Wikipedia:April Fools' Main Page/Did You Know/Archive 2008

Please use this page for discussions surrounding the creation of a "Did You Know" items for April Fool's day 2008

Areas of work needed to complete the front page are:

Ground rules for this activity along with a list of participants may be found on the Main talk page.

The Mission[edit]

This section should focus on some trivia that can be presented in a manner that is unbelievable to the reader. See the mock-up for proposed entries.

Action Items[edit]

We need to find half a dozen weird/funny/unlikely facts.
Ideally these should come from new articles or expanded stubs - so we should consider where we're getting these facts from - do we need to write new articles and put them into article space shortly before April 1st? Do we need to expand stubs? What?

I volunteer to participate, or lead if necessary, absent someone else that wants to lead more strongly than I do, the DYK effort. I see this as actually one of the easier efforts. I am fine with bending the 5 day rule as needed, but if late entries turn up that are in guideline, even better. Funniest/bizarrest will be my guide if I'm in charge of this, not strict adherence to 5 day... ++Lar: t/c 17:49, 22 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Ideally we should have two dozens, so it can cycle four times as how normal DYK works. - Mailer Diablo 06:25, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Another idea[edit]

I have an idea for at least one set. Let's spoof ourselves. Let's put up some genuine new articles that are otherwise OK (sourced, lengthwise etc.) but use blindingly obvious and unsurprising hook facts: "...that BODY OF WATER will make you wet if you touch it", "...that PERSON is still dead after 150 years?", "...that REALLY COMPLICATED MATH CONCEPT cannot be done by most elementary school students", "...that INSECT SPECIES (pictured) is butt-ugly?" You get the idea. Daniel Case (talk) 13:43, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Good idea! Another thought is to mix them in with good/real pranks. Royalbroil 03:50, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

On that line...

...that linear partial information decisions cannot be done by most elementary school students? article by Krzysiulek (talk · contribs), nom by Royalbroil 04:48, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
...that North Lake gets wet when it rains? expand by Dan arndt (talk · contribs) and Orderinchaos (talk · contribs), nom by Royalbroil 05:05, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
...that Magnús Eiríksson is still dead after 126 years? a solid article by Gecko78 (talk · contribs), nom by Royalbroil 05:26, 1 April 2008 (UTC) (there is a picture too)[reply]
... that Richard Sneekes ...(insert obvious/unsurprising football/soccer fact here)? article by Jameboy (talk · contribs) Royalbroil 06:01, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Candidates[edit]

List below any stubs or redlinks to unusual topics that have the potential to be expanded/created for April 1 2008, preferably with an example hook or explanation of why they're unusual.

...that although Desmond Lardner-Burke jailed Robert Mugabe for eleven years and died in the 1980s, the Zimbabwean opposition were concerned that he might vote for Mugabe in 2008? (self-nom, if you still want any more) Warofdreams talk 18:25, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
...that the first feline hip replacement was performed in the New York area in 2007? (self-nom)--Appraiser (talk) 18:20, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Too short. The minimum is 1,500 characters. howcheng {chat} 04:06, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

...that in a deadly eleven minute attack on 26 August 1944, HMS Britomart (pictured), Hussar, Salamander and Jason were all sunk or heavily damaged...by RAF aircraft? - self noms, Britomart written today and if people like it I'll write up the others too. Benea (talk) 13:06, 27 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- My first reaction is "that's sad", not "that's funny". You could suggest it for normal DYK. Royalbroil 14:03, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

That was my only concern. It has all the elements of gobsmacking disbelief, and a 'huh? But how!' reaction, but is a bit dark for a light hearted April Fool's day jape. The Germans had a worse incident earlier in the war when a naval task force spent several hours running around, shooting at own planes, depth charging everything in sight and eventually writing off two destroyers, without a single enemy unit being anywhere near the action. It'd be hilarious if it wasn't so tragic. Ah, the pity of war. Benea (talk) 20:04, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

...~~that the first extensive dictionary in Finnish was written by Fennoman Daniel Juslenius in 1745? by Leopea nom Victuallers (talk) 19:14, 11 March 2008 (UTC)~~[reply]

alt (for april 1)?...that Samuel Johnson started one of the first English dictionaries but Daniel Juslenius had finished a Finnish one, first? by Leopea nom Victuallers (talk) 19:21, 11 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
If saved for that, wouldn't something along the lines of "...that in 1745, a Finnish Fennoman finally finished the first formal Finnish dictionary?" be better? (What a shame it wasn't a thesaurus!) GeeJo ^(t)⁄_(c) • 20:11, 11 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Or "founding Fennoman", if you dislike the repetition of Finnish, even with different links. GeeJo ^(t)⁄_(c) • 20:29, 11 March 2008 (UTC)</[reply]

~~Nothing odd about the article but the hook may be of interest and it is new Victuallers (talk) 12:46, 13 March 2008 (UTC)~~[reply]

Article already ran in DYK. Royalbroil 17:30, 19 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

...that a group of dead people in Uttar Pradesh are appealing to be granted the rights of the living?

Article not eligible: it existed in 2006, had no expansion in the past year. Royalbroil 05:12, 11 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

...that in 1946, the Walt Disney Company produced an animated film entitled The Story of Menstruation?

...that Henry II gave one of his court jesters 30 acres of land in exchange for an annual farting performance?
- Far too short. Hopefully it can be expanded because the hook is quite odd. Royalbroil 18:59, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

...that a plan by Denmark's Road Safety Council to hire topless models to hold speed limit signs backfired as cars slowed to the point of causing severe traffic congestion?

...that Mary Tofts convinced doctors she had given birth to at least sixteen rabbits in 1726? (not new, just cool) Awadewit | talk 01:25, 7 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The article has to be new during the past year before April Fool's day. Too bad, it's an interesting hook! Royalbroil 03:22, 13 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

...that if you have an incurable disease, you can be frozen through a process titled Cryonic Freezing, in the hopes that humans in the future can defrost you then cure you?(note: I can't believe there is no article on Cryonic freezing services! somebody should create one!)

--Princess Janay (talk) 21:00, 12 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The article's name is Cryonics which is not elgible for DYK. Any article on companies that provide cryonics services would be quickly deleted since it would be promotional. Royalbroil 03:22, 13 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Something about Cockroach Racing (article requested). Royalbroil 21:55, 15 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Something about Finger Jousting (article requested). Royalbroil 21:55, 15 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

There should be an article about someone with the same name as someone famous. George Washington (inventor) was the featured article last year. Royalbroil 21:55, 15 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

...that Halley's Comet is on sale for $650,000? bibliomaniac 1 5 02:30, 12 March 2008 (UTC) Note: It's quite short, but this is essentially all the information on the internet that I can find. I have, however, saved it from speedy deletion and expanded it greatly.[reply]

length. Royalbroil 18:55, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

...that Asian scientists have developed glow-in-the-dark cats and glow-in-the-dark pigs?--The Fat Man Who Never Came Back (talk) 21:18, 23 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- Regrettably, my article on Glo-cats is in its most nascent phases
- Glowing pigs have also been developed[1]--The Fat Man Who Never Came Back (talk) 21:11, 23 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

...that various deities have been detected in common foodstuffs?--The Fat Man Who Never Came Back (talk) 21:18, 23 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- I would love to create a fork of the sprawling Perceptions of religious imagery in natural phenomena article and give it a more humorous title such as Apparition of deities in foodstuffs or even Theophany and food.--The Fat Man Who Never Came Back (talk) 21:14, 23 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  - The article was developed well past stub status on April Fool's Day 2007, so it shouldn't be eligible. Forks of articles are also not eligible, although the parts that were developed in the parent article since April Fool's 2007 would likely be considered new. Normal DYK rules have historically applied, except the 5 day rule is waved and articles are compared to the previous April Fool's Day. Royalbroil 04:37, 27 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

...that the intellectual television panel game QI sometimes uses Wikipedia in its research? ISD (talk) 08:41, 27 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- Article was well beyond stub status on April Fool's Day 2007. I don't think the hook is funny or interesting. Lots of things use Wikipedia for research. Royalbroil 12:47, 27 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm slightly confused by what's said at Template talk:Did you know under Articles to be featured on April Fool's Day, but I've left this nomination under that heading over there... should it be here? Xn4 14:01, 27 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

~~...that, when they tap into autism as a theme, you know they've run out of ideas for Autism: The Musical|musicals? Expanded 5x on March 27th by KuredWallbet (talk) 23:24, 27 March 2008 (UTC)~~ Nevermind. There doesn't seem to be a good April fools hook for this. KuredWallbet (talk) 14:09, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

There's probably a better April 1st hook to be used, feel free to rewrite it. KuredWallbet (talk) 23:24, 27 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Autism: The Musical is also listed at Template talk:Did you know#Articles created/expanded on March 27, so are we using it twice? Art LaPella (talk) 02:02, 28 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Same for Jovian-Plutonian gravitational effect. Art LaPella (talk) 02:07, 28 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm confused by the hook. Could it the reworded? Royalbroil 18:55, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

...that Anthony Blair was hanged before a crowd of thousands for murdering his stepdaughter? -- self-nom by Biruitorul (talk) 17:04, 28 March 2008 (UTC) (Maybe this is a bit obscure; any chance we could call him "Tony" if it appears on the Main Page?)[reply]

Only if you believe we should give WP:BLP a rest one day year. :-)--The Fat Man Who Never Came Back (talk) 17:18, 28 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Do elaborate. It's a fact that Anthony Blair was hanged for murder, and while I could find no record of his having a nickname, it's a near-certainty that someone at some point called him "Tony", given that that is the only common nickname for Anthony. (As an aside, it's very difficult to prove libel against a public figure in the US, where Wikipedia's servers are located, but in no way am I suggesting we libel Tony Blair - the two individuals are entirely different, separated by well over a century's time, and share no more than a name.) Biruitorul (talk) 17:45, 28 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't dispute any of that; however, giving our readers the impression--albeit jokingly and momentarily (until they click on the link)--that Tony Blair is a condemned murderer may not be the sort of benign April Fool's joke we're looking for. If "Anthony Blair" were something funny like a walrus-wrangler or a competitive eater, I think we could make a better case for this.--The Fat Man Who Never Came Back (talk) 17:56, 28 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I respectfully disagree (after all no one's been hanged in Britain since 1964 and the thing is pretty obviously a joke, given people would have heard something about Tony Blair being hanged if that were really the case) and have invited a second opinion just to put me at ease; meanwhile, let me ask: do you see BLP issues just with "Tony Blair" or also with "Anthony Blair"? Biruitorul (talk) 18:13, 28 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No, of course there are no BLP issues with referring to the dead figure as "Anthony Blair," but then the "joke" would be mostly lost, IMO.--The Fat Man Who Never Came Back (talk) 18:20, 28 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

OK, fair enough. Biruitorul (talk) 19:06, 28 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

An article that, if expanded fivefold, would a great April Fool's DYK:

...that the Turritopsis nutricula, a type of jellyfish, is immortal? ♠TomasBat 22:05, 29 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

...that a cat in Rhode Island has predicted more than 25 human deaths? nom by Spikebrennan (talk · contribs)

~~confirmed~~ Royalbroil 05:39, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

A fact from Oscar (cat) appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? column on July 30, 2007. Sorries!! --293.xx.xxx.xx (talk) 07:49, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Good catch, 293...! Royalbroil 13:59, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

that a costumed Mexican superhero ran for President of the United States in 1996? (photo at Image:Super Barrio 290706.jpg Spikebrennan (talk) 16:35, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Under the 1500 character limit.--293.xx.xxx.xx (talk) 20:47, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

that Iceland's banana plantation is insufficient to keep up with local demand? Spikebrennan (talk) 16:40, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Under the 1500 character limit.--293.xx.xxx.xx (talk) 20:47, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

that a wave of gnome sightings in Argentina led to a panic and a government investigation? Spikebrennan (talk) 16:42, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Over the 1500 character limit, but no references and truthfulness of article questioned.--293.xx.xxx.xx (talk) 20:47, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Fixed... poorly. I added a reference, but not in the proper WP:CITE format. Jauerback^dude?/_dude. 21:13, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hook is uncited. The Sun article is 404, FOX News doesn't talk about the government action, and the other is a blog. howcheng {chat} 04:53, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

that The Association of Religion Data Archives maintains statistics of religion in Antarctica? Spikebrennan (talk) 16:43, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Under the 1500 character limit.--293.xx.xxx.xx (talk) 20:47, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

... something about Neville Neville? (article is long enough and sourced) Gimmetrow 06:18, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Comments[edit]

Oh. It sounded funny and unbelievable when I first read it in my schoolbook. Maybe we should vote on a Did You Know from the list. All entries should be sent in by February 20th,and we'll vote on the 21st.--Princess Janay (talk) 13:26, 13 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Um, we always wait until April Fool's Day and run all suggestions. We'll be lucky to get enough suggestions this year. We need around 10-15. Technically they are supposed to be written the previous 5 days, but we historically have waved that "criteria" to include anything new from the past year. We also accept anything near stub limits (around 2000 characters or less) that has been expanded fivefold. The key right now is to think of interesting topics and prepare non-stubs on them. You may put them in a user sandbox if you want. Royalbroil 00:50, 14 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

So I see 8 checks next to articles for a go.....so are we gonna do a couple of spurts, or are we gonna interlace them with legit DYK nods? --293.xx.xxx.xx (talk) 13:24, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

My thought was to interlace with legit DYK nods if we don't have enough. Would someone please check Alien abduction insurance since I wrote much of that nom. Royalbroil 04:12, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Proposal[edit]

The hook below has been moved from DYK suggestions... I think the hook needs rewording Victuallers (talk) 15:50, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

FYI, Art competitions at the Summer Olympics is a former featured article from 2004. It may be surprising that not all medals were awarded. It looks like in 1928, for instance, no gold or silver medals were given in the music categories. Other interesting facts:

...that International Olympic Committee founder and president Pierre de Coubertin won a gold medal competing as two people at the 1912 Olympics?
...that after the art competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics awarded no gold or silver medal in vocal music, and only a bronze to an italian singer, they were abandoned?

Also, Wils won the medal for the design of the stadium used in the very same Olympics. Gimmetrow 05:19, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, I was away on the weekend and just found this discussion thread now. I created the set of individual "Art competitions at the 19xx Summer Olympics" articles last week, and would certainly like to see any of them mentioned in DYK. I chose the 1928 one because it had a couple of images (although I see one was originally mis-tagged and is now disputed fair-use), so that's the one I expanded to >1500 chars of prose. I'd be happy to expand any of the others if a better candidate for a DYK hook is chosen. — Andrwsc (talk · contribs) 17:46, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Please expand some. Maybe more of them could be featured in separate updates. Royalbroil 03:25, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I've added a sentence to the 1948 article that pushes it over the 1500 character minimum (lead plus prose later on the page). It's another wierd but true fact—one artist won two medals for two entries in the same "event", which is pretty much impossible in the sporting events now. I can't find a reference (yet) that directly states this fact, so I'm not sure it can be used in the hook, but there may be other "hookable" items in the article. — Andrwsc (talk · contribs) 05:42, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The one obvious hook for the 1948 list might be "...that art competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics were the last time they were part of the Olympic program because professional artists had competed?" — Andrwsc (talk · contribs) 05:48, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Might make it a little more misleading: "... that after the 1948 Summer Olympics awarded both a silver and a bronze medal to the same person in the same event, the event became an exhibition?" Can anything be done with 1912? It's probably one of the more notable facts that the IOC founder won a category, and it's curious that he did not enter merely under a pseudonym, but under a pseudonym duo. Gimmetrow 06:00, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I won't be able to work on expanding the 1912 article for about 10 hours, but if anybody else wants to work on it, the hook for Baron de Coubertin is interesting. — Andrwsc (talk · contribs) 06:35, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

and[edit]

Hot chocolate effect is just over a year old and a survivor of a speedy delete Victuallers (talk) 16:36, 30 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
...that : $f={\frac {v}{\lambda }}$ $f={\frac {v}{\lambda }}$ is the maths of the Hot Chocolate Effect?
- "Maths" is definitely not the word that Americans would use in that sentence. Does the word "formula" make sense for international usage? Length is okay, but it was started on March 25 2007 which technically makes just over a year. Usually the rules are bent to say that it must be new or expanded since the previous April Fool's Day. Show they be bent a small amount more? My thought is no, what does everyone else think? Royalbroil 04:40, 31 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Just stumbled across this one[edit]

Maybe it's too late, ~~and it needs an inline citation~~ (fixed), but:

...that George W. Bush was the first black settler in what would later become the U.S. state of Washington? Jauerback^dude?/_dude. 15:29, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Never mind. In my excitement, I failed to notice that the article was created in 2005. Oops. Jauerback^dude?/_dude. 16:28, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Results[edit]

There were two sets of hooks that ran, each for approximately 12 hours.

Set 1[edit]

Final wording (diff)

...that the 24 Hours of LeMons includes such penalties as tarring and feathering a racer's car and crushing a car via audience vote (crushing of a car pictured)?
...that John F. Kennedy was shot dead in an ambush by government agents who had foreknowledge of his whereabouts?
...that in a few villages and towns of southern France and Spain it is illegal to die, and that there are attempts to have the same law in a town in Brazil?
...that Weber kettle grills were actually made out of buoys cut in half?
...that men are able to be insured against alien impregnation?
...that Ben Affleck died while shoveling snow outside of his house, leaving behind an unexpectedly small estate speculated to be worth as little as US$20,000?
...that American entrepreneur Timothy Dexter defied the popular idiom and actually made a profit when he sold coal to Newcastle?
...that six latrines at Black Moshannon State Park in Pennsylvania are listed on the National Register of Historic Places?

Set 2[edit]

Final wording (diff)

...that in 1976, people reported feeling a floating sensation as they jumped in the air, caused by a Jovian–Plutonian gravitational effect (Jupiter pictured)?
...that Wiener sausages are named after the mathematician Norbert Wiener?
...that the winner of the Ernie Awards is the person who gets the loudest boos from the audience?
...that the 31-mile (50 km) West Rim Trail along the Grand Canyon was selected by Outside Magazine as the best hike in Pennsylvania?
...that although presidents of Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan have been requested to give technical advice about software patches in open-source computer operating systems, only the Ukrainian president did so?
...that James Garner sent two of his associates into a room filled with toxic chlorine gas?
...that Jan Wils won a gold medal in architectural design in art competitions at the 1928 Summer Olympics for his design of the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam?