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1
...that the
Evelyn tables , acquired by
John Evelyn in
Padua in 1646, are thought to be the oldest
anatomical preparations in
Europe ?
...that an
effigy mound in the shape of a turtle is located in the
Beattie Park Mound Group in downtown
Rockford, Illinois ?
...that
Saionji Kinmochi , the 11th
Prime Minister of Japan , was a member of the
Saionji family , a line of court nobles stretching back to the 12th century?
...that the capital city
Chang'an during the Chinese
Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) had 111
Buddhist
monasteries and 41
Daoist
abbeys within its walls?
...that
Russian
poet
Dmitri Prigov wrote approximately 36,000 poems with much of his work distributed as
samizdat ?
...that
Wilhelm von Pressel designed the first railroad in
Turkey ?
...that
Kobayashi Kiyochika , the last great
ukiyo-e artist, studied photography and Western-style painting, the two forms which heralded the demise of his art, extensively?
...that several of the
Orkney islands' highest points are named "Ward Hill" due to the many old
warning beacons in the area?
...that under the
First Organic Laws of Oregon , the de facto constitution of the
Provisional Government , women could get
married at the age of 14?
...that the
2007 Super 14 Final between the
Bulls and the
Sharks was the first all-
South African final in
Super rugby history?
...that the 1621
Battle of Khotyn resulted directly in the death of the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth leader,
hetman
Jan Karol Chodkiewicz , and indirectly in the death of the
Ottoman Empire commander,
sultan
Osman II ?
...that
Chao Tzee Cheng , a
Singaporean
forensic pathologist , performed over 25,000
autopsies ?
...that in one
Indonesian legend,
Prince Panji 's vanished bride disguised herself as a man and became king of
Bali ?
...that it has been suggested that the
Parthenon Frieze (
pictured ) might be a
war memorial for the Athenian dead at the
Battle of Marathon ?
...that
Academy Award -winning
American
singer
Barbra Streisand filled in a tooth gap with
Aspergum when she started out in theater? --
...that the
nickname Ned arose from an instance of
rebracketing , as children interpreted the term of endearment "mine Ed" as "my Ned"?
...that the
vigilante actions of the
Omaha Claim Club , including many
founding fathers of
Omaha, Nebraska , were later overturned by the
U.S. Supreme Court in
Baker v. Morton ?
...that
York radiate groundsel (Senecio eboracensis ) is a
hybrid plant
species thought to have
evolved suddenly within the last 300 years?
...
St Peter's Church, Plemstall in
Cheshire ,
England , is built on the site of a
hermitage occupied by
Plegmund who was later the
Archbishop of Canterbury ?
...that
John Wylde (1781-1859) at one time filled the post of Deputy Judge Advocate of
New South Wales , where he effectively had to simultaneously perform the roles of committing magistrate, public prosecutor and judge?
...8,909,200 pounds of
cast iron were used to build the
United States Capitol dome ?
...that the
Mosque of Kefeli in
Istanbul was used jointly as a
church by
Roman Catholic and
Armenian believers before becoming a
mosque ?
...that
smoking (
cigarette pictured ) has a history that dates back at least 5,000 years and is one of the most widely practiced
recreational activities in the world?
...that the
dwarf pygmy goby (Pandaka pygmaea ), a
freshwater fish from the
Philippines , is the smallest fish in the world?
...that
Stirling Moss is the only racing driver who was given a distinctive caricature design (wearing a
helmet ), differing from the usual design, by
Autosport 's
cartoonist
Jim Bamber in 1998?
...that British forces serving in
Basra ,
Iraq were accused of using
killer badgers as a weapon?
...that
What to Expect When You're Expecting has been called "the Bible of American
pregnancy " and consistently tops the
New York Times Best Seller list in the paperback advice category?
...that
Karnataka is home to the largest concentration of
Siddhis (a
tribe of African descent) in
India ?
...that after the
Hospital Real de Todos os Santos was destroyed in the
1755 Lisbon earthquake , its remains were demolished to create a
public square ?
...that while
Angelina di Marsciano (
pictured ) was preaching in
Naples , she was arrested under charges of
sorcery and
Manichaeism , because of how readily young women accepted her call to
virginity ?
...that for
special effects in the 2001
Cambodian film ,
The Snake King's Child , live
snakes were glued to a cap worn by the lead actress?
...that on the same day
Arbroath beat Bon Accord 36-0 in the Scottish Cup that 18 miles away in Dundee,
Dundee Harp had beaten Aberdeen Rovers 35-0?
...that the known writings of
Caius, Presbyter of Rome exist only in fragments, many of which were preserved in the Ecclesiastical History of
Eusebius of Caesarea ?
...that
Pakistani artist
Anwar Shemza changed his name so it would match that of his studio in
Lahore ?
...that the
auto racing division of Sigma Automotive (later known as
SARD ) became the first
Japanese team to compete in the
1973 24 Hours of Le Mans ?
...that
family lawyer
Harry Fain played a significant role in the introduction of
no-fault divorce law in California in 1970?
...that the former
Schiller Piano Factory (
pictured ) in
Oregon, Illinois has been a
shopping center since 1975?
...that the fruit of the
apple dumpling , was one of the first
bushfoods to be commonly eaten by Europeans in
Australia ?
...that the
Timucua Indians of the
St. Johns culture left many large
shell
middens , including one estimated to be 75 feet high, even though
shellfish were a minor part of their diet?
...that
Sabarna Roy Choudhury sold to the British, for
Rs. 1,300, the land rights of
Sutanuti ,
Kalikata and
Gobindapur , that ultimately merged to become
Calcutta ?
...that the construction of the
Édifice Price was originally so criticized that it caused an ordinance prohibiting buildings exceeding 65 feet in
Old Québec ?
...that the former imperial vineyard at
Abrau-Durso is known for a brand of
Russian wine marketed as the
Soviet Champagne ?
...that
Arundinaria appalachiana is one of only three
bamboos native to temperate
North America ?
...that
John Henry Dearle (
example of work pictured ) was an apprentice
tapestry weaver to
Pre-Raphaelite artist and craftsman
William Morris who rose to become
Morris & Co. 's chief designer and Art Director after Morris's death?
...that
Ian Pont is the only professional
cricketer to have played a professional
baseball match?
...that due to
safety concerns , a number of
U.S. states require
air ambulance services to be accredited by the
Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems ?
...that the
Chinese philosopher
Wang Chong (
27 -
97 AD) accurately described the
water cycle in
meteorology ?
...that
Alexander Pope was expelled from
Twyford School for writing a poem that poked fun at one of his school masters?
...that the
Klaus Advanced Computing Building is named for
Chris Klaus , who donated
$ 15 million to his alma mater,
Georgia Tech , when he was just 26?
...that
Gundoin was the first
Duke of
Alsace , a
duchy which existed as part of the
Frankish Empire from the
630s ?
...that
Shardha Ram Phillauri , a
Punjabi , wrote the
first Hindi novel ?
...that 75% of the tombstones (
example pictured ) in
Hope Cemetery were designed by the people they house?
...that
Rice People , a 1994 drama film by director
Rithy Panh , was the first
Cambodian film to be
submitted for an
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film ?
...that
Megaloprepus caerulatus , a
giant damselfly with a wingspan of up to 19 centimeters (7.5 inches), breeds in water-filled
tree holes ?
...that
Choke , an upcoming film adaptation of the 2001
novel by
Chuck Palahniuk , will be the author's first film adaptation since
Fight Club ?
...that
Édouard Richard , a two-term member of the
Canadian House of Commons and
Acadian
historian , practiced law with future
Canadian Prime Minister
Wilfrid Laurier ?
...that the
Dima Halim Daoga and the
Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland broke ties because of competing
separatist ideologies ?
...that
World War II
Imperial Japanese Navy
light cruiser
Kuma was torpedoed by a
Royal Navy
submarine while engaged in
anti-submarine warfare training?
...that
Song Du-yul , a professor of philosophy and sociology at the
University of Münster in
Germany , was the only
South Korean to attend the 1994 funeral of
North Korean
leader
Kim Il-sung ?
...that despite being known from many specimens, the
fossil
Fuxianhuia (
pictured ) remains one of the most controversial
Cambrian
arthropods ?
...that the 2007 main event
World Series of Poker bracelet , awarded on
July 17 ,
2007 , is made with 136 grams of 18-carat white gold set with 120 diamonds?
...that after seeing the documentary,
S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine , former
Khmer Rouge leader
Khieu Samphan was moved to admit the existence of the
S-21 torture center in
Phnom Penh after years of publicly denying it?
...that the
United States Army formed 106
tank destroyer battalions in
World War II , all of which were disbanded by 1946?
...that
Besalú was an independent
county from 988 to 1111, when
Ramon Berenguer III inherited it, annexing it to the
County of Barcelona ?
...that the hostility of
English
alchemist
Thomas Charnock ' s neighbours forced him to barricade himself in his cottage?
...that the
Shuguang spacecraft was designed by the
People's Republic of China with the goal of achieving a manned space flight in 1973?
...that the unimportance and consequent emptiness of
Kalikata afforded the British room to settle there and establish
Calcutta ?
...that the
Polish-Teutonic War of 1519-1521 was the last of the
Polish-Teutonic Wars , and ended with the
Prussian Homage (
pictured ) ?
...that the 1993 film
Heaven & Earth , directed by
Oliver Stone , was based on the life of the
Global Village Foundation initiator
Le Ly Hayslip , who had a cameo appearance in the film?
...that
Josephus's Discourse to the Greeks concerning Hades is actually the work of
Hippolytus of Rome , but was considered
Josephus 's by his translator
William Whiston
...that the
Nantucket and
Martha's Vineyard
ferry ,
Sankaty , set fire to the famous whaler
Charles W. Morgan before being commissioned as a
minelayer by the
Royal Canadian Navy ?
...that the
Galaxy Zoo is an online
astronomy project that allows members of the public to help classify previously unseen images of
galaxies ?
...that the Roman merchants who
traded with ancient Tamil country , used the
monsoon winds to reduce the travel time between
Egypt and
India to forty days?
...that the
San Rafael Wilderness was the first U.S.
Primitive Area to be reclassified as wilderness after the passage of the 1964
Wilderness Act ?
...that although in 1939 the
Polish Army had
an elaborate plan for defence against the Soviet invasion , it couldn't implement it
when the invasion began due to being committed against an earlier
German invasion ?
...that
William Leybourn (
pictured ) wrote the first
English language
astronomy compendium?
...that
William W. Powers State Recreation Area 's
Wolf Lake co-hosted a
BioBlitz by over 150
scientists who unofficially counted 1,815
species in a day?
...that
infanticide is committed by animals as diverse as
gray langurs ,
pigs ,
jacanas and
water bugs ?
...that
Union Army
color bearer
Thomas J. Higgins received the
Medal of Honor for his actions at the
Battle of Vicksburg during the
US Civil War at the request of his Confederate captors?
...that the
1975
U.S. Supreme Court case
NLRB v. J. Weingarten, Inc. allowed all workers in
unionized workplaces to have a union representative present during management inquiries that might result in discipline?
...that there is a 14
foot (4.3
m ) tall miniature
Stick style house on the grounds of the
Ellwood House in
DeKalb, Illinois ?
...that
John Hill , former
Texas
Attorney General , was prominent in shutting down the
Chicken Ranch known as the
Best Little Whorehouse in Texas ?
...that the
Christian Specht Building is the only existing building with a
cast iron facade known in
Nebraska today, and one of the few ever built there?
...that in
1920 ,
KDKA in
Pittsburgh was the first
radio station to broadcast
Major League Baseball on the radio ?
...that
Sozodont (
advertisement pictured ) was an extremely popular
oral hygiene product whose name came from the
Greek meaning "to save the
teeth "?
...that
Juliana Anicia commissioned the largest church of pre-
Justinian
Constantinople ?
...that 18th century
brothel-keeper
Jane Douglas sold
condoms in silken bags to her customers?
...that the
critically endangered
totoaba , a member of the
drum family which weighs up to 100
kg , is found only in the northern end of the
Sea of Cortez ?
...that nineteenth-century
ventriloquist
Alexandre Vattemare originally studied to be a physician, but was refused a diploma after making
cadavers seem to speak during surgical exercises?