This is a record of material that was recently featured on the Main Page as part of Did you know (DYK). Recently created new articles, greatly expanded former stub articles and recently promoted good articles are eligible; you can submit them for consideration.
Archives are generally grouped by month of Main Page appearance. (Currently, DYK hooks are archived according to the date and time that they were taken off the Main Page.) To find which archive contains the fact that appeared on Did you know, go to article's talk page and follow the archive link in the DYK talk page message box.
Did you know...
31 August 2021
- 12:00, 31 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that in the Wild West pioneers used to hunt wolves and coyotes with American Staghounds (example pictured)?
- ... that William Trench, 5th Earl of Clancarty, had eight children, three of whom also became earls of Clancarty?
- ... that the Taliban secured victory in the Battle of Lashkargah soon after suicide–car-bombing the police headquarters, a crucial chokepoint of the city's defense?
- ... that sensors suggest that Lorraine Lambert's new bra has improved her chances of winning a Paralympic medal for shooting?
- ... that in his 1683 work Qingzhen Zhinan, Chinese Islamic scholar Ma Zhu recommended the "official persecution" of Sufis?
- ... that Dayak journalist Tjilik Riwut led the first Indonesian Air Force airborne operation in 1947?
- ... that a Viking ship sailed to Brazil?
- ... that a 2020 congressional election in New York had a sticky problem?
- 00:10, 31 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that in Bio's Bahnhof, a German live music talk show presented by Alfred Biolek (pictured) in a former train depot, Kate Bush made her first television appearance?
- ... that refugee swimmer Abbas Karimi, who competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, has won national championships in Afghanistan, Turkey and the US?
- ... that during the Fall of Herat a United Nations office in Herat was attacked, killing a security guard?
- ... that the world record for the greatest weight supported by a brick bridge was broken on the French version of Lego Masters?
- ... that Mary Cutts was told that her memoir on Dolley Madison needed more emphasis on "important men and masculine subjects"?
- ... that S. Isaac, Campbell & Company, a British firm, was a major supplier of arms to the Confederacy during the American Civil War?
- ... that French king Louis XVI appointed Benjamin Franklin to head the Royal Commission on Animal Magnetism?
- ... that poet Trina de Moya was the first Dominican presidential wife to be called first lady?
30 August 2021
- 12:00, 30 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that there is an annual holiday for dancing pallbearers in Suriname (examples pictured)?
- ... that when Paralympian Issy Bailey was in Stoke Mandeville Hospital, she had so many injuries that taking up shooting seemed to be the best option?
- ... that the Zuijin Teiki Emaki, a 13th-century Japanese painted handscroll, presents nine equestrian portraits of some of the Imperial Guards who protected the Daijō Tennō?
- ... that Nova Iriansyah, the governor of Aceh, was expelled from elementary school as a child?
- ... that when the 68-story Metropolitan Tower in New York City was being built, its developer was forced to stop marketing it as a 78-story building?
- ... that Kangmei Pharmaceutical's financial fraud was initially described as an "accounting error"?
- ... that William McAndrew, the superintendent of Chicago Public Schools, was accused of being an agent of George V, King of the United Kingdom?
- ... that Yoko Ono's song "Beautiful Boys" incorporates sound effects from the first Star Wars film?
- 00:00, 30 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that Fernando Alonso (pictured in car) finished third at the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix while his Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa crashed out at the first corner?
- ... that coins issued by Baalshillem II, the Phoenician king of Sidon, were the first Sidonian coins to bear minting dates corresponding to the king's year of reign?
- ... that the Dalai Lama's 2008 Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy was a proposal aiming for autonomy rather than full independence for Tibet?
- ... that Research Policy is regarded as the leading journal in the field of innovation studies?
- ... that the card game Comet, originally called Manille, was renamed in 1682 after the appearance of Halley's Comet?
- ... that British brigadier Victor Jaques was almost killed by friendly fire from an American aircraft in Bangkok in 1945?
- ... that Chuck Mosley described the distinctive singing style used throughout his career as "screaming to the beat, like ranting"?
- ... that Alia Issa, the first woman competitor to enter during the 2020 Paralympics opening ceremony, is the first female refugee to compete at any Paralympic Games?
29 August 2021
- 12:00, 29 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that Claus Guth (pictured), recognised internationally for directing the 1999 premiere of Berio's Cronaca del luogo at the Salzburg Festival, later received two Faust awards?
- ... that the world's 82 million refugees will be represented at the 2020 Summer Paralympics by the Refugee Paralympic Team?
- ... that George Orwell said of Mairin Mitchell's Storm over Spain (1937) that it was "written by a Catholic, but very sympathetic to the Spanish Anarchists"?
- ... that the W71 nuclear warhead had a tamper made of gold?
- ... that Theodore Roosevelt sent National Baptist Convention president Elias Camp Morris to investigate atrocities committed in the Congo Free State?
- ... that Brachystelma tumakurense's stem is so weak that it sometimes bends under the weight of leaves and flowers?
- ... that Tonic Immobility's "pure, undiluted chaos" is "an escape from the realities of the world"?
- ... that after Thomas Doughty was sentenced to death by Francis Drake, the two men dined and received communion together just before Doughty's execution?
- 00:00, 29 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that Marie Antoinette with a Rose (pictured) by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun was a Salon exhibition replacement for her criticized portrait of the queen wearing a chemise?
- ... that particle physicist Arden Warner invented a magnetism-based method for cleaning up oil spills?
- ... that thousands of political prisoners in Indonesia were interned in the Waeapo River valley in Buru?
- ... that Linda Watson, a dramatic soprano born in San Francisco who made a career in Europe, is proud of a Grammy nomination for Wagner's Ring cycle with her as Brünnhilde?
- ... that after appointing the Gavrilița Cabinet, Moldova is only one of two republics in the world where the non-collective head of state and head of government are both currently women?
- ... that Natalie Simanowski began her "second life" as a Paralympian cyclist after being attacked by someone described as a "psychopath"?
- ... that Bicellariella ciliata, Crisularia plumosa, Bugulina flabellata and Bugulina turbinata form part of a bryozoan "turf" on steep or vertical rock exposed to moderate water movement?
- ... that Rosa Egipcíaca was the first black woman in Brazil to write a book?
28 August 2021
- 12:00, 28 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that taxidermist James Dickinson mounted the Armley Hippo (pictured), a hippopotamus native to Yorkshire that is at least 113,000 years old?
- ... that Raymond Hood designed the American Radiator Building with a black-and-gold facade because he thought that other buildings' windows looked like waffles?
- ... that Kylie Minogue's seventh studio album, Light Years, was her first number-one album in her native Australia?
- ... that the HSBC Tower was the largest structure to be constructed in its vicinity since the Empire State Building fifty years earlier?
- ... that dyadic rationals, fractions based on powers of two, can be easier to work with than other kinds of fractions for both schoolchildren and computers?
- ... that three high-ranking officers of USRC Robert McClelland remained with the ship after it surrendered and entered Confederate service?
- ... that the Russian wheelchair fencer Ksenia Ovsyannikova toured the United States on a "mission for inclusion" in 2017?
- ... that while writing Scary Stories for Young Foxes, Christian McKay Heidicker, under his agent's advice, "added a snuggle for every snarl"?
- 00:00, 28 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that the Columbia University mascot, Roar-ee the Lion (pictured), inspired the creation of the MGM Lion?
- ... that Johannes Schott of Strasbourg took over the printing company of his father, Martin Schott, in around 1500, and printed texts by Protestant reformers such as Ulrich von Hutten and Martin Luther?
- ... that Presidential Ballots, 1836–1892 was reviewed by Richard P. McCormick, who wrote that it "should stimulate a host of studies in the little-explored field of American political behavior"?
- ... that Rock Demers was spurred to make The Dog Who Stopped the War after reading an article on youth suicide?
- ... that soaking a paper banknote in 50% (v/v) alcohol fuel can create a fireproof banknote?
- ... that after the 2001 fall of Kabul, young men lined up to have their beards shaved off?
- ... that Coral Bell believed that Ric Throssell had tried unsuccessfully to recruit her as a Soviet spy in Canberra?
- ... that the Land of Lost Content contains bluebirds from the Blue Bird Toffee factory gates, tickets from the first National Lottery draw and a Sinclair C5?
27 August 2021
- 12:00, 27 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that Jacqueline Kennedy found the Resolute desk (pictured) languishing in the White House basement and had it moved to the Oval Office?
- ... that Erich Witte was the first performer of the title role of Britten's Peter Grimes in Berlin?
- ... that the SS Alpena, currently the oldest active steamship on the Great Lakes, was shortened by 120 feet (37 m) in 1991?
- ... that the over 349,000 signatures collected in favour of the Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen & Co. initiative set a new record for the number of signatures collected for a Berlin referendum?
- ... that wheelchair racer Nathan Maguire, who is scheduled to compete at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, appeared on a British gameshow with his partner in 2020?
- ... that Operation Hectic, an operation planned by the Rhodesian security forces to assassinate Robert Mugabe, was called off three hours before it was due to start?
- ... that Sigismund III transferred Poland's capital from Kraków to Warsaw in 1596?
- ... that during the 2013 Nutellagate controversy, students at Columbia University were accused of costing the university $5,000 in dining hall Nutella per week?
- 00:00, 27 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that the New Zealand tree mountain neinei (example pictured) can live for up to 600 years?
- ... that as general director of the Grand Theatre in Łódź, bass singer Kazimierz Kowalski led a worldwide television broadcast of Moniuszko's The Haunted Manor?
- ... that two school districts in Kentucky protested against a statewide mandate to hang a copy of the United States national motto by showing oversized $1 bills and 1¢ coins, which contain the motto?
- ... that the death of Uyghur writer Nurmuhemmet Tohti has been linked to mistreatment in the Xinjiang internment camps, a claim China denies?
- ... that New York City's James B. Duke House was modeled after a French chateau and designed by an architect who did not have a formal architectural education?
- ... that Dr. Jodie Lewis led a team of students from the University of Worcester and volunteer archaeologists in excavating the first timber circle discovered in Somerset?
- ... that while Bubsy 3D is often labeled as one of the worst video games of all time, it had a positive to mixed reception around its initial release?
- ... that you could travel with stuffed animals on the Asahiyama Zoo KiHa 183 series train service?
26 August 2021
- 12:00, 26 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that Herma Albertson Baggley (pictured) was the first woman to be on staff full-time as a naturalist with the United States National Park Service at Yellowstone National Park?
- ... that Zaranj was the first Afghan provincial capital to be captured by the Taliban since the Battle of Kunduz in 2016?
- ... that it took more than a decade for Michael M. Thomas to secure a publisher for his eighth novel, which was rejected by approximately 25 publishing houses?
- ... that the 2014-built ERV Nene Hatun is Turkey's first emergency response vessel?
- ... that prosecutors who worked to convict Kevin Strickland in 1979 now say they believe him to be innocent?
- ... that the freshwater leech Haemopis sanguisuga sometimes emerges from the water to hunt for earthworms?
- ... that before she was elected to the Parliament of Armenia, Maria Karapetyan spray-painted political graffiti on the streets of Yerevan in support of Nikol Pashinyan?
- ... that Chinese biblical scholar Zhu Weizhi believed that Jesus was a proletarian?
- 00:00, 26 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that the six-year-old steel freighter Cayuga (pictured) was sunk by a wooden freighter twenty years older than her?
- ... that limonene, a compound found in orange peels, can cause balloon popping based on the "like dissolves like" principle?
- ... that it took over a decade for Michael M. Thomas to secure a publisher for his eighth novel, which was rejected by approximately 25 publishing houses?
- ... that on Quebec's maps, the land border with Newfoundland and Labrador must have a separate symbol in the map's legend from other interprovincial boundaries?
- ... that Shirley Chiang captured the first image of individual benzene molecules?
- ... that although Steinitz's theorem is commonly used to describe convex polyhedra using graph theory, its original formulation did not use graphs?
- ... that Robert McLean served as a missionary in Chile for six years before moving to Oregon, where he founded two churches and was elected to the state legislature?
- ... that Philip Rusher patented a paper-saving typeface with no descenders in 1802, but only a few books ever used it?
25 August 2021
- 12:00, 25 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that the owner of Grand Central Terminal sued the developer of One Vanderbilt (pictured) and the New York City government for $1.1 billion over air rights?
- ... that Fred Marples felt it was the duty of all Canadians to ensure the strongest possible national team at the Olympics?
- ... that Basilico's, an Italian restaurant in Huntington Beach, California, does not admit diners who are either masked or vaccinated against COVID-19?
- ... that in Why Marx Was Right, author Terry Eagleton aims to refute ten common objections to Marxism?
- ... that Ng Yu Zhi owned the only Pagani Huayra in Singapore?
- ... that the melody of "Nimm, o Gott, die Gaben, die wir bringen", an offertory hymn written in 2009, is taken from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar?
- ... that the foraminiferan Marginopora vertebralis releases its embryos by means of a surprisingly complex behaviour for a single-celled organism?
- ... that Thomas Earle had his slave-ship Annabella seized by the British Crown, not for slave trading, but for slave trading with the enemy?
- 00:00, 25 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that "I Knew You Were Trouble" made Taylor Swift (pictured) the first artist to have two songs each sell over 400,000 digital copies within the first week of release in the U.S.?
- ... that Konbaung-dynasty general U Din Kyaw Khaung was the only warrior said to have continued fighting after his death?
- ... that the Chestnut Centre was the first place in the UK where giant otters were successfully bred in captivity?
- ... that Australian soprano Ada Baker toured India and China before becoming a singing teacher in Perth in 1889?
- ... that 537 Votes, documenting the controversial 2000 United States presidential election in Florida, was released in the run-up to the 2020 United States presidential election?
- ... that Paralympian Gemma Collis-McCann, who sits on wheelchair fencing's new Gender Equity Commission, has been chosen to join three men as the UK's wheelchair fencing team in Tokyo?
- ... that the Port of Krueng Geukueh in Aceh, Indonesia, became an entry point for aid shipments as it was not damaged by the 2004 tsunami?
- ... that one of Hong Kong YouTuber Mama Cheung's most viewed videos shows her using a rice cooker to bake a cake?
24 August 2021
- 12:00, 24 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that the first flag carried in the 2020 Paralympics opening ceremony was scheduled to be that of the International Paralympic Committee (pictured), with Ileana Rodriguez as the flag-bearer?
- ... that Rukhshana Media is named after a young woman called Rukhshana who was stoned to death in Afghanistan in 2015?
- ... that in 1985, Captain Dale Snodgrass was chosen as "Fighter Pilot of the Year" and was called the real "Maverick" from Top Gun?
- ... that there are no trees around Lake Letsie, since its entire catchment area is above the tree line?
- ... that Carl Cotton was the first black taxidermist to work at the Field Museum of Natural History after being hired in 1947?
- ... that John Lennon and Yoko Ono recorded Ono's song "Remember Love" in a Montreal hotel room that has been a tourist draw ever since?
- ... that radio station KCON in Conway, Arkansas, shut down twice on March 10?
- ... that the manufacturers of Hedgehog Flavour Crisps were taken to court under the Trade Descriptions Act as they did not contain actual hedgehog?
- 00:00, 24 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that the predatory sea slug Tubulophilinopsis gardineri (pictured) hunts other sea slugs by following the mucus trails they leave?
- ... that the Kurdish-Armenian politician Knyaz Hasanov chaired the Armenian Parliament in 2017 and 2021?
- ... that during the Edo period, commoners used semi-cursive script while scholars used regular script?
- ... that Aisha de Sequeira led Morgan Stanley's mergers and acquisitions in India when it was the top bank by the value of its deals in 2012?
- ... that President Theodore Roosevelt described the declining birthrate of the United States as a form of "race suicide", citing a term coined by eugenicist Edward Alsworth Ross?
- ... that David Ahl purchased BASIC-8 to sell with the PDP-8 when DEC management proved more interested in their own FOCAL language?
- ... that although Pixie Davies has been performing in films since 2012, her breakout role came in Disney's Mary Poppins Returns in 2018?
- ... that according to local legend, Piers Shonks, whose tomb can be seen in the Brent Pelham church, killed a dragon ravaging the district?
23 August 2021
- 12:00, 23 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that Queen Maria Comnena (pictured) abducted her daughter and coerced her into divorcing to place her on the throne of Jerusalem?
- ... that technical standard NZS 3604 is used to design and construct about 93 per cent of New Zealand's light timber-framed buildings?
- ... that Geoffrey Guy's company GW Pharmaceuticals was the first to obtain regulatory approval for a medicine based on cannabis?
- ... that University of Toronto professor Hermann Boeschenstein published two novels during his lifetime, 56 years apart?
- ... that the Taylor Swift song "London Boy" features a spoken-word intro by English actor Idris Elba?
- ... that the black-and-red broadbill lays eggs in three color morphs?
- ... that Donald Mastick accidentally swallowed plutonium in August 1944, and his breath became radioactive?
- ... that the finale of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 31 sees a gradual "return to life" and ends with a "passionate" and "heroic" coda?
- 00:00, 23 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that in his early life, Joe Biden (pictured) was known by his classmates for his cramming abilities?
- ... that Phyllis Le Cappelaine Burke helped found the Sydney chapter of the St. Joan Social and Political Alliance, which advocated for equal rights for women?
- ... that films from the Long Bow Trilogy depict the same village and villagers mentioned in Fanshen?
- ... that a willow maze in Sussex, England, planted in the shape of a quotation from the Bible in the 1990s, only came to wider notice when it was spotted on Google Earth in 2013?
- ... that mathematician Gunilla Kreiss, the daughter of Heinz-Otto Kreiss, later became his granddaughter?
- ... that the Dragos Gemelos are two entwined dragon trees said to represent twin brothers who dueled for the love of a woman?
- ... that Miao Poya successfully campaigned to change her high school's uniform policy before becoming one of the first Taipei city councillors to be openly lesbian?
22 August 2021
- 12:00, 22 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that the Leschenault Lady (pictured), which is believed to be the oldest operational Australian-built steam locomotive, is returning to steam today (22 August) after a lengthy overhaul?
- ... that due to shortages, American supply in the Siegfried Line campaign made use of thousands of rounds of captured ammunition?
- ... that the Australian case Bradley v Commonwealth held that it was unlawful to unilaterally cut off telephones to a Rhodesian information office?
- ... that Louis Hempelmann wrote a paper in 1949 that warned of the dangers of shoe stores using fluoroscopes to measure the size of children's feet?
- ... that Royal Engineers officer Leslie Innes Jacques received the Military Cross for constructing a bridge under heavy fire during the Hundred Days Offensive in 1918?
- ... that the budget process in the United States Senate often ends in a vote-a-rama?
- ... that Maki Kaji formulated the name "Sudoku" while scrambling to get to a horse race?
- ... that New Zealand writer Jessie Weston wrote for William Ernest Henley's magazine for 18 months without him knowing she was a woman?
- 00:00, 22 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that Quinn (pictured) became the first out, transgender, non-binary athlete to medal at the Summer Olympic Games when they won gold with the Canada national soccer team?
- ... that Giedrė Šlekytė conducted a version of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte for children at the 2018 Salzburg Festival, and Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites at the Oper Frankfurt in 2021?
- ... that your attention can be stolen?
- ... that Eli Bebout, a future Speaker of the Wyoming House of Representatives, was first elected as a write-in candidate?
- ... that the 1959 song "Go, Jimmy, Go" by Jimmy Clanton was originally offered to Bobby Rydell with the title "Go, Bobby, Go"?
- ... that police negotiator Max Vernon told the actor portraying him in 6 Days that "you've been wrongly cast. You're two inches shorter than me and I have more hair"?
- ... that Diving With a Purpose, a nonprofit focused on maritime archaeology, helped identify and document the wreck of the 18th-century Portuguese slave ship São José Paquete Africa?
- ... that the Q contains a drawing of "a buff Ned Flanders from The Simpsons with protruding nipples"?
21 August 2021
- 12:00, 21 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that the Unisphere (pictured) was designed based on a doodle on the back of an envelope?
- ... that plant biology professor Luca Comai independently developed glyphosate-resistant plants while working at Calgene and published his research before Monsanto researchers were able to?
- ... that Zollstock, a district of Cologne, takes its name from a local tollhouse?
- ... that Bridget Burgess's mother Sarah once changed all four tires during a pit stop by herself?
- ... that Zheng Kai first lost weight and then gained 20 kilograms (44 lb) for his role in Never Stop?
- ... that the composer Francis Burt, who came from London and settled in Vienna, was inspired by the drumming of the Nigerian Ibo people?
- ... that in 1952 meteorologist Harry Volkman delivered the first on-air tornado warning on Oklahoma City's WKY-TV, in defiance of a federal ban on the practice?
- ... that Pierre Kaufmann helped install the first radio telescope in Brazil, which was later destroyed by cows?
- 00:00, 21 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that reports of Julie Wera's (pictured) death were greatly exaggerated?
- ... that Kanye West recorded a music video for "RoboCop" that casts his ex-girlfriend Amber Rose as a robot?
- ... that American physician and marathon runner Joan Ullyot was one of the key figures in successfully lobbying for a women’s marathon in the Olympic Games?
- ... that in addition to running Bangkok's first power station, the Siam Electricity Company also operated half the city's tram lines and a fire brigade?
- ... that Yasin Zia, while Chief of General Staff of Afghanistan, personally led government forces against the Taliban on the edge of Mihtarlam, 120 km (75 mi) from Kabul?
- ... that Kulgoa was the largest wooden ferry to serve on Sydney Harbour?
- ... that Louise Heims Beck co-founded the American Theatre Wing and was responsible for overseeing the organization of the 1st Tony Awards?
- ... that the Punch Bowl Inn in Lancashire was reputed to be haunted by the ghost of a highwayman?
20 August 2021
- 12:00, 20 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that because the hand in the Shrine of Saint Lachtin's Arm (pictured) is clenched rather than open, it is assumed to have functioned as a battle standard or a talisman?
- ... that when King Hugh III of Cyprus tried to force a marriage on his vassal, Lady Isabella of Beirut, the Egyptian sultan Baibars declared himself her protector?
- ... that Queen of Peace Cemetery opened early because Cemetery of the Holy Rood filled up due to the COVID-19 pandemic?
- ... that architect Robert Marquis believed that architecture should meet "the users' spiritual and psychological needs" in addition to being functional?
- ... that the Qing-dynasty erotic novel Shenlou zhi has been called "the earliest novel by far" to describe the opium trade in China?
- ... that Scott Lee Kimball killed three of his four known victims while he was working as an FBI informant?
- ... that Yoko Ono considered her 1971 song "Listen, the Snow Is Falling" to be the first pop song she ever wrote?
- ... that the Australian rugby sevens player Dietrich Roache kept the Australian national sprint champion out of the Australian Olympic team with his speed?
- 00:00, 20 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that with his victory in the 1996 presidential election, Bill Clinton (pictured) became the first Democrat to win two consecutive presidential elections since Franklin D. Roosevelt?
- ... that Steve Carell insisted his chest genuinely be waxed in a scene in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, which was recorded in a single take?
- ... that the mayor of Málaga, Pedro Aparicio Sánchez, spent the night of the 1981 Spanish coup d'état attempt in his office so he could die there if he was targeted?
- ... that although its publisher Dark Horse Comics is American, a significant proportion of artists involved with the comic book series The Witcher have been Polish?
- ... that Vera Schoenenberg's performance in the title role of Kálmán's Die Csárdásfürstin at the Mörbisch Lake Festival was broadcast by German and Austrian stations?
- ... that Yoko Ono took the first verse of her 1970 song "Who Has Seen the Wind?" from a 19th century poem written by Christina Rossetti?
- ... that Alfie Oakes sued a school district for US$50 million in response to their cancelling a contract?
- ... that no one knows how a dress worn by Marilyn Monroe ended up in the Payne Whitney House?
19 August 2021
- 12:00, 19 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that the steel-framed Church Missions House (pictured) in New York City predates the city's first steel skyscraper?
- ... that Gunhild Bergh was the second woman in Sweden to be awarded a PhD in literary history?
- ... that Tone Roads No. 1, a composition for chamber ensemble by Charles Ives, was originally titled "Tone Roads, rough ones—good ones, bad ones, fast ones, slow ones!"?
- ... that FBOY Island sets three female contestants to identify twenty-four men as either womanizers or nice guys?
- ... that Yulimar Rojas is good at jumping, but her sister Yerilda Zapata is good at throwing?
- ... that an inquiry into the death of Orville Blackwood at Broadmoor Hospital in 1991 found that admissions of black people to the hospital were more likely to have police involvement?
- ... that the manga series Mashima Hero's was originally titled Hero's and had its name changed to rank higher in search engine results?
- ... that William Earle referred to slave traders as "Bite Men"?
- 00:00, 19 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that the cooking of Flora Mae Hunter (pictured) was enjoyed so much by the Duchess of Windsor that she gained weight on her visits to the plantation where Hunter worked?
- ... that in Indonesian, a language featuring pronoun avoidance, a common polite way to address someone else is "father" or "mother", instead of "you"?
- ... that Gottfried Hornik, a baritone at the Vienna State Opera for 25 years, appeared in his signature role of Beckmesser from Aachen and Barcelona in 1976 to the Municipal Theatre of Santiago in 2001?
- ... that the Beaux-Arts Apartments never went into foreclosure despite being completed at the start of the Great Depression?
- ... that Charlie N. Holmberg's idea for The Fifth Doll began with a writing exercise to develop a system of magic for a household item?
- ... that the All Time Low song "PMA" features guest vocals from Heather Baron-Gracie of the British band Pale Waves?
- ... that Song Kok Hoo was the first Asian deputy commissioner of police in Singapore?
- ... that Schloss Gripsholm was dedicated by author Kurt Tucholsky to a license plate number?
18 August 2021
- 12:00, 18 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that the Kokawa-dera Engi Emaki, a 12th-century Japanese painted handscroll (detail pictured), was partly burned in a fire, and also partly damaged at the edges?
- ... that Kuinini Manumua is the first woman to represent Tonga in weightlifting at the Olympic Games?
- ... that as the acting President of Zambia in 2014, Guy Scott became the first white leader of an African country since the end of apartheid?
- ... that Massekhet Amerika by Gerson Rosenzweig satirizes Jewish life in New York in the style of a Talmudic tractate?
- ... that three verses from Psalm 86 became part of Mendelssohn's oratorio Elijah, including the opening "Lord, bow thine ear to our pray'r"?
- ... that during the 1991 Zaire unrest, 30 to 40% of all companies in Zaire were plundered, and around 70% of the country's retail businesses were destroyed?
- ... that newspaper columnist Kenneth John helped found the Democratic Freedom Movement in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines?
- ... that ducks frequently carried more than two and a half tons during the Siegfried Line campaign?
- 00:00, 18 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that on the 32nd anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, the traditional venue for memorials in Hong Kong lay empty (blockade pictured) for the first time in thirty-two years?
- ... that mezzo-soprano Margarita Gritskova was José Carreras's partner for his farewell concert in Carnegie Hall?
- ... that the union of taxi drivers offered the residents of retirement homes free transport to the voting stations in the Slovenian Waters Act referendum?
- ... that Robert Goodsir, searching for his brother Harry, lost with the Franklin expedition in the Arctic, found the graves of three expedition members?
- ... that Battlefield Vegas employees during the 2017 Las Vegas shooting drove several armored personnel carriers to Mandalay Bay to shield police officers at the request of a LVMPD sergeant?
- ... that the Islamic website Askimam has been called more comprehensive, influential and wide-ranging than the web resources of al-Azhar and its sympathisers put together?
- ... that professor Bronwyn Law-Viljoen became editor-in-chief of a publishing company, co-founded her own independent publishing company, and founded her own bookstore in South Africa?
- ... that astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson called out Disney for an inaccurate Frozen II poster?
17 August 2021
- 12:00, 17 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that to preserve the surrounding natural environment, Tsunoshima Bridge (pictured) curves to avoid an island?
- ... that New Zealand author Patricia Grace did not include a glossary for Māori terms in her book Potiki because she "didn't want the Māori language to be treated as a foreign language in its own country"?
- ... that part of Keith Foulger's job was to make sure the front and back ends of Britain's first nuclear submarine fitted together?
- ... that seventy years after the death of his tea-planter grandfather, publisher Neville Armstrong remembered his piercing blue eyes and large white spade beard?
- ... that the WandaVision song "Agatha All Along" was inspired by the theme songs of The Munsters and The Addams Family?
- ... that the Greek Korakou culture had two-storey buildings with internal stairs more than 4,000 years ago?
- ... that the BBC programme DynaMo was created after a survey revealed parents did not want to help children with homework?
- ... that Norm Michael did not know he was an NFL Draft selection until 55 years later?
- 00:00, 17 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that the Marble Arch Mound (pictured) in central London has been compared to the hill in Teletubbies?
- ... that director Mamoru Hosoda's original concept for his 1999 film Digimon Adventure was a story set against the backdrop of the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo?
- ... that reproductive success in the lined sea hare can be reduced by noise pollution?
- ... that brewer Alexander Gordon paid to build the Polhollick Bridge in Aberdeenshire in 1892 after witnessing a drowning incident at the ferry crossing?
- ... that in 2016, Hurricane Pali and Hurricane Alex existed simultaneously as rare January hurricanes within the Pacific and Atlantic hurricane basins, respectively, marking the first such occurrence on record?
- ... that a reviewer wrote that Florian Boesch's 2011 recording of Winterreise with Malcolm Martineau was "one of the most powerful lieder albums of recent years"?
- ... that the South Bronx Greenway includes recycled granite from the Willis Avenue Bridge?
- ... that Donald Trump had a "big smile plastered on his face" on the day the "Best Sex I've Ever Had" happened?
16 August 2021
- 12:00, 16 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that former detective inspector Paula Craig (pictured) is set to take part in a cross-Channel swim today?
- ... that the bamboo-filled atrium of the IBM Building was described as "New York City's peerless privately owned public space"?
- ... that former British Army Commando major-general John Woollett later became a planning inspector?
- ... that the 2015 video game Worlds of Magic, intended as a spiritual successor to the classic game Master of Magic, failed to impress most reviewers?
- ... that of the 16 teams to enter the inaugural Scottish Cup, only Dumbarton, Kilmarnock and Queen's Park still regularly compete in the competition?
- ... that the sea slug Philinopsis speciosa wraps the mucus strand containing its eggs around its head?
- ... that ink wash painting was created by the Chinese in the 8th century and the technique then spread to the rest of East Asia?
- ... that when starting his business, Vincent Figgins needed help from the mysterious "Black Man"?
- 00:00, 16 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that during the Crimean War, a colonel complained about his "abominable Albert [shako]" (example pictured), upon whose leather top "a man may fry his ration beef at mid-day in this climate"?
- ... that singer-songwriter Doug Sahm was also a multi-instrumentalist who was regarded as a child prodigy playing the steel guitar?
- ... that Dallas television station KDAF abandoned plans to launch a local newscast in 1994, after having already hired 20 staff, because it was to lose its Fox affiliation and be sold?
- ... that Zygmunt Krasiński, one of Poland's Three Bards, published most of his works anonymously and was known as the Anonymous Poet of Poland?
- ... that the Royal Dental Hospital opened the first dental school in Britain in 1859?
- ... that Woodland Sketches by Edward MacDowell includes a piano piece based on the songs of the Walla Walla and Brotherton peoples?
- ... that Ian Fraser Muir partly created the Muir and Barclay formula to calculate the fluid replacement needed after major burns?
- ... that chef Angie Mar went from running a steakhouse to owning Three Horses?
15 August 2021
- 12:00, 15 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that the idea for Fatima's Grill (pictured) in Downey, California, came from prison?
- ... that John M. Franklin oversaw the construction of SS United States, a liner that broke the transatlantic speed record on its maiden voyage?
- ... that Narciso Rodriguez for Her perfume was inspired by a bottle of Egyptian musk oil Narciso Rodriguez was given in high school?
- ... that Japanese boxer Arisa Tsubata worked to prevent the spread of COVID-19 during her training for the 2020 Summer Olympics and as a nurse?
- ... that the 93% Club has been described as "the reverse Bullingdon Club"?
- ... that former football midfielder Marcelo Gallardo became the first River Plate player to achieve an international title as a player and a coach after leading the team to win the 2014 Copa Sudamericana?
- ... that in August 2017, Potential Tropical Cyclone Ten caused some of the worst flooding seen in western Florida in 20 years, just two weeks before Hurricane Irma struck the same region?
- ... that one night in 1857 Granny gave birth to 240 offspring?
- 00:00, 15 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that the ship on the coat of arms of the Falkland Islands (pictured) represents the Desire, whose crew reportedly sighted the islands in 1592?
- ... that journalist Al Cartwright started his career writing for The Reading Times at the age of 15?
- ... that residents at the queer community known as the Tenacious Unicorn Ranch carry firearms and wear body armor while tending to their alpacas due to threats from right-wing militias?
- ... that the classicist L. D. Reynolds wrote his first publication on the birds of the Caerphilly Basin?
- ... that the design of King Sombra, the villain in "The Crystal Empire", was meant to illustrate him "as both a solid creature and a flowing mass of smoky darkness"?
- ... that when Chorus Systèmes SA was founded in 1986, French technology start-up companies were rare?
- ... that composer Ida Carroll played a central role in the merger of the Northern School of Music and the Royal Manchester College of Music to found the Royal Northern College of Music in 1973?
- ... that Peluso implores your help?
14 August 2021
- 12:00, 14 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that the vandalism and eventual removal of the statue of Ivan Konev (pictured) in Prague has negatively impacted recent Czech Republic–Russia relations?
- ... that Birgitta Odén was the first female history professor in Sweden?
- ... that after the death of Steven Crawford, his body was found in 1963 but was not identified until 2021?
- ... that Jerome Robbins planned to have his ballet Piano Pieces be about dancers rehearsing a fictitious ballet, but changed the theme to be about the joy of dancing?
- ... that despite the United States outlawing slavery in 1865, historian Antoinette Harrell found examples of African-American families who remained enslaved through debt bondage as recently as the 1970s?
- ... that in 2017, there were more than 10,000 teenage girls who performed as Japanese idols?
- ... that it was said that BBC scriptwriter Iain Pattinson's "unique brilliance was his ability to combine the absurd with the plausible"?
- ... that a fight in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode "Twilight's Kingdom" has been compared to Dragon Ball Z?
- 00:00, 14 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that New York City's St. Patrick's Cathedral (pictured), praised upon completion as the "finest church edifice on the American continent", was funded mostly by poor Irish Catholic parishioners?
- ... that Mexican theatergoers complained that Olaf's Frozen Adventure, a short that played before the movie Coco, was too long?
- ... that the English-Australian cricketer Bailey Wightman made his County debut for Kent whilst playing club cricket for Tunbridge Wells after an outbreak of COVID-19?
- ... that Minnesota went from having more than 9,000 local government entities in 1952 to having fewer than 4,000 in 2012?
- ... that Chuck McMann led the McGill Redmen football team to five playoff appearances in his six seasons as head coach?
- ... that South Australia became the first place in the world to give women the right to stand for parliament due to an opponent's "great miscalculation"?
- ... that while convicted fraudster Anna Sorokin was in jail, one of her visitors was Julia Garner, who will play Sorokin in the Netflix miniseries about her?
- ... that the Duke of Sussex has been providing drinks in Acton Green for over a century?
13 August 2021
- 12:00, 13 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that German soldiers fighting with Napoleon brought home a Spanish modification to the Tarot game of Dreierles (pictured) that resulted in Baden's national game of Cego?
- ... that Abul Kalam Qasmi translated E. M. Forster's Aspects of the Novel into Urdu?
- ... that as part of the coronation of Mindon Min, the square yuzana around the capital was designated a sanctuary?
- ... that Francis Ingram pioneered the British slave trade at Porto-Novo?
- ... that for his composition Hallowe'en, Charles Ives supplied two sets of instructions on how to repeat the music in different tempos and dynamics?
- ... that Grace Harrison was one of two women who played in the New Zealand Ice Hockey League in 2021?
- ... that My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode "The Last Crusade" introduces lesbian characters?
- ... that an inscription above the 16th-century doorway of the Dame Paulet's Almshouses reads "No Domi Ni" instead of "Anno Domini" because the original was misread by a stonemason during a 1930s restoration?
- 00:00, 13 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that Jenson Button (pictured) winning ahead of Lewis Hamilton at the 2010 Chinese Grand Prix was the first one-two finish for British Formula One drivers in over a decade?
- ... that Western Australia was the second Australian state to legalise voluntary assisted dying?
- ... that Hayden Bridge is the oldest intact bridge in the US state of Oregon?
- ... that Mika Kares returned to Finland to perform the title role of Boito's opera Mefistofele at the Savonlinna Opera Festival?
- ... that Marco van Basten's strike in the UEFA Euro 1988 Final was described as "perhaps the most iconic goal in UEFA European Championship history"?
- ... that Howell Edmunds Jackson died of tuberculosis less than two and a half years after his appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court?
- ... that when surrounded at the Battle of Oroscopa Carthaginian troops killed their horses and burnt their wooden shields to cook them?
- ... that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation supports the creation of shit flow diagrams?
12 August 2021
- 12:00, 12 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that early medieval house-shaped shrines (example pictured) were built as reliquaries to hold the remains of Irish saints?
- ... that while Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Barrios was exiled from Nicaragua and living in Costa Rica in the 1980s, his sister Claudia was there as Nicaragua’s ambassador?
- ... that Luke Prokop, an ice hockey prospect, is the first player under contract with a National Hockey League team to come out as gay?
- ... that while 1271 Avenue of the Americas was being built at New York City's Rockefeller Center, Marilyn Monroe re-launched the Center's long-dormant "Sidewalk Superintendents' Club"?
- ... that Serbian landowner Marija Trandafil spent a single day hungry, but she remembered the experience and became a major philanthropist in Novi Sad?
- ... that Tig Notaro replaced a cast member in Army of the Dead and was added through computer-generated imagery a year after filming had concluded?
- ... that Hong Kong wushu athlete Li Fai dropped out of the 1994 Asian Games after discovering she was pregnant?
- ... that an FCC hearing examiner scolded the owner of California radio station KCTY for having a "cavalier attitude" and at times being too lazy to put the station on the air?
- 00:00, 12 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that the Mustankallio water tower (pictured) contains a sauna?
- ... that Indonesian Communist Party leader Fachrul Baraqbah was an aristocrat of the Kutai Sultanate in East Kalimantan and a descendant of Muhammad?
- ... that within a decade, KTVK in Phoenix went from being a "blot on ABC's affiliate ledger" to a station the network only gave up reluctantly?
- ... that Lisa Warrington was responsible for painting the doors of Allen Hall Theatre red?
- ... that soprano Heidi Grant Murphy, who has given over 200 performances at the Met, said that becoming a singer "takes work on your psyche, your innermost being"?
- ... that Leaders of the World included 20-foot-tall (6 m) horses?
- ... that William Mackinder was a deep-sea fisherman and millworker before entering British politics, where he advocated for worker's rights?
- ... that the intentional balk in baseball is mostly used as a tactic to stop sign stealing?
11 August 2021
- 12:00, 11 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that the last pack of Staghounds (example pictured) in England were those of the North Devon Hunt, which pursued stag in the royal forests of Exmoor until 1825?
- ... that peasant leader Medardo Mairena was the sixth aspiring presidential candidate in the 2021 Nicaraguan general election to be arrested?
- ... that part of the ceiling at the 181st Street station collapsed two days after funding was allocated to repair damage from a similar collapse two years prior?
- ... that a reviewer wrote that "few tenors on disc can rival the German Rainer Trost" about his 1992 performance as Ferrando in Mozart's Così fan tutte in Paris, with conductor John Eliot Gardiner?
- ... that mixed-use stadium districts around major sports venues often include public squares, office space, hotels and residential units?
- ... that the freighter John Mitchell was the costliest shipwreck on the Great Lakes in 1911?
- ... that instead of fighting in battle, female vassals in the Kingdom of Jerusalem were obliged to render the service of marriage to their lord by marrying one of three candidates proposed to them?
- ... that Mary Dunn was reported to have had "many a free ride" in ice hockey, when men "would just lift her up and dump her elsewhere"?
- 00:00, 11 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that Therese Forster (pictured) edited the works of her father Georg Forster, who died when she was seven years old?
- ... that the costs of the great astronomical clock at Norwich Cathedral that were recorded in its Sacrist's Rolls from 1322 to 1325 provide the earliest known detailed account of clockmaking in England?
- ... that Arthur J. Hill, United States Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for Housing, was one of four children of a single parent?
- ... that Michel Platini scored his ninth goal of the tournament when France won the UEFA Euro 1984 Final?
- ... that "Stoned at the Nail Salon" was written by Lorde and Jack Antonoff, and features backing vocals from four other artists?
- ... that the Morris–Jumel Mansion in Washington Heights, Manhattan, where the musical Hamilton was written, has been described as a haunted house?
- ... that the Swedish meteorologist Svante Odén was among the first scientists to address and publicize the problems of acid precipitation in Europe?
- ... that almost as soon as Cabaret opened, people mistakenly complained the song "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" was a genuine Nazi anthem?
10 August 2021
- 12:00, 10 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that in countries like the United States, prisoners supplement inadequate prison food by combining ingredients like instant ramen (pictured), mayonnaise and Kool-Aid into improvised meals called "spreads"?
- ... that the Royal Hibernian Hotel is thought to be the oldest hotel in Ireland?
- ... that Pierre Olaf's portrayal of Jacquot in the 1961 Broadway musical Carnival! earned him a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical in 1962?
- ... that an English army devastated Lothian in Scotland so thoroughly in 1356 that the episode became known as Burnt Candlemas?
- ... that Bernette Ford was one of the first members of the Black Creators for Children, an organization that helped promote black authors and increase diversity in children's books?
- ... that The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy contains an idiosyncratic selection of topics, from "Aliens in Space" to "Rats and Mice"?
- ... that Natal frontier trader James Rorke specified that he be buried under three feet (0.9 m) of concrete because he feared Zulu graverobbers?
- ... that the graffiti artists hired for the video game Skitchin' were interviewed at a train station because they were too young to drive?
- 00:00, 10 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that Black Rock (pictured) is mostly concrete?
- ... that after the Lord's Day Observance Society forced the National Sunday League to stop their Sunday lectures, they eventually regrouped to form the Sunday Lecture Society?
- ... that a Chinese ex-slave named Quintín Quintana became a successful merchant and pro-Chile leader in the War of the Pacific?
- ... that a large amount of energy in Turkey is underground and under the Black Sea?
- ... that former American Boy Scout Joe Carroll was expelled from seminary before completing his education and being ordained?
- ... that the African Society of Human Genetics was established so that more human genetics and genomics research could be done by African scientists in Africa?
- ... that the St Helena Local Militia led the 1840 procession of Napoleon's body after its disinterment from his tomb on the island?
- ... that the McDonald's promotion campaign for the 1984 Olympic Games was given an unexpected boost by the Cold War?
9 August 2021
- 12:00, 9 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that James Hervey Price (pictured) renamed the town of Saugeen to Southampton?
- ... that an entrance to one of the Villard Houses was turned into an exit because it was too close to a chapel of St. Patrick's Cathedral?
- ... that Hoagy Carmichael's song "Stardust" has been recorded more than 1,500 times?
- ... that although the Germans boasted that they captured British radio traffic with ease, the Wireless Set Number 10 was so secure that they never even knew of its existence?
- ... that after starting Los Angeles Spanish-language television station KVEA, a group led by Saul Steinberg bought other Spanish-language stations to form the Telemundo network?
- ... that Murray Koster started for the Sharks rugby team against the British and Irish Lions, paired with Werner Kok?
- ... that the church cantata Gelobet sei der Herr täglich (Praised be the Lord daily) by Philipp Heinrich Erlebach for four voices and strings is extant in a manuscript score from around 1710?
- ... that Kevin Kopps reworked his pitching delivery based on how he played fetch with his dog?
- 00:00, 9 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that film critic Danny Peary described Darby Jones (pictured) as having been "even more typecast than the typical black actor", limited to roles in jungle-themed films?
- ... that the construction of 666 Fifth Avenue involved cartoon decorations, a papier-mâché Santa Claus, and a 78-by-155-foot (24 by 47 m) American flag that ripped as it was being unfurled?
- ... that Blanche Zacharie de Baralt was the University of Havana's first woman philosophy graduate and the first person to translate Tagore's poems into Spanish?
- ... that the volcano Eifuku produces bubbles of liquid carbon dioxide underwater?
- ... that the construction of WaHu Student Apartments was delayed for one year by Minneapolis's initial rejection of a new location for the blood plasma donation center on the property?
- ... that the fictional battle Operation Yashima, displayed in the Neon Genesis Evangelion episode "Rei II", inspired a real unofficial campaign in Japan to conserve electricity after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami?
- ... that the small Pacific island nation of Tonga, represented by its satellite company Tongasat, claimed nine percent of all viable satellite orbits and became the sixth-largest holder of those orbits?
- ... that Ralph Fisher bought enslaved people with brass?
8 August 2021
- 12:00, 8 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that Lever House (pictured), slated for replacement with a larger building in the 1980s, was protected as a New York City landmark with a one-vote majority?
- ... that psychologist Janis Sanchez-Hucles was only the second person of color to earn a PhD in psychology from the University of North Carolina?
- ... that the Pomme d'Or Hotel was used as the Nazi naval headquarters during the occupation of Jersey, and the Union Jack is raised on the hotel balcony every year to celebrate Jersey's liberation?
- ... that Philip Kreyenbroek taught Iranian studies at the University of Göttingen due to his interest in Yazidi traditions and the fact that about half of the Yazidi diaspora lived in Germany at the time?
- ... that Lynde Shores Conservation Area is an important resting point for shorebirds and waterfowl migrating along Lake Ontario?
- ... that Buffalo, New York, was a terminus on the Underground Railroad?
- ... that Tatjana Gamerith and her husband, married for 60 years despite an age difference of 20 years, were awarded a prize for their work to combine art and nature?
- ... that in June 2021, scientists described "Dragon Man", a member of a new species of archaic human that lived at least 146,000 years ago on the Northeast China Plain?
- 00:00, 8 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that unlike most other insects, dragonflies have direct flight, the muscles being attached directly to the wing bases (pictured)?
- ... that George Curtis played football for a Royal Air Force base during his time as a Coventry City player, but he "scarcely broke sweat"?
- ... that James Benning's 1995 experimental documentary film Deseret chronicles 140 years of the history of Utah by way of 93 New York Times excerpts?
- ... that the heavy metal musician Leah has sometimes been called "the metal Enya"?
- ... that Indian doctor Nasarvanji Hormusji Choksy, who worked to improve public health, contracted bubonic plague three times?
- ... that, in a 2018 survey of 38 news organizations, the Palmer Report was ranked the fourth-least trusted news organization by Americans?
- ... that the newly founded Family First Party has access to the former Family First Party's database of 6,000 supporters, according to The Australian?
- ... that war erupted in 2019 over a fried chicken sandwich?
7 August 2021
- 12:00, 7 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that Jochen Schmidt (pictured), a dance critic for the FAZ for 30 years, wrote a book about Pina Bausch and her Wuppertal dance theatre?
- ... that the Merchant was the first iron-hulled merchant ship built on the Great Lakes?
- ... that Olympic baseball player Édgar Arredondo set a record for the youngest debut in the Mexican League?
- ... that in exchange for building its New York City headquarters, Goldman Sachs received $1.65 billion in bonds and $115 million in tax breaks?
- ... that the video game Omori came out in December 2020, instead of its initial projected release date of May 2015?
- ... that historian Norman K. Risjord worked in counter-intelligence in Berlin before he obtained his PhD and pursued a career in American history?
- ... that in Inferno, an opera by Lucia Ronchetti premiered in 2021 at the Oper Frankfurt, the main character Dante has a speaking voice and an inner voice of four male singers?
- ... that the Tampa Bay area of Florida is known as the "capital of death metal" due to the number of bands within the Florida death metal scene which hail from there?
- 00:00, 7 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that the three dolphins on the coat of arms of Anguilla (pictured) represent "unity, strength and endurance", which is also the motto of the territory?
- ... that Colonel Dyck served in the Rhodesian and Zimbabwean armies before fighting as a mercenary in Mozambique in 2021 aged 77?
- ... that in the early 2000s, the only settlement in East Timor with 24-hour electricity was its capital city Dili?
- ... that the frequently plagiarized poems "Candidate for a Pullet Surprise" and "A Grandchild's Guide to Using Grandpa's Computer" are often cited in discussions of internet publishing ethics?
- ... that the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind divided into two factions in March 2008 due to differences between Arshad Madani and his nephew Mahmood Madani?
- ... that Kris Kristofferson's debut album, Kristofferson, was reissued with the title Me and Bobby McGee following the success of Janis Joplin's version of the song?
- ... that Czech television reporter and author Vladimír Škutina was arrested and imprisoned twice for his use of political satire?
- ... that during neo-Nazi David Duke's presidential campaign he was convicted, yelled at Jack Kemp, won a vice-presidential primary, switched parties, and had two running mates?
6 August 2021
- 12:00, 6 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that the flag of Sark (pictured) represented the last feudal state in the Western world, and is flown over the British Ministry of Justice every 6 August to commemorate the granting of the fief?
- ... that Muhammad Ali Mungeri was the prime founder of Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama, a major Islamic seminary in India?
- ... that the neofolk album The Lone Furrow features several guest vocalists from heavy metal bands, and critics thought it might appeal to fans of that genre?
- ... that a book detailing the short life of Indian actress Meena Kumari was published just seven months after her death in 1972?
- ... that rhythmic gymnast Isabelle Connor is the first UC Santa Cruz student to compete at the Olympics?
- ... that the Black Sea seaside resort of Karaburun features a lighthouse built in 1860 with decorative lion heads around its original copper dome?
- ... that a cartoonist founded the Jim Thorpe Trophy that was awarded annually to the most valuable player of the National Football League?
- ... that Leeds industrialist William Gott was charged with nuisance when his factory's steam engine produced "noisome and unwholesome smokes and vapours"?
- 00:00, 6 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that the wooden-hulled Mallard II (pictured), built in 1936, is "probably the oldest operating dredge in California"?
- ... that Danish dairy farmer Hanne Nielsen created a Tilsit cheese for King Christian IX of Denmark?
- ... that South Carolina radio station WBAW received a Peabody Award for public-service programming just six months after signing on the air?
- ... that Jack G. Downing, the only person to serve as CIA station chief in Moscow and Beijing, "read Chinese poetry for kicks"?
- ... that according to campus legend, the English Building at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is haunted by the ghost of a female student who drowned in the building's pool?
- ... that Andreas Schnider, a theologian and local Austrian People's Party leader from Graz, holds a leading role in Austria's teacher training?
- ... that the range of freshwater snail Beddomeia waterhouseae consists merely of a small tributary in Tasmania?
- ... that at the time the post was abolished, the prime minister of Zambia was being paid less than his secretary?
5 August 2021
- 12:00, 5 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that German runner Alica Schmidt (pictured), who is running in the Women's 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2020 Summer Olympics, has won multiple European junior relay medals?
- ... that the title of the album Red by Taylor Swift refers to the tumultuous "red" emotions that were evoked from an unhealthy romance she was experiencing during the album's conception?
- ... that Donald R. Morris wrote most of The Washing of the Spears, his history of the Anglo-Zulu War, during a five-year CIA posting to Berlin at the time of the construction of the Berlin Wall?
- ... that the equipment situation for the National Pacification Army was so poor that some soldiers were armed with spears instead of guns?
- ... that British modern pentathlete Jo Muir qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics despite missing the last qualification event due to COVID-19–related travel restrictions?
- ... that the short-lived Socialist Soviet Republic of Lithuania and Belorussia had a Yiddish-language state theatre?
- ... that Fallout was considered a risky project by developer Interplay Entertainment and was threatened with cancellation three times?
- ... that KICU-TV in Visalia, California, claimed to be the most powerful TV station west of the Mississippi River after a transmitter upgrade—and closed for good two years later?
- 00:00, 5 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that although both Vlad the Impaler (pictured) and Elizabeth Báthory are popularly believed to have inspired Dracula, Bram Stoker's notes mention neither?
- ... that Eliza Kennedy Smith's investigations of municipal corruption in Pittsburgh led to the mayor's arrest and imprisonment?
- ... that West Germany won their second UEFA European Championship in three editions when they defeated Belgium in the UEFA Euro 1980 Final?
- ... that stamp collecting gave Johnny Van Haeften the eye for detail that is essential in dealing in old master Dutch paintings?
- ... that author, poet and Arabian horse breeder Wilfrid Scawen Blunt chose to be buried without a coffin at his house, Newbuildings Place?
- ... that US Air Force general John W. White commanded the Iceland Defense Force?
- ... that the pulpit of St George's Church, Edinburgh, was 20 ft (6.1 m) tall?
- ... that suffragette Lilian Staple Mead was the only female student ever at Adelaide's Prince Alfred College?
4 August 2021
- 12:00, 4 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that the Haft Gumbaz complex contains tombs (examples pictured) of the Bahmani dynasty?
- ... that Surinamese country singer Lex Rijger was originally a basketball player?
- ... that Intervilles is a French game show in which contestants can get gored by bulls?
- ... that the conductor Im Won-sik is considered the "father of Korea's classical music world"?
- ... that the book Sinews of Survival by Canadian ethnologist Betty Kobayashi Issenman was described on release as "a cardinal reference in the field"?
- ... that PopCap Games aided in publishing Insaniquarium after the game became a finalist for the Independent Games Festival?
- ... that as a youth, Hartlepool United player Brad Walker would travel the 12-mile (19 km) round trip to the club on his bicycle?
- ... that when a tree is a star, connecting its leaves in a cycle makes a wheel?
- 00:00, 4 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that the medieval Irish book shrine known as the Soiscél Molaisse (pictured) was built in three phases, from the 8th to the 14th or 15th centuries?
- ... that bluegrass musician Carroll Best is credited for developing a melodic three-finger banjo style that influenced Tony Trischka and Béla Fleck?
- ... that the British South Africa Police's Black Boots support unit were dubbed "terr hungry" for apparently enjoying killing suspected terrorists in Rhodesia?
- ... that Eshmunazar I, the Phoenician king of Sidon, participated in the Neo-Babylonian campaigns against Egypt, where he seized stone sarcophagi belonging to members of the Egyptian elite?
- ... that Regine Velasquez, a Filipino singer and actress, was the first Asian artist to stage a solo concert at the Carnegie Hall in New York City?
- ... that Tetris Holding won an injunction in 2012 to stop sales of a video game clone of their famed Tetris game?
- ... that artist Roy Beddington illustrated three books with Irish author Stephen Gwynn and competed in the painting event at the 1948 Summer Olympics?
- ... that an inquiry from an engineering student led to the repair of a structural flaw at New York City's Citicorp Center?
3 August 2021
- 12:00, 3 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, caused outrage in 1784 when he ordered that people be buried naked in reusable coffins (example pictured) from which the body fell into the grave via a trapdoor?
- ... that at George Floyd's funeral, a montage mistakenly included a photograph of the still-living former American football player George Floyd?
- ... that Crewe Alexandra finished last in the Football League eight times between 1894 and 1982, more than any other league club?
- ... that Vikram Misri was the Indian ambassador to China during the 2020–2021 China–India skirmishes?
- ... that the intricate seal of Columbia University was the first instance in which both Greek and Latin appeared on a college or university seal?
- ... that John Matthews's pension was suspended because he was accused of leading a call for a theatre performance to play "Yankee Doodle" and "Hail, Columbia"?
- ... that the Elazığ Girls' Institute was established in 1937 to assimilate "primitive" Kurdish girls by transforming them into "civilized" Turkish women?
- ... that Alex Schaefer has never burned down a bank, despite all the evidence suggesting otherwise?
- 00:00, 3 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that George Webster painted two British slave-ships (pictured) taking onboard enslaved people from Fort Christiansborg?
- ... that the Cairo pentagonal tiling was a favorite pattern of M. C. Escher?
- ... that Hayat Bakshi Begum ruled the Golconda Sultanate as regent for her son Abdullah Qutb Shah?
- ... that the fungal pathogen Aschersonia aleyrodis can control silverleaf whitefly under greenhouse conditions?
- ... that Silas Farley rejected a Harvard University full scholarship to pursue a career in ballet?
- ... that the second volume of A Certain Magical Index was finished in only seventeen days?
- ... that Franz Harnoncourt became CEO of the Kastner & Öhler department store in Graz after working for Karstadt and Marks & Spencer, and beginning as sales person and storage worker?
- ... that Spain's win in the UEFA Euro 2008 Final was the first of three successive major tournament victories?
2 August 2021
- 12:00, 2 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that despite an attempted "extermination" of homosexuals in the 1960s and 1970s, the LGBT community in Argentina (parade pictured) is now the most accepted in Latin America?
- ... that Marthe Yankurije, who dropped out of school during her fourth year of secondary school, competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics?
- ... that during its planning stages, 53 West 53rd Street in New York City was shortened by 200 feet (61 m) to reduce the visibility of the mechanical rooms?
- ... that Indonesian comedian Yusran Effendi was personally awarded a place on an Islamic pilgrimage trip by president Suharto?
- ... that William Powell, the author of The Anarchist Cookbook, founded the nonprofit Next Frontier: Inclusion in atonement for writing the book?
- ... that YouTuber Ghib Ojisan visited Yishun, a Singaporean town, expecting danger after reading of cats being slaughtered but instead found it "home to nice people and cute cats"?
- ... that Aequanimitas explains "what makes a good doctor"?
- ... that actor Joseph Holland was accidentally stabbed and seriously wounded by Orson Welles, wielding a steel knife, during a 1937 Broadway production of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar?
- 00:00, 2 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that perch became a major product of the Swiss fishing industry (fishing boat pictured) in the mid–20th century after a fisherman found that an industrial potato peeler made two perfect filets from each fish?
- ... that Jerome Robbins choreographed the ballet Andantino to music by Tchaikovsky, despite his lack of interest, because "you don't necessarily have to enjoy doing something for it to be good"?
- ... that infectious diseases specialist Jameela Al Salman has supported the development of medical robots and called their use in Bahrain a "pioneering experiment"?
- ... that despite being proclaimed Queen of Rhodesia, Elizabeth II refused to recognise the title?
- ... that Princess Lucia was so unpopular ruling in the name of her teenage son Bohemond that he sought permission from the pope to come of age early?
- ... that the album series Everywhere at the End of Time (2016–2019) by the Caretaker uses ballroom records to depict the stages of Alzheimer's disease?
- ... that Royal Navy officer George M'Kinley was blinded during a gun drill?
- ... that students at Pomona College are traditionally thrown into a fountain on their birthday?
1 August 2021
- 12:00, 1 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that according to Mbuti tradition, eating a great blue turaco (living example pictured) while pregnant may result in a difficult delivery or birth deformity?
- ... that CEO Marla Messing submitted the business plan for the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup two days before the birth of her first child?
- ... that the animated film The Exigency took thirteen years to make?
- ... that Gerold of Lausanne prohibited Catholic church services in Jerusalem in 1229?
- ... that after drinking five glasses of "purging" mineral water from the Physic Well on Barnet Common, Samuel Pepys had to break his journey back to London seven or eight times to relieve himself?
- ... that architect Van Dorn Hooker, who served in the USAAF, was a cartoonist for Army news publications, and painted aircraft nose art?
- ... that New York City's Hotel Knickerbocker closed after fourteen years of operation and did not reopen for nearly a century?
- ... that Bourton-on-the-Water model village contains a scale model of a model of a model of a model village?
- 00:00, 1 August 2021 (UTC)
- ... that a version of the Albert helmet proposed by Prince Albert in 1842 is still worn by the British Army's Household Cavalry (soldiers pictured)?
- ... that Yasunori Oshima served as the hitting coach for the Japan national baseball team that won the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006?
- ... that although "Chi Mat Ba Ram", the title of the song by Brave Girls, translates to "the swish of a skirt" in Korean, a term that is often used negatively, the song is about the fierceness in women?
- ... that Nicaraguan cartoonist Pedro X. Molina has had to flee his home country twice in his lifetime?
- ... that the Police Anti-Terrorist Unit joined Rhodesian military operations in police uniform and were only issued camouflage after a soldier hesitated because a target wore the same colour trousers?
- ... that Alvin Bragg has overseen lawsuits against the Donald J. Trump Foundation, Harvey Weinstein, and The Weinstein Company, and represented the families of Eric Garner and Ramarley Graham?
- ... that the lap steel guitar was the first "foreign" musical instrument to gain a foothold in American pop music?
- ... that during the War of the Lombards, fighting was interrupted so that the corpse of the besieged Queen Alice could be handed over to her husband, who had never seen her alive?