Travel - Wikitravel:Discover

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Discover is Wikitravel's heading for strange but true trivia about destinations and events.

edit] Criteria

Keep it short and snappy: no more than twenty words, please.
[[Link]] any place names.
'''Boldface''' the fact of interest.
The articles don't need to be perfect, but preference should be given to those with a status of "usable" or higher.
The article linked to must contain the fact in question.
Relevant images are optional but welcome, ideally once for every three facts. They should be placed above the fact in question, with the following formatting:

[[Image:imagename|right|100px|description]]
The interesting fact linked to this image goes here.

edit] Now displayed

A golf player boasting about having played a round in two countries has probably played in Tornio, Finland.
The closest relative of the tiny rock rabbits that inhabit Cape Town's Table Mountain is actually the massive African elephant.
Prambanan, Java is the world's largest Hindu complex (pictured).

This selection, as presented by Template:Discover, is updated every day automatically by DiscoverBot at 01:00 EDT, at least when the bot works (it isn't working as of March 2009). Please don't edit the template directly. Older entries can be found in the archive.

~~Last updated on 04 Nov 2008 01:00:09~~

DiscoverBot is not currently operational. All updates are now performed manually. If it's been a few days, feel free to rotate in a new entry.

edit] Upcoming

Add your entries to the end of this list. The list is read by an automated bot, which simply reads lines off the top, so please do not leave any space or other commentary between entries. However, feel free to rearrange the list, because geographic variety in what's displayed is good (e.g. if the next three items are all from Asia, it's good to intersperse something from Africa, Europe or the Americas).

North Sentinel, one of Andaman Islands, is home to a tribe that have so far resisted all outside attempts to contact, including those by the Indian government.
The famous Sereer wrestlers in city's like Palmarin and Sokone still rely on talismans and drinking magical potions to give them the strength to win.
Tünel in Galata, Istanbul is the second oldest underground railway in the world, after London's Underground, though from one end to the other, it's just 573 meters long.

Tales of death surround the Kalyan Minaret (pictured) of Bukhara as it is said to have been built over the head of a murdered imam and was once used to kill criminals by pushing them off the top.
The holy cities of Mecca and Medina are completely off-limits to non-Muslims.
Ushuaia, Argentina, is the southernmost city in the world.
The Vasco da Gama Bridge is the largest bridge in Europe, linking Lisbon and Almada.

The world's tallest cathedral is the Ulm Minster (pictured) in Ulm, Germany.
The Sacred Garbage Pile, Aitan Ola, in Kétou came into existence when locals were asked to place objects atop the sacred site, and they gathered whatever they could find; Namely garbage.
The city of Lae was where the first plane took off with cargo rather than people and the last known stop of Amelia Earhart.
The world's deepest metro (subway) is located in Pyongyang.
Although Gilbertese sounds like a made-up language, it's actually the native language of Kiribati, named after Thomas Gilbert, the first European to discover the islands.

Madeira, Portugal hosts the largest pyrotechnical show in the world (pictured), with fireworks seen in the entire island.
Wimbledon, United Kingdom has the oldest tennis tournament in the world.
Hong Kong is made up by a peninsula and 236 islands.
There are 16 tunnels beneath London's River Thames, mainly for tube lines.

Griffith Park (pictured), in Los Angeles, CA, used to be an ostrich farm.
Chicago's Lincoln Park used to be a cemetery.
The Ritz Hotel in London was the first hotel in the world to offer a private bathroom for every guest room.

A?t Benhaddou (pictured), a traditional mudbrick city in Morocco's High Atlas, has appeared in more than 10 movies, including Lawrence of Arabia and Gladiator.
The Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta is the largest aquarium in the world.
Joan of Arc's statue in Meridian Hill park is the only female equestrian statue in Washington, D.C.
Comal River is Texas' shortest river, running entirely within the limits of the city of New Braunfels.
You need to scuba dive if you want to get into Jule's Undersea Lodge, in Key Largo, FL.
Uttarakhand's Roopkund or Skeleton Lake gets it's name from the remains of 600 people that died there from a sudden hailstorm.

The Church of S?o Francisco, in Évora, is famous for the Capela dos Ossos (pictured), a chapel whose walls and columns are entirely covered by human bones.
Paradesi Synagogue, in Kochi is the oldest synagogue in the British Commonwealth of Nations.
The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C. has a bronze statue in memory of Fala, Franklin D. Roosevelt's scottish terrier.
Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee is the largest non-casino hotel in the world.
When Louisville, Kentucky suffered a flood in 1937, the Brown Hotel was partially submerged and a worker caught a 2-pound fish in the lobby.
Lake Enriquillo, in Southern Dominican Republic is the only saltwater lake in the world to be inhabited by crocodiles.

Fes' Al-Karaouine University (pictured) is the world's oldest university.
Andaman Islands' Barren Island is the only active volcano in South Asia.
The Grandfather's House mentioned in the song "Over the River and through the Woods" is a real house in Medford, Massachussetts, and one of it's main atractions.
The Casino Caravela, in Panaji, Goa, is the only legal casino in India.
The Capitol at Williamsburg, Virginia was the first capitol ever built in the United States.

According to legend, the Teufelstritt (Devil's Footstep), in Munich's Frauenkirche (pictured), marks the spot where the devil stood when he thought that the builder had constructed a cathedral with no windows.
You can find Cristopher Columbus' journal in the Archivo General de Indias, Seville, Spain.
The Jurong Falls, at Jurong BirdPark in Western Singapore, is the tallest man-made waterfall in the world, with 30 meters.

Golden Gate Bridge, in San Francisco, is the most popular suicide place on the planet.
General Sherman, in Sequoia National Park, California, is the largest tree in the world, by volume.
The Russians celebrate New Year twice: once on January 1^st, according to the Gregorian Calendar, and once on January 13^th/14^th, according to the Julian Calendar.
One of the main atractions of the city of Grootfontein, Namibia is a meteorite called Hoba, the largest meteorite ever found on earth.
St. Bernard de Clairvaux Church, a Spanish monastery from the 12^nd century, diassembled and then rebuilt in North Miami Beach, is the oldest structure in the Western Hemisphere.
For fans of folklore, the sites along Okayama's Kibiji District take you from beginning to end of the battle between Prince Kibitsuhiko-no-mikoto and the demon Ura, which is said to have inspired Japan's famous Momotaro tale.
Nordkapp is promoted as Europe's northernmost point, despite the fact that the neighboring peninsula Knivskjellodden on the same island is situated 1,457 m (4780 ft) further north.

edit] On hold

The articles linked in from the entries below need to be improved before they're ready to go. Plunge forward, edit them, and move to the main queue. If you move trivia to this list, please provide a reason for doing so.

All the houses in Piód?o, Portugal have their doors painted in blue because that's the only ink the village shop had. (de-outline)
Devon Island, in Nunavut, Canada, is the largest unhabited island in the world. (fact does not appear in any article)
The world's largest pool is located at San Alfonso del Mar, Algarrobo. (de-outline)
The anchor of Christopher Columbus' ship, the Santa Maria, is on display at the Musée du Panthéon National Ha?tien in Port-au-Prince. (must verify the anchor and museum were not destroyed in the earthquake)
The town of Kristinestad, Finland has a road called Kattpiskargränden, which means Cat Spanker Alley.
Hebron in Northern Kentucky is home to the Creation Museum, which teaches the Book of Genesis as literal truth. (de-outline)
The name of the Japanese town of Shiojiri means "Salt Butt". (destub)
Mt. Angel recently built the largest glockenspiel in the United States. Also hosts a Bavarian-style "Oktoberfest" complete with traditional German bands every September (de-outline, wait for September, 2008 dates are Sep.11-14)
A street in Lancaster, California was modified for a Honda commercial so that all cars driving over it at 55 miles per hour would hear the William Tell Overture due to grooves cut in the road.
The world's longest street is Yonge Street in Ontario, Canada, which runs from Lake Ontario to Lake Simcoe and is 1,896 km (1,178 mi) long. (de-outline)

The following calendar-related items are "ready-to-go" criteria-wise and should be moved to the main queue at a date appropriate to the trivia featured:

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