Wikipedia:Recent additions 236

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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.

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Did you know...

20 December 2008

12:00, 20 December 2008 (UTC)
... that Edward Payson Chapin (pictured) was wounded twice in the American Civil War and promoted to brigadier general four months after being killed in action?
... that the Black-faced Antbird follows columns of army ants in order to catch insects flushed by the swarms?
... that according to Fortune, Chanda Kochhar, soon to be CEO of India's largest private bank, is the 25th most powerful woman in business?
... that pioneering African American aviator Hubert Julian was an associate producer for the 1940 race film The Notorious Elinor Lee?
... that Newark Park, a Tudor hunting lodge in Gloucestershire, was built in 1544 for a Groom of the Bedchamber to King Henry VIII?
... that women outnumber men 69% to 31% among students at Ozarka College in Melbourne, Arkansas?
... that Table to Table is an Israeli charity that collects leftover and surplus food, gathering enough each week to provide 12,000 to 14,000 meals and 40 to 50 tons of produce?
... that James Whitfield Williamson, a politician from Vivian, Louisiana, won a silver medal in 1987 at his state's seniors tennis tournament?

05:56, 20 December 2008 (UTC)
... that artist Thomas Eakins was fired shortly after the exhibition of The Swimming Hole (pictured), cited as a prime example of homoeroticism in American art?
... that cricketer Johnny Lawrence refused to allow Sunday matches or raffles to be used to raise money for his benefit season because he was a staunch Methodist?
... that the tendency of the Weteye bomb's aluminum casing and liquid nerve agent to interact and explode made disposal of the weapon difficult?
... that Robin Toner was the first woman to be national political correspondent for The New York Times?
... that the 1999 hit song "Tomber la chemise" ("Take Off Your Shirt") was part of a sudden popularity trend by rappers of North African immigrant origins in France?
... that of the four Marines charged in the 2008 execution-style murders of California-based U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant Jan Pawel Pietrzak and his wife, two were under Pietrzak's command?
... that Tiv Ta'am is the largest supermarket chain in Israel to sell non-kosher food?
... that Brett Leonhardt, Washington Capitals web site producer, was called upon to be a backup goaltender for nine minutes?

19 December 2008

23:51, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
... that United States Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald (pictured) indicted thirteen individuals as part of the Operation Board Games federal investigation before the Rod Blagojevich federal fraud cases?
... that when Royal Navy Captain Robert Corbet was killed in action in September 1810, rumours were spread that he had been murdered by his own crew?
... that it is proposed to assist the conservation of the Canarian Egyptian Vulture by the establishment of "vulture restaurants"?
... that Shanty Hogan, a catcher with the New York Giants, joined with teammate Andy Cohen to form a vaudeville duo billed as "Cohen and Hogan", except in Boston, where they performed as "Hogan and Cohen"?
... that the 1883 utopian novel The Diothas has been called "the second most important American nineteenth-century ideal society"?
... that Harriet Holter, an economist by education, has been described as a pioneer of women's studies in the Nordic countries?
... that when The Mighty Diamonds' album Right Time was released in 1976, music charts were banned in Jamaica because of violence within the music industry?
... that rocket scientist Daniel Jubb claims to have built his first rocket at age five?

17:46, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
... that with a leg-span of 30 centimetres (12 inches), the giant huntsman (pictured) is one of the world's largest spiders?
... that University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor inductee Henry Hatch lived with his wife and daughter on the grounds of Michigan Stadium for more than a decade?
... that the Lebanese Commando Regiment, established in 1966, was the first special forces regiment to be established in the Lebanese Armed Forces?
... that on the debut episode of Man v. Food, host Adam Richman completed the 72-ounce (2 kg) Big Texan challenge at The Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo, Texas?
... that Paul-Émile de Souza was installed head of Benin because the military did not recognise Maurice Kouandété as the official leader?
... that the British pub rock music genre was started by American band Eggs over Easy, who were in England for less than a year?
... that the early pre-Columbian site of Xochitecatl in Mexico was abandoned for centuries after the Popocatepetl volcano erupted around 150 AD?
... that former Calgary Flames trainer Bearcat Murray was famously on the ice tending to fallen goaltender Mike Vernon as the Flames scored a goal in the 1989 Stanley Cup Playoffs?

11:41, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
... that Berner Honiglebkuchen (pictured), specialty lebkuchen from Berne, Switzerland, are recommended to be taken with coffee?
... that the 2008 NYPD subway sodomy incident has been compared to the 1997 assault of Abner Louima in New York City?
... that Yuzuru Hiraga was a Japanese naval architect, noted for work on innovative warships such as the cruiser Yubari and Yamato for the Imperial Japanese Navy?
... that the WJBE call letters now used by a radio station in Five Points, Alabama, were used by singer James Brown for his James Brown Enterprises radio station?
... that parts of the 2008 Dutch film White Light were shot in Ugandese refugee camps?
... that the Friends Meeting House at Ifield, England, built in 1676, is one of the oldest purpose-built Friends meeting houses in the world?
... that in 2002, a Trotskyist became the general secretary of the trade union centre C.G.T.G in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe?
... that the visitor's locker room at the Alabama Crimson Tide football stadium was recently named "The Fail Room" after alumnus contributor James M. Fail?

05:36, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
... that as the architect of the St. Luke's Episcopal Church (pictured) in Beacon, New York, Frederick Clarke Withers designed everything down to the altar cloth?
... that after the inexplicable sinking of four identical trawlers in Acadia, the Canadian government took possession of the "cursed ship" Marc Guylaine in 1972, simply changed its name and re-sold it?
... that in 1978, Pueblo Community College became part of the Colorado Community College System after having been a branch campus of Southern Colorado State College?
... that A Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem at Easter A.D. 1697, based on the diary of Henry Maundrell, was translated into French, Dutch and German by 1792?
... that the Laogai Museum, which showcases China's laogai prison system, was financed by the same company that once turned a dissident, Shi Tao, in to the Chinese authorities?
... that American Basketball Association player Lee Davis appeared in the 1970 ABA All-Star Game despite playing in only sixteen games all season?
... that from 1945 until 1978, cars in Okinawa Prefecture drove on the right side of the road until a switch to left-hand drive as part of the 730 Conversion Plan, to match the rest of Japan?
... that in the 1962 film Invasion of the Star Creatures, extra-terrestrial monsters were played by actors wearing carrot costumes?

18 December 2008

23:31, 18 December 2008 (UTC)
... that the uncommon thorium nesosilicate mineral Huttonite (unit cell pictured) was first discovered in 1950 in New Zealand?
... that Filipina singer and actress Didith Reyes was one of the "Jukebox Queens" of the 1970s Philippine music scene along with her friends Imelda Papin and Claire dela Fuente?
... that the Cal State Fullerton Titans football team holds NCAA records for both most fumbles and most fumbles lost for a single season with 73 and 41 respectively?
... that the 1980 novel One Day of Life was banned in El Salvador for its portrayal of human rights violations by the government's paramilitary organization, Organización Democrática Nacionalista?
... that due to his blindness, it took Sir John Wall, the first visually impaired judge of the 20th-century High Court of Justice, over 400 applications and 53 interviews before he was offered a job?
... that the BZ-laden white smoke produced by the M44 generator cluster bomb was problematic because BZ is easily defeated with a few layers of cloth?
... that the Goode-Hall House near Town Creek, Alabama, is a vernacular interpretation of Palladian architecture?
... that Ron Ben-Yishai, the first journalist to inform Ariel Sharon of the Sabra and Shatila massacre, was later cast in Waltz with Bashir, an animated film about the incident?

17:26, 18 December 2008 (UTC)
... that Herman Landon (pictured) commanded five different British Army divisions during the First World War?
... that there have been 16 managers for the San Diego Padres, a Major League Baseball franchise?
... that in December 2008, Anibal dos Santos, convicted murderer of Mozambican journalist Carlos Cardoso, has escaped maximum security jail for a third time?
... that the first seigneur of Beloeil, Quebec, participated in the 1704 Raid on Deerfield?
... that Sid Bernstein helped start the British Invasion by getting The Beatles to play at Carnegie Hall?
... that the 14th-century Tree House, the former manor house of Crawley, England, was named after an ancient elm whose trunk was hollowed out to form a room in which travellers stayed overnight?
... that Hussniya Jabara was the first Israeli Arab woman to be elected to the Knesset?
... that James Bond attributed the extinction of the Puerto Rican Conure to pigeon hunters visiting Mona Island?

11:21, 18 December 2008 (UTC)
... that the Royal Enfield Bullet (pictured) has the longest production run of any motorcycle, having remained continuously in production since 1948?
... that the Gal Oya riots were the first ethnic riots that targeted the minority Sri Lankan Tamils in post-independent Sri Lanka?
... that William Buchan, 3rd Baron Tweedsmuir was once barred from a nightclub near Ottawa, Canada, because Prime Minister of Canada Mackenzie King disapproved of his father?
... that the M43 cluster bomb, designed to hold three stacks of 19 BZ-containing M138 bomblets, was unattractive to military planners in part because paranoia and mania were common symptoms of casualties?
... that the English folkloric story Dick Whittington and His Cat is based on the real Richard Whittington, but there is no historical evidence that he ever had a cat?
... that one of the factors threatening the Canarian Houbara is disturbance by truffle collectors?
... that the 2003 film Scorched cost US$7 million to make but only earned US$8,000 at the box office, approximately 0.1% of its initial cost?
... that although his crew were merely taking geological observations, the British Government believed Cyrille Pierre Théodore Laplace had claimed New Zealand for France?

05:16, 18 December 2008 (UTC)
... that the leader of the French Garden Gnome Liberation Front was given a suspended sentence after the group "liberated" over 150 garden gnomes (example pictured) in 1997?
... that Tommy Dunderdale is the only Australian-born player to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Canada?
... that the M34 cluster bomb was the first major U.S. chemical weapon designed to deliver sarin nerve agent?
... that the Dravidian parties extensively used Tamil cinema for their propaganda?
... that Olav Rytter, a Slavic philologist who fled German-invaded Norway in 1940, returned in 1944 to participate in the liberation of Northern Norway?
... that the Monumento al Ahogado, a Uruguayan landmark, was completed in only six days, even though the sculptor was given an entire summer to work on it?
... that Greek singer Katy Garbi's new album Kainourgia Ego is the last release on her current contract with Sony BMG, which has in total lasted almost 20 years?
... that Poland's only "official" ghost town, Kłomino, used to be a base of both the Wehrmacht and the Soviet Army?

17 December 2008

23:10, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
... that no type specimen of the Lord Howe Island Pigeon exists, as it was described from a painting (pictured) by George Raper?
... that during the trial for the Toa Payoh ritual murders in Singapore, Howard Cashin received death threats for defending the accused, Adrian Lim?
... that the Philadelphia Phillies was the name of a football team in the first National Football League?
... that operatic soprano Romilda Pantaleoni sang the role of Desdemona in the original 1887 production of Giuseppe Verdi's Otello?
... that Charter 08, a declaration signed by hundreds of Chinese intellectuals, was modeled on Czechoslovakian Charter 77?
... that Archbishop D'Arcy of Armagh was a member of the Senate of Southern Ireland and a supporter of the Eugenics movement?
... that Gene Krupa was asked to be in the 1947 race film Boy! What a Girl! when he stopped by to visit cast member Sid Catlett on the film's set?
... that Norwegian jurist and peace activist Fredrik Heffermehl claimed that 45 percent of Nobel Peace Prize awards after 1945 are "illegal"?

17:05, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
... that the sculpture Berlin (pictured), created as a testament to East and West Berlin being close yet separate, was commissioned for the city's 750th anniversary?
... that The New York Times obituary for actor/filmmaker Spencer Williams made no mention of his work as a film director?
... that the Italian Royal Navy's Indomito class of destroyers were the first large Italian destroyers and the first to be equipped with steam turbines?
... that Tang Dynasty general Liu Ji was poisoned to death by his son Liu Zong while campaigning against the rebel general Wang Chengzong?
... that WEPS in Elgin Area School District U46 is the oldest educational radio station in Illinois, USA?
... that over a ten-year period, Olaus Michael Schmidt served as Norwegian Minister of Justice for four non-consecutive terms?
... that according to a legend, the Eliseyevs hid their treasures in the walls of Chicherin House before they fled Russia after the October Revolution in 1917, but this treasure was never found?
... that Mangaloreans hold a Guinness world record for non-stop singing for 40 hours?

11:00, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
... that Australian inventions include the boomerang, didgeridoo, black box flight data recorder, Vegemite, spray-on skin, and bionic ear (pictured)?
... that "Johnny Mac" McDonald was elected mayor of Thomasville, Alabama, in 1976 while working at radio station WJDB-FM as announcer and account executive?
... that Namibian Deputy Defence Minister Victor Simunja received military training in both the United States and Soviet Union?
... that United States Conference of Mayors was founded at the Mayflower Hotel on the eve of the inauguration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt as U.S. President in 1933?
... that Peter Harboe Castberg is credited with building Christiania Bank og Kreditkasse into one of the leading banks in Norway?
... that Froudacity was an 1889 polemic which argued for self-government in the British West Indies?
... that John Fuller, who led a Union Army division at the Battle of Atlanta and participated in Sherman's March to the Sea, was one of the few foreign-born generals in the American Civil War?
... that a technician at the Beijing Film Laboratory refused to print the film or return the negatives for sex scenes from Curiosity Kills the Cat, having been punished over a similar matter?

04:55, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
... that male Andean Cocks-of-the-rock (pictured) gather in a lek to put on a competitive mating performance?
... that James Mill spent twelve years writing The History of British India from 1806 to 1818, but never visited the country?
... that in 1799, the distillery adjacent to George Washington's Gristmill produced 11,000 gallons of whiskey along with apple, peach, and persimmon brandy?
... that the term "no waris" in the Papua New Guinean language Tok Pisin is derived from the Australian English "no worries"?
... that because he had no family, Judge George Muter was invited to live with Thomas Todd, his fellow justice on the Kentucky Court of Appeals, following Muter's retirement from the bench?
... that construction of Mughal Road in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir was opposed because it impeded the movement of the Markhor goat?
... that protests by the New York Board of Rabbis and others led to changes in Alec Guinness's portrayal of Fagin in the U.S. version of the 1948 film Oliver Twist, which was not released there until 1951?
... that in 2008, almost 100 illegal fish cages were removed from the Pansipit River in the Philippines?

16 December 2008

22:50, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
... that the Rod Blagojevich fraud cases (Blagojevich pictured) caused the Illinois General Assembly to consider erasing the Illinois Governor's statutory power to appoint a United States Senate replacement for Barack Obama?
... that after being deposed by his brother Abdul Hamid II, Ottoman sultan Murad V was detained in the Malta Pavilion?
... that, at 73 years old, Ken Mink became the oldest person ever to score in a college basketball game?
... that in 2018, when the Follo Line is completed in Norway, it will reduce travel time between Oslo and Ski from 22 to 11 minutes?
... that Hiberno-Latin poet Colman nepos Cracavist wrote the first known poem about Saint Brigid?
... that the Vanity Ballroom, an intact dance hall that hosted the popular big bands of the Swing Era, billed itself as "Detroit's most beautiful dance rendezvous"?
... that male and female Sternarchogiton nattereri knifefish are so different that males were thought to be members of a different genus for 40 years?
... that American painter Leon Dabo was a spy in World War I?

16:45, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
... that the name of the Lasiognathus genus of anglerfish (L. amphirhampus pictured), distinctive for its huge upper jaw, derives from the Greek for "hairy jaw"?
... that Charlie Bowman was a major influence on the distinctive fiddle sound that helped shape and develop early country music in the 1920s and 1930s?
... that the Royal Navy repair ship HMS Artifex previously served as a liner for Cunard and as an armed merchant cruiser?
... that during construction of the church that now houses the Walters Cultural Arts Center in Hillsboro, Oregon, the church was given all the rock they needed for US$1,000 as long as they hauled it away?
... that Baruch Steinberg was the Chief Rabbi of the Polish Army during the German invasion of Poland in 1939, and died a year later as a Soviet prisoner of war in the Katyn massacre?
... that although it was the tallest building in Perth, Western Australia, for most of the 1960s, Citibank House is now only the 26th tallest in the city?
... that after Frederick Gottwald lost his position as director of the Cleveland Institute of Art, he got into a fistfight with his successor?

10:40, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
... that Congo, a chimpanzee who made over 400 paintings (example pictured), would scream if a painting was taken away from him before he was finished?
... that American general Robert S. Beightler was the only World War II National Guard general to have commanded his division for the length of the war?
... that Australian pop/rock band 1927, whose debut album ...ish sold multi-platinum, tried for a year to get a recording contract?
... that Mark Rosenberg, described as "one of Hollywood's baby moguls", was only 35 years old when he succeeded Robert Shapiro as President of Worldwide Theatrical Production at Warner Bros.?
... that Ryszard Reiff was the only member of the Polish Council of State to vote against the implementation of martial law in Poland in 1981?
... that since the 1920s, the Whittier Hotel in Detroit, Michigan, has hosted Horace Dodge, Eleanor Roosevelt, Mae West, Frank Sinatra, and The Beatles?
... that communist politician K. Ramani became the speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the Indian state Tamil Nadu in 1989?

04:35, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
... that Chemical Agent Identification Sets formerly used by the U.S. military included bottles of sulfur mustard (pictured) used to purposely contaminate terrain and equipment for training?
... that of over 1,000 stone Buddha statues that once existed at the Korean Buddhist temple Unjusa, only 91 remain intact?
... that stick candy, a form of hard candy with a colorful, barber pole-like spiral design, has a long history in the United States, dating to at least as early as 1837?
... that English businessman David Ross was named one of the 100 richest people in the United Kingdom by The Sunday Times?
... that the 14"/50 caliber gun was slated to be the main armament for the Lexington-class battlecruiser, but that class was redesigned in 1917?
... that Keizō Tsukamoto set a Guinness World Record by creating the cover art for more than 1,900 issues of Weekly Manga Times starting in 1970?
... that Birket Israel, once the largest reservoir in Jerusalem, is now a parking lot?
... that while filming 1991's Barton Fink, the Coen brothers were contacted by an animal-rights group concerned about their treatment of mosquitoes?

15 December 2008

22:30, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
... that celebrity chef Jamie Oliver (pictured) narrates the Nintendo DS cooking video game What's Cooking? with Jamie Oliver?
... that the design of the U.S. anti-crop E77 balloon bomb was based on the design of the World War II Japanese fire balloon?
... that wood infected by the "green elfcup" fungus, species Chlorociboria aeruginascens, is used in the manufacture of decorative inlaid woodwork like Tunbridge ware and parquetry?
... that in January 1939, William Rosenwald and Rabbis Abba Hillel Silver and Jonah Wise combined the organizations they each led to form the United Jewish Appeal for Refugees and Overseas Needs?
... that children's book illustrator Walter Crane was the first President of the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, founded in 1887 to showcase the decorative arts?
... that Cromemco's Dazzler was the first commercial graphics card for microcomputers, and was widely used for displaying weather forecasts in the early 1980s?
... that Fairview Creek in Oregon was once a tributary of the Columbia River, but was diverted to the Columbia Slough in the early 20th century?
... that the Battle of the Severn in 1655 in Annapolis, Maryland, was closely related to the conflicts of the English Civil War, which had concluded four years earlier in England?

16:25, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
... that when the Woodside Plaza (pictured) opened in 2004, it was the first high-rise office building to be constructed in Perth, Western Australia, in eight years?
... that Peyton Short may have been responsible for the break-up of the first marriage of U.S. President Andrew Jackson's wife Rachel?
... that coroners' juries in English inquests can bring in an open verdict that confirms a death is suspicious without specifying how it came about?
... that Bill Paparian, who visited Cuba while mayor of Pasadena, California, was reported to admire both Che Guevara and the U.S. Marine Corps?
... that the failed marriage of John Milton inspired his divorce tracts: Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce, Judgement of Martin Bucer, Tetrachordon, and Colasterion?
... that in Joliet, Illinois, population declined during the decade before Arthur Schultz became mayor and has nearly doubled since?
... that the Khedive Palace in Istanbul, Turkey, once a mansion for Ottoman governors, now serves as an upscale restaurant?
... that English violinist John Lenton wrote one of the earliest extant treatises on violin playing?

10:20, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
... that "grand design" spiral galaxy NGC 6118 (pictured) containing Supernova 2004dk is nicknamed the "Blinking Galaxy" for its tendency to flick in and out of view with different eye positions?
... that the chance purchase of a $15 Yoruba carving in Hamburg by Warren M. Robbins led to the establishment of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African Art?
... that live-line working involves making contact with a power line that may be energized up to 1,150,000 volts?
... that award-winning television editor Walter Balderson was the only TV cameraman inside the White House for the 1953 Inauguration Day meeting between U.S. President Truman and President-elect Eisenhower?
... that the African city of Careysburg, Liberia, hosted a large transmitter for Voice of America, the official external broadcasting service of the United States federal government?
... that the Taping river is the first tributary of Myanmar's chief river, the Irrawaddy?
... that Executive Order 13128 led to U.S. State Department rules outlining criminal penalties for violations of the Chemical Weapons Convention?

04:16, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
... that, among the flags of Romania, the flag of the Romanian Revolution of 1989 (pictured) has been called "the flag with the hole"?
... that Sharif el-Mashad, the named petitioner in the habeas corpus case of El Mashad v. Bush, was in the clothing trade before being sent to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp?
... that Humphrey Bate was the first to play old-time music on Nashville radio, and his "Possum Hunters" records are considered some of the most complex string band compositions in the genre?
... that the Nāradasmṛti Indian literature is the only Dharmaśāstra text to not cover areas such as righteous conduct and penance?
... that the Jewish Theological Seminary of America produced the NBC radio and TV program The Eternal Light commercial-free for 45 years, with the show's producer saying "God needs no sponsor"?
... that, when a person explosively jumps up from a squat position, stabilization through preflex happens with zero time delay?
... that Maurice Garin, nicknamed "The Little Chimney-sweep", won the first-ever Tour de France in 1903?
... that the California Avocado Commission is responsible for 90 percent of the United States' harvest of avocado?

14 December 2008

22:10, 14 December 2008 (UTC)
... that the Romanesque St. Charles Borromeo Church (pictured) in Detroit, Michigan, serves a parish that was established to minister to Belgian immigrants to the city?
... that the Australian plague locust can form swarms infesting areas up to 50 square kilometres (19 sq mi)?
... that S. A. K. Durga is the first Asian to have written a book on ethnomusicology?
... that the 1948 Oscar Micheaux-directed film The Betrayal was the first race film to have its premiere in a Broadway theatre in New York City?
... that British motorcycle pioneer Eugene Goodman joined his family's business, Velocette motorcycles, only after his car-making business failed in 1916?
... that in 1979, ColorGraphics Weather Systems pioneered the use of color computer graphics in television weather forecasts, using the Apple II computer?
... that Greek singer Paschalis Terzis's most recent album Mia Nihta Zoriki was certified gold the day it was released?
... that Jim Foster and Madeline D. Davis were the first openly LGBT people to address a major U.S. national political convention when they spoke to the 1972 Democratic National Convention?

16:05, 14 December 2008 (UTC)
... that the first head coach of Cleveland Browns, Paul Brown (pictured), coached the team for 17 complete seasons?
... that production of the French AMX-30 and its variants amounted to a total of 3,571 units?
... that U.S. minister Ashley Day Leavitt received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree during World War I for teaching that "only the righteous nation that keepeth truth may enter in the gates of the Kingdom?"
... that the leftist Czechoslovak Chemical Workers' Union was expelled from the OSČ trade union centre in 1922?
... that Thomas Leavitt and his brother Martin patented the first practical device in the United States to machine postmark letters?
... that a twist lift in pair figure skating involves catching a falling woman by her waist as she twists in the air?
... that American entrepreneur Tom Krieglstein was the first person in line for President-elect Barack Obama's election night rally?
... that although the Norfolk Island Pigeon was hunted to extinction by humans, its first hunters disappeared from Norfolk Island before it did?

10:00, 14 December 2008 (UTC)
... that at least 343 persons on the SS Princess Sophia (pictured) died in 1918 when the ship was grounded near Juneau, Alaska, the captain decided not to evacuate, and the ship sank?
... that Biochimica et Biophysica Acta was the first international journal launched by publishing giant Elsevier?
... that Pennsylvania's longest cave extends from Harlansburg to Rose Point, over 11 miles (18 km) away?
... that after producing a booklet on the Zulu language, Harcourt Mortimer Bengough would go on to command at the 1879 battle of the Zulu capital Ulundi?
... that a trading halt stops stock trading in the U.S. when there is significant order imbalance between buyers and sellers in a security?
... that the Galoter process is an oil shale retorting technology that uses hot oil shale ash to heat other oil shale?
... that Linda Greenlaw, the swordfishing boat captain portrayed in the book and film The Perfect Storm, is now a best-selling author?
... that in the 1949 England and Wales county council elections for the boroughs outside London the Conservative Party had a 96% gain and the Labour Party an 87% seat loss?

03:55, 14 December 2008 (UTC)
... that Holy Land USA (pictured), a Connecticut theme park intended to replicate Bethlehem and Jerusalem of the biblical era, once attracted more than 40,000 visitors annually?
... that the Velocette LE motorcycle was used by over fifty British police forces and the police riders became known as "Noddys" because they were required to nod to senior officers?
... that the Mianus River Gorge in Westchester County, New York, was the first land preservation purchase by the Nature Conservancy?
... that during the history of Pulicat between 1621 and 1665, over 38,000 Indian slaves were obtained by Dutch slave traders and shipped from the Coromandel Coast, mostly to the East Indies?
... that A. Bernard Ackerman, called "a founding figure in the field of dermatopathology", was skeptical of the notion that exposure to sun causes melanoma, saying the link had not been proven?
... that Duranta erecta, a widely cultivated ornamental plant, has been identified as an invasive species in Fiji, French Polynesia and Hawaii?
... that Thompson Pond and nearby Stissing Mountain were inspiration for the New York State Environment exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History?
... that like the Titanic, the Hans Hedtoft struck an iceberg and sank on her maiden voyage?

13 December 2008

20:15, 13 December 2008 (UTC)
... that the deep-sea anglerfish Thaumatichthys (pictured) has been called "one of the oddest creatures in the teeming variety of the fish world"?
... that the works of landscape architect Charles Leavitt include gardens for Walter P. Chrysler and William C. Whitney, the grandstands at Forbes Field, and racetracks at Saratoga and Belmont?
... that 1998's Hurricane Karl was one of four simultaneous hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean at one time, the first such occurrence since 1893?
... that Collin Mooney beat the Army football single-season rushing record by one yard in the last play of his last college game, the 2008 U.S. Army-Navy Game?
... that the Main Synagogue of Barcelona may be the oldest synagogue building still standing in Europe?
... that Enos Lowe was a founder of Omaha, Nebraska, and an early resident of Iowa's Black Hawk Purchase?
... that Henry Frederick Stephenson was the First and principal Naval Aide-de-camp to King Edward VII?
... that after a kitten named Lucky survived a fall from the 65-foot-high (20 m) Granada Bridge at Ormond Beach, Florida, Lucky's owners changed her name to Timmy?

14:10, 13 December 2008 (UTC)
... that, in the lives of saints, the appearance of roses (example pictured) sometimes announces the presence or activity of God?
... that at No Mercy (2002), Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit became the first ever WWE Tag Team Champions by defeating Rey Mysterio and Edge?
... that William Gordon Harris's tenure as Director-General of Highways at the British Ministry of Transport saw the construction of 650 miles (1,050 km) of motorways?
... that Clay-Ashland, a town in Liberia, is named after American slave owner Henry Clay?
... that Erasmus Ommanney entered the Royal Navy at age 12 in August 1826 and went on to discover in 1850 the first traces of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago fate of Sir John Franklin?
... that the State Street Bridge in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is flanked by two 145-foot (44 m) pylons representing the U.S. Army and Navy?
... that the former main jewel on the Bavarian crown, the Wittelsbach Diamond, was almost cut into several smaller diamonds?
... that Thomas Allin, an early settler of Kentucky, USA, laid out the cities of Lexington, Harrodsburg, and Henderson?

08:05, 13 December 2008 (UTC)
... that the Coppermine Expedition of 1819–1822 made John Franklin (pictured) famous as "the man who ate his boots"?
... that in exchange for US$50,000 from two undercover agents posing as representatives of a fictitious Arab sheik in the Abscam investigation, U.S. Congressman Raymond F. Lederer told the agents "I can give you me"?
... that during the Ottoman–Venetian War of 1570–1573, the 8,500-strong Venetian garrison of Famagusta in Cyprus held out for eleven months against an Ottoman army of 200,000 men?
... that a medical patient's failure to maintain a fluid restriction, diet, or medication could result in acute decompensated heart failure?
... that the Balance and Ball Bearing television advertisements for the Lexus LS 400 and ES 300, were highly honored and subsequently referenced by its competitors in their own advertising campaigns?
... that Jonathan Leavitt was the leading publisher of theological and religious books in New York City during the early 1800s?
... that the high-profile recalls in 2007 and 2008 of China-manufactured toys led the U.S. to enact stricter limits on the amount of lead in paint on children's products?
... that "Johnny Sausage" Barbato, charged with being a "capo" or "captain" in the Genovese crime family, was released from prison in July 2008 at age 74?

02:00, 13 December 2008 (UTC)
... that Sir John Baptist Medina became the first illustrator of John Milton's Paradise Lost (example pictured) in 1688?
... that the beech-maple forest is a climax plant community in the eastern United States and Canada?
... that the non-payment of debts is the archetype for the seventeen other Hindu titles of law, including the sexual crimes against women?
... that Leavitt Peak is named after early California settler and innkeeper Hiram Leavitt?
... that species Fuligo septica, called the "dog-vomit slime mold", can tolerate unusually high levels of the metal zinc?
... that after a professional wrestling match between The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar at Unforgiven (2002), The Undertaker attacked Lesnar by throwing him through the wall of a set?
... that the ancient, but lost, Nendrum Monastery was found in 1844, when a visitor recognized the remains of a round tower?
... that Mayor Tom Weisner once considered outlawing untimely holiday decorations, when citizens of Aurora, Illinois, complained of Christmas decorations abounding during the summer?

12 December 2008

18:05, 12 December 2008 (UTC)
... that Jacob's Well (pictured) in Nablus is a site associated with Jacob in Jewish, Samaritan, Christian and Muslim tradition?
... that the community of Half Acre, Alabama, once contained half an acre of land that was deeded to The Devil?
... that the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus was a short-lived state founded in March 1914 by Greeks living in southern Albania?
... that Liz Heaston was the first woman to score points in a college football game when she kicked two extra points for the Willamette Bearcats in 1997?
... that Samuel Frederick Henry Thompson, a British flying ace of World War I, scored 30 kills in five months of service and won both the DFC and MC?
... that the first ever Hell in a Cell match to feature six professional wrestlers was held at the Armageddon pay-per-view event?
... that due to standing among corpses in his coat and rubber gloves while holding a syringe, SS-Oberscharführer Josef Klehr has been described as the ultimate caricature of the omnipotent Auschwitz doctor?
... that none of the Dallas Mavericks head coaches have been elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach?

12:00, 12 December 2008 (UTC)
... that the Mercury Monterey (1960s model pictured) was the only Mercury vehicle to be in continuous production throughout the 1960s?
... that the meaning and significance of kingship changed dramatically over time in India between the 2nd millennium BCE and ca. 500 BCE?
... that in 1883, a dozen years before Oscar Wilde was convicted for Gross Indecency, the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News published a cartoon showing him in convict dress?
... that the morph of proteins that function as morpheeins can be explained by a dice analogy where the one spot must contact the die face with four spots?
... that after being unified with the World Heavyweight Championship in October 2002, the WWE Intercontinental Championship returned in May 2003 at the Judgment Day pay-per-view event?
... that members of the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve during World War I were described by Sir Winston Churchill as "the best small boat men in the world"?
... that Gerald Ford's decision to appoint John Paul Stevens to the U.S. Supreme Court was largely influenced by his attorney general Edward H. Levi?
... that Italian noblewoman Bianca Riario acted as a substitute mother in the early 1500s to her half-brother, the celebrated Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, while her own mother was in prison?

05:55, 12 December 2008 (UTC)
... that self-taught Swedish American artist Henry Reuterdahl (pictured) was also an editor of Jane's Fighting Ships?
... that White City Amusement Park is where the first Goodyear Blimps were assembled?
... that Norwegian Socialist politician Rolf Ketil Bjørn was nicknamed "the red millionaire" due to his background in the business sector?
... that, of the approximately 40 total U-101 class submarines and U-107 class submarines planned for the WWI Austro-Hungarian Navy, all remained uncompleted and only five were laid down?
... that Ohio Territorial Governor Charles Willing Byrd once worked for American Revolutionary War financier Robert Morris?
... that Miltonic verse, a style which influenced centuries of poetry, is found within the final three poetic works of John Milton, Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, and Samson Agonistes?
... that the body of Fr. Solanus Casey, a candidate for sainthood, was exhumed and reinterred at Detroit's St. Bonaventure Monastery where he had comforted and fed the hungry during the Great Depression?
... that despite being laughed off stage at a music contest as a young boy, mugham singer Alim Qasimov went on to win the International IMC–UNESCO Music Prize?

11 December 2008

23:50, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
... that in 1853, the Irish clergyman William Reeves bought the 9th-century Book of Armagh (pictured) for three hundred pounds?
... that actor Justice Leak and his sister Liberty were named for their father's love of the criminal justice system?
... that under Hindu dietary law, a man is not allowed to eat while facing south if his mother is still alive?
... that though they had lost all strategically and economically important locations of Luzon in the Battle of Luzon, pockets of Japanese forces held out until Japan surrendered in World War II?
... that mountaineer Barry Bishop, a member of the first American team to summit Mount Everest, lost all his toes to frostbite during the ascent?
... that the Fen River was used to flood the city of modern-day Taiyuan in the Battle of Jinyang, and was later used to defeat the besieging army?
... that in People v. Salem (1870), the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that public money could not be used to finance private railroad construction?
... that Sir Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Baron Cornwallis of Eye, served at one point as a groom of the Stool?

17:45, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
... that to turn an old London fruit market into the New Gallery (pictured) in only three months, Edward Robert Robson's builders encased existing cast-iron columns in marble and topped them with gilded Greek capitals?
... that Castle Crags Wilderness in California contains the site of the Modoc War's 1855 Battle of Castle Crags? (Note: this one was accidentally featured twice, see previous update).
... that Swiss patron of composers and writers Werner Reinhart is memorialized in an Alice Bailly 1920 portrait as "The Man with the Golden Heart"?
... that large amounts of α-Parinaric acid have been found in the seeds of an Impatiens species and an unrelated tree species?
... that Sue K. Hicks, a prosecutor in the Scopes Monkey Trial who later became a judge in Tennessee, may have been the inspiration for the song, "A Boy Named Sue," popularized by singer Johnny Cash in 1969?
... that, rather being used to diagnose depression, depression rating scales provide an indication of the severity of symptoms for a time period?
... that Church of England clergyman William Wayte also was a minor British chess master in the late 1800s?
... that hypnotherapist, occultist and alleged Nazi sympathiser Alexander Cannon, who was known as the "Yorkshire Yogi", counselled British King Edward VIII shortly before his abdication in 1936?

11:40, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
... that Italian WWII frogmen set up a secret manned torpedo base in the previously sunken Italian tanker Olterra (pictured)?
... that Moduin, a poet of the Carolingian Renaissance, characterises his era as a rebirth of "Golden Rome"?
... that Castle Crags Wilderness contains the California site where the Modoc War's 1855 Battle of Castle Crags took place?
... that by the time he returned to England in 1878 after collecting plants in Colombia, German plant collector Guillermo Kalbreyer had lost more than half of his collection?
... that the positive-stop foot gear change first used on the Velocette KTT motorcycle in 1928 has become the standard for motorcycles today?
... that Jay Roach recommended that Jon Poll direct teen film Charlie Bartlett when Roach had to back out of the job himself?
... that the village of Lamberley in Northumberland, England has on display a bell from a small convent of Benedictine nuns that was devastated by William Wallace in 1296?
... that Vanessa Redgrave's portrayal of transsexual Renée Richards in the 1986 biopic Second Serve was praised as embodying "every internal contradiction of the polymorphously perverse"?

05:35, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
... that most of the buildings in the Giant Forest Lodge Historic District (cabin pictured), listed on the National Register of Historic Places, were demolished by the National Park Service to protect giant sequoia trees in Sequoia National Park?
... that Toto's seizure of power in Rome in 767 is one of the first indications that the military aristocracy believed that supreme power in Rome rested with the papal office?
... that the human mouth is formed when the opening that later becomes the anus tunnels through the embryo and comes out the other side?
... that the identity of the second police mole in the 2006 Toronto terrorism arrests has never been revealed?
... that actor Scott Thompson Baker has had notable roles in each of the long-running soap operas General Hospital, All My Children, and The Bold and the Beautiful?
... that a council ward in the East End of London was renamed "Spitalfields and Banglatown" in 2001 to reflect the history of Bangladeshi immigration to that area?
... that at a 1972 re-election rally before a crowd of 15,000 at the Nassau Coliseum, Richard Nixon's opening words were "This is the biggest and best rally, Joe Margiotta, I have ever seen"?

10 December 2008

23:30, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
... that Velika Planina is a high-altitude settlement in Slovenia having huts whose oval roofs (pictured) have wooden shingles that extend nearly to ground level to accommodate cattle?
... that the former Rabbi of New York City's Fifth Avenue Synagogue, Emanuel Rackman, came under fire for helping agunot women obtain marriage annulments?
... that the band Fleet Foxes received over a quarter of a million MySpace plays in two months despite having never released any of their work?
... that B-17 Flying Fortress tailgunner "Babe" Broyhill set a record by destroying two Messerschmitt ME-262 jet fighters in a mission over Berlin in March 1945?
... that approximately 10,000 communist miners left the Czechoslovak Miners' Union in 1923, after the union had accepted 9–13 percent cuts in salaries?
... that Estonian chemist Paul Kogerman, known for his study of oil-bearing shales, was deported by Soviet authorities with his family in 1941 to a prisoner camp in Sverdlovsk Oblast?
... that the director of Afghan Muscles ignored the role of Afghan women in bodybuilding, noting "It's men looking at men," and "60% [of men] have their first sexual experience with another man"?

14:40, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
... that in 1887, D. H. Friston became the first illustrator to depict Sherlock Holmes (cover art pictured)?
... that the radio station WHOS in Decatur, Alabama, aired an all-Elvis Presley format from October 1988 to April 1989?
... that the German submarine U-558 sank ships as far north as Ireland and as far south as Trinidad during World War II?
... that former Maryland Terrapins wide receiver Steve Suter set three NCAA and five Atlantic Coast Conference football records for kick returns despite his small stature and recurring injuries?
... that from November to April every year Jammu is the capital of Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost Indian state, and that during the summer Srinagar is the capital?
... that Abyssobrotula galatheae lives deeper in the ocean than any other known fish?
... that a portion of Virginia's 71-mile (114 km) Massanutten Trail was built on orders from George Washington as a route of retreat should the Continental Army be defeated at Yorktown?
... that pianist Kathryn Stott first met long-term collaborator Yo-Yo Ma playing the cello in her flat in his underpants?

06:35, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
... that the U.S. Marine Corps H-1 upgrade program is replacing the aging AH-1W SuperCobra and UH-1N Twin Huey helicopters with the AH-1Z Viper (pictured) and UH-1Y Venom, respectively?
... that the best-selling 1975 memoir The Education of Lev Navrozov established its author as a prominent Soviet dissident?
... that Barry Tabobondung was so excited to be drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft that he climbed over seats to get to the stage, and became stuck in a seat for two hours?
... that Qatar was the first country on the Persian Gulf to allow women the right to vote?
... that the Petroleum fly, Helaeomyia petrolei, is the only known insect that develops in naturally occurring crude oil?
... that the 1986 children's picture book Juma and the Magic Jinn was awarded Honor Book in the illustrations category of the 1986 Golden Kite Awards?
... that the appointment of Sever Voinescu as Romanian ambassador to the United States was rejected by a Senate committee on grounds that he was too close to President Traian Băsescu?
... that the folklorist Sir Laurence Gomme, who persuaded London County Council to take on the blue plaque commemorative scheme, was himself honoured with the 800th blue plaque?

9 December 2008

22:30, 9 December 2008 (UTC)
... that the "Old Perpetual" geyser (pictured) at Hunter's Hot Springs in Lake County, Oregon, releases a plume of near-boiling water 50 to 60 feet (15–18 m) into the air every 90 seconds?
... that the Zoia Horn Intellectual Freedom Award is named for a librarian who was jailed for refusing to testify in the 1972 trial of the Harrisburg Seven anti-war activists?
... that the early poetry of John Milton (born 400 years ago today), including "Christ's Nativity", "The Passion", "Upon the Circumcision", "Arcades", "L'Allegro", and "Il Penseroso", was written as early as 1624 but not published until 1645?
... that George Hardy, who headed the Service Employees International Union from 1971 to 1980, did his first union organizing among janitors in San Francisco?
... that the Cornish jack, a weakly electric fish, uses electricity to communicate with other members of its group?
... that Romanian Symbolist poet, novelist, and critic Alexandru Macedonski sat on a throne during meetings of his esoteric circle?
... that attorney Rachel Hirschfeld works in the field of pet rights, including the creation of pet trusts allowing pets to inherit property?

14:25, 9 December 2008 (UTC)
... that the Eastside Historic Cemetery District (pictured) in Detroit, Michigan, contains the graves of 29 Detroit mayors, at least 6 governors, 11 senators, and a dozen cabinet members?
... that White Tights are mysterious blonde female snipers from the Baltic states who have supposedly fought against the Russian Army in various conflicts?
... that the later political works of John Milton (born 400 years ago today), including Tenure of Kings, Eikonoklastes, Defensio Secunda, Civil Power, and Ready and Easy Way, were controversial but still sold well?
... that Kunz von Kaufungen kidnapped Frederick II, Elector of Saxony's two sons, Ernest and Albert, just four years after he commanded Frederick II's forces during the Saxon Fratricidal War?
... that while working on The Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon, painter Edward Burne-Jones identified so strongly with King Arthur that he even assumed Arthur's pose when he slept?
... that the "noble polypore" (mushroom species Bridgeoporus nobilissimus) was the first fungus to be listed as endangered by any private or public agency in the United States?
... that two of the three character designers of the Japanese visual novel Flyable Heart have illustrated the Shakugan no Shana light novels and manga series, respectively?
... that Scott Smith is the first person since 1966 to be elected Mayor of Mesa, Arizona without having first served on its City Council?

06:20, 9 December 2008 (UTC)
... that bishop Mauritius Ferber of Warmia (pictured) was treated for illness several times by the physician-astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus?
... that Terry Murray replaced his brother Bryan as head coach of the Washington Capitals in the 1989–90 NHL season, and as head coach of the Florida Panthers in the 1998–99 season?
... that John Milton (born 400 years ago today) discusses his religious views in numerous antiprelatical tracts, including Of Reformation, Of Prelatical Episcopacy, Animadversions, Reason of Church-Government, and Apology for Smectymnuus?
... that, as a student activist in the 1940s, Indian politician Gangadhar Appa Burande was one of the founders of the Communist Party in the Marathwada region?
... that the Indian Paint fungus (Echinodontium tinctorium), a member of the fungal family Echinodontiaceae, was used by Native Americans to make red pigments?
... that, during the 1924 British Mount Everest Expedition, Edward Norton set a world record for climbing height that stood until 1952?
... that Jeremy Camp said his highest-debuting album to date Speaking Louder Than Before was "really aimed at" youth?
... that during the Great Depression, Wisconsin dairy farmers conducted a series of strike actions aimed at increasing the prices paid to milk producers?

8 December 2008

22:15, 8 December 2008 (UTC)
... that the 14th-century life-size stone effigies of a knight and his wife in St Margaret's Church, Ifield (pictured), England, have been said to have an "inimitable sideways sway"?
... that Captain Ivan Castro is the only blind officer serving in the United States Army Special Forces?
... that many of Kentucky's early political leaders were part of the Danville Political Club, a debating society whose existence was not known publicly until a century later?
... that Polish Military Intelligence chief Tadeusz Pełczyński suggested before 1939 that, if war approached, Poland share her Enigma-cipher-breaking techniques with France and Britain?
... that before Dick Vitale began his Hall of Fame career as a basketball broadcaster, he was a head coach of the Detroit Pistons in the 1970s?
... that the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, stands on the site of a 1777 Second Continental Congress meeting?
... that Eivind Reiten was chair of StatoilHydro, Norway's largest company, for four days?

10:10, 8 December 2008 (UTC)
... that the U.S. devised tactics to defeat Japan's Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter plane from the 1942 capture of an intact example dubbed the Akutan Zero (pictured)?
... that Jane Couch MBE, nicknamed The Fleetwood Assassin, became the first female boxer to be granted a professional licence by the British Boxing Board of Control?
... that "ghost buster" Robert A. Baker was named one of the most outstanding scientific skeptics of the 20th century for his work on hypnosis, ghosts, alien abductions and false memory syndrome?
... that the Aquarama, built in 1945 as a Liberty ship, was converted into the largest passenger ship ever to operate on the Great Lakes?
... that Samuel McDowell fought in three wars and later presided over nine of the ten constitutional conventions needed to draft the first Kentucky Constitution?
... that filamentous fungi of genus Geomyces have been implicated in White-nose syndrome, a fungal disease causing high mortality in bats?
... that Davin Meggett, the Maryland Terrapins' second-leading running back, is the son of Super Bowl champion and two-time Pro Bowl selection, David Meggett?
... that commuter rail stop Hall/Nimbus Station in Oregon includes artwork that features movable heads shaped like a pumpkin and a blue-colored skull?

7 December 2008

22:05, 7 December 2008 (UTC)
... that the innovative design of the pre-Columbian twin pyramid of Tenayuca (pictured) in Mexico was later used as a model for the temples of the Aztecs?
... that the element promethium was discovered in 1945 by Manhattan Project chemists Jacob A. Marinsky, Lawrence E. Glendenin and Charles D. Coryell?
... that the Magosternarchus genus of knifefish eats the tails of other knifefish, and many specimens have been found with regenerated tails?
... that in World War II, David M. Jones, later a U.S. Air Force Major General, participated in events that formed the basis for two Hollywood movies: Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo and The Great Escape?
... that the most common symptoms in impingement syndrome are pain, weakness and a loss of strength at the shoulder?
... that Rabbi Tobias Geffen convinced the makers of Coca-Cola to change its secret formula in 1935 so he could certify that the beverage was kosher?
... that Lac-Simon, in Quebec, Canada, is named after Marie-Louise Cimon, the wife of an early settler?
... that after Helmut Friedlaender sold most of his rare-book collection at auction in 2001, he bought back some of the books on the open market to give them a good home?