Random Knowledge

Random Knowledge

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Random Knowledge episodes

  • S1E115 - Johnny Owen
    John Richard Owens (7 January 1956 – 4 November 1980) was a Welsh professional boxer who fought under the name Johnny Owen. His seemingly fragile appearance earned him many epithets, including the "Merthyr Matchstick" and the "Bionic Bantam". He began boxing at the age of eight and undertook a long amateur career, competing in more than 120 fights and representing Wales in competitions. He turned professional in September 1976 at the age of 20, winning his debut bout against George Sutton. Owen beat Sutton again in his sixth professional fight to win his first title, the vacant bantamweight title in the Welsh Area.
    Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Owen
    License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0;
    38 min
  • S1E114 - Platypus
    The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. The platypus is the sole living representative or monotypic taxon of its family (Ornithorhynchidae) and genus (Ornithorhynchus), though a number of related species appear in the fossil record.
    Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platypus
    License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0;
    33 min
  • S1E113 - Royal Artillery Memorial
    The Royal Artillery Memorial is a First World War memorial located on Hyde Park Corner in London, England. Designed by Charles Sargeant Jagger, with architectural work by Lionel Pearson, and unveiled in 1925, the memorial commemorates the 49,076 soldiers from the Royal Artillery killed in the First World War. The static nature of the conflict, particularly on the Western Front, meant that artillery played a major role in the war, though physical reminders of the fighting were often avoided in the years after the war. The Royal Artillery War Commemoration Fund (RAWCF) was formed in 1918 to preside over the regiment's commemorations, aware of some dissatisfaction with memorials to previous wars. The RAWCF approached several eminent architects but its insistence on a visual representation of artillery meant that none was able to produce a satisfactory design. Thus they approached Jagger, himself an ex-soldier who had been wounded in the war. Jagger produced a design which was accepted in 1922, though he modified it several times before construction.
    Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Artillery_Memorial
    License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0;
    24 min
  • S1E112 - The Hardy Boys
    The Hardy Boys, brothers Frank and Joe Hardy, are fictional characters who appear in several mystery series for children and teens. The series revolves around teenagers who are amateur sleuths, solving cases that stumped their adult counterparts. The characters were created by American writer Edward Stratemeyer, the founder of book-packaging firm Stratemeyer Syndicate. The books themselves were written by several ghostwriters, most notably Leslie McFarlane, under the collective pseudonym Franklin W. Dixon.The Hardy Boys have evolved since their debut in 1927. From 1959 to 1973, the first 38 books were extensively revised, largely to remove depictions of racial stereotypes; they were also targeted towards younger readers by being rewritten in a simpler, action-oriented style to compete with television.
    Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hardy_Boys
    License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0;
    29 min
  • S1E111 - Free Association of German Trade Unions
    The Free Association of German Trade Unions (German: Freie Vereinigung deutscher Gewerkschaften ; abbreviated FVdG; sometimes also translated as Free Association of German Unions or Free Alliance of German Trade Unions) was a trade union federation in Imperial and early Weimar Germany. It was founded in 1897 in Halle under the name Representatives' Centralization of Germany as the national umbrella organization of the localist current of the German labor movement. The localists rejected the centralization in the labor movement following the sunset of the Anti-Socialist Laws in 1890 and preferred grassroots democratic structures. The lack of a strike code soon led to conflict within the organization. Various ways of providing financial support for strikes were tested before a system of voluntary solidarity was agreed upon in 1903, the same year that the name Free Association of German Trade Unions was adopted.
    Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Association_of_German_Trade_Unions
    License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0;
    27 min
  • S1E110 - Seychelles parakeet
    The Seychelles parakeet or Seychelles Island parrot (Psittacula wardi) is an extinct species of parrot that was endemic to the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. It was scientifically named Palaeornis wardi by the British ornithologist Edward Newton in 1867, and the specific name honours the British civil commissioner Swinburne Ward who procured the specimens that formed the basis for the description. It was found on the islands of Mahé, Silhouette, and possibly Praslin. Ten skin specimens exist today, but no skeletons. Though it was later moved to the genus Psittacula, genetic studies have led some researchers to suggest it should belong in a reinstated Palaeornis along with the closely related Alexandrine parakeet (P. eupatria) of Asia.
    Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seychelles_parakeet
    License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0;
    12 min
  • S1E109 - 1985 World Snooker Championship
    The 1985 World Snooker Championship (also known as the 1985 Embassy World Snooker Championship for the purpose of sponsorship) was a ranking professional snooker tournament that took place from 12 to 28 April 1985 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. Organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), the event was the ninth consecutive World Snooker Championship to be held at the Crucible, the first tournament having taken place in 1977. A five-round qualifying event for the championship was held at the Preston Guild Hall from 29 March to 5 April for 87 players, 16 of whom reached the main stage, where they met the 16 invited seeded players. The tournament was broadcast in the United Kingdom by the BBC, and was sponsored by the Embassy cigarette company. The total prize fund for the event was £250,000, the highest prize pool for any snooker tournament to that date. The winner received £60,000, which was the highest amount ever received by the winner of a snooker event at that time.
    Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_World_Snooker_Championship
    License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0;
    14 min
  • S1E108 - Siege of Guînes (1352)
    The siege of Guînes took place from May to July 1352 when a French army under Geoffrey de Charny unsuccessfully attempted to recapture the French castle at Guînes which had been seized by the English the previous January. The siege was part of the Hundred Years' War and took place during the uneasy and ill-kept truce of Calais.
    Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Gu%C3%AEnes_(1352)
    License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0;
    11 min
  • S1E107 - Edward Drinker Cope
    Edward Drinker Cope (July 28, 1840 – April 12, 1897) was an American zoologist, paleontologist, comparative anatomist, herpetologist, and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of 19. Though his father tried to raise Cope as a gentleman farmer, he eventually acquiesced to his son's scientific aspirations. Cope married his cousin and had one child; the family moved from Philadelphia to Haddonfield, New Jersey, although Cope would maintain a residence and museum in Philadelphia in his later years.
    Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Drinker_Cope
    License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0;
    23 min
  • S1E106 - 200 (Stargate SG-1)
    "200" is the sixth episode of the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1's tenth season, and the 200th episode of the series overall. Unlike the more serious nature of the season's story arc, "200" is a light-hearted parody of both Stargate SG-1 and other sci-fi shows, as well as popular culture like The Wizard of Oz.
    Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/200_(Stargate_SG-1)
    License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0;
    11 min

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