Wikipedia:Recent additions/2009/December

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31 December 2009

19:42, 31 December 2009 (UTC)

... that Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster persuaded architect John Douglas to add half-timbering to his stone and brick design for 2–18 St Werburgh Street, Chester (pictured)?
... that in 1979 two Montana legislators sued the United States Department of Transportation in an unsuccessful attempt to save the North Coast Hiawatha Amtrak train?
... that the Justice Party survived the no-confidence motion brought against it after the 1923 election in Madras Presidency?
... that Blue Mouse Theatre in Tacoma's Proctor District, opened by John Hamrick in 1923, is now the oldest continuously operating theater in the U.S. state of Washington?
... that former Texas State Senator Marshall Formby proposed that Texas Technological College, his alma mater, be renamed Texas Tech University?
... that the U2 song "Winter" was written for the war film Brothers after the band viewed a rough cut of the film?
... that out of 700 U.S. Forest Service buildings in Oregon and Washington built by New Deal programs, the Upper Sandy Guard Station Cabin is the only one crafted of stone and logs?
... that between 5% and 45% of the words made by two year olds are speech repetitions, and that higher skill in infant speech repetition predicts more rapid expansion of spoken vocabulary?

11:42, 31 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the Blue-winged Kookaburra (pictured) of northern Australia is also known as the Howling Jackass?
... that quarterback Don Moorhead set 24 Michigan Wolverines football records from 1969 to 1970, including career records for total offense and passing yards?
... that even though the French wines of Collioure have very little residual sugar, some wine drinkers perceive them as "sweet" because of how ripe the grapes get in the warm climate?
... that in 2005, the Bruce High Quality Foundation pulled a floating island of parkland, complete with living trees, around New York Harbor, turning a drawing by Robert Smithson into reality?
... that many government-planted trees in the Banni grasslands in India were legally cut down to make charcoal for profits from 2004 to 2008 even though the area has been a protected forest since 1955?
... that professional wrestler Franky The Mobster once tagged with Kevin Steen as "Frank N' Steen"?
... that Amar Ouzegane, first secretary of the Algerian Communist Party until 1947, later renounced communism, arguing for a fusion of Islam and socialism?
... that the Ballaine House was one of six built in 1905 in Seward, Alaska, known as "Millionaire's Row", not for their owners' wealth, but because they believed Alaska would soon have one million residents?

03:42, 31 December 2009 (UTC)

... that SS President (pictured) became the first transatlantic steamship to founder when she disappeared in 1841 en route from New York to Liverpool with 136 people on board?
... that as a self-described "geek" and a curious person, Whoopi Goldberg created Head Games to show people that there are "all kinds of science"?
... that Australian Sir Noel Power became Acting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong in 1996?
... that due to the storm's poorly documented loop, the 1910 Cuba hurricane was initially reported as two separate cyclones?
... that in 2007, A. J. Wallace broke the Penn State Nittany Lions football record for kickoff return yardage in a season with 581, which broke Kenny Watson's 1999 record of 522?
... that in 1983, Yıldırım Aktuna, a neuropsychiatrist and later a politician, founded Turkey’s first alcohol and drug rehabilitation center at the country's largest psychiatric hospital in Istanbul?
... that in October 2009, the Pittsburgh Penguins launched Pittsburgh Penguins Radio, the first exclusive HD radio station in the National Hockey League?
... that over 100 former footballers called on President Paul Biya to stand in the 2004 Cameroonian presidential election?

30 December 2009

19:42, 30 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the Mather Inn (pictured) in Ishpeming, Michigan, served as housing for the cast of the classic 1959 movie, Anatomy of a Murder, and the location where Duke Ellington composed the movie's score?
... that Zodi Ikhia, the first Education Minister of the Republic of Niger, took part in a failed coup d'etat in 1963?
... that Loteki Supernatural Being was the first dog to win both the Westminster Dog Show and the World Dog Show?
... that then-Louisiana Tech University President F. Jay Taylor in 1974 named Sonja Hogg to develop what became national championship teams in women's basketball?
... that the authors of the Manifesto of the Oppressed Black Mauritanian were convicted to prison sentences, exiles, and loss of civil rights?
... that sociologist Bogdan Denitch of Queens College, City University of New York organized and chaired the Socialist Scholars Conference from 1983 to 2004 in New York City?
... that because of the controversy about excluding mathematicians from the Central Powers at the 1920 and 1924 International Congresses of Mathematicians, from 1932 and on the ICMs are not numbered?
... that the marriage of Archduchess Isabella of Austria and Prince Georg of Bavaria was annulled on the grounds of non-consummation?

11:42, 30 December 2009 (UTC)

... that Coboconk, Ontario (station pictured), was renamed Shedden after the president of the Toronto and Nipissing Railway in 1873, but was changed back to Coboconk seven years later?
... that the animated sitcom Home Movies switched to Flash animation for its second season?
... that while searching for French zoologist Claude Riche, lost in Western Australia, botanist Jacques Labillardière collected the first specimens of Banksia repens?
... that Alexander Faris composed the theme tune for the classic 1970s television drama series Upstairs, Downstairs?
... that the Battle of Gang Toi on 8 November 1965 was one of the first engagements between Australian forces and the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War?
... that the Justice Party won the first election held in Madras Presidency in 1920 after a dyarchical system of government was established in 1919?
... that Puerto Rican a capella group Nota sang together for 15 years prior to winning The Sing-Off?
... that ex-Springbok and current Ireland rugby forward coach Gert Smal taught his pack some Afrikaans so they could read the South African line out calls in their match in the 2009 Autumn Internationals?

03:42, 30 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the Falls Trail along the 24 named waterfalls (Ganoga Falls pictured) in Ricketts Glen State Park has been called "the most magnificent hike" in Pennsylvania?
... that possible traces of interdigital webbing have been preserved in fossils of pakicetids, the ancestors of whales?
... that two of the 15 children of Rufus Anderson Lyman became the first U.S. generals of Hawaiian ancestry?
... that Shmuel Flatto-Sharon successfully ran for election to the Knesset to avoid extradition to France, where he was wanted for embezzlement?
... that despite losing star player Dionte Christmas, the 2009–10 Temple Owls men's basketball team is currently one of the top 25 best college basketball teams in the United States?
... that with his 60 tonne 25.25 m long Denby Eco-Link super lorry, Dick Denby of Denby Transport, Lincoln, hopes to challenge the government prohibition of most types of Longer Heavier Vehicles from the roads of the United Kingdom?
... that the Famous Smoke Shop, one of the largest mail order and internet cigar businesses in the United States, was initially a retail shop on Broadway founded in 1939?
... that Natural Law Party founder Bevan Morris suggested at a press conference that President Bush learn Transcendental Meditation?

29 December 2009

19:42, 29 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the rare Banksia verticillata (pictured) is threatened by three fungi – aerial canker, dieback and honey mushroom?
... that the 1865 play Society by T W Robertson marked the London debut of actor Sir Squire Bancroft?
... that the Japanese Computer-controlled Vehicle System (CVS) originally started out as a show-floor exhibit at Expo '70 in Osaka, but developed into one of the most advanced personal rapid transit systems of its era?
... that the Hanneford family of the Royal Hanneford Circus have origins in performance dating back to 1690?
... that between 1970 and 1976, former Spanish-Argentine footballer and manager Juan Carlos Touriño was part of three Spanish league championships and two Spanish cup-winning squads?
... that Long Creek Academy, which was a Christian school near Long Creek, South Carolina, is now the local headquarters of a whitewater rafting company?
... that the Phoenicians either introduced or encouraged the spread of winemaking to several areas like Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece?
... that André Roch, a pioneer in avalanche research, was caught in avalanches three times?

11:42, 29 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the Oriental Theatre's chandelier (ceiling pictured) in Portland, Oregon, United States, contained 3,000 light bulbs and weighed 2,000 pounds (910 kg)?
... that the 1951 film Marmayogi was the first Tamil film to receive an "Adult" rating?
... that Devil's Den State Park in Arkansas is recognized as one of the best preserved Civilian Conservation Corps projects in the United States?
... that all eight endemic reptile species recorded in Minneriya National Park are listed as threatened?
... that the Stephen Storm House in Claverack, New York, combines urban and rural applications of the Federal architectural style?
... that former footballer Christopher Bryan scored the Turks and Caicos Islands' first ever international goal?
... that in 1989 Cuban singer-songwriter Gloria Estefan became the first artist to simultaneously reach number 1 in the Billboard Hot 100 and Top Latin Songs charts with her single "Don't Wanna Lose You"?
... that London music festival Field Day hosts an annual village fête, featuring a sack race, tug of war and egg and spoon race?

03:42, 29 December 2009 (UTC)

... that 76-year-old Cookie (pictured) is believed to be the oldest Major Mitchell's Cockatoo in any zoo?
... that Frank Conner is one of only two men to have competed in the U.S. Open in both tennis and golf?
... that the white wine grape Furmint is said to have been introduced to Hungary after the 13th-century Mongolian invasion, by immigrants recruited by King Béla IV?
... that Wivi Lönn was the first woman to be awarded with the honorary title Professor by the Finnish Association of Architects?
... that Botswana international footballer Donald Thobega was involved in the Test For Life campaign, which encourages supporters to get tested for HIV and AIDS?
... that the 1927 Weatherly Building in Portland, Oregon, was owned by an ice cream magnate?
... that Swede Anna Jansson started a successful career as a crime writer in 2000 after working twenty years as a nurse?
... that although the nudibranch slug Fiona pinnata lives in open sea worldwide, it cannot swim?

28 December 2009

19:42, 29 December 2009 (UTC)

... that vineyards in the Douro (pictured) are graded on several factors, such as microclimate and which grape varieties are planted, that can influence the potential quality of Port wine?
... that artist Émile Friant was intended to be a chemist until he gained his father's permission to leave the lycée?
... that Parteniy Pavlovich from Silistra, an 18th-century Bulgarian cleric and writer, is regarded as the author of the first autobiography in South Slavic literature?
... that Île Vierge, in the southwestern corner of the English Channel, has the tallest stone lighthouse in Europe?
... that Nikolai Polikarpov was arrested and imprisoned by the OGPU in September 1929 for the crime of industrial sabotage when his Polikarpov I-6 and I-5 fighter projects both failed to meet their deadlines?
... that in every second of normal fluent conversation, we pronounce roughly four syllables and ten or twelve phonemes?
... that It's a Wonderful Life actors Jimmy Stewart and William Edmunds appeared in two other movies together, The Shop Around the Corner and The Mortal Storm?
... that Isla Magueyes, an island 50 meters from the coast of Puerto Rico, is home to feral populations of Cuban iguanas and Rhesus monkeys which escaped from the local university?

11:42, 28 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the Aborigines regarded the corms of the Bulbine Lily (pictured) as the sweetest of the Australian lily-like plants to eat?
... that, between 1973 and 1992, Barry Malkin edited both sequel films and both compilations of the Godfather Trilogy, but was not involved in the original 1972 film?
... that Antonio de León y Gama described in his 1792 book the discovery of the Aztec sun stone?
... that more than any other recent pop star, Madonna has used MTV and music videos to establish her popularity and to enhance her recorded work?
... that Final Battle 2009 was the first live pay-per-view event of professional wrestling Ring of Honor's?
... that after playing for over twenty clubs and enjoying only mild success, former professional footballer Fred Eyre made his name as a businessman, after dinner speaker, and author?
... that Brookbound is one of the few Second Empire-style buildings in the Claverack, New York, area?
... that studies across 20 countries show a strong association between schizophrenia and smoking?

03:42, 28 December 2009 (UTC)

... that by kneeling before a cross the renowned 16th-century English performing horse Marocco (pictured) saved his master from death by burning as a witch?
... that a marker dedicated in 2009 at Roxbury Heritage State Park in Boston was the first monument added to the Henry Knox Trail since 1927?
... that Frith Banbury directed plays on four continents without ever having obtained an academic degree?
... that the 1940 New Hampshire earthquake, the strongest earthquake in state history, had an intensity of VII (very strong)?
... that the video game Gears of War revolutionized the cover system?
... that buildings designed by Frederick Heath include Paradise Inn on Mount Rainier and the Pythian Temple in Tacoma, Washington, two properties listed in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places?
... that none of the coaches of the North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team has ever had a overall losing record?
... that the Guinea hog breed of pig was kept by former US President Thomas Jefferson?

27 December 2009

19:42, 27 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the carnivorous plant Drosera regia (pictured, with prey) is one of the most imperiled Drosera species, with a single small population estimated to consist of only 50 mature plants?
... that the flag on the top of the Tall Hermann tower on Toompea Hill is one of the best-known symbols in Estonia of the government in power?
... that mathematician Herbert Busemann was awarded 2,000 Russian rubles for winning the Lobachevsky Medal in 1985, the first American to do so?
... that the Super Saturday weekend, the last weekend before Christmas, accounted for 13.6 percent of holiday retail sales in the United States in 2006?
... that former Australian cricket team captain Steve Waugh was sacked from the One Day International captaincy after his team failed to qualify for the 2001–02 VB Series finals?
... that the Stephen Miller House in Claverack, New York, features Dutch Colonial elements like a gambrel roof and Dutch door on a basic Federal style house?
... that shortly after World War II, Douglas Aircraft designed the prototype airliner DC-8 that had engines in the fuselage and propellors in the tail?
... that after retiring from professional wrestling, Rafael Halperin helped create a credit card that would not work in Israel on Sabbath?

11:42, 27 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the German armored cruiser SMS Scharnhorst (pictured) sank with all hands, including Admiral von Spee, at the Battle of the Falkland Islands in 1914?
... that Stanford University biochemist Annette Salmeen was both an Olympic gold medalist and a Rhodes Scholar?
... that flooding of the Tishrin Dam reservoir in Syria was postponed so that three houses found at the archaeological site of Jerf el-Ahmar could be dismantled and rebuilt elsewhere?
... that François-Marie Le Marchand de Lignery was awarded the Order of Saint Louis for his role in the French victory over British General Edward Braddock in the 1755 Battle of the Monongahela?
... that Bruce Springsteen joined The Gaslight Anthem onstage at Glastonbury Festival 2009 to perform the band's 2008 song "The '59 Sound"?
... that Herbert Strutt, a High Sheriff of Derbyshire, bought the Glensanda estate where his son disappeared and was later found as a clothed skeleton?
... that on July 20, 1964, the National Movement of the Revolution was declared the sole legal political party by law in the Republic of the Congo?
... that Alemayehu Bezabeh, the 2009 European Cross Country Champion, had to have X-ray tests to estimate his age?

03:42, 27 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the Reformed Dutch Church of Claverack (pictured) is the oldest institutional building in Columbia County, New York?
... that English dancer John D'Auban appeared in Robert the Devil at the opening of London's Gaiety Theatre in 1861, and was billed as one of the theatre's "principal grotesque dancers and pantomimists"?
... that despite being in different classes, Bradyrhizobium and Klebsiella pneumoniae have similar genes for fixing nitrogen?
... that during World War II, later architect Rolv Enge participated in the first ever sabotage mission of Aks 13000?
... that after a winless 0–11 record in 1996, the Michigan Wolverines men's gymnastics team won the NCAA championship in 1999 and finished in the "Super Six" in 10 of the past 11 seasons?
... that ten acts, mostly newcomers in the Greek music industry, will vie for a chance to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010?
... that Frank Mazzei helped create the Pennsylvania Lottery before his expulsion from the Pennsylvania Senate in 1975?
... that ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) is a proposed DOI for scientific authors that according to journal Nature could be used in "edits of Wikipedia entries"?

26 December 2009

19:42, 26 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the bloody-red mysid (pictured), a crustacean native to the Ponto-Caspian region, has recently invaded the North American Great Lakes?
... that even after Peter Sutcliffe was convicted of the "Yorkshire Ripper" murders, Assistant Chief Constable George Oldfield maintained that taunting letters and tape from Wearside Jack were connected to the case?
... that Oilite bearings were developed by Chrysler in the 1930s?
... that Maryam Jameelah, a New York-born convert from Judaism to Islam, became a prominent female advocate for conservative Islam?
... that Oksbøl became the sixth largest town of Denmark because of the 37,000 inmates of the Oksbøl Refugee Camp?
... that Caroline Duby Glassman, who was born and raised in Oregon, was the first woman on the Maine Supreme Court?
... that the number-one song "Cómo Fuí a Enamorarme de Tí" was also used as the title of a movie starring Mexican band Los Bukis?
... that although holding a handgun sideways makes aiming very hard, it has become popular in movies and rap culture?

11:42, 26 December 2009 (UTC)

... that in the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny against the British Raj, European families, mostly women and children, were given refuge in the Jag Mandir (pictured), India, by Maharana Swaroop Singh?
... that the Michigan Wolverines softball team in 2005 became the first team from east of the Mississippi River to win the Women's College World Series?
... that in the run-up to the 1946 French legislative and 1947 Congolese territorial elections, Congolese Progressive Party leader Jean-Félix Tchicaya condemned the system of separate electoral colleges?
... that although 1989's "Second Chance" became the highest-charting U.S. song of 38 Special's career, A&M Records did not renew the band's contract?
... that lethal congenital contracture syndrome, characterized by fetal immobility and leading invariably to pre-natal death, may be caused by mutations in chromosome 9?
... that Julia Moon, daughter-in-law of Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon, performed Giselle with the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad?
... that after the restoration of independence in 1990, the Lithuanian society debated whether to remove a monument to writer Petras Cvirka due to his pro-Soviet attitudes?
... that during his exile on Elba, Napoleon is said to have favored the island's wines made from the grape variety Aleatico?

03:42, 26 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the Peace Candle (pictured), a 106-foot (32 m) tower-like structure erected each Christmas season in Easton, Pennsylvania, is said to be the largest non-wax Christmas candle in the United States?
... that the Czech Christmas Mass by Jakub Jan Ryba is one of the musical symbols of Christmas in the Czech Republic?
... that "Christmas Scandal", an episode of NBC's comedy series Parks and Recreation, marked the last in a string of guest performances by stand-up comedian Louis C.K.?
... that the video for Paul McCartney's Wonderful Christmastime was filmed at the Fountain Inn in Ashurst, West Sussex?
... that the first Singing Christmas Tree took place in Mississippi in 1933 while the first indoor tree debuted in North Carolina in 1958?
... that Victoria and Shane Grow Their Own followed the attempts of Victoria Mary Clarke and Shane MacGowan as they grew their own vegetables in an allotment?
... that The Dog Who Saved Christmas won a "Yulie" on Entertainment Weekly's Popwatch column for "Best Use of Dean Cain"?
... that in 2000, Indian Test cricketer Sourav Ganguly took the wicket of Lincolnshire's 'Father' Christmas?

25 December 2009

19:42, 25 December 2009 (UTC)

... that Alfhild Hovdan initiated the tradition of the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree (pictured), in 1947?
... that the 1901 film Scrooge, or, Marley's Ghost is the oldest surviving film adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1843 novel A Christmas Carol?
... that at 42 meters tall, the Schlitz Christmas Candle in Schlitz, Germany, is believed to be the tallest non-wax candle in the world?
... that the swing group Big Bad Voodoo Daddy performed music for a special Christmas episode of Phineas and Ferb?
... that postman Michael Gallagher predicted that Ireland would experience a white Christmas in 2009?
... that the Roman orator Cicero once publicly criticized Julius Caesar's father-in-law for enjoying too much Colli Piacentini wine?
... that the 2009 television movie A Dog Named Christmas was based on a novel by Greg Kincaid, who said his family hated the story when he originally wrote it?
... that Christmas cookies can trace their origin to recipes from Medieval Europe?

11:42, 25 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the painting Nativity at Night (pictured) by Geertgen tot Sint Jans was influenced by a vision of the mystic Saint Bridget of Sweden?
... that luminarias, a Christmas Eve tradition in Santa Fe, New Mexico today, were described in colonial Mexico in the early 16th century?
... that the 1913 film Scrooge was the first time that British actor Seymour Hicks played the role of Ebenezer Scrooge in film, the other being in 1935?
... that Helen Bright Clark was one of the first British women to sign the Open Christmas Letter which sought to extend the hand of peace "To the Women of Germany and Austria" during World War I?
... that the Benji Christmas special Benji's Very Own Christmas Story was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1979?
... that the Peace Candle of the World, a 50-foot candle-like structure in Scappoose, Oregon, is decorated with Christmas lights every holiday season?
... that the annual 7 Up Christmas on Ice event was launched by ice dancer Jayne Torvill in 2009?
... that James Edgar has been credited as the first department store Santa Claus?

03:42, 25 December 2009 (UTC)

... that future Confederate President Jefferson Davis (pictured) was among the participants in the Eggnog Riot at the United States Military Academy on 24–25 December 1826, but escaped court-martial?
... that Uruguayan footballer Vladas Douksas' father was a Lithuanian shopkeeper?
... that the tradition of the Vatican Christmas Tree at Saint Peter's Square started in 1982 during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II, at his personal request?
... that Benjamin Britten helped to replace the Grancino double bass of Adrian Beers MBE, after it was destroyed in the Snape Maltings concert hall fire?
... that using much of South Dakota Highway 87 costs $15 per vehicle due to state park admission fees?
... that Dr. Ruth L. Kirschstein, appointed as the director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences in 1974, was the first woman to direct an institute at the National Institutes of Health?
... that proposed sources of khutu have included narwhal, walrus, and mammoth ivory, the frontal bones of bulls, goats, and birds, the teeth of snakes, fish, and hippopotamuses, and the root of a tree?
... that Charles W. Howard, who portrayed Santa Claus in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade for 17 years, founded the world's oldest Santa Claus School?

24 December 2009

19:42, 24 December 2009 (UTC)

... that Christmas is traditionally celebrated in Agnone, Italy, with a torchlight parade known as Ndocciata? (2006 event pictured)
... that Japanese singer and actress Junko Sakurada was part of a trio on Star Tanjō! with musicians Momoe Yamaguchi and Masako Mori?
... that the 1999 Christmas Eve edition of Morning Ireland was a tribute to those who died in The Troubles of Northern Ireland and featured contributions from Tony Blair and Bill Clinton?
... that clarinetist Robert Lindemann played in the controversial American premiere of Arnold Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire?
... that the rodent Oryzomys peninsulae had only been found alongside one Mexican river, which no longer exists?
... that the earliest surviving aristocratic wax seal from Spain is found on a 1179 document of Castilian nobleman Pedro Manrique de Lara?
... that the matswaniste movement in French Equatorial Africa, l'Amicale des Originaires, developed from a self-help group into a political movement and later into a messianic religious community?
... that in Nazi Germany, Christmas featured decorating Christmas trees with swastikas, Germanic "sun wheels" and SS-style Nordic sig runes?

11:42, 24 December 2009 (UTC)

... that Publishers Weekly criticized Cyber Rights by civil liberties lawyer Mike Godwin (pictured) for the book's "unusually broad view of free speech"?
... that worldwide the major source of morphine for medical and scientific use is not opium but poppy straw?
... that the Pfitzner Flyer, the first monoplane built and flown in the US, used telescopic wing-tips to avoid infringement of the Wright brothers' wing warping patents?
... that the constitution the Convention of 1833 proposed for Mexican Texas was the first to prohibit imprisonment for debt?
... that most lake-dwelling grayling in the American West today can be genetically traced to Yellowstone Park's Grebe Lake, where millions of fish eggs were harvested and distributed from 1931 to 1956?
... that the Honduran milk snake's color resemblance to the coral snake, known as Batesian mimicry, helps protect it from potential predators?
... that Victorian policeman Thomas Arnold did not believe that Mary Kelly was a victim of Jack the Ripper?
... that, according to the pizza theorem, a circular pizza that is sliced off-center into eight equal-angled wedges can still be divided equally between two people?

03:42, 24 December 2009 (UTC)

... that rapper Lil Jon, porn star Savanna Samson, football coach Mike Ditka, actor Antonio Banderas and US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (pictured) are among celebrities who own wineries and vineyards?
... that the main guns of the canceled Greek battleship Salamis were bought by the British to arm the Abercrombie-class monitors during World War I?
... that although no eruptions from the Segula Volcano have been recorded, there are lava flows on it which may only be a few hundred years old?
... that plants of the genus Hydnophytum have bulbous stems which are honeycombed with ant tunnels?
... that in response to rioting in Oporto over price increases for Port wine, the Marquis of Pombal had several members of the Factory House executed?
... that the Swedish port of Gustavia was destroyed by Napoleon Bonaparte's forces only a year after its construction had begun?
... that the twelve One Day International centuries scored by Marcus Trescothick is the most by an English cricketer?
... that the broadside of the 14-gun brig HMS Speedy was so slight, Commander Lord Thomas Cochrane was able to put it all in his pockets?

23 December 2009

19:42, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

... that David Pearson (pictured) set the NASCAR single-season win percentage record by winning 11 of the 18 events that he entered in 1973?
... that wine historians have speculated that the Italian grape Greco may have been used to make the Roman "cult wine" Falernian?
... that Lê Văn Hưu was the first Vietnamese historian who praised the revolt of the Trưng Sisters against the Han Dynasty?
... that the population of the village of Dode was wiped out by the Black Death during the 14th century?
... that the Chestnut Sparrow, which usurps nests from weavers, may be evolving into a brood parasite?
... that former New Jersey State Senator Harry L. Sears secretly delivered a briefcase containing $200,000 from financier Robert Vesco to the 1972 campaign of Richard Nixon?
... that the Heroninos Archive contains examples of a complex and standardized system of accounting used in 3rd century Roman Egypt?
... that, prior to entering professional wrestling, Derick Neikirk was drafted by Major League Baseball's Detroit Tigers?

11:42, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the red pigment of the Christmas wreath lichen (pictured) is one of several chemicals that help the organism survive inhospitable environments?
... that the January 1985 Arctic outbreak delayed the inauguration of President Ronald Reagan by an entire day and led to the ceremony being held indoors?
... that the town of Yubileyny in Moscow Oblast, Russia, annexed a small strip of land to avoid being completely surrounded by the city of Korolyov?
... that the larvae of the Silky Hairstreak secrete substances that attract ants?
... that the Quartermaster General of the Luftwaffe, Hans-Georg von Seidel, said after World War II that "Hitler understood nothing about flying and cared less"?
... that after removal of a dam that blocked their migration for nearly a century, salmon and steelhead returned in 2009 to the Little Sandy River in Oregon?
... that femoral pores are a part of a secretory gland found on the thighs of certain lizards which release pheromones to attract mates or mark territory?
... that after exhausting his shot fighting a privateer for two days, Commander Hugh Downman of HMS Speedy was reduced to firing nails at his opponent?

03:42, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

... that Beach House Park in Worthing, West Sussex, has a memorial (pictured) to war pigeons?
... that Głos magazine was closed during the revolution in the Kingdom of Poland?
... that classical guitarist and composer Fernando Sor's most popular work, Introduction and Variations on a Theme by Mozart, was written in 1821 and dedicated to his brother Carlos?
... that the Fred and Esther Dundee House in Oregon was built for race car driver Fred Dundee?
... that in capturing the Spanish frigate Santa Dorotea Captain Manley Dixon had two men wounded on his ship, compared to 20 killed and 32 wounded on the Santa Dorotea?
... that Amaldus Nielsen has been called Norway's first naturalist painter?
... that in a manner unusual for snakes, the female Natal rock python guards its hatchlings for up to two weeks after they emerge from their eggs to protect them from predators?
... that at least seven members of the Scottish Argentine Brown family have played international football for Argentina?

22 December 2009

19:42, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

... that when Miguelites (pictured) loyal to the former king of Portugal blew up the brandy stores of the Douro Wine Company in 1852, nearly 3.4 million gallons of boiling hot Port flooded into the river Douro?
... that Lizzy Clark, in the 2008 BBC film Dustbin Baby, is the first actor with Asperger syndrome to portray a character having it?
... that Valle Crucis Abbey, built by Madog ap Gruffydd Maelor in 1201, is home to the only remaining monastic fishpond in Wales?
... that football player Al Pollard quit the United States Military Academy because he was connected to a cribbing scandal?
... that the Chancellor of the Kingdom of Cyprus gave a piece of the true cross to the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista in Venice?
... that the moisture-adapted asteracean plant Argyroxiphium grayanum represents one extreme in the adaptive radiation of its genus, which also includes drought-adapted mountain plants?
... that Move Like Michael Jackson, a BBC Three talent show which aims to find people who can dance like the late entertainer, is judged by Jackson's elder brother, Jermaine?
... that after the Swedes twice failed to take Bremen, they founded a new town nearby?

11:42, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the Vegreville egg (pictured), a giant egg sculpture in Vegreville, Alberta, rotates on its axis to the wind like a weather vane?
... that after a short career in films, Elaine Shepard was a journalist in Vietnam?
... that the practice of breeding show dogs has produced popular sire effects that reduce genetic diversity and can exacerbate the spread of inherited diseases?
... that when Champoux Vineyard was first planted in Washington State, the aim was to produce grapes that rivaled the First Growth Bordeaux estate Chateau Lafite?
... that sales of Interpol's records have numbered more than two million worldwide?
... that the three remaining Shakers live at and maintain Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, a National Historic Landmark in Maine?
... that in Strategic Command, a series of turn-based strategy video games taking place during World War II, the player may persuade neutral states to join the conflict using diplomatic pressure?
... that Patrick Murphy tried to help rebels in Naco, Mexico, by dropping homemade suitcase bombs from his airplane?

03:42, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the Romanov Tercentenary Fabergé egg (pictured) was made to celebrate 300 years of Romanov rule in Russia – four years before the end of the monarchy?
... that in a career lasting four decades, British actor William Lugg appeared in Princess Ida by Gilbert and Sullivan in 1884 and the film Scrooge in 1913?
... that the naturally rocky knoll Dùn Foulag, on the isle of Coll within the Scottish Hebrides, was once mistakenly thought to have been the ruined remains of a fortress?
... that in May 2009, pentachlorobenzene was added to the list of chemical compounds covered by the Stockholm Convention, an international treaty which restricts the production and use of persistent organic pollutants?
... that Scottish-born engineer Alexander Arthur spent millions of dollars in unsuccessful logging, mining, and resort enterprises in southern Appalachia in the late 19th century?
... that Skorpa prisoner of war camp was the main Norwegian POW camp in Northern Norway during the 1940 Norwegian Campaign, holding some 500 German military and civilian prisoners?
... that the white French wine grape Baroque was nearly extinct before restaurateur Michel Guérard revived the variety at his estate?
... that Bush vs. Kerry Boxing features Ralph Nader as a ring girl and Hillary Clinton as a referee?

21 December 2009

19:42, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

... that in England until the early 20th century, a man wishing to separate from his wife could lead her to market by a halter and sell her (process pictured) to the highest bidder?
... that the clique problem of programming a computer to find complete subgraphs in an undirected graph was first studied as a way to find groups of people who all know each other in social networks?
... that the intermittent Lake Palčje in the Inner Carniola region of Slovenia is filled with water only three months each year?
... that The Old Wives' Tale, an English Renaissance play by George Peele, was the first English work satirizing the romantic dramas popular at the time?
... that Hjalmar Steenstrup was selected to represent the Norwegian concentration camp prisoners during the Nuremberg Trials?
... that Acabou Chorare, a 1972 album by Novos Baianos, was ranked number 1 by Rolling Stone magazine in 2007 on its list of the 100 greatest albums of Brazilian music?
... that unlike most other forms of bacon, Zeeuws spek ("Zeeland bacon") from the Netherlands is sold pre-cooked?
... that Sir Frederick Stovin was removed from command of the 92nd Gordon Highlanders in 1821, after scandalising the regiment by demanding they wear trousers?

11:42, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

... that Bunaken National Park (pictured) in the north of Sulawesi island of Indonesia, located near the centre of the Coral Triangle, provides habitat to 390 coral species?
... that the 1510 conquest of Goa by the Portuguese Governor Albuquerque was accomplished with the help of the Hindus against a Muslim army?
... that Team Oregon has been ranked in 2004 as the best motorcycle training program in the United States?
... that in 1989 the song "La Chica de Humo" became the third number-one single by Mexican singer Emmanuel in the Billboard Top Latin Songs chart?
... that Drew Sheneman was only 23 when he was hired by The Star-Ledger in 1998, making him the youngest full-time editorial cartoonist in the United States?
... that the George Felpel House in Claverack, New York, was built with the stones left over after Claverack College was demolished?
... that the worm lizard Amphisbaena ridleyi, isolated on remote Fernando de Noronha, is known for eating snails and for climbing trees to drink nectar from the flowers?
... that Katherine Reutter, a speed skater on the 2010 U.S. Olympic team, had her thigh autographed by comedian Stephen Colbert?

03:42, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the Norwegian communist politician Erling Folkvord (pictured) is well-known for his work as a corruption watchdog?
... that one version of the 8th-century Irish text The Expulsion of the Déisi contains a passage claiming the Irish group known as the Déisi founded the royal dynasty of Dyfed, Wales?
... that owners of The Punch Bowl, a London pub, have included entertainer Madonna, film director Guy Ritchie and convicted criminal and Kray twins associate Freddie Foreman?
... that in 2006, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management hired an environmental justice ombudsman?
... that Christina Broom was credited as "the UK's first female press photographer"?
... that the Still engine was a combined steam and diesel engine designed to save fuel by using the exhaust gases to heat the boiler?
... that Cheryl Cole performed her song "Fight for This Love" whilst dressed as a ninja for the television special Cheryl Cole's Night In?
... that the nudibranch Murphydoris has a penis armed with spines?

20 December 2009

19:42, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

... that in the 1849 Dutch intervention in Bali, the defeated Balinese court committed mass suicide (pictured), traditionally known as a Puputan?
... that the 6 foot, 6 inch Swede Roland Nilsson of the Michigan Wolverines won six consecutive Big Ten shot put championships in the 1950s?
... that in seeking to overcome the low in Congo–Zaire relations in the early 1970s due to the LICOPA affair, Congolese authorities sentenced a Zairean opposition member to three years' imprisonment?
... that the Boston Brigade Band was in existence for over 40 years, from 1821 to 1862?
... that Brazilian judoka and 1988 Olympic Champion Aurélio Miguel was later elected to the city council of São Paulo?
... that as "the first novel with a thesis", Patronage by Anglo-Irish writer Maria Edgeworth, published in 1814, opened the way for the historical novels of Sir Walter Scott?
... that the planned Shepherds Flat Wind Farm in Oregon is expected to be the world's biggest wind farm on land when completed?
... that World War II German fighter ace Max-Hellmuth Ostermann was so short that he had to fly with wooden blocks attached to his rudder pedals?

11:42, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the volcanic chain (pictured) responsible for creating the island of Hawaii extends all the way to the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench, at the border of Russia?
... that Count Marsillac and Otto Ferdinand von Abensberg und Traun, opposing commanders in the 1734 siege of Capua, once shared a tent?
... that plant species of the family Rubiaceae have supplied coffee, quinine, syrup of ipecac, dimethyltryptamine, and indirectly, warfarin?
... that in 1892, the Governor of Lagos, Gilbert Thomas Carter, ordered an attack on the Ijebu people of pre-colonial Nigeria "in the interest of civilization"?
... that in Cambodia a person can catch the norry, an improvised bamboo train?
... that in 1975, Iraq threatened to bomb the Tabqa Dam when Syria reduced the water flow of the Euphrates to fill the lake behind the dam?
... that the death of a character in the Dexter episode "The British Invasion" was planned from two seasons beforehand?
... that Xikuangshan mine was originally explored for tin but now is the largest antimony mine in the world?

03:42, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the German Seenotdienst (early aircraft pictured) was the first organized air-sea rescue service?
... that Sir James Shaw established the right of the Lord Mayor of London to take precedence in processions in The City of London over all except the reigning monarch?
... that the nudibranch Onchidoris bilamellata can be found at a population density of more than 1,000 sea slugs per square metre?
... that Odd Isøy replaced the deceased Kjell Bull-Hansen as team leader in Milorg's sabotage squad Aks 13000 during World War II in Norway?
... that according to legend, the Bulgarian wine grape Dimiat was brought to Thrace by Crusaders returning from the Nile Delta?
... that Michigan Wolverines Hall of Famer Phil Northrup won three NCAA championships in the javelin throw and pole vault?
... that Go! Go! Beckham! Adventure on Soccer Island follows David Beckham on his quest to defeat the evil Mister Woe in order to restore peace to Soccer Island?
... that the debate over the Irish budget, 2010, which contains the first cuts in social welfare since 1924, revealed that the word "fuck" is not unparliamentary language in Ireland?

19 December 2009

19:42, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

... that on 12 December 2009, Kaiane Aldorino (pictured) became the first Miss World from Gibraltar?
... that Boston's Southwest Corridor Park was built along the vacant path of a canceled highway?
... that Ole Colbjørnsen has been called "Norway's first plan economist"?
... that the cap of the suede bolete, a species of edible mushroom, has soft velvety skin?
... that Robert Hood Bowers' score for the lost silent film A Daughter of the Gods was called in 1921 the most memorable up to that time?
... that since its launch in January 2008, DogsBlog.com has helped to rehome more than six thousand dogs in the United Kingdom?
... that due to receding glaciers, in 1951, the Alaska Railroad was able to move its route and abandon a curved tunnel built in 1906?
... that the 1955 Bo Diddley song "Diddley Daddy" was originally called "Diddy Diddy Dum Dum," but the lyrics had to be rewritten in the studio for contractual reasons?

11:42, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

... that in the City Palace of Udaipur, India (pictured), a princess poisoned herself, unable to choose from two suitors of royal families of Jaipur and Jodhpur seeking her hand in marriage?
... that athletes from Michigan Wolverines men's track and field have won 43 NCAA individual event championships, 14 Olympic gold medals, and 57 Big 10 team championships?
... that the adobe chapel built by Tomas Alvarado on the eastern third of Rancho Monserate in California is the only 1870s structure still standing?
... that the mushroom Cystodermella cinnabarina can only be distinguished from similar fungi by performing chemical tests and microscopic analysis of spores, basidia and cystidia?
... that Berg River Dam is the first dam in South Africa where provision is made for flood releases for environmental purposes?
... that producers of the Showtime series Dexter imposed security measures and staff members had to sign non-disclosure agreements to prevent leaks of the surprise twist ending of the episode "The Getaway"?
... that the Carden-Baynes Auxiliary sailplane was the first motor glider with a retractable engine, and that it had a throttle in its wing tip?
... that chef Bobby Flay highlighted a recipe for dessert using bacon from The Bacon Cookbook as one of his favorites?

03:42, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

... that in an effort to prevent the extinction of the Mauna Kea silversword (pictured), scientists rappel over cliffs to hand-pollinate the approximately 41 remaining individuals in the wild, on the rare occasion that one blossoms?
... that professional footballer Andy Bell spent nearly a decade with hometown club Blackburn Rovers, without making a single first-team appearance?
... that the first season of the animated sitcom Home Movies was the only season of the series to utilize the "squigglevision" style of animation?
... that Czech landscape photographer Vilém Heckel died during the Great Peruvian Earthquake in 1970?
... that, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Grassy Island in the Detroit River contains 28 different types of toxic contaminants that exceed acceptable state and federal safety levels?
... that chaplain Władysław Gurgacz, member of the Polish anti-communist resistance, opposed lethal force, but was nonetheless executed by the Polish communist authorities?
... that the Beirut-born, American blues guitarist Otis Grand was voted 'Best UK Blues Guitarist' seven years running (1990–1996) by the British Blues Connection magazine?
... that during internal fertilization, the black rockfish female produces between 125,000 and 1,200,000 eggs, and then reabsorbs some back?

18 December 2009

19:42, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

... that neocatastrophism is the theory that life-exterminating events such as gamma-ray bursts (pictured) in the Milky Way have stopped the advent of complex life elsewhere in its Galactic Habitable Zone?
... that there is a mountain named after executed merchant mariner Captain Charles Fryatt, and another is named after his ship, SS Brussels?
... that the salt industry sector of Ghana aims to compete with Brazil and Australia in supplying salt to western Africa?
... that the name of the ruinous dun Dùn Beic may derive from the Gaelic personal name Béc?
... that the English ambassador to Paris, Edward Stafford, is suspected to have given confidential information to Spain before the Spanish Armada in 1588?
... that the leader of the governing Free National Movement lost his seat in the 2002 Bahamian general election?
... that Nathan Drake, protagonist of the Uncharted series, incorporates aspects from Johnny Knoxville and characters like Tintin and John McClane?
... that Moussa Dadis Camara and Sékouba Konaté drew lots to determine who would be President of Guinea?

11:42, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the term "Obama Doctrine" was used more than a year before Barack Obama (pictured) became President of the United States?
... that, referring to Pope Damasus I's luxurious lifestyle, the Roman Pagan senator Vettius Agorius Praetextatus once said "Make me bishop of Rome and I will become a Christian"?
... that Harry V. Gates' former ranch became the Crooked River Ranch in Eastern Oregon and his former house in Hillsboro, Oregon, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places?
... that the C. R. formula was a proposal that had failed during the Gandhi–Jinnah talks in 1944?
... that the Memorial Arch of Tilton, symbolizing the "victories of peace", is constructed in Northfield, New Hampshire on the site of an old Indian fort?
... that the Cornelius S. Muller House in Claverack, New York, was used for Committee of Safety meetings and courts martial during the American Revolutionary War?
... that Michigan's Don McEwen, two-time NCAA champion in the two-mile run, also won consecutive Big Ten cross country championships even though his school had no varsity cross country team?
... that for more than thirty years, John Torreano has created "real fake art" by using fake gemstones in his one of a kind art works?

03:42, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

... that in a short story by Kathryn Tucker Windham, Sturdivant Hall (pictured), a historic house museum in Alabama, is haunted?
... that Charlotte von Lengefeld, wife of Friedrich Schiller, wrote a posthumously published novel and corresponded with Charlotte von Stein and Goethe?
... that the Norwegian black metal band Burzum is to release its first album after its founder was freed from prison on parole?
... that the Harriet Phillips Bungalow in Claverack, New York, may be a catalog house built by a company other than Sears?
... that former Louisiana State Senator Art Lentini in 2004 led the move in his state to ban cloning, both for reproduction and research?
... that production of the Triumph Tiger 80 British motorcycle ended with the outbreak of WW2 and never resumed after the Triumph works was destroyed in The Blitz?
... that Stanford's Flint Hanner, winner of the first NCAA javelin championship, later coached the Fresno State Bulldogs to 27 track and field championships?
... that forests can migrate over the landscape?

17 December 2009

19:42, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

... that for her debut wine, American porn actress Savanna Samson (pictured) decided to use a blend based primarily on the rare Lazio grape Cesanese?
... that despite the Allied siege, La Rochelle was the last French city to be liberated from German occupation in 1945?
... that the Queen of Elphame, the fairy from Scottish folklore, has appeared in a number of accounts from witchcraft trials and confessions, including the confession of Isobel Gowdie?
... that in 1999, Haakon Bingen won a case in the Supreme Court of Norway, stopping circulation of an academic work written by Trond Bergh and Knut Einar Eriksen?
... that the ambush of a Turkish patrol in Reşadiye was the deadliest PKK attack since April 2009?
... that the Connaught Theatre in Worthing, UK, is a rare example of a cinema being converted into a theatre in the 1930s, when the reverse was common?
... that the premiere of Million Dollar Challenge on Fox Broadcasting Company was the most watched poker television show of all time?
... that Breachacha crannog was originally an artificial island located in the middle of a Scottish loch, but today it stands in the middle of an arable field?

11:42, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

... that a colony of the crab species Potamon fluviatile (pictured) may have lived in Rome since before the Romans?
... that paper money was first introduced into Vietnam during the reign of the Trần Dynasty?
... that Eurogamer's Tom Bramwell felt that Boxing Fever carried on the Punch Out!! legacy on the Game Boy Advance?
... that the landmark libel case People v. Croswell was tried at the First Columbia County Courthouse in Claverack, New York?
... that William Ganz co-invented the pulmonary artery catheter with Jeremy Swan in 1970?
... that the New Japan Pro Wrestling-owned IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship was defended twice in the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) promotion, while it was held by TNA wrestlers?
... that the Joseph T. Smitherman Historic Building in Selma, Alabama, has housed a county courthouse, two schools, and three hospitals in its more than 160 year history?
... that Calgary Flames forward Eric Nystrom once performed an on-ice striptease while in the minor leagues as a charity stunt?

03:42, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the innovations of German art include the oldest sculpture of the human form and the first independent Western landscape paintings (example pictured)?
... that Sven-Ivar Seldinger, a Swedish radiologist, first introduced the procedure of obtaining safe access to blood vessels and other hollow organs by use of a wire?
... that Colin Clouts Come Home Againe by the English poet Edmund Spenser has received little critical attention, yet has been called the "greatest pastoral eclogue" in the English language?
... that Yosemite Valley big wall climber Chuck Pratt was "almost obsessive" about avoiding photos and publicity?
... that since finishing in the top ten on the third season of America's Got Talent, Kaitlyn Maher has continued to sing publicly and played the voice of Tiny in the film Santa Buddies?
... that a number of Test match cricketers have represented Nelson Cricket Club, including Learie Constantine, Kapil Dev and Steve Waugh?
... that the Renaissance artist Paolo Veronese is entombed in the church of San Sebastiano in Venice?
... that while doing "absolutely nothing" as a history professor at Cambridge, Shallet Turner was elected to the Royal Society for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge?

16 December 2009

19:42, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

... that when Caroline von Wolzogen (pictured) published her novel Agnes von Lilien anonymously in 1798, it was thought by some readers to be by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe or Friedrich Schiller?
... that opponents of Hans Feibusch's "violently masculine and brutal" Christ in Majesty mural at St Mary's Church, Goring-by-Sea took their case to a consistory court?
... that Bradley Quinn, the official photographer for the Northern Irish band Snow Patrol, was a school classmate of lead singer Gary Lightbody?
... that the Spencer family's Wormleighton Manor in Warwickshire, England, was set ablaze by Royalist forces from Banbury during the English Civil War to prevent it becoming a parliamentary stronghold?
... that Mark-Anthony Turnage composed Twice Through the Heart after being given a video of a programme about a woman who killed her husband?
... that the Lake Shore Limited, which began in 1897, was the New York Central Railroad's first regular luxury passenger train?
... that Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer had a small role as Sheriff Strunk in the 2007 film A Plumm Summer?
... that the soapy knight is actually a mushroom, so named because of its strong smell of soap?

11:42, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the City Palace of Jaipur in Rajasthan, India, holds the world's two largest silver objects (one pictured)?
... that the Ravensthorpe Nickel Mine, which cost US$2.2 billion to build, was sold by BHP Billiton for only $340 million in December 2009 after having operated for less than one year?
... that Afognak Island State Park was established as a conservation area in 1892, but did not become an Alaska state park until 1994, as a result of the Exxon Valdez oil spill?
... that when Darryl Strawberry, a first-round draft pick of the New York Mets, left the Mets they received two first-round picks in compensation?
... that Airlines of New South Wales was created after airline entrepreneur Reg Ansett flew nine planeloads of shareholders to a meeting to help take over rival Butler Air Transport?
... that all apicomplexans are parasitic, creating a need for multiple radically different cellular morphologies?
... that Evonne Goolagong (Cawley) has made more Australian Open Final appearances than any other player?
... that although their larvae have been known since 1887, the adults of the crustacean group Facetotecta have never been seen?

03:42, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

... that in 1919, Brooklyn's Morse Dry Dock and Repair Company, founded by Edward P. Morse, built the world's largest floating dry dock (section pictured)?
... that nearly 20 percent of the territory of Andalusia lies in environmentally protected areas?
... that Eduardo Ricagni scored his only hat-trick and won his only trophy with Boca Juniors on his debut?
... that British lithographic firm Vincent Brooks, Day & Son reproduced the weekly caricatures published in Vanity Fair magazine between 1869 and 1906?
... that the radical Congolese Youth Union, which took part in the overthrow of the Congolese President Fulbert Youlou in 1963, began as an offshoot of the youth wing of the French Communist Party?
... that the rodents Thomasomys ucucha from Ecuador and Oxymycterus hucucha from Bolivia were both named after the local Quechua word for "mouse"?
... that Jamaican-born poet, playwright and screenwriter Evan Jones wrote the 1963 BBC television play Madhouse on Castle Street in which Bob Dylan made his acting début?
... that Worthing Tabernacle, in West Sussex, reputedly obtained its first organ from Tudor fortress Walmer Castle?

15 December 2009

19:35, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

... that Daulatpol gate in the Junagarh Fort (pictured) in India has 41 hand imprints of the wives of Maharajas of Bikaner, who committed sati (self-immolation) on the funeral pyres of their husbands?
... that British surgeon Theodore Dyke Acland was the son-in-law of Jack the Ripper suspect Sir William Gull?
... that male Coastal Petaltails have unique, bright orange anal appendages called 'petaltails' that are believed to be used to attract a mate?
... that the Texas mental health activist Helen J. Farabee was the first female student body president at a Big Ten university?
... that during the Six-Day War, the Golani Brigade participated in the battle of Tel Faher, where it lost 23 of its soldiers?
... that in North Korea, the question "How good was the taste of sungeoguk (trout soup)" is used as a common greeting to people returning from Pyongyang?
... that the most expensive dress owned by Maria Augusta, Duchess of Württemberg was worth 500 florins, more than 30 times a servant's annual income?
... that the entire collection of the Frissell Museum in San Pablo Villa de Mitla has disappeared?

11:35, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

... that at 13 years, the tough, leathery leaves of the shrub Banksia petiolaris (pictured) are the longest lived of any flowering plant thus far recorded?
... that Dick Padden led the Chicago White Sox to an American League championship as a player-manager in 1900, one season before the American League became a major league?
... that the Harold Hall Australian Expeditions formed the last systematic collecting effort of Australian birds by an overseas institution?
... that George Martin Lees became Chief Geologist of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company despite having no formal qualifications?
... that E. (Mrs.) v. Eve was a landmark case of the Supreme Court of Canada which rejected non-therapeutic sterilization of people with mental disabilities?
... that Food Network: Cook or Be Cooked is the first video game to use the Food Network license?
... that four Byzantine emperors were imprisoned in the Prison of Anemas?
... that in 1814, the American privateer Syren captured HMS Landrail, and that in 1896, her namesake, the torpedo gunboat HMS Landrail, rammed and sank the four-masted clipper Siren?

03:35, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

... that during the Battle of Jutland, the captain of HMS New Zealand (pictured) wore a Māori piupiu (grass skirt) and carried a greenstone tiki to ward off evil?
... that after a wine fraud scandal involving adulterating Port wine with elderberry juice, Portuguese wine authorities ordered all elderberry plants in the Douro to be ripped out?
... that Virginia House in Richmond, Virginia, was once a priory in Warwickshire, England, and was used to entertain Queen Elizabeth I?
... that the book Bacon: A Love Story includes jokes about bacon by comedian Jim Gaffigan?
... that the December 2003 New England snowstorm was among the most significant early season nor'easters on record?
... that the 2009 Norwegian spiral anomaly was later confirmed to be a failed launch of a Bulava missile from a Russian submarine?
... that before the capture of Chusan (1840) during the First Opium War, the Chinese rejected British demands for a peaceful surrender of the island?
... that Barker Crossing, a Mabey bridge in Workington, England, was named after Bill Barker following a campaign by local teenagers on YouTube?

14 December 2009

19:35, 14 December 2009 (UTC)

... that hippalectryons (pictured) are mythological half-horse, half-rooster creatures which were probably thought to confer magical protection?
... that in 2006 Devon County Council first raised the flag of Devon, which was designed by a member of the public in 2002 via an online poll on BBC Devon?
... that excavations in 1887 and 1919 on Bussell Island uncovered a number of small, round graves of early inhabitants of present-day Tennessee, USA, circa 3000 BC to 1000 AD?
... that Major-General Tim Cross was one of the most senior British military officers involved in the reconstruction of Iraq after the 2003 invasion?
... that merrilactone A, a natural compound found in the fruits of some star anise trees indigenous to Myanmar and China, is neuroprotective and promotes the growth of neurons?
... that during his lifetime, British chemist Colin Eaborn co-authored over 500 papers?
... that although the fruits of the nightshade Solanum erianthum are considered poisonous and can be used in arrow poison, they can be cooked and eaten and are even made into curry in southern India?

11:35, 14 December 2009 (UTC)

... that Australian aviator Captain Thomas Baker (pictured) was credited with the destruction of 12 German aircraft between July and October 1918, before he was shot down and killed?
... that Rodriguez Seamount, an underwater volcano near Central California, used to be above-surface, and still has remnants of black sand beaches on its slope?
... that Cecil Bothwell's election to the Asheville, North Carolina, city council was challenged on the grounds that the North Carolina Constitution does not allow for atheists to hold public office?
... that Bald Eagle Creek Path along Bald Eagle Creek in central Pennsylvania was a major connecting path between the Iroquois in the north and the Carolinas in the south?
... that American athlete Eric Wilson won the 220-yard dash at the first NCAA track and field championships in 1921?
... that before the first season of the NBC series Parks and Recreation even aired, critics thought it would fail due to early reports of poor test screenings?
... that the 1978 book The Green Cockatrice asserted that Irishman William Nugent was the real author of Shakespeare's works?
... that Helena, comtesse de Noailles wrapped silk stockings stuffed with squirrel fur around her forehead to prevent wrinkles?

03:28, 14 December 2009 (UTC)

Whispering Giant

... that Peter Wolf Toth created a Trail of the Whispering Giants (giant pictured) that winds through every U.S. state, two Canadian provinces, and even Hungary?
... that "experienced Euro watcher" Tony Connelly wrote Don't Mention the Wars: A Journey Through European Stereotypes, examining the stereotypical views of Europeans?
... that Argentine President Juan Perón took refuge in the Libertador Building in Buenos Aires before he was deposed and exiled in a coup d'état in 1955?
... that Norwegian Minister of Finance Olav Meisdalshagen was criticized by his predecessor Erik Brofoss for "lack of economical insight"?
... that in Europe, the human consumption of pork, wild boar, and horse meat are the main sources of infection from the parasite Trichinella britovi?
... that the Gwent Wildlife Trust in Wales was originally formed to protect Magor Marsh, the last remaining major area of fenland on the Gwent Levels?
... that the Social Credit Board in Alberta, Canada, was disbanded in 1948 because of its radical policy proposals and antisemitic conspiracy theories?
... that Leonard Paulu won consecutive NCAA championships in the 100 yard dash despite war injuries that included the loss of an eye and a right-leg stride four inches shorter than his left?

13 December 2009

19:28, 13 December 2009 (UTC)

... that infamous bank robber John Dillinger (pictured) studied the techniques of modern bank robbery pioneered by Herman Lamm?
... that Dzongsar Monastery, in the historical Tibetan region of Kham, was founded in 746 AD and contained a Bönpo shrine for 1,300 years?
... that six children of the British portraitist and marine painter Samuel Drummond also became artists?
... that the book Nudge, written by Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler, defends the political philosophy of libertarian paternalism?
... that Mitsuyo Seo, the director of Japan's first feature length anime, Momotaro's Divine Sea Warriors, a World War II propaganda film, was earlier arrested and tortured as a leftist?
... that in her teen years, actress Lillebil Ibsen played leading roles in Max Reinhardt's pantomime productions?
... that plexopathy, a disorder usually caused by trauma, can also occur idiopathically?
... that a Glasgow-born railway engineer, John Harley, was responsible for revolutionizing the way Uruguay played football?

11:28, 13 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the Federal Triangle building complex in Washington, D.C. (construction pictured) has been called "one of the most important design and construction projects" in American history?
... that Hillsboro, Oregon, politician William H. Wehrung worked on both the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition and the Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition?
... that radio station CKLW played "Wildflower" for three months before it was released as a single, in order for the station to meet Canadian content requirements?
... that although the Benjamin Ten Broeck House north of Kingston, New York, was built by Dutch settlers, the layout of one of its additions suggests its residents were Palatine Germans?
... that Jacques Legrand, a former translator at the French embassies in Mongolia and China, has studied the anthropology of Mongolian pastoralism?
... that the Rugrats episode "A Rugrats Chanukah" was pitched to the series crew by Nickelodeon in 1992?
... that Furnace Brook Parkway, a historic road in Quincy, Massachusetts, is named for a stream at the site of the first iron blast furnace in the United States, built in 1644?
... that former National Football League wide receiver Tai Streets was named after former female figure skater Tai Babilonia?

03:28, 13 December 2009 (UTC)

... that although only an "amateur" at the time, Andrew Bloxam identified several new Hawaiian birds during the voyage of the HMS Blonde in 1825, including the Oʻahu ʻAkepa (pictured)?
... that the capture of Malacca in 1511 was accomplished by Afonso de Albuquerque with 1,200 men and less than 20 ships?
... that cricketer George Nichols was a key member of the Somerset team that was unbeaten against other counties of England and Wales in 1890?
... that ESPN sports commentator and physical therapist Stephania Bell has analyzed injuries of Tiger Woods and Alex Rodriguez?
... that Luiz Francisco Rebello was a founder of two of the most important experimental theatrical groups in Portugal in the postwar period?
... that the Boston Park Board was given permission to review building designs for new structures along the Fenway to prevent unattractive buildings from depreciating property values?
... that Norwegian Minister of Finance Olav Meisdalshagen was criticized by his predecessor Erik Brofoss for "lack of economical insight"?
... that between 2001 and 2007 the German Foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future" paid €4.4 billion to more than 1,660,000 victims of forced labor in Germany during World War II?
... that the world's most expensive ice cream treat, the Golden Opulence Sundae, is covered in gold?

12 December 2009

19:28, 12 December 2009 (UTC)

... that Sanath Jayasuriya (pictured) has scored 28 ODI centuries, the second highest in the world and the highest for the Sri Lanka national cricket team?
... that Smugglers Notch near Smugglers' Notch State Park in Vermont was used by smugglers circumventing the Embargo Act of 1807, the Underground Railroad, and bootleggers?
... that K. A. Mathiazhagan supported M. G. Ramachandran when he was expelled from Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party in 1972?
... that even though the first specimens of the Bolivian rodent Oecomys sydandersoni were collected in the 1960s, it was not formally described as a distinct species until 2009?
... that the Autism Act 2009 is the first ever disability-specific legislation to be passed in the United Kingdom?
... that Jason Little was nominated for a Harvey Award and an Ignatz Award for his creation of the comic book Jack's Luck Runs Out?
... that Medal of Honor recipient John F. Auer's medal was stolen before he left the United States Navy?
... that the Poison song "Unskinny Bop" was featured during a strip club scene in "Tom's Divorce", an episode of the NBC comedy series Parks and Recreation?

11:21, 12 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the brown stingray (pictured) is the most common stingray found off the Hawaiian Islands?
... that when the Canadian government attempted to move the land titles office out of Edmonton's Land Titles Building to a rival town, an angry mob sabotaged the move and had an armed standoff with police?
... that the Russell Watson song "Nothing Sacred – A Song for Kirsty" was released to raise money for the Kirsty Appeal?
... that Jody Trautwein, who attempted to convert Sasha Baron Cohen's character Brüno from his gay lifestyle, recently ran for mayor of Birmingham, Alabama?
... that the 2009 Western Australian daylight savings referendum was the fourth time that Western Australia voted against introducing daylight saving time?
... that psychiatrist Marie Nyswander, who developed the methadone treatment for heroin addicts, was herself addicted to cigarettes?
... that the Indian God Rock was a popular tourist attraction for 19th-century steamboats on the Allegheny River?
... that the Texas politician Ray Farabee entitled his 2009 autobiography Making It Through the Night and Beyond because he unexpectedly survived his premature birth?

03:14, 12 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the Hawa Mahal (pictured) in Jaipur, India, has 953 small windows (jharokhas) which were built with the intention to allow royal ladies to view the street below without being seen?
... that nearly 15 years after playing in the 1966 Cotton Bowl, Louisiana State University Tigers quarterback Pat Screen was elected Mayor of Baton Rouge?
... that the RQ-170 Sentinel unmanned aerial vehicle was dubbed the "Beast of Kandahar" by an aviation expert before its existence was officially confirmed by the United States Air Force?
... that Arthur Lee Dixon was the last holder of a mathematical Chair at Oxford University to have a life tenure?
... that the Forecastle Festival in Louisville, Kentucky, was named one of Outdoor Magazine's "Top 15 Outdoor Summer Music Festivals"?
... that fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez discovered Jessica Lange, Grace Jones, and Jerry Hall?
... that the coastal tanker Empire Boy was lengthened in 1954 and that her triple expansion steam engine was replaced by a diesel engine in 1965?
... that the author of Everything Tastes Better with Bacon decided to write the book after having an epiphany involving bacon and sugar?

11 December 2009

18:49, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

100x100px|The Premier League Trophy

... that for the 10 Seasons Awards, almost 750,000 football fans from 184 countries voted, in a celebration of the first ten years of the English Premier League (trophy pictured)?
... that in 1948, Arne Skaug became the first State Secretary in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs?
... that the Type numbering system in Japan specified that the Mitsubishi A6M of 1940 would be designated "Type 0 Carrier Fighter", giving rise to the popular name "Zero"?
... that part of the Occupiers' Liability Act 1984, a piece of United Kingdom legislation on tort law, is intended to permit educational and recreational use of land?
... that the Algerian communist trade union centre UGSA disbanded itself in 1957, after the rival nationalist UGTA had participated in the Leipzig congress of the World Federation of Trade Unions?
... that in 1893, the career of Irish nationalist politician John Deasy was cut short when he was tried for indecent assault?
... that the 1984 romantic TV miniseries based on the novel The Far Pavilions was filmed in the precincts of Samode Palace in Rajasthan, India?
... that South Africa rugby captain Paul Roos helped choose the team nickname, "Springboks", to prevent the British press from inventing their own?

10:49, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the Ossabaw Island Hog (pictured) has been used as a model organism for studying Type II diabetes in humans?
... that, in 1965, Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean while attempting to avoid a collision with an oncoming Pan American Airways Boeing 707?
... that Penn State's John Romig, the first NCAA champion in the two-mile run, later became an explosives expert?
... that the Swedish film Hoppa högst was written by famous author Astrid Lindgren, who based the screenplay on a story from her book Kajsa Kavat?
... that in his clemency application to Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Maurice Clemmons claimed to have learned "to appreciate and respect the right of others"?
... that the Pygmy Pine, a tiny creeping alpine plant growing in New Zealand, is believed to be the smallest conifer in the world?
... that Colombian billionaire entrepreneur Carlos Ardila Lülle has expanded from his start in the soft drink business with television channels and a soccer team?
... that in the siege of Cannanore (1507) in India, a Portuguese garrison of 150 resisted for four months against 60,000 attackers?

02:42, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

... that Idaho Territorial Governor John N. Irwin (pictured) objected to the U.S. Treasury placing his salary into their Conscience Fund?
... that the powerful Early Classic Mesoamerican city of Balberta, in Guatemala, abruptly collapsed around AD 400?
... that the 1957 film Edge of the City, starring John Cassavetes and Sidney Poitier, won acclaim from critics and civil rights groups for its portrayal of an interracial friendship?
... that although he ceded the throne to his son in 1279, Trần Thánh Tông continued to co-rule Đại Việt for 11 years until his death in 1290?
... that, despite being a genital ulcer, Lipschütz ulcer is not an STD, and is in fact most common in virgins?
... that Bob Ferguson played for and managed the Hartford Dark Blues Major League Baseball team from 1875 to 1877, the final three years of its four-year existence?
... that nine new permanent competition venues will be constructed for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil?
... that the district auditor investigating the rate-capping rebellion in Lambeth found his picture on a mock Wanted poster in his local supermarket?

10 December 2009

18:21, 10 December 2009 (UTC)

100x100px|Facade of the Main Building of the University of Santo Tomas

... that the design for the Main Building (pictured) of the University of Santo Tomas, Philippines, was influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright's Imperial Hotel in Tokyo?
... that ornithologist James David Macdonald was employed in the bird section of the British Natural History Museum despite claiming complete ignorance about birds?
... that both the Irish Pine and Irish Oak, which were chartered from the United States by Irish Shipping Ltd during the Second World War, were sunk by German U-boats despite their neutral status?
... that since the death of Kamehameha I in 1819, Hawaiian Chief Hoʻolulu and his descendants have served as caretakers of the royal tombs of the Kingdom of Hawaii?
... that while passing through the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the Defective Premises Act 1972 was not at all debated in the House of Commons?
... that Monk McDonald played on the 1923–24 championship North Carolina basketball team, and then graduated and coached the team the next year?
... that the only known source of the mineral Macaulayite in the world is in a quarry at the foot of Bennachie, Aberdeenshire – but it may also be present on Mars?
... that, during the territorial era of Minnesota in the U.S., Native Americans -- who were otherwise disenfranchised -- were often allowed to vote if they had worn trousers to the polling station?

10:21, 10 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the American rodent tribe Oryzomyini includes species living in trees, in the water (including the Marsh Rice Rat, pictured), and on the Galápagos Islands?
... that the Ross Casino in Pichilemu was the first casino in Chile?
... that the gay pornography film studio Corbin Fisher offers contracted actors health benefits and a 401(k) plan?
... that Gordon Bastian, the Second Engineer of the Empire Bowman, was awarded an Albert Medal for rescuing two stokers after the ship was torpedoed by U-404?
... that opera singer Zélie de Lussan sang 2,000 performances in the title role of Carmen?
... that the oblique cord is a 3.4 cm long ligament in the forearm near the elbow, between the ulnar and radius bones, which has no known function and may be vestigial?
... that Robert Sumrall survived being lost in the Gila National Forest for seven days in winter without food, water, or camping gear?
... that in Teotitlán del Valle, it is possible to "steal" a bride?

02:21, 10 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the red stingray (pictured) and the Mekong freshwater stingray are characterized by their bright orange undersides?
... that golf was introduced to Singapore by Sir John Tankerville Goldney in 1891 while he was Chief Justice for the Straits Settlements?
... that two of the residents of the Richard Upjohn-designed James and Mary Forsyth House in Kingston, New York, left it after being accused of financial wrongdoing?
... that Jean Nouguès is believed to have written the first opera specifically composed for gramophone recording?
... that in the 1508 Battle of Chaul in India, a Mamluk-Gujarati fleet defeated a Portuguese fleet under Lourenço de Almeida?
... that from 1765 to 1780 Meshullam Solomon and Tevele Schiff both claimed to be the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom?
... that Davidson Seamount, off the coast of California, is one of the largest seamounts in the world?
... that chef Michael Carlson abruptly closed his restaurant the day after successfully entertaining a gathering of world-famous chefs?

9 December 2009

18:21, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the globular cluster Terzan 5 (pictured) is likely the core of a disrupted dwarf galaxy orbiting the Milky Way?
... that horn player Neill Sanders commuted from Kalamazoo, Michigan, to London, where he played in the Melos Ensemble?
... that climate change and rising ocean acidity are affecting fisheries and modifying fish distributions?
... that despite most of its interments later being moved to larger rural cemeteries, Sharp Burial Ground in Kingston, New York, still has the graves of two former U.S. Congressmen?
... that during his imprisonment in the Theresienstadt concentration camp, Fritz Weiss continued his collaboration with jazz orchestras outside of the camp?
... that NEADS/Dogs for Deaf and Disabled Americans relies on help from inmates from 15 New England correctional facilities to train many of its assistance dogs?
... that James Jones, a pitcher in college, entered the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft and was selected in the fourth round as an outfielder by the Seattle Mariners?
... that in 1641, Bristol Corporation concluded a perambulation of the city boundaries with a duck hunt at Treen Mills on the River Malago?

12:21, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

... that if a Member of the Parliament of Singapore (Parliament House pictured) claims a division during a vote on a motion, MPs are locked inside the debating chamber until their votes have been tallied?
... that the Naval Training Center San Diego was the home of a commissioned "non-ship" of the U.S. Navy, the USS Recruit, a concrete model of a warship built right into the ground and nicknamed the "USS Neversail"?
... that during his career, comic actor Willie Edouin was said to have portrayed as many as 500 characters?
... that the Thikse Monastery in India is called Mini-Potala because of its structural similarity to the former residence of the Dalai Lama, the Potala Palace in Tibet?
... that Berbak National Park in Sumatra, Indonesia, forms part of the largest undisturbed swamp forest in southeastern Asia, and the peat swamp forest with the greatest number of palm species?
... that unlike her predecessors, the Empress Regnant Lý Chiêu Hoàng was not worshipped in Lý Bát Đế Shrine because of her responsibility in the collapse of Lý Dynasty?
... that Marvin Minoff, executive producer of The Nixon Interviews between former U.S. President Richard Nixon and journalist David Frost, began his career as a talent agent?
... that the shell of the snail Paryphanta busbyi may explode when dried?

06:14, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the former Smallpox Hospital (pictured) on Roosevelt Island is New York City's only landmarked ruins?
... that Captain Charles Fryatt was executed by the Germans for trying to ram U-33 in March 1915 with his ferry SS Brussels?
... that in 1999, Robyn Regehr made his National Hockey League debut with the Calgary Flames less than four months after breaking both legs in a car accident that doctors feared would end his career?
... that the missing terminal of the golden Sedgeford Torc was found thirty-nine years after the original discovery of the artifact?
... that the Tobias Van Steenburgh House was one of the few buildings in Kingston, New York, not burned by British troops in 1777?
... that All in the Mind, the debut novel by former British government Director of Communications Alastair Campbell, drew on his experiences of depression and alcoholism?
... that in 2009, German actress Stephanie Stumph proposed to her idol, IBF middleweight world champion Arthur Abraham but he declined because he was "too young"?
... that the name of the Chili Line has been attributed to its freight and the gastronomy of its patrons?

00:14, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

... that Native Americans lived at the Canfield Island Site (pictured) on the West Branch Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania for thousands of years, and now hold an annual pow wow there?
... that 32% of welding defects are from operator error?
... that the first single from In the Room Up There, Australian band Elora Danan's debut album, was entitled "Door, Up, Elevator" and "inspired by elevator music, and the etiquette that goes on in elevators"?
... that former Baton Rouge Mayor-President Bobby Simpson worked to end chronic homelessness in his city?
... that crystals of campigliaite, first discovered in Tuscany, are transparent with a light or pale blue vitreous luster?
... that actress Jessalyn Gilsig hoped viewers would warm to her Glee character Terri Schuester after the episode "Mattress", having previously experienced a fan backlash?
... that Benny Benson created the Alaskan flag while living at the Jesse Lee Home for Children, an orphanage in Seward, Alaska?
... that it was feared Seattle's Art Deco-styled Naval Reserve Armory would become a white elephant?

8 December 2009

18:14, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

... that Herne Bay Museum and Gallery contains the prototype Highball bouncing bomb (pictured), precursor of the Upkeep bouncing bomb used in the 1943 Dambuster raids?
... that William Edward White may have been the first African-American to play Major League Baseball when he appeared in one game for the 1879 Providence Grays?
... that playwright Marisa Wegrzyn dealt with poor reviews by "being sulky and brooding and riding the subway a lot"?
... that the Swiss Alpine Museum has the world's largest collection of raised-relief maps?
... that the Koshare Indian Dancers are a Boy Scouts of America Scout troop that travels the United States promoting the appreciation of American Indian culture through Indian dances?
... that in the capture of Ormuz (1507), Afonso de Albuquerque subdued Hormuz Island and established a fort?
... that a new Chard Junction signal box was built in 1982 despite the station and junction being closed in the 1960s?
... that in 2004 Kenyan runner Florence Barsosio won the Florence Marathon in Florence, Italy?

12:14, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the Army of Flanders (Siege of Breda (1624) pictured) was the longest standing army in early modern history, operating from 1567 to 1706?
... that the Triassic reptile Vancleavea, which is specialized to live in the water, differs greatly from all other early archosauriforms?
... that three U.S. states do not accept the guilty plea known as the Alford plea?
... that rather than follow the usual practice of lip synching to prerecorded vocals, Bette Midler sang most of her songs live in the 1993 television movie Gypsy?
... that tabletop Role-playing game pioneer Paul Jaquays was also a designer for the Quake series of video games and co-founder of The Guildhall at SMU video game university?
... that David Colbert was given permission to publish the book The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter only if there was a note on the cover stating that it had not been approved by J.K. Rowling?
... that Tsegaye Kebede, an Olympic and World Championship medalist in the marathon, worked as a child for 30 US cents a day so he could afford a daily meal and an education?
... that tail length is not a reliable way to identify the longtail stingray, because its tail is often damaged?

06:21, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

... that arsonists set fire to the Cutts-Madison House (pictured) in Washington, D.C., while Dolley Madison was living there?
... that in 1854 the southern coast of Honshū, Japan, was hit by tsunamis caused by two great megathrust earthquakes on December 24 and 25?
... that Anthony Morabito was the first of thirteen West Australians drafted in the 2009 AFL Draft, when the Fremantle Football Club selected him with their first-round pick?
... that the mineral athabascaite was discovered in 1949 during a research study of radioactive materials collected from Lake Athabasca in Saskatchewan, Canada?
... that Christian music artist Miss Angie began her solo career doing praise and worship sets after Johnny Q. Public concerts?
... that the current Chairman of the British Motorcycle Charitable Trust is John Kidson, former Isle of Man TT Formula 3 World Champion?
... that the Obudu Ranch International Mountain Race is known as "the world's richest mountain race" because of the large amounts of prize money on offer?
... that Shraddha Jadhav, who was recently elected as the Mayor of Mumbai and chief of India's richest municipal body, is known for her "elegant dressing"?

00:07, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

... that Sir William Sharington (pictured) was pardoned after he was described in a sermon by Bishop Hugh Latimer as "an honest gentleman, and one that God loveth"?
... that Schwa, an upscale restaurant in Chicago, employs no receptionist, waiters, or other support staff?
... that according to legend, Dunan Aula was the burial site of the Viking warrior 'Olaf, son of the King of Denmark'; after he was slain in combat against local Scots?
... that Sathyavani Muthu was one of the first two non-Congress members from Tamil Nadu to serve as a Union Minister in India?
... that the Atlantic torpedo can produce an electric shock of up to 220 volts, and was the namesake of the naval weapon?
... that former Louisiana State Senator Bill Keith authored a creation science law that was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1987 case Edwards v. Aguillard?
... that the development of the Oseberg oil field is one of the significant milestones in the creation of Norway's oil and gas industry?
... that Slaughter County, Iowa, named after William B. Slaughter, was renamed because its citizens were dissatisfied with the name?

7 December 2009

18:07, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

... that at the Tzintzuntzan pyramids (pictured) huge fires were lit to signal the P'urhépecha kingdom that it was time to go to war?
... that the last empress of the Lý Dynasty, Trần Thị Dung, married her cousin, grand chancellor Trần Thủ Độ, who was responsible for the death of her first husband Lý Huệ Tông?
... that there is an oil field underneath Los Angeles, California, called the Salt Lake Oil Field?
... that Bulgarian physician and politician Georgi Stranski, best man to national poet Hristo Botev, was the only Commissar of South Bulgaria?
... that since 1995 a quintet of untitled jazz musicians has been performing near Indiana Avenue in Indianapolis?
... that Philippine real estate company Megaworld Corporation renamed a condominum project from "The Trumps" to "One Central" after threats of legal action from Donald Trump?
... that the music video for alternative rock band Soul Asylum's 1995 song "Just Like Anyone" features actress Claire Danes?
... that an attempted Russian conquest of Hawaii in 1815–1817 was led by a German physician?

12:19, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the statue of the Shakyamuni Buddha (pictured) of Shey Monastery is believed to be the second largest such statue in the northern Indian region of Ladakh?
... that Franz Baermann Steiner, whose parents were murdered in Treblinka and who later died of a heart attack in 1952 in Oxford, was called "one of Hitler's victims" by Iris Murdoch?
... that motor coordination enables our movements to be done smoothly but rarely allows the same movement to be done in exactly the same way?
... that Bruce's Beach, which opened in the early 1910s in Manhattan Beach, California, was an African-American resort in an "otherwise lily-white community"?
... that Poland–Lithuania and the Ottoman Empire signed a "perpetual" peace in 1533?
... that although he was the first prince of Trần emperor Trần Thái Tông, Trần Quốc Khang was actually a son of the emperor's elder brother Trần Liễu?
... that Tord Asle Gjerdalen twice rejected offers for a spot on the Norwegian cross-country skiing national team, due to time-consuming medicine studies?
... that St George's Church, Worthing established three mission chapels in the town, including a tiny hut jokingly known as "The Cathedral"?

06:07, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

... that for over a century after it was introduced into English the word "landscape" was only used for works of landscape art (example pictured)?
... that Lee Boyd Malvo entered an Alford plea in 2004 for his role in the Beltway sniper attacks, as part of a plea deal to avoid the death penalty?
... that Paul Eggers, the Texas Republican gubernatorial nominee in 1970, trailed his senatorial ticket mate, George H.W. Bush, by 34,000 votes, and both lost to Democrats?
... that the Gorgas-Manly Historic District in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, contains two of only seven buildings to survive the burning of the University of Alabama by the Union Army on April 4, 1865?
... that because of the Bambi effect, some people will not eat a whole fish?
... that Jean-Claude Biver has been credited with "saving the mechanical watch industry from the quartz movement"?
... that child actor Joey Pollari was 15 years old when he appeared in the Disney XD film, Skyrunners?
... that the large weight (55 tons) of the main cannon at the Bijapur Fort discouraged the British from carrying it as a trophy to England?

00:00, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the city of Minneapolis refused the gift from T. B. Walker (pictured) that may have included a landscape by Frederic Edwin Church later sold for US$8.5 million?
... that the fourth floor of Havnelageret in Oslo was used as an air-raid shelter during the Second World War?
... that Louis Lesser developed Barrington Plaza, the largest urban renewal project in the western United States under President John F. Kennedy, as well as many of Howard Hughes' properties?
... that according to a mediaeval Icelandic saga, Jarl Gilli dreamt of the violent death of Irish king, Brian Boru?
... that the Peirce Geodetic Monument serves as a geodetic marker which indicates the exact latitude, longitude, and altitude of its location?
... that New Jersey Attorney General George F. Kugler, Jr. was the father of Pete Kugler who played in three Super Bowls for the San Francisco 49ers?
... that the Occupiers' Liability Act 1957 covers not only land, but also aircraft and ships?
... that Rizong Monastery in Ladakh, Inidia, is known as “the paradise for meditation”?

6 December 2009

18:00, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

... that during the invasion of Normandy, more than a million Rommelspargel poles (pictured) placed to injure Allied paratroopers and glider infantry proved ineffective?
... that footballer Roger Helland in 2004 scored Fredrikstad's first goal in the Norwegian Premier League in 20 years?
... that the Gasmouloi were the descendants of mixed Byzantine Greek and Latin unions, and were employed as marines in the Byzantine navy?
... that "Lucky Man", a 1970 song by Emerson, Lake & Palmer, was written by Greg Lake when he was 12 years old?
... that Sara Stockfleth Christie was the second female deputy member in the history of the Parliament of Norway?
... that in 1298, three brothers established the Myinsaing Kingdom after inviting King Kyawswa of Pagan to lead the dedication of a monastery, only to dethrone him and force him to become a monk?
... that Navy Midshipmen's quarterback Ricky Dobbs runs a triple option offense and shares Tim Tebow's record for most rushing touchdowns for a college quarterback in a single season?
... that Archbishop of Rouen Walter de Coutances (d. 1207) had to pay the final 10,000 marks of King Richard I of England's ransom, as the archbishop was a hostage until it was paid?

12:00, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

... that on the Hindu festival Ratha Saptami, the icons of the Sun-god (pictured) are carried in ceremonial processions in Mysore and Melkote?
... that the Baylor University began its organized football team in 1899, but adopted a mascot only after the completion of the 1914 season?
... that Sword of Aragon, a video game published in 1989, frustrated players with its copy protection that prompted them with inaccurate information?
... that prior to being hired as a columnist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Katherine Kersten worked as a lawyer and banker?
... that an example of the extinct Toy Trawler Spaniel, bred by Judith Blunt-Lytton, 16th Baroness Wentworth, is preserved at the Natural History Museum at Tring?
... that in an Alford plea a defendant in U.S. criminal court admits there is evidence to support a conviction and enters a guilty plea, while asserting innocence?
... that Arvid Johanson took over as Norway's second Minister of Petroleum and Energy in 1980, when Bjartmar Gjerde resigned due to high job pressure?
... that the annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest invites entrants to compose the opening sentence for "the worst of all possible novels"?

05:56, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

... that Mexican handcrafts and folk art (example pictured) blend European and native American influences?
... that Freddie Barnes, a wide receiver at Bowling Green, is one of three finalists for the Fred Biletnikoff Award?
... that the day after a UCLA art student set the St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church afire, the pastor of the church prayed for forgiveness for the arsonist?
... that former Broadway actor Paul Ballantyne was born in a town that today has only about 200 residents?
... that Beau's All Natural Brewing Company of Vankleek Hill distributes its Lug Tread lagered ale to LCBOs throughout Eastern Ontario in German-made ceramic jugs?
... that Harry Hurt created the Hurt Report, described as "the most comprehensive motorcycle safety study of the 20th century"?
... that although in theory a common mineral below the earth's surface, coyoteite has been found at the surface only in one volcanic pipe?
... that Daithí Ó Drónaí and his electronic synthesised fiddle progressed to the final of the first series of The All Ireland Talent Show?

5 December 2009

23:56, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

... that opium poppy (seed pod pictured) is the source of poppyseed oil, which has several pharmaceutical uses, none related to opium?
... that the Irish Grand National steeplechase is hosted at the Fairyhouse Racecourse?
... that ZumoDrive is a HybridCloud system that allows for an iPhone to act as if it could store gigabytes more data than it actually can?
... that brothers Johan and Werner Christie both obtained the rank of Major General in the Royal Norwegian Air Force?
... that the size of Fish Lake in Oregon, USA, taking water over the Cascade Divide via the Cascade Canal from nearby Fourmile Lake, is now three times larger than it was before 1902?
... that the Himariote Greek dialect retains several archaic features no longer found in standard modern Greek?
... that the world's first offshore oil wells began operations in as early as 1896 when oil was drilled from piers along the coast of Summerland, California, USA?
... that the name of Sainte-Émélie-de-l'Énergie, Quebec is said to refer to the exuberance of an early settler's wife?

17:56, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the elaborate Greek Orthodox Malbis Memorial Church (pictured) in rural Malbis, Alabama, has never had an active congregation?
... that Canadian police were called to a riot when "County Leitrim's favourite son" Pat Quinn brought The Rolling Stones to North America in 1965?
... that the floating barnacle Dosima fascicularis sometimes grows on turtles and even sea snakes?
... that Moghul Emperor Akbar became vegetarian, banned slaughter of animals, and gave up fishing and hunting after being influenced by Jain monk, Hiravijaya who preached non-violence?
... that Penzance A.F.C. competed in ten of the first sixteen finals of the Cornwall Senior Cup, winning six of them?
... that when actress Vanessa Marshall learned that she would be playing the character Mary-Jane Watson in the Spectacular Spider-Man episode "Catalysts", she dropped to her knees and began hyperventilating?
... that in 1909, the Thamshavn Line became the first electrified railway in Norway?
... that trash cans in France are known as poubelles because Eugène Poubelle first imposed them on Paris?

10:41, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

... that Cleveland S. Rockwell (pictured) used the sketches he made during topographical survey expeditions for the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey as the basis for his landscape watercolor and oil paintings?
... that the Royal National College for the Blind was the subject of the 2007 Cutting Edge documentary Blind Young Things?
... that St. Timothy Catholic Church in Los Angeles, California, has an antique gold leaf altarpiece believed to have been made in Spain in the 1600s?
... that Vietnamese scholar Đào Duy Từ was forbidden from taking Le Dynasty's court examination because his father was a folk singer?
... that a 1999 fire in St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church caused an estimated $1.2 million in damage?
... that the music on Slut's album StillNo1 has been compared to a variety of different artists, amongst them Radiohead, Depeche Mode, The Divine Comedy, Sigur Rós and The Beatles?
... that David Morehouse, president of the Pittsburgh Penguins, served on the presidential campaigns of Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and John Kerry?
... that the Redmond Caves in Oregon were considered for potato storage as early as the 1910s?

04:26, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

... that Franz Liszt's abandoned opera Sardanapale was in part inspired by Eugène Delacroix's painting, The Death of Sardanapalus (pictured)?
... that Pete Heine participated in the Berlin Airlift, then became the crew chief on an F-86 Sabre jet, and was later mayor of Baker, Louisiana?
... that initial deliveries of the Polikarpov I-3 in 1929 were to units in the Belorussian Military District, where they replaced the Grigorovich I-2?
... that Jan Leighton played over 1,200 famous persons in television and print advertisements, and 1,800 more on radio?
... that John Campbell, Earl of Loudoun, tried to blame the British loss in the 1756 Battle of Fort Oswego on William Shirley?
... that Spoon River College in Illinois was founded in 1959 as Canton Community College?
... that the medieval English judge Ralph Basset earned a mention in the 1124 entry of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for hanging 44 thieves?
... that the Phineas and Ferb character Perry the Platypus was made a platypus because of the animal's striking appearance?

4 December 2009

22:08, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

... that St. Bendt's Church (pictured) in Ringsted, Denmark, where Danish kings and queens of the 12th to 14th centuries were buried, is the oldest brick church in Scandinavia?
... that Akira Iwasaki was the only film critic arrested by the ideological police in wartime Japan?
... that a noted 20th century antiquary considered the four most interesting ruinous fortifications on Coll to be Dùn an Achaidh, Dùn Anlaimh, Dùn Dubh, and Dùn Morbhaidh?
... that Los Angeles Times sports writer Mike Penner told readers he was a transsexual in a 2007 essay entitled "Old Mike, new Christine"?
... that reform of trusts law eventually contained in the United Kingdom's Trustee Act 2000 had been requested since 1982?
... that Émilien Amaury left school at 12 to ride a delivery bicycle, became head of propaganda in the government of Vichy France aged 30, and then founded the Amaury publishing empire?
... that the highest-ranked British casualty in the 1878 Battle of Ali Masjid suffered a gunshot wound that drove a metal locket with his wife's photograph through his heart?
... that ESPN The Magazine's October 9, 2009, Body Issue sold more issues at the news stand than any other issue of the magazine in the prior two years?

16:02, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

... that although the Church of St. Michael and St. Anthony (pictured) in Montreal is a Roman Catholic church, it features Byzantine architecture and a minaret-style tower?
... that after performing with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company for three decades, Anna Bethell became its Stage Director in 1947?
... that Luis Valdez called American activist Alice McGrath, who inspired his play Zoot Suit, "one of the heroines of the 20th century"?
... that the Embassy of Poland in London on Portland Place didn't open until ten years after the country became independent?
... that Paul Mantz was permitted to join the Associated Motion Picture Pilots, a union of Hollywood stunt fliers, after performing a world record 46 outside loops in a row?
... that the Red Dragon was the flagship of the first voyage of the East India Company?
... that retiring Democratic state legislator David Farabee of Wichita Falls represents one of the most Republican-leaning districts in Texas currently held by a Democrat?
... that the Government Cable Office in Seward, Alaska, provided the first telegraph service to the town from the continental United States?

10:02, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the Kingston, New York, zoning code forbids new construction in the Stockade District to higher than 62 feet (19 m), the height of the base of the steeple of the Old Dutch Church (pictured)?
... that the Super Falcon Submersible, which cost $1.5 million, is the world's fastest personal submarine?
... that the Regency era British women's magazine La Belle Assemblée featured original fiction and articles on politics and science in addition to fashion plates?
... that Trần Quang Khải was not only grand chancellor of Trần Dynasty for many years but also a famous poet and the creator of a traditional dance?
... that "Moses," the first solo single by Cocteau Twins singer Elizabeth Fraser, is a tribute to ex-Echo & the Bunnymen keyboardist Jake Drake-Brockman, who had been a close friend?
... the P'urhépecha people of Santa Clara del Cobre, Mexico, have been producing hand-hammered copper products since pre-Hispanic times?
... that John Baldwin Neil served as Rutherford B. Hayes' personal secretary before President Hayes appointed him Governor of Idaho Territory?
... that the Saw series has grossed more than one billion dollars, making it one of the highest-grossing fright franchises ever?

02:48, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

A "disabled friendly" bus run by BEST Bus

... that following court directives, Indian BEST Bus launched limited 'disabled friendly' buses (pictured) on exclusive routes in 2005?
... that as the mayor of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, W.W. Dumas called a curfew in 1969 to halt riots after the fatal shooting of a fleeing black suspect by a white police officer?
... that during the latter part of the 20th century, Heekin Can was one of the largest U.S. manufacturers of food cans?
... that Joseph Moir built the largest stone shot tower in the southern hemisphere?
... that the Italian ambassador to the United States offered in the 1920s to disband the Fascist League of North America?
... that after Eleanor Evans was appointed as Stage Director of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1949, a large number of performers, including Martyn Green, Ella Halman and Radley Flynn, left in the following years?
... that the poppy seed test is a simple, accurate, and inexpensive medical test for vesicointestinal fistula?
... that Idaho Territory Governor Mason Brayman negotiated the agreement which allowed the Mormons to leave Illinois following the Illinois Mormon War?

3 December 2009

20:40, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

... that Leopold Blaschka, who worked with his son to make detailed glass flowers and marine invertebrates (jellyfish pictured), began his career manufacturing glass eyes?
... that the 1905 silent film Rescued by Rover was so popular that it had to be re-shot twice because the negatives wore out in order to meet the demand for prints?
... that sports car racer, yachtsman and rower Robert Hichens was also the most highly decorated officer of the RNVR during the Second World War?
... that Rohr, Inc.'s ROMAG personal rapid transit system used a unique arrangement of linear induction motors to provide both traction power and act as a magnetic levitation suspension?
... that chemist Lester Shubin has been credited with saving the lives of thousands of police officers?
... that the only known specimen of the early crocodile relative Stegomosuchus was kept in the discoverer's yard for several years before being given over for study?
... that Phil Vassar's high school art teacher painted the cover of his 2009 album Traveling Circus?
... that "elegant, witty and amusement-loving" Bulgarian physician, politician and diplomat Georgi Valkovich was assassinated by people dressed in carnival costumes?

11:36, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

... that Shanti Stupa (pictured), Ladakh, inaugurated by the Dalai Lama in 1985, holds the relics of the Buddha?
... that royal visitors to Worthing, West Sussex, have included Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, who lived in a seafront hotel as a refugee?
... that Danish whaler Christian Klengenberg opened trade routes to Copper Inuit territory?
... that American entertainer Eve was asked to guest-star in the Glee episode "Hairography" after Whitney Houston declined to appear?
... that the Alden staRRcar was originally designed as a high-speed four-passenger intercity electric car but emerged in the Morgantown PRT as a bus-like system for short distance travel?
... that the Prince Chiêu Văn Trần Nhật Duật of the Trần Dynasty spoke foreign languages so well that he was once mistaken as a Chinese by a Yuan ambassador?
... that carmaker Audi used the South Korean miniseries You're Beautiful to introduce their new Audi S4?
... that Waldo Hunt, "King of the Pop-Ups," could "make dinosaurs rear up, ships set sail and bats quiver in belfries"?

05:28, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

... that both the North Atlantic Treaty establishing NATO and the North American Free Trade Agreement were signed in the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium (pictured) in Washington, D.C.?
... that after the attack on Pearl Harbor, director John Huston was forced to leave In This Our Life to fulfill an assignment for the War Department, and Raoul Walsh was called in to complete the film?
... that Harvard lecturer Marshall Ganz is credited with devising the successful grassroots organizing model and training for Barack Obama’s winning 2008 presidential campaign?
... that cartoonist Edward Barker and writer Mick Farren published Nasty Tales, the first comic book to face charges for obscenity in Great Britain?
... that upon its discovery, the Newark Torc was called "probably the most significant find of Iron Age Celtic gold jewellery made in the last 50 years"?
... that Holocaust survivor Rudy Kennedy led the campaign for compensation to British survivors who had worked for German companies under the Nazi policy of extermination through labour?
... that English-born architect William Nichols designed and built statehouses for North Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi in the early 19th century?
... that the 1969 dedication of St. Basil Church in Los Angeles prompted a "club-swinging mob" of Chicanos to break into the church during Christmas Midnight Mass?

2 December 2009

23:34, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

... that solenodons (pictured), the only surviving soricomorphs of the Caribbean, are a distinct lineage that may date back to the Mesozoic?
... that the song "Speechless", by Lady Gaga, was written as a plea to her father to receive the open-heart surgery he needed for a bad aortic valve?
... that the 47-gun galleon Elizabeth Bonaventure carried 51½ tons of weaponry against the Spanish Armada?
... that Memorial Park Site in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, contains prehistoric cultural deposits up to 8,000 years old?
... that a new railway station was built in six days in Workington to enable residents north of the river to access the town centre following floods which split the town in two?
... that in Ancient Egypt, servants of the pharaohs would agree to be sacrificed to provide their care in the afterlife?
... that in 1995, American blues harmonica player James Harman recorded a song named for the Zoo Bar club in Lincoln, Nebraska?
... that when Yuma Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park in Arizona was a U.S. Army post from 1864 to 1877, up to 900 mules were kept there to help deliver supplies to five U.S. states?

17:39, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the ex-monastery of San Francisco in Tzintzuntzan, Mexico, has a wax figure of Christ in a glass coffin (pictured), the limbs of which are claimed to be growing?
... that in 1987, American blues pianist Whistlin' Alex Moore became the first African American Texan to be awarded the National Heritage Fellowship?
... that the captain of U-607 justified the sinking of the neutral Irish merchant vessel Irish Oak by claiming it was a Q-ship?
... that actor and satirical illustrator Thoralf Klouman was among the pioneers of animated film in Norway?
... that the Upper Peninsula Brewing Company Building had a tunnel allowing the proprietor to ignore a law prohibiting entrance to a brewery after sunset?
... that Laura Kirkpatrick placed second in the reality show America's Next Top Model in 2009, but was ranked fan favorite in a poll conducted by the show?
... that square root biased sampling was originally developed as a way to sample long sequences of DNA?
... that Winifred Carney was the only woman present during the initial occupation of the GPO in the Easter Rising, entering the building armed with a typewriter and a Webley revolver?

11:00, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

... that some Australian rodeo (pictured) shows have been called Bushmen's Carnivals?
... that the Philippine government unsuccessfully auctioned the decommissioned Manila Thermal Power Plant three times before it was sold to a Malaysian company?
... that Sugar Blue, the American Grammy Award winning blues harmonicist, took his stage name from Sidney Bechet's track, "Sugar Blues"?
... that the Jakub Wujek Bible served as the main Catholic Bible translation into Polish for more than three centuries?
... that the outbreak of Ebola in Bundibugyo District in Uganda in 2007 was caused by a novel strain of the Ebola virus?
... that after litigation filed by former Scientologist Bonnie Woods reached the High Court of Justice, the Church of Scientology admitted it had made false claims about her?
... that decades after its discovery in 1955 in Turkey's Bursa Province, bursaite was officially discredited as a mineral in 2006?
... that The Legarde Twins are a country act from Australia consisting of two twins, Tom and Ted, who left home in 1945 to become cowboys, then started playing country music, and are still performing—64 years later?

03:46, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the Los Angeles Times wrote that a motorist passing the playground at Precious Blood Church (pictured) might think "he'd been transported to a Catholic school in circa-1950s Chicago or Pittsburgh"?
... that Kate Nesbitt, the first woman in the Royal Navy to be awarded the Military Cross for bravery in Afghanistan while attached to 3 Commando Brigade, is just 5 ft 0 in (1.52 m) tall?
... that rotating radio transients are among the brightest astronomical sources of radio waves, yet are generally detectable for less than one second a day?
... that U.S. birth control advocate Dr. Bessie Moses gave up her practice as an obstetrician because she became emotionally attached to the outcome of every birth she attended?
... that in 1997 the Law Commission called the Trustee Investments Act 1961 too "cautious and restrictive", suggesting some trusts were under-performing due to difficulty in complying with its terms?
... that the author of Behind the Exclusive Brethren decided to research the Australian religious group after discovering its close access to Prime Minister John Howard?
... that the medieval English bishop Robert de Chesney was an early patron of Thomas Becket, later famous for his quarrel with King Henry II of England?
... that during the CU project controversy "bolt weevils" destroyed 14 transmission towers of a power line under construction in Minnesota?

1 December 2009

21:21, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

... that Prince George Washington (pictured) was Front Palace and Vice King of Siam from 1868 to 1885?
... that the talkshow Skavlan marked the first time ever that Sveriges Television and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation worked together on a television production?
... that after being kicked out of his Michigan Militia, Norman Olson moved to Alaska to attempt to start a militia there?
... that the outdoor sculpture Zephyr is dedicated by its artist to today's youth?
... that the book Blown for Good describes the author's experiences practicing the Scientology technique auditing with actor Tom Cruise?
... that a valid computer program supplied with correct data may still exhibit unspecified behavior?
... that Oregon pioneer and politician Frederick Waymire was compared to Davy Crockett?
... that the Battle of Wawon is considered to be Turkey's first real combat action since the end of World War I?
15:21, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the defense of Allenstein (Olsztyn) (castle pictured) in 1521 against a siege by the Teutonic Knights was successfully organized by the Catholic cleric and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus?
... that Bill Inman was the first medical graduate of University of Cambridge and delivered fifty babies from his adapted wheelchair?
... that among the dead interred at the Calvert Vaux-designed Hillside Cemetery in Middletown, New York, are three Civil War Medal of Honor recipients?
... that the members of the Council of Keble College, Oxford had power to move the college away from Oxford?
... that Uruguayan Isabelino Gradín won South American championships in both football and track and field athletics?
... that a Franco-Hungarian alliance was formed in October 1528 between Francis I of France and Zapolya of Hungary?
... that the Kirkland Hotel in Kingston, New York, is a rare surviving example of a wood-frame urban hotel?
... that of the varieties of retained surgical instruments, the most common item left in the patient after surgery is a sponge?
09:21, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the precuneus (pictured), a part of the human brain hidden in between the two cerebral hemispheres, is involved with episodic memory, visuospatial processing, reflections upon self, and consciousness?
... that LA's St. Cecilia Church, built in 1927, adapted to its multiethnic community by installing shrines to a beatified Nigerian priest, a Oaxacan Virgin, and a Guatemalan "Black Christ"?
... that Holby City hospital's disabled CEO Vanessa Lytton is played by Leslie Ash, whose own disability resulted from a hospital stay?
... that Đại Việt Emperor Trần Thuận Tông was forced to cede the throne to his three-year old son Trần Thiếu Đế and thus held the title Thái thượng hoàng (Retired Emperor) at the age of 20?
... that the oldest complete document in the National Archival Services of Norway is from 1189?
... that former Louisiana Legislative Auditor Dan Kyle has joined a new company trying to rebuild Six Flags New Orleans, which has been closed since Hurricane Katrina?
... that under Jewish views of moral agency a deaf-mute could even commit murder with impunity, as Jewish law forbids legal cases without verbal communication between the involved parties?
... that "the wrong kind of snow" delayed British Rail services during the winter of 1990–1991?
03:21, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

... that the clock (pictured) on St. Nicolas' Church, North Stoneham, Hampshire, England, has only one hand?
... that John W. Reynolds was admitted to practice law in Oregon before he graduated from law school?
... that except for bats, nearly 90% of the native land mammals of the Caribbean, including all sloths and monkeys, are now extinct?
... that Bryant Hammett resigned from the Louisiana House of Representatives in 2006 to oversee disaster recovery for infrastructure impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita?
... that the Ventura Oil Field is the seventh largest oil field in California, and was at one point the 12th most productive oil field in the United States?
... that despite being only the son of Hát tuồng actors, Dương Nhật Lễ was enthroned as emperor of Đại Việt by his impotent predecessor Trần Dụ Tông?
... that one part of Mendelssohn’s operetta Son and Stranger comprises only a few bars, all on the note F, because the composer’s brother-in-law, Wilhelm Hensel, had no ability as a singer?