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This is a selection of recently created new articles and greatly expanded former stub articles on Wikipedia that were featured on the Main Page as part of Did you know? You can submit new pages for consideration. (Archives are in sets of 50–100 items each.)

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Please add the line ==='''{{subst:CURRENTDAY}} {{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}'''=== for each new day and *'''''~~~~~''''' at the top for the newly posted set of archived hooks. This will ensure all times are based on UTC time and accurate. This page should be archived once a week, anytime on a Friday. Leave any already archived Friday hooks here and archive from the final Thursday update. Thanks.

30 May 2009

02:21, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Lowndes Grove (pictured) was the Woman’s Building at the South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition of 1901?
... that Sir Henry Benson was the first living non-American to be inducted into the Accounting Hall of Fame?
... that Davey Richards' PWG World Tag Team Championship reign with Super Dragon holds the record for most defenses, while his reign with Roderick Strong is tied with seven other teams for least?
... that Teresa Saporiti, the soprano who created the role of Donna Anna in Mozart's opera Don Giovanni, lived to be 106?
... that after 14 years above an ambulance company, KDCQ in Coos Bay, Oregon, relocated its radio studios to a former buffet restaurant?
... that Matthew Mullineux, captain of the 1899 British Lions rugby team, was immortalised in verse by Australian bush poet Banjo Paterson, famed author of "Waltzing Matilda"?
... that Italian architect Donato Bramante was nicknamed il Ruinate for the destruction of the papal tombs in Old St. Peter's Basilica?
... that while fleeing from Greece to Egypt during World War II, a frustrated Olivia Manning used a chamberpot to crush a fellow refugee's Parisian hats?

29 May 2009

20:21, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

... that according to legend, the foundation for the Siri Fort (pictured) in Delhi was laid on the severed heads ("Siri" in Urdu: "head") of about 8,000 Mongol soldiers?
... that Devin Britton won the 2009 NCAA Men's Tennis singles national championship as a freshman and is the only University of Mississippi tennis player to win the championship?
... that Buxhall tower mill was built in 1860, incorporating the base of an earlier smock mill, which was itself built in 1815?
... that pioneer Morris Moss caused an international incident between the United States and Canada by seal hunting along the British Columbia Coast in the 1870s?
... that according to medieval French legend, guivres were dragon-like creatures with venomous breath, known to prowl the French countryside?
... that Mickey Morandini turned the first regular-season unassisted triple play by a second baseman in National League history?
... that Washington State Route 203 originally was split into four roads, later combined in 1937?
... that, in nine years of professional gridiron football, Jacoby Shepherd has played for eleven teams in three leagues?

14:21, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the locomotive used in the 2006 film Outlaw Trail: The Treasure of Butch Cassidy (pictured) was once owned by the Union Pacific Railroad, whose trains Butch Cassidy had robbed in the 1890s?
... that the Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009 passed both the United States House of Representatives and the Senate unanimously?
... that the translation of The Lord of the Rings by Andrey Kistyakovsky and Vladimir Muravyov is the first official Russian language translation of the novel?
... that in 1993 almost 10 per cent of Canada's GDP was made up of municipal government spending?
... that despite not playing as a high school junior in 1999, American football cornerback Brock Williams still led Notre Dame defenders in playing time in 2000?
... that the Roşia Poieni copper mine represents the largest copper reserve in Romania and the second largest in Europe?
... that Operetta: A Theatrical History, written by operetta scholar and historian Richard Traubner was described as the "ultimate love letter to operetta"?
... that ship's doctors were originally termed surgeons in the Royal Navy and were paid £5 for every 100 cases of venereal disease they treated?

08:21, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the wind engine (pictured) at Crux Easton, Hampshire, was built in 1891 by John Wallis Titt?
... that 1996 Yukon election candidate Lois Moorcroft received less than a third of the votes, but still won her seat in the Legislative Assembly?
... that the inscriptions in Hieronymus Bosch's Ecce Homo are used to convey their conversation like speech balloons in comics?
... that the father-and-son architects Amon and Amon Henry Wilds—leading figures in Brighton's development—used the ammonite capital as their signature device as a pun on their first names?
... that before the Revolutionary War, Fenwick Hall on Johns Island, South Carolina, was called Johns Island Stud because of its thoroughbred horses?
... that in 1901, after the death of John Flint Kidder, president of the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad, his widow took over, becoming the first female railroad president?
... that an illustration for Hans Christian Andersen's "The Most Incredible Thing" was published during the Nazi occupation of Denmark that depicted a rabbi striking a semi-naked Aryan?
... that although the Quarter Horse Lightning Bar is known as a racehorse and father of racehorses, he won a roping contest once?

02:21, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the blue runner is easily attracted to a variety of floating and underwater structures such as oil platforms (example pictured) and aquaculture structures?
... that in 1969, Ivar Orgland was the first foreigner to take a doctorate at the University of Iceland?
... that news director Brad Boyer of Missouri radio station KIRK received a Distinguished Service Award from the MSHSAA in 2008 for his "lifelong contributions to the ideals of interscholastic activities"?
... that the pirate Henry Strangwish had his image recorded by Flicke in 1554?
... that Steve McQueen's posthumous popularity led to the reintroduction of the TAG Heuer Monaco chronograph watch in 1998 and again in 2003?
... that Yehoshua Zettler organized the September 1948 assassination of Swedish Count Folke Bernadotte, who had been sent by the U.N. Security Council as its mediator following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War?
... that famo is a type of music from Lesotho, named after the action of female dancers exposing their naked rear?
... that Afghani parliamentarian and Islamic feminist Shukria Barakzai began to campaign against multiple marriages when her husband took a second wife without telling her?

28 May 2009

20:21, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the road over the Wilmot Pass (pictured) is not connected to any other road on the New Zealand network?
... that screenwriter John Briley won an Academy Award for Gandhi and was nominated for a Golden Raspberry for Christopher Columbus: The Discovery?
... that President Franklin D. Roosevelt approved the design for a new elementary school in his native Hyde Park, New York?
... that 2009 American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame inductee Miss Meyers was the mother of the first American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) Supreme Champion, fathered by fellow AQHA Hall of Famer Three Bars?
... that the Hanuman Temple, Connaught Place, in New Delhi, is unusual in having the Islamic symbol of a crescent moon fixed on its spire instead of a Hindu symbol like Aum or the sun?
... that in 1875 actress Kate Bishop created the role of Violet Melrose in Our Boys, which was by far the longest-running work of theatre up to that time?
... that despite being armed en flûte as a troopship, HMS Wilhelmina still engaged and drove off a more heavily armed privateer to protect the merchant she was escorting?
... that during the term of Governor of Indiana Isaac P. Gray, a dispute arose that led the entire Indiana General Assembly to break into a fist fight, with Democrats and Republicans threatening to kill each other?

14:21, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

... that at least 37 cities of the ancient world placed an image of the Gorgon's head on their coins (example pictured)?
... that 19th-century actor Henry Neville was the twentieth child of a twentieth child?
... that of the eleven wrestlers who have held the PWG World Championship, Low Ki is the only to have lost the title outside the ring?
... that Georgette Sanchez won the silver medal in the 9th Paris International Dance Competition?
... that the Japanese American internment during World War II cost Seattle's Lincoln High School the presidents of its two service clubs and the editor of its school newspaper?
... that Marcus Favonius, in attempting to imitate the manner of Cato the Younger, frequently descended into rudeness?
... that the album cover artwork of Behemoth's Evangelion is a depiction of "The Great Harlot of Babylon", the figure of evil mentioned in the Book of Revelation in the Bible?
... that, while awaiting sentencing for income tax evasion and obstruction of justice, David Friedland went scuba diving, faked his own death, and fled to the Maldives where he built a chain of scuba diving shops?

08:21, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the Frot-Laffly landship (pictured) was an early tank design based on a compactor, and built by France in early 1915?
... that after leaving Global TV after founding it three months earlier, Al Bruner became one of the first broadcasters to consider local insertion on television?
... that the legal reforms that came about as a result of the Glanville Davies affair were far weaker than those initially proposed?
... that recently deceased photographer Luke Smalley's earlier collections were inspired by fitness manuals and yearbooks circa 1910?
... that Cam'ron filed a lawsuit against R. Kelly as he did not receive credit for his remix of "Snake"?
... that George Nicholas Hardinge served as a midshipman aboard HMS St Fiorenzo in 1793, a ship he would die commanding fifteen years later?
... that the headquarters of the Inquisition in Mexico has been converted into a museum dedicated to the history of medicine in Mexico?
... that Vice Admiral Sir James Willis was the last head of the Royal Australian Navy to be knighted?

02:21, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

... that St. James Episcopal Church in Hyde Park, New York held Sunday services for nearly 100 years in its chapel (pictured) during wintertime because it was too difficult to heat the main church building?
... that Kyell Gold, a furry homosexual erotic literature author, has won six Ursa Major Awards, equaling Usagi Yojimbo author Stan Sakai?
... that the 1915 Triumph Model H was the first Triumph not fitted with pedals, so it was their first true motorcycle?
... that at age 22, Captain Jose M. Portela of the United States Air Force was the youngest C-141 Starlifter aircraft commander and captain?
... that remaining papal tombs in the Catacomb of Callixtus were emptied in the ninth century because of a feared Lombard invasion?
... that country music singer Buck Owens' son Buddy Alan is also a country music singer?
... that Tito Livio Burattini explored the Great Pyramid of Giza with English mathematician John Greaves?

27 May 2009

20:21, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

... that actress Emily Fowler (pictured) originated the male role of Hans in The Gentleman in Black by W. S. Gilbert and Frederic Clay?
... that George Grosz's The Funeral is in part a depiction of the madness induced by syphilis?
... that listeners in the Klamath Falls, Oregon, area know radio station KRAT as "The Rat"?
... that Ontario-based musical group Family Brown has received eighteen Canadian Country Music Association awards, more than any other artist in the association's history?
... that beta males of Paracerceis sculpta mimic females and gamma males mimic juveniles, allowing them to mate without the alpha males realising?
... that when ill health rendered George Orwell incapable of caring for his son Richard, the child was placed in the care of anarchist Lilian Wolfe at the Tolstoyan Whiteway Colony?
... that during action by the UK Gay Liberation Front (GLF) to disrupt a Christian morality campaign in 1971, a GLF "bishop" began an impromptu sermon urging people to "keep on sinning"?
... that in 1948, Dr. William Glenn and medical student William Sewell used ordinary laboratory components and an Erector Set to create one of the world's earliest artificial hearts?

14:21, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli (pictured) opened a French brasserie in 1686 that was permitted by King Louis XIV?
... that privateer racing team Primetime Race Group is the only team to race a Dodge Viper Competition Coupe in the American Le Mans Series?
... that Kenneth St Joseph, who pioneered the use of aerial photography for archaeology, persuaded the Royal Air Force to take photos for him without charging?
... that having led Saint Lucia to independence in 1979, John Compton became Prime Minister again at the age of 81 after his party won the 2006 Saint Lucian general election?
... that Andrew Carpenter and Sergio Escalona earned the first back-to-back victories by rookie pitchers for the Philadelphia Phillies since 2007?
... that the sleep K-complex is the largest electroencephalographic (EEG) event that happens to the normal human brain?
... that American artist Tony Sisti (1901–1983) traveled with Ernest Hemingway and was also a New York State boxing champion?
... that the Twaddle Mansion in Reno, Nevada, served as lodgings for divorce seekers waiting out Reno's comparatively short mandatory residency period, before it became a Baha'i religious center?

08:21, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

... that after Vermeer's Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid (pictured) was stolen, it was given to the National Gallery of Ireland in absentia?
... that James J. and James A. Galdieri each served one term in the New Jersey Legislature, the father in the Assembly and the son in the State Senate?
... that the first annual diary with printed daily sections for notes was published in 1812?
... that in 1909 Étienne Lombard found that people automatically adjust their voice in noise to keep it audible, a finding known as the Lombard effect?
... that the marine fish Pacific crevalle jack is usually not found north of the Gulf of California, but may appear in San Diego Bay due to El Niño events?
... that John Douglas was an architect responsible for the 19th-century black-and-white revival in Chester, Cheshire?
... that the album Early Music (Lachrymæ Antiquæ), by the American Kronos Quartet, features Tuvan throat singers, a Swedish bagpipe and nyckelharpa, and Chinese ruans?
... that after selecting Sean Brewer in the 2001 NFL Draft, the Cincinnati Bengals discovered that he suffered from a three-pack-a-day cigarette habit?

02:21, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the site of the Zagreb synagogue (model pictured), demolished in World War II, has been used as a volleyball court and a parking lot?
... that the first vampire story written by a woman was The Skeleton Count, by Elizabeth Caroline Grey, in 1828?
... that during his 1950 U.S. Senate race, Richard Nixon was so angered by his opponent, Helen Gahagan Douglas, that he threatened to castrate her?
... that Gillingham Football Club's supporters donated £2,500 in an attempt to fund a month's extension to loanee defender Mick Bodley's contract?
... that on Floodplain, San Francisco-based string quartet the Kronos Quartet plays instruments built by Walter Kitundu, including the beguèna maridhia, which is based on an Ethiopian 10-string lyre?
... that the Frisian kingdom came to an end after their king was killed in the Battle of the Boarn where they were defeated by the Frankish Empire?
... that during World War II, Brigadier General Alberto A. Nido (USAF), a native of Puerto Rico, fought for three different countries?
... that Chikara to Onna no Yo no Naka, released in 1933 and directed by Kenzō Masaoka, was the first "talkie" animated film in Japan?

26 May 2009

20:21, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the former St Stephen's Church (pictured) in Brighton, England, was built as a tavern ballroom a mile away from its present site?
... that Canadian politician Louis Deniset only served a term of nine months and 21 days before losing his seat?
... that after 60 years of service to Greenville, Alabama, the FCC is allowing radio station WGYV to move to Aurora, Indiana, a suburb of Cincinnati?
... that actress Kate Terry, grandmother of John Gielgud, had a very successful acting career until she left the stage at age 23?
... that heavy metal band Destroy Destroy Destroy played their first show in a pizzeria as the opening band for Mastodon?
... that James Annesley, an Irishman, was kidnapped by his uncle and shipped to America to work as a slave in the plantations, before returning in 1741 to try to claim the title "Earl of Anglesey"?
... that the battle of Ancona was the only independent operation of the Polish II Corps in World War II?
... that press agent Lee Solters had Pope John Paul II made an honorary Harlem Globetrotter, represented Frank Sinatra for decades and claimed to have known client Dolly Parton "since she was flat-chested"?

14:21, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the figures on the Gonzaga Cameo (pictured) were identified as Alexander the Great and Olympias, Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder, Nero and Agrippina the Younger, and many other famous couples of antiquity?
... that about 12 plays into his NFL career Charles Fisher tore three ligaments in his knee and never played in another game?
... that the turret of the LT vz. 34 light tank could be disconnected from its gearing and rotated using the commander's shoulder?
... that "Company Picnic", which aired on NBC on May 14, 2009, was the 100th episode of the comedy series, The Office?
... that since Zaynab bint Khuzayma died shortly after her marriage, less is known about her than any of Muhammad's other wives?
... that the 2003 Armenian presidential election was the first in the Commonwealth of Independent States where an incumbent president had failed to be re-elected in the first round?
... that the NYPD has charged four men with attempting to blow up two Bronx synagogues and shoot down military aircraft?
... that French artist Henri Félix Emmanuel Philippoteaux and his son Paul created a cyclorama of the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg that drew over half a million viewers within a year of its premiere?

08:21, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the Terminal Classic Puuc Maya site of Sayil (pictured) in Mexico is known for its terraced palace that gives the impression of a three-story building?
... that an American consul in Riga examined Russian-American mathematician Jacob Tamarkin in analytic geometry in order to verify his identity?
... that a population bottleneck among Finns about 4,000 years ago may be the origin of the Finnish disease heritage that affects 1 in 500 children born in Finland today?
... that Dwaine Carpenter's first interception in the CFL came in a semifinal game?
... that the French Boirault machine built in early 1915 during WWI is considered as an ancestor of the tank, but was ultimately abandoned and nicknamed Diplodocus militaris?
... that despite his pronounced nationalism, Czech composer Bedřich Smetana was distrusted by his country's conservatives due to his close ties with Hungarian composer Franz Liszt?
... that the third season of USA Network's Burn Notice will focus on the backgrounds of the main characters?
... that 19th-century actor Lionel Brough played the character Tony Lumpkin in She Stoops to Conquer 7,777 times?

02:21, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Lance Corporal William Windsor (pictured, on left) of The Royal Welsh, who retired on 20 May 2009, is a Cashmere goat?
... that American football coach Wayne Howard retired from the University of Utah for "no real reason" after his team nearly won a conference title?
... that the ancient Yogmaya Temple, Mehrauli is believed to be one of five surviving temples from the Mahabharat period in Delhi?
... that a "think piece" written by Graham Fuller was instrumental in leading to the Iran-contra affair?
... that an Anglo-Moroccan alliance, developed between Elizabeth I of England and the Moroccan Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur, had an influence on at least two of Shakespeare's plays?
... that American theatre director Jonathan Alper directed the New York premieres of works by Brian Friel, Terrence McNally and Beth Henley?
... that the General Felix K. Zollicoffer Monument and the Confederate Mass Grave Monument in Somerset were built due to a young girl decorating a white oak tree each Memorial Day?
... that Coby Miller is the only track athlete to have run 100 meters in under ten seconds at Olympic Trials and not make the Olympic team?

25 May 2009

20:21, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Harvard's All-American football quarterback Dudley Dean was cited by Theodore Roosevelt for bravery after the Rough Riders' charge of San Juan Hill (pictured)?
... that in September 1844 a clown from Astley's Amphitheatre sailed from Vauxhall Bridge to Westminster Bridge in a washtub towed by geese?
... that Newt Heisley designed the POW/MIA flag in 1971 for the National League of Families, which Congress requires be flown at federal and military buildings on six days annually, including Memorial Day?
... that actor Sterling Hayden admitted his shame at having co-operated with the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1983 documentary film Leuchtturm des Chaos?
... that Carl Fredrik Johannes Bødtker, a military officer whose highest rank was Major General, presided over the Norwegian Order of Freemasons?
... that according to her groom, when the racehorse Chicado V stood in the starting gate, she looked like a rabbit because all you could see above the gate were her ears?
... that Edwin "Big Ed" Wilkes, a Lubbock, Texas, radio talk show host, and a colleague, Bud Andrews, produced the first albums of the country comedian Jerry Clower?
... that in 1955, the Glass Age Development Committee proposed to demolish the whole of London's Soho district and rebuild it entirely in glass?

14:21, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the architect John Douglas built Walmoor Hill (pictured) in Chester, Cheshire, as a house for himself, and since his death it has been used as a girls’ college and as the County Fire Headquarters?
... that All-American Beaton Squires wrote an editorial in 1905 against turning football into a "parlor game" after Harvard's president criticized its violent nature?
... that the red Pinot noir wines of the Côte Chalonnaise villages Givry and Mercurey were reportedly the favorite wines of King Henri IV of France and his mistress, Gabrielle d'Estrées?
... that jockey Bill Passmore, winner of 3,531 races, described fellow riders as "the worst touts at the track" and said that "the track makes a big mistake not installing a mutuel window in the jocks' room"?
... that the United States Lebanese cuisine restaurant chain Aladdin's Eatery has grown to more than 20 sites from an initial $10,000 in 1994?
... that Jørgine Boomer, born and raised in a remote valley in Norway, rose to prominence as an executive at the Waldorf-Astoria, befriending a generation of celebrities?
... that the giant pulses of PSR B1937+21, the first discovered millisecond pulsar, are the brightest radio emission ever observed?
... that former You're a Star winner David O'Connor participated in the 2004 Karaoke World Championships in Finland, placing sixth?

08:21, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Richard B. Dominick, an amateur lepidopterist, collected over 25,000 moths over ten years at his Wedge Plantation (pictured) in South Carolina?
... that Skytterdalen near Sandvika, Norway, is so named because it was the site of a sport shooting field?
... that the earliest commentary on a part of Maimonides' transforming work of Jewish philosophy, The Guide for the Perplexed, was written by Muhammad ibn Muhammad Tabrizi, a Persian Muslim?
... that the pose of the goddess in Hans Holbein the Younger's Venus and Amor closely echoes that of Jesus in Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper?
... that Garrett's Miss Pawhuska, a Quarter Horse racehorse, lost a match race by running over a stake 50 yards from the finish line?
... that quarterback Mark Vlasic was injured when, after Iowa beat Michigan on a last second field goal, a mob tore down the goalpost in celebration?
... that an appeals court overturned one formulation of the toothpaste tube theory in administrative law?
... that Winfried Freudenberg was the last person to die in an attempt to escape across the Berlin Wall?

00:56, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the Basilica of the Holy Blood (pictured) in Bruges is known as the repository of a venerated phial said to contain a cloth with blood of Jesus Christ, brought to the city by Thierry of Alsace after the Second Crusade?
... that North Carolina-based author Perry Deane Young's first Vietnam War article for UPI was about the Tet Offensive, which began the night he arrived in Saigon?
... that Evening Bell is a Russian song based on a translation from English, but the English source was claimed to be translated from Russian?
... that Grantland Rice wrote that All-American football fullback Shep Homans, who played in every minute of all 22 games for Princeton in 1890 and 1891, "represented the football that used to be"?
... that Jimi Hendrix described the lead guitarist of The Ace of Cups, an all-female rock band, as "really great"?
... that the onset and increased prominence and severity of the rare autosomal dominant skin disorder Oudtshoorn skin usually take place during winter?
... that in six seasons with the "Senior" Senators, Lude Check was among the top ten scorers for his ice hockey league four times?
... that Clifton's Cafeteria was once known as Clifton's Golden Rule because patrons were obliged to pay only what they felt was fair?

24 May 2009

18:56, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

... that as CEO of its U.S. subsidiary, Robert J. Sinclair had Saab-Scania build cars with turbochargers and convertible tops (pictured) for America, while the company sold no-frills cars in its home market?
... that after the second Mong Kok acid attack, the initial 100,000 HK$ reward for information was tripled?
... that Shirley E. Flynn, a local historian in Cheyenne, Wyoming, is considered an authority on the history of the annual Cheyenne Frontier Days, one of the largest outdoor western celebrations in the world?
... that the Goa Opinion Poll was the only referendum to have been held in Independent India?
... that the Mill Street-North Clover Street Historic District in Poughkeepsie, New York, was expanded 15 years after its designation to include two city blocks that had been originally scheduled for demolition?
... that Sid Laverents' 1970 film Multiple Sidosis, which features up to 11 different images of him simultaneously playing a song, is one of the few amateur films chosen for the National Film Registry?
... that Arkansas State Senator Kim Hendren authored a failed bill to require motorcyclists to wear helmets or offer proof of health insurance?
... that in 1998, during the two IFMAR World Championship events for 1:10th scale gas powered radio-controlled cars held at the same weekend, all Top 10 positions were dominated by users of Serpent cars?

12:56, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

... that USS Nicholson (pictured) and USS Fanning, a pair of American destroyers built before World War I, are credited with the United States Navy's first U-boat kill for sinking U-58 on 17 November 1917?
... that "The Snowman" was likely the product of Hans Christian Andersen's homoerotic ardor for Harald Scharff, a ballet dancer at the Royal Danish Theatre?
... that in 1899 Isaac Seneca became the first Native American to be named as an All-American football player while playing halfback for the Carlisle Indian School?
... that Chichester Castle was built in the Rape of Chichester in the 11th century?
... that although Kevin Daft set two records in NFL Europe, he was released by the Tennessee Titans in August 2002?
... that the 1994 Nepalese legislative election saw the first democratically elected communist government in Asia come to power?
... that US TV series Parks and Recreation season finale "Rock Show" received positive reviews but the lowest ratings of the season, with only 4.25 million households tuning in?
... that information gathered by spy Peggy Taylor, who posed as a prostitute in France during the Second World War, was instrumental in planning D-Day?

06:56, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Bundala National Park of Sri Lanka harbors 197 species of birds, the highlight being the Greater Flamingo (pictured), which migrate in large flocks?
... that according to Henry's Law and Dalton's Law, fizz keepers, which are claimed to pump air into bottles of fizzy drink and thereby stop them going flat, do not actually work that way?
... that from 1956 to 1986, radio station KYKN in Keizer, Oregon, was called "KGAY"?
... that Pontius of Carthage voluntarily accompanied Cyprian into exile and later wrote his biography?
... that Faith Ireland won two national championships as a powerlifter while serving on the Washington Supreme Court?
... that two-time All-American fullback "Blondy" Graydon performed a tumbling routine with the Barnum & Bailey Circus while dressed "in resplendent pink tights"?
... that the Dollis Brook Viaduct is the highest point on both the Northern Line and the London Underground above ground level, reaching 60 feet (18 m) in height?
... that the Khirki Masjid mosque and the Satpula weir were both built during the time of the Tughlaq dynasty in 14th century Delhi?

00:56, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Vice Admiral Henry Burrell (pictured) initiated a Royal Australian Navy re-equipment program in the 1960s that included new helicopters, submarines, destroyers, minesweepers, and auxiliaries?
... that Jack Benny was so impressed with native Canadian singer Gisele MacKenzie that he was co-executive producer of her NBC variety show, The Gisele MacKenzie Show?
... that Wernher von Braun's father Magnus von Braun was dismissed out of civil service for supporting the Kapp Putsch in 1920?
... that the watershed of Sulphide Creek, a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) stream, harbors at least three waterfalls taller than 2,000 feet (610 m)?
... that racehorse Clyde Van Dusen, winner of the 1929 Kentucky Derby, was named after his trainer?
... that dozens of sled dog races have been created since the first organized long-distance sled dog race was held in 1908?
... that Rai Purdy raised over C$250,000,000 for charity through his Telethon efforts?
... that the Bergh-Stoutenburgh House, one of only two remaining Dutch Colonial stone houses in Hyde Park, New York, has been converted into a Japanese restaurant?

23 May 2009

18:56, 23 May 2009 (UTC)

... that tradition says that James Hoban, the architect of the White House, designed the William Seabrook House (pictured) on Edisto Island, South Carolina?
... that the Byzantine corps of the Optimatoi originated as an elite Gothic cavalry regiment, but was downgraded to a corps of mule-drivers after participating in the failed revolt of Artabasdos?
... that the same month Willamette Falls Hospital in Oregon City, Oregon, announced a plan for the next 20 years, they announced they intended to merge with Providence Health & Services?
... that in 1991 the IRA attempted to assassinate John Major and his War Cabinet with a mortar attack on Downing Street?
... that the nominees for the 25th Golden Raspberry Awards were announced by founder John Wilson at a book signing for The Official Razzie Movie Guide?
... that HMS Centurion had to be sent back to Britain for repairs in 1804, partly because she was infested with termites?
... that Thelnetham Windmill was completely restored from dereliction to working order by amateur volunteers?
... that Ty Cobb would hide black Detroit Tigers mascot Li'l Rastus in his room or under his train berth to evade Jim Crow laws?

12:56, 23 May 2009 (UTC)

... that The George Inn (pictured) in Norton St Philip, Somerset, was used as an army headquarters during the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685, and then as a courtroom to try the rebels in the Bloody Assizes?
... that Sugar Babies, conceived by Ralph G. Allen, was based on his collection of more than 5,000 comedy sketches?
... that the suffix "-up" in Western Australian place names means "place of" in a dialect of the Noongar language?
... that playwright Larry Kramer called Rodger McFarlane, the first paid executive director of the Gay Men's Health Crisis, someone who "did more for the gay world than any person has ever done"?
... that The Last Nightingale was an album recorded to raise money for striking coal miners in the 1984–1985 UK miners' strike?
... that Jack Billingham gave up Hank Aaron's record tying 714th home run as the Cincinnati Reds Opening Day starting pitcher in 1974?
... that American Slovenian-style polka musician Louis Bashell received Wisconsin's first National Heritage Fellowship grant from the National Endowment for the Arts?
... that Cyrus C. Miller believed the United States and Canada would one day become a single nation and that lacrosse could be its official sport?

06:56, 23 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Louie Caporusso (pictured) led the U.S. in goals scored through most of the 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, but when he only scored two in the last nine games, Michigan won eight of those nine?
... that Fireflight's song "Unbreakable" was inspired by a fan's question asked on MySpace?
... that Sigurd Bødtker was Norway's first full-time theatre critic?
... that the capture of Bologna on 21 April 1945 was the last battle of the Polish II Corps?
... that local legend suggests that Ai-Ais Hot Springs in southern Namibia were discovered in 1850 by a nomadic Nama shepherd rounding up stray sheep?
... that Reba McEntire starred in a television movie based on her 1992 hit single "Is There Life Out There"?
... that Spey casting is a two-handed fly fishing technique that was developed on the River Spey in Scotland?
... that although the 1998 film Restless takes place in Beijing, only about 20 percent of the dialogue is in Chinese?

00:56, 23 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the Maya archaeological site of Xlapak (pictured) in Mexico features well-preserved examples of the ostentatious Puuc style of architecture?
... that the Niagara Engine House building is the only one of six engine company firehouses in Poughkeepsie, New York, still standing?
... that Philadelphia Athletics manager Connie Mack once sent hunchbacked batboy Louis Van Zelst out to coach first base, but the umpires made Mack recall him to the dugout?
... that each of the Chinese languages has over 100 classifiers, or "measure words", which must be used any time a noun appears with a number or a demonstrative?
... that the Father Millet Cross on the grounds of Fort Niagara, at just 0.0074 acres (30 m²), was the smallest National Monument ever established in the United States?
... that the Interstate Bridge over the Menominee River was sculpted with wild rice motifs in the concrete?
... that the first of Thomas Eakins's William Rush and His Model paintings provoked controversy by its inclusion of the discarded clothes of William Rush's nude model?
... that although Mellor hill fort is Iron Age in origin, artefacts possibly as old as 10,000 years have been discovered on the site, including a 4,000-year-old amber necklace?

22 May 2009

18:56, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

... that with a voyage of 59 days, the SS American (pictured) set a 1901 record for the fastest New York – San Francisco ocean passage?
... that by pinpointing three counter-cultural traits of Western Norway — Landsmål, temperance and laity — Gabriel Øidne laid the grounds for Norwegian voter sociology?
... that "I Don't Know What It Is", the first single from Rufus Wainwright's album Want One, samples Maurice Ravel's Bolero?
... that Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weissenfeld was an Austrian aristocratic night fighter flying ace who fought for the German Luftwaffe in World War II?
... that the South Carolina town which Biggin Church's chapel of ease, Strawberry Chapel, was built to serve, no longer exists?
... that Egyptian actor C. K. Alexander composed under the pseudonyms Mario Quimber and Basheer Qadar?
... that, under the drug policy of Canada, of those convicted of drug offences under Canadian law in 1921, three-quarters were Chinese?
... that former President of Poland Lech Walesa only won 1% of the vote in the 2000 Polish presidential election?

12:56, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the image of Hindu deity Hanuman (pictured) reportedly came alive and moved when installed at the Hanuman temple in Sarangpur?
... that Price's Post Office in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, was a "publick house" and stagecoach stop in the early 19th century?
... that Uruguay is known as the "Switzerland of the Americas" from its adoption of Swiss-based banking laws?
... that Elsie B. Washington was called the "mother of the African-American romance" for her 1980 novel, considered the first to feature African American characters by an African American author?
... that the specific epithet of bigeye trevally (Caranx sexfasciatus) refers to the six dark bands on their sides that fade and disappear as the marine fish mature and age?
... that Don Zimmerman, once called the "best coach in college lacrosse", has traveled around the world promoting the sport, with the ultimate goal of having it once again become an Olympic event?
... that the candy was a traditional South Asian unit of mass, equal to twenty maunds?
... that the Nebraska House in Virginia was so named because Colonel Samuel D. McDearmon's wife refused to move to Nebraska?

06:56, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Bettino Ricasoli (pictured), developer of the first "modern" Chianti wine recipe based on the Sangiovese grape, later became Italian Prime Minister?
... that the Latting Observatory, described as "New York's first skyscraper", was the tallest building in the United States at 315 feet (96 m) during its brief life from 1853 until it burnt down in 1856?
... that the 350cc engine in the 1949 Douglas Mark III British motorcycle was based on a WW2 electricity generator engine?
... that while still in college, children's author Eloise Greenfield realized that she was too shy to be a teacher and dropped out to work at the U.S. Patent Office?
... that the previous owners of KWVR in Enterprise, Oregon, actually lived at the radio station until they sold it in 2008?
... that Yohl Ik'nal, queen of the Classic Period Maya city of Palenque in Mexico, was the first known female Mayan ruler?
... that after a hurdle was misplaced on the running track, Angelo Taylor said he would never again compete at the Adidas Track Classic?
... that Nevada City, California’s Doris Foley Library for Historical Research includes a Cornish Studies Collection?
... that neurosurgeon Keith Black, featured in a Time special issue on "Heroes of Medicine", is known for his discovery that the peptide bradykinin can be effective in opening the blood-brain barrier?

00:56, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

... that The Torment of Saint Anthony (pictured) has recently been identified as the earliest known painting by Michelangelo?
... that the Smith Tobacco Barn is one of the few remaining examples of intact flue-cured tobacco barns in Dillon County, South Carolina, built between 1895 and the 1950s?
... that the N100 brain response to auditory stimuli can help predict coma patients' probability of recovery?
... that in May 2009, the District of Columbia ruled that Third Church of Christ, Scientist could go forward with demolition of its brutalist-style building?
... that John G. Cullmann was nearly assassinated after establishing a settlement of German immigrants in northern Alabama?
... that a Zen temple's Main Hall looks like a two story building, but has in fact only one?
... that architect Richard Neutra used mirrors and reflecting pools to provide spaciousness for his home on a small lot, the Neutra VDL Studio and Residences, on Silver Lake in Los Angeles?
... that 73 Mansion St., Poughkeepsie, New York, was architecturally inconsistent with the neighboring Balding Avenue Historic District, so it was later listed separately on the National Register of Historic Places?

21 May 2009

18:56, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Atlantic herrings form immense fish schools (pictured) containing up to three billion fish?
... that Don Cardwell was the Chicago Cubs' Opening Day starting pitcher against the Houston Colt .45s (now known as the Astros) on April 10, 1962, the first official game in Colt .45 history?
... that despite strong support from England, all three Huguenot rebellions in southwestern France were suppressed by King Louis XIII?
... that in 1970, George M. Stafford became the first presidentially-appointed Interstate Commerce Commission chair, 83 years after it was formed?
... that novelist Michael Crichton and seven Nobel laureates, among others, wrote the 1972 textbook Biology Today?
... that songwriter Gordon Chambers credited his hometown of Teaneck, New Jersey, with fostering his dream of becoming a professional?
... that a student at Clatskanie Middle/High School organized a statewide food drive in Oregon that earned the student a national award?
... that Catherina Margaretha Linck is the last European known to have been executed for lesbianism?

13:07, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

... that despite the decisive action of the Trafalgar Campaign being the Battle of Trafalgar (pictured), the final action was fought a fortnight later, at the Battle of Cape Ortegal?
... that Marc Sautet started the philosophical cafe known as Café Philosophique?
... that the Vassar Home for Aged Men, in Poughkeepsie, New York, could not operate at full capacity until Matthew Vassar's wife died and left it the money to do so?
... that Håkon Stenstadvold, rector of the Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry, was a member of the Bærum municipal council?
... that Robert Lindahl, the recording engineer on The Kingsmen's famous version of "Louie Louie", lost his job as a disc jockey for KBKR because he refused to empty the Oregon station's chemical toilet?
... that the real name of Hagop Hagopian, the leader of the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia, was revealed only after his assassination in Athens in 1988?
... that rock band 21 Demands made chart history after finishing as runners-up in the fifth series of You're a Star, featuring 1992 Eurovision winner Linda Martin as a judge?
... that Ray H. Altman, as a Kentucky state representative from tobacco-growing Taylor County, opposed a bill in 1990 to ban smoking zones for students in public schools?

07:21, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the epaulette shark (pictured) can survive for an hour without oxygen?
... that Time magazine editor Otto Fuerbringer was responsible for the controversial 1966 "Is God Dead?" cover?
... that some grass-endophyte symbioses produce loline alkaloids that are insecticidal and deterrent to various insects?
... that after his death, the amateur manga collection of the manga critic Yoshihiro Yonezawa was made into a library by his alma mater, Meiji University?
... that the Vassar Institute in Poughkeepsie, New York, now used for a local arts center, is on the former site of a brewery?
... that in 1853, Ole Thomesen signed the contract to build the paddle steamer Skibladner, which is still in operation in Norway?
... that the 1960 indie film Weddings and Babies is considered to be the first fictional movie to be shot with a camera that recorded synchronized sound?
... that lacrosse coach "Father Bill" Schmeisser was known for carrying an umbrella on the sidelines regardless of the weather, reasoning that, "This way I know it won't rain"?

01:35, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the Confederate Monument (pictured) in Augusta, Kentucky, is a gravestone placed forty-one years after the soldiers it honors died?
... that Carl Bødtker was a popular radio presenter for children during the early days of Norwegian broadcasting?
... that the 12–6 curveball gets its name from the way the pitch breaks downward, looking like it moves from the number 12 to the number 6 on a clock?
... that 18-year-old Jay Weinberg is touring with Bruce Springsteen as the E Street Band's drummer while his father, Max Weinberg, prepares for the June premiere of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien?
... that motorsport illustrator Michael Turner designed the original Formula One McLaren team logo?
... that California radio station KOWL's original radio studios were located inside the Harrah's Stateline Club, a casino in Stateline, Nevada?
... that John "Bam" Carney, a Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, became well-known in his district through his work as a high school basketball coach?

20 May 2009

19:49, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the zebra shark (pictured) is striped when young and spotted when mature?
... that the Second Baptist Church is the only Greek Revival church remaining in Poughkeepsie, New York?
... that Gustav Natvig-Pedersen, a President of the Storting in Norway, also wrote orthographic dictionaries?
... that Bronson Pinchot spent three months visiting psychics to prepare for his role in the 1989 comedy film Second Sight?
... that singer-songwriter Django Walker was named after Belgian guitarist Django Reinhardt?
... that the officers' mess hall at Camp Abbot military training center was built by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1944, and is now the "Great Hall" at Sunriver Resort?
... that François Coignet was the first builder to use iron reinforced concrete?
... that Bob Bruce of the Abilene Reporter-News in Texas was considered a "superb raconteur" and versatile journalist whose "institutional memory" empowered his newsroom colleagues?

14:00, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

... that during the 20th century, many football players at the United States Military Academy also played Army lacrosse (modern player pictured) to stay physically fit during the off-season?
... that Arlie Metheny, as public information officer in 1958 at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, handled media inquiries relating to the induction of Elvis Presley into the Army?
... that René Olry, the commander of the French Army of the Alps during the Battle of France (1940), was a polytechnicien?
... that while most wines can benefit from being stored on their side, Champagne and other sparkling wines tend to age better if they are kept upright?
... that Captain Thomas Baker played a significant role in bringing about three battles during the Napoleonic Wars: Copenhagen, Trafalgar, and Cape Ortegal?
... that the objective of the Nazi board game Juden Raus! (Jews Out) was to move figurines representing Jews across a map to "collection points" outside the city walls for deportation?
... that diplomat Sabrina De Sousa in 2009 sued the United States government to get diplomatic immunity?
... that Rick Gibson intended his human earrings sculpture to raise questions about the appropriateness and usage of such materials for art and self adornment?

08:14, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the U.S. Department of Agriculture South Building (pictured) was the largest office building in the world until the construction of the Pentagon?
... that the song "Te Amo", performed by Panamanian singer-songwriter Makano, became his first number-one single in the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart?
... that former fur trader Michel Laframboise helped found Fort Astoria and later operated a ferry across the Willamette River?
... that the 2008 Lower Saxony state election saw the Social Democratic Party have their worst performance in Lower Saxony since World War II, while the The Left party won seats for the first time?
... that folk singer Travis Edmonson was an honorary member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and helped create a dictionary for their language?
... that planning for the demobilisation of the Australian military after World War II began in 1942?
... that the Children's Literature Association developed a canon of children's literature consisting of 63 titles, beginning with Little Women (1869)?
... that ABC Radio president Robert Pauley hired the then-little-known Howard Cosell in 1960 to host a weekly sports program after Cosell was able to get a relative's shirt company as a sponsor?

02:28, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

... that minimum orbit intersection distance is one of the measures used to determine if a near-Earth object, such as (4953) 1990 MU (orbit pictured), is a Potentially Hazardous Object?
... that The New York Times described the Welles declaration as "one of the most exceptional diplomatic documents issued by the U.S. State Department in many years"?
... that Panamanian singer-songwriter Makano began writing songs when he was 16 years old?
... that while the electrical conductivity of pure water is very low, the conductivity of drinking water can be thousands of times greater?
... that gridiron football wide receiver Chris Jackson did not play football until attending Orange Coast College in 1994?
... that despite winning the Football League Trophy in 2009, Luton Town are not presently eligible to defend their title?
... that M. D. Madhusudan, who received the Whitley Award for 2009, uncovered links between coffee production in Brazil and cattle ownership and grazing in Bandipur National Park?
... that the first sea trials of a replica ship in Japan were those of the Naniwa Maru before it was placed in the Osaka Maritime Museum?

19 May 2009

20:42, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

... that spark testing (pictured) is a quick and inexpensive way to determine the general classification of ferrous materials using only a grinding wheel?
... that Stan Bunn ran for Congress in Oregon's 1st congressional district while his brother Jim ran for re-election in Oregon's 5th congressional district?
... that The Orckestra's debut performance was at the Moving Left Revue, a Communist Party benefit concert in London in 1977?
... that the Union Monument in Vanceburg, Kentucky, is the only monument south of the Mason–Dixon line that honors Union soldiers that is not in a cemetery?
... that the number of women elected in the 2002 Moroccan parliamentary election increased to 35 from only 2 in the previous election in 1997?
... that Joseph Wicks, a lawyer and judge in Washington State and the first city attorney of Grand Coulee, was an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation?
... that the little balls of fibers that appear on clothing due to wear are called pills?
... that the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad lost its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court over a $25 penalty it had been ordered to pay to a farmer?

14:56, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

... that bamboo coral specimens (pictured) have been found that are 4,000 years old?
... that Mexican singer Vicente Fernández selected the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla, to release his single "Necesito de Tí"?
... that Henry Eckford, built in New York in 1824, was the world's first steamship to be powered by a compound engine?
... that gridiron football defensive end Justin Brown was named in six All-American teams when playing at East Central University from 2001 to 2004?
... that The Maori Merchant of Venice was the first Maori language film adaptation of any of William Shakespeare's plays?
... that Olga Taratuta, a Ukrainian anarcho-communist, escaped from a Russian prison in 1906 while serving a 17-year sentence?
... that amended U.S. Presidential Executive Order 8389 ordered a freeze of the Baltic states' assets in the U.S.?
... that in Ayapango, Mexico, older homes have names that are displayed on plaques?

09:07, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the Sea Cloud (pictured), the first fully racially integrated United States warship in World War II, later served as a private yacht to racist dictator Rafael Trujillo?
... that according to Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen, there are more than 100 million women "missing" in Asia?
... that the rock band Goes Cube obtained its name from a poor back-translation of the phrase "Go Die" between English and German?
... that The Wire actress Felicia "Snoop" Pearson wrote an autobiography, Grace After Midnight, chronicling her drug-dealing days in Baltimore, imprisonment on murder charges and rehabilitation?
... that in the late 18th century, the Gotha Observatory became an international center for astronomy, and the most modern astronomical institute specifically for its instruments?
... that despite nearly throwing a perfect game in 1993, American baseball pitcher Tom Kramer never pitched at the highest professional level again after that year?
... that according to the Golden Legend, Saint Genebald left his wife around AD 499 to become Bishop of Laon, and was later imprisoned by her uncle, Saint Remigius, for sleeping with her when she visited?
... that one of Germany's Kaiser-class battleships, SMS Prinzregent Luitpold, never received a planned diesel engine to supplement her turbines, so her range was much less than her sister ships?

03:21, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the painting (pictured) of Robert Hollond, Monck Mason and Charles Green planning their record-making balloon trip also includes the artist, John Hollins?
... that the 2007 dedication of the 1872-built Confederate Monument in Crab Orchard, Kentucky, included Kentucky governor Ernie Fletcher and the United States Army?
... that Norwegian geochemist Knut S. Heier was a member of the Apollo Project?
... that Aaron Spelling's 56,500-square-foot mansion, known as The Manor, is the largest house in Los Angeles County?
... that al-Mansur Ibrahim, the Ayyubid governor of Hims, ended Khwarezmid power in Syria after defeating them in a battle near Lake Hims?
... that a promising anti-cancer drug, swainsonine, causes pea struck in Australia, locoismo in Argentina, and locoweed poisoning in North America?
... that there is more potential for ullage development in wines bottled with long corks than in wines with short corks because wine is lost through absorption into the cork?
... that shortly before the 1989 Revolution, current Romanian Transport Minister Radu Berceanu was questioned at length by the Securitate for allegedly intending to flee the country using a hang glider he had built?

18 May 2009

21:35, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the site of Riddle Ranch (pictured) in eastern Oregon was a Native American settlement for over 1,000 years?
... that Shitou Xiqian was an obscure Zen teacher during his life but is now considered one of the two ancestors of all existing branches of Zen?
... that during the Civil War years, the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles experienced floods, droughts, a smallpox epidemic, and even a plague of locusts?
... that after subduing most of the Hejaz, Qatada ibn Idris went on to become the Sharif of Mecca establishing a tradition of sharifs descended from him to rule the city until 1925?
... that Operation Bayshield was the first machinima work to use digital assets not provided by the video game in which it was created?
... that Asbjørn Kjønstad has been referred to as the "father of the smoking ban" in Norway?
... that the marine fish Caranx sansun, first described in 1775, has no common name, has no known holotype, and is labeled a nomen dubium as the correct identification is unlikely to be made?
... that John B. Watson and Harvey A. Carr conducted a study called the kerplunk experiment, so named because of the sound the rat made when hitting the end of a maze?

15:49, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Air Vice Marshal Frank Bladin (pictured) was nicknamed "Dad" for the concern he showed for the welfare of his personnel?
... that the remains of a cannon ball can still be seen in the wall of Moni Gonia Monastery from an Ottoman attack during the Cretan Revolt of 1866–1869?
... that the United States Department of Labor first began tracking discouraged workers in 1967 and found 500,000 at the time?
... that in a review of David Jordan's debut album, Set the Mood, it was suggested that the singer could have been cloned from the DNA of Lenny Kravitz, Prince and Michael Jackson?
... that Charles Guth offered to sell Pepsi Co. to Coca-Cola, but they did not even make a bid?
... that all postal voting was used in the 2003 Gateshead Council election and saw the third highest turnout in the 2003 United Kingdom local elections?
... that the Shreveport deejay Barney Cannon was particularly knowledgeable about the history of country music, his radio station KWKH-AM, and the former Louisiana Hayride?
... that during World War I, Britons could be fined for feeding the pigeons?

10:00, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

... that in 2002, the submersible Pisces V (pictured) and her sister vessel discovered a Japanese midget submarine in Pearl Harbor, the first vessel to be sunk during the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor?
... that while most Enlightenment scholars criticized the Byzantine system of the Eastern Roman Empire, Konstantin Leontiev, a scholar from the Russian Empire praised it for the very same reasons?
... that Charles Carroll the Settler's attempts to gain office in colonial Maryland led to all Catholics in the colony losing the right to vote?
... that official turnout in the 2005 Algerian national reconciliation referendum was 99.95% in Khenchela but only just over 11% in Tizi Ouzou Province?
... that Sol Rosenberg, a survivor of the Dachau concentration camp, established an international steel company in his adopted city of Monroe, Louisiana?
... that the Oslo square Eidsvolls plass has been referred to as "the National Mall of Norway"?
... that former United States President George H.W. Bush is a member of the invitation-only Alibi Club in Washington, D.C.?
... that Horatio Nelson called Skeffington Lutwidge, his commander on two separate occasions, 'that good old man'?

04:14, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the plane of the ecliptic (effect pictured) is the imaginary plane of the Earth as it orbits the Sun?
... that Damon E. Allen led the successful campaign by the Kentucky Optometric Association to empower optometrists in the state to prescribe medication for patients?
... that Haitian expatriate artist Edouard Duval-Carrié criticized the regime of Jean-Claude Duvalier by creating artwork that parodied Duvalier?
... that Lizzie Lloyd King, the alleged murderess of Charles Goodrich, consumed flakes of the victim's desiccated blood during a police interrogation?
... that according to the former mayor of the commune of Adjohoun, Gerard Adounsiba, the 2008 Benin floods were the "largest humanitarian crisis to date" to affect the region?
... that Allison Bradshaw's mother, tennis player Valerie Ziegenfuss, was one of the Original 9 who established the basis for the WTA Tour?
... that Tom Bunn served in the Oregon Legislative Assembly at the same time as his older brothers Stan and Jim?

17 May 2009

22:28, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the 1895 Chicago Times-Herald race, won by Charles Duryea's Motorized Wagon (pictured), was the first auto race in the United States?
... that the subscription service BoardEx provides information on the world's business directors and senior managers, including their salaries, bonuses, and incentive pay?
... that Greater Manchester bus route 192 was the first in the UK to have solar powered on-street ticket machines?
... that 1961's Hurricane Tara was one of the deadliest Pacific hurricanes on record?
... that two trunk roads from London to the Sussex coast, the A22 and the A23, use parts of the London to Brighton Way?
... that 16 people were killed in the 1999 Tashkent bombings when six car bombs were detonated, an attack most likely perpetrated by the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan?
... that Adam and Joe on BBC 6 Music won the Broadcasting Press Guild award for Radio Programme of the Year in its first six months of broadcast?
... that the Mirrorwing flyingfish attaches masses of its eggs to floating debris by a series of filaments on each egg?

16:42, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Toniná in Mexico (pyramid pictured) was one of the last of the Classic Period Maya cities to fall into ruin?
... that Eunice Taylor, a catcher for the Kenosha Comets of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, was the model for Rosie O'Donnell's character in the film A League of Their Own?
... that in the 2008 motorcycle Scott Trial event, there were only 60 official finishers out of a starting entry of 200?
... that in 1767, Union Street first connected Poughkeepsie, New York, to the Hudson River?
... that at the Battle of Pulo Aura, a fleet of East Indiamen under Commodore Nathaniel Dance fought off an entire French squadron?
... that "Thrilla in the Villa", the first season finale of Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire, was seen by 858,000 households, about half the viewership of the season premiere one month earlier?
... that the summit of Mount Scott is the highest point in Crater Lake National Park?
... that Czech singer and pianist Jiří Šlitr died from coal gas poisoning?

10:56, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Stanton windmill (pictured) has a wooden windshaft?
... that Hector Hyppolite was a Haitian Vodou priest who was classified as a surrealist painter by the surrealist theorist André Breton?
... that Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! won the 2009 Sony Radio Academy Gold Award for comedy?
... that Nobel Laureate George Smoot, whose work cemented the Big Bang theory, made a cameo appearance on the sitcom The Big Bang Theory in the episode "The Terminator Decoupling"?
... that footballer Bud Houghton was born in Madras to an Anglo-Indian family who migrated to England in 1947 when India gained independence from British rule?
... that custom allocators may greatly improve the performance of a computer program written in C++?
... that the Jablonkow Incident has been named the first commando operation of the Second World War?
... that the 1931 Vickers Type 161 may have been the first aircraft to be fitted with in-flight adjustable elevator trims?

05:07, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

... that in an annual festival in Koovagam, India, eunuchs and transvestites ritually marry the Hindu god Aravan (statue pictured)?
... that Philip Glass composed a soundtrack in 1998, recorded by the Kronos Quartet, for the 1931 Dracula film starring Béla Lugosi?
... that Czech jazz double-bassist Luděk Hulan co-founded Studio 5, one of the most important modern jazz ensembles in Czechoslovakia?
... that the shell of marine snails in the family Juliidae is composed of two parts, like a clam?
... that Raquel Forner was one of the earliest fine artists to portray scenes of outer space?
... that radio station KLBS broadcasts a Portuguese-language world music format to California's San Joaquin Valley?
... that Shamar Sands, the Bahamian 110 metre hurdles national record holder, has a degree in accountancy?
... that Spratt's supplied army dogs with 1,256,976,708 dog biscuits during World War I?

16 May 2009

23:21, 16 May 2009 (UTC)

... that for over 20 years after his posthumous execution in 1661, Oliver Cromwell's head (pictured) stood on a spike outside Westminster Hall?
... that Earl Sprackling, who was selected as the best college football player of 1910, gained 456 total yards and kicked three field goals in one game?
... that Belgian firm Interbrew has a 34.4% share in the Ukrainian beer market?
... that Norwegian Minister of Agriculture and Member of Parliament Bernt Holtsmark had two first cousins, Wilhelm and Finn Blakstad, who were also Members of Parliament?
... that farmed salmon can escape from their sea cage and interbreed with wild salmon?
... that Friedrich Foertsch was the second chief of staff of the Bundeswehr and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II?
... that Danny Friend was the Chicago Colts' Opening Day starting pitcher in 1896, despite only having pitched five previous Major League Baseball games?
... that after Pacific States Lumber went bankrupt in 1939, the company town of Selleck, Washington, was sold for US$3,000?

17:35, 16 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the male common seahorse (pregnant male pictured) carries and delivers its young?
... that Texas clergyman Harold Reeves was the first missionary dispatched to Thailand by the Southern Baptist Convention?
... that during its one year of existence, the Tainan Air Group produced more aces than any other fighter unit in the Imperial Japanese Navy?
... that William Butler Yeats intended the poem "Politics" to be an envoi to "The Circus Animals' Desertion" and for it to be last in his final collection of poems?
... that the Indiana-based Upland Brewing Company provided beer bottles and props to lend Indiana authenticity to the "Boys' Club" episode of Parks and Recreation?
... that the Czech trumpeter and singer Jiří Jelínek was nicknamed "The Czech Satchmo"?
... that the spinner shark is named for the spinning leaps it makes out of the water as part of its feeding strategy?
... that Kim Kang-woo spent about ten days acquainting himself with a cow to prepare for scenes in the film Le Grand Chef, likening the experience to working with a sensitive actress?

11:49, 16 May 2009 (UTC)

... that in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novel The Idiot, Hans Holbein the Younger's The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb (pictured) is said to have the power to make viewers lose their faith?
... that Tennyson Bardwell's second film The Skeptic was actually written in the 1980s, but did not start filming until 2005?
... that the San Juan Bautista Parish of Tenango del Aire in Mexico was initially run by the Franciscans?
... that before starting her modeling career and appearing on America's Next Top Model, Celia Ammerman lived across from a chicken slaughterhouse in Brooklyn?
... that the winning candidate in the 2002 Hartlepool Council election, known as H'Angus the Monkey before taking office, pledged to give free bananas to school children in Hartlepool?
... that Duane Purvis's right arm made him a world-class javelin thrower and "without peer" as a long passer in football?
... that every December 11 in Acatlán de Juárez, Jalisco, Mexico, bonfires are lit along the streets to commemorate the vision of Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan Diego?
... that computer hacker Raphael Gray sent Viagra tablets to Bill Gates and then published what he said was Gates' credit card number?

06:00, 16 May 2009 (UTC)

... that elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus, found mostly among young captive Asian elephants (pictured), can have a fatality rate of up to 90%?
... that in the United States, 88 percent of public employees are covered by a defined benefit pension plan?
... that the 1987 roguelike computer game NetHack was named differently from its predecessor, Hack, because Hack creator Andries Brouwer "...may eventually release a new version of his own"?
... that an alliance was formed in the 8th century between the Abbasid Caliphate and the Frankish Carolingian Empire against the Byzantine Empire and the Muslim Umayyads of Spain?
... that Saucon Valley Country Club has hosted five USGA golf tournaments, and is the site of the 2009 U.S. Women's Open Golf Championship?
... that the Dogger Bank itch is a skin condition prevalent in fishermen who work in the North Sea?
... that Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" made her the first non-North American act to reach number-one on the Canadian Hot 100 in 2008?
... that the lead character in the Mozart opera Don Giovanni calls out for a glass of Marzemino in the final banquet scene before he is carried down to hell?

00:14, 16 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Tsar Alexander III is said to have held the collapsed roof of the royal car on his shoulders while his family escaped the Borki train crash site (pictured) uninjured?
... that Canaiolo was included in the 19th-century Chianti recipe to add fruitiness and soften the tannins of Sangiovese, much like Merlot's role in Bordeaux wine blends?
... that Henry Jenkins of Bolton-on-Swale, Yorkshire is said to have lived to the age of 169?
... that the only surviving structure from the Coudersport and Port Allegany Railroad is a train station that is now the town hall of Coudersport, Pennsylvania?
... that Indian businessman Ness Wadia, a co-owner of the Indian Premier League cricket team Kings XI Punjab, is the great-grandson of Pakistan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah?
... that GRB 050709 was the first short-duration gamma-ray burst for which an optical afterglow was detected?
... that Jens Wisløff, a Conservative Party of Norway politician, was called "the grand old man of asphalt"?
... that funding to help J-D's Down Home Enterprises start producing bacon-flavored salt came from a three-year-old child's winnings on America's Funniest Home Videos?

15 May 2009

18:28, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the Mexican town of Tlalmanalco has one of the few remaining intact open-air chapels (pictured) built for native people who would not enter churches?
... that the razorfish hides in the spines of sea urchins both for protection and as a hunting strategy?
... that Leonard Trask published an account of his life as a sufferer of a condition in which his spine curved forward to the extent that his chin rested on his chest?
... that the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act of Singapore that allows for suspected criminals to be detained without trial has been renewed 12 times since its enactment in 1955?
... that Mount Veniaminof in the Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge contains the most extensive crater glacier in North America, at roughly 5.2 miles (8.4 km) in diameter?
... that among Gerhard Knoop´s stage productions are Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, Strindberg's Miss Julie, Beckett's Waiting for Godot, and Ionesco's The Chairs?
... that from 1995 to 2003, an Arkansas radio station now called KZTD shared its "KBBL" call sign with the fictional radio station on The Simpsons?
... that Juliano Verbard escaped from a French prison in a hijacked helicopter?

12:42, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Jane Edna Hunter, an African American social worker in Cleveland, Ohio, was born on the Woodburn Plantation (pictured) in Pendleton, South Carolina?
... that the Jungle Shrew is a small mammal found only in Sri Lanka lowland rain forests?
... that heavy losses on the Western Front in the First World War caused the French Army to conscript men up to age 45?
... that vibraphonist Karel Velebný is considered one of the founders of modern Czech jazz?
... that enamel tufts, self-healing defects in tooth enamel at its junction with dentin, help enamel withstand bite forces as high as 1,000 N?
... that Lester Belding was the first Iowa Hawkeyes football player to be named an All-American?
... that the aerial telescope is a type of very long focal length refracting telescope built in the second half of the 17th century that did not use a tube?
... that Rotten Sound's Murderworks album cover was censored in Europe by manufacturers in Germany who considered it too disturbing for consumers?

06:56, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Mibbit (logo pictured) will be used as the default IRC protocol handler in the upcoming release of Firefox 3.5?
... that Hauz Khas Complex in South Delhi encompasses a water tank, an Islamic seminary, a mosque, a tomb and pavilions built around a medieval village in the 13th-century Delhi Sultanate reign?
... that The Ladies' Mercury was the first periodical publication designed just for women?
... that actor Kim Kang-woo had to overcome his fear of water to star in Marine Boy, and went on to film dangerous water sequences without using a stunt double?
... that the larvae of the Appalachian Azure, a species of gossamer wings butterfly, can only feed on the flowers of the black cohosh?
... that Christopher Grigson made important contributions to scanning electron microscopy, but switched careers and became a naval architect?
... that in the late 1980s, there was a surge of interest in using Colorino in Chianti blends for the added deep dark coloring and structure from phenolic compounds that it brought to the wine?
... that KDMN (now KSKE) and its Radio Colorado sister stations became the target of prank calls in 2003 when the film Bruce Almighty displayed the station group's phone number as God's?

01:07, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

... that in the early history of Chianti (bottle pictured), the wine was white and not red?
... that The Office episode "Cafe Disco" includes cameos by series writers Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg at an office dance party?
... that cartographer Jan Martin Larsen was a pioneer in the development of the specialized orienteering map?
... that Oregon radio station KKRB won New Music Weekly magazine's "Adult Contemporary Radio Station of the Year" New Music Award in 2006, 2007, and 2008?
... that Bulgarian zoologist Ivan Buresh, dubbed "the patriarch of Bulgarian biology", was the son of a Czech zincographer?
... that Becharof Lake within the Becharof National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska contains the second largest run of sockeye salmon in the world?
... that the early 20th-century diaries of German ornithologist Bernhard Hantzsch influenced British Arctic explorer Pen Hadow?
... that Carrington Moss was used to dispose of Manchester's night soil, and was a Starfish site in World War II?

14 May 2009

19:26, 14 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the heroic Greek marble Gaddi Torso (pictured) in the Uffizi, Florence, was so admired in the Italian Renaissance that it was never "restored" by completing it?
... that Carlton Skinner commanded the first racially integrated United States warships, and later served as Guam's first civilian governor?
... that Hel Fortified Area was in 1939 the last place of Poland to surrender to the invading Wehrmacht, and during World War II it was used as a Kriegsmarine base?
... that William Butler Yeats originally published the poem "On being asked for a War Poem" under the title "A Reason for Keeping Silent" in 1916?
... that the Baptist folk high school at Strand, Akershus, Norway, was visited by Martin Luther King in 1964?
... that James Edward Hanger, the first amputee of the American Civil War, designed his own prosthesis and went on to found a prosthetic manufacturer still in business today?
... that two aircraft working for the New Zealand Police collided in mid-air over central Auckland in 1993?
... that New York talent agent Sam Cohn, who Time magazine called "the first superagent of the modern age", liked to eat paper?

13:35, 14 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the Osaka Maritime Museum (pictured) is a geodesic dome that sits out in Osaka Bay and is accessed by an underwater tunnel?
... that The Hate That Hate Produced, a documentary critical of the Nation of Islam, caused the group's membership to double?
... that Praise of the Two Lands is the first ship mentioned by name in a written record?
... that in college basketball a bonus is awarded to a team beginning with the seventh foul in a half from the opposing team?
... that Ukrainian sculptor Mikhaylo Parashchuk, who decorated many major buildings in Sofia, Bulgaria, was reportedly a student of Auguste Rodin?
... that Jonathan Roberts, a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1814 to 1821, built a school for poor children?
... that the song "Que No Se Rompa la Noche", first performed by Julio Iglesias, has been covered by Pandora, Vikki Carr and Ray Conniff?
... that in 2003 a ricin contaminated letter was sent to the White House?
... that Dutch film pioneer Willy Mullens worked as a human cannonball before becoming a film director?

07:49, 14 May 2009 (UTC)

... that 26-year-old Vanessa Rousso (pictured) is among the top five females in career earnings in poker history?
... that Microsoft attempted to tap into the Chinese computing market in 1999 with a prototype computer known as Microsoft Venus?
... that Polish merchant Jan Dekert was a vocal advocate for the enfranchisement of burghers during the Great Sejm in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth?
... that a 1947 earthquake in the U.S. state of Wisconsin was strong enough to break a seismograph at Marquette University?
... that although Mahfouz al-Walid was reported killed in 2002, it was not until 2007 that the Office of Foreign Assets Control acknowledged that his name was not an alias for Mohamedou Slahi?
... that the four-slide machine is an atypical type of stamping machinery that can produce 1,200 to 4,300 stampings per hour?
... that Adam Davis was convicted of the murder of Vicki Robinson and is currently on Florida's death row?
... that the first use of the format of the advice column was in The Athenian Mercury in 1690?

02:01, 14 May 2009 (UTC)

... that during the summer the finetooth shark (pictured) is found exclusively in water less than 10 m (30 ft) deep?
... that Work Is a Four-Letter Word is the only film in which Cilla Black has had a starring role?
... that the thoroughbred horse Onion never won another stakes race after his upset defeat of Secretariat in the 1973 Whitney Handicap?
... that when Riaz Mohammad Khan stepped down as Foreign Secretary of Pakistan, media speculated that he was sacked because he opposed the UN investigation into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto?
... that William Butler Yeats wrote the poem "A Prayer for My Daughter" in 1919 while staying in the tower at Thoor Ballylee during the Irish War of Independence?
... that the SARK, the US Navy's Search and Rescue Knife, was designed and built within 24 hours by custom knifemaker Ernest Emerson?
... that a possible extension of the Røa Line metro to Øverland was considered in the interwar period, but did not materialize?
... that after Bill Sketoe was lynched in 1864, a hole dug to facilitate his hanging remained visible for over a century?

13 May 2009

20:14, 13 May 2009 (UTC)

... that between 2000 and 2008, 39 new species of lemur (Ring-tailed Lemur pictured) were described in Madagascar, bringing the total number of recognized species and subspecies to 99?
... that a network of companies including the Chester Rolling Mill, Chester Pipe and Tube Company, Standard Steel Casting Company and Combination Steel and Iron Company made shipbuilder John Roach & Sons one of America's first vertically integrated businesses?
... that Polish merchant Jan Dekert was a vocal advocate for the enfranchisement of burghers during the Great Sejm in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth?
... that radio station KBCH chose its call sign to represent the "20 Miracle Miles" of beaches in Lincoln County, Oregon?
... that still-extant English piano manufacturer Broadwood and Sons once made instruments favoured by Haydn, Beethoven and Chopin?
... that American Louis Littlepage had to receive a special permission from the US Congress to serve as a secretary to the last king of Poland, Stanisław August Poniatowski?
... that the fungus Helvella corium has been found growing on caustic spoil mounds of a soda factory and on uranium tailings?
... that Ohio teenager Vicki Lynne Cole held up a sign (which she hadn't read) saying "Bring Us Together Again" at a 1968 Nixon rally, and the candidate later mentioned it in his victory speech?

14:28, 13 May 2009 (UTC)

... that when a Japanese honeybee hive is invaded by a giant hornet scout, the honeybees "bake" the hornet in a ball of about 500 bees (pictured)?
... that on April 7, 1977, baseball pitcher Ken Brett was the Chicago White Sox's Opening Day starter against the Toronto Blue Jays in the latter's first-ever regular season game?
... that Ismail Shammout's painting Where to ..?, depicting the Lydda Death March of July 1948, is said to have attained iconic status in Palestinian culture?
... that because actor Alan Dale was unable to go to Hawaii to appear on ABC's Lost as Charles Widmore, the camera crew moved to London to include him on the show anyway?
... that the fungus Helvella acetabulum resembles a cabbage leaf?
... that Anne Donahue was one of only five Republicans in the Vermont House of Representatives to vote in favor of a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in the state?
... that when the new Argentine dreadnought Rivadavia arrived in Buenos Aires on 19 February 1915, over 47,000 people, including President Victorino de la Plaza, came out to see the ship?
... that Karsten Solheim's invention of the modern lob wedge golf club may have come from experimentally gluing a potato chip to a straw?

08:36, 13 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the Persian embassy to Europe in 1609–1615 (pictured) was led by the enturbaned English adventurer Robert Shirley?
... that World War I flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker's memoirs influenced 1930s "flying pulp" magazines such as Flying Aces?
... that opera singer Richard Suart, known for his roles in Gilbert and Sullivan, has also specialised in avant-garde modern opera?
... that Richard Upjohn's Gothic alterations to the Mandeville House, the oldest in Garrison, New York, were removed by a later owner?
... that extracts from the elastic saddle fungus can dissolve fibrin blood clots?
... that in June 1994 the NBA blocked the sale of the Minnesota Timberwolves to a group seeking to move the franchise to New Orleans, thus keeping the Timberwolves in Minneapolis?
... that the Air Battle of El Mansoura in the Yom Kippur War involved nearly 180 aircraft in a continuous engagement lasting 53 minutes?
... that Mary Roberts was the first recorded female miniaturist in the American colonies?

02:43, 13 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Holland Road Baptist Church (pictured) in Hove, England, was paid for by George Congreve, who made his fortune selling tuberculosis elixir?
... that the Greeves motorcycle company funded production from a contract with the Ministry of Pensions for their Invacar for disabled drivers?
... that although Vic Gold co-wrote the first President Bush's autobiography and wrote a novel with Dick Cheney's wife, in 2007 he wrote a book attacking the second President Bush and Cheney?
... that in the capture of Ormuz in 1622, an Anglo-Persian force combined to expel the Portuguese?
... that 19th century wrestler John McMahon's career began with a 17-year undefeated streak?
... that the bacterium Streptococcus iniae has been called "one the most serious aquatic pathogens in the last decade"?
... that Golden Raspberry Awards founder John Wilson's marketing work has included publicity for the Academy Awards?
... that local councils in the United Kingdom can make byelaws regulating the design of bathing costumes worn on the beach?

12 May 2009

20:47, 12 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the Worthington–Simpson triple expansion steam engine at Brede Waterworks (pictured) can pump 3,500,000 imperial gallons (15,900,000 l) of water per day to a height of 515 feet (157 m)?
... that radio evangelist "Fighting Bob" Shuler, known for his attacks on politicians and support of the Ku Klux Klan, received 25% of the votes in a 1932 US Senate election in California?
... that no specialist ceramics museum has as large a collection as the 340,000 pieces in The Palace Museum, Beijing?
... that in NASCAR, 1952 was the first year that companies started to pay award monies for publicity?
... that in the Capture of Ré island in 1625, English and Dutch warships were used controversially to quell a revolt of French Huguenot coreligionaries?
... that Tyler Shanabarger's death was believed to be caused by sudden infant death syndrome until his father confessed to the murder?
... that one can list every positive rational number without repetition by breadth-first traversal of the Calkin–Wilf tree?
... that George Cryer, Mayor of Los Angeles in the Roaring Twenties, was allegedly controlled by the city's political boss Kent Parrot and vice king Charles Crawford, whose coterie of bootleggers and criminals was known as the "City Hall Gang"?

13:49, 12 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Henrietta Johnston (work pictured) was the first recorded female artist and the first pastelist to work in the English colonies in America?
... that the Siege of Saint-Martin-de-Ré in 1627 resulted in the failure of the Duke of Buckingham to occupy the French island of Ile de Ré and support the Siege of La Rochelle?
... that Gene Lees wrote the English language lyrics to Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Corcovado" on a bus travelling to Belo Horizonte?
... that Michael Scott pretends to fire Pam Beesly as a prank in The Office episode "Casual Friday", which is a reference to a similar scene in the show's first episode?
... that in 1917, engineer William Ruthven Smith drew a 6,000-foot (1,800 m) anti-submarine net across the channel at Hampton Roads?
... that both solvent-shared and contact ion-pairs of magnesium and sulphate ions are present in sea-water?
... that after some members of the Guamanian Congress refused to attend a joint session, Governor Charles Alan Pownall removed them from office?
... that the purse won by a claimed horse in a claiming race usually goes to the former owner?

07:27, 12 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the Royal Navy has tended to name its fireships (examples pictured) after subjects related to volcanoes or fire?
... that "A Supermarket in California" is a poem by Allen Ginsberg published in 1956 and dedicated to Walt Whitman in the centennial year of the first edition of Leaves of Grass?
... that the recipe for tomato sauce published by Antonio Latini in Naples in 1692 was the very first one?
... that 2009 Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird had the second highest odds of a Derby winner?
... that in 2001, Dutch musician and artist Herman Brood committed suicide by jumping from the roof of the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel?
... that a blister beetle was introduced in Hawaii to trim the wood-boring Sonoran carpenter bee population, but the beetle failed to survive in the islands?
... that three of Nguyen Anh's generals, Do Thanh Nhon, Chau Van Tiep and Vo Tanh, were called "Gia Định Tam Hùng" (Three Heroes of Gia Dinh) in Vietnamese folk culture?
... that Michael Jackson was unavailable for the filming of the music video for The Jacksons' song, "Torture", so a wax dummy was used in his place for the video?

11 May 2009

23:54, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Changuu Island, Zanzibar, houses a collection of endangered Aldabra Giant Tortoises (pictured)?
... that Brigadier Generals Winfield Scott and Edmund P. Gaines fought bitterly over a promotion to major general in the United States Regular Army that Colonel Alexander Macomb received instead?
... that when the Chinese delicacy Buddha Jumps Over the Wall was introduced to South Korea, the name ignited a controversy in the Buddhist community?
... that Abigail Bush, in 1848, was the first American woman to serve as president of a women's rights convention?
... that Nymphaea leibergii is an uncommon North American dwarf waterlily whose flowers open each day and close at night?
... that Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford had a father, a grandfather and a son, all with the same name?
... that, despite having a run of only 18 months, close to 1.5 million Penny Venetian Red postage stamps were printed in Great Britain between 1880 and 1881?
... that the Gibson Mansion, once believed to be a haunted house, is now a historical museum with a working blacksmith?

17:13, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Humbug Mountain (pictured) is one of the tallest mountains in Oregon to rise directly from the ocean?
... that the Labour party lost control of Hartlepool council for the first time in 21 years after the 2000 Hartlepool Council election?
... that the Billy Joel and Ray Charles duet, "Baby Grand", was originally produced because Charles had contacted Joel over Joel naming his daughter after Charles?
... that Wilmslow Road in Manchester is reputed to have the busiest bus corridor in Europe?
... that, unable to sell the radio station and facing financial difficulties, KORC in Waldport, Oregon, went dark on April Fool's Day 2009?
... that the perpetrator of the Orly airport attack, Varujan Garabedian, was freed and deported to Armenia in 2001, after serving 17 years in jail?
... that the Kentucky Route 2014 Bridge in Pineville, Kentucky, is one of only two bridges built in Kentucky by an in-state construction company?
... that British motorcycle pioneer Bert Greeves owned a 1912 Triumph with the registration 'OLD 1'?

10:51, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Price's Mill (pictured) was one of the few remaining operating water-powered gristmills in 1970 in South Carolina?
... that Charlie Crowe started an appeal to raise money for a machine to prevent Alzheimer's?
... that singles from Stone Sour's self titled debut album received two Grammy Award nominations in consecutive years?
... that Indian musician Niladri Kumar started learning the sitar at the age of four and gave his first live performance when he was six years old?
... that even though MacAdam/Cage was outbid for Audrey Niffenegger's novel The Time Traveler's Wife, Niffenegger chose the small, independent firm because of their desire to publish the work?
... that Polish Jesuit and missionary Jan Mikołaj Smogulecki introduced the knowledge of logarithms to China in the mid-17th century?
... that Timbaland's "Apologize" featuring OneRepublic was Canada's longest-running chart-topping single in 2007?
... that Alberts Frères, one of the earliest film production companies in the Netherlands, filmed a stunt at a Maastricht market with a donkey and a suckling pig to promote the company?

04:02, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

... that in 1867, the Oregon Iron Company (furnace pictured) became the first company to smelt pig iron west of the Rocky Mountains?
... that Peter Gummer, founder of Shandwick, went to Selwyn College, Cambridge wanting to be a priest?
... that singer Matthew West's song "The Motions" was "brought to life" for him after having vocal surgery?
... that Margitta Gummel-Helmboldt was the first woman to throw a shot put more than 19 meters in the Summer Olympic Games?
... that the film version of Hello, Dolly used Garrison Landing, New York, for scenes set in 1890 Yonkers?
... that Tofo in southern Mozambique draws foreign tourists to its beaches and population of whale sharks?
... that critically-acclaimed Bolivian Aymara painter, Alejandro Mario Yllanes, disappeared from New York after winning, but not claiming, the Guggenheim fellowship in 1946?
... that the Dokos shipwreck is the oldest underwater shipwreck known to archeologists?

10 May 2009

21:16, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Moth Ki Masjid (pictured) was a new type of mosque built in 1505 by Miya Bhoiya, Prime Minister during Sikander Lodi's reign in the fourth city of medieval Delhi of Delhi Sultanate?
... that with his number one single "Laura (What's He Got That I Ain't Got)", Leon Ashley became the first country music artist to write, record, release, distribute and publish his own material?
... that the suburb of South Dunedin in Dunedin, New Zealand, contains one of only three known preserved gasworks museums in the world?
... that Five Tango Sensations by the Kronos Quartet was the last studio recording by tango music legend Ástor Piazzolla?
... that despite playing the position of wide receiver in American college football, LaShaun Ward was the third leading rusher for the University of California Golden Bears in 2001?
... that Stevie Smith's most famous poem, "Not Waving but Drowning", describes a man who drowns because onlookers mistake his thrashing for waving?
... that Aleksander Sulkiewicz was a Muslim Tatar who co-founded the Polish Socialist Party and probably saved the life of the future leader of Poland, Józef Piłsudski, by planning his escape from a mental hospital?
... that "The Cowboy Culture Center" is a weekly three-hour block of cowboy poetry and western music on radio station KNND in Cottage Grove, Oregon?

14:43, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the grey reef shark (pictured) is the first shark species known to perform a threat display to warn off divers who are too close?
... that Irving Phillips's comic strip The Strange World of Mr. Mum is cited as paving the way for later titles like The Far Side and Bizarro?
... that Rafael Nadal is the first player to win five consecutive titles at the Monte Carlo Masters?
... that Dylan McGrath's documentary The Pressure Cooker was criticised by Michelin star-winning French restaurateur Patrick Guilbaud but has been praised by L'Ecrivain owner Derry Clarke, a judge alongside Sammy Leslie on the Adare-produced Fáilte Towers?
... that a captain's clerk was a job, now obsolete, in the Royal Navy for a person employed by the captain to keep his records and correspondence, and his accounts for the Admiralty to approve?
... that Nathaniel Henry Hutton was a civil engineer on routes for the Pacific Railroad Surveys and a wagon road used by the Butterfield Overland Mail in the years before the American Civil War?
... that one of the members of R&B girl group RichGirl was discovered through MySpace?

07:59, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Piero di Cosimo's painting The Death of Procris (pictured) may contain allusions to the practice of alchemy?
... that Henrich Krummedige's 1502 murder of Knut Alvsson ended the feud started by their fathers, Hartvig Krummedige and Alv Knutsson, as well as Knut's leadership of the rebellion against King Hans' rule over Norway?
... that a New Man magazine endorsement helped convince Chuck Norris to support Mike Huckabee's presidential campaign?
... that the government of Tunisia initially believed the explosion caused by Niser bin Muhammad Nasr Nawar was accidental, until they learned he had sent a letter taking credit in the name of al-Qaeda?
... that Old Bethpage Village Restoration on Long Island, New York, has been preserving historic buildings as a living museum since 1970?
... that Merle Fainsod based his book Smolensk under Soviet Rule on Soviet documents captured by the Wehrmacht during World War II?
... that the band Dead Hot Workshop got their start at a Tempe club named Long Wong's, where bands such as the Gin Blossoms and The Refreshments also performed in the 1990s?
... that a former minister at Hove Methodist Church, England, spoke so forcefully during sermons that Communion cruets would sometimes be sent crashing to the floor?

01:56, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the absence of dark matter halos (example pictured) and elliptical galaxies with axis ratios more extreme than 3:1 is probably due to the firehose instability?
... that MGM Group of Companies is the master franchisee of Marrybrown fast food chain for Southern India?
... that Altman Lighting Co. introduced the PAR 64 for a Rolling Stones concert tour in 1966?
... that Taiwan's first printed newspaper, the Taiwan Church News, was written in Pe̍h-ōe-jī, not Chinese characters?
... that American painters Robert Feke and Benjamin West were strongly influenced by the technique and compositions of English-born painter John Wollaston?
... that Woolmer Forest, a former royal hunting forest in Hampshire, is the only site where all twelve species of amphibians and reptiles native to England are found?
... that in 1978, Franklin Jacobs high jumped 59 centimeters (23 in) above his own height, setting an indoor world record that lasted a day, and a height differential record that still stands?
... that one of many examples of territorial evolution of the Caribbean is that France sold the Caribbean island of Saint-Barthelemy to Sweden in 1784, who in turn sold it back to France in 1878?

9 May 2009

19:48, 9 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the Buddhist temple of Ta Som (pictured) near Angkor, Cambodia, was built in the 12th century by the Jayavarman VII to honour his father Dharanindravarman II?
... that the largest striped bass ever caught in California, weighing 67.5 pounds (30.6 kg), was found in the O'Neill Forebay Reservoir in August 2008?
... that the Council of Bourges in November 1225 has been called the "fountainhead" of representational democracy in Western Europe?
... that the City Hall Post Office and Courthouse in New York City, designed by architect Alfred B. Mullett, was known as "Mullett's Monstrosity" until it was torn down in 1939?
... that Baroness Crawley first became involved in politics while seeking funding for a youth theatre she ran?
... that Terry Riley: Cadenza on the Night Plain is the first record to result from the long and fruitful collaboration between American composer Terry Riley and the Kronos Quartet?
... that the capture of Tunis by the Ottoman Empire from the Spanish Empire in 1574 decided that North Africa would be under Muslim rather than Christian rule?
... that Shadow Hare is a real-life superhero who wears a cape and mask while fighting crime in Cincinnati, Ohio?

12:05, 9 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Migettuwatte Gunananda Thera once served on the committee that designed the Buddhist flag (pictured) in 1885?
... that the song "Lo Mejor de Tu Vida" by Spanish singer Julio Iglesias held the record for biggest leap to number-one in the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart for almost 20 years?
... that retired New York State Assembly Deputy Speaker Arthur Eve was an observer and negotiator at the 1971 Attica Prison riot where he entered the prison to hear inmate demands?
... that the sports field at Ringstabekk, Norway, has hosted matches in the Bandy World Championships?
... that Dion Boucicault introduced the combination company to England with his first tour of The Colleen Bawn?
... that the powdery mildew fungus Phyllactinia guttata has gelatinous filaments thought to help it adhere to leaves?
... that American spy Allen Dulles ran an intelligence organization from his house on Herrengasse, a street in the Old City of Berne, Switzerland, collecting information on the Nazis during World War II?
... that although the Lord of the Rings fan film The Hunt for Gollum is completely unofficial, its creators "reached an understanding" with Tolkien Enterprises?

06:03, 9 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the site of Kothduwa temple is reputed to be one of the places where the Buddha's tooth was hidden when it was brought to Sri Lanka (tooth smuggling pictured)?
... that the Western Weald is to be included in the proposed South Downs National Park, an outcome which author Bill Bryson said would have been "a national tragedy" had it not happened?
... that Susan Boyle's 2009 rendition of the song "I Dreamed a Dream" from the musical Les Misérables created an upsurge in public interest that elevated Patti LuPone's original version to #45 on the UK Singles Chart?
... that Robert F. Hale was serving as Executive Director of the American Society of Military Comptrollers when President Barack Obama appointed him Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)?
... that gashing is a machining process used to rough out gears prior to final machining operations, like hobbing or shaping?
... that Jampa Tsedroen, the monastic name of German Buddhist nun Carola Roloff, means "loving kindness" and "lamp of life" in Tibetan?
... that radio station KSWB in Seaside, Oregon, was originally owned by Jerden Records founder Jerry Dennon and American folk group The Brothers Four?
... that studies with sham surgery in humans have shown that treatments with cell transplants into the brains of patients with Parkinson disease were ineffective?

8 May 2009

23:29, 8 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the 1905 film The Misadventure of a French Gentleman Without Pants at the Zandvoort Beach (screenshot pictured) is one of the oldest surviving Dutch fictional films?
... that J.T. Alley, police chief of Lubbock, Texas, vowed in 1970 to shoot looters taking advantage of his city's devastating tornadoes?
... that Queen Millennia was combined by Harmony Gold and Carl Macek with another Leiji Matsumoto series, Captain Harlock, to create Captain Harlock and the Queen of a Thousand Years?
... that professional wrestler Alex Koslov was the first Russian to wrestle in Arena Coliseo, 72 years after it was built?
... that during the 2008–09 flu season in the United States, only 14.1% of influenza tests were positive for influenza?
... that Jerzy Borejsza, in charge of the Polish communist cultural policy in the early postwar years, was so influential that his network was called an "empire" or "state within a state"?
... that in the comic fantasy sitcom ElvenQuest, "The Chosen One" who will find the sacred Sword of Asnagar is a dog called "Amis"?
... that Spanish murderer Francisco Arce Montes developed an obsession with personal hygiene during his teenage years?

17:28, 8 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Sergeant Len Siffleet was the subject of a famous photograph (pictured) depicting an execution by the Japanese in World War II?
... that the 85-mile (137 km) Susquehannock Trail System hiking trail passes through the 30,253-acre (12,243 ha) Hammersley Wild Area, the largest area in Pennsylvania without a road?
... that the first season of Celebrity Bainisteoir was said to have "brought the worlds of celebrity and GAA club football crashing together", and the second season features Working Girls and Wonderwomen star Katherine Lynch and Miss Universe contender Andrea Roche?
... that at the age of 61, Junko Akimoto is the oldest singer to have a number one single in Japan?
... that professional wrestler Christopher Bauman first gained recognition in a ladder match described as "psychotic"?
... that Wandsworth Bridge has been described as "probably the least noteworthy bridge in London"?
... that staff at KLYC in McMinnville, Oregon, reported a paranormal "presence" in the radio station's previous studio building?

10:56, 8 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the Nuestra Señora de Loreto Church (pictured) in Mexico City may be in danger of collapsing?
... that the world's largest mathematical experiment, designed by Brian Butterworth, found women to be faster than men at subitizing?
... that Dunbrody Country House Hotel owner Kevin Dundon and Thornton's Restaurant owner Kevin Thornton of Heat were featured on Guerrilla Gourmet alongside Café Paradiso owner Denis Cotter, The Mustard Seed owner Dan Mullane and former Mint Restaurant proprietor Dylan McGrath?
... that BoA's Best of Soul made her the first non-Japanese Asian singer to have two million-selling albums in Japan?
... that Richard Nixon was approached to run in California's 12th congressional district election, 1946 only after local Republicans failed to interest General George Patton in the race?
... that in Dragon Ball Kai the story of Dragon Ball Z will be cut down to only one hundred episodes?
... that British Conservative Member of Parliament Sir Percy Hurd used to go round villages in Wiltshire telling funny stories?

03:49, 8 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the Rivoli Theater (pictured) in South Fallsburg, New York, was used as a fruit stand in the late 1990s?
... that a major weakness of the Japanese RED cipher arose from the desire to save money on telegrams?
... that Rufus Wainwright's EP Waiting for a Want features guest appearances by family members Martha Wainwright and Suzzy Roche and musicians Teddy Thompson and Joan Wasser?
... that Royal Navy officer Charles Elphinstone Fleeming was once challenged to a duel by his former subordinate, Charles John Napier?
... that Microsoft's Chrome project was so widely criticized by web developers for failing to meet media standards that the project was cancelled before it was released?
... that Italian Vice Consul Vito Positano saved the future Bulgarian capital Sofia from burning by the Ottoman army?
... that the Corgi Motorcycle Co Ltd.'s Corgi scooter was branded the "Indian Papoose" for the United States market?
... that actress Venida Evans has appeared as a "muse" in a series of IKEA television commercials which have been described as "surreal" and "creepy"?

7 May 2009

21:31, 7 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Quaker and abolitionist leader Levi Coffin (pictured), known as the President of the Underground Railroad, personally helped more than 2,000 slaves escape their masters?
... that "Share the World/We Are!" made K-pop boy band TVXQ the only foreign artist to have six number one singles in Japan?
... that Johannes Gerckens Bassøe was Norway's first permanent Governor of Svalbard?
... that Leroy E. "Ed" Parsons, co-founder of KVAS (now KKEE) in Astoria, Oregon, created the one of the first cable television systems in the United States?
... that in 1979, John Phillip Santos became the first Mexican-American Rhodes Scholar?
... that Del Rey Manga finds most of its translator talent from anime and manga fans at conventions since fluent English speakers who know enough Japanese are preferred over native Japanese translators?
... that Harrison Oxley was the youngest cathedral organist in Britain when he became organist of St Edmundsbury Cathedral at age 24?
... that Gold Toe Brands produces more than half the men's dress socks sold in United States department stores?

14:58, 7 May 2009 (UTC)

... that after an engagement (pictured) initiated by HMS Cleopatra, captained by Sir Robert Laurie, the larger French frigate Ville de Milan captured her attacker, but was so badly damaged in the battle that both ships were later captured in turn by HMS Leander?
... that R. Thamaraikani punched former Agriculture minister Veerapandi Arumugam during a debate in the Tamil Nadu state assembly in 1999?
... that the original radio studios of the station now called KLMG were located in California's Old Sacramento State Historic Park?
... that Hartvig Andreas Munthe, an aide-de-camp of King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway, was made Colonel in the turbulent year of 1905, only to die three months later?
... that the film Best: His Mother's Son was made in 2009 without the consent of George Best's family?
... that Hugh Stockwell rose from the rank of Major to that of Major General in fewer than five years?
... that the South Fallsburg, New York, Hebrew Association Synagogue has a full sukkah in its basement?
... that the host of The Political Cesspool was described as "ecstatic" that the show was included on the Southern Poverty Law Center's Hate Watch List?

07:13, 7 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Sultan Ghari (pictured), built in 1231 for Prince Nasiru'd-Din Mahmud, eldest son of Iltumish, was the first Islamic mausoleum in the "funerary landscape of Delhi"?
... that in 1994, Joseph Takahashi and his collaborators identified the genetic basis for circadian rhythms in mammals?
... that Harriman Historic District in Bristol, Pennsylvania, originally built to house workers of the Merchant Shipbuilding Corporation, was the largest single housing project undertaken by the EFC in World War I?
... that Wes Schulmerich turned down an offer to play football for Knute Rockne at Notre Dame, later becoming a Major League Baseball player?
... that South Africa's Take a Girl Child to Work Day started in 2003 to fight gender inequality in the workforce?
... that Rigoberto Torres and John Ahearn collaborated on the South Bronx Hall of Fame, monuments of ordinary people, as a response to the practice of enshrining public figures?
... that the Lipka Rebellion of 1672 was the only time that the Muslim Lipka Tatars mutinied against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth?
... that an early Washington National Opera, unrelated to its modern namesake, presented Bidu Sayão in her 1936 U.S. operatic debut with organ, not orchestra, accompaniment owing to a financial dispute?

6 May 2009

23:17, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

... that in 1907, the medieval Great Hall of Lytes Cary manor house (pictured) was being used as a cider store?
... that Alice Allison Dunnigan became the first African-American journalist to accompany a U.S. president while traveling?
... that Salbit, thought to have been the site of the biblical Shaalabbin, was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War?
... that Ann-Kristin Olsen was the first female chief of police in Norway as well as the first female Governor of Svalbard?
... that the Lake Chelan wine region petition was delayed because of a hold on all AVA approvals due to the Napa Valley sub-AVA controversy?
... that V. Ramaswami was the first Justice of the Supreme Court of India to face impeachment proceedings in independent India?
... that the cotton presses near Latta, South Carolina and Tarboro, North Carolina, are antebellum, animal-powered, handmade wooden presses?
... that in a 1997 Alaskan expedition, pathologist Johan Hultin retrieved samples of the 1918 influenza virus from the lungs of flu victims preserved by permafrost?

17:03, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

... that San Ildefonso College (pictured) in Mexico City is considered the birthplace of Mexican muralism?
... that Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura had his former wrestling tag team partner Stephen Cepello paint his official portraits?
... that the book Yellow Star is based on the true story of one of twelve children who survived the Lodz Ghetto?
... that Ida Henrietta Hyde was the first woman to receive a Ph.D. at the University of Heidelberg?
... that Cothelstone Manor was largely destroyed during the English Civil War and rebuilt 200 years later?
... that Derek and Alex King changed their defense twice in the course of prosecution for the murder of their father?
... that the encyclical Demandatam was issued in 1743 to ordain the full preservation of the Byzantine Rite in the Melkite Catholic Church?
... that Barbara McGuire invented the "Duo-Stamp," a two-sided rubber stamp that is popular with the stamping community?

09:26, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the blacktip shark (pictured) can reproduce asexually?
... that Thomas Henry Barry was Superintendent of the United States Military Academy from 1910 to 1912?
... that in his first TV series, Crusader (CBS, 1955–1956), Brian Keith portrayed fictional journalist Matt Anders, who during the Cold War liberates oppressed people from communism?
... that the medieval bishop Julian of Cuenca raised money for himself and the poor by making and selling baskets?
... that after a dam created a reservoir for the Delaware and Hudson Canal during the 19th century, it was later named Silver Lake and became an attraction for guests at the summer resorts near Woodridge, New York?
... that Fernanda Nissen was one of the two first film censors in Norway?
... that charitable initiatives championed by current First Spouses of the United States have included blankets for the homeless and development assistance in Rwanda?
... that the application of a spray-on condom was based on the logistics of a drive-through car wash?

02:49, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

... that environmentalists and ranchers worked with the Bureau of Land Management to restore riparian areas in the Trout Creek Mountains (pictured) of southeastern Oregon?
... that after being sentenced to a 14-year deportation in 1845, Norwegian Knud Bull became a pioneer in Australian landscape painting?
... that when architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed his American System-Built Homes, he produced over 900 working drawings, which was more than he made for any other project?
... that Fatma Aliye Topuz, whose portrait illustrates the reverse of the current 50 Turkish lira banknote, is credited as the first female Turkish and Muslim writer?
... that the Caricature Museum of Mexico City has featured cartoons and sketches by Frida Kahlo and Jose Clemente Orozco?
... that actor Jeff Bridges credits his mother, Dorothy Bridges, with passing down lessons she learned from acclaimed acting teacher Michael Chekhov to her children?
... that the library system of the University of Toronto is the fourth-largest academic library in North America?
... that Ward Van Orman was denied the 1925 Gordon Bennett Cup in ballooning for landing his balloon not on land, but on the deck of a ship?

5 May 2009

20:42, 5 May 2009 (UTC)

... that several types of Turkish carpets are now named after Renaissance artists who depicted them in paintings (example pictured)?
... that Johannes Sejersted Bødtker, Finland's Honorary Consul to Oslo, was held almost three years in a concentration camp during World War II?
... that the tugboat that towed log rafts across Upper Klamath Lake to the Algoma lumber mill in Algoma, Oregon, is now on display in the Collier Memorial State Park logging museum?
... that Samuel D. McDearmon played a critical role in developing the village of Appomattox Court House, where Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant?
... that based on the documents in the Liber instrumentorum memorialium the twelfth-century population of Montpellier and its environs has been estimated at 9,000 people?
... that Amalia Mesa-Bains, a Ph.D. psychologist, was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship for her artwork?
... that the Galapagos shark is often the most abundant shark around oceanic islands?
... that although professional wrestler Max Bauer won the 2008 Toxic Waltz tournament, it was not counted because he competed under a mask?

13:48, 5 May 2009 (UTC)

... that in the case of Ex parte Milligan, the convictions of Lambdin P. Milligan (pictured), Harrison H. Dodd and William A. Bowles were thrown out?
... that the town of Shenkeng is popularly known in Taiwan as the "Tofu Capital"?
... that in 1897, a Texas farmer discovered a UFO landed on his property: an airship operated by United States Army engineer Samuel Escue Tillman and inventor Amos Dolbear?
... that when the Rogue River eroded andesitic lava in the Rogue Valley, it created the Upper and Lower Table Rock geologic formations?
... that Frye's Measure Mill is the only remaining water-powered measure mill in the United States after some 150 years of operations?
... that when Richard Peek of Loddiswell became Sheriff of London, he paid for a missionary to visit the prisoners at Newgate Prison?
... that John Ruskin had wallpaper made for his study at Brantwood based on the design of a tablecloth in a painting of 1499 by Marco Marziale?
... that the fictitious newspaper article written by the journalist in the Parks and Recreation episode "The Reporter" was featured as a PDF file on the official NBC website?

07:25, 5 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the definition of monumental sculpture (example pictured) may vary depending on the period being discussed?
... that Rufus Wainwright's second studio album Poses features a song originally written by his father, Loudon Wainwright III?
... that St Joseph's Church, a Roman Catholic church in Brighton, England, was not officially dedicated until 100 years after building work started because a debt had not been settled?
... that The Grove at Ole Miss was called "the mother and mistress of outdoor ritual mayhem" for its legendary football game day tailgating by The New York Times?
... that Pacnews stopped reporting on Fijian news rather than submit to government censorship in the wake of the 2009 Fijian constitutional crisis?
... that the alfalfa grown on the Wendelin Grimm Farmstead in Carver County, Minnesota, became the source of varieties of alfalfa grown on 25,000,000 acres (10,000,000 ha) of the United States?
... that the Hallein Salt Mine is known for its long wooden slides for miners and tourists to descend into the mine?
... that although professional wrestler B-Boy lost a Loser Leaves Town match to Nate Webb in Combat Zone Wrestling in August 2005, he returned to the promotion the next month?

01:25, 5 May 2009 (UTC)

... that John Roach (pictured) rose from humble origins to establish America's largest postbellum shipbuilding empire, John Roach & Sons, which included the Etna Iron Works, the Morgan Iron Works, and the former Reaney shipyard, renamed the Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works?
... that the "Devil's Cigar" is a mushroom found only in Texas and Japan?
... that among French handball player Valérie Nicolas´ triumphs are victories at the World Championship, Champions League, EHF Cup, Cup Winners' Cup, and both French and Danish national championships?
... that an 1830s newspaper article in Freedom's Journal in favor of the free produce movement determined that the sugar consumption of 25 people required the toil of one slave?
... that British flight instructor Valentine Baker taught such noted pupils as Edward, Prince of Wales, Amy Johnson, and Lord Londonderry of the Air Ministry?
... that Johanson-Blizzard syndrome, a recessive congenital disorder, can cause abnormal development of the pancreas, nose and scalp, with mental retardation, hearing loss and growth failure?
... that in April 2009, Lim Hwee Hua became the first woman to be appointed a full Minister in Singapore's Cabinet?
... that the Royal Navy accepted Gay Viking and Gay Corsair into their service during the Second World War, with another 12 Gay class fast patrol boats joining in the 1950s?

4 May 2009

19:01, 4 May 2009 (UTC)

... that William H. Lewis (pictured) became the first African-American college football player in 1888 and the first African-American to serve as U.S. Assistant Attorney General in 1911?
... that the Conservative and Unionist Women's Franchise Association stymied anti-suffragists by denying them widespread Conservative Party support?
... that when Henrik Ibsen's play Brand was first staged in Norway, 38 years after it was published, Egil Eide played the title role?
... that Ki-a-Kuts Falls in Oregon were named after the last chief of the Atfalati band of Native Americans?
... that in 1950 former record-setting balloonist Thomas G. W. Settle was assigned to perform a nuclear test in the Aleutian islands?
... that the first series of British radio stand-up comedy show Mark Steel's in Town was recorded in Skipton, Boston, Lewes, Walsall, Merthyr Tydfil and the Isle of Portland?
... that Don Featherstone created over 750 plastic animals, but is most famous for the plastic flamingo?
... that fluffy bums suck on passion vine juice?

10:54, 4 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the crucified figure in Francisco Zurbarán's 1628 painting Saint Serapion (pictured) was based on a Mercedarian friar who fought and was martyred during the Third Crusade of 1196?
... that Frank Grouard, a famous scout during the Indian Wars, was believed by many to be an American Indian but actually came from the Society Islands in the South Pacific?
... that individual smalltooth sand tigers have been documented returning to the same location off Lebanon every summer?
... that Julian Myrick, an insurance businessman, was inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame for his promotion and administration of the sport in the United States?
... that on 28 February 1828, dozens of people died when The Emma was launched on the River Irwell in Manchester?
... that the Czech actor Bolek Polívka was involved in one of the oddest legal disputes in the history of the Czech Republic?
... that according to her autobiography Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas, Marguerite Johnson changed her name to Maya Angelou because it sounded more exotic?
... that volcanoes in the Puyehue Volcano complex may have produced some of the most primitive magmas in the Andes?

03:34, 4 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the fungus Hemileia vastatrix (pictured) which plagued the coffee industry in Ceylon from 1869 contributed to the growth of commercial tea production?
... that Studioteatret was started in Oslo by actors and students, including Jens Bolling, Liv Strømsted and Arne Thomas Olsen, who had secretly studied Stanislavski's theatre theories during World War II?
... that season 8 of Law & Order: Criminal Intent premiered April 2009 after a five-month delay, reportedly because the episodes with Jeff Goldblum were so "terrible" the production crew had to be changed?
... that Archie Roe, who scored South Shields F.C.'s first ever goal in The Football League, was then signed by the team he had scored it against?
... that a 2.5 million dollar climate change project in Basedth District, Cambodia, aims to improve water supply and increase rice production?
... that Major Caleb Huse purchased the majority of imported weapons used by the Confederate Army during the American Civil War?
... that the Kangchu system was instrumental in driving Johor's economy during the 19th century?
... that Arizona Territorial Governor Alexander Oswald Brodie pardoned Pearl Hart under the condition the stagecoach robber left the territory?

3 May 2009

21:14, 3 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the Panzer Battle Badge (pictured) was designed by Wilhelm Ernst Peekhaus, a designer of five other Wehrmacht badges?
... that a rare, iridescent purple pearl worth thousands of U.S. dollars was found in a plate of steamed clams at a Florida restaurant?
... that Gerhard Munthe, a painter, illustrator and chair of the National Gallery of Norway, lost his wife to explorer Fridtjof Nansen?
... that the Persian embassy to Europe in 1599–1602 aimed at establishing a Christian–Persian alliance against the Ottoman Empire?
... that Patrick Murphy Malin was expected to become head of the family bank, but instead served as executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union?
... that patients with the congenital vascular malformation double aortic arch have two aortic arches, instead of one, which form a vascular ring that can compress the trachea?
... that the Indian Fields Methodist Campground in South Carolina has been used for camp meetings and religious gatherings for over 160 years?
... that the erotic-philosophical film I + People = ? was created by Leonid Konovalov, a homeless Russian who has not showered in 19 years?

15:50, 3 May 2009 (UTC)

a

... that South Korean boy band TVXQ (pictured) became the first foreign artist to have four number-one singles on the Japanese single charts?
... that Leonard T. "Max" Schroeder Jr. was the first American soldier to land in Normandy from an assault boat on D-Day in World War II?
... that more than a quarter of freshwater fishes that have been discovered in rivers and streams of southwestern Sri Lanka are endemic?
... that the Norwegian novelist and editor of Vinduet, Henrik Langeland, wrote a doctoral thesis on Marcel Proust?
... that the Department of Central Eurasian Studies at Indiana University began as a specialized U.S. Army training program during the Second World War?
... that al-Batani al-Sharqi, a depopulated Palestinian village near Gaza, was originally founded as a ranch by the Umayyad caliph Muawiyah I in the 8th century?
... that James D. Hutton was a pioneer photographer of the northern Rockies who betrayed the plans for the Federal defense of Alexandria, Virginia, to the Confederacy early in the American Civil War?
... that the 1957–1958 CBS sitcom Dick and the Duchess was one of the few American television series filmed in England?

08:47, 3 May 2009 (UTC)

... that 14-year-old Raymond Steed (pictured) was the youngest person in the British services to die in battle during the Second World War, when his ship SS Empire Morn was damaged by a mine?
... that the 2009 World Wrestling Entertainment Draft featured seven selections that affected seven of the company's nine championships?
... that before becoming director general of the Norwegian State Railways in 1924, Eivind Heiberg was the director of the manufacturing company Skabo Jernbanevognfabrikk?
... that Queen Latifah's rendition of "I'll Be Seeing You" from the Broadway musical Right This Way during the 81st Academy Awards In Memoriam tribute was the annual tribute's first vocal accompaniment?
... that Jan Konopka was a Polish cavalry commander in the Napoleonic period, a general, a Baron of the French Empire, and was decorated with the Légion d'honneur?
... that "Broke", a fifth season episode of The Office, was directed by lead actor Steve Carell himself?
... that Hamby Park in Hillsboro, Oregon, is named after the owner of a Chevrolet car dealership?
... that the Dragon Goby, which looks like a tiny dragon, is actually an almost blind and totally harmless fish?

02:02, 3 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the Boeng Tonle Chhmar wildlife sanctuary in Cambodia is home to many rare, vulnerable and endangered species including the Brahminy Kite (pictured)?
... that although Leo Wolman was once director of research for the Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union, his criticisms of unions led directly to the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947?
... that the extreme luminosity observed for supernova 2005gj could be explained by the incidence of a quark nova?
... that after professional wrestler "the New Horror" Sami Callihan won the CZW Iron Man Championship, he renamed it the "CZW New Horror Championship"?
... that George Habash, founder of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was a survivor of the Lydda Death March of July 1948?
... that NBC network executive Perry Lafferty produced the 1985 television movie An Early Frost, one of the first dramatic films to deal with the subject of HIV / AIDS?
... that the first chapter of Hamamatsu Chūnagon Monogatari, an eleventh-century Japanese tale, no longer exists?
... that David Shaw, who won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism for coverage of the McMartin preschool trial, got his first writing job at age 16 filling in at a motorcycle race for an absent reporter?

2 May 2009

19:47, 2 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the CQC-6 knife (pictured) by Ernest Emerson was first developed for a US Navy SEAL Team, and went on to popularize the concept of the "tactical folding knife"?
... that the Anyangcheon, a river in Gyeonggi Province and Seoul City of South Korea, is home to a variety of wildlife such as goldfish, Grey Heron and Northern Shoveler?
... that the day the Parks and Recreation episode "Canvassing" aired on NBC, it captured almost one million viewers more than its direct ABC time-slot competitor, Samantha Who?
... that John Henry Turpin, who survived the catastrophic explosions of USS Maine in 1898 and USS Bennington in 1905, was one of the first African American Chief Petty Officers of the United States Navy?
... that Bobby Cowell only played for one professional club during his entire football career (Newcastle United)?
... that the ending of the South Park episode "Fatbeard" mirrors the resolution of the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama by Somalian pirates?
... that the linguistic works of Daniel Gravius are used by modern scholars to shed light on the society of the 17th-century Siraya people of Taiwan?
... that over 100 countries are represented and almost 170 languages are spoken in the ethnic enclaves of New York City?

13:39, 2 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Zen master Línjì Yìxuán (pictured) once jumped up, grabbed a monk, shouted at him, and then called him a "shit stick" in an episode of Dharma combat?
... that American journalist Phelan Beale, Jr. was a son of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and a brother of Edith Bouvier Beale, whose lives were highlighted in the documentary Grey Gardens?
... that the Foothill Yellow-legged Frog secretes an anti-fungal protein from its skin to prevent infections by various fungi such as Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis?
... that during the First Great Migration, the majority of Shubuta, Mississippi, moved to Albany, New York, with some recreating a religious rural community in Rapp Road Community Historic District?
... that protected areas of Sri Lanka such as Sinharaja Forest Reserve account for 26.5 percent of the total area of Sri Lanka?
... that Anshei Glen Wild Synagogue in Glen Wild, New York, is so small it has never had its own rabbi?
... that Norwegian politician Lars T. Platou was an electrical engineer and farmer by occupation?
... that the term maverick, referring to an animal without a brand, came from Texas land baron Samuel Maverick who was notorious for not branding his cattle?

06:41, 2 May 2009 (UTC)

... that having observed the four sights as a young prince, Gautama Buddha (statue pictured) realized the sufferings in life and started an ascetic life against his father's wish?
... that Gerontion is a poem by T. S. Eliot that was first published in 1920 which relates the opinions and impressions of a gerontic, or elderly man?
... that Brian McMenamin graduated with a degree in political science, but is co-owner of the McMenamins chain of brewpubs?
... that The Magnet was the first film to give James Fox a starring role, at the age of 11?
... that Julie Wainwright was CEO of one of the shortest-lived public companies on record?
... that in Breaking the Spell, the author discusses how she helped plan an assassination plot against a U.S. Attorney while at Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh's commune in Rajneeshpuram, Oregon?
... that José Sabogal was "the most renowned early supporter" of the artistic indigenist movement of Peru?
... that openly gay actor John Barrowman was one of the final candidates for the role of the gay character Will in the pilot episode of Will & Grace, but lost to heterosexual Eric McCormack for not being "gay enough"?

00:48, 2 May 2009 (UTC)

... that The Wall Street Journal purchased computers belonging to al-Qaeda leaders found in the rubble of Mohammed Atef's (pictured) house?
... that Poricy Park in New Jersey is known for allowing limited collecting at its Cretaceous-era fossil shell beds?
... that director/screenwriter Kang Dae-ha from Jeju Island, South Korea, directed films related to Korean shamanism?
... that Disappearing Model, a body painting in which a model is painted so that she is indistinguishable from her background, is Joanne Gair's most famous work and was displayed on Ripley's Believe It or Not!?
... that although Darius Danesh did not win the first series of Pop Idol, he still achieved a number-one single with "Colourblind"?
... that the Australian Army's 1965–6 secret incursions into Indonesia during Australia's involvement in the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation were not officially acknowledged until 1996?
... that then Conservative party leader William Hague and former Eastenders actor Michael Cashman campaigned for the 1999 Lichfield Council election?
... that after Daniel Shanks and John Wrench calculated pi to 100,000 decimal digits, a bound, gold-inscribed printout of the digits was presented to the Smithsonian Institution?

1 May 2009

19:26, 1 May 2009 (UTC)

... that an air well (pictured) collects water by promoting the condensation of moisture from air?
... that Wilco's upcoming studio album is expected to feature a duet with Canadian singer Feist?
... that Islam and Protestantism have an early history of mutual support against Catholicism, and share some common attitudes to faith, such as textual criticism and iconoclasm?
... that Johnny Madison Williams Jr., one of the most successful bank robbers in American history, was nicknamed "The Shootist" by the FBI because of his modus operandi of firing into the air at the beginning of each heist?
... that the Kyshtym disaster was a serious nuclear accident in 1957, which resulted in permanent evacuation of about 10,000 people?
... that Benjamin Edwards, who expanded the privately-held A. G. Edwards into the largest U.S. brokerage firm headquartered outside of New York City, owned the world's largest collection of Imari porcelain?
... that both members of Duo Crommelynck, a noted classical piano duo, committed suicide in 1994, the only known such case in classical music history?
... that children in the high-altitude gold mining town of Kimberly, Utah, attended school from April through November to avoid the deep snows of winter?

12:50, 1 May 2009 (UTC)

... that Captain (later Rear Admiral) Otto Becher (pictured) was awarded both the Distinguished Service Order and United States Legion of Merit as commander of HMAS Warramunga during the Korean War?
... that the 1956 film Lovers and Lollipops, by indie filmmaker Morris Engel, was noted for its realism and New York City locations, and influenced the French New Wave?
... that although the steam-powered SS Clan Alpine had a maximum forwards speed of 10.5 knots (19.4 km/h), on her final journey she went backwards at 35 knots (65 km/h)?
... that Joey Hamilton held five baseball records at Georgia Southern University until 1995?
... that in 2008, the Triumph Bonneville America was updated with electronic fuel injection to meet European legislation and had the fuel injectors concealed by dummy carburettors?
... that a 1.5 million dollar land concession project in Sameakki Mean Chey District, Cambodia, will provide land to 732 of the poorest farming families?
... that the Kröd Mändoon episode "Our Bounties Ourselves" included an almost verbatim parody of George W. Bush's famous "Fool me once" speech gaffe?

06:44, 1 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the history of the underwire bra (patent pictured) dates back to 1893 when Marie Tucek patented a "breast supporter" that used a metal or cardboard support under the breasts?
... that Kevin Walton and Richard Butson were the first to climb several Antarctic peaks, with both of them going on to receive the Albert Medal for heroism and the Polar Medal?
... that Festival Republic has replaced Aiken Promotions as co-organiser of Stradbally Hall's boutique Electric Picnic arts-and-music festival in 2009?
... that Obadiah Rich was a diplomat and bibliographer specializing in Latin American works whose younger brother William Rich was a botanist with the United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–42?
... that the Federal Works Agency funded and supervised the construction of housing, public health facilities, and schools for communities impacted by fast-growing defense industries during World War II?
... that architect Georg Andreas Bull designed about sixty railway stations, including the Krøderen Station from 1872?
... that the butterflyfish species Forcipiger longirostris has the longest Hawaiian name for any fish: lauwiliwilinukunukuʻoiʻoi?
... that Ohave Shalom Synagogue was founded when the members of the existing synagogue in Woodridge, New York, had a dispute over who would be the community's ritual slaughterer of animals?

00:19, 1 May 2009 (UTC)

... that the tiny commune of La Porta, with only 196 inhabitants (1999 census), has the most famous Baroque church and belltower (pictured) in Corsica?
... that the Welbike was the smallest motorcycle ever used by the British Armed Forces?
... that Baton Rouge attorney Dan Claitor was elected in 2009 to the Louisiana State Senate despite his fellow Republican, Governor Bobby Jindal endorsing his opponent?
... that the problem of deforestation in Costa Rica in the 1980s and early 1990s was referenced in Michael Crichton's 1990 novel, Jurassic Park?
... that, although professional wrestlers Kurt and Karl Von Steiger won the AWA World Tag Team Championship, their title reign is not recognized because the previous champions were not authorized to lose the title?
... that the 64-pillared 17th century marble monument Chausath Khamba is a tomb for Mirz Aziz Koka?
... that Jeffrey Zients, the new United States Chief Performance Officer, was in a club that tried to buy the Washington Nationals baseball team?
... that Sofmap, a Japanese retailer, released a collector's box of Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns that mirrors the design of erotic eroge games?