card draw are determined by house rules and may have colorful names like Little Bobtail and Round the Corner Straight?
...that the sterile insect technique has been successfully used to fight malaria?
...that the Nova Scotia Duck-Tolling Retriever attracts waterfowl by making a fool of itself?

4 August 2004

...that the Canis Minor Dwarf Galaxy is our nearest galactic neighbor?

...that the Melisende Psalter, produced in the 12th century, is the most notable example of Crusader art?
...that Indiana's Eel River once served as informal boundary between the lands of the Potawatomi people in the north and Miami people in the south?
...that in 1960 the American Ballet Theatre became the first American ballet company to dance in the Soviet Union?
...that Germans consume up to 300 metric tons of döner kebab each day?
...that the Milky Way's galactic halo contains many globular clusters?
...that the Thor, Baldur and Vidar are the best-known sons of Odin but that Snorri Sturluson names at least five others?

3 August 2004

...that during the Great Depression confidence man Oscar Hartzell defrauded thousands of people with false promises of access to the estate of Sir Francis Drake?
...that more than 50 members of the Japanese Diet were involved in the Recruit Scandal of the 1980s?
...that holy cards are an important devotional practice for many Roman Catholics?
...that the Death's Head moth is named for the mark on its back, which resembles a human skull?
...that St. George, Bermuda was founded by sailors headed for Plymouth Colony in Virginia?
...that chalcocite, a profitable and desirable kind of copper ore, was particularly plentiful in the now-depleted copper mines of Cornwall, England and Bristol, Connecticut?

2 August 2004

...that the Cementerio General de Chile is the final resting place for Chilean presidents?
...that the casque of the Tarictic Hornbill is hollow and made of keratin?
...that Colin Pitchfork was the first person to be convicted using DNA fingerprinting?
...that members of the Coeur d'Alene nation refer to themselves in their own language as Schitsu'umsh?