Did You Know? Articles at Halfvalue.com

Did you know...

...that Dürer's Rhinoceros (pictured), a woodcut of the first rhinoceros seen in Europe in a millennium, was created by Albrecht Dürer in 1515 without him ever seeing the animal itself?
...that Ram Shastri, a celebrated 18th-century judge in the Maratha Empire, created judicial history in India by sentencing the incumbent Peshwa (de facto ruler) to death on a charge of murder?
...that although the last game in the Battle Isle series was released in 2001, there is an open source project, Advanced Strategic Command, to recreate the series?
...that the Greeks introduced wine to Romania around 3,000 years ago?
...that The War Illustrated was a WWI magazine first published eighteen days after the United Kingdom declared war on Germany?
...that the Polish lake Morskie Oko was once called "Fish Lake" due to its natural stock of fish, which are uncommon in lakes and ponds of the Tatra Mountains?

...that the Tuggerah Lakes (pictured), located on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia, cover a total area of 77 square kilometres yet have an average depth of less than two metres?
...that Charles Gascoigne developed the carronade while manager of the Carron Company in Scotland, but emigrated to avoid his creditors and spent the last 20 years of his life organising the production of iron and cannon for the Russian Empire?
...that, at the pinnacle of its power, the Avar Khanate exacted tribute from the rulers of Azerbaijan and Georgia?
...that Dove Cottage was a home of the English poet William Wordsworth for 8½ years of "plain living, but high thinking"?
...that Jogendra Nath Mandal was a Hindu politician who served as the first Minister for Law and Labour of the Muslim state of Pakistan?
...that Dana International was the first transsexual to win the Eurovision Song Contest in 1998 with the song "Diva"?

...that Boy Charlton (pictured) won gold in the 1500m freestyle at the 1924 Olympics despite his coach jumping overboard on the sea voyage to Europe?
...that due to legal restrictions, the first scheduled electric tram service in Saint Petersburg ran not on city streets, but rather on ice covering the Neva River during winter season?
...that John Fortescue attempted to restrict King James I's power by limiting the appointment of Scottish people, and as a result was dismissed from his position as Chancellor of the Exchequer?
...that the Communist Consolidation group was formed by Indian revolutionary prisoners at the Andaman Cellular Jail in 1935?
...that from the 6th to 12th centuries, a large part of Dagestan was dominated by the Christian kingdom of Sarir?
...that the first professional football team, The Zulus, was established in Sheffield, England in 1879?

...that a National Weather Service bulletin for New Orleans, Louisiana, warned of "human suffering incredible by modern standards" before Hurricane Katrina's landfall?
...that although the Polish-Romanian Alliance, an important alliance of the 1920s, was still in force when the Second World War began, it had little impact on the German invasion of Poland in 1939?
...that the fossilised remains of lions have been found at Crook Peak in Somerset, England?
...that Captain Humbert Roque Versace was the first Army P.O.W. in Southeast Asia to receive the Medal of Honor for actions in captivity?
...that Paris has held six BIE-sanctioned world's expositions, but the most recent was in 1937?
...that the makers of Winston cigarettes responded to qualms about the incorrect grammar present in the ad campaign "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should" with a completely new campaign, noting the error?

...that for nearly three centuries until 1956, the Burdwan Zamindari, one of the richest feudal estates in Bengal, was held by the same Punjabi family (family member pictured)?
...that the 1990 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships was the only World Championship to permit bodychecking in women's ice hockey?
...that the Dictionary of Western Australians and the related Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians are two biographical dictionaries which contain biographical details of over 20,000 individuals?
... that the Zigong Dinosaur Museum in Zigong, Sichuan Province, China, established in 1987, was the first specialized dinosaur museum to open to the public in Asia?
... that the James J. Hill House in Saint Paul, Minnesota, built in 1891 by railroad magnate James J. Hill, has 36,000 square feet of living area and is the largest residence in Minnesota?

Hattie Tom, photograph by Frank Rinehart, 1898

...that famed photographer of Native Americans Frank Rinehart used platinum emulsion instead of silver in photographs taken at the 1898 Omaha World's Fair to make the tonal range broader? (pictured: Hattie Tom, photograph by Frank Rinehart, 1898)
...that The Colgate Comedy Hour was a musical variety television show that ran on the NBC television network from November 1950 to December 1956, and was the first NTSC color television broadcast?
...that Horseshoe Bend, Shirehampton, a Site of Special Scientific Interest near Bristol, contains the largest population of True Service-trees in England?
...that Silvestre S. Herrera is the only living person authorized to wear both the U.S. Medal of Honor and Mexico's equivalent "Premier Merito Militar"?
...that underwater panthers were creatures appearing in the mythology of a number of Native American traditions, which combined the features of mountain lions or lynx with those of snakes, and were believed to inhabit the deepest parts of lakes and rivers?

...that David B. Barkley (pictured), who drowned in the Meuse River, France after completing a scouting mission behind enemy lines during World War I, was the U.S. Army's first Hispanic Medal of Honor recipient?
...that the dinosaur Lufengosaurus, whose remains were found in China, was the first dinosaur to appear on a commemorative postage stamp, in 1958?
...that, as a result of track switchbacks on either side of a mountain pass, all trains of the Gilmore and Pittsburgh Railroad crossed over the U.S. continental divide running backwards?
...that Wayne Boden, a Canadian serial killer and rapist, was the first man to be convicted with the help of forensic odontological evidence in North America?
...that Red Man, one of the leading U.S. brands of chewing tobacco, has been especially successful in marketing itself with rural sporting events?

...that Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 2 (VMU-2), a United States Marine Corps UAV squadron formed in June 1984, was the first Remotely Piloted Vehicle unit in the U.S. Armed Forces? (pictured: unit insignia)
...that Pisharoth Rama Pisharoty was an Indian meteorologist who was a pioneer of remote sensing technologies in India?
...that Eric Schopler's research into autism led to the foundation of the TEACCH program?
...that The Boke of Chyldren by Thomas Phaire, published in 1545, was the first book on paediatrics written in the English language?
...that Philippe de Montebello, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, is famous for his heavy French accent and even gives readings of French poetry at the museum?
...that Pachirisu is a fictitious Electric Squirrel Pokémon that can shock opponents?

...that the Vitebsk Rail Terminal in Saint Petersburg (pictured) contains a replica of the first train used in the Russian Empire?
...that Egushawa, principal chief of the Ottawas, was one of the most influential Native Americans of the Great Lakes region in the late eighteenth century?
...that the COMILOG Cableway, built to transport manganese ore mined in Gabon, was the world's longest cable car at over 75 km?
...that U.S. Army General James Harbord, who commanded the United States Marine Corps' 4th Marine Brigade at the Battle of Belleau Wood during World War I, was President of RCA in the 1920s when it formed NBC and RKO Pictures?
...that "Everybody Knows", a song by Leonard Cohen and collaborator Sharon Robinson was described as a "bleak prophecy about the end of the world as we know it"?

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