Antoine Lavoisier

Antoine Lavoisier, the 18th century French 'father of modern chemistry,' who discovered oxygen and hydrogen, wrote the first list of elements, and stated the law of conservation of mass, was guillotined in 1794.

Margaret Brent was America's first feminist. She was Maryland's first female land owner and in 1648 demanded to be heard in that state's Provisional Court. (She also made her money trading in human beings.)

Aphids have an unusual reproductive system. In spring, the population is comprised entirely of parthenogenetic, viviparous females. Each female will have within her a daughter who is already parthenogenetically producing her own daughter at the same time. In layman's terms, the aphids can be said to be "born pregnant."

Salta, Argentina, was founded in 1582 by the Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma.

The palo de vaca, or cow tree, of South America, produces a nourishing liquid that resembles milk.

Mount Cook

Mt. Cook, also called Aoraki, is the highest point in New Zealand.  It is 3,724 meters, or 12,200 feet, high.  The first known ascent was in 1894.

Massacre at Wounded Knee

The Massacre at Wounded Knee was the last major conflict between the Lakota Sioux and the US government. In 1890, over 200 Sioux including women and children were killed, with 25 US soldiers killed.

Haman

Haman is a noble in the Book of Esther who hatches a plot to kill all the Jews in Persia. He ends up hanged on the gallows he built for Mordecai. (And then the king gives the Jews carte blanche to kill anyone they feel like, including Haman's ten sons, so, you know, a cheery tale.)

Altar Q is a sculpted stone block located in Copán, present-day Honduras. It was created by the Mayan civilization in 776, and depicts a series of rulers from 416 on.

Kansas City, Missouri, is located at the confluence of the Missouri and Kansas (or Kaw) Rivers, on the western border of the state. It abuts Kansas City, Kansas.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame, founded in 1963, is located in Canton, Ohio (where the NFL had been founded in 1920).

The National Rifle Association was formed in New York in 1871 (as the American Rifle Association). Bonus factling: Ambrose Burnside was the organization's first president.

The Plan of Guadalupe was a 1913 document drawn up in response to the overthrow and execution of Francisco I. Madero, president of Mexico. The plan rejected the opposition leader Victoriano Huerta's claims to power and accused him of treason. It failed to save Madero.

Elara

Elara is a moon of Jupiter, discovered in 1905 but not named until 1975 (before that, it was just designated 'Jupiter VII').

In 1936, Great Britain was ruled by three kings in succession: George V, who died on January 20; his son Edward VIII, who abdicated on December 10 to marry Wallis Simpson; and Edward's brother George VI, who would reign until 1952.

Nasturtium is a brightly-colored, edible flower with a tangy, peppery taste. (The name, meaning 'twisted nose,' comes from the facial contortions one may make while tasting it.)

St. Martin is an island in the Caribbean east of Puerto Rico that has the distinction of being divided roughly in half between France (in the north) and the Netherlands (the southern half).

Polaris, also known as the North Star or the Lodestar, is the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor, and the current pole star.

Uzziah, also called Azariah, was a King of Judah whose story is found in 2 Chronicles. Because he dared to enter the temple and burn incense to the Lord (which only priests could do), he was struck with leprosy.

Anne of Cleves was the wife of Henry VIII (his fourth) whom he chose based on a portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger. She was his wife for only six months, and she outlived him by ten years.

King Philip, also known as Matacom or Metacomet, was chief of the Wampanoag Indians and their leader in the war between that tribe and English colonists in New England, 1675.

Mary Pickford was a Canadian film star who co-founded the film studio United Artists and became known as 'America's Sweetheart' for her virtuous little girl roles in the 1920s.

Roger Nash Baldwin was a pacifist who spent a year in jail after refusing to go to WWI. From 1917 to 1920, Baldwin founded what would become the American Civil Liberties Union.

Beelzebufo was a prehistoric frog identified in 2007, and may have grown 16 inches long and weighed up to 10 pounds. Bufo is the Latin word for toad.

The New River Gorge Bridge is a steel-arch bridge in West Virginia, built in 1977, and part of US Highway 19. For many years it was the longest steel-arch bridge in the world.

The Grand Canyon, an immense gorge in Arizona, was carved out by the Colorado River over millions of years.

Jenny Lind, a 19th-century soprano who had a hugely successful tour in America, was known as 'The Swedish Nightingale.'

Bill Russell

Bill Russell, a center for the Boston Celtics, won a gold medal in the 1956 Summer Olympics and helped the Celtics win 11 NBA championships in 13 years. And the number '11' appears twice in his name (as 'll')!

Osman I was the leader of the Ottoman Turks who declared independence from the Seljuks and founded the Ottoman Empire in 1299.

Lima (pronounced Lie-ma), Ohio, was founded in 1831. Oil was discovered there in 1885, bringing Standard Oil. For several years it was the largest oil deposit in the United States.

North Dakota's nickname is 'The Flickertail State,' after Richardson's Ground Squirrel, often called the flickertail or picket-pin.