Did You Know…
Did You Know…
This is a text produced for NaNoGenMo 2018 inspired by the poetry of William Carlos Williams.
M o r r i s ?
... that
Neel Kashkari
(pictured), six years
a f t e r
completing his
MBA, was
p u t
i n
c h a r g e
o f
the $700Â billion U.S.
Government bailout
o f
f i n a n c i a l
i n s t i t u t i o n s ?
o r
...that six
Regional Specialized Meteorological
Centres are charged
with globally
t r a c k i n g
t r o p i c a l
c y c l o n e s ?
a n d
. . . t h a t
t h e
Fauna of
Scotland includes
a l m o s t
h a l f
of the EU�s
b r e e d i n g
seabirds, but only
one endemic vertebrate
species, and
that although
a population
of Wild
Cats (pictured) remains
many of
t h e
larger mammals were
hunted to
extinction in
h i s t o r i c
t i m e s ?
. . .
t h a t
the Phillips
Mansion, described as
having been built
in the
" C l a s s i c
Haunted Mansion"
s t y l e ,
was the
home of
the richest
man in
L o s
A n g e l e s
County from 1875
t o
1 9 0 0 ?
o r
...that Lawrence Turner,
who presented a
Parliamentary petition
calling for W.
S. Gilbert's copyright
o n
the libretti
of Gilbert and
S u l l i v a n
operas to
be extended
indefinitely, was
t h e
g r a n d s o n
o f
comic actor
George Grossmith
who starred in
t h e m ?
a n d
...that Philip J.
Perry, the General
Counsel for the
U.S. Department of
Homeland Security, is
the son-in-law
of Vice President
D i c k
C h e n e y ?
. . . t h a t
photos of
the rogue wave
encountered by the
MS Stolt Surf
c o n t r i b u t e d
t o
the growing evidence
o f
t h e i r
presence in
the deep
o c e a n ?
o r
. . . t h a t
Alan Davidson,
r e g a r d e d
a s
one of the
greatest left arm
f a s t
bowlers in the
history of cricket,
only took
u p
t h e
skill when
his uncle's
w e e k e n d
team ran
out of fast
b o w l e r s ?
a n d
... that
a l t h o u g h
C h u c k
Daly is a
B a s k e t b a l l
H a l l
o f
Famer now,
when he
s e r v e d
as head
c o a c h
of the
Cleveland Cavaliers
he had a
9 â � � 3 2
record and
w a s
f i r e d
m i d - s e a s o n ?
...that the Dethridge
wheel (pictured),
invented in
Australia in
1 9 1 0 ,
m e a s u r e s
t h e
flow of water
delivered to
f a r m s
f o r
i r r i g a t i o n ?
o r
. . . t h a t
Corné Krige and
George Gregan, who
respectively captained the
S o u t h
A f r i c a
and Australia
rugby union teams
in both
t h e
2002 and 2003
Tri Nations
Series, were
b o r n
in the same
h o s p i t a l
i n
Z a m b i a ?
a n d
. . .
t h a t
cricketer Roger Kimpton
a l s o
won an Oxford
University tennis
tournament and a
g o l f
blue, and was
a w a r d e d
a Distinguished Flying
Cross as
a
Second World War
f i g h t e r
p i l o t ?
. . . t h a t
Field Marshal
S i r
John Stanier
w a s
the first
British Chief of
the General Staff
after the Second
World War
who had not
s e e n
a c t i v e
s e r v i c e ?
o r
. . . t h a t
the Capitol Theatre
in Melbourne was
once described
a s
"the best
c i n e m a
that was
ever built
o r
i s
ever likely
t o
b e
b u i l t " ?
a n d
...that Jaroslav
J i Å � Ã k
became the
first player from
a n
Eastern Bloc nation
to play
in the National
Hockey League when
he appeared
i n
t h r e e
g a m e s
w i t h
t h e
St. Louis
B l u e s
i n
1 9 7 0 ?
... that
g o a l k e e p e r
Bob Roberts
w a s
the first West
Bromwich Albion player
t o
win an
i n t e r n a t i o n a l
c a p ?
o r
. . .
t h a t
the Sion Causeway
connected the
i s l a n d
of Bombay with
S a l s e t t e ?
a n d
. . . t h a t
t h e
W e s t
End Street Railway
fired Cyrus S.
C h i n g
in 1901 after
h e
was nearly
e l e c t r o c u t e d
on the job,
only to appoint
him manager
two months
l a t e r ?
... that So
Amazin', the third
s t u d i o
album by singer
C h r i s t i n a
Milian, was produced
mainly by
hip hop
p r o d u c e r s
Cool &
D r e ?
o r
...that Wee Siew
K i m ,
a Singaporean MP,
had to apologise
a f t e r
scandal broke out
involving an
elitist blog entry
made by his
d a u g h t e r ?
a n d
... that Norwegian
Parliament member
and priest
Søren Georg
Abel was the
father of
m a t h e m a t i c i a n
Niels Henrik
A b e l ?
o r
... that the
p r e s e n t - d a y
city of
Davenport, Iowa
i s
n a m e d
a f t e r
George Davenport,
a
19th century American
f r o n t i e r s m a n ,
trader and
U S
A r m y
o f f i c e r ?
a n d
. . . t h a t
Nestorianism was one
of the first
f o r m s
of Christianity to
be introduced
i n
M o n g o l i a ?
...that George Hennet
built and operated
depots on
b e h a l f
o f
the South Devon
R a i l w a y
after it was
s h o r t
o f
m o n e y ?
o r
. . .
that Admiral Henry
W o l s e y
B a y f i e l d
had joined
t h e
Royal Navy by
the age of
e l e v e n ?
a n d
...that Pulau
S e j a h a t
w a s
a British
military encampment in
Singapore during
W o r l d
War II, but
i t s
g u n
batteries were
never used against
the invading
J a p a n e s e ?
... that
novelist Lucy
J a n e
Bledsoe, a Stonewall
B o o k
Award winner
a n d
four-time Lambda
Literary Award
f i n a l i s t ,
primarily writes
L G B T
l i t e r a t u r e ?
o r
...that Obaysch became
t h e
f i r s t
living hippopotamus
in England
since prehistoric
times when he
joined the London
Zoo in
1 8 5 0 ?
a n d
. . . t h a t
on Dagen
H ("H
Day") on
September 3, 1967,
Sweden switched from
d r i v i n g
on the
left to
driving the right
at exactly at
5
a . m . ?
... that the
Plaza Historic District
was the historic
c e n t e r
o f
Los Angeles in
t h e
days of
Spanish and Mexican
r u l e ?
o r
. . . t h a t
I n d i a n
chess player
U m a k a n t
Sharma was
banned from
p l a y i n g
competitive chess for
1 0
y e a r s
after being
caught cheating
with a Bluetooth
device sewn
i n t o
h i s
c a p ?
a n d
...that Marguerite
P o r e t e ,
author of the
mystical text
The Mirror of
S i m p l e
Souls, was burnt
a t
the stake for
heresy in
1 3 1 0 ?
...that "Blue Tail
F l y "
or "Jimmy
Crack Corn" is
a blackface
minstrel song
d a t i n g
from the
1 8 4 0 s ,
and that on
the surface, it
is a
b l a c k
slave's lament over
his master's death;
the subtext is
t h a t
h e
is glad his
master is dead,
and may have
killed him
by deliberate
n e g l i g e n c e ?
o r
...that Barthélemy
d ' E y c k
w a s
a n
Early Netherlandish artist,
famous in
the 15th
century, who
h a s
o n l y
been attributed specific
works (one pictured)
in recent
d e c a d e s ?
a n d
. . . t h a t
when former New
Mexico Governor
Tom Bolack died,
his ashes
were scattered over
his ranch by
1 6
s p e c i a l l y - m a d e
f i r e w o r k s ?
...that former
Anglican clergyman
and Liberal
Party life
p e e r
T i m
Beaumont was
t h e
only Green Party
r e p r e s e n t a t i v e
in the Parliament
of the
U n i t e d
Kingdom from
1999 until his
death in
2 0 0 8 ?
o r
... that
bananas grown in
B r a z i l
account for approximately
ten percent of
the entire
w o r l d ' s
b a n a n a
p r o d u c t i o n ?
a n d
...that the
d i s a p p e a r a n c e
o f
jellyfish from K�ne'ohe
B a y
has generated
concerns about maintenance
of the local
yellowtail scad
p o p u l a t i o n ?
. . .
that the success
of the
W o r l d
War II
b o m b i n g
c a m p a i g n
Operation Strangle
was unrelated
t o
its original
o b j e c t i v e ?
o r
. . .
that the Carey
M i s s i o n
was a
headquarters for settlers
and a
point from which
the American
f r o n t i e r
w a s
e x t e n d e d ?
a n d
... that
T h e
J a n u s
Man, a thriller
c o n c e r n i n g
espionage and
betrayal, is
the fourth book
in the "Tweed
and Co." series,
f o r
which Colin
Forbes published a
book every single
year from
1 9 8 2
to his death
i n
2 0 0 6 ?
... that
on every
May 1,
the hamlet of
I c k w e l l
celebrates May
Day with dancing
a r o u n d
a
M a y p o l e
(pictured) and with
t h e
crowning of
a May
Q u e e n ?
o r
. . .
that the song
with which
Thor Salden won
the Belgian
preselections of the
Junior Eurovision Song
C o n t e s t
2006 reached Number 1
i n
t h e
Flemish music
c h a r t s ?
a n d
...that football
r e f e r e e s
i n
E n g l a n d
officiate at eleven
d i f f e r e n t
l e v e l s
a c c o r d i n g
to ability, activity
a n d
a g e ?
... that
the Haas
L o l a
F o r m u l a
One team's cars
were not built
or designed
by Lola
Cars International, but
were entered as
Lolas because
C a r l
Haas was their
official importer
to the
U n i t e d
S t a t e s ?
o r
. . .
t h a t
in February
2008, rugby league
player Dan
Dempsey was named
in the list
o f
Australia's 100
G r e a t e s t
P l a y e r s ?
a n d
... that
ABC's Howard
K. Smith: News
and Comment
was cancelled
after Smith aired
a controversial
a n d ,
as it
proved, premature
program in
1 9 6 2
titled "The
Political Obituary of
R i c h a r d
M .
N i x o n " ?
. . .
that the
1 9 0 2
discovery of gold
i n
I n t e r i o r
Alaska by Italian
immigrant Felix
Pedro (pictured)
marked the start
of the
F a i r b a n k s
G o l d
R u s h ?
o r
. . . t h a t
Russian poet Yevgeny
Yevtushenko is famous
for his anti-Stalinist
w o r k ?
a n d
. . . t h a t
the Fairfield Osborn
Preserve is
home to
a great variety
of fauna
including one of
t h e
w o r l d ' s
l a r g e s t
s a l a m a n d e r s ?
. . .
t h a t
Liverpool actor
and guitarist Ozzie
Yue used to
flick pieces
o f
paper at
Paul McCartney in
a r t
class when they
attended the Liverpool
Institute High School
f o r
B o y s ?
o r
...that after the
non-profit Internet
service provider
Public Netbase
began supporting
w e b s i t e s
that opposed
his political party,
Austrian politician
Jörg Haider
a c c u s e d
the organisation
of sponsoring
c h i l d
p o r n o g r a p h y ?
a n d
...that furry
convention attendees
(pictured) often
wear ears,
tails, badges,
or fursuits as
i d e n t i f i c a t i o n ?
. . .
that Drukair
flights between
Kathmandu, Nepal
and Paro,
Bhutan pass
c l o s e
t o
M o u n t
E v e r e s t ?
o r
. . .
that the
Villa Medici del
Trebbio was one
of the first
of the
Medici villas outside
F l o r e n c e ?
a n d
... that San
M a r i n o
debuted at the
Eurovision Song Contest
2 0 0 8
with "Complice",
a song performed
b y
M i o d i o ?
...that the
Mochovce Nuclear
P o w e r
Plants complex in
Slovakia became the
first Soviet-era
nuclear plant
in Eastern Europe
t o
have safety standards
c o m p a r a b l e
to Western
o n e s ?
o r
. . . t h a t
Robert McGill Loughridge
co-authored the English
a n d
Muskogee Dictionary in
1890, the
first English
dictionary of
the Creek
l a n g u a g e ?
a n d
...that the
Aston Martin
DBR1 sports car
won the
1 0 0 0 k m
Nürburgring round
o f
the World Sportscar
C h a m p i o n s h i p
in all three
years it
e n t e r e d ?
. . .
that in
2000, an
ammonia discharge into
a
tributary of the
River Clun
( p i c t u r e d )
i n
Wales killed its
e n t i r e
p o p u l a t i o n
o f
E u r o p e a n
b u l l h e a d s ?
o r
. . . t h a t
Monk Estill,
w h o
was captured
by the Wyandot
p r i o r
t o
t h e
Battle of Little
Mountain and
escaped during the
battle, was the
f i r s t
s l a v e
t o
b e
freed in the
K e n t u c k y ?
a n d
... that
as Texas
Attorney General
from 1957
to 1963, Will
W i l s o n
cracked down on
prostitution rings operating
in such
Texan cities as
G a l v e s t o n ,
Beaumont, Texarkana and
V i c t o r i a ?
... that
t h e
Soldiers and
Sailors Monument
in Lancaster,
Pennsylvania, stands on
t h e
s i t e
of a 1777
Second Continental
C o n g r e s s
m e e t i n g ?
o r
...that Grand
Duke Boris Vladimirovich,
cousin of
N i c h o l a s
II of
Russia, was called
"the terror of
jealous husbands as
well as of
w a t c h f u l
m o t h e r s " ?
a n d
...that in an
attempt to
speed up
t h e
longest papal election
in history,
the magistrates
of Viterbo
removed the roof
of the
P a p a l
P a l a c e ?
. . .
that the
W e s t m i n s t e r
Retable, a 13th-century
panel painting at
Westminster Abbey, is
the oldest known
altarpiece in
E n g l a n d ?