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Did you know...

[change source]

Please add the line '''''~~~~~''''' at the top for the newly posted set of archived hooks.


08:23, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

  • ... that Tina Fey (pictured) was the first female head writer on Saturday Night Live?
  • ... that enzymes commonly increase the rate of chemical reactions in cells by 10 billion times?
  • ... that ping pong balls are used to decide who gets the first pick in the NBA Draft?
  • ... that Henry Ford helped come up with a new idea called the assembly line, which made it much faster to make cars?
  • ... that Marques Haynes could bounce a basketball as many as six times a second?

    08:10, 8 June 2010 (UTC)

  • ... that City of Manchester Stadium (pictured) is licensed to host marriage ceremonies?
  • ... that Jackie Robinson was the first athlete to win a varsity letter in four sports at University of California, Los Angeles?
  • ... that the play The Author's Farce had actors pretending to be puppets?
  • ... that when Mary II and William III married, it was reported that Mary wept through the whole ceremony?
  • ... that Dalmatians are known as the "clowns" in the dog world?

    12:00, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

  • ... that Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales (pictured) also co-founded Wikia?
  • ... that a poll taken in 2006 stated that almost half the adults in Russia thought Joseph Stalin was a good person?
  • ... that according to Greek mythology there were three Gorgons, named Stheno, Euryale and Medusa?
  • ... that before he married his wife, Martin Luther helped her sneak out of a convent while she hid in a barrel?
  • ... that Brazil produces the most sugar per person of any country?

    14:05, 25 June 2010 (UTC)

  • ... that the British Museum (pictured) has over seven million objects in its collection?
  • ... that tickets to Stephen Strasburg's first Major League Baseball game sold out only a few hours after his team said he would play in it?
  • ... that the album The Sufferer & The Witness sold 48,000 copies in its first week, reaching number 10 on the Billboard 200?
  • ...that the Hassan II Mosque in Morocco is the mosque with the tallest minaret in the world?
  • ...that in the United Kingdom, children get on average about 9 chocolate easter eggs every Easter?

    16:55, 5 July 2010 (UTC)

  • ... that that Evelina (early first edition pictured) was actually a sequel to a book that Frances Burney burnt?
  • ... that Homer's epic poems started life as oral stories?
  • ... that between 1994 and 1996, Saint Lucia got about 60 percent of its export earnings, and 12 percent of its GDP, from bananas?
  • ... that independence for the United States of America started out of a belief that people in America were not getting the same rights as people in England?
  • ... that Lee Myung-bak became the president of South Korea on his 37th wedding anniversary and 67th birthday?

    15:44, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

  • ... that Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna (pictured) once rolled a rock into a snowball and threw it at her sister, Tatiana?
  • ... that the world's earliest surviving peace treaty was agreed between Ramesses II and Hattusili III in 1258 BC?
  • ... that though Claude Bernard made animal testing a part of the standard scientific method, his wife Fanny began the first anti-vivisection society in France?
  • ... that the Detroit Red Wings have won the Presidents' Trophy six times, the most of any team in the National Hockey League?
  • ... that Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna and her sister Tatiana were known as "The Big Pair"?

    23:01, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

  • ... that Rutherford B. Hayes (pictured) was elected President of the United States in 1877, even though he got fewer votes than the man he ran against?
  • ... that five original copies of the Gettysburg Address exist, all containing slightly different words?
  • ... that the Arena da Baixada will be one of the stadiums used in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil?
  • ... that one of the world's saltiest lakes, the L'Atalante basin, lies two miles deep at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea?
  • ... that being left-handed can help people be better at playing tennis or fighting with swords?

    22:56, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

  • ... that Jane Austen (pictured) knew sign language?
  • ... that the number of bones in a human neck is the same as in the neck of a giraffe?
  • ... that in 1880, Recaredo Santos Tornero built the first paper mill in Chile?
  • ... that the recently discovered phylum Loricifera includes the first animals known to exist entirely without oxygen?
  • ... that Charlotte Brontë began Jane Eyre when she was in Manchester to help her father receive eye surgery?

    11:25, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

  • ... that the dance and music of the Paso doble (pictured) are based on the Spanish bullfight?
  • ... that Charles Darwin wrote the first well-known book on carnivorous plants in 1875?
  • ... that on 30 June 2010, German politician Christian Wulff became the youngest person elected President of Germany?
  • ... that most people in about 50 countries are Muslims?
  • ... that John Joseph Woods won ten guineas for writing the national anthem of New Zealand?

    13:38, 9 August 2010 (UTC)

  • ... that Canterbury Cathedral (pictured) costs £12,000 a day to run and repair?
  • ... that there are nearly 400 different types of cheese in France?
  • ... that algae in Antarctica make the snow and ice turn red or green?
  • ... that a Coney Island hot dog comes from Michigan, but a Michigan hot dog comes from New York?
  • ... that perpetual motion machines cannot be built?

    20:48, 15 August 2010 (UTC)

  • ... that the Milky Way galaxy (pictured) contains over 100 billion stars?
  • ... that some mountains in the Sahara can have snow on them, even in summer?
  • ... that Attabad Lake, which is over 21 kilometres long, was formed by a landslide?
  • ... that scientists in Huntsville, Alabama developed the rocket which carried America's first satellite to space?
  • ... that Lake Baikal, at 1,700 meters, is the deepest lake on Earth?

    08:43, 21 August 2010 (UTC)

  • ... that York Minster (pictured) has the largest window of medieval stained glass in the world?
  • ... that John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress has been translated into more than 200 languages?
  • ... that Greenland is the largest island in the Northern Hemisphere?
  • ... that the Kishtim Disaster of 1957 was the second worst nuclear accident, after that of Chernobyl?
  • ... that caesium is so reactive that it explodes on contact with water?

    09:28, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

  • ... that Salisbury Cathedral (pictured) has the world's oldest working clock?
  • ... that The Edge, who is U2's guitarist, said that "Wonderwall" was one of the songs he wishes he had written?
  • ... that light takes about eight minutes to reach Earth from the Sun?
  • ... that the oldest surviving Christian Bible is a Greek manuscript from the fourth century AD?
  • ... that the age of majority in Albania is 14?

    10:57, 6 September 2010 (UTC)

  • ... that when St Pancras station (pictured) was opened in 1868, it had the largest single-span roof in the world?
  • ... that mercury is the only metal with a melting point lower than caesium?
  • ... that Hurricane Marilyn caused over 2,000,000,000 dollars in damage?
  • ... that The Fabulous Moolah held the WWE Women's Championship for almost 30 years?
  • ... that in Sweden, it is illegal to train a seal to balance a ball on its nose?

    09:07, 15 September 2010 (UTC)

  • ... that the planet Neptune (pictured) is named after the Roman god of the sea?
  • ... that a black African man, John Caesar, was Australia's first bushranger?
  • ... that Sahelanthropus tchadensis may be a common ancestor to both humans and great apes?
  • ... that the proof of certain theorems cannot be written down easily?
  • ... that all 200 million starlings in North America are descendants of 60 or so birds set free in 1890 in Central Park, New York?

    16:22, 23 September 2010 (UTC)

  • ... that George Orwell's (pictured) real name was Eric Arthur Blair?
  • ... that the Carnac stones are the largest collection of Neolithic standing stones in the world?
  • ... that the color of food can change how the food tastes?
  • ... that the Rainbow Serpent is the symbol of the world's oldest continuing religion?
  • ... that Philip Carteret's book about his trip around the world was not printed for 198 years?

    17:44, 2 October 2010 (UTC)

  • ... that the first traitor's head displayed on London Bridge (pictured) was that of William Wallace?
  • ... that the Hundred Years' War lasted for 116 years from 1337 to 1453?
  • ... that that the Tasmanian Devil is the largest meat eating marsupial in the world?
  • ... that the crane is the tallest bird in America?
  • ... that two apparently homosexual penguins in the New York zoo successfully hatched an egg?

    13:05, 7 October 2010 (UTC)

  • ... that in 1572, a pug (pictured) saved the Prince of Orange by barking when enemy Spanish soldiers came near?
  • ... that the oldest paper with writing on it, from 150 AD, was found in ruins of the Great Wall of China?
  • ... that Nobel Prize winner Barry Marshall drank bacteria to prove they caused stomach ulcers?
  • ... that George Orwell got the idea for his book, Animal Farm, from seeing a young boy whipping a cart horse?
  • ... that Paul the Octopus correctly chose Spain to win the 2010 World Cup Final over the Netherlands?

    18:18, 17 October 2010 (UTC)

  • ... that there are more Red billed Quelea (pictured) than any other bird species in the world?
  • ... that Marie Curie was the first person to win two Nobel Prizes?
  • ... that actors call Shakespeare's Macbeth "The Scottish Play" because they think its name brings bad luck?
  • ... that Goodluck Jonathan is the President of Nigeria?
  • ... that the Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy?

    20:10, 27 October 2010 (UTC)

  • ... that the 2010 Copiapó, Chile mining accident (pictured) left 33 miners trapped seven hundred meters under the ground?
  • ... that Cleopatra and Mark Antony had a daughter who became Queen of ancient Mauritania?
  • ... that sulfur hexafluoride is about five times heavier than air?
  • ... that because of the Earth's equatorial bulge, Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador is the farthest point from its center?
  • ... that Manú National Park in Peru has more than 10% of the world's bird species?

    21:56, 3 November 2010 (UTC)

  • ... that one type of selenium (pictured) conducts electricity better in the light than the dark?
  • ... that the Colossal Squid has eyes as big as dinner plates?
  • ... that some ideas of modern economics are based on a book Adam Smith wrote in 1776?
  • ... that some ichthyosaurs had the largest eyes ever recorded for any vertebrate?
  • ... that the winds on Neptune can blow up to 1300 mph (2100 km/h)?

    09:41, 9 November 2010 (UTC)

  • ... that when he painted portraits, Thomas Gainsborough (pictured) sometimes used brushes on sticks six feet long?
  • ... that William H. Prescott's book The Conquest of Mexico was placed in the library of every ship in the U.S. Navy?
  • ... that William Herschel's 1789 telescope was the world's largest for the next 50 years?
  • ... that one death cap mushroom can kill a person?
  • ... that pentaerythritol tetranitrate, an explosive, is used as a drug to help with some heart problems?

    22:52, 14 November 2010 (UTC)

  • ... that when Mount Vesuvius (pictured) exploded in AD 79, it destroyed the city of Pompeii?
  • ... that Paul Revere did not actually yell "The British are coming!" during his midnight ride?
  • ... that the word "hippopotamus" means "horse of the river"?
  • ... that some of the autobahns in Germany have no speed limit?
  • ... that broccoli, cauliflowers and cabbage all come from one species of plant, Brassica oleracea?

    07:49, 24 November 2010 (UTC)

  • ... that owls (pictured) can rotate their heads up to 270 degrees in both directions?
  • ... that the Wandering Albatross has the largest wingspan of any living bird?
  • ... that the communist dictator Joseph Stalin studied to be a priest?
  • ...that chromium trioxide, a chemical used to clean glass, can ignite alcohol on contact?
  • ... that Hurricane Katrina flooded 80% of the city of New Orleans?

    01:41, 18 December 2010 (UTC)

  • ... that certain fish, such as clownfish (pictured), change their sex during their life?
  • ... that in 9AD German tribes destroyed three Roman legions in the Teutoburg Forest?
  • ... that Bouvet Island is more than 1600 km (994 miles) away from any other land?
  • ... that chlorine trifluoride can burn sand?
  • ... that the Bronze Age collapse has been called "the worst disaster in ancient history"?

    02:31, 24 December 2010 (UTC)

  • ... that the age of the Earth (pictured) could not be worked out until radioactivity was discovered?
  • ... that there is a bacterium which uses arsenic to help make its DNA?
  • ... that halophiles can survive in environments that have two to five times the salt concentration of sea water?
  • ... that J.D. Salinger ordered his agent to burn any mail that fans of his books sent him?
  • ... that Sir Edmund Hillary worked as a beekeeper when he was not climbing mountains?

    13:58, 30 December 2010 (UTC)

  • ... that elephants (pictured) avoid Acacia trees with ants living on them?
  • ... that a Klein bottle cannot be filled with a liquid?
  • ... that some people in the Donner Party used cannibalism to survive?
  • ... that the Solingen arson attack of 1993 caused Germany to ban some right-wing political groups?
  • ... that the Domesday Book got its name because it reminded people of the Last Judgment?

    09:57, 6 January 2011 (UTC)

  • ... that Anwar el Sadat (pictured) was the first Arab leader to recognize that Israel was a country?
  • ... that Stromatolites are the oldest fossils on Earth, dated to 3,450 million years ago?
  • ... that Bruce Dickinson, singer for Iron Maiden, is also an airline pilot?
  • ... that Alexander Litvinenko was murdered by a tiny amount of polonium?
  • ... that the Red Fox's tail helps it balance when it chases its prey?

    18:44, 11 January 2011 (UTC)

  • ... that some tardigrades (pictured) were able to survive 10 days in outer space?
  • ... that singer and musician Tricky named his first album Maxinquaye after his mother, who killed herself when he was four?
  • ... that Carlos Andrés Pérez, a former president of Venezuela, died recently of a heart attack?
  • ... that monkey brains are eaten in some parts of Africa, South Asia, and China?
  • ... that a painting by Alfred Sisley was found in a sewer in Marseille?

    09:28, 23 January 2011 (UTC)

  • ... that seahorses (pictured) are the only fish that experience true male pregnancy?
  • ... that almost one-fifth of all wheat grown in the United States of America is grown in Kansas?
  • ... that before 50 Cent was a rapper he was a drug dealer?
  • ... that the Nazi officer Erwin Rommel ignored orders from Adolf Hitler to kill his Jewish prisoners?
  • ... that Harper Lee once threw her manuscript for To Kill a Mockingbird out the window into the snow?

    20:01, 1 February 2011 (UTC)

  • ... that tube worms Lamellibrachia (pictured) can live for 250 years or more?
  • ... that in some parts of the world, 9 out of 10 adults cannot digest lactose completely?
  • ... that Paracetamol is the leading cause of acute liver failure in the United States and Great Britain?
  • ... that the Pittsburgh Pirates have not had a winning season for eighteen years?
  • ... that the 2010–2011 Queensland floods have covered an area the size of France and Germany combined?