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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...

January 15 2009

23:09, 15 January 2009 (UTC)
... that Czesław Wycech (pictured), Polish peasant movement activist, was also involved with underground education in occupied Poland during WWII?
... that Maria Kinnaird, who was adopted by the politician Richard "Conversation" Sharp, married the surveyor who first used the Drummond Light?
... that Conolophus rosada, a newly described species of iguana, diverged some 5.7 million years ago, making it among the oldest incidents of evolutionary divergence recorded in the Galápagos archipelago?
... that in 1820, the missionary William Jowett bought the 9,539-page manuscript of Abu Rumi's first-ever translation of the Bible into Amharic "on terms which appeared... equitable to all parties"?
... that the 2005 Operation Iron Hammer, aimed to clear Al-Qaeda in Iraq from the Hai Al Becker region in western Iraq, resulted in no reported casualties and no use of deadly force?
... that twin brothers Robert and Ross Hume became known as the "Dead Heat Kids" after finishing nine straight mile races, including the Big Ten and NCAA championships, holding hands in dead heat victories?
... that the studio band of radio station WRAG (now WREN) in Carrollton, Alabama, is credited with popularizing bluegrass music in central Alabama and eastern Mississippi?
... that Scottish footballer Jim Baxter once taunted opponents in an international match by playing keepie uppie during the game, and that he described his style as "treating the ball like a woman"?

17:52, 15 January 2009 (UTC)
... that Rafflesia keithii (pictured), a parasitic plant endemic to Sabah, is named in honour of forester and plant collector Harry Keith?
... that when Robert de Bethune was nominated Bishop of Hereford in 1130, King Henry I of England did so because he felt he needed one "godly bishop" around?
... that concerns were raised in 2001 that anthrax research done by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency as part of Project Jefferson violated the Biological Weapons Convention?
... that at great risk, Squadron Leader Phil Lamason of the RNZAF negotiated the transfer of 166 allied airmen from Buchenwald concentration camp, a week before their scheduled execution?
... that James Bennet was set to become Beijing correspondent for The New York Times when he instead was appointed the fourteenth editor-in-chief of The Atlantic Monthly in March 2006?
... that in Blood of the Irish, presenter Diarmuid Gavin examined the claim that 20% of men in the north-west of Ireland are descended from Niall of the Nine Hostages, an ancient High King of Ireland?
... that Edward D. Hamilton was appointed as the Secretary of the Oregon Territory after later U.S. President Abraham Lincoln declined the position?
... that the Brazilian team at the 1958 World Cup had not assigned squad numbers in advance, and a 17-year old Pelé was randomly assigned the number 10, which he wore for the rest of his career?

11:44, 15 January 2009 (UTC)
... that in 1889, Frank Atwood Huntington patented a self-propelled gasoline engine vehicle (patent image pictured), four years before the Duryea Brothers built their first car?
... that after Pope Alexander III absolved Gilbert Foliot's excommunication, Thomas Becket exclaimed that "Satan is unloosed for the destruction of the Church"?
... that recommendations from the U.S. War Bureau of Consultants in 1942 led to the founding of the War Research Service and a bio-weapons program?
... that handballer Tonje Larsen was a part of the All-Star Team at the 2008 European Championship, sixteen years after debuting on the Norwegian national team?
... that the first 8-real banknotes were printed in Puerto Rico in 1766?
... that internal division caused when three sympathizers of the Democratic Agrarian Party of Moldova competed in the 1996 presidential election was one factor that led to the party losing all parliamentary seats two years later?
... that the owner of Twin Oaks Plantation organized Company B of the 36th Regiment Alabama Infantry in the Confederate Army on the lawn in front of his house?
... that Benoît Sinzogan, described as "too timid to mount a coup" during the 1960s and 1970s, was "one of Dahomey's few senior officers not to attempt to"?

04:27, 15 January 2009 (UTC)
... that Samuel Pepys and Ferdinand Columbus each owned works by the anonymous engraver Master I. A. M. of Zwolle (example engraving pictured)?
... that the lyrics "suicide, it's a suicide", first used by rapper KRS-One in 1987, have since been re-used by artists such as Ice-T, Redman and Jay-Z?
... that Leonid Plyushch, who sought to apply mathematical modeling to mental illness, was later diagnosed with sluggish schizophrenia for his dissident activities?
... that Operation Barga helped improve the social status of bargadars (sharecroppers) in West Bengal, India?
... that 1941 NCAA backstroke champion and University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor inductee Francis Heydt later owned a business that sold camouflage clothing to the U.S. military?
... that the hip hop magazine Rap-Up was founded by Devin Lazerine as a website when he was 15 years old?
... that having witnessed the effects of a market attack in the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict during a ban of international press, Norwegian doctor Mads Gilbert started a global SMS campaign?
... that Robert Redford made one of his last guest-starring appearances in a television series in a 1963 episode of the ABC psychiatric drama Breaking Point?

January 14 2009

22:37, 14 January 2009 (UTC)
... that during the Battle for Height 776 in Chechnya, Mark Yevtyukhin ordered artillery fire on his company's position, an act which contributed to him being posthumously honoured as a Hero of the Russian Federation (medal pictured)?
... that Jackson Lake State Park in Ohio, USA, is now the location of a thriving second growth forest, but was once home to the iron, coal and salt industries?
... that Jim McColl, the son of a butcher, reportedly became Scotland's richest man in 2008?
... that an area of more than 60,000 square miles (160,000 km²) in the U.S. states of Georgia, North and South Carolina was exposed to airborne clouds of zinc cadmium sulfide during Operation Dew?
... that Satenik was the Alanian wife of Artaxias I, the king of Armenia and the founder of the Artaxiad Dynasty?
... that the 12"/50 caliber Mark 8 gun, an American naval gun mounted on the Alaska-class cruisers, "was by far the most powerful weapon of its caliber ever placed in service"?
... that while the British indie rock band Bombay Bicycle Club were recording their debut EP, The Boy I Used to Be, they were in the same school year as Cajun Dance Party?
... that tropical botanist Paul H. Allen assembled one of the most important collections of banana germplasm?

16:12, 14 January 2009 (UTC)
... that the South Indian Hindu deity Shasta (statue pictured) is considered the son of Shiva and Mohini, a female form of Vishnu?
... that the Christmas carol Personent hodie, first published in the 1582 Finnish song book Piae Cantiones, is thought to be a parody of a 12th-century carol?
... that as a means to challenge the Microsoft/Intel PC architecture, IBM executive Jack Kuehler formed the AIM alliance that created the PowerPC microprocessor used in Apple's computers from 1994 to 2006?
... that despite being roughly only a square mile (2.6 km²) in area, the tiny atoll of Kaben in the Republic of the Marshall Islands actually has a functional airstrip?
... that pitcher Jesse Barnes made the Opening Day start for the Boston Braves against the New York Giants in the 1925 baseball season, after making the Opening Day start for the Giants against the Braves in 1920?
... that labourers paving Saskatchewan Highway 641 in 1942 earned 35 cents an hour and a labourer with a tractor-drawn drag earned 50 cents an hour?
... that the American Iron and Steel Institute formed the Steelmark in 1960 to promote American steel, with the logo put on the helmets of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1962 to further publicize the program?
... that during the Song Dynasty, the people of Sichuan worshipped Tang Dynasty general Wei Gao as a local deity?

10:31, 14 January 2009 (UTC)
... that to boost US sales the AMC marketing team rebranded the aging export AJS Model 16 (pictured) with the new name The Sceptre?
... that Jeffrey Lockwood provides historical examples of assassin bugs, buckets of scorpions, and catapulted "bee bombs" as entomological warfare in his book, Six-legged Soldiers: Using Insects as Weapons of War?
... that the German rock group Tokio Hotel has released six singles and an album in English?
... that Archbishop Edward Joseph Hanna was the chairman of the U.S. National Longshoremen's Board during the 1934 West Coast waterfront strike?
... that the peridium of the bird's-nest fungus forms its "nest"?
... that Tang Dynasty official Pei Yanling was "so careless in his frivolousness and falsehood, as well as his jealousy of the talented and harmfulness to the good" that two centuries later it made historian Liu Xu weep?
... that the opening of State Fair Community College was delayed for more than two years because of a legal dispute over college districts in Missouri?
... that German football manager Horst Buhtz led both Dortmund and Nuremberg to the Bundesliga promotion playoffs, but was dismissed each time before the matches took place?

04:02, 14 January 2009 (UTC)
... that the putrid stench of the "latticed stinkhorn" fungus Clathrus ruber (pictured) attracts insects to help disperse its spores?
... that as early as 1968, criminologist Lloyd Ohlin noted that the routine incarceration of youthful offenders does "more to develop than to stop career criminals"?
... that Deekshabhoomi is the place in Nagpur, India, where thousands of people embraced Buddhism on October 14, 1956?
... that music critic Herman Klein wrote in New York City from 1901 to 1909 and advised Columbia Records, but he acquired an unfavorable view of American musical life and returned to Britain?
... that the village shop at Hewelsfield in Gloucestershire, England, was opened in 2004 by Prince Charles, who described it as "a triumph of community spirit"?
... that American football tackle J.D. Maarleveld survived Hodgkin's lymphoma but was cut from the Notre Dame team anyway, transferred to Maryland, and became a consensus first-team All-American?
... that the Lublin 1980 strikes marked the beginning of important socio-political changes in Poland, such as the creation of Solidarity and democratization of the country?
... that Shelldrake, Michigan, is a ghost town whose name was translated from the Ojibwa word for a kind of duck?

January 13 2009

22:45, 13 January 2009 (UTC)
... that the Lloyd Baron Rhododendron Garden in Rood Bridge Park includes some 550 varieties of rhododendron (pictured), the official flower of the city of Hillsboro, Oregon, USA?
... that former guerrilla James Tanis undertook a trip through some twenty fast-flowing rivers and creeks before being inaugurated as the second President of Bougainville?
... that, despite being suspended for half the game, college football running back Da'Rel Scott set a school bowl record for rushing for the Maryland Terrapins in their 2008 Humanitarian Bowl victory?
... that author Beryl Bainbridge wrote a novel based on clergyman and translator John Selby Watson's 1871 murder of his wife?
... that after being closed in 1978, Sandefjord Airport Station reopened in 2008 with a new name to serve Sandefjord Airport, Torp, Norway?
... that Gigantic, a film about a single man deciding to adopt a baby, was inspired by writer–director Matt Aselton's childhood wish for his parents to adopt a baby from China?
... that Nick Scandone was named 2005 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year, the first Paralympian to earn the honor, after winning the 2.4 meter world championship against 60 able-bodied and 27 disabled sailors?
... that sugar cream pie is being considered to become the official state pie of Indiana, USA?

15:52, 13 January 2009 (UTC)
... that Dorothy Lavinia Brown (pictured) was the first African American female surgeon in the Southeastern United States and also first African American woman to serve in the Tennessee General Assembly?
... that the mass finishing manufacturing processes, tumble finishing and vibratory finishing, are often employed to deburr machined parts and clean up castings?
... that Captain Woodes Rogers rescued Alexander Selkirk, the model for Robinson Crusoe, and later defeated the pirates of the Caribbean?
... that Koradi Thermal Power Station, near Nagpur, India, was commissioned in 1974 and currently operates seven units with a total capacity of 1,080 MW?
... that Paschal Eze resigned as editor-in-chief of The Daily Observer, a newspaper in The Gambia, after being pressured by management not to publish stories about a certain politician?
... that the Bat Motor Manufacturing Co. Ltd was named after founder Samuel Robert Batson but was nicknamed "Best After Tests"?
... that William Murphy won two Big Ten doubles tennis championships with his twin brother, and later coached Michigan tennis teams to 11 Big Ten and one NCAA team championships?
... that Delaware State Park is not in the U.S. state of Delaware but rather in Ohio?

09:37, 13 January 2009 (UTC)
... that the "floating palaces" Bristol and Providence, built in 1867 by William H. Webb (pictured), contained 500 canaries in cages, each one personally named by shipowner Jim Fisk?
... that one form of the general image filters invented by Otto Zobel is a particularly simple band-pass filter consisting of just resonators coupled by capacitors?
... that the body of Eadulf Rus, a man accused of killing Walcher, Bishop of Durham, was removed from the church of Jedburgh some years after it had been buried there on the orders of Turgot, Prior of Durham?
... that A. P. Patro inaugurated the Loyola College in Chennai, India, in 1925?
... that while the Brooklyn Theatre burned in 1876, the actors urged calm in the face of rising panic, and though nearest to the flames, they were among the last to leave the theater alive?
... that the Cape Verde Shearwater is threatened by the harvesting of its chicks by local fishermen?
... that in 1912, a Singer motorcycle became the first 350cc motorcycle to cover more than 60 miles (97 km) in one hour?
... that college football quarterback Brian Johnson led the Utah Utes to become the only undefeated team in the 2008 season, including an upset of fourth-ranked Alabama in the 2009 Sugar Bowl?

03:35, 13 January 2009 (UTC)
... that Alexandra Penney, author of the best-selling book How to Make Love to a Man, has been credited as one of the creators and popularizers of the pink ribbon (pictured) as a symbol for breast cancer awareness?
... that the "orange tooth" fungus, Hydnellum aurantiacum, is considered critically endangered in the United Kingdom?
... that American boxer Muhammad Ali and Swiss tennis player Roger Federer have each won the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year award three times?
... that the translation of Sangiovese as the "blood of Jove" led to early theories that the grape's origins dated back to Roman times?
... that Joseph Leavitt, nicknamed "Quaker Joe", was a conscientious objector during the American Revolutionary War, having laid down his weapon after three months of fighting for the Continental Army?
... that the practice of agriculture in India had started by 9000 BCE?
... that Link TV partnered with several world artists to write "The Price of Silence" to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
... that in Harold Nichols' 32 years as Iowa State wrestling coach, his wrestlers placed among the top three teams in the United States 25 times and won 38 individual and six team NCAA championships?

January 12 2009

20:01, 12 January 2009 (UTC)
... that George R. Christmas (pictured), then known as Captain Christmas, received the Navy Cross for "extraordinary heroism" in the Vietnam War?
... that Perth is the first city to operate a reverse osmosis seawater desalination plant to provide drinking water in Australia?
... that Dave Porter won the NCAA heavyweight collegiate wrestling championship twice and was subsequently drafted by the Cleveland Browns to play in the NFL?
... that the 17th-century antiquarian Johan Hadorph performed Sweden's first archaeological excavation?
... that at least 20 children were abducted during the 2008 Christmas massacres in the Democratic Republic of the Congo?
... that Anssi Koivuranta is leading the 2008-09 Nordic Combined World Cup right now?
... that William Glendon argued successfully before the U.S. Supreme Court that the Nixon Administration could not use prior restraint to prevent printing of the Pentagon Papers?
... that Susanna Clarke's novel Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell has 185 footnotes, which contain a meticulous false history of English magic and an entire fictional corpus of magical scholarship?
... that college football wide receiver Torrey Smith of the Maryland Terrapins set the Atlantic Coast Conference record for single-season kick return yards, including a 99-yard return in a bowl game?

14:34, 12 January 2009 (UTC)
... that Norwegian ski jumper Daniel Forfang (pictured) retired due to body weight pressure in the sport, whose rules were earlier considered to fit Forfang "perfectly"?
... that the Norfolk, Connecticut-based performing arts venue Infinity Hall was built in 1883 as a combination opera house, barber shop and saloon?
... that Matt Smith, who will portray the Eleventh Doctor in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, is the youngest person to be cast in the title role?
... that Edward Schalon, inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor as a golfer, later became the president of a Fortune 500 company, SPX Corporation?
... that the King Mojo Club in Sheffield, run by Peter Stringfellow, hosted the Small Faces' first gig outside London?
... that after becoming the first basketball player to lead the Big Ten in both scoring and rebounds, Michigan's M.C. Burton turned down a contract to play in the NBA to attend medical school?
... that Morrissey was billed as the headliner of Saturday Night Fiber 2008, even though he was not the final act to play?
... that Eliza Flower was a 19th-century English musician and composer with whom a young Robert Browning fell in love?
... that George "Crybaby" Cannon got his nickname from being able to wipe sweat from his face to make it appear as though he was crying?

09:12, 12 January 2009 (UTC)
... that the Seattle's Pike Place Market (pictured) was created partly in response to price gouging?
... that the East German company Jenapharm synthesized steroids from hog bile because they lacked access to a source of the precursor diosgenin?
... that Alice May starred as a soprano in comic opera in the 1870s but toured as a contralto in the 1880s?
... that the house at Borden Oaks in Greensboro, Alabama, features sidelights and transoms derived from an 1833 Asher Benjamin design?
... that Tang Dynasty chancellor Du Huangshang was credited with setting in motion Emperor Xianzong's reassertion of imperial authority over warlords?
... that George Goldman put Book Soup, a "cultural fixture" of the Sunset Strip, up for sale on January 2, 2009, and died a day later?
... that Indian historian V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar believed that ancient South Indians may have known of Australia and Polynesia before their discovery by Europeans?
... that Tommy James' 1971 single "Draggin' the Line" has appeared on 41 albums and in many media works, from Austin Powers 2 to a documentary on the pornographic film Deep Throat?

02:55, 12 January 2009 (UTC)
... that Judge Ronald Cicoria of Livingston County Court in Geneseo, New York (courthouse pictured), retired in 2005 as the longest sitting judge in New York State?
... that Tang Dynasty official Yuan Zi wrote a five-volume work about his diplomatic mission to Nanzhao?
... that Wallace Beery won the Academy Award for Best Actor and Frances Marion the Oscar for Original Screenplay for The Champ?
... that species in the fungal genus Cyathus produce bioactive compounds with antibacterial, antifungal, and antioxidative properties?
... that in June 2008, Pat Fleming and Allen Hopkins became the 51st and 52nd pocket billiards players to be inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame?
... that widespread economic crisis and food shortages resulted in several hunger demonstrations in Poland during the summer of 1981, with the biggest one taking place in Łódź?
... that Nino Martini appeared in numerous Hollywood films during the 1930s and 1940s while simultaneously starring regularly in leading tenor roles at the Metropolitan Opera?
... that a tropical greenhouse and sturgeon farm in the Swiss Alps, powered by geothermal energy from the world's longest land tunnel, is intended to produce two tonnes of caviar annually?

January 11 2009

20:38, 11 January 2009 (UTC)
... that a bounty jumper, Adam Worth (pictured), became the inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional villain Professor Moriarty?
... that African American civil rights activist Mel Boozer was the first openly gay person nominated for the office of Vice President of the United States?
... that the Sion Causeway connected the island of Bombay with Salsette?
... that The Pittsburgh Courier crusaded against the blue discharge, calling it "a vicious instrument that should not be perpetrated against the American Soldier"?
... that for the recent Philippine film Iskul Bukol 20 Years After, stars Tito, Vic and Joey paid a sum of PHP 120,000 to bail actor Ritchie D'Horsie out of jail so that he could appear in the film?
... that in 2008, college football running back Vai Taua and quarterback Colin Kaepernick became the first pair of Nevada players to both rush for more than 1,000 yards (910 m) in the same season?
... that in the 1950s, the Iraqi Communist Party accused the dissident communist group Rayat ash-Shaghilah of being "royalists", "deviationists", and police agents?
... that Randal Kleiser saved money shooting his student film Peege by using the studio offices of a Steven Spielberg television movie which had wrapped ahead of schedule?

15:01, 11 January 2009 (UTC)
... that turkey bowling, protested by animal rights activists, was invented as a pastime in the aisles of a grocery store (pictured)?
... that 85 percent of the tobacco grown in Cuba is produced by members of the National Association of Small Farmers?
... that 180-pound (82 kg) guard Dominic Tomasi was selected as both captain and Most Valuable Player of the undefeated National Champion 1948 Michigan Wolverines football team?
... that Interim Self Governing Authority was a power-sharing proposal made by the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to the government of Sri Lanka to resolve the Sri Lankan civil war?
... that disc jockeys at WLWI-FM in Montgomery, Alabama, USA, have been nominated for Country Music Association Awards six times since 1981?
... that the presence of the metal ion in metalloprotein enzymes allows them to perform functions, such as catalyzing redox reactions, that other polypeptide enzymes cannot achieve?
... that Charles Hawksley was elected President of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1901, nearly 30 years after his father, Thomas Hawksley, was elected to the position?
... that Tropical Storm Kay of the 2004 Pacific hurricane season reached its peak intensity just six hours after being named?

10:11, 11 January 2009 (UTC)
... that Schulze Baking Company Plant (pictured) once housed the largest wholesale business in Chicago?
... that while the anime adaptation of the Japanese visual novel White Album began its broadcast in 2009, it was actually first considered in 1998?
... that Diane Geppi-Aikens, despite being paralyzed by a terminal brain tumor and confined to a wheelchair, coached the women's lacrosse team of Loyola College to the 2003 NCAA Final Four?
... that the French government database Joconde has over 220,000 online images of objects from nearly 300 French museums?
... that Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker, pastor of Gillfield Baptist Church in Petersburg, Virginia, USA, was a co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957?
... that bush ballads are a folk music and poetry tradition in the Australian Outback?
... that after the 1862 trial of poisoner Catherine Wilson, the judge, John Barnard Byles, described her as "the greatest criminal that ever lived"?
... that the Skyscraper Index has shown that the world's tallest buildings have risen on the eve of economic downturns?

04:06, 11 January 2009 (UTC)
... that bridge scour is the most common cause of highway bridge failure (example pictured) in the United States?
... that Cape Wolstenholme of Ungava Peninsula is the northern-most tip of the Canadian province of Quebec?
... that professional wrestler John Hill was forced to change his ring name from Guy Hill to Guy Mitchell due to a news reporter's error?
... that Royal Australian Navy commissioned the bulk carrier Jeparit in 1969 to overcome union protests against Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War?
... that the Boulder Beer Company, the first microbrewery in the U.S. state of Colorado, was founded by two college professors who enjoyed homebrewing?
... that a 1927 Wolseley motor car used in the 2008 BBC television adaptation The 39 Steps was previously used in the 1960s BBC television series Dr. Finlay's Casebook?
... that University of Michigan track team captain Bob Osgood set a world record in the 120-yard (110 m) high hurdles in a "driving rain" that turned the track at Ferry Field into "a miniature lake"?
... that chee kufta is an Armenian raw meat dish similar to steak tartare?

January 10 2009

21:59, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
... that The Coffee Pot historic roadhouse (pictured) in Roanoke, Virginia, USA, features a 15-foot (4.6 m) stucco coffee pot atop its roof?
... that the 1981 warning strike in Poland was the biggest strike in the history of the Soviet Bloc, with 12 to 14 million participants?
... that Charles Leigh played six seasons as a running back in the National Football League despite never playing college football?
... that the fluorotelomer alcohol 8:2 FTOH can biodegrade into the environmental contaminants PFOA and PFNA?
... that the Nintendo DS video game Texas Hold 'Em Poker allows players to mimic certain nuances such as a card player's tell?
... that Namibian politician Jesaya Nyamu, who was expelled from SWAPO for writing a private note on how to undermine President Sam Nujoma, formed the Rally for Democracy and Progress in 2007?
... that Washington Park Court District is named after the Chicago Park District's Washington Park although it is neither in the park nor in the Washington Park community area?
... that no rhinoceros is ever seen on camera in the 1974 film Rhinoceros?

15:51, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
... that architect Nikolay Zherikhov decorated one of his buildings with erotic sculptures (pictured) resembling Leo Tolstoy and Alexander Pushkin?
... that the word palengke, a type of public market in the Philippines, was actually derived from a Spanish word for palisades?
... that Major League Baseball player Barry Foote batted in eight runs, including a game-winning grand slam, in a single game against the St. Louis Cardinals?
... that the riots which led to the 1963 Dahomeyan coup d'état began with the murder of an official by his deputy?
... that Rev. Frederick B. Williams at the Church of the Intercession in New York City created the first program of any religious community in the United States to respond to the AIDS epidemic?
... that the gokenin, Japanese feudal lords at the top of the power pyramid, were named after a semi-slave caste?
... that operatic soprano Maria Zamboni was the first person to record the title role of Puccini's Manon Lescaut in its entirety?
... that Vanderbilt University's win in the 2008 Music City Bowl came 53 years to the day after the Commodores' last bowl game victory and gave them their first winning football season since 1982?

08:53, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
... that when it was first described in the late 1600s, the earthstar fungus Geastrum fornicatum (pictured) was named Fungus anthropomorphus for its resemblance to the human form?
... that the Hershey Creamery Company, founded in 1894 by five brothers from the Hershey family, has actually been owned and operated by the Holder family since the 1920s?
... that Norwegian ski jumper Johan Remen Evensen finished among the top three already in his fourth proper World Cup start?
... that educational games from Playnormous were designed with assistance from medical researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and Baylor College of Medicine?
... that the Tang Dynasty chancellor Zheng Xunyu quit his responsibilities over an incident in which his colleague Wei Zhiyi left a chancellors' lunch to dine with Emperor Shunzong's close associate Wang Shuwen?
... that Heinrich Greinacher invented his voltage doubler circuit in 1913 because the 110 volt power supply in Zürich was insufficient for his newly invented ionometer which required 200 volts?
... that Jeff Moronko is one of two Major League Baseball players to have attended Texas Wesleyan University, the other being Hall of Famer Tris Speaker?
... that the Italian sparkling wine Franciacorta was first produced in 1961?

02:40, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
... that the turnpike trusts in Greater Manchester (milestone pictured) had a huge impact upon the way business was conducted around Manchester, England?
... that Paul Hofmann, who served as an interpreter for the Germans in WWII, passed information to the anti-fascist resistance in Rome?
... that, when writing about a homicide case in the Dexter episode "The Dark Defender", Timothy Schlattmann was inspired by a snow globe on his desk which he believed "could easily be a murder weapon"?
... that David Logan, onetime mayor of Portland, Oregon, studied law under later U.S. President Abraham Lincoln?
... that Operation Uranus led to the encirclement of the German Sixth Army and portions of the Fourth Panzer Army, as well as surviving remnants of two Romanian armies, totaling over 200,000 soldiers?
... that the village of Kodinji in Kerala, India, where multiple birth is a regular phenomenon, is home to over 204 pairs of twins?
... that George Brough used a Brough Superior SS80 motorcycle nicknamed "Spit and Polish" to become the first sidevalver to lap Brooklands at over 100 miles per hour (160 km/h)?
... that actor, writer and poet Stephen Haggard was the model for the character of Aidan Sheridan in Olivia Manning's novel sequence, the Fortunes of War?

January 9 2009

11:19, 9 January 2009 (UTC)
... that Jamaican singer Bob Marley (pictured) gave Vincent Ford writing credit for the song "No Woman, No Cry", but Marley's wife and manager were granted the rights after claiming that Marley had written it himself?
... that the Kappe Residence, described as "a virtual tree house poised over a steep hillside", was named one of the top ten houses in Los Angeles by an expert panel selected by the Los Angeles Times?
... that Nizar Rayan, a top Hamas commander, sent his own son on a suicide attack mission?
... that according to Iroquois tradition, Onondaga Lake was the site of a meeting of peace between Native American leaders Tadodaho, Hiawatha and Deganawidah?
... that during his Victoria Cross-winning action, Percy Statton rushed four machine gun posts before returning to his battalion lines where he was cheered by his fellow Australians?
... that Carl Fredriksens Transport, an operation that saved 1,000 Norwegians during the Nazi occupation of Norway, was code-named after King Haakon VII's original name?
... that radio station WLWI in Montgomery, Alabama, founded in 1930 as WSFA, gave country music legend Hank Williams his start as a professional musician?
... that the world's first mono-motorcycle, the Uno, was invented by Canadian teenager Ben Gulak?

06:49, 9 January 2009 (UTC)
... that Pane ticinese (pictured), a white bread from the Swiss canton of Ticino, is made of small individual loaves intended to be broken off by hand?
... that after the murder of Robert Eric Wone, his widow was represented pro bono by prospective United States Attorney General Eric Holder?
... that the Jola, the majority ethnic group in Carabane, are distinct from other major ethnic groups in Senegal by their lack of social hierarchy and their languages?
... that the Sierra Highway was described in a promotional book to recruit teachers to California as "a highway with a hundred by-ways, each by-way with a hundred wonders"?
... that the popular Israeli singer Aya Korem works part-time as a bartender in Tel Aviv in between recording and performing?
... that Pocahontas Island, where evidence of prehistoric Native American artifacts were found, would later become the first free black settlement in the U.S. state of Virginia?
... that Roystonea regia, also known as the Cuban royal palm, was the first monocotyledon found to have root nodules capable of nitrogen fixation?
... that professional wrestler Stan Frazier was also known for selling fake Rolex watches?

January 8 2009

22:42, 8 January 2009 (UTC)
... that Nubian queen Amanitore (relief pictured) ruled over so much building work that her reign is considered the most prosperous time in Meroitic history?
... that the MC-1 bomb was the first non-clustered U.S. chemical weapon?
... that first-class cricketer Bryan Lobb was such a poor judge of a run that he was once run out by a fielder who overtook him as he strolled down the wicket?
... that after the Mexican War of Independence, the influence of positivists led to a renaissance of scientific activity in Mexico?
... that Gillfield Baptist Church, Virginia, the second oldest black congregation in Petersburg, USA, resisted a consolidation with the white congregation at Market Street Church in 1829?
... that the Slavic Silesian Duke and monastic patron Bolko I encouraged German settlement in his region and patronised German poetry?
... that the 1916 Early Modern Dodge House in West Hollywood, California, called one of the fifteen most significant houses in the United States, was demolished in 1970 to make way for apartments?
... that Fritz Otto Bernert, World War I flying ace, scored five victories in a twenty-minute timespan, earning the one-armed pilot the Pour le Merite in 1917?

15:41, 8 January 2009 (UTC)
... that toxic gadolinium is often injected for contrast enhancement in MRI scans (scanner pictured), but is prevented from harming patients by being administered as a DTPA complex that has a high stability constant?
... that Darleen Ortega became the first Latina judge on the Oregon Court of Appeals in 2003?
... that the 1819 odes of English poet John Keats, including On Melancholy, To a Nightingale, To Psyche, and To Autumn, created "a new tone for the English lyric" according to critic W. Jackson Bate?
... that Petelo Vikena, one of the three reigning traditional monarchs within Wallis and Futuna, previously served in the French Army?
... that First Baptist Church in Petersburg, Virginia, the first African-American Baptist congregation in the United States, had only black pastors until 1832?
... that the Russian fishing industry operates on the fourth longest coastline in the world, which gives it access to twelve seas in three oceans?
... that Kelly Paris' three career home runs were all hit in 1988 in 44 at bats with the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball?
... that the Grade I listed Franks Hall, in Horton Kirby, Kent, England, was used as a barn in the 1850s?

08:34, 8 January 2009 (UTC)
... that the bottle label of California "cult wine" producer Harlan Estate (pictured) was ten years in the making?
... that theologian and preacher Carl Fredrik Wisløff's 1946 book I Know in Whom I Believe was recognized in 2008 as one of Norway's most influential books of prose?
... that after the American E86 cluster bomb was canceled, its E14 sub-munition was altered to deliver yellow fever mosquitoes and rat fleas?
... that Richard Martin, Lord Mayor of London in 1589 and 1594, is not the Richard Martin who was "thrashed" by the poet John Davies in the Hall of the Middle Temple in 1598?
... that the 1992 Atlantic hurricane season produced the first recorded subtropical storm in April since tracking began in 1968?
... that Tang Dynasty official Gao Ying, in his youth, offered to die in his father's stead when his father was captured by rebel Yan forces, causing Yan officers to release them both?
... that Lesser Whistling Ducks are the most prominent species among the migratory birds that visit the lake in the Santragachhi area of Howrah, India, during winter?
... that World Wrestling Federation referee Danny Davis also competed as "Mr. X" while wearing a mask?

January 7 2009

22:31 January 7 2009
... that the airship Patrie (pictured) broke free from its moorings at Souhesmes, France, blew across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and was eventually lost in the Atlantic Ocean?
... that African American actor Lorenzo Tucker, the star of the 1932 race film Veiled Aristocrats, was dubbed the "black Valentino" because of his striking good looks?
... that Bugle Rock in Bangalore, India, is a peninsular gneiss formation from which warning bugle calls were made to alert citizens of intruders?
... that WLVV, the oldest radio station in Mobile, Alabama, was once known as WMML (for "M-M-Mel") as a play on then-owner Mel Tillis' famous stutter?
... that Ismo Alanko Säätiö's accordionist Kimmo Pohjonen has been dubbed the "Jimi Hendrix of the accordion" by the Finnish music press?
... that Operation Winter Storm was an attempt by German Army Group Don to relieve the trapped Sixth Army in Stalingrad, during World War II?
... that M. C. Rajah was the first member of the Dalit community to be elected to the Madras Legislative Council in India?
... that Dick's Last Resort, an American bar and restaurant chain, encourages the staff to act obnoxiously towards their customers?

20:31 January 7 2009
... that CP1600 microprocessors saw little use in their intended role, but millions were produced for use in the Intellivision video game console (pictured)?
... that the Silesian Duke Henry V the Fat spent some of his youth at the court of Ottokar II of Bohemia in Prague?
... that students from Tualatin Valley Junior Academy's Ring of Fire handbell choir performed at both inaugurations of U.S. President George W. Bush in 2001 and 2005?
... that Polish resistance member Zofia Baniecka and her mother hid over fifty Jews in their Warsaw apartment during the Holocaust between 1941 and 1944?
... that the Thimpu principles were put forward by Sri Lankan Tamil delegates at Thimpu, Bhutan?
... that architect Bennie Gonzales designed most of the major municipal buildings in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA, including Scottsdale City Hall, which features a kiva for meetings?
... that as well as the Nativity of Jesus, Olivier Messiaen's organ composition La Nativité du Seigneur was inspired by birdsong, the French Alps, and medieval stained glass?
... that the American E23 munition failed in 1954 field trials causing the crew of an aircraft to be bitten by rat fleas?

16:21, 7 January 2009 (UTC)
... that Nobel Laureates James D. Watson and Eric Kandel lectured at Cullen Performance Hall (pictured) in 2008?
... that the FN-6, a third generation Chinese MANPAD, was specifically designed to be used against targets flying at low and very low altitudes?
... that Paul Robeson's contract for the 1925 race film Body and Soul included a US$100 per week salary plus three percent of the gross after the first US$40,000 in receipts?
... that Willie McCartney was listed by the Sunday Herald newspaper as the 22nd greatest Scottish football manager of all time, even though he never won a major trophy?
... that some members of the fungal family Orbiliaceae can lasso nematodes using outgrowths of their hyphae?
... that the crime television series Heist detailed the 1974 Irish Republican Army's seizure of nineteen well-known paintings estimated to be worth £8 million at Russborough House?
... that, during the Anshi Rebellion, the future Tang Dynasty chancellor Qi Kang took his mother and fled to Shaoxing?
... that in the middle of the 1995–96 National Hockey League season, the head coach of the Dallas Stars, Bob Gainey, fired himself?

07:22, 7 January 2009 (UTC)
... that according to legend, a tunnel leads from the Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle (pictured) to the Khotyn Fortress which is 20 kilometres (12 mi) away?
... that World War I flying ace Friedrich Ritter von Röth was posthumously granted a lifetime pension by the Kingdom of Bavaria?
... that IR-40, an Iranian heavy water reactor, could produce 10 kilograms (22 lb) to 12 kilograms (26 lb) of plutonium, enough to build two nuclear weapons, each year?
... that Jean-Baptiste Hachème supervised the government of Maurice Kouandete, being the de facto head of state of Benin?
... that according to Just Detention International, 67 percent of all LGBT people in prison report being assaulted?
... that actress Yanna McIntosh has been nominated for six Dora Awards, winning twice?
... that the last Silk motorcycle ever built was a 500cc model based on a prototype that was never produced and was used as a competition prize?
... that Juan Davis Bradburn, commander of the Mexican fort at Anahuac, was described as "incompetent to such a command and ... half crazy part of his time"?

January 6 2009

21:20, 6 January 2009 (UTC)
... that in 1846, the Austrian Empire encouraged a peasant revolt (pictured) to weaken local nobility in Galicia who were planning a rebellion of their own?
... that the U.S. E61 anthrax bomblet was perceived as superior to another, earlier anthrax weapon, the M114 bomb?
... that one of the few criticisms against Tang Dynasty chancellor Du You was that, after the death of his wife, he married a concubine?
... that despite producing 123 mph (198 km/h) winds, rainfall from the 1941 Florida hurricane reached only 0.35 in (8.9 mm) in Miami, Florida, USA?
... that music critic Claude Rostand described Olivier Messiaen's Trois petites Liturgies de la Présence Divine as a "work of tinsel, false magnificence and pseudo-mysticism"?
... that the Tampa Bay Rays, a Major League Baseball team located in St. Petersburg, Florida, has had a losing record under each of its four managers?
... that no member of the Indian National Congress political party has been elected as Chief Minister of Madras state since M. Bhaktavatsalam served from 1963 to 1967?
... that Hal Fryar received a number of complaints from English teachers because he appeared in a film with the grammatically incorrect title The Outlaws Is Coming?

15:15, 6 January 2009 (UTC)
... that as part of a team led by Oliver Lincoln Lundquist, Donal McLaughlin designed a logo ([[:|pictured]]) for the 1945 UN Conference on International Organization that became the model for the Flag of the United Nations?
... that the Marble Mountain Wilderness has one of only two stands of subalpine fir tree in California, and both are more than 50 miles (80 km) from the next closest stand in southern Oregon?
... that English primary school Watercliffe Meadow's decision to call itself "a place of learning" rather than a "school" was attacked as being too politically correct?
... that the 20-storey Gillender Building, built in 1897, was demolished only thirteen years later to make way for 14 Wall Street?
... that in a May 1983 attack on communist partisans, forces of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan killed 150 communist cadres in northern Iraq?
... that abolitionist Charles Bennett Ray was the first black student enrolled at Wesleyan University in 1832, only to have his enrollment subsequently revoked after complaints from white students?
... that the Swedish culture magazine Artes often featured future Nobel Prize in Literature laureates when edited by Östen Sjöstrand, a member of the Swedish Academy?
... that the talent of Norwegian ski jumper Jon Aaraas was first discovered in kindergarten?

09:08
... that bird's nest fungi from the genus Crucibulum (Crucibulum laeve pictured) rely on falling rain to help disperse their spores?
... that John II, Bishop of Jerusalem, consecrated the Church of the Holy Zion on the day of Yom Kippur 394 CE?
... that the American M47 bomb had a steel cover just 1/32 of an inch thick, causing it to leak when it carried sulfur mustard?
... that 12-year-old actress Caitlin Sanchez, selected to perform the voice of the title character in Nickelodeon's Dora the Explorer, grew up as a fan of the show with a Dora-themed bedroom and backpack?
... that the Canadian Parliamentary deadlock due to the "In and Out" political scandal was one of reasons for the snap election of 2008?
... that the characteristics of iminoglycinuria include the presence of glycine and imino acids in the urine, and aside from that it is considered to be a relatively benign disorder?
... that Dorothy Sarnoff taught presentation skills to U.S. President Jimmy Carter that included having him tone down his smile?
... that the power station that powered the Terminal Arcade's interurbans from 1907 to 1940 had a 999-year lease?

01:42
... that bird's nest fungi from the genus Crucibulum (Crucibulum laeve pictured) rely on falling rain to help disperse their spores?
... that John II, Bishop of Jerusalem, consecrated the Church of the Holy Zion on the day of Yom Kippur 394 CE?
... that the American M47 bomb had a steel cover just 1/32 of an inch thick, causing it to leak when it carried sulfur mustard?
... that 12-year-old actress Caitlin Sanchez, selected to perform the voice of the title character in Nickelodeon's Dora the Explorer, grew up as a fan of the show with a Dora-themed bedroom and backpack?
... that the Canadian Parliamentary deadlock due to the "In and Out" political scandal was one of reasons for the snap election of 2008?
... that the characteristics of iminoglycinuria include the presence of glycine and imino acids in the urine, and aside from that it is considered to be a relatively benign disorder?
... that Dorothy Sarnoff taught presentation skills to U.S. President Jimmy Carter that included having him tone down his smile?
... that the power station that powered the Terminal Arcade's interurbans from 1907 to 1940 had a 999-year lease?

January 5 2009

19:13
... that the White-faced Heron's (pictured) techniques to find food include standing still and waiting for prey, walking slowly in water, wing flicking, foot raking or chasing prey with open wings?
... that Vice-Admiral Edward Stirling Dickson joined the Royal Navy in 1772, at the age of seven?
... that the original screenplay for A Life of Her Own was deemed "shocking and highly offensive" for its portrayal of "adultery and commercialized prostitution" and rejected by the Breen Office?
... that in the Battle of Sio, Papuan Corporal Bengari and his five companions ambushed 29 Japanese soldiers and killed them all before they could fire a shot?
... that ABC's Howard K. Smith: News and Comment was cancelled after Smith aired a controversial and, as it proved, premature program in 1962 titled "The Political Obituary of Richard M. Nixon"?
... that François Charles Archile Jeanneret was a student, chairman, and principal at the University of Toronto before becoming its 22nd Chancellor in 1959?
... that Operations Parthenon, Boris, Finery, Shed and Plan Giralda were all British plans for military intervention in Zanzibar following the 1964 revolution?
... that the educational Nintendo DS video game futureU helps students prepare for the SATs?

?
... that the tiger in the Coat of arms of Singapore (pictured) represents Malaysia?
... that one of Russia's most famous writers, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, was a proponent of the Russian autocracy?
... that the Cape Grim massacre, in which four shepherds killed up to thirty Tasmanian aborigines, was an escalation of a previous fight over women?
... that the Southworth House has been a retirement home, a fraternity house, and an office building in Cleveland, Ohio?
... that players in the video game I Love Katamari control a highly adhesive ball which is used to run over and collect objects of increasing size to make the ball bigger?
... that the Irish Independent noted the "scattergun screech" of Dirty Epics vocalist Sarah Jane Wai O'Flynn?
... that baseball player Esix Snead stole 507 bases in the minor-leagues but had just four stolen bases in the major leagues?
... that Simon Cowell signed the Teletubbies to his record label for their hit Teletubbies say Eh-oh!?

11:35
... that Alexander John Scott (pictured), Nelson's chaplain at Trafalgar, was once struck by lightning while asleep in his cabin?
... that the Virginia Board of Censors found the 1927 race film The House Behind the Cedars "so objectionable, in fact, as to necessitate its total rejection"?
... that the East Ghor Main Canal diverts nearly all the annual flow of the Yarmouk River for irrigation in Jordan?
... that Joseph Dennie was one of the foremost men of letters in the United States during the Federalist Era?
... that the prelude to Operation Pleshet saw Israel use its first ever fighter plane, the Avia S-199?
... that Alvah Chapman, Jr. helped orchestrate the 1974 merger of Knight Newspapers and Ridder Publications to form Knight Ridder, the largest such transaction as of that time?
... that the Scottish Six Days Trial has been running since 1909 making it the oldest motorcycle trials event in the world?
... that a member of the Montana National Guard ended a riot at the Montana State Prison by firing a WWII bazooka at the southwest tower of Cellblock 1?

05:44
... that by winning the 2008 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, 30-metre maxi yacht Wild Oats XI (pictured) set a new record of four wins in a row?
... that Paul Boucherot and his partner Georges Claude built an ocean thermal energy conversion plant in Cuba as long ago as 1926?
... that Kelly Point, where the Willamette River meets the Columbia River in Oregon, was part of the former Pearcy Island?
... that Jerzy Putrament, a Polish communist writer and politician, in his youth flirted with the right-wing endecja movement?
... that HarperCollins published the Green Bible with passages mentioning the environment printed in green ink?
... that "The Flying Parson" Gil Dodds, record holder in the mile run in the 1940s, suffered a hernia in high school and ran with a truss to protect himself?
... that quantitative precipitation forecasts are issued up to five days into the future within the United States by the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center?
... that a messenger pigeon named Commando received the Dickin Medal in 1945 for carrying crucial intelligence from agents in occupied France to Britain during World War II?

January 4 2009

22:29
... that, while serving as chancellor, Tang Dynasty official Cui Sun was responsible for rebuilding or repairing the funereal palaces at eight imperial tombs, one of which was Qianling (pictured)?
... that Rabbi Joshua L. Liebman’s self-help book Peace of Mind spent more than a year at #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list?
... that the Djibouti Francolin, a critically endangered species of bird, is only known from two isolated locations in Djibouti?
... that Zaprešić is the most densely populated city in Zagreb County, Croatia?
... that June Buchanan, co-founder of Alice Lloyd College, was mayor of Pippa Passes, Kentucky?
... that the crash of Turkish Airlines Flight 634 on 8 January 2003 was the worst crash involving a BAe 146?
... that longtime Albert Speer associate Rudolf Wolters briefly worked with future West German president Heinrich Lübke in 1945 in an architectural office in Höxter?
... that the 2008 New York Giants became the fifth National Football League team to have two players rush for at least 1,000 yards, Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward?

11:16
... that at age 17 years and 331 days, Polish hammer thrower Kamila Skolimowska (pictured) was the youngest Olympic champion in the 2000 Summer Olympics?
... that the Nintendo DS video game, Cradle of Rome, requires that players match jewels of the same type to build the Roman Empire?
... that the former Youngstown and Southern Railway, Ohio's last interurban, was out of service for five years after being illegally sold to a scrap dealer?
... that Choa Chu Kang Community Library was the first library in Singapore to install self-check machines for borrowing and returning of books?
... that Terrence Oglesby, a United States citizen, was the leading scorer for Norway's basketball team in the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship?
... that the final screen role of BAFTA Award winning actor Sir Norman Wisdom was that of a vicar in the 2007 British short film Expresso?
... that Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf supported Barack Obama's 1996 Illinois Senate bid, telling him "someday you will be Vice President of the United States", to which Obama replied "Why vice president?"
... that Leaving Springfield is a non-fiction anthology of essays analyzing the impact of the television program The Simpsons on society?

05:20
... that according to tradition, al-Khadra Mosque (pictured) in present-day Nablus is situated at the site where Jacob, a biblical patriarch, was presented with a blood-soaked tunic belonging to his lost son Joseph?
... that "Barack the Magic Negro" is a controversial satirical song by Paul Shanklin which refers to Barack Obama as a magical Negro?
... that East German Olympic bronze medalist Wilfried Hartung was once married to two-time Olympic silver medalist Gabriele Wetzko?
... that the fishing industry in the United States operates the largest exclusive economic zone in the world?
... that authentic Picón Bejes-Tresviso cheese must be matured in traditional limestone caves until covered in Brevibacterium linens, the bacterium responsible for human foot odour?
... that Cisero Murphy was the first African American professional pocket billiards player to ever win a World or U.S. National billiard title?
... that the City of Clarence, Tasmania, was established in the traditional hunting grounds of the Moomairemener, eventually leading to the Black War?
... that Arthur Ransome's fictional pirate Nancy Blackett, captain of the Amazon, does not use her real name Ruth because "Amazons are ruthless"?

January 3 2009

23:08
... that Hwanbyeokdang (pictured), a pavilion in South Korea, is associated with a tale regarding a dragon and 16th century poet Jeong Cheol?
... that Invincibles members Colin McCool, Doug Ring and Ron Hamence referred to themselves as "ground staff" because they were rarely given an opportunity to play cricket?
... that Independence Dam State Park in Defiance County, Ohio, is named for a dam built for the Miami and Erie Canal and features some of the canal's ruins?
... that Alec Bennett, riding the CS1 on its first race, won the Isle of Man Senior TT in 1927?
... that news of Rufus T. Bush's victory in a transatlantic yacht race took up the whole front page of the New York Times on March 28, 1887?
... that although done in spurts, it took until the mid-20th century to finish paving Pennsylvania Route 664?
... that the piriform shape of the uterus is given as the reason for the predominance of cephalic presentations at term?
... that the chorus melody of "Be Alright", a track from DecembeRadio's 2008 album Satisfied, was written by bassist/vocalist Josh Reedy while showering?

13:26
... that John L. Stevens (pictured), a former Universalist pastor, helped stage a coup in the Kingdom of Hawai'i to overthrow Queen Lili'uokalani in 1893?
... that in Scotland, anybody who tries to prevent a mother from breastfeeding in a legally permitted public place can be fined up to £2,500?
... that in 1965, East German politician Albert Norden accused 1,900 politicians and other prominent personalities in West Germany of having worked for the Nazi regime?
... that the 1774 Schiehallion experiment to calculate the density of the Earth also made the first use of contour lines to represent height?
... that Time magazine predicted "Big Bill" Watson, the first African-American to win the U.S. decathlon championship, would be America's No. 1 hero at the 1940 Olympics, later cancelled due to World War II?
... that the specific epithet of the mushroom species Crepidotus versutus is derived from the Latin word meaning "clever"?
... that the song "The Red Poppies on Monte Cassino", one of the best-known Polish war songs, was written during the Battle of Monte Cassino in May 1944?
... that in 1926, Albert Einstein solved the tea leaf paradox, which states that if the tea in a teacup is stirred, the tea leaves will collect in the middle rather than at the edges?

07:01
... that all species of the New Zealand parrot family Nestoridae (pictured) are either endangered or have gone extinct due to human activity?
... that Lieutenant General Stanley A. McChrystal commanded the Joint Special Operations Command forces responsible for the death of Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi?
... that the Cretaceous terrestrial crocodilian Araripesuchus is known from five distinct species, two from Africa and the other three from South America?
... that, in 1935, Jimmie Guthrie set five world speed records on a Norton International at the concrete bowl track in Montlhéry, France?
... that the early Chola naval ships from the 1st century had a rudimentary flame thrower and a catapult-type weapon?
... that Winlock W. Steiwer founded the first bank in Wheeler County, Oregon, after he had pled guilty during the Oregon land fraud scandal?
... that Emil Løvlien was the last member of the Norwegian Parliament to be elected from the Communist Party ticket?
... that Larry Dierker is the only Houston Astros manager to have had his uniform number retired by the Houston Astros franchise of Major League Baseball?
... that Super Mario Kart sold eight million copies, making it the third highest-selling Super Nintendo Entertainment System game of all time?

January 2 2009

23:59 (UTC)
... that there are six monarchies in Oceania and five of them share Queen Elizabeth II (pictured) as their respective head of state?
... that William Phelps was foreman of the first grand jury in colonial America and played a key role in establishing the first written democratic town government at Windsor, Connecticut, in 1657?
... that Chris Robinson invited Buffalo Killers to open for The Black Crowes on a 2007 tour after hearing their 2006 album Buffalo Killers?
... that, after returning to his native England, New York composer Manuel Klein suffered a trauma during the Zeppelin attacks in London during WWI that reportedly contributed to his early death?
... that the al-Muallaq Mosque, also known as the Mosque of Dhaher al-Omar in Acre, Israel, is located on the site of the town's ancient synagogue?
... that the Tang Dynasty official Zheng Yuqing restored the use of drums in palace music, after drums had been abolished in light of rebellions to avoid alarming the populace?
... that the German-language socialist newspaper Volkswille in Katowice, Poland, went from daily to weekly publication after the 1933 Nazi takeover stopped the newspaper's financial subsidies from Germany?
... that footballer Abe Hartley used to place a rolled-up cigarette behind his ear prior to kick-off and then smoke it in the changing room at half-time?

18:04 (UTC)
... that the stems of Asclepias cordifolia (pictured), or Heart-leaf milkweed, were made into rope and string by the Miwok and used for skirts and capes?
... that Owain Gwynedd led Welsh forces to victory against King Henry II of England at the Battle of Crogen in 1165?
... that in 1872, Western University in Kansas, USA, selected Charles Henry Langston, abolitionist, politician and future grandfather of poet Langston Hughes, as principal of its new normal school?
... that genopolitics studies the genetic basis of political behavior and attitude?
... that Noel Dossou-Yovo is presently President of the Professors World Peace Academy in the Republic of Benin?
... that after Nazi Germany's annexation of Austria in 1938, the parliamentarians of the German Christian Social People's Party in Czechoslovakia joined the Sudeten German Party?
... that the Liberty ship SS Timothy Bloodworth was the first ship to be hit by a V-2 rocket?
... that Robert McKechnie was the University of British Columbia's longest-serving chancellor?

13:00 (UTC)
... that the pillars of the cancelled Bangkok Elevated Road and Train System project (pictured) have been described as "a Bangkok version of Stonehenge"?
... that Turkish female aviator Nezihe Viranyalı was educated in civil aviation at the University of Tennessee following an invitation by the renowned American pilot Jacqueline Cochran?
... that the boga, an improvised plastic cannon used in New Year's celebrations in the Philippines, has been banned by the government since 2006?
... that Mario Menéndez, who was the governor of the Falkland Islands, surrendered Argentine forces to the United Kingdom during the 1982 Falklands War?
... that the history of Switzerland in the Roman era includes about 300 years of peace and prosperity?
... that Roderigue Hortalez and Company was a fictitious front organization set up by France to help American revolutionaries fight England?
... that kibbutz Re'im has started a project to become the first community in Israel with its domestic power consumption provided entirely by solar energy?
... that Dave Fanning described 2TV as "not rocket science, it's moron television"?

05:35 (UTC)
... that for most of its history, Champagne (pictured) was pinkish and non-sparkling?
... that DeShawn Sims is the first Michigan Wolverines men's basketball player to have at least 20 points and 20 rebounds in a single game since Phil Hubbard did so in the 1977 NCAA Tournament?
... that the engine block of the Scott Flying Squirrel motorcycle was painted either green or red for racing or road, respectively?
... that the owner of Fairhope Plantation near Uniontown, Alabama, organized his own artillery unit during the American Civil War?
... that Australian cricketer Ernie Toshack, tired of signing autographs, had a friend sign for him, who incorrectly signed Toshak?
... that the Cobb and Frost-designed Chicago Opera House, built 1884–85, was one of the first buildings constructed using general contracting?
... that the monastery of Champmol was founded in 1383 as the dynastic burial-place of the Valois Dukes of Burgundy, but only ever contained two monumental tombs?
... that Peter Benchley wanted to write about pirates, but editor Thomas Congdon preferred his idea for a novel about sharks that became the bestseller Jaws?

January 1 2009

23:24 (UTC)
... that Don Tallon (pictured) was preferred as Australia's first-choice wicket-keeper over Ron Saggers during the Invincibles tour, despite conceding a higher rate of byes in the warm-up matches?
... that Iolani Luahine, considered the high priestess of the ancient hula, was said to be able to "call up the wind and the rain" and to "make animals do her bidding"?
... that Grower Champagnes have been described as "artisanal winemaking" for their focus on terroir rather than on producing a consistent "house style" that is associated with larger Champagne houses?
... that Francis S. Hoyt, the first President of Willamette University in Oregon, USA, graduated from Wesleyan University, a school his father helped to found?
... that the Sri Lankan Army's LRRP, a covert special operations unit, has assassinated several top level Tamil Tigers commanders during the Sri Lankan civil war?
... that Walter Galbraith selected an Accrington Stanley team of eleven Scots for an English Football League match?
... that Israel has the highest solar energy use per capita in the world?
... that at the 41st International Eucharistic Congress, Lutheran Church in America President Robert J. Marshall received a lengthy standing ovation after opening with the two words "Fellow Christians"?

15:47 (UTC)
... that Prosecco (pictured), an Italian sparkling wine increasingly popular internationally, is believed to have also been produced in Ancient Roman times?
... that the extent of rainbands around a tropical cyclone can be used to determine its intensity?
... that filmmaker Daniel St. Pierre led the team that developed the Deep Canvas system for the animated film Tarzan for enhancing the apparent depth of backgrounds?
... that when Brackley railway station was visited by the Royal Train in 1950, the King and Queen had to step on a box when leaving the train because its door was far above the platform?
... that the Situationist pamphlet On the Poverty of Student Life accused French students of taking refuge from their ideological subservience in miserabilism and bohemianism?
... that Alfred Stieglitz's Equivalents series of cloud photographs are regarded as the earliest examples of abstract photographic art?
... that the Colombo Cricket Club Ground, a small multi-use stadium in Sri Lanka, has hosted three Test matches?
... that after Lavrentiy Beria was arrested in June 1953, Sergei Kruglov succeeded him as the Soviet Union's Minister of Internal Affairs?
... that The Beggar's Benison was a Scottish gentlemen's club devoted to "the convivial celebration of male sexuality"?

09:22 (UTC)
... that as Champagne ages on its lees (pictured), the breakdown of yeast cells imparts unique flavors of acacia, biscuits and nuttiness as well as a creamy mouth feel?
... that McIDAS software has been used to process meteorological data and images from space probes?
... that illustrated medieval chronicles are among the first works of Swiss historiography?
... that a schoolteacher from the U.S. state of Ohio donated the first 14 acres (5.7 ha) of Mary Jane Thurston State Park, named in her honor?
... that the Zarqa River, which is Jordan's third largest, is so polluted that it is considered an "environmental blackspot"?
... that the sarin-filled M125 bomblet was a sub-munition in the M34 cluster bomb and four American missile systems?
... that the Alberta Taciuk Process, an above-ground dry thermal retorting technology, is named after its inventor William Taciuk and the Alberta Oil Sands Technology and Research Authority?
... that the isolation of antibodies and flu viruses from birds on Tryon Island, a coral cay off the coast of Queensland, Australia, led to the development of antiviral drugs, such as Tamiflu?
... that Brett Sutter became the eighth member of the Sutter family to play in the National Hockey League when he made his debut for the Calgary Flames on December 23, 2008?