Trivia Bits 23 December

 

• The Mediterranean country of Italy is divided into 20 regions with Rome being in the region of Lazio.
• According to tradition, the first engineer to build a bridge across the Tiber in Ancient Rome was given the name Pontifex, meaning "bridge builder." The Pontifex was seen as someone who "connects" people, and that symbolism was so powerful that Roman high priests--including Julius Caesar--later adopted the title Pontifex Maximus. During the Roman Imperial age, the emperor was always the Pontifex Maximus. The title eventually passed from Roman emperors to the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. Today, the Pope still carries the title Pontifex Maximus.
• The Orion-Cygnus arm of the Milky Way contains our solar system.
• Gibraltar Creek is not located in Gibraltar at all, but is a 13.1-kilometre (8.1-mile) long river found in Australia located in the Australian Capital Territory.
• The natterjack toad is native to sandy and heathland areas of Europe , are 60–70 mm in length and are distinguished from common toads by a yellow line down the middle of the back.
• Thor actor Chris Hemsworth first gained fame in the Australian television soap opera series Home and Away. Other former cast members include Heath Ledger, Isla Fisher, Julian McMahon, Danni Minogue, Simon Baker, Guy Pearce and Naomi Watts.
• Tok Pisin, a stable natural language developed from the mixing of parent languages, is one of the official languages of Papua New Guinea – the others are Hiri Motu and English.
• The National Museum in Wrocław, established in 1947, holds one of the largest collections of contemporary art in Poland, extending even to the museum's remodelled attic being used a gallery.
• In the 1994 case Chan Hiang Leng Colin v. Public Prosecutor the Singapore High Court held that a ban on Jehovah's Witnesses and their publications did not violate their freedom of religion.
• Greenpeace owned The Rainbow Warrior was bombed on 10 July 1985 whilst in harbour in New Zealand by operatives of the French intelligence service (DGSE), killing one of the activists.
• Olivia Carolyn Pope, played by Kerry Washington, is one of the main characters in the 2012 American political thriller television series Scandal.
• Launched in 1992 in the Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations, part of the much larger Yad Vashem complex located on the Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem, names of the Holocaust rescuers are engraved on Walls of Honor according to country.
• In the 1992 iconic movie Wayne’s World the character of Garth Algar was played by American actor and stand-up comedian Dana Carvey.
• The Hay Wain, depicts a rural scene on the River Stour between the English counties of Suffolk and Essex, is an 1821 painting by English romantic artist John Constable and hangs in the National Gallery in London.
• The West MacDonnell Park is situated in the Northern Territory, Australia and 1234 km south of Darwin extending along the MacDonnell Ranges west of Alice Springs.