Did You Know? Articles at Halfvalue.com

Did you know...

...that 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, site of the 1963 church bombing, was designed in 1911 by noted African American architect Wallace Rayfield?
...that the failure of the First Malaysia Plan may have indirectly led to the May 13 Incident of racial rioting?
...that Pigeon Post, winner of the first ever Carnegie Medal for children's literature, is the only Swallows and Amazons book that does not feature some sort of sailing adventure?
...that the word "Indonesia" was first used in print by Sam Ratulangi, a high school science teacher who briefly held the post of Governor of Sulawesi and was posthumously awarded the title of National Independence Hero?

...that in 1860 Thomas Sayers became the first English boxer to fight an international match?
...that the longest of the Kiev bridges, the 1,543 metres long Paton Bridge over the Dnieper River, constructed in 1953 was the first fully welded steel construction of such length at that time?
...that in the Vatha pagan rising of 1046, Saint Gellert became a martyr after being pushed off a hill in a cart?
...that romanization of Belarusian, the transliteration of Belarusian-language text from the Cyrillic alphabet to the Latin alphabet, is distinct from writing in Aacinka, the historical native Latin alphabet of Belarus?
...that Lewis Adams, a former African American slave in Macon County, Alabama is known for helping found the normal school which later became Tuskegee University?

...that the Puerto Rican Spindalis is the national bird of Puerto Rico and often participates in mobbing, a behavior in which it attacks predators to defend hatchlings?
...that Arbit Choudhury is the first ever business school student comic strip and web comic?
...that the text on Nestor's Cup, one of the oldest known inscriptions in the Greek alphabet (c.740 BCE), is believed to be the result of a humorous drinking-party game?
...that John Honeyman was a spy who worked for George Washington and who provided intelligence crucial to the success of Washington's foray against the Hessian troops at Trenton, New Jersey on December 26, 1776?
...that the Speaker of Dewan Rakyat has the power to amend written copies of speeches made by members of the house before they are given verbally?

...that the Iberian Gate and Chapel in Moscow were destroyed on behest of Stalin in order to make room for heavy armored vehicles driving through Red Square during military parades?
...that Antonio Bosio, the first systematic explorer of the Catacombs of Rome was known as the "Columbus of subterranean Rome" ?
...that the German KarstadtQuelle AG is the largest department store corporation in Europe with over 100,000 employees?
...that before R. L. Stevenson became a successful novelist with Treasure Island in 1883, he was a struggling author of travel narratives who published An Inland Voyage, Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes and Silverado Squatters?
...that Dmitry Milyutin, the last Field Marshal of Imperial Russia, was responsible for introducing the general levy system into Eastern Europe?
...that the 1st and Ten System creates the yellow line seen on American football telecasts which shows where a team will earn a first down?
...that Charles Nqakula, the Minister of Safety and Security of South Africa and chairperson of the SACP underwent military training in Angola, East Germany, and the Soviet Union in order to fight in Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the ANC?
...that the Gourd Dance is performed to "cleanse" the dance arena prior to a Native American pow-wow?

...that the American Thanksgiving holiday was moved a week earlier from 19391941 because of The Great Depression and was referred to as Franksgiving after President Franklin D. Roosevelt?
...that Prathapa Mudaliar Charithram was the first novel in Tamil?
...that Isabelle Romée was the mother of Joan of Arc and petitioned the Pope before her daughter's conviction for heresy was overturned?
...that basketball player Mike Gansey is the only men's player in NCAA Division I shorter than 6 ft. 5 in. to figure in USA's top 50 in field-goal percentage for the 2005-06 season?

...that Vera Kholodnaya, the first Russian silent film star, was rumoured to have been poisoned by the French Ambassador with whom she reportedly had an affair and who believed that she was a spy for the Bolsheviks?
...that there are as many as two million illegal immigrants in Malaysia, half of whom may be receiving Bumiputra privileges?
...that the dress Marilyn Monroe wore on the night she sang Happy Birthday, Mr. President was so tight she had to be sewn into it?
...that the UK National Industrial Relations Court was controversial throughout its short life from 1971 to 1974, and was abolished soon after the Labour government of Harold Wilson came to power?

...that the Summer Garden in St Petersburg contains a hundred Venetian marble statues that are 300 years old?
...that the Park Ujazdowski, founded in 1893 by Sokrates Starynkiewicz, features the second bridge in the world built of reinforced concrete?
...that Soviet fighter pilot Mikhail Devyataev and nine other POWs took over a German He 111 H22 bomber and escaped from the concentration camp on Usedom island?
...that the 1963 Hotel Roosevelt fire was the worst fire Jacksonville, Florida had witnessed since the Great Fire of 1901?
...that the Old Ford Motor Factory, Ford's first assembly plant in Southeast Asia and built in 1941, was the site of the historic surrender of the British to the Japanese in World War II, later described by Winston Churchill as the "largest capitulation in British history"?

...that Government House in Perth, Western Australia is the official residence of the Governor of Western Australia and was built between 1859 and 1864 largely with convict labour?
...that the model for the doctor in William Hogarth's The Harlot's Progress was the often satirized French physician John Misaubin?
...that two out of three most notable monuments by Edward Wittig were destroyed during the World War II, while the third one was not erected until 2001, 60 years after Wittig's death?
...that the first fluorescent blacklight paint was invented by Bob Switzer and named Day-Glo?
...that the R-100 Series is a series of fictional mass-produced robots which have featured in every TimeSplitters game created?

...that Weingarten Abbey, a Benedictine monastery near Ravensburg, Germany, which was founded in 1056, was once one of the richest monasteries in Southern Germany?
...that the Dewan Rakyat is prohibited from discussing the repeal of certain articles of the Constitution of Malaysia?
...that scientific transliteration, a method used in linguistics to transliterate Slavic languages from the Cyrillic to the Latin alphabet, was first standardized over a century ago based on the Croatian alphabet?
...that the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways add about 500 km of new track each year to their network with planned links to Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan?
...that the Ampulex wasp can disable a cockroach's escape reflex, and use the roach to feed its larva?

...that Program 437 was a United States military antisatellite program using nuclear weapons delivered by Thor ballistic missiles as the primary mechanism of defeating enemy satellites?
...that the traditional Russian carnival of Maslenitsa lasts for a week and culminates in the burning of a straw effigy representing winter and all the left-over blintzes?
...that pendatang asing is a pejorative phrase used in Malaysia to imply non-Malays are not welcome?
...that Lillian Too, renowned feng shui expert, was once chief executive officer of a bank, and has written over 80 books since her retirement?

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