Did You Know? Articles at Halfvalue.com

Did you know..

...that Yakov Kreizer (pictured) was the first Soviet general awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union title during World War II?
...that in Faridah Begum bte Abdullah v. Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah, it was held that non-Malaysian citizens cannot sue a Malay ruler?
...that when the Goths saw the Swedish king Ragnvald Knaphövde travelling among them without Gothic hostages, they deemed him so arrogant that they murdered him?
...that Oneirocritica, the first major work on dream interpretation, was written in the second century by Artemidorus?
...that the City of York was a British barque which sank after hitting a reef off Rottnest Island within sight of its destination?
...that there are several theories about the origins of the name of Poland?
...that the Hunnestad Monument (pictured), one of Scandinavia's largest Viking memorials, was destroyed at the end of the 18th century?
...that Eriogonum parvifolium is a California endemic dunes shrub which is host to several endangered butterflies?
...that the first time in World War II submersible tanks were used was on June 22, 1941, by German tanks of the 18th Panzer-Division?
...that the Anjajavy Forest holds many endangered species including four of the 99 pairs of Madagascar Fish Eagle?
...that Alix, the wife of Viscount of Rochechouart Aymeric VI, was imprisoned in Château de Rochechouart castle with a lion, but the animal did not hurt her and laid down at her feet?
...that J-ska is contemporary Japanese music with origins in Jamaica?
...okiagari-koboshi dolls (pictured) are considered symbols of perseverance in Japan because they never fall down?
...that Japanese surrealist gothic horror author Yumeno Kyksaku dropped dead due to a cerebral hemorrhage while at an autograph signing party hosted by his publisher?
...after an affirmative action dispute, Yale freshman Jian Li was the subject of a controversial parody in the annual joke issue of The Daily Princetonian?
...that W. Harry Davis, who helped desegregate Minneapolis, overcame childhood polio to become a Golden Gloves coach and manager of U.S. Olympics boxing teams?
...that results of the 1946 Romanian general election, the first in Romania under universal suffrage, were manipulated by the Communist Party?
...Dralasites are an amoeboid extraterrestrial race depicted in science fiction role-playing games for the past 25 years?
...that the Polish minority in Lithuania is the country's largest non-Lithuanian ethnic group?
...that William Hogarth's Four Times of the Day (pictured) shows a sign for a pie shop with a picture of the severed head of John the Baptist and the words "Good Eating"?
...that the Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland of 1815, considered among the most liberal constitutions of its time, was increasingly disregarded by the Polish government, leading to the November Uprising of 1830?
...that Robert Spear Hudson used paintings by professional artists for advertising before Pear's Soap and Lever Brothers?
...that the Department of Food Science at Purdue University was created during Bernard J. Liska's tenure as Dean of Agriculture in 1983?
...that Tom Chick is a prolific games journalist and Hollywood actor who has a degree in divinity from Harvard Divinity School?
...that James Palacio of the HBO series Oz was an empress of the Imperial Court System?
...that the first German U-boat sunk by the United States Navy in World War II was U-656, sunk on 1 March 1942?
...that the important medieval fresco cycle in Castelseprio, Italy, (pictured) was rediscovered only in 1944?
...that Harold G. Schrier led the patrol of U.S. Marines who raised the first American flag on Mount Suribachi?
...that the Carbonera Creek watershed in California has diverse plant communities including a rare assemblage known as Maritime Coast Range Ponderosa Pine forests?
...that the Round Tower in Sandiway, Cheshire, was originally the gate lodge of the great house of Vale Royal Abbey?
...that Lithuania's name was recorded in chronicles by its Latinized Slavic name form Litua, for the first time in 1009?
...that poet and playwright Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska (pictured), known as the Polish Sappho, discussed topics such as abortion, extra-marital affairs, and incest by 1939?
...that the female Smith's blue butterfly has only seven days to feed, court, mate, and lay eggs?
...that John Freke was the first ophthalmic surgeon?
...that the Ryuho was the only major warship damaged in the Doolittle raid, and the last Japanese aircraft carrier to make a war-time voyage outside the Home Islands?
...that the Gouin Reservoir in Quebec, Canada is not one contiguous body of water, but the collective name for a series of lakes with highly irregular shapes?
...that cock throwing was a popular blood sport in England for centuries?
...that the Fauna of Scotland includes almost half of the EUs breeding seabirds, but only one endemic vertebrate species, and that although a population of Wild Cats (pictured) remains many of the larger mammals were hunted to extinction in historic times?
...that 51 Birch Street, a low-budget documentary about mystery of a suburban marriage, was named one of The New York Times top ten films of 2006?
...that Updown Court, the world's most expensive residence, is valued at over US$120 million?
...that Roger Bacon sent his Opus Majus, a treatise of natural science, to Pope Clement IV in 1267?
...that Murderers Among Us was the first German post-World War II film?
...2003's Hurricane Ignacio was the latest forming first hurricane of a Pacific hurricane season since reliable satellite observation began in 1966?
...that the champion racehorse Corrida, a two-time winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, disappeared during the Battle of the Falaise Gap?
...that Hortus deliciarum (pictured) was a medieval illuminated encyclopedia created to teach about the torments of hell?
...the Finnish Air Force selected the Saab 91 Safir as its primary trainer aircraft over the domestic Valmet Tuuli III?
...that according to the book Civilization One, there are 366 degrees in a circle?
...that Richard E. Cavazos, recipient of two Distinguished Service Cross awards, was the United States Army's first Hispanic 4-star general?
...a copper mine on Brim Fell in England appears as in the novel The Plague Dogs?
...that the Mayurakshi river in India wreaks havoc with its floods even after the construction of a dam?
...that Peter Prendergast was recognised as the leading landscape painter in Wales after the death of Sir Kyffin Williams in September 2006?
...that akabeko (pictured), red cow toys from the Aizu region of Japan, are believed to ward off disease?
...that Broken Glass, a 1994 play by Arthur Miller, was nominated for the 1994 Tony Award for Best Play, but lost out to Angels in America: Perestroika?
...that Randy Conrad became a local celebrity in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia after appearing in a McDonald's TV commercial?
...although Abkhazia is not recognised by any nation, the Abkhazian Air Force had a reported roster of 250 men and seven aircraft in 2001?
...the first president of the World Association of Copepodologists was a veteran of the Polish resistance movement in World War II?
...that Les Taylor only captained Watford in the 1984 FA Cup final because regular captain Wilf Rostron was suspended?
...that the interaction of bees and toxic chemicals can make bees drunk or produce poisonous honey?
...that Andreas Joseph Hofmann proclaimed the first republican state in Germany on March 18, 1793?
...that Maurice K. Goddard helped create 45 Pennsylvania state parks?
...that Ernest "Boots" Thomas, one of the U.S. Marines who raised the flag on Iwo Jima (pictured), was able to enlist in spite of being color blind by memorizing the results of another man's test?
...that Junqueirópolis, a municipality in São Paulo, Brazil, is nicknamed "Acerola Capital" for its agriculture?
...that Seb Clover, who sailed the English Channel solo at age 11, set a world record at age 15 when he raced against his father in an Atlantic Ocean crossing?
...that Target for Tonight was a 1941 documentary filmed, acted, and written by the Royal Air Force?
...that fewer than 100 of 500 colonists in the Virginia Colony survived the Starving Time during the winter of 1609-1610?
...that the Blohm und Voss Bv 144 was an attempt by Nazi Germany to develop an advanced commercial airliner for post-war service?
...that a Jacksnipe is a two-man racing sailing dinghy created in 1968 by prolific boat designer Jack Holt?
...that in 2005, Adam Bruce (pictured) became the first herald appointed to Clan Donald of Scotland in 510 years?
...that Major General Keith L. Ware, who was awarded the Medal of Honor during World War II, was the first U.S. Army general officer to be killed in action in the Vietnam War?
...that the Suisun Shrew is a rare mammal species which survives only in a narrow marshland at the northern extremity of San Francisco Bay?
...that the Stingray Nebula, discovered in 1987, is the youngest known planetary nebula?
...that Edwin D. Hill was the first president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers to be elected by secret ballot?
...that an Egyptian army of 1,500 was defeated by 300 women and old men of Diro during the Egyptian Invasion of Mani in 1826?
...that the Witches of Belvoir supposedly believed a cat named Rutterkin helped them cast spells?
...that La Salle Road in Hong Kong is named after French educator Jean-Baptiste de la Salle?
...that Arnold Zamora, a Filipino musician, is one of the Singing Priests of Tagbilaran?
...that the Tokyo Big Sight convention center (pictured) looks like four upside-down pyramids?
...Davi Kopenawa Yanomami, a shaman of the indigenous people of Brazil, received an award from the United Nations Environmental Program?
...that the Gettlinge gravefield contains a stone ship, made of standing stones in the shape of the traditional Viking sailing vessel?
...that Larin Paraske, a Finnish oral poet, could recite over 32,000 verses of poetry?
...that during the Winter War, a Swedish fundraising drive paid for the purchase of a Fokker F.VIII airliner for the Finnish Air Force?
...Elisabeth Rivers-Bulkeley was one of the first women to become a member of the London Stock Exchange?
...that the king stropharia, a prized edible mushroom, develops spiny cells which kill nematodes?
...that matches were so prized during the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition that Alfred Cheetham offered a bottle of champagne for one?
...that Craignethan Castle was the last private fortress built in Scotland?
...that in the deposition initiation ritual (pictured) of Medieval and Early Modern universities, new students were dressed up with horns which were then removed with grindstones, axes, and pliers?
...that in his satirical 1827 pamphlet Grand Erratum, French physicist Jean-Baptiste Pérès argued that Napoleon never existed, but was just another expression of an ancient myth?
...that model Rebecca Twigley became a household name in Australia after wearing a revealing dress to an event in 2004?
...the Golden Resources Mall in Beijing, the second-largest shopping mall in the world, has attracted as few as 20 shoppers in an hour?
...that the Soviet spotter aircraft Sukhoi Su-12, though approved, was never produced due to lack of manufacturing capacity in the USSR?
...that the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul (pictured) in Nantes, France took 457 years to complete?
...that after serving as a surgeon in the Army of the Republic of Texas, David Catchings Dickson was elected to the First Texas Legislature?
...that the Black Fell comprised a chapter in the Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells because of its excellent view?
...that the Heinkel He 46, designed for the Luftwaffe in 1931, was still being used to fight the Soviets in 1943?
...that the geology of London includes abundant fossilized animal remains?
...that the Singapore Conference Hall was the first building to be built in the Shenton Way financial district?
...that sculptor Bernardo Cennini helped produce the Doors of Paradise for the Battistero di San Giovanni?
...that the Soviet pilot Sergey Gritsevets (pictured), twice awarded the honorary title of Hero of Soviet Union, is credited with downing 42 enemy planes?
...that the Knoxville Campaign ended with a Union Army victory even though the final battle of the campaign at Bean's Station had resulted in a Confederate victory?
...that Camp Cuddly Pines: Power Tool Massacre is the first adult film to be released in the HD DVD format?
...that Hawayo Takata, a Nisei fluent in the language and culture of both Japan and the United States, introduced Reiki to the Western World?
...that the Ajacan Mission, a failed attempt by Spanish Jesuit priests to bring Christianity to the Native Americans of the Virginia Peninsula, predated the establishment of Jamestown by about 36 years?
...that Japanese writer Naoki Sanjugo (literally "Naoki 35") changed his pen-name four times, once per year, to match his age?
...that more than 500 varieties of mango (pictured) are showcased in the International Mango Festival held in Delhi?
...at the Atlantic House on Cape Cod during World War I, Pulitzer Prize-winner Eugene O'Neill was arrested at gun point as a spy for the Kaiser?
...that Ern Westmore was the only member of the famed Westmore family to be given a special Academy Award for make-up, bestowed for his work on the film Cimarron?
...that "bohemian" Japanese symbolist poet Nakahara Chuya remained close friends with influential literary critic Kobayashi Hideo all of his life, despite the fact that his girlfriend left him for Kobayashi soon after they met?
...that although Lehigh Gorge State Park in Pennsylvania is now known for whitewater rafting on the Lehigh River, in the 19th century it was the site of a canal built to bypass those same rapids?
...that twenty-seven U.S. states (pictured) have adopted constitutional amendments to prevent same-sex marriage or civil unions?
...that 11-year old Prince Joseph Wenzel of Liechtenstein is regarded by Jacobites as third in line for the throne of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland?
...that the American composer Paul Moravec won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2004 for his Shakespeare-inspired chamber piece Tempest Fantasy?
...that in 362 AD, the rhetorician Prohaeresius, a friend of the pagan Emperor Julian, was allowed to keep his teaching post in spite of a ban on Christians but resigned in protest?
...that some of the earliest Russians in Bulgaria were the Old Believer Nekrasov Cossacks known as Lipovans?
...that Ken Okuyama, a Japanese automobile designer, designed the Enzo Ferrari super car?
...that Creobroter (100x100px|Creobroter|pictured) is a praying mantis which uses ant mimicry as a juvenile and flower mimicry as an adult?
...that Sharon Sayles Belton was the first female and first African-American mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota?
...that the Short Sturgeon started life as a high-performance torpedo bomber, became a target tug, then a naval reconnaissance bomber, and finally an anti-submarine aircraft, before failing altogether?
...that Arthur William Hodge was the only white person in the history of the British West Indies to be executed for killing a black slave?
...that the largest wave of Russian settlers in Bulgaria, the White Guards, arrived following the events surrounding the October Revolution and the Russian Civil War?
...that Colonel Frederick Gough was the first person to receive the Royal Aero Club Parachutist Certificate?
...that the prefabricated and portable White Castle restaurant Building No. 8 (pictured) in Minneapolis, Minnesota has had three different locations?
...that Michael Beetham, World War II bomber pilot, is now senior Marshal of the Royal Air Force?
...that Trachodon, despite being a well-known and often-used duckbill name in the past, is based on teeth which include both duckbill and horned dinosaur specimens?
...that the Nikolayevsk Incident, in which Japanese people were killed by Bolshevik revolutionaries, was pretext for the invasion of Sakhalin island?
...that the National Security League formed the first known political action committee in the United States in 1918, and spent more than $100,000 to defeat congressmen who opposed its positions?
...that South Korean United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Tanzanian Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro previously worked together as foreign ministers?
...that Tobias Lear probably destroyed six letters of conflict between George Washington and Thomas Jefferson?
...that the Australian steamer TSS Kanowna (pictured) was requisitioned twice during World War I, first as a troopship and then as a hospital ship?
...that male spiders, scorpions and mantids have special strategies to avoid sexual cannibalism?
...that Joseph E. Widener, a major figure in U.S. Thoroughbred horse racing, lost his elder brother and nephew in the Titanic disaster?
...that the Federal Corrupt Practices Act was the primary law regulating campaign finance in U.S. federal elections until the passage of the Federal Election Campaign Act in 1971?
...that Trondheim Tramway was reopened in 1990 after being permanently closed for two years, the process costing two mayors in Trondheim their jobs?
...that Russian billionaire, politician and philanthropist Alexander Lebedev started his career as a KGB agent working in London?
...that Windows DreamScene displays videos in MPEG or WMV format as desktop wallpaper?
...that Öpir, the "shouter", was the most productive of the old Viking runemasters?
...that St. Clement's Church in Büsum, Germany (pictured) is furnished with items looted from Pellworm by the pirate Cord Widderich?
...that One is a Japanese adult renai game (or visual novel), developed by Tactics?
...that the schooner Rouse Simmons, known as "The Christmas Tree Ship", was transporting over 5,000 Christmas trees to Chicago when it sank in 1912?
...that Singaporean Web Map Service Streetdirectory.com successfully sued several businesses for copyright infringment, but is now being sued on the same charge by the Singapore Land Authority?
...that Misner space is a hypothetical closed space which would allow travelling through time?
...that only one of the 266 1076 Class steam locomotives built for the Great Western Railway was named, and the rest had only numbers?
...that Sheila Gallagher has been the City of London's last remaining lollipop lady since 1990?

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