User:Theleekycauldron/Favourites of DYK

Did you know...

The arts

... that the cast and crew of the zombie film Junk, which made use of real meat for its gore effects, were sometimes unable to stomach meat for dinner after spending hours filming?
... that Monique Corzilius did not realize that she was the girl featured in the famous "Daisy" advertisement until the 2000s, when she searched for the commercial on the Internet?
... that Sally Fox found a picture of a French sculptor and decided to create a picture collection of thousands of other women?
... that experimental musician John Olson has been called a "sort of bizarro influencer" because of his habit of "chaotic shitposting"?
... that photographers in Saint Paul, Minnesota sold thousands of cartes-de-visite of "Old Betz", a Dakota woman they claimed was 120 years old?
... that the Ming-dynasty novella The Jealous Wife might have been written by the "Master of the Doctrine of Subduing Women"?
... that the director of the horror film Camera Obscura was inspired to write the screenplay after one of his co-workers was not allowed to take pictures in South America due to locals believing "it would steal their souls"?
... that the now-closed Dinosaur Wildlife museum exhibited three fox squirrels posed to fight in a boxing ring?
... that the vast majority of fiction, including science fiction, takes place on Earth?
... that New Zealand writer Jessie Weston wrote for William Ernest Henley's magazine for 18 months without him knowing she was a woman?
... that "why" is the only lyric of "Why"?

Religion

... that the Lutheran theologian Maurus Gerner-Beuerle wrote an autobiographical work about tales and pranks from his childhood?
... that the fringe belief of serpent seed claims that the Serpent mated with Eve in the Garden of Eden, and their offspring was Cain?

Politics, government, and law

... that John Henry Dunn resigned from the Executive Council of Upper Canada only three weeks after his appointment, throwing away a post he had sought for 16 years, on a matter of political principle?
... that women originally had the right to vote in New Jersey thanks to its constitution until an 1807 act removed that right?
... that King Edward's Place, once a love nest for King Edward VII, later became a children's activity centre?
... that the last commanding officer of the Rhodesian Light Infantry, Charlie Aust, described himself as "seedy moustache, glasses and intensely ugly" so soldiers knew how to identify him?
... that the protest initiative Omas gegen Rechts (Grannies against the Right) was awarded a prize for civil courage by the Central Council of Jews in Germany?
... that Tory MP John Solomon Cartwright refused a request by the governor-general of the Province of Canada to join the government, because he would not sit in Cabinet with radical Francis Hincks?
... that a 2020 congressional election in New York had a sticky problem?
... that Miao Poya successfully campaigned to change her high school's uniform policy before becoming one of the first Taipei city councillors to be openly lesbian?
... that rebel leader and later Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni had to walk 19 kilometres (12 mi) and borrow a car before the Battle of Kabamba because his pickup truck had broken down?

Crime

... that "one of early Australia's biggest manhunts" was organized to catch Chinese Australian bushranger Sam Poo?
... that Anthony "Big Tony" Ciulla had to enter the United States Federal Witness Protection Program after he testified in a trial about rigged horse races?

Sports

... that Hakan Akkaya became Turkey's first wheelchair fencer in 2013?
... that ice hockey coach Dave Siciliano designed his team's dressing room so that players could "look [their] teammates directly in the eye"?
... that Quinn became the first out, transgender, non-binary athlete to medal at the Summer Olympic Games when they won gold with the Canada national soccer team?

Objects

... that the Pompey stone was believed to date to the early 1500s for over 70 years before it was revealed to be a hoax in 1894?

Places

... that in 1908, you could "throw a cat through the cracks" of the dynamite shanties on Powder House Island?
... that there is a monument of a photocopier in the Indonesian village of Atar, commemorating the involvement of migrants from the village in the trade?
... that after Bishop Sycamore High School lost a televised football game 58–0, it was reported that the school did not teach its students?
... that the city of Dearborn forgot about the existence of Fordson Island for several decades?
... that after decades of being a central hub for river dredging operations, Stony Island's population was reduced to a caretaker and his two dogs?
... that the owner of the Solow Building tried to evict the Bank of America under a law normally used for evicting drug dealers and prostitutes?
... that the apartments and hotel rooms at Time Warner Center did not have internet from Time Warner because it was too expensive?

Nature and science

... that in 2020, scientists confirmed that the southern greater glider, northern greater glider and central greater glider were not one species as had previously been believed?
... that soaking a paper banknote in 50% (v/v) alcohol fuel can create a fireproof banknote?
... that the predatory sea slug Tubulophilinopsis gardineri hunts other sea slugs by following the mucus trails they leave?
... that the Green Guerillas threw "seed grenades" into abandoned lots in New York City?
... that one of the smallest known species of frog is Mini scule?

History

... that Sir Hardman Earle, 1st Baronet's father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all slave traders?
... that when the National Museum of Vanuatu opened its new building in 1995, a specially selected pig was sacrificed?
... that a Viking ship sailed to Brazil?
... that S. Isaac, Campbell & Company, a British firm, was a major supplier of arms to the Confederacy during the American Civil War?
... that William McAndrew, the superintendent of Chicago Public Schools, was accused of being an agent of George V, King of the United Kingdom?
... that Rosa Egipcíaca was the first black woman in Brazil to write a book?
... that Thomas Earle had his slave-ship Annabella seized by the British Crown, not for slave trading, but for slave trading with the enemy?
... that Queen Maria Comnena abducted her daughter and coerced her into divorcing to place her on the throne of Jerusalem?
... that in 1863, the Union Navy built a ship with an outhouse serving as the pilothouse?
... that Royal Navy officer John Wells managed to escape the Nore mutiny through a gun port in his ship, returning later to accept the mutineers' surrender?

Other

... that Meme Man is used in many surreal memes, a genre of internet humor inspired by surrealism?

missed opportunity to use "Stonks guy"

... that the world record for the greatest weight supported by a brick bridge was broken on the French version of Lego Masters?
... that Kangmei Pharmaceutical's financial fraud was initially described as an "accounting error"?
... that Basilico's, an Italian restaurant in Huntington Beach, California, does not admit diners who are either masked or vaccinated against COVID-19?
... that radio station KCON in Conway, Arkansas, shut down twice on March 10?
... that the manufacturers of Hedgehog Flavour Crisps were taken to court under the Trade Descriptions Act as they did not contain actual hedgehog?

possibly my favourite DYK hook ever

... that according to local legend, Piers Shonks, whose tomb can be seen in the Brent Pelham church, killed a dragon ravaging the district?
... that Maki Kaji formulated the name "Sudoku" while scrambling to get to a horse race?
... that your attention can be stolen?
... that reports of Julie Wera's death were greatly exaggerated?
... that Pierre Kaufmann helped install the first radio telescope in Brazil, which was later destroyed by cows?
... that Julie Schmit-Albin was awarded the title of Admiral in the Great Navy of the State of Nebraska for her work as a pro-life activist?

what's this list without a self-plug

... that after John Oliver remarked that "the city of Danbury, Connecticut, can eat my whole ass", they named a sewage plant after him?