Did you know...: Did you know~4

...that the Korean poetic form of sijo resembles the Japanese haiku?
...that the California-based American poet Robert Hass, a two-term Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, is a neighbor of Nobel laureate Czesław Miłosz?
...that the huge, 7900-ton Mother Motherland statue commerating the Battle of Stalingrad sits atop Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd, Russia?
...that in 1978 at age 17 Maia Chiburdanidze became the seventh and youngest ever Women's World Chess Champion?
...that the private income of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom is known as the Privy Purse?
...that Pop-Tarts are the most popular product made by Kellogg's?
...that bone marrow transplants are used to restore hematopoietic stem cells in patients with types of bone marrow disease, blood disease, or cancer?
...that Villeurbanne and Lyon form the second-largest conurbation in France?
...that Jimmy McHugh was nominated five times for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, but never won?
...that one variety of baby blue eyes, a common California wildflower, is white?
...that actress Dorothy Kilgallen, who claimed to have information about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, died under suspicious circumstances?
...that "God Save Ireland" was the unofficial national anthem of the Irish Free State?
...that Elaine May and Mike Nichols cofounded the Compass Players, which later became The Second City?
...that most of the 8000 speakers of the Niuean language live outside the borders of Niue?
...that Swedish chemist Karl Wilhelm Scheele discovered the first refractory metal in 1781?
...that the romantic epistles Letters of a Portuguese Nun were from a nun to her lover?
...that the U.S. movement toward small claims courts began in the early 1960s, as Justice of the Peace courts became increasingly archaic?
...that Bodega Bay in California was the setting for Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 film The Birds?
...that rattlesnake venom contains hemotoxins?
...that Ernest Duchesne discovered penicillin's antibiotic properties 32 years before Alexander Fleming?
...that the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia is the oldest written history of Latvia and Estonia?
...that the boundaries between American Georgia and Spanish Florida were defined by the 1796 Treaty of Madrid?
...that the term Fertile Crescent was coined by James Henry Breasted?
...that an important tool in surface mining is the dragline excavator?
...that New York Point lost out to Braille in the "War of the Dots"?
...that The Mississippi Rag has been reporting on traditional jazz and ragtime music since 1973?
...that a cousin of curling, ice stock sport, is played primarily in Germany and Austria?
...that four different continents host Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) populations?
...that a crystal set is the simplest kind of radio receiver?
...that Fanny Crosby wrote more than 8000 hymns despite being totally blind?
...that Austrian journalist Günther Nenning is nicknamed Auhirsch, meaning "meadow deer"?
...that the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) can be found in all 48 contiguous U.S. states?
...that the Rolls-Royce Pegasus engine powers the Harrier jet?
...that Herschel Island in Canada is named for scientist John Herschel?
...that Heaven Can Wait, a play by Harry Segall, has been filmed at least four times?
...that in 1929 the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin completed a circumnavigation of the globe in 21 days, five hours, and 31 minutes?
...that exploding head syndrome isn't fatal?
...that Harry Potter and Ron Weasley found Tom Riddle's diary in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom?
...that Sean MacDermott, a leader of the Easter Rising of 1916, was executed by firing squad?
...that patent ductus arteriosus is a kind of congenital heart defect?
...that there is a form of mental calculation called Vedic mathematics which is based on the ancient Indian Vedas?
...that California's Russian River is named for the Russian trappers who explored it in the early 19th century?
...that the Diners Club card was the first independent credit card?
...that in the late 1940s, the U.S. Air Force's Northrop YB-49 set both an unofficial endurance record and a transcontinental speed record?
...that in the DC Comics universe, Power Girl is a cousin of Superman?
...that linguicism is a prejudice based on someone's use of language?
...that a chick sexer is specially trained to visually determine the sex of chicken hatchlings?
...that a Klondike bar is a dessert generally consisting of a vanilla ice cream square coated with a thin layer of chocolate?
... the 1839 Report on the Affairs of British North America stated in that Canada consisted of "two nations warring in the bosom of a single state?"
...that greeneyes are hermaphroditic?

Did you know...

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Did you know~4

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