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Did you know...[edit]

31 December 2006

22:42, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

...that after two thousand years or more of continuous habitation the Scottish island of Mingulay (pictured: old school house) was abandoned by its residents in 1912?
... that Gregoria de Jesus was the founder and vice-president of the woman chapter of the Katipunan partisan society during the Philippine Revolution?
...that the Polish community is the only national (or ethnic) minority in the Czech Republic that is linked to a specific geographical area?
...that Indian chess player Umakant Sharma was banned from playing competitive chess for 10 years after being caught cheating with a Bluetooth device sewn into his cap?
...that retired Spanish road bicycle racer Igor González de Galdeano holds the record for the fastest stage win in the Vuelta a España at an average of 55.17 kph, a feat which earned him the nickname Speedy González?
...that the site of SSAWS, once the world's largest indoor ski slope, now hosts Japan's first IKEA superstore?

14:38, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

...that in 1962, Peter Samson and fellow students at MIT built T-Square, an early drafting program and ancestor of CAD (pictured) software?
...that after the death of New Jersey Representative George N. Seger, a Liberty ship used in World War II was commissioned in his honor?
...that John Nyathi Pokela, having served 13 years in prison on Robben Island on charges of sabotage, assumed chairmanship of the Pan Africanist Congress after the previous chairman resigned to make way for him?
...that surveying errors in New England created areas known as gores, which are not part of any towns, have few or no inhabitants, and have no self-government?
...that Virgin Unite, the independent charitable arm of Richard Branson's Virgin Group founded in 2004, ran an ad campaign that juxtaposed the seven deadly sins with seven good deeds?
...that the Satversme is intended to hold together all other laws in Latvia?

02:27, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

...that Thomas Cole painted The Oxbow (pictured) in 1836 after taking a break from working on his famous series of paintings The Course of Empire?
...that the Barker Inlet in South Australia contains one of the southernmost mangrove forests in the world ?
...that although Pueblo Revival Style architecture draws its inspiration from the Pueblos and the Spanish missions of New Mexico, it first appeared in California?
...that Trdat the Architect reconstructed the dome of the Hagia Sophia in 989 and built the Cathedral of Ani?
...that the Roman Catholic prelature of Trondheim was founded in 1843 and based on the archbishop diocese abandoned in 1537 with the Reformation on the shrine of St. Olav, one of the most important pilgrim destinations in the Middle Ages?
...that 22-year-old Indian cricketer Vikram Singh, regarded by many as the fastest bowler in India, played only 5 matches for his state before being selected for the national squad against Sri Lanka?

30 December 2006

19:47, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

...that despite running for only 3 years, Aušra (pictured), the first national Lithuanian newspaper, gave its name to the period between 1883 and 1904 in the history of Lithuania?
...that Robert Bristow, the British harbour engineer credited for the development of the Indian port of Kochi, also founded the first non white-exclusive club in the state?
...that in Star Wars: Storm in the Glass, the Russian parody of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, a bottle of vodka resides on almost every table shown in the movie?
...that Charles S. Joelson resigned from the United States House of Representatives on September 4, 1969 in order to become a judge in the New Jersey Superior Court?
...that Bryncelyn Brewery in Wales relates the names of all its beers in some way to Buddy Holly?
...that Inuka, a polar bear who is the mascot of the Singapore Zoo, is the first and only polar bear born in the tropics?

12:55, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

...that the citizens of Smyrna, Michigan withheld $25 from their deferred payment for Whites Bridge (pictured) because they were upset that the builders used second hand lumber?
...that "James Brown is Dead" is an electronic dance music reference to James Brown and the widespread sampling of his music?
...that Gordon Canfield is remembered as the "Father of the United States Coast Guard Reserve" because he first introduced and spearheaded the legislation for the reserve component's creation in 1941?
...that the Great Trail created by Native Americans connected the Great Lakes region of Canada to New England and the mid-Atlantic and laid the foundation for modern highways?
...that, after having spent much of her 8 years in Communist prisons in complete solitude, and willing herself to memorize events in daily succession, the Romanian artist Lena Constante published her recollections in a diary?
...that Grevillea 'Superb' is a cultivated garden plant which flowers during all twelve months of the year?

29 December 2006

21:08, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

...that as one of the three original members of the Royal Philatelic Society's Expert Committee, Edward B. Evans (pictured) edited most of the Society's early publications?
...that German sailor Max Reichpietsch, who served on the battleship SMS Friedrich der Große, was executed by firing squad in 1917 for anti-war agitation in the German Navy?
...that in 1967, Mac Hack became the first computer chess program to defeat a person in tournament play?
...that during the reign of the English Commonwealth, worshippers at St. Stephen Coleman Street seeking Communion had to first be approved by a committee partly staffed by signatories of Charles I's death warrant?
...that the purpose of the Assembly of Vizille was to discuss the events of the Day of the Tiles, one of the first revolts that preceded the French Revolution?
...that the compound pterostilbene, which is found in blueberries and grapes, is thought to help prevent cancer, cognitive decline, and diabetes?

11:39, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

...that the Armenian oil magnate Alexander Mantashev (pictured) handpicked 50 talented young Armenians and sent them to study at the best universities of continental Europe and Russia?
...that the Parliament of Malaysia made a retroactive amendment to the Constitution to prevent the case of Loh Kooi Choon v. Government of Malaysia from being subject to Article 5(4) of the Constitution?
...that the popular Soviet TV show Goluboy Ogonyok had as guests various prominent Soviet people, including Super workers, Heroes of Socialist Labor and cosmonauts?
...that the 1929 Chicago Cubs outfield composed of Riggs Stephenson, Hack Wilson and Kiki Cuyler was the only complete outfield in Major League Baseball history to each drive in over 100 runs in the same season?

00:26, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
...that in the Battle of Zhovti Vody the army of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth faced 1:10 odds for 18 days before its final defeat by the Cossack-Tatar alliance?

00:14, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
...that Sakati syndrome is classified under a group of rare genetic disorders known as Acrocephalopolysyndactyly?

28 December 2006

21:37, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

The Christmas Story House, post-restoration

...that the house (pictured) used in the 1983 film A Christmas Story was auctioned online for $150,000?
...that Cowans Gap State Park in Pennsylvania was the site of a key road in the French and Indian War, a pioneer farm, a charcoal operation, and a CCC Camp?
...that Erin Bode performed with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra for three seasons before starting her recording career as a singer?
...that Maltese Jews were forced to pay for the financial damages caused by their absence in the country, after they were expelled from Malta by the 1492 Alhambra decree?
...that Sir Narayan Ganesh Chandavarkar was regarded as the "leading Hindu reformer of western India"?
...that Lake Chaubunagungamaug is often cited as the longest place name in the United States?
...that New Zealand historian John Dunmore published a cookbook composed from 18th-century ship's logs, including recipes for stewed rat and albatross?

14:17, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

...that Italian mafioso Antonino Calderone (pictured) was the first pentito to provide details on Mafia operations in Catania?
...that the canoe livery business is an important segment of the recreational goods rental industry?
...that when John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune opened the first secular girls' school in Calcutta in 1849, outraged bystanders swore at the girls as they were carried to school in covered carriages?
...that C. C. Too, a leading exponent of psychological warfare in Malaysia, crafted a campaign to turn public opinion against the communists during the Malayan Emergency?
...that Tantiusques, a graphite mine which John Winthrop the Younger purchased from the Nipmuck tribes in 1644, became the basis for today's Dixon Ticonderoga pencil company?
...that Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Guy Bush gave up Babe Ruth's last two career home runs on May 25, 1935, just five days before Ruth retired?

27 December 2006

20:48, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

...that owing to its early dominance as a building style, Canadian Gothic Revival (example pictured) has been promoted as part of Canadian nationalism?
...that the 1952 attack on the Sui-ho Dam knocked out electrical power to North Korea for two weeks during the Korean War?
...that Hetman Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny enrolled his entire Cossack army as students to prevent a Kievan school's conversion to a Jesuit Collegium?
...that Money No Enough, which earned over S$5.8 million, is Singapore's highest-grossing film to date?
...that Madhavan Nair & Anor. v. Public Prosecutor held that the Constitution of Malaysia allows the Royal Malaysian Police to impose prior restraint when granting licences to speak in public?
...that the Elizalde was claimed to have the first Spanish automobile model with four-wheel brakes?

13:05, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

...that Russian painter Konstantin Makovsky (pictured) left the Imperial Academy of Arts without a formal diploma, after having refused to paint on a set topic in Scandinavian mythology?
...that only one horse in the International Special horse races was born outside the United States?
...that Romanian leader Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej accused Miron Constantinescu of being a Stalinist only a few years after sidelining him for supporting de-Stalinization?
...that Louis Henri, Duc de Bourbon ordered that the Living Museum of the Horse be built, believing he would be reincarnated as a horse?
...that 45,000 Romanians living along the border with Yugoslavia were forcibly deported on June 18, 1951 due to deteriorating relations between the two countries?
...that the Filipino special court Sandiganbayan holds equivalent rank to the Philippine Court of Appeals?

26 December 2006

23:51, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

...that the Annenschule (pictured) high school in Saint Petersburg, Russia was transformed into a Soviet work school after the Russian Revolution, but now houses a lyceum?
...that there are only two extant populations of the Tiburon Jewelflower, both on the Tiburon Peninsula of the San Francisco Bay Area?
...that Macassan trepangers traded sea cucumbers with Indigenous Australians generations before the arrival of European people?
...that Prussian military bandmaster Franz von Eckert is credited with composing the harmony to the national anthems of both Japan and the Empire of Korea?
...that the See of Sardis, an episcopal see once held by Melito, continued to be held by titular archbishops for centuries after the Ottoman Turks conquered Sardis?
...that the people of Assam comprise three major ethnic groups: Tibeto-Burman, Mon-Khmer, and Indo-Aryan?

16:40, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

...that Robert Cocking was the first person to die in a parachuting accident, after a parachute of his own design (pictured) failed during a test at Vauxhall Gardens in 1837?
...that Anton Graf von Arco auf Valley was a German monarchist who murdered Bavarian socialist leader Kurt Eisner on a sidewalk in Munich in 1919?
...that Hortus Malabaricus, the earliest printed treatise on the flora in Asia, contains the first instances of Malayalam types being used for printing?
...that Stegosaurus, one of the most distinctive dinosaurs, has been widely depicted in popular culture?
...that Madeline La Framboise, a fur trader of mixed French and Native American descent, was Michigan's first successful businesswoman, and is buried beneath the altar of St. Anne's church on Mackinac Island?
...that Andrew Truxal was president of Hood College and Anne Arundel Community College as well as an ordained minister of the Evangelical and Reformed Church?

01:04, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

...that the German late Romantic composer Richard Wetz (pictured), in 1928, was appointed foreign member of the Prussian Academy of the Arts, alongside Igor Stravinsky?
...that an unknown quantity of Columbian Exposition half dollars were used as collateral against loans made to the Columbian exposition and when the exposition failed to repay the debits, the banks dumped the coins into circulation?
...that it is a Georgia Tech tradition to steal the "T" from Tech Tower?
...that the remains of the Lviv High Castle in Lviv, Ukraine, was used as the foundation for a kurgan, constructed in memory of the 300-anniversary of the Union of Lublin?
...that the Swedish military medal För tapperhet i fält, awarded for valor in the field, was last received by a Swedish gendarme serving in Persia in 1915?
...that the Carron, a river in the Scottish Highlands only about 23 km long, has given its name to a type of naval cannon, a line of bathtubs, two warships and an island in the Southern Hemisphere?

25 December 2006

18:42, 25 December 2006 (UTC)

... that the first U.S. National Christmas Tree (pictured) was lit up by President Calvin Coolidge on Christmas Eve in 1923?
...that the two fundamental reference points in the rowing stroke are the catch where the oar blade is placed in the water, and the extraction (also known as the 'finish' or the 'release') where the oar blade is removed from the water?
...that Lavastorm, a web design company during the dot-com bubble, split into two companies focusing on revenue assurance and mobile games?
...that the Chestnut Tree of One Hundred Horses, located on the eastern slope of Mount Etna, holds the world record for the "greatest tree girth ever", and is also the largest and oldest known chestnut tree?
...that Gesta Tancredi, one of the most important contemporary histories of the First Crusade, was not translated into English until 2005?
...that conductor and Beethoven scholar Elliot Forbes led the Harvard Glee Club and Radcliffe Choral Society on a tour around the world in 1967?

08:55, 25 December 2006 (UTC)

...that the Great Synagogue in Danzig (pictured), one of the most impressive synagogues of its time, was demolished by the city council of the Free City of Danzig even before the German invasion of Poland began?
...that the Moscow Water Dog, developed as a water rescue dog, preferred to bite drowning people instead of saving them?
...that honolulu is a pocket billiards game which forbids straight-in shots, requiring all balls to be made indirectly, through banks, combinations, caroms or kick shots?
...that Fathur Rahman al-Ghozi, a bomb-maker and member of Jemaah Islamiyah, was responsible for the Rizal Day bombings in the Philippines that killed 22 people in 2000?
...that the 25 species of Goodyera comprise just one of over 800 genera of orchids?
...that Donnie Young, the police officer whose murder sparked an international controversy, was a police medal of honor recipient?

24 December 2006

20:51, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

...that whipcracking (pictured), the art of using a whip to create a miniature sonic boom, is a competitive sport in Australia, where it was also elaborated into whipboxing?
...that the Thornapple River has 5 dams, including one in Ada bought from Consumers Power for a dollar by a river property owners association?
...that Irfan Pathan, the only bowler to take a Test hat-trick in the first over of a match, grew up playing cricket inside a Baroda mosque where his father was the muezzin, and could not afford equipment until his domestic team furnished it, at age 15?
...that the 1931 murders of five Japanese people in Hong Kong during anti-Japanese riots were cited as a casus belli for the Shanghai War of 1932?
...that the "Hymn" for tenor in the cantata, Hodie, by Ralph Vaughan Williams was composed because the originator of the part asked that he might be given more to sing?
...that the summer stock theater at Caledonia State Park in Pennsylvania regularly featured actress Jean Stapleton, well-known for her role as Edith Bunker on the 70's TV classic All in the Family?

14:22, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

...that Isaias W. Hellman (pictured), a co-founder of the University of Southern California, ran Wells Fargo Bank out of his house after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake leveled its headquarters?
...that the Power Transition theory is used in political science to predict future wars between great powers and a superpower as it states that war is a cyclic event and is inevitable?
... that Bayajidda, the mythical ancestor of the Hausa people of West Africa, is said to have fathered three children with three different women?
...that New York Mets pitcher Chuck Estrada picked up the win in Tom Seaver's major league debut?
...that the Polish 4th Rifle Division was the only Polish military unit that fought in the Russian Civil War and returned to Poland undefeated?
...that the original title of the Christmas carol "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks" is "Song of the Angels at the Nativity of our Blessed Saviour"?

06:28, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

...that Rastrelli's Monument to Peter the Great (pictured) in Saint Petersburg includes a message by emperor Paul I that is a subtle mockery of Catherine the Great's inscription on the Bronze Horseman?
...that Salomón Ibarra Mayorga, the lyricist of the Nicaraguan national anthem, was exiled to Honduras for his political activities but was reburied in Nicaragua after his death?
...that Safaitic inscriptions, graffiti written by Bedouin in the Syrian Desert between the 1st century BC and the 4th century AD, can be written boustrophedon - from left to right then vice versa?
...that American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich was the first woman to receive the Doctor of Musical Arts in composition and to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music?
...that John G. Downey, Governor of California during the American Civil War, was the state's only foreign-born governor until the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger?

23 December 2006

23:36, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

...that Portuguese Josefa de Óbidos was one of the few women dedicated to painting (pictured: still life by her) in the Baroque era?
...that, unlike normal lithium ion batteries, the lithium iron phosphate battery does not explode under extreme conditions?
...that Ron Powers, co-author of the New York Times Bestseller Flags of Our Fathers (2000), was the first television critic to win the Pulitzer Prize?
...that the mathematician Alexander Kronrod thought female computing staff members were more accurate than males and was known for helping terminal cancer patients?
...that a payaos is a type of fish aggregating device used in Southeast Asia, particularly in the Philippines?
...that the cope given to the Rt. Revd. David Urquhart upon his inauguration as the ninth Bishop of Birmingham in November 2006 featured the emblems of Aston Villa and Birmingham City, the two most prominent football teams of the city?

13:30, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

...that the camouflage of the pygmy seahorse (pictured) is so effective that the original specimens were only found after their host gorgonian had been collected and placed in an aquarium?
...that Oliver Smith is the youngest-ever local party president in British political history?
...that The Breakfast (formerly The Psychedelic Breakfast) had four songs from their self-titled DIY studio album featured on the MTV series Undressed in 1999?
...that the writer August Silberstein was sentenced to five years' jail in 1854 for writing satire about the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but was pardoned after one year?
...that the Henschel Hs 123 was a sesquiplane dive bomber and close-support attack aircraft flown by the Luftwaffe during the Spanish Civil War and the early part of World War II?
...that Alexander Macklin and James McIlroy successfully amputated Perce Blackborrow's gangrenous toes while stranded on Elephant Island in Antarctica?

22 December 2006

22:33, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

...that the Blauhöhle in Germany's Swabian Alb is a huge cave system with more than 50-meter (164-feet) high caverns that can be accessed by diving through the Blautopf (pictured)?
...that the Cossack victory at the Battle of Konotop remains a classic example of the battle won and a war lost?
...that Swedish disco singer-songwriter Bimbo Boy took his stage name from starlets that the media identifies as bimbos, even though the term himbo would have been more technically correct?
...that geologist T.H. Clark retired from McGill University in Quebec, Canada, at the age of 100, after teaching for 69 years?
...that Just a Gigolo (1978), David Bowie's second major film, was so poorly received by critics that the singer quipped, "It was my 32 Elvis Presley movies rolled into one"?
...that noted labor historian Selig Perlman is the uncle of author Judith Martin, better known as Miss Manners?

15:44, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

...that the Zamość Synagogue (pictured) was one of the first buildings added to the 'ideal' Renaissance city of kanclerz Jan Zamoyski?
...that the First Engineer Bridge in St. Petersburg, Russia, named after the nearby Engineer Castle, is one of the most decorative of the city's more than 500 bridges?
...that on November 22, 2006, at least ten people were killed in a burning leather factory in India after being trapped behind locked emergency exits?
...that King's College in Newcastle-upon-Tyne left Durham University in 1963 to form the new Newcastle University, following a narrowly defeated proposal to rename the university the "University of Durham and Newcastle" in 1952?
...that in 1932 Paramahansa Yogananda urged young people to pool resources, buy land, and create World Brotherhood Colonies, nearly 40 years before the intentional community movement of the late 1960s?

05:36, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

... that canine hydrotherapy (pictured) was initially used only to treat racing greyhounds?
...that Emily Helen Butterfield was Michigan's first licensed female architect, and designed many college fraternity and sorority crests thanks to her interest in heraldry?
...that Birger Dahlerus was a Swedish businessman and friend of Hermann Göring, who made numerous trips between Germany and England in 1939 in an attempt to avert the Second World War?
... that the Laguna de Santa Rosa in Sonoma County, California, has several endemic endangered species and is the second-largest freshwater wetland in Northern California?
...that the Singer's Bridge, designed by architect Vasily Stasov, was called the Yellow Bridge and is the third-widest bridge in Saint Petersburg, Russia?
...that the 180-degree turnout, or rotation of the leg, featured in ballet allows for greater extension of the leg, especially when raising it to the side and rear?

21 December 2006

22:10, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

...that the zigzag staircase (pictured) leading to the Baroque sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte at Braga was designed so as to encapsulate the Three Virtues?
...that the treasure of Tillia tepe, Afghanistan, was re-discovered after it was thought to have been destroyed by the Taleban, and is now on display at the Musée Guimet in Paris?
...that the effects of Hurricane Isabel in North Carolina were the worst from a hurricane in the state since that of 1999's Hurricane Floyd, and included US$450 million in damage and three deaths?
... that American composer Alla Pavlova lived close to ground zero and dedicated her first symphonic work to the memory of the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks?
... that the 1983 text adventure game Snowball, the first of the Silicon Dreams trilogy, contained over 7,000 locations?
...that the Spenser Somers Foundation is named after a student from Edina, Minnesota who suffered from Ewing's sarcoma?

13:48, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

...that Owen Glendower, the last independent Prince of Wales, who disappeared in 1412, has many aristocratic English descendants through his great-grandson Sir John Donne (work pictured), the Yorkist courtier, soldier and diplomat?
...that megaherbs on the uninhabited New Zealand sub-antarctic islands almost became extinct by overbrowsing by livestock introduced to support shipwrecked sailors?
...that in the Battle of Rhium, Phormio used his climatic knowledge of the Corinthian Gulf to help defeat a Spartan fleet that outnumbered his Athenians more than 2 to 1?
...that Buzz Holmstrom was the first person to row alone all the way down the Colorado River from Green River, Wyoming to the Boulder Dam?
...that the Nanai language, despite having only a few thousand speakers left, continues to contribute loanwords to languages with even fewer speakers, such as Udege?
...that the Printing Presses and Publications Act gives the Home Affairs Minister of Malaysia "absolute discretion" in granting and revoking publication and printing permits?

06:26, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

...that the Barbican of Warsaw (pictured) became obsolete almost immediately after its construction in 1548?
...that Corporal Mark Wright will be posthumously awarded the George Cross for entering an unmarked minefield in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, attempting to save other injured soldiers?
...that Estonians defeated invading Sweden in 1220 at the Battle of Lihula?
...that Kaissa, the first world computer chess champion in 1974 was a Soviet creation?
...that the steviol glycosides found in stevia plants are natural sweeteners up to 300 times sweeter than sugar?
...that Pasillo is the "national music" of Ecuador but originated from the Viennese Waltz?
...that shortly before Christmas 1942, an alleged Nazi spy was captured by the Garda in Castletownroche, a small Irish village?
...that Eugène de Beauharnais returned the territories of the Napoleonic Italy to provisional Austrian rule in 1814 by the Convention of Mantua?

20 December 2006

23:52, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

...that St. Michael's Castle (pictured) was built like a medieval fortress for the personal protection of the Russian Emperor Paul I, who ironically was assassinated in his bedroom shortly after moving in to his new castle?
...that cowboy pool is a hybrid pool game combining elements of English billiards with more standard pocket billiards characteristics, and requires a player to intentionally scratch in order to win?
...that Ralph Bigland worked as a cheesemaker across Europe before becoming an officer of arms and eventually Garter Principal King of Arms?
...that the phenomenon of Renting-A-Russian sometimes refers to getting a male Russian ice dancer to country hop to pair with a female figure skater from another country?
...that Richard Tregaskis, American war correspondent and author best known for his first-hand account Guadalcanal Diary, was almost killed in Italy in 1943 when shrapnel cut though his helmet and penetrated his skull?

15:40, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

...that a church of the Order of the Holy Ghost once stood at the site of the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre (pictured) in Kraków?
...that Guido Verbeck, a Dutch-born foreign advisor in the Meiji government of Japan from 1859-1898 arrived as a missionary after almost dying of cholera while working as a civil engineer in Arkansas?
...that Göteborgs BK, founded in 1875, is the oldest football club in Sweden known by name, and only played Swedish football, a local variant?
...that Skowronek was an Arabian stallion who became a lead horse in the Crabbet Arabian Stud?
...that Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Elizabeth Gaskell and Adelaide Anne Procter each wrote a chapter of the short story "A House to Let"?
...that Spanish government minister and European Commissioner Loyola de Palacio deflected speculation that she was an Opus Dei member, noting that she was named after Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus?

03:49, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

...that the Soviet D-10 tank gun (pictured) of World War II was built until 1979 for the world's most common tank (the T-55), which remains in service?
...that the ancient Chinese sect known as the Way of the Celestial Master established a theocratic state in Sichuan province during the 2nd century CE?
... that the freeware amateur adventure game 5 Days a Stranger and its sequel won 5 and 2 Adventure Game Studio awards respectively?
...that "Fast as You Can" is Fiona Apple's only top forty single in the United Kingdom?
...that Shreve, Crump & Low, North America's oldest jeweler, built prestigious trophies such as the Davis Cup and the Cy Young Award?
...that American composer Stephen Paulus gained fame with a 1982 opera based on The Postman Always Rings Twice, one of his nine operas?
... that the world's longest lasting lightbulb is 105 years old and has burnt continuously since 1976?

19 December 2006

21:08, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

...that the British art collector Sir George Beaumont always took his favourite Claude Lorrain painting (pictured), with him on coach journeys in a specially-designed case?
...that in 1920 a Secret Court, headed by university President Abbott Lawrence Lowell and the acting Dean, was convened at Harvard University to rid the school of homosexuals, resulting in nine expulsions?
...that the creators of the Alcazaba fortification in Málaga, Spain, reused materials from nearby Roman ruins?
...that Corporal Bryan Budd is being posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, only the 13th such award since the Second World War?
...that the Yerazi—an Azeri clan that originated in modern-day Armenia but left before the Nagorno-Karabakh War—have dominated politics in Azerbaijan since Soviet times?
...that the fictional radio listeners Dave and Sue exemplify the target audience for BBC Local Radio?
...that Theodore Roosevelt Lake, a large artificial reservoir located along the Salt River, is the largest lake located entirely within the U.S. state of Arizona?
...that the slogan Juan Valdez drinks Costa Rican coffee, popular on bumper stickers in Costa Rica, prompted a lawsuit from Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia?

13:37, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

...that the hslVU protein complex (pictured) that degrades damaged proteins in bacteria, probably resembles the evolutionary ancestor of the proteasome, a required component of all eukaryotic cells?
...that the Columbian Issue, the first U.S. commemorative postage stamps, included the first female portrait on American postage — Spain's Queen Isabella?
...that Romania's Piteşti prison housed the largest and most intensive form of brainwashing through torture ever carried out in the Eastern bloc?
...that the American singer Mary Fahl's first full-length solo album contains a song first written over 800 years ago in the extinct language of Mozarabic?
...that Jaime Navarro was the opposing and winning pitcher for the inaugural Texas Rangers game at The Ballpark in Arlington in 1994?
...that Salvatore Cardinal Pappalardo broke the code of omertà in 1992, becoming the first senior Sicilian clergyman of the Catholic Church to openly condemn the Mafia?
...that Arnold Miller defeated W.A. "Tony" Boyle in 1972 for the presidency of the United Mine Workers of America after Boyle murdered union reformer Joseph Yablonski?
...that the video game Daze Before Christmas allows the player to transform into "Anti-Claus", a blue-suited, devilish looking version of Santa Claus?

06:58, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

... that Paul Haenlein was the first to create a dirigible airship (pictured) powered by an internal combustion engine?
...that neoclassical Staszic Palace in Warsaw was temporarily given a Russo-Byzantine redesign upon Poland's partition?
...that Pulau Sejahat was a British military encampment in Singapore during World War II whose gun batteries were never used against Japanese invaders?
...that the Silesian-born scholar Heimann Hariton Tiktin, one of the founders of modern Romanian linguistics was initially destined to become a rabbi?
...that Howard Zahniser died a few months before President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Wilderness Act into law, after spending eight years authoring and promoting it?
...that those who fear bees should know that bee smokers are useless when fending off bee swarms?
...that the Illiana Expressway is a proposed Interstate-standard tollway connecting northeastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana?
...that the coat of arms of Brook Watson featured his leg which he had lost in a shark attack?

18 December 2006

23:35, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

...that Worlds End State Park (pictured) in Pennsylvania is sometimes erroneously known as "Whirls End State Park", its official name for seven years?
...that Vincenzo Ragusa was an Italian sculptor hired by the Meiji government of Japan from 1876 to 1882 to introduce Western art techniques in order to revive Japan's own ancient sculptural arts?
...that the 1870 poem "The Heathen Chinee," written by Bret Harte as a satire of racial prejudice, was publicly embraced as a mockery of Chinese immigrants, and shaped anti-Chinese sentiment in the U.S. more than any other work at the time?
...that Kenneth Cummins was one of the last five confirmed British surviving veterans of World War I, having served in the Royal and Merchant Navies in the First and Second World War respectively?

07:58, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

...that the Blue Bridge (pictured), the widest in St. Petersburg, Russia, derives its name from a 19th-century tradition of color-coding the bridges across the Moika River?
...that between the 10th and 14th centuries, the Indian state of Karnataka was ruled by the Hoysala Empire?
...that Farrer Park is where Singapore's first racecourse was built and the island's aviation history began?
...that one ship had to deal with Hurricane Tanya twice in two different areas of the North Atlantic Ocean five days apart in 1995?
...that although 99.8% of the population is Muslim, there is no official religion in Turkey?
...that platypus venom is delivered by small spurs on the male's hind limbs?
...that Starkad was a legendary Norse hero blessed by Odin but cursed by Thor?

01:13, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

...that Vix Pervenit, an encyclical promulgated by Pope Benedict XIV (pictured) in 1745, condemned the charging of interest on loans as "illicit and usurious"?
...that one of the finest khachkar memorial stones is located at Goshavank Monastery in Armenia, the place where the law of Armenia was first codified by Mkhitar Gosh in the late 12th and early 13th century?
...that the high-pitched quack of the Call Duck was used to lure wild ducks into funnel traps?
...that Roland Winters, who played the role of Charlie Chan in six films, was just over 6 months younger than Keye Luke, who played his son?
...that SPLA-Nasir was a breakaway faction of the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army that aligned with the government in the Second Sudanese Civil War?
...that an impact wrench can deliver very high torque to a fastener, while only requiring minimal effort from the user, and is one of the most commonly used air tools?

17 December 2006

15:15, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

...that the Certosa di Pavia (pictured) was commissioned by Gian Galeazzo Visconti to be built halfway between his two courts in Milan and Pavia?
...that Jason Bedrick, a New Hampshire state representative, is that state's first Orthodox Jewish elected official?
...that as a teenager, Chiri Yukie prepared the first Japanese translations of several of the yukar sagas of the Ainu people?
...that the Vedic Mathematics genre was revived after Hindu Shankaracharya Jagadguru Swami Sri Bharati Krishna Tirthaji Maharaja rediscovered it in the form of sixteen sutras?
...that the Department of State Lands is one of Oregon's oldest government agencies?
...that on October 5 1914, a French Voisin III pilot scored the first air-to-air kill of World War I?

16 December 2006

12:46, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
...that Broadway actress Evelyn Hoey was found shot dead in the bedroom of oil heir Henry H. Rogers's grandson in 1935?
...that Julien Wiener is the only Jewish Australian Test cricketer?
...that in the Oregon ghost town of Boyd only the wheat fields are still operational?
...that Operation Show Me How was a major Interpol narcotics bust concerning the transporting of heroin within the covers of the children's book Show-Me-How-I-Can-Paint?
...that Peter Gadsden, the 652nd Lord Mayor of London, was born in Canada and became a Companion of the Order of Australia?

01:08, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

...that John Singleton Copley's painting, Watson and the Shark (pictured), was based on a real-life shark attack that occurred in Havana, Cuba in 1749?
...that towns given specific meteorological warnings during storms are known as breakpoints?
...that snowmelt from the Carhuasanta travels farther than water from any other source to reach the mouth of the Amazon River?
...that Henry Percy was killed in a battle against Henry IV of England, whom he had helped to gain the Crown in a coup d'état?
...that former NASCAR chairman Bill France, Jr. once used a mule while helping with the construction of Daytona International Speedway?
...that astrophilately is the area of philately connected with human spaceflight?
...that Article 10 of the Constitution of Malaysia guarantees citizens certain rights on condition that these rights are not restricted by the government?

15 December 2006

16:08, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

...that Antonio Fontanesi (work pictured) was one of three foreign artists chosen by the Meiji government to oversee Japan's first public art school?
...that Graham Creek in California was a seasonal hunting and gathering ground for prehistoric Pomo and Wappo people?
...that Ye Htoon was the final director-general of the Burmese Scout Movement before the military junta disbanded it in 1964?
...that U.S. judge Charles Crookham held a mock funeral for Roman numerals when they were retired from use in state pleadings?
...that venturi scrubbers use the named effect explained by Bernoulli's principle to remove unwanted particles from an exhaust stream?
...that Mafioso Totò Riina eulogised Giuseppe Calderone as a great peacemaker, despite having been allegedly responsible for ordering his death?
...that six Regional Specialized Meteorological Centres are charged with globally tracking tropical cyclones?
...that the support that Australian author Mary Grant Bruce gave to racial stereotypes and social Darwinism in her books was redacted from later editions?

07:14, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

...that Abraham Bosse (work pictured) wrote the first Manual of Etching, and was forced in 1661 to resign from the French Royal Academy of Art and Sculpture in a row over methods of perspective?
...that Zimbabwe is the only cricket team to not lose its first Test match since Australia won the very first Test in 1877?
...that the Stolen Valor Act of 2005 is a law passed by the United States Congress in December 2006 for the purpose of protecting the reputation and honor of US military heroism medals due to the larger number of fake military heroes in the USA?
...that the naval base at Key West, Florida was the last U.S. port to berth the USS Maine before an explosion on the ship precipitated the Spanish-American War?
...that Texas politician Maury Maverick, Jr. killed a bill to sentence convicted communists to death by adding a poison pill amendment to sentence suspected communists to life imprisonment?
...that, in addition to the seven-day week, the Javanese calendar incorporates a five-day week, which runs concurrently to produce a repeating cycle of 35 days?

00:35, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

...that in 1944 a railway ferry on the Norwegian railway Rjukanbanen (pictured) was sunk to 430 meters depth to prevent Nazi Germany from developing nuclear weapons?
...that printmakers would sometimes deliberately change the state of an old master print to exploit the collector's market?
...that Luftwaffe ace Erich Rudorffer flew more than 1000 missions during World War II, and was shot down sixteen times by enemy flak and fighters?
...that controversy arose over the naughty nurse uniforms worn by staff at Arizona's Heart Attack Grill?
...that the Karr-Koussevitzky bass was given to Gary Karr after Koussevitzky's widow reported seeing his ghost embrace Karr on stage?
...that the Austrian-born writer Gregor von Rezzori acted in several movies alongside stars such as Brigitte Bardot, Jeanne Moreau, Marcello Mastroianni or Charles Aznavour?

14 December 2006

18:06, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

...that Remuh Synagogue (pictured) is the only functioning synagogue in Kraków, Poland?
...that Buster, the dog of British Labour politician Roy Hattersley, earned his owner a criminal record after killing a goose in St. James's Park, London?
...that Walter Hancock designed the first steam-powered bus to travel from London to Brighton?
...that Thoroughbred racehorse Arazi's victory over Bertrando has been described as the single-most spectacular performance in Breeders' Cup history?
...that Communist Romania's Foreign Minister, Grigore Preoteasa, was killed in an aircraft accident after refusing to wear a seat belt during landing?

01:39, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

...that, according to Patriarch Photius of Constantinople, the land of the Rus was Christianized (Sergei Ivanov's painting pictured) by 867?
...that Prince Kitashirakawa Nagahisa was the first member of the Japanese Imperial Family to die during World War II?
...that Pike Island in Minnesota was part of the 100,000 acres (405 km²) purchased from the Dakota Indians in 1805 by Zebulon Pike?
...that the first comprehensive campaign of unionized labor was the subject of the 1979 Academy Award-winning film Norma Rae?
...that as they don't require fans, ejector venturi scrubbers are able to handle exhaust gases more corrosive or sticky than other systems can?
...that Pulau Senang was a penal settlement in Singapore but shut down after only three years when a riot broke out in 1963?

13 December 2006

19:18, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

...that Clostridium perfringens alpha toxin (pictured) is responsible for gas gangrene and myonecrosis in infected tissues?
...that of the 64 women in the 39th Canadian Parliament, only one, former New Democratic Party leader Alexa McDonough, represents a riding in Atlantic Canada?
...that a commemorative album was released for the tenth death anniversary of hip-hop artist Tupac Shakur?
...that a subpeak of Derry Cairngorm holds the highest permanent body of water in Great Britain?
...that the Aklanon people of the Philippines trace their heritage to Austronesian-speaking immigrants from the Iron Age?

07:23, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

...that the Russian Association of Scouts was founded by Colonel Oleg Pantyukhov (pictured)?
...that Tryal Rocks is a reef off Western Australia named after the Tryall, the first shipwreck in Australian history?
...that the dust storms raised by the Shamal wind bring most travel in Iraq to a halt for several days?
...that Bravlin, an apocryphal overlord of the Rus, was supposedly paralyzed when he entered the church of St. Stephen in Sougdeia?
...that calcific tendonitis causes significant pain when resting on or moving the shoulder?
...that Ottaviano Petrucci's Harmonice Musices Odhecaton was the first music to be printed using movable type?
...that the Grosvenor Bridge in Chester, England, was the world's largest single-span arch for 30 years?

00:56, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

...that there has been a long history of activism at Ohio Wesleyan University (protest pictured), endorsed by the inaugural address of its first president?
...that the obedience to orders and dogged resistance of the Russian infantry at the Battle of Golymin in 1806 greatly impressed Napoleon and his army?
...that the Polish town of Dzierżoniów was the venue of a meeting between Poland, Prussia, Holland and Austria during the Great Turkish War?
...that girdle books were popular fashion items between the 13th and 16th centuries?
...that Tussey Mountain in Pennsylvania has been designated as an Important Bird Area, as it is home to several raptor species during their spring migration?
...that one of only five extant Rafetus swinhoei soft-shelled turtles is thought by residents of Hanoi, Vietnam to be the magical Golden Turtle God named Kim Qui?

12 December 2006

18:50, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

...that Thomas Orde-Lees (pictured) jumped from Tower Bridge into the River Thames to prove the effectiveness of parachutes to the Royal Flying Corps?
...that spray towers remove pollutants from exhaust gases by channeling them through a series of chemical sprays?
...that Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi created the paramilitary Islamic Legion primarily associated with the seven year Libyan-Chadian War?
...that Sacisaurus was named for a one-legged Brazilian elf, as the first skeleton was found missing a leg?
...that Boris Grekov was a Soviet historian who set out to debunk Mikhail Grushevsky's theory that Kievan Rus was a predecessor state of Ukraine rather than of Russia and Belarus?
...that Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa of Japan was head of the Northern Alliance whilst serving as a Buddhist priest?

04:30, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

... that the printmaking technique of mezzotint was invented in 1642 by professional soldier Lieutenant-Colonel Ludwig von Siegen? (example mezzotint pictured)
...that Copeland Creek was significantly degraded by cattle overgrazing in the 19th century, but restoration efforts have reversed that trend?
...that Russian Indologist Gerasim Lebedev was the founder of the first European-style drama theatre in India and also the first printing house in Europe equipped with Indic scripts of Bengali and Devanagari?
... that Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting is the nephew of former player Greg Campbell?
...that eleven Pacific hurricanes have had their names retired, due to the damage they caused and other reasons?
...that Herbert Gutman co-founded the "new labor history" school of thought, which focuses on the effects that ordinary people have had on the history of labor?
...that Major General John Paton commanded the rear party during the evacuation of Anzac Cove in World War I and was one of the last Australian soldiers to leave the beach?

11 December 2006

21:22, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

...that self-expandable metallic stents (pictured) are prosthetic metal tubes inserted by fibre optic cameras in order to treat cancers of the gastrointestinal tract?
...that Bhai Gurdas was the original scribe of the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of Sikhism?
...that the Romanian politician Constantin Argetoianu, who organized repression of the Communist Party and announced the group's effective termination in 1922, spent his final years as a political prisoner of the Communist regime?
...that History Line: 1914-1918, a turn-based strategy computer game from 1993, adapted the software engine of the science-fiction Battle Isle series to portray the First World War?
...that the illustrated children's book Hot House Flowers, an allegory for illegal immigration, was written by a Brooklyn criminal court judge?
...that the nature reserve Rejvíz in the Czech Republic is covered with a peat bog including two moss lakes of glacial origin?
...that Rosa Bonheur Memorial Park was the first pet cemetery to also allow people to be buried alongside their pets?
...that the performance of "I See A Star" at the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 involved one singer playing a barrel organ with a collection of puppets on it?

07:34, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

...that Russian painter Alexandre Jacovleff (pictured) participated in trans-Saharan and trans-Asian (from Syria to China) expeditions organized by the French car manufacturer Citroën?
...that Natural Bridge State Park holds the largest natural arch in Wisconsin?
...that after World War I, Istanbul was occupied by the Triple Entente in the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire?
...that B&H Photo Video in New York City employs so many Satmar Hasidim, there is daily bus service to the store from Kiryas Joel, a Satmar enclave in Orange County, New York?
...that U.S. soldier Louis R. Rocco single-handedly carried three comrades out of a burning helicopter under enemy fire, despite having burned hands, a broken wrist and a fractured hip?
...that the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a national monument in Singapore, was given by Sultan Ibrahim of Johor in Malaysia?
...that actress Frances Gifford played the lead role of Nyoka in the 1941 movie serial Jungle Girl?
...that more hurricanes have struck the Baja California peninsula than anywhere else in Mexico?

10 December 2006

00:32, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

...that the Théâtre Optique (pictured) show of 1892 was the first public projection of moving images, predating the Lumière Brothers' screening by three years?
...that The Compleat Housewife was the first cookbook to be published in the United States?
...that 198 people were killed in an insurgent uprising in Mosul during the Iraq War?
...that coral within tropical oceans is being used as a tropical cyclone observation to date past hurricanes, by looking for concentrations of the oxygen isotope O-18?
...that Yakut linguist Semyon Novgorodov adopted the International Phonetic Alphabet for the modern written Yakut language?
...that the Coleman Bridge in Singapore was the second bridge built across the Singapore River, and the first built in masonry?
...that Xavier William Proenza has been announced as the next director of the National Hurricane Center?

17:19, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

...that industrialist Joseph S. Cullinan (pictured) worked in the oilfields of Pennsylvania from the age of 14, but would later help shape the early oil industry in Texas?
...that, in the ninth century, the fort at Novye Duboviki on the Volkhov River shielded Novgorod from potential attacks by Viking raiders?
...that Marin Dwarf Flax (Hesperolinon congestum) is a wildflower whose few small colonies are threatened by transmission line maintenance and new trail systems?
...that Prince Arisugawa Taruhito's engagement to Princess Kazu-no-Miya Chikako of Japan was cancelled by the Tokugawa bakufu so that the princess could marry Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi, for political reasons?
...that the Society of Friends of Science, first Polish scientific organization, founded in 1800, originated from the Thursday's dinners custom held by the last king of Poland, Stanisław August Poniatowski?
...that while the fungus Apophysomyces is safe to handle, even a small amount entering the bloodstream can lead to a fatal mucormycosis infection?

07:35, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

...that Australia's worst maritime disaster of the 20th century was the sinking of the Koombana (pictured) in a cyclone off Port Hedland, Western Australia?
...that the land around the Scottish mountain Canisp was purchased by a group of local residents for nearly £3m?
...that the death of Joseph Quinn prompted Bellevue Hospital of New York City to make significant improvements to its ambulance system?
...that controversy has arisen over whether Norway's Lysaker Station should be curved or straight?
...that the Met's new opera The First Emperor by Tan Dun has been in development for ten years?
...that in 2005 the Constitutional Court of Spain ruled that Spanish courts may hear cases regarding genocide in which there were no Spanish victims, thereby reversing a decision of the country's Supreme Court?
...that a fossilized delta in Eberswalde crater provides strong evidence for flowing water on Mars?

9 December 2006

23:14, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

... that the Istana Kampong Glam (pictured) is a former Malay palace in Singapore, and was refurbished into the Malay Heritage Centre in 2004?
...that the Montgomery Worsted Mills, a Registered Historic Place in Montgomery, New York, now earn most of their money by generating hydroelectric power from the nearby Wallkill River, rather than the manufacture of textiles?
...that the Caterham CSR is one of the lightest production cars, but lacks modern safety features, making it unsafe in collisions?
...that Singapore Dreaming bagged Singapore its first IFFPA-recognised award at an international feature film festival?
...that Itzik Manger, a Yiddish poet, is best known for his radical revisions of Biblical material?
...that Chris Phatswe committed suicide by crashing his Air Botswana plane into two other planes belonging to the airline, effectively crippling operations?

16:44, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

...that Kalos inscriptions found on antique Attic vases (pictured), usually contain the author's declarations of love for the young man represented in the vase-painting?
...that the phrase "Goody Two-Shoes" comes from a 1765 children's story?
...that George Temple-Poole designed many of the first permanent structures in the shanty towns built during Western Australia's gold rush?
...that Jacques Lacan's theory of a mirror stage, where an infant first recognizes its self in a mirror, was inspired by the work of psychologist Henri Wallon?
...that Les Wallace is the only left-handed BDO World Darts Champion?
...that the gates to Norwood Jewish Orphanage in London were destroyed to allow fire engines easier access to the grounds?
...that Igor Britanov captained the Soviet submarine K-219 when it sank northeast of Bermuda during the Cold War?

06:59, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

...that owing to a fictitious 13th century account, St. Gratus of Aosta (pictured) is typically depicted carrying the head of John the Baptist?
...that a swinging column at Haghartsin Monastery in Armenia was used to hide riches?
...that archaeological digs have greatly expanded knowledge of the history of Swindon, uncovering artefacts from separate Roman, Bronze and Iron Age settlements in the area?
...that until 2006, it was not known that the 1980 Pulitzer Prize-winning image Firing Squad in Iran was taken by Jahangir Razmi?
...that the 2006 Boise State University football team returned more starters from 2005 than any other team in NCAA Division I-A football?
...that Nathan Bedford Forrest High School in Jacksonville, Florida is only one of two schools left in the United States named after the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan?

8 December 2006

23:45, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

...that Gustaf Tenggren was a chief illustrator at the Disney Company when Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (pictured), Bambi and Pinocchio were produced?
...that in Arthurian legend, Brangaine inadvertently sets the romance of Tristan and Iseult in motion by failing to protect the love potion entrusted to her?
...that Philipp Jenninger resigned as President of the Bundestag after his speech commemorating Kristallnacht caused a political scandal?
...that five USAAF airmen were awarded the Medal of Honor following Operation Tidal Wave, a low-level bombing of Romanian oil refineries on 1 August 1943?
...that during his lifetime, Radu Irimescu worked as a German naval officer, Romanian Air Force pilot, banker, businessman, government minister, and diplomat to the United States?
...that Indian wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik learnt to play cricket in Kuwait?

16:36, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

...that US soldier Rodolfo P. Hernandez (pictured) was awarded the Medal of Honor after the Korean War for attacking and delaying an enemy regiment, alone and wounded?
...that nobody buried in a safety coffin is known to have taken advantage of its features?
... that Rice Creek in Minnesota was named for Henry Rice, one of the first two U.S. Senators to represent the state?
...that the costume for the fairy Carabosse in the 1921 ballet The Sleeping Princess was designed to have the silhouette of a rat?
...that Dr. Matthew Lukwiya convinced nurses who refused to treat patients during an 2000 Ebola outbreak in northern Uganda to return to work?
...that the Native American Sheshequin Path along Lycoming Creek, Pennsylvania was prone to such bad weather that an evil spirit was believed to reside there?
...that forces of the Russian and Austrian Empires attempted to defeat an isolated French division in the Battle of Dürenstein on 11 November 1805, three weeks after the Battle of Ulm and three weeks before the Battle of Austerlitz?

06:48, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

...that Pauline Cushman (pictured), an actress and Union Army spy during the American Civil War, was caught posing as a Confederate soldier, but escaped hanging by three days?
...that Ostap Veresai, a 19th-century blind Ukrainian kobzar, performed at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia?
...that a Congreve clock uses a rolling ball rather than a pendulum to regulate the time?
... that the first printed and illustrated travel-book published in the West included a 5-ft (1.6 m) long fold-out view of Venice in woodcut by Erhard Reuwich?
...that the right to petition in the United States required the 1844 rescinding of a gag rule prohibiting discussion of abolitionist petitions in the House of Representatives?
...that after the Battle of Palashi in 1757, Nabakrishna Deb organised a Durga Puja where Lord Clive offered thanksgiving?
...that the history of rapid transit began when the London Underground started operations in 1863?

7 December 2006

23:52, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

...that the Crouching Venus, a Hellenistic type of Aphrodite or Venus (pictured), is known from dozens of Roman copies?
...that the crude oil found in Naftalan, Azerbaijan has been used for centuries in therapeutic baths?
...that the theme of the Kyffhäuser Monument suggests a connection between the Holy Roman and German Empires?
...that Abbott Lawrence Rotch established the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory, which maintains the longest-running meteorological record of any observation site in the United States?
...that Sabeena Saleem is the first mother to compete alongside her daughter at the Asian Games in Indian bowling history?
... that the Starshade is a coronagraph designed to aid a space telescope by blocking bright light from stars by a factor of as much as 10 billion?
...that the HurriQuake nail is around twice as wind resistant as traditional nails and can increase a home's earthquake resistance by up to 50%?

15:52, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

...that Lochry's Defeat was an American Revolutionary War ambush led by Mohawk leader Joseph Brant (pictured) which ended George Clark's campaign against Detroit?
...that the Khooni Darwaza (literally Gateway of Blood) is a 16th century monument in Delhi, India that was named for the various incidents of bloodshed associated with it?
...that the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment, launched in 1975, was one of the first demonstrations that showed the potential of satellite technology as an effective mass communication media?
...that Hasnoor Hussein was investigated over allegations of sedition concerning his statements on the Malaysian social contract?
... that Maurice, the abbot of Inchaffray who blessed the Scottish army at the Battle of Bannockburn, later became Bishop of Dunblane?
...that the British Royal House of Stuart were descended from members of the Scottish Clan Stuart?
...that Ruth Gruber was the first journalist to enter the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan?

05:41, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

...that Jacopo de' Barberi painted the first trompe l'oeil still-life (pictured) since antiquity, which is now in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich?
...that John Baldwin named the city of Berea, Ohio after a verse in the Bible, and was only granted the naming rights after a coin flip?
...that in 1943 British Overseas Airways Corporation Flight 777 was shot down by German Junkers Ju 88s, killing actor Leslie Howard and leading to speculation that it was an attempt to assassinate Winston Churchill?
...that American World War II veteran Alejandro R. Ruiz was awarded the Medal of Honor for single-handedly assaulting and demolishing an enemy machine-gun pillbox?
...that Abe Tadaaki was one of the highest-ranking Japanese officials to remain in office after his colleagues followed Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu into death in 1651?
...that the Larz Anderson Bonsai Collection in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts houses a Hinoki Cypress Tree that is over 250 years old?

6 December 2006

22:10, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

...that ukiyo-e artist Keisai Eisen was famous for his bijin prints of beautiful women (pictured) and claimed to have owned a brothel?
...that the first artistic billiards world tournament only used ivory balls?
...that Ka Lae on the island of Hawaii is the southernmost point in the United States?
...that the pioneer American airman Lowell Smith participated in the first mid-air refueling, the first aerial circumnavigation and held 16 records for military aircraft in speed, endurance and distance?
...that the Playhouse Square Center, in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, is the second largest theater complex in the United States?
...that Hermann Klaatsch was one of the first scientists to advocate a clear division between religion and physical anthropology?
...that the world's first all-electronic television receiver was demonstrated on Christmas Day, 1926 by the Japanese researcher Kenjiro Takayanagi?

15:30, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

Clement of Dunblane

...that Clement, Bishop of Dunblane, (pictured) was the first Dominican friar to obtain a bishopric in the British Isles?
...that Ernst Kitzinger, a historian of Byzantine art, was forced to leave Germany in 1934 and England in 1940 because he was Jewish and German respectively?
...that the capture and forced march of Daniel M. Frost's militia through St. Louis, Missouri during the US Civil War ignited a citywide riot?
...that Bangsa Malaysia, a policy seeking to create a unified national identity for all citizens of Malaysia, has been criticised as being 'nebulous' and overstepping the Constitution?
...that West Ham Stadium in London holds the record for the lowest ever attendance of a football match in The Football League, despite its capacity of 120,000?
...that fear of being buried alive was so widespread in 19th century that safety coffins were invented to give the prematurely buried a chance for escape?

02:00, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

...that the Knickerbocker Hotel (pictured) in New York City was host to the world-famous opera singer Enrico Caruso who sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" from the window of his room on Armistice Day?
...that a methanol reformer can replace a hydrogen-gas tank in a fuel cell vehicle by catalytically producing fuel from the poisonous liquid?
...that after being stripped of his aristocratic title after World War II, Prince Takeda Tsuneyoshi of Japan retired to raise racehorses on his estate?
...that the Eskaya tribe are the object of international archeological studies considering their distinct culture, language and alphabet not found elsewhere in the world?

5 December 2006

19:18, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

...that Russian Jewish painter Marc Chagall created the windows of the St Stephan church (pictured) in Mainz as a sign of Jewish-German reconciliation?
...that the Poniatowski Bridge in Warsaw was destroyed in both World Wars?
...that Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service was created in 1971 due to controversy surrounding the flooding of Lake Pedder in 1970?
...that American actor David Holt was reduced to starring in the drugs-scare melodrama "She Shoulda Said 'No'!" at age twenty-two, after being touted at the age 7 as the male Shirley Temple?

16:47, 5 December 2006 (UTC)
...that the first gay mass-market paperback focused on situational homosexuality and male rape in prison?

07:39, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

...that David O. Cooke (pictured), a civilian administrator in the U.S. Department of Defense for over 45 years, was colloquially known as the "Mayor of the Pentagon" because of his managerial duties?
...that in 1994, Horace Dove-Edwin became the first medalist in athletics for Sierra Leone, but lost it due to a positive doping test?
...that, in the 1950s, Romanian linguist Iorgu Iordan was in charge of expelling opponents of the Communist regime from the University of Bucharest?
...that the 2004 Christmas Eve Snowstorm was the most significant snow event for southern Texas since 1895 with a maximum of 1.5 inches of accumulated snow?
...that Ralph Fasanella was pumping gas for money in 1972 when featured on the cover of New York Magazine as "...the best primitive painter since Grandma Moses"?

00:06, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

...that Juan N. Méndez (pictured) took up the post of interim President of Mexico for three months to allow then-President Porfirio Díaz to personally lead his forces against a partisan uprising?
...that, although Kievan Rus was heavily defeated in the Rus'-Byzantine War (1043), hostilities ended with the marriage of Vsevolod I of Kiev to Constantine IX's daughter?
...that in 1937 a Soviet station became the first scientific research settlement to operate on the drift ice of the Arctic Ocean?
... that the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan houses the only SR-71B Blackbird in existence?
...that Bantcho Bantchevsky committed suicide during a nationally-broadcast performance from the Metropolitan Opera?
...that Nicholas Mukomberanwa was a police officer in Harare, Zimbabwe, before turning to sculpture full-time?
...that the oldest modern human remains in Europe have been discovered in Peştera cu Oase in south-western Romania?

4 December 2006

17:02, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

...that Native Hawaiians used Mamane (pictured) wood for thatching poles, spades, spears, sled runners, firewood, symbols of authority and to ward off evil?
...that many countries afford journalists the right to protect their sources?
... that Harrison Thyng was one of only six US Air Force pilots to be recognized as an ace in two wars?
...that the Police Act 1964 gave the British Home Secretary the power to enact compulsory amalgamation of police forces in England and Wales?
...that controversy has arisen over the interpretation of Robert Baden-Powell's opinions on religion in Scouting?
... that Mary Jones walked 25 miles across the Welsh countryside to buy a copy of the Bible, unintentionally inspiring the creation of the British and Foreign Bible Society?
...that the Thing of all Swedes and the Disting market were held to coincide with Dísablót, a pre-Christian Swedish sacrificial holiday?

06:59, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

...that during the Rus'-Byzantine War in 907 Oleg of Novgorod reportedly circumvented the chaining of the Bosporus by putting his ships on wheels and sailing them overland (pictured) to Constantinople?
...that the town of Scone was the coronation site of Kings of Scotland for several centuries?
...that in Homer's Iliad, the charioteer Meriones is described as being a "peer of murderous Mars"?
...that in the Sso rite of the Beti of Cameroon, one initiate was designated the ritual butt of the other candidates' jokes?
... that at Masa, an elite New York City restaurant, no menus are available, because the chef, Masa Takayama, cooks whatever he wants?
... that the earthquake-proof designs of the Nagoya TV, Tsutenkaku, the Sapporo TV, the Beppu, and the Tokyo Towers were all engineered by Tachu Naito?
...that former Congolese general Laurent Nkunda was a psychology student before helping Laurent-Désiré Kabila to overthrow Mobutu Sese Seko?

00:43, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

...that the Southern Islands of Singapore (pictured) are being developed into a getaway for the ultra-wealthy, similar to Dubai's Palm Islands?
...that South African cricketer Geoff Griffin took a hat-trick in his second Test match, at Lord's in 1960, but was no-balled repeatedly for throwing in the same match and in the exhibition match that followed it, and never played Test cricket again?
...that after the non-profit Internet service provider Public Netbase began supporting websites that opposed his political party, Austrian politician Jörg Haider accused the organisation of sponsoring child pornography?
...that Ming Dynasty general Gang Bing castrated himself and placed his severed organs under Emperor Yongle's saddle to avoid being accused of sexual improprieties?

3 December 2006

14:33, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

...that in the Frederica Naval Action of the American Revolutionary War, three galleys led by Georgian colonel Samuel Elbert (pictured) defeated a much stronger British force?
...that Frank McEwen fostered the development of stone sculpture among untrained Shona artists in Rhodesia?
...that despite the destruction of his fleet by Greek fire, Igor I of Kiev managed to end the Rus'-Byzantine War (941) by signing a favourable trade treaty?
...that the Cessna 165 aircraft was instrumental in the recovery of the Cessna Aircraft Company in the years following the Great Depression?
...that "De Vogels Van Holland" was the first song ever performed at the Eurovision Song Contest?

00:25, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

...that the burrows of Meriones gerbils (pictured) can have a combined length of over 30 meters and over 18 entrances?
...that despite holding the graves of Rudolf Nureyev, Andrei Tarkovsky and Ivan Bunin, Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery is not officially recognized as a landmark?
... that Mansfield Cut Underwater Archeological District off the southern coast of Texas contains three Spanish shipwrecks caused by a 1554 storm?
...that Winning Colors is one of only three fillies to have won the Kentucky Derby?
...that English Test cricketer Graham Roope was batting at the non-striker's end when Geoff Boycott reached his 100th first-class century, but not when John Edrich achieved the same record one month earlier, despite many claims to the contrary?
...that Brahmo social reformer Dwarkanath Ganguly served a girls' boarding school in Kolkata, India as headmaster, teacher, dietician, guard, and janitor?
...that after being captured by the Germans during World War II, Soviet soldier Baymirza Hayit joined the pro-Nazi Turkestan Legion and became a leading Turkestani nationalist?

2 December 2006

17:10, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

...that the southern side of Mount Elden (pictured) in the state of Arizona was left almost entirely devoid of vegetation after a 4600-acre wildfire ran through the area in June 1977?
...that the Yulupa Creek watershed has been designated as critical habitat for two California endangered species?
...that due to a lack of bilingual inscriptions, most knowledge of the Etruscan language has been derived using the combinatorial method?
...that Alexander Kazhdan, the editor of the three-volume Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, started his career as a provincial teacher in Ivanovo and Tula?
...that, in the early 1890s, the Berlin wine tavern Zum schwarzen Ferkel was the meeting place for a circle of mostly Scandinavian writers and artists that included August Strindberg and Edvard Munch?
...that the first military decoration to use a medal bar was the British Sutlej Medal?
...that Bulgarian physicist Stefan Marinov claimed to have created a perpetual motion machine using only two ballraces and a car battery?

02:05, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

...that the Upper South of the United States (pictured) comprises the states which didn't secede from the Union until after the Battle of Fort Sumter?
...that the Buddhist scholar Jizang spent eleven years transcribing 2,000 copies of the Lotus Sutra by hand?
...that Riley started as a bicycle manufacturer in Coventry in 1890, and produced its last motorcar in 1969?
...that in his only armed clash with the police, bushranger James Alpin McPherson was unable to effectively return fire as his gun was loaded with blanks?
...that the endangered wildflower Lasthenia conjugens has successfully colonized new vernal pools with human assistance?
...that Randall Thompson's The Testament of Freedom was performed at a 1945 Carnegie Hall concert given in memory of Franklin Delano Roosevelt?
...that Abu Isa founded the first Jewish sect since the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem?

1 December 2006

19:01, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

Megazostrodon

...that Megazostrodon (pictured) is widely accepted as being one of the first mammals to have appeared on Earth?
...that the crash of Crossair Flight LX498 was initially attributed to cell phone use, and led to bans of cell phones in airplanes in several countries?
...that Nathaniel Butler introduced the first potato found by Europeans in North America to Jamestown, Virginia?
...that American attorney Nicole Seligman represented both Lt. Colonel Oliver North during the Iran-Contra hearings and President Bill Clinton during his impeachment trial?
...that Singapore's Museum Planning Area contains ten national monuments?
...that the Brush Creek confluence with Santa Rosa Creek was the site of a Pomo village, the antecedent of modern Santa Rosa, California?

12:30, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

...that the three universal Hindu icons are the Aum, the swastika (pictured), and the Sri Chakra Yantra?
...that the science and technology magazine Food Technology was originally a scientific journal?
...that the New Year's Eve 1963 snowstorm simultaneously set new daily, weekly, and monthly snowfall records for Huntsville, Alabama?
...that "Bitaqat Khub" is the first and only Eurovision Song Contest to have been performed in Arabic, and also the first and only entry to have represented an African country?
...that Uli is a traditional type of design long practiced by the Igbo people of Nigeria?
...that Josquin des Prez's Miserere, a motet of Psalm 51, was hugely influential not only as a psalm setting, but as an example of how to approach the text of Infelix ego?
...that Soviet sniper Roza Shanina's declaration "I shall return after the battle" would be paraphrased in a book title?

05:30, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

...that according to legend, the masons who built Corcomroe Abbey (pictured) in Ireland were killed to stop them from building another masterpiece elsewhere?
...that Empress Zhang Yao'er refused to hand over control of China's Chen Dynasty until threatened with violence, as she hoped her captive son would be freed to take the throne?
...that "She Shoulda Said 'No'!" was partially inspired by the arrest of actress Lila Leeds, who later starred in the film?
...that many subatomic particles are constantly decaying into more stable lower-mass particles?
...that Henry Burrell was the first person to successfully keep the Platypus in captivity, in a habitat of his own design that he called a platypusary?
...that Marmoutier Abbey in France was destroyed four times between its construction in the 4th Century and the raising of a private school on its latest ruins?