Portal:History/Did you know

Process

This section of the History portal uses the following layout template:

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{{Portal:History/Did you know/Layout
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* ...that this ''(pictured)'' is a did you know?
* ...that this is the second did you know item?
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* ...that this is the last did you know item?
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You may add a new selection to the first available numbered subpage below; to display your new selection, you must then increment the max= parameter on this page's {{Random portal component}} on the portal itself. Each selection should contain eight historically relevant and interesting did you know selections, that have been through the DYK process; in its current form its elements consist of relevant hooks from the list of most popular hooks, organized by month. Remember to avoid systematic bias; give regional and topical balance by, for instance, limiting the amount of WWII-related hooks to one or two per selection.

Selections

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Did you know 1

Portal:History/Did you know/1

... that, when Ghenadie Petrescu (pictured) was ousted from his post of Metropolitan-Primate, Romania experienced protests and riots?
... that the British destroyer HMS Highlander escorted Convoy SC 122 through the largest convoy battle of World War II in March 1943 and was unsuccessfully attacked by U-441 and U-608?
... that in 1911, John Gaunt's second biplane nearly crashed because a bystander bent the aircraft's elevator before a flight?
... that Themistokli Gërmenji, an Albanian nationalist, received the French Croix de Guerre in November 1917, but was executed shortly thereafter by a French military court?
... that fish-knives inscribed with Elokeshi's name were sold after her husband decapitated her with a fish-knife following her adulterous affair with a Hindu head-priest?
... that the ancient Roman dancer Galeria Copiola reached the age of 104?
... that to escape burning at the 1393 Bal des Ardents Charles VI of France huddled under the gown of the Duchesse de Berry, while a lord leaped into a wine vat?
... that a junior officer on the USS Ancon refused King George VI entry to the ship's intelligence centre because no one told him the King "was a Bigot"?

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Did you know 2

Portal:History/Did you know/2

... that the anti-religious campaign culminating in the Stalinist show trial of the Kraków Curia (pictured) led to the imprisonment of 123 Polish Roman Catholic priests in just one year?
... that Confederate brigadier general Alfred E. Jackson was pardoned by President Andrew Johnson because of his kindness toward Johnson's family during the Civil War?
... that after HMS Porcupine was nearly split in two by a torpedo, the halves were nicknamed HMS Pork and HMS Pine?
... that the Experiment was a boat powered by horses running on a treadmill and propelled by a then-novel type of screw propeller?
... that one of the highest-ranking generals in China was injured in battle nine times?
... that in Mesopotamian mythology, the Apkallu were sent by the god Enki, from Dilmun to teach human beings various aspects of civilization?
... that Karl Marx's theory of historical trajectory attempted to prove the long-term unsustainability of capitalism?
... that in November 1921, the schooner Cymric collided with a tram in Dublin?

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Did you know 3

Portal:History/Did you know/3

... that the Japanese aircraft carrier Amagi (wreck pictured) capsized on 29 July 1945 as a result of cumulative damage inflicted by American airstrikes on 24 and 28 July?
... that Scandinavian influence in Scotland, still evident today, was probably at its height during the time of Thorfinn the Mighty?
... that, after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Bassetki statue, which is more than 4,200 years old, was found in a cesspool?
... that in medieval art, angels were often depicted wearing feather tights?
... that 49% of German military losses happened in the last 10 months of the Second World War in Europe?
... that Joshua L. Goldberg, the first rabbi to serve as a World War II U.S. navy chaplain, was a Russian army deserter?
... that Richard Nixon chose the Wilson desk as his Oval Office desk because he believed it was used by Woodrow Wilson, but it was actually used by Henry Wilson, Vice President under Ulysses S. Grant?
... that some of the nominally silver Roman coins from the Bredon Hill Hoard only have a 1% silver content?

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Did you know 4

Portal:History/Did you know/4

... that the Soviet Tupolev Tu-142 (pictured) maritime patrol aircraft was developed in response to the American UGM-27 Polaris submarine-launched ballistic missile?
... that Harry Powers said that watching his victims die was more fun than a brothel?
... that the effort put forth by the subject of Miró's 1937 Naked woman climbing a staircase and her heavy limbs are thought to reflect the tragedy of the Spanish Civil War?
... that 49% of German military losses happened in the last 10 months of the Second World War in Europe?
... that Thomas Edison lost a fortune in his ore-milling company, but "had a hell of a good time spending it"?
... that American McCaull Comic Opera Company actress May Yohé, once the owner of the Hope Diamond, died poor?
... that Egyptian political cartoonist Ahmad Nady took part in the 2011 Egyptian revolution, drawing cartoons while he demonstrated?
... that finds unearthed at the Israelite Tower in Jerusalem's Jewish Quarter attest to the Babylonian sack of the city in 586 BCE?

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Did you know 5

Portal:History/Did you know/5

... that Giovanni de Ventura, a plague doctor who may have worn a beak doctor costume (pictured), was restricted by a covenant to treat only infectious patients? In the nose of the mask, there were types of plants that were used to filter the sickness from the wearer.
... that in some archaic Greek alphabets, an Ε could look like a Β, a Β like a C, a Γ like an Ι, an Ι like a Σ, or a Σ like an Μ?
... that the Chinese government has published a list of sixty-four important cultural relics that are forbidden to be exhibited outside of China?
... that the 1886 novel Albertine expedited the abolition of public prostitution in Norway?
... that Carl Sagan worked with the US Air Force on detonating a nuclear device on the Moon?
... that Olympic gold medals have been made out of silver, jade, and glass?
... that in 1945 a Japanese battalion was rearmed to serve alongside the British 5th Parachute Brigade in the Far East?
... that Solomon was accidentally castrated as an infant?

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Did you know 6

Portal:History/Did you know/6

... that on 26 April 1881 HMS Doterel (pictured) exploded, killing 143 of the 155 crew members?
... that causes of the deaths at the Berlin Wall included shooting, drowning, suffocation, suicide, and falling from a balloon?
... that the 19th-century swindler Bertha Heyman, known as "The Confidence Queen," conned men by pretending to be a wealthy woman who was unable to access her fortune?
... that only four great uncial codices have survived until the present day?
... that after World War II, Polish resistance organizer and Warsaw Uprising fighter Jan Mazurkiewicz was brutally tortured by the authorities in communist Poland?
... that tiny Paederus beetles may have caused some of the ten Plagues of Egypt?
... that the only known report of bloodshed during the simulated Nazi invasion of Winnipeg was from a woman who cut her thumb while preparing toast?
... that Dacian bracelets were used as currency and votive offerings?

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Did you know 7

Portal:History/Did you know/7

... that in 1898, the United States government annexed the Kingdom of Hawaii despite protestation from Queen Liliuokalani (pictured)?
... that Jean Thurel was a soldier in the French Régiment de Touraine for more than 90 years?
... that the severed head of Julia Martha Thomas — murdered, boiled and dismembered by her maid in 1879 — was found next door to Sir David Attenborough's house in 2010?
... that the 18th-century Indian automaton Tipu's Tiger shows a near life-size European being mauled by a tiger, and emits wails and grunts as well as containing a pipe organ?
... that Svið, a traditional Icelandic dish, consists of a sheep's head that has been cut in half, singed, and boiled with the brain removed?
... that, despite overseeing the construction of the crematoria and gas chambers at Auschwitz, what specifically shocked SS-Obersturmführer Robert Mulka at the camp was his colleagues' dress sense?
... that Tsar Alexander II of Russia had a special crystal bottle of Roederer champagne made for the Three Emperors Dinner in 1867 so that he could admire the bubbles?
... that the Gudea cylinders are the longest literary composition ever found in the Sumerian language?

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Did you know 8

Portal:History/Did you know/8

... that the underground Fortress of Mimoyecques (pictured) was built by Nazi Germany to bombard London with 10 shells a minute using the V-3 supergun?
... that Howard P. Perry was the first African American recruit in the United States Marine Corps?
... that the Chester city walls form the most complete circuit of Roman and medieval defensive town walls in Britain?
... that China's first female director was adopted by the first Premier of the People's Republic of China?
... that the Medieval Merchant's House in Southampton was being used as a brothel when bomb damage during the Blitz revealed the building's important medieval architecture?
... that the Sumerian "river of paradise", the Hubur, derived partly from real geography before becoming a demonic fantasy?
... that Bill Foley's photograph "The Last Smile" shows Anwar Sadat only moments before his assassination?
... that the 1911 Sarez earthquake triggered a huge landslide, forming the tallest dam in the world?

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