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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.
Please add the line === ((subst:CURRENTDAY)) ((subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME)) ((subst:CURRENTYEAR)) === for each new day and *'''''~~~~~''''' at the top for the newly posted set of archived hooks. This will ensure all times are based on UTC time and accurate. This page should be archived once a month. Thanks.
31 July 2009
- 20:14, 31 July 2009 (UTC)
- ... that the 74,500 capacity Millennium Stadium (pictured), Cardiff, "an icon of the modern Wales", is wholly owned by the Welsh Rugby Union, one of the governing bodies of sports in Wales?
- ... that Jared C. Monti is only the second person to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions during the War in Afghanistan?
- ... that in 2008 one of Jamaica's most wanted fugitives evaded police capture when a motorist flashed his headlights to warn of police activity ahead?
- ... that Wyoming newspaper publisher Charles E. Richardson won a Sharpshooter Medal for his skill with a .38 caliber pistol while serving in the Army in the late 1950s?
- ... that during the Japanese conquest of Burma in 1942, the heavily defended Taukkyan Roadblock was unexpectedly abandoned overnight, allowing the Allied forces to escape safely from Rangoon?
- ... that Snorri Thorfinnsson, son of explorers Thorfinn Karlsefni and Guðríðr Þorbjarnardóttir, is said to be the first European born in North America?
- ... that Agaricus albolutescens, unlike other species of Agaricus, turns tawny-brown rather than yellow when bruised?
- ... that Canadian professional wrestler Billy Two Rivers decided to move to the United Kingdom because of a coin toss?
- 13:30, 31 July 2009 (UTC)
- ... that between 1909 and 1912, soprano Margarethe Siems (pictured) sang leading roles in the world premieres of three operas by Richard Strauss—Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier and Ariadne auf Naxos?
- ... that after a massive expansion program in the 1980s, Lavalin's corporate bankers forced it to merge with the rival SNC Group, forming one of the largest civil engineering firms in the world?
- ... that Kjell Fjalsett, Arnold Børud, Ivar Skippervold and Rune Larsen constitute the gospel group Frisk Luft, called the first Christian supergroup in Norway?
- ... that T.H.E. Fox, drawn on a C64 KoalaPad and published on CompuServe, Q-Link and GEnie, is among the earliest online comics?
- ... that "Calexico Kid" Primo Villanueva led UCLA to the NCAA football championship in 1954 and was inducted into the British Columbia Restaurant Hall of Fame in 2009?
- ... that during June 1976 protests in Poland, the biggest demonstrations took place in Radom, where workers burned the local office of the Polish Communist party?
- ... that the clubhouse of the Royal Findhorn Yacht Club was originally the home of its first Commodore, James Chadwick?
- ... that Sir William Cheyne has been described as one of the most obscure Chief Justices of the King's Bench in the late medieval period?
- 07:28, 31 July 2009 (UTC)
- 01:28, 31 July 2009 (UTC)
30 July 2009
- 19:28, 30 July 2009 (UTC)
- ... that John P. Charlton invented the first private postal card (pictured) in 1861?
- ... that the Southern sennet, a member of the Barracuda family, has been linked to ciguatera poisoning?
- ... that an Australian football player was banned for life for umpire abuse?
- ... that Ziegfield Girl Susan Fleming found Harpo Marx, despite his non-speaking film persona, to be "a warm, fun, darling man to talk to", and they married in 1936 after she had proposed to him three times?
- ... that the Hunt-class destroyer HMS Badsworth was named after a fox-hunt in Yorkshire and adopted by the town of Batley, following a Warship Week campaign in March 1942?
- ... that Immigration Equality has been the main advocate for the Uniting American Families Act to give same-sex couples the same status as heterosexuals under the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act?
- ... that the cam follower, which is a specialized type of roller bearing designed to follow cams, was invented in 1937 by the McGill corporation?
- ... that one mixed martial arts fight at the Insomnia Summer Show in Satu Mare, Romania, lasted only seven seconds?
- 13:28, 30 July 2009 (UTC)
- 07:28, 30 July 2009 (UTC)
- 01:25, 30 July 2009 (UTC)
- ... that when the Applegate River was dammed in 1980, the resulting lake (pictured) completely submerged the town of Copper?
- ... that Saint Ninian, the subject of Ailred of Rievaulx's Life of Saint Ninian, is an "unhistorical doppelgänger" of the real-life British churchman Finnian?
- ... that in partnership with McIlwraith, McEacharn & Co., the Adelaide Steamship Company developed the world's first purpose built container ship, MV Kooringa?
- ... that the Renfrew County Courthouse was described as "one of the finest in Canada" by the County Atlas of 1881?
- ... that after helping Werner von Braun publish a book in post-war Germany, Heinz-Hermann Koelle joined von Braun's team at the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency, where he worked on Saturn rockets?
- ... that the papal conclave, October 1503 was the shortest papal conclave in history due to the lack of a conclave capitulation?
- ... that only one aircraft, a Bombardier Dash 8 of Amakusa Airlines, uses Amakusa Airfield?
- ... that Gordon Brown's independent advisor on ministerial conduct, Sir Philip Mawer who was given a knighthood in 2002, has also been a dame?
29 July 2009
- 18:07, 29 July 2009 (UTC)
- ... that Australian musician Monique Brumby (pictured), who has won two ARIA Awards, was selected for the national under-19 women's soccer team?
- ... that the Shanta Creek fire has burned over 13,000 acres (53 km2; 20 sq mi) on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula since it was started by lightning on June 29, 2009?
- ... that in 1904, the whitewash was removed from the west wall of St. George's church, Trotton, leading to the discovery of an unprecedented 600-year-old wall painting?
- ... that the first newspaper in Hawaii was printed by students of Lorrin Andrews in 1834, on a printing press brought to the islands in 1820?
- ... that in 1901, two former political adversaries in Cuba, the Cuban National Party and the Republican Party of Havana, united behind the presidential candidature of Tomás Estrada Palma?
- ... that the marbleized appearance of the granite siding on the Gerard Crane House in Somers, New York, is a naturally occurring feature of the locally quarried stone?
- ... that in each Summer Olympic Games since 1992, the women's singles gold medalist in table tennis has also won gold in either the doubles or team competition?
- ... that Pink Dot is a Los Angeles–based chain of grocery stores that offers delivery service of groceries, deli food, cigarettes, and alcohol?
- 12:07, 29 July 2009 (UTC)
- 06:07, 29 July 2009 (UTC)
- 00:07, 29 July 2009 (UTC)
28 July 2009
- 18:07, 28 July 2009 (UTC)
- ... that when the public house The Falcon (pictured) was a town house owned by Sir Richard Grosvenor in 1643, it was the first building to enclose its portion of the Chester Rows?
- ... that Homer Paine was one of several college football players that Oklahoma Sooners head coach Jim Tatum lured away from the school's rivals after World War II?
- ... that Nazi German regulation of Polish forced laborers intentionally created and supported discrimination on the basis of ethnicity?
- ... that in baseball, no Gold Glove Award-winning catcher posted an errorless season until Charles Johnson and Mike Matheny accomplished the feat twice in six years?
- ... that Killiniq, an abandoned settlement on the Hudson Strait, was formerly a part of Labrador, and then the Northwest Territories, but is now on the Nunavut side of Killiniq Island?
- ... that ornithologist Robert Thomas Moore, who is credited with discovering more than 30 bird species and subspecies, also founded the 29-volume series of Borestone Mountain Poetry Awards?
- ... that All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is one of the largest Unitarian Universalist congregations in the world?
- ... that giant Daniel Cajanus appeared in pantomime on the London stage in 1734?
- 12:07, 28 July 2009 (UTC)
Trojan wave packet animation
- 06:07, 28 July 2009 (UTC)
- 00:07, 28 July 2009 (UTC)
- ... that the Space Shuttle mission STS-8 flew Guy Bluford (pictured), the first African-American astronaut?
- ... that Felix Salten's novel Bambi, A Life in the Woods, originally published in Austria in 1923, is considered the first environmental fiction novel to be published?
- ... that Poh Ling Yeow, the runner-up of MasterChef Australia, has appeared in four films?
- ... that the 1969 Jefferson Airplane psychedelic folk-rock song "Good Shepherd" is derived from an early 1800s hymn from a backwoods preacher and a 1930s gospel blues recording by a blind axe murderer?
- ... that the earliest activities of the Port of Amsterdam, today the Netherlands' second largest port, date back to the 13th century?
- ... that when hired as CEO of Rocket Chemical Company, John Barry changed its name to WD-40 to match its primary product, whose name came from "water displacement, formulation successful in 40th attempt"?
- ... that three armies surrounded the papal conclave, September 1503, held during the Italian Wars?
- ... that Xavier Petulengro, known as "The King of the Gypsies", led traditional Romany weddings in Yorkshire where he mingled the blood of the couple and bound their wrists with a silk cord?
27 July 2009
- 18:07, 27 July 2009 (UTC)
- 12:07, 27 July 2009 (UTC)
- 06:07, 27 July 2009 (UTC)
- 00:07, 27 July 2009 (UTC)
- ... that St Julian's Church in Kingston Buci, West Sussex, has the well-preserved remains of an anchorite's cell (hagioscope pictured), in which a hermit would have been walled up for life?
- ... that as of 2008, there is no treaty covering the border between Botswana and Namibia, which remains as defined in a treaty signed between the British and German Empires in 1890?
- ... that Horace Barker was awarded the National Medal of Science for discovering the coenzyme of vitamin B12, which Barker had isolated from mud taken from San Francisco Bay?
- ... that the White-bellied Sea Eagle and the Grey-headed Fish Eagle are the notable raptors of Gal Oya National Park?
- ... that Statutes of Casimir the Great from the 14th century were the first codification and the basis of modern Polish law?
- ... that the O'Kane Building in Bend, Oregon, was built for Hugh O’Kane who, as a boy, came to the United States illegally from Ireland by stowing away on a New York bound ship?
- ... that in World War II, the British Indian Army was driven out of Burma at the Battle of Sittang Bridge?
- ... that professional wrestler Pirata Morgan lost his right eye in a mid-match accident?
26 July 2009
- 18:07, 26 July 2009 (UTC)
- 12:07, 26 July 2009 (UTC)
- 06:07, 26 July 2009 (UTC)
- 00:07, 26 July 2009 (UTC)
- ... that the longest horn ever recorded on a Marco Polo sheep (mounted head pictured) measured 1.9 m (6.2 ft) and weighed 60 lb (27 kg)?
- ... that when Khirbat al-Minya, an Umayyad-built palace near the Sea of Galilee, was first excavated in 1932, it was mistaken by archaeologists for a Roman fort?
- ... that at the Battle of Cape Finisterre, HMS Malta forced the surrender of one Spanish ship, and sent her boats to take possession of another?
- ... that the players selected for the 1935 College Football All-America Teams included SMU's "Iron Man" Wetsel, Stanford's "Vow Boy" Bobby Grayson, military historian Jac Weller, aspiring G-Man Paul Tangora, Charles Wasicek of the "unbeaten, untied and uninvited" Colgate team, Minnesota's "battering ram fullback" Sheldon Beise and tackles Ed Widseth and Dick Smith, Cal end Larry Lutz, Ohio State end Merle Wendt, Princeton second-generation All-American Gilbert Lea and Walter Winika, the first Rutgers varsity athlete killed in World War II?
- ... that 24 people died digging Bramhope Tunnel, known for its eccentric Neo-Gothic portal?
- ... that surgeon Dr. Evan O'Neill Kane signed his handiwork by tattooing the letter K in Morse code on his patients in India ink?
25 July 2009
- 18:07, 25 July 2009 (UTC)
- 12:07, 25 July 2009 (UTC)
- 06:07, 25 July 2009 (UTC)
- 00:07, 25 July 2009 (UTC)
24 July 2009
- 18:07, 24 July 2009 (UTC)
- 12:07, 24 July 2009 (UTC)
- 06:05, 24 July 2009 (UTC)
- 00:05, 24 July 2009 (UTC)
23 July 2009
- 18:05, 23 July 2009 (UTC)
- 12:00, 23 July 2009 (UTC)
- 06:00, 23 July 2009 (UTC)
- 00:00, 23 July 2009 (UTC)
22 July 2009
- 18:00, 22 July 2009 (UTC)
- 12:00, 22 July 2009 (UTC)
- 06:00, 22 July 2009 (UTC)
- 00:00, 22 July 2009 (UTC)
21 July 2009
- 18:00, 21 July 2009 (UTC)
- 12:00, 21 July 2009 (UTC)
- ... that rich Halifax mill-owner Edward Akroyd had everything except children, so he illustrated his home, Bankfield Museum, with images of babies (example pictured)?
- ... that Edward R. Tinsley, who rescued K-Bob's Steakhouse from bankruptcy in 1992, is a former president of the National Restaurant Association?
- ... that when appointed, Sir Rigby Swift was the youngest judge in the High Court of Justice?
- ... that the former common pasture was the first area outside Albany, New York's stockade to be settled?
- ... that the Mayor of Danzig, Conrad Letzkau, was treacherously murdered in 1412 by the Teutonic Knights for his support of Poland and refusal to pay taxes?
- ... that the abandoned Sucreries Raffineries Bulgares factory in Sofia, Bulgaria, once owned by a Belgian company, was used as the set for Kreuzberg in a Bulgarian film?
- ... that at the 1929 Rose Bowl, Benny Lom stopped Cal teammate Roy "Wrong Way" Riegels who had run 60 yards in the wrong direction and was about to score a safety, in a game Cal lost 8–7 to Georgia Tech?
- 08:00, 21 July 2009 (UTC)
- ... that one theory suggests that the unique Chester Rows (pictured) were constructed in the medieval era on top of debris from the ruins of Roman buildings?
- ... that the tutor of Peter the Great, Nikita Zotov, became the "Prince-Pope" of The All-Joking, All-Drunken Synod of Fools and Jesters?
- ... that before the NCAA began sponsoring a women's collegiate basketball tournament in 1982, the AIAW Women's Basketball Tournament crowned national champions from 1972 to 1981?
- ... that Sidonia von Borcke, executed for witchcraft in 1620, became a cult femme fatale in Victorian art and Gothic fiction?
- ... that the 1850 Squatters' Riot in Sacramento, California, effectively ended land speculation in the region?
- ... that Lionel Pincus, who ran Warburg Pincus from 1966 to 2002, has donated more than $5,000,000 to the New York Public Library, including an endowment for the Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division?
- ... that the idiom kick the bucket probably comes from a method of suicide in the middle ages?
- 00:00, 21 July 2009 (UTC)
20 July 2009
- 18:00, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
- 11:59, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
- 05:56, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
19 July 2009
- 23:56, 19 July 2009 (UTC)
- 17:56, 19 July 2009 (UTC)
- 11:56, 19 July 2009 (UTC)
- ... that grosgrain ribbons or textiles finished by calendering become the thin, glossy and papery fabric known as moire (pictured)?
- ... that the now defunct Heritage Christian School in Hillsboro, Oregon, once held a chariot race?
- ... that the first point of the 1940 Soviet ultimatum to Lithuania demanded to put Kazys Skučas, Minister of the Interior, and Augustinas Povilaitis, Director of the State Security Department, on trial?
- ... that as a struggling actor in 1993, Edie Falco paid for a month's rent by appearing in the Homicide: Life on the Street episode "Son of a Gun"?
- ... that while governor of Jaffa in the early 19th century, Muhammad Abu-Nabbut initiated the city's fortification, the erection of two public fountains, and renovation of the Mahmoudiya Mosque?
- ... that in 1893, The Philadelphia Record "held its own" as "one of the best and most widely circulated newspapers in the United States" despite a troubled economy?
- ... that Leonardo Carrera who wrestles as Damián 666 is nicknamed "The Beast of the Apocalypse"?
- 05:56, 19 July 2009 (UTC)
18 July 2009
- 23:56, 18 July 2009 (UTC)
- 17:56, 18 July 2009 (UTC)
- 11:56, 18 July 2009 (UTC)
- 05:56, 18 July 2009 (UTC)
17 July 2009
- 23:56, 17 July 2009 (UTC)
- ... that after overcoming Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1989, K-Bob's Steakhouse (sign pictured) still operates in mostly smaller cities in the cattle country of New Mexico and Texas?
- ... that later Verdens Gang editor-in-chief Oskar Hasselknippe was a sub-editor in the newspaper Ringerikes Blad under editor Kaare Filseth before an intermezzo in Milorg?
- ... that the Latrobe Gate was one of the few structures at the Washington Navy Yard not destroyed when British forces burned the city?
- ... that the National Interventions Museum in Mexico City is located at the site of the 1847 Battle of Churubusco of the Mexican–American War, in a former Franciscan monastery built on top of an Aztec shrine?
- ... that in summer 2008, future Memphis Grizzlies draft pick Sam Young, then a player for the University of Pittsburgh, slept at the school's basketball arena for a month?
- ... that a selvage is the edge of a piece of woven or knitted fabric that does not fray or come unraveled?
- ... that Oscar Mayer, maker of hot dogs and processed meats, was led by three generations of Oscar Mayers as chairmen, founder Oscar F. Mayer, his son Oscar G. Mayer, Sr. and grandson Oscar G. Mayer, Jr.?
- 17:56, 17 July 2009 (UTC)
- 11:56, 17 July 2009 (UTC)
- ... that Ina Coolbrith (pictured), the first woman granted honorary membership in the Bohemian Club, was also the first California Poet Laureate?
- ... that the doom metal band Bloody Panda performs wearing executioner's hoods and robes?
- ... that almost a quarter of the brown lanternsharks found in Suruga Bay, Japan, have both male and female organs?
- ... that You Chung Hong, the first Chinese American admitted to practice law in California, helped develop the new Chinatown in Los Angeles in the 1930s, including designing its neon-lit gateway?
- ... that statues of The Boy with the Leaking Boot are found in Cleethorpes (England), Winnipeg and Toronto (Canada) and several cities in the United States, but his origins are obscure?
- ... that Kentucky State Representative Sam B. Thomas coached fellow army soldiers in Olympic basketball trials in Japan after World War II?
- ... that today, most Butts are Muslims, although some practice Hinduism or Christianity?
- 05:56, 17 July 2009 (UTC)
16 July 2009
- 23:56, 16 July 2009 (UTC)
- 16:14, 16 July 2009 (UTC)
- 10:07, 16 July 2009 (UTC)
- 03:51, 16 July 2009 (UTC)
15 July 2009
- 21:35, 15 July 2009 (UTC)
- 15:35, 15 July 2009 (UTC)
- ... that the electric flash-lamp (pictured), a photographer's light source, was used as an underwater mine detonator fuse?
- ... that Johann Friedrich, Duke of Pomerania was host and chief mediator at the peace conference ending the Northern Seven Years' War?
- ... that the 1930 film Tom Sawyer was the third screen adaptation of Mark Twain's novel, following silent versions in 1907 and 1917?
- ... that the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, which is tasked with drafting the bills of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, is staffed by 61 lawyers?
- ... that Aubrey Epps of the Pittsburgh Pirates had three hits in four at bats in the final game of the 1935 season, but never played another major league game, ending his career with a .750 batting average?
- ... that the yellow passionflower is the only known pollen host for the passionflower bee, but this bee species is not known to pollinate this flower?
- ... that according to different versions of his legend, Hindu cattle-god Bir Kuar was killed by either a tigress, seven witches, Mughal soldiers, or his own sister?
- 09:35, 15 July 2009 (UTC)
- 03:35, 15 July 2009 (UTC)
14 July 2009
- 21:35, 14 July 2009 (UTC)
- 15:35, 14 July 2009 (UTC)
- 09:35, 14 July 2009 (UTC)
- 03:35, 14 July 2009 (UTC)
13 July 2009
- 21:35, 13 July 2009 (UTC)
- 15:35, 13 July 2009 (UTC)
- 09:35, 13 July 2009 (UTC)
- 03:36, 13 July 2009 (UTC)
12 July 2009
- 21:35, 12 July 2009 (UTC)
- 15:35, 12 July 2009 (UTC)
- 09:35, 12 July 2009 (UTC)
- 03:35, 12 July 2009 (UTC)
- ... that Diorhabda carinata (pictured), D. sublineata and D. elongata, three species of leaf beetle in Eurasia and North Africa, are used as biological pest control agents against invasive tamarisk trees in North America?
- ... that in designing a new analogue filter, Sidney Darlington found tables of the exact elliptic functions required in an 1829 Latin paper by Carl Jacobi in the New York City Library?
- ... that Franz von Rintelen, a German spy living in New York during World War I, used pencil bombs to sabotage Allied shipping?
- ... that Lee Child took inspiration for his novel Echo Burning from the grave of "the gentlemen gunfighter" Clay Allison?
- ... that the wild zebrafish is the first vertebrate to have its entire genome sequenced in India, a task carried out by the scientists at the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology?
- ... that in 1937, members of a boy's club in Haywards Heath, West Sussex, demolished their own hut to allow St Richard's Church to be built on the site?
- ... that Harvard All-American Bert Waters was accused of jabbing a finger into a Yale player's eye in the 1893 football game that became known as "The Bloodbath in Hampden Park"?
11 July 2009
- 21:35, 11 July 2009 (UTC)
- ... that the spread of red palm mite (pictured) is the biggest mite explosion ever observed in the Americas?
- ... that in 1901, Emir of Kuwait Mubarak Al-Sabah asked the Russian Empire for protection, only two years after his country became a British protectorate?
- ... that Albert Sharpe participated in football, basketball, baseball, gymnastics, rowing, and track and field, and was called "the greatest living all round athlete" in 1915?
- ... that during the early 20th century, the depopulated Palestinian village Sarafand al-Amar was the site of the largest British Army base in the Middle East?
- ... that the pump station built to supply Hudson River water to Albany, New York, is now home to a brewpub, planetarium and the city's visitor center?
- ... that a priest refused quarter and perished in his burning church during the 1759 St. Francis Raid by Rogers' Rangers?
- ... that the glamorous American actress Mary Castle was once dubbed more like Rita Hayworth than Hayworth herself?
- 15:23, 11 July 2009 (UTC)
- 08:49, 11 July 2009 (UTC)
- 02:49, 11 July 2009 (UTC)
- ... that American football halfback Franklin Morse (pictured) was the model for a drawing, prints of which reportedly "hung in most college rooms throughout the country" during the 1890s?
- ... that SMS Blücher was the last armored cruiser built by the German Imperial Navy?
- ... that Mary Lou Forbes, whose reporting on school integration in Virginia won a 1959 Pulitzer Prize, had been hired as a copy girl by the Washington Star after the accounting spot she wanted was filled?
- ... that at least eleven of the twenty electors of the papal conclave, 1362 were from the Limousin province of France?
- ... that De Schoolmeester, a smock mill at Westzaan, Noord Holland, is the only wind powered paper mill in the world?
- ... that in 2008, the United States produced 5,778 million bearing balls?
- ... that 27 years after Barbara George's hit "I Know (You Don't Love Me No More)" was released, a cover by Marisela peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart?
10 July 2009
- 20:49, 10 July 2009 (UTC)
- 14:49, 10 July 2009 (UTC)
- 08:49, 10 July 2009 (UTC)
- 02:49, 10 July 2009 (UTC)
9 July 2009
- ... that the Classic Maya archaeological site of Yaxchilan, on the Mexican border with Guatemala, is known for its preserved sculpted lintels (example pictured) detailing the dynastic history of the city?
- ... that Tommy Thevenow hit his only two home runs in a six-day span in 1926, but none in his next 12 seasons, setting a Major League record of 3,347 consecutive regular season at bats without a home run?
- ... that the Merthyr Synagogue may be the only synagogue in the world with a dragon on its gable?
- ... that in 1958, female professional wrestlers Kay Noble, Lorraine Johnson, Penny Banner, and Laura Martinez were charged with inciting a riot when they began fighting outside of the ring, but pleaded not guilty in court?
- ... that Sir Albert Napier was described as the "midwife to civil legal aid"?
- ... that a lake scene in the Skins episode "Naomi" had to be shortened when one of the actors was suspected to have hypothermia?
- ... that incoming Romanian Member of the European Parliament Norica Nicolai was the first woman to preside over a session of the Romanian Senate?
- ... that the campus of Columbia University occupies a former lunatic asylum?
8 July 2009
- ... that a new porch at St Matthew's Church, Buckley (pictured) in Flintshire, Wales, was paid for by the vicar's wife with money made from publishing letters to her from John Ruskin?
- ... that U.S. President John Quincy Adams said U.S. Ambassador to Brazil Condy Raguet's "rashness and intemperance" nearly "brought this country and Brazil to the very verge of war"?
- ... that in 1944, the Greek Socialist Party leader Professor Alexandros Svolos became President in the Greek resistance government?
- ... that theater impresarios Shelly Gross and Lee Guber, creators of the Valley Forge Music Fair and Westbury Music Fair, met after being seated in alphabetical order next to each other in high school?
- ... that following the revelation of the Secret Intelligence Service radio station Skylark B in Trondheim in September 1941, eleven of the group members were sent to German death camps?
- ... that Robert Keable's 1921 novel Simon Called Peter propelled him to prominence when it sold 600,000 copies, was cited in a double murder trial, and referenced in The Great Gatsby?
- ... that holocaust denier David Irving accidentally referred to the judge as 'Mein Führer' in his libel suit against historian Deborah Lipstadt?
7 July 2009
- ... that the Eyelash Cup (pictured) normally grows on rotten wood, but can sometimes be found on bracket fungi?
- ... that federal authorities in New York may have gambled that there would be no legal challenges to their unexpected seizure of $34 million from 27,000 bank accounts in the United States?
- ... that during World War II, Norwegians Erik Welle-Strand, Egil Reksten, Sverre Midtskau, Einar Johansen, Haakon Sørbye and Bjørn Rørholt operated illegal radio transmitters codenamed "Skylark" for the Secret Intelligence Service?
- ... that Kenny Tate, one of college football's top wide receiver recruits in 2008, was ultimately switched to the position of strong safety?
- ... that Vice-Admiral Sydney Fremantle was assigned to guard the German High Seas Fleet, but had taken his ships out on exercises when the German fleet was scuttled in Scapa Flow?
- ... that in the penalty shootout during the London Senior Cup final 2009, Serge Makofo was the only player to score for Croydon Athletic?
- ... that the motivation behind the assassination attempt against Sri Lankan President J. R. Jayawardene in 1987 was his signing of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord a few weeks before?
- ... that Nils Kjær (pictured) had success on Scandinavian stages with his comedy Det lykkelige valg?
- ... that film and television producer Alan Mruvka, founder of E! Entertainment, is now a real estate developer in Southern California?
- ... that the Sibyllenbuch fragment may be the earliest surviving remnant of any book printed by movable type, before the Gutenberg Bible?
- ... that the Janata Morcha had defeated Indira Gandhi's Congress (R) in the elections in Gujarat, 15 days before the start of the Indian Emergency on June 26, 1975?
- ... that Union Mills, Burnham Overy is a combined windmill and watermill, and that each mill could drive the other's machinery?
- ... that the Prewitt-Allen Archaeological Museum in Salem, Oregon, has a mummy of a 3,500 year-old falcon?
- ... that Augustus Dickens, the brother of English novelist Charles Dickens, abandoned his blind wife in London and ran away to America with another woman?
6 July 2009
5 July 2009
- ... that luminescence of holmium oxide is so bright that the material changes its color from yellow to orange-red under fluorescent light (pictured)?
- ... that the 1890 College Football All-America Team was composed entirely of players from Harvard, Yale and Princeton, including Ralph Warren, John Cranston, Billy Rhodes, Frank Hallowell and Jesse Riggs?
- ... that some prints of the Mass of Saint Gregory claimed to offer indulgences of up to 45,000 years?
- ... that Stanley R. Jaffe, who resigned as president of Paramount Television in 1971, returned to become president of Paramount Communications in 1991 and president of Paramount Pictures in 1992?
- ... that the earliest example of humans having the skill to manufacture artifacts with a compound glue was found in Sibudu Cave, South Africa?
- ... that White Dome Geyser erupts from one of the largest geyserite cones in Yellowstone National Park?
- ... that the first Spanish film shot in English is La residencia, a 1969 horror film about murders in a female-only boarding school?
4 July 2009
- ... that despite a large leak since its commissioning in 1992, the Samanalawewa Dam hydroelectric power station (pictured) in Sri Lanka continues to function normally?
- ... that Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Martin was the grandson of another admiral of the fleet, William Rowley?
- ... that the Elisha Williams House is different from other Federal style houses in Hudson, New York, because Williams came to Hudson from Connecticut instead of Massachusetts?
- ... that Broadway producer Morton Gottlieb described theater as a profession easiest to start at the top, noting "All you need is chutzpah. You call all the agents and say, 'Here I am — a producer!'"?
- ... that an East German, upon finding a deer shredded by the SM-70 antipersonnel mine, reported that the area "appeared as if it had been worked over by a rake"?
- ... that the last autofictional texts by Romanian novelist Mircea Nedelciu, written during his losing battle with Hodgkin's lymphoma, compare his own biography with deep-sea diving?
- ... that Red Dog, California, now a ghost town with only a cemetery remaining, was named by a 15 year old California gold rush prospector?
3 July 2009
- ... that the concept of headroom (pictured) in still and motion picture photography originates in the rule of thirds from classic portrait painting?
- ... that Finnish mountain bike orienteer Päivi Tommola has won eight medals at the World Championships?
- ... that the first person to die in Australia from the 2009 flu was a Pintupi man whose people gave up hunting to settle the remote community of Kiwirrkura at the time of his birth?
- ... that conversation poems of Samuel Coleridge were inspired by many events: adulterous love, marriage sex, a French invasion, a bad childhood, depressed birds, a fever, burning his foot, and a better poet?
- ... that the Mercedes-Benz W25 was withdrawn from the 1934 Belgian GP as the Belgian customs asked the German teams to pay 180,000 francs duty for their alcohol-based special fuel?
- ... that Jesse Lee Kercheval got the idea of Underground Women after seeing a woman collapse in a launderette in Paris?
- ... that Gay Bowel Syndrome, currently considered obsolete, is neither gay-specific, confined to the bowel, nor a syndrome?
2 July 2009
1 July 2009
- ... that Markus Howell (pictured), broke the 1,500 career yard mark in both kickoff and punt returns in 2008?
- ... that while robbing the countryside east of Toronto, members of the Markham Gang found a way to sell the same stolen horses over and over?
- ... that in the shuffle ensuing from the 1983 resignation of Yves Bérubé and two other Quebec ministers, four unelected people became ministers, the highest number since 1936?
- ... that Ham Hill, a nature reserve managed by the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, is one of only two confirmed sites in the county where Musk Orchid grows?
- ... that after recording two sacks against Winnipeg during the 2008 CFL season, Jonathan Brown passed Harold Hallman for most sacks in Toronto Argonauts team history?
- ... that the Royal Mail consumes nearly 1 billion rubber bands per annum at a cost of almost £1,000,000?
- ... that the reredos installed in 1864 in the chapel of Jesus College, Oxford (pictured) has been described variously as "handsome", "somewhat tawdry" and looking like "corned beef"?
- ... that Samuel Sutton joined HMS Monarch as an able seaman in 1777, and twenty-one years later was commanding her as a flag captain?
- ... that the Artocarpeae, one of the five subdivisions of the mulberry family, is best known as the tribe that includes the breadfruit and the jackfruit, two widespread tropical crops?
- ... that Johannes Klingenberg Sejersted, who created a military defence plan for Norway somewhat before its 1814 independence declaration, drew experience from an 1808 campaign by Christian August of Augustenborg?
- ... that non-payment of papal income tax was punishable by excommunication?
- ... that as GM of the Wenatchee Chiefs, Frank Dasso ran a 1953 promotion where fans could pay whatever they wanted for admission, with game profits exceeding those of any three games so far that season?
- ... that since 2006, The World Hypertension League has assigned 17 May as World Hypertension Day?