User:Yomangani
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Did you know...
- ... that the Medici giraffe was the last live giraffe seen in Europe for almost 400 years?
- ...that the Count d'Orsay's poodle inspired Edwin Landseer to paint Laying Down The Law?
- ...that, despite the name, Mrs. Chippy, the ship's cat on Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition was actually male?
- ...that original copies of the Herefordshire Pomona, a 19th century catalogue of apples and pears, command prices of over $20,000 when they come up for sale?
- ...that the PDSA Gold Medal is awarded to animals for gallantry and devotion to duty?
- ...that Tom Hickathrift is the East Anglian equivalent of Jack the Giant Killer?
- ...that guards on the mail coach had to remain outside for the entire journey and sometimes froze to death?
- ...that "Splice the mainbrace" is an order given aboard naval ships to allow the crew an extra ration of rum?
- ...that when first introduced to England there was confusion over whether the Rouen duck was named after the Rhône region, Cardinal de Rohan, the colour roan, or the town Rouen?
- ...that shark threat display is an exaggerated swimming style exhibited by some sharks when they perceive they are in danger?
- ...that a record 7238 salmon made the trip up the 310 metre Pitlochry fish ladder in 2006?
- ...that Sir Edwin Landseer's iconic painting, Monarch of the Glen (pictured), was intended for the House of Lords, but the House of Commons refused to grant the £150 commission?
- ...that Harry McNish was one of only four crew members of the Endurance not to receive the Polar Medal, and that his grave remained unmarked for almost 30 years?
- ...that the body of the victim of the Red Barn Murder, in Suffolk, England, was discovered in 1828 after her stepmother reported dreaming about it?
- ...that the travels of a shipment of 29,000 Friendly Floatees bath toys lost overboard in the Pacific in 1992 have been used to model the world's ocean currents?
- ...that the 1592 book Nine Worthies of London charted the rise of nine tradesmen and apprentices to the nobility?
- ...that the Chubb detector lock was developed in 1818 in a competition sponsored by the British Government to create an unpickable lock and remained unpicked until 1851?
- ...that William King Gregory, a leading authority on vertebrate evolution and the preeminent expert on human dentition, was initially taken in by the Piltdown Man, a hoax which was purported to be an early human?
- ...that Nicolas Grollier de Serviere invented a type of bookwheel that allowed many heavy books to be read at the same time?
- ...that Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park was formerly home to one of the few colonies of the endangered Mediterranean Monk Seal in the Western Mediterranean?
- ...that the New Guinean Quoll is a carnivorous marsupial that is reported to eat prey bigger than itself?
- ...that the trees alongside the Falls of Bruar were planted in response to an entreaty from Robert Burns, the Scottish poet?
- ...that Henry Burrell was the first person to successfully keep the Platypus in captivity, in a habitat of his own design that he called a platypusary?
- ...that Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service was created in 1971 due to controversy surrounding the flooding of Lake Pedder in 1970?
- ...that ukiyo-e artist Keisai Eisen was famous for his bijin prints of beautiful women (pictured) and claimed to have owned a brothel?
- ...that a Congreve clock uses a rolling ball rather than a pendulum to regulate the time?
- ...that nobody buried in a safety coffin is known to have taken advantage of its features?
- ...that the Théâtre Optique show (pictured) of 1892 was the first public projection of moving images, predating the Lumière Brothers' screening by three years?
- ...that Thomas Orde-Lees (pictured) jumped from Tower Bridge into the River Thames to prove the effectiveness of parachutes to the Royal Flying Corps?