Wikipedia:Recent additions/2007/January

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Did you know...

31 January 2007

21:51, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

...that Ralphie (pictured), the live mascot of the Colorado Buffaloes, is actually a female American bison?
...that the Abukuma, a veteran of the Pearl Harbor raid, was sunk in 1944 when her own Long Lance torpedoes exploded in the torpedo room?
...that the Paço Imperial, a Baroque palace in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, served as a main government seat for almost 150 years?
...that the German actor Heinz Rühmann was 42 years old when he starred as a high school student in the 1944 film Die Feuerzangenbowle?
...that lyrics from the B-52's song "Love Shack" were quoted in a 2005 majority opinion by Eleventh Circuit Court judge William H. Pryor, Jr.?
...that most of the trees in the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve in Belize burnt down just five years after the reserve was established?
...that the Polish writer Gustaw Morcinek survived three Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War?

09:42, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

...that the Palala River bluffs in Limpopo province, South Africa have 10,000 year old rock art (pictured) from the Stone Age?
...that Bhai Taru Singh was a Sikh martyr who was executed for refusing to cut his hair?
...that feminist author Yuriko Miyamoto wrote over 900 letters to her imprisoned husband, defying Japan's draconian Peace Preservation Laws?
...that the gene that creates the crest of the Bali Duck also causes physical defects which can kill it before it hatches?
...that JMWAVE was a secret CIA base on University of Miami campus grounds during the 1960s?
...that African-American economist Abram Lincoln Harris was a four-time recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship in economics?
...that the Sheet Metal Workers International Association Local 28 in New York City negotiated the first pension plan in the construction industry?
...that the George's Block in Sycamore, Illinois once hosted talks from the likes of Horace Greeley, Bayard Taylor and Charles Sumner?

30 January 2007

21:01, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

...that one sample of a proposed United States aluminum cent (pictured), dropped by a US Congressman, was found by a US Capitol Police officer and is now known as the Toven Specimen?
...that Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar was awarded the Cricket World Cup award of Man of the Tournament in the 2003 Cricket World Cup after he scored a record 673 runs?
...that 1979's Hurricane Bob was the first male name ever used for a hurricane in the Atlantic basin?
...that Donald Cameron of Lochiel, a major figure in the Jacobite Rising of 1745, was nicknamed the "Gentle Lochiel"?
...that the ultra-modern disposable female urination device, which lets women urinate upright, was actually invented in 1922?
... that Oil Creek State Park in Pennsylvania is the site of the world's first commercial oil well?

09:52, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

...that Bolli Bollasson, a character in the Medieval Icelandic Laxdœla saga, is credited as the first West Norse member of the Varangian Guard (pictured)?
...that as an art student, Soviet painter Fyodor Pavlovich Reshetnikov was employed as an "artistic reporter" on an Arctic expedition aboard the doomed Chelyuskin steamship?
...that in 1955, What's the Story, an American game show, was the last television series broadcast on the DuMont Television Network?
...that the Siege of Lathom House during the First English Civil War ended in victory for the Cavaliers because the lady of the house, Charlotte de la Tremoüille, defended it defiantly?
...that the 1991 Hamlet chicken plant fire resulted in 25 deaths and prison sentences for the owners?
...that Lord Nolan was the first chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life?
...that Leonard Crofoot, a dancer in The Singing Detective, has had three Star Trek roles?

29 January 2007

18:22, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

...that George Pocock invented a kite-drawn carriage (pictured) that could outstrip the horse-drawn mail coach?
...that the medieval Margraviate of Brandenburg was called "the sandbox of the Holy Roman Empire"?
...that the Mayan ruins in Belize called Nim Li Punit take their name from the "big hat" headdress on an 8th century stela?
...that the yaw string, a simple tuft of yarn used as a flight instrument by the Wright brothers, is still in use today?
...that Larantuka is an Indonesian district known for Roman Catholic Holy Week processions?
...that in 1973, an experiment successfully demonstrated that spiders can spin webs in space?
...that William Henry Wright and his brother-in-law were hunting rabbits when they stumbled upon a quartz outcropping that eventually would yield 13.5 million ounces of gold?

10:39, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

...that human amyloid precursor protein (pictured), when cleaved by specific types of proteases, generates the amyloid beta peptide that may be a cause of Alzheimer's disease?
...that Manseibashi Station in Tokyo was rebuilt after a 1923 earthquake and later became a museum?
...that although the official cause of the 2007 Balad aircraft crash is fog, the insurgent group Islamic Army in Iraq says they shot it down?
...that former NCAA American football quarterback Wyatt Sexton's career for the Florida State University Seminoles ended when he did pushups in the street and proclaimed he was God?
...that the Griggsville Landing Lime Kiln is one of the best preserved periodic lime kilns in the U.S. state of Illinois?
...that Queen band members teased Freddie Mercury for looking like a prawn in the video for It's a Hard Life?

03:19, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

Themba Mabaso

...that according to Themba Mabaso (pictured), the State Herald of South Africa, the flag of the republic is like a written document?
...that the Nusa Kambangan, "the Alcatraz of Indonesia", has held a son of former President Suharto and terrorists of the 2002 Bali bombing?
...that when the Kälvesten Runestone was rediscovered in the walls of a church, it was removed and again used as building material?
...that the Union forces in the American Civil War won the Battle of Simmon's Bluff without inflicting casualties?
...that the Akhurian River is said to have turned completely red because of a major battle nearby?

28 January 2007

19:13, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
...that the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Philippines was temporarily abolished during the Japanese occupation?
...that labor leader Victor Kamber created playing cards with public figures in 1968 and the "Rappin' Ronnie" music video depicting a rapping Ronald Reagan in 1984?
...that Alan Jay Lerner, lyricist of My Fair Lady, also co-wrote a disastrous musical version of Nabokov's Lolita?
...that Soviet actor Pavel Luspekaev played in the classic Russian Ostern movie White Sun of the Desert with both feet amputated?
...that NV Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw was a firm created by Germany in 1922 to illegally manufacture submarines?
...that snow in Florida has been reported at least 34 times, including as far south as Homestead?

27 January 2007

22:55, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

...that Surgeon General William Alexander Hammond (pictured) both founded the National Museum of Health and Medicine and wrote the first American treatise about neurology?
...that actor Edward Chapman, known for his role as "Mr. Grimsdale" in many Norman Wisdom films, tried to have Sir John Gielgud thrown out of Equity?
...that in his lifetime, Thomas Brassey was involved in building one-third of the railway built in the United Kingdom and in one-twentieth of the railway built in the world?
...that Herkus Monte, one of the most famous leaders of the Great Prussian Uprising, was kidnapped in the 13th century by the Germans as a boy?
...that Rachel Paulose is the first woman in Minnesota to become a District Attorney?
...that Simplicity Patterns has been a leader in home pattern sewing since 1927?

16:41, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

...that Poecilostomatoida (pictured) are parasitic crustaceans?
...that the word jazz was originally a California baseball slang term and was first applied to a style of music in Chicago?
...that Stephan Körner's major philosophical work was in the philosophy of mathematics and the study of "exact" and "inexact" concepts?
...that La Casa Pacifica, President Richard Nixon's private retreat in San Clemente, California, became known as the "Western White House"?
...that criminal and boxer, James Field, was so feared by the police force of London in the 18th century, that they would pretend not to recognize him rather than arresting him?
...that 60 percent of Carnatic musicians in Karnataka come from Rudrapatna?

00:34, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

...that poet and epistolary novelist Ann Eliza Bleecker (pictured) lost three generations of her family fleeing to Albany during Burgoyne's Saratoga campaign?
...that Serenade No. 10 for winds by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is scored for twelve wind instruments and double bass and consists of seven movements?
...that former British Member of Parliament Walter Scott-Elliot was murdered by "Monster Butler" Archibald Hall?
...that Munir Bashir, known for his mastery of the maqam scale system, was a famous musician in the Middle East during the 20th century?
...that the Heinkel He 50, designed for the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1931, was used operationally by Germany almost until the end of World War II?
...that Duff Goldman of Ace of Cakes hired some painters and sculptors as assistants even though they didn't have experience as pastry chefs?

26 January 2007

18:14, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

...that Yakov Kreizer (pictured) was the first Soviet general awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union title during World War II?
...that in Faridah Begum bte Abdullah v. Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah, it was held that non-Malaysian citizens cannot sue a Malay ruler?
...that when the Geats saw the Swedish king Ragnvald Knaphövde travelling among them without Geatish hostages, they deemed him so arrogant that they murdered him?
...that Oneirocritica, the first major work on dream interpretation, was written in the second century by Artemidorus?
...that the City of York was a British barque which sank after hitting a reef off Rottnest Island within sight of its destination?
...that there are several theories about the origins of the name of Poland?

08:26, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

...that the Hunnestad Monument (pictured), one of Scandinavia's largest Viking memorials, was destroyed at the end of the 18th century?
...that Eriogonum parvifolium is a California endemic dunes shrub that is host to several endangered butterflies?
...that the first time in World War II submersible tanks were used was on June 22, 1941, by German tanks of the 18th Panzer-Division?
...that the Anjajavy Forest holds many endangered species including four of the 99 pairs of Madagascar Fish Eagle?
...that Alix, the wife of Viscount of Rochechouart Aymeric VI, was imprisoned in Château de Rochechouart castle with a lion, but the animal did not hurt her and laid down at her feet?
...that J-ska is contemporary Japanese music with origins in Jamaica?

00:06, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

...that okiagari-koboshi dolls (pictured) are considered symbols of perseverance in Japan because they never fall down?
...that Japanese surrealist gothic horror author Yumeno Kyūsaku dropped dead due to a cerebral hemorrhage while at an autograph signing party hosted by his publisher?
...that after an affirmative action dispute, Yale freshman Jian Li was the subject of a controversial parody in the annual joke issue of The Daily Princetonian?
...that W. Harry Davis, who helped desegregate Minneapolis, overcame childhood polio to become a Golden Gloves coach and manager of U.S. Olympics boxing teams?
...that results of the 1946 Romanian general election, the first in Romania under universal suffrage, were manipulated by the Communist Party?
...that Dralasites are an amoeboid extraterrestrial race depicted in science fiction role-playing games for the past 25 years?
...that the Polish minority in Lithuania is the country's largest non-Lithuanian ethnic group?

25 January 2007

15:29, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

...that William Hogarth's Four Times of the Day (pictured) shows a sign for a pie shop with a picture of the severed head of John the Baptist and the words "Good Eating"?
...that the Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland of 1815, considered among the most liberal constitutions of its time, was increasingly disregarded by the Polish government, leading to the November Uprising of 1830?
...that Robert Spear Hudson used paintings by professional artists for advertising before Pear's Soap and Lever Brothers?
...that the Department of Food Science at Purdue University was created during Bernard J. Liska's tenure as Dean of Agriculture in 1983?
...that Tom Chick is a prolific games journalist and Hollywood actor who has a degree in divinity from Harvard Divinity School?
...that James Palacio of the HBO series Oz was an empress of the Imperial Court System?
...that the first German U-boat sunk by the United States Navy in World War II was U-656, sunk on 1 March 1942?

24 January 2007

22:59, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

...that the important medieval fresco cycle in Castelseprio, Italy, (pictured) was rediscovered only in 1944?
...that Harold G. Schrier led the patrol of U.S. Marines who raised the first American flag on Mount Suribachi?
...that the Carbonera Creek watershed in California has diverse plant communities including a rare assemblage known as Maritime Coast Range Ponderosa Pine forests?
...that the Round Tower in Sandiway, Cheshire, was originally the gate lodge of the great house of Vale Royal Abbey?
...that Lithuania's name was recorded in chronicles by its Latinized Slavic name form Litua, for the first time in 1009?

15:37, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

...that poet and playwright Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska (pictured), known as the Polish Sappho, discussed topics such as abortion, extra-marital affairs, and incest?
...that the female Smith's blue butterfly has only seven days to feed, court, mate, and lay eggs?
...that John Freke was the first ophthalmic surgeon?
...that the Ryuho was the only major warship damaged in the Doolittle raid, and the last Japanese aircraft carrier to make a war-time voyage outside the Home Islands?
...that the Gouin Reservoir in Quebec, Canada is not one contiguous body of water, but the collective name for a series of lakes with highly irregular shapes?
...that cock throwing was a popular blood sport in England for centuries?

00:18, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

European Wild Cat

...that the fauna of Scotland includes almost half of the EU’s breeding seabirds, but only one endemic vertebrate species, and that although a population of Wild Cats (pictured) remains, many of the larger mammals were hunted to extinction in historic times?
...that 51 Birch Street, a low-budget documentary about the mystery of a suburban marriage, was named one of The New York Times top ten films of 2006?
...that Updown Court, a private residence in England, is valued at over US$120 million?
...that Roger Bacon sent his Opus Majus, a treatise of natural science, to Pope Clement IV in 1267?
...that Murderers Among Us was the first German post-World War II film?
...that 2003's Hurricane Ignacio was the latest-forming first hurricane of a Pacific hurricane season since reliable satellite observation began in 1966?
...that the champion racehorse Corrida, a two-time winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, disappeared during the Battle of the Falaise Gap?

23 January 2007

17:57, 23 January 2007 (UTC)

...that Hortus deliciarum (pictured) was a medieval illuminated encyclopedia created to teach about everything, including the torments of hell?
...that the Finnish Air Force selected the Saab 91 Safir as its primary trainer aircraft over the domestic Valmet Tuuli III?
...that according to the book Civilization One, there are 366 degrees in a circle?
...that Richard E. Cavazos, recipient of two Distinguished Service Cross awards, was the United States Army's first Hispanic 4-star general?
...that a copper mine on Brim Fell in England appears as in the novel The Plague Dogs?
...that the Mayurakshi river in India wreaks havoc with its floods even after the construction of a dam?
...that Peter Prendergast was recognised as the leading landscape painter in Wales after the death of Sir Kyffin Williams in September 2006?

10:44, 23 January 2007 (UTC)

...that akabeko (pictured), red cow toys from the Aizu region of Japan, are believed to ward off disease?
...that Broken Glass, a 1994 play by Arthur Miller, was nominated for the 1994 Tony Award for Best Play, but lost out to Angels in America: Perestroika?
...that Randy Conrad became a local celebrity in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia after appearing in a McDonald's TV commercial?
...that although Abkhazia is not recognised by any nation, the Abkhazian Air Force had a reported roster of 250 men and seven aircraft in 2001?
...that the first president of the World Association of Copepodologists was a veteran of the Polish resistance movement in World War II?
...that Les Taylor only captained Watford in the 1984 FA Cup final because regular captain Wilf Rostron was suspended?
...that the interaction of bees and toxic chemicals can make bees drunk or produce poisonous honey?
...that Andreas Joseph Hofmann proclaimed the first republican state in Germany on March 18, 1793?
...that Maurice K. Goddard helped create 45 Pennsylvania state parks?

22 January 2007

22:22, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

...that Ernest "Boots" Thomas, one of the U.S. Marines who raised the flag on Iwo Jima (pictured), was able to enlist in spite of being color blind by memorizing the results of another man's test?
...that Junqueirópolis, a municipality in São Paulo, Brazil, is nicknamed "Acerola Capital" for its agriculture?
...that Seb Clover, who sailed the English Channel solo at age 11, set a world record at age 15 when he raced against his father in an Atlantic Ocean crossing?
...that Target for Tonight was a 1941 documentary filmed, acted, and written by the Royal Air Force?
...that fewer than 100 of 500 colonists in the Virginia Colony survived the Starving Time during the winter of 1609-1610?
...that the Blohm und Voss Bv 144 was an attempt by Nazi Germany to develop an advanced commercial airliner for post-war service?
...that a Jacksnipe is a two-man racing sailing dinghy created in 1968 by prolific boat designer Jack Holt?

05:30, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

File:AdamBruce.jpg

...that in 2005, Adam Bruce (pictured) became the first herald appointed to Clan Donald of Scotland in 510 years?
...that Major General Keith L. Ware, who was awarded the Medal of Honor during World War II, was the first U.S. Army general officer to be killed in action in the Vietnam War?
...that the Suisun Shrew is a rare mammal species that survives only in a narrow marshland at the northern extremity of San Francisco Bay?
...that the Stingray Nebula, discovered in 1987, is the youngest known planetary nebula?
...that Edwin D. Hill was the first president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers to be elected by secret ballot?
...that an Egyptian army of 1,500 was defeated by 300 women and old men of Diro during the Egyptian Invasion of Mani in 1826?
...that the Witches of Belvoir supposedly believed a cat named Rutterkin helped them cast spells?
...that La Salle Road in Hong Kong is named after French educator Jean-Baptiste de la Salle?
...that Arnold Zamora, a Filipino musician, is one of the Singing Priests of Tagbilaran?

21 January 2007

22:06, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

...that the Tokyo Big Sight convention center (pictured) looks like four upside-down pyramids?
...that Davi Kopenawa Yanomami, a shaman of the indigenous people of Brazil, received an award from the United Nations Environmental Program?
...that the Gettlinge gravefield contains a stone ship, made of standing stones in the shape of the traditional Viking sailing vessel?
...that Larin Paraske, a Finnish oral poet, could recite over 32,000 verses of poetry?
...that during the Winter War, a Swedish fundraising drive paid for the purchase of a Fokker F.VIII airliner for the Finnish Air Force?

21:16, 21 January 2007 (UTC)
...that Elisabeth Rivers-Bulkeley was one of the first women to become a member of the London Stock Exchange?
...that the king stropharia, a prized edible mushroom, develops spiny cells which kill nematodes?
...that matches were so prized during the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition that Alfred Cheetham offered a bottle of champagne for one?
...that Craignethan Castle was the last private fortress built in Scotland?

15:19, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

...that in the deposition initiation ritual (pictured) of Medieval and Early Modern universities, new students were dressed up with horns which were then removed with grindstones, axes, and pliers?
...that in his satirical 1827 pamphlet Grand Erratum, French physicist Jean-Baptiste Pérès argued that Napoleon never existed, but was just another expression of an ancient myth?
...that model Rebecca Twigley became a household name in Australia after wearing a revealing dress to an event in 2004?
...that the Golden Resources Mall in Beijing, the second-largest shopping mall in the world, has attracted as few as 20 shoppers in an hour?
...that the Soviet spotter aircraft Sukhoi Su-12, though approved, was never produced due to lack of manufacturing capacity in the USSR?

01:03, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

...that the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul (pictured) in Nantes, France took 457 years to complete?
...that after serving as a surgeon in the Army of the Republic of Texas, David Catchings Dickson was elected to the First Texas Legislature?
...that the Black Fell comprised a chapter in the Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells because of its excellent view?
...that the Heinkel He 46, designed for the Luftwaffe in 1931, was still being used to fight the Soviets in 1943?
...that the geology of London includes abundant fossilized animal remains?
...that the Singapore Conference Hall was the first building to be built in the Shenton Way financial district?
...that sculptor Bernardo Cennini helped produce the Doors of Paradise for the Battistero di San Giovanni?

20 January 2007

18:12, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

Sergey Gritsevets

...that the Soviet pilot Sergey Gritsevets (pictured), twice awarded the honorary title of Hero of Soviet Union, is credited with downing 42 enemy planes?
...that the Knoxville Campaign ended with a Union Army victory even though the final battle of the campaign at Bean's Station had resulted in a Confederate victory?
...that Camp Cuddly Pines: Power Tool Massacre is the first adult film to be released in the HD DVD format?
...that Hawayo Takata, a Nisei fluent in the language and culture of both Japan and the United States, introduced Reiki to the Western World?
...that the Ajacan Mission, a failed attempt by Spanish Jesuit priests to bring Christianity to the Native Americans of the Virginia Peninsula, predated the establishment of Jamestown by about 36 years?
...that Japanese writer Naoki Sanjugo (literally "Naoki 35") changed his pen-name four times, once per year, to match his age?

19 January 2007

22:57, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

Mango

...that more than 500 varieties of mango (pictured) are showcased in the International Mango Festival held in Delhi?
...that at the Atlantic House on Cape Cod during World War I, Pulitzer Prize-winner Eugene O'Neill was arrested at gun point as a spy for the Kaiser?
...that Ern Westmore was the only member of the famed Westmore family to be given a special Academy Award for make-up, bestowed for his work on the film Cimarron?
...that "bohemian" Japanese symbolist poet Nakahara Chuya remained close friends with influential literary critic Kobayashi Hideo all of his life, despite the fact that his girlfriend left him for Kobayashi soon after they met?
...that although Lehigh Gorge State Park in Pennsylvania is now known for whitewater rafting on the Lehigh River, in the 19th century it was the site of a canal built to bypass those same rapids?

10:48, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

constitutional amendments

...that twenty-seven U.S. states (pictured) have adopted constitutional amendments to prevent same-sex marriage or civil unions?
...that 11-year old Prince Joseph Wenzel of Liechtenstein is regarded by Jacobites as third in line for the throne of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland?
...that the American composer Paul Moravec won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2004 for his Shakespeare-inspired chamber piece Tempest Fantasy?
...that in 362 AD, the rhetorician Prohaeresius, a friend of the pagan Emperor, was allowed to keep his teaching post in spite of a ban on Christians but resigned in protest?
...that Ken Okuyama, a Japanese person, designed the Enzo Ferrari super car?

05:25, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

...that Creobroter (pictured) is a praying mantis that uses ant mimicry as a juvenile and flower mimicry as an adult?
...that Sharon Sayles Belton was the first female and first African-American mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota?
...that the Short Sturgeon started life as a high-performance torpedo bomber, became a target tug, then a naval reconnaissance bomber, and finally an anti-submarine aircraft, before failing altogether?
...that Arthur William Hodge was the only white person in the history of the British West Indies to be executed for killing a black slave?
...that Colonel Frederick Gough was the first person to receive the Royal Aero Club Parachutist Certificate?

18 January 2007

22:52, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

...that the prefabricated and portable White Castle restaurant Building No. 8 (pictured) in Minneapolis, Minnesota has had three different locations?
...that Michael Beetham, World War II bomber pilot, is now senior Marshal of the Royal Air Force?
...that Trachodon, despite being a well-known and often-used duckbill name in the past, is based on teeth that include both duckbill and horned dinosaur specimens?
...that the Nikolayevsk Incident, in which Japanese people were killed by Bolshevik revolutionaries, was pretext for the invasion of Sakhalin island?
...that the National Security League formed the first known political action committee in the United States in 1918, and spent more than $100,000 to defeat congressmen who opposed its positions?
...that South Korean United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Tanzanian Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro previously worked together as foreign ministers?
...that Tobias Lear probably destroyed six letters of conflict between George Washington and Thomas Jefferson?

14:58, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

...that the Australian steamer TSS Kanowna (pictured) was requisitioned twice during World War I, first as a troopship and then as a hospital ship?
...that male spiders, scorpions and mantids have special strategies to avoid sexual cannibalism?
...that Joseph E. Widener, a major figure in U.S.Thoroughbred horse racing, lost his elder brother and nephew in the Titanic disaster?
...that the Federal Corrupt Practices Act was the primary law regulating campaign finance in U.S. federal elections until the passage of the Federal Election Campaign Act in 1971?
...that Trondheim Tramway was reopened in 1990 after being permanently closed for two years, the process costing two mayors in Trondheim their jobs?
...that Russian billionaire, politician and philanthropist Alexander Lebedev started his career as a KGB agent working in London?
...that Windows DreamScene displays videos in MPEG or WMV format as desktop wallpaper?
...that Öpir, the "shouter", was the most productive of the old Viking runemasters?

01:58, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

...that St. Clement's Church in Büsum, Germany (pictured) is furnished with items looted from Pellworm by the pirate Cord Widderich?
...that One is a Japanese adult renai game (or visual novel), developed by Tactics?
...that the schooner Rouse Simmons, known as "The Christmas Tree Ship", was transporting over 5,000 Christmas trees to Chicago when it sank in 1912?
...that Singaporean Web Map Service Streetdirectory.com successfully sued several businesses for copyright infringment, but is now being sued on the same charge by the Singapore Land Authority?
...that only one of the 266 1076 Class steam locomotives built for the Great Western Railway was named, and the rest had only numbers?
...that Sheila Gallagher has been the City of London's last remaining lollipop lady since 1990?

17 January 2007

19:42, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

...that James MacLaine (pictured), the "Gentleman Highwayman", once robbed Horace Walpole?
...that the Nuyorican Poets Cafe began in the apartment living room of one of its founders?
...that the Brazilian labour movement was predominantly anarchist until the 1920s?
...that the medieval pirate Cord Widderich occupied Eiderstedt and made the Pellworm church tower his base?
...that future Maltese diplomat Arvid Pardo was successively detained by Fascist Italian, Nazi German, and Soviet authorities between 1940 and 1945?
...that many of the image stones of the Viking Age depict lost tales from Norse mythology?
...that the late Dame Joyanne Bracewell was the fifth woman to be appointed as an English High Court judge?

10:45, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

...that An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump (pictured) depicts the recreation of an experiment first carried out by Robert Boyle over a hundred years earlier?
...that Sir Samuel Davenport, a South Australian parliamentarian, had an electoral district named after him?
...that "Push It To The Limit", a pop rap song backed by The Walt Disney Company, was recently the most downloaded song at the iTunes Store?
...that in the 1950s, the names and telephone numbers of women who attended the integrated meetings of civil rights activist Virginia Foster Durr were published in a Ku Klux Klan magazine?
...that recently-departed Dame Joyanne Bracewell was the fifth woman to be appointed as an English High Court judge?
...that despite having won the Cricket World Cup only once (1983), Indian cricket team batsmen hold most Cricket World Cup batting records?
...that the Sao civilisation is the earliest to have left clear traces of their presence in the territory of modern Cameroon?

16 January 2007

23:42, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

...that in 1881 the Sharps Island Light was pushed five miles (8 km) down the Chesapeake Bay by an ice floe — with its keepers inside — and that its replacement (pictured) has been leaning since 1977?
...that the Mediterranean mantis is capable of virgin birth?
...that Léonce Perret was a prominent movie director and actor, involved in more than four hundred films from 1909 to 1935?
...that the twenty-six tons of books and artifacts from Dr. Robert Bell's private library were almost destroyed in an Ottawa fire?
...that the 110th United States Congress freshman class contains members from diverse backgrounds, including a professional football player, a Navy vice admiral, several former teachers, and the first Buddhist and Muslim members?
...that the first plate of William Hogarth's The Four Stages of Cruelty features a boy supposed to be a young George III?

15:32, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

...that despite its name, East Kowloon Corridor (pictured) is actually located in West Kowloon District in Hong Kong?
...that Soviet surgeon Aleksandr Bakulev pioneered the first successful lung ablation with open ductus arteriosus?
...that the haiku poet Takahama Kyoshi edited the literary magazine Hototogisu?
...that all Barrier Reef Anemonefish are born sexless and develop into males, and only become females if they rise to the top of the hierarchy?
...that sailplane winglets were first successfully implemented by American inventor Peter Masak?

05:20, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

...that the Fokker Spin (pictured) was the first aircraft built by Anthony Fokker, in which he taught himself to fly and earned his pilot license?
...that the German physicist Otto Laporte discovered what is known in spectroscopy as the Laporte rule?
...that the Soviet Union considered occupying its ally Lithuania soon after signing the Soviet-Lithuanian Treaty of 1920, but the Red Army's defeat at the Battle of Warsaw rendered such plans obsolete?
...that Ken Cranston began playing Test cricket for the English cricket team within 8 weeks after his debut in first-class cricket in 1947, but retired in 1948 to concentrate on his career as a dentist?
...that Mujahedeen KOMPAK has diverted charitable donations from Australia to produce recruitment videos for militant Islamic groups?
...that American basketball player Fred Roberts was chosen by the Miami Heat in their expansion draft, but never played a game for them in the NBA?

15 January 2007

23:01, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

...that the Dash-and-dot goatfish (pictured) bears a stripe and spot that is usually black, but which is red when the same species lives in deeper waters?
...that the Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Laboratory, containing ores bearing uranium-238, is one of many products that have been recalled in the interests of toy safety?
...that alchemist James Price committed suicide by drinking prussic acid after being challenged to prove he could turn mercury into gold?
...that Tombo Ati, a traditional Javanese song based on a popular hadith of the prophet Muhammad, is still popular five centuries after its composition?
...that Hall of Fame football player Ed Molinski was also a Golden Gloves state boxing champion and served in the U.S. Marines during World War II?
...that Sir Colin Figures was the ninth Chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service, known informally as MI6?
...that the Battle of Sangarará was a decisive victory for rebel forces under Túpac Amaru II against the Spanish in Peru?
...that Arthur McIntyre became England's oldest living Test cricketer after the death of Ken Cranston?

16:07, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

...that German poet and playwright Klabund (pictured) was charged with treason for calling for the abdication of William II in an open letter?
...that Indonesian freedom fighter Ernest Douwes Dekker is related to the Dutch writer, Eduard Douwes Dekker and volunteered on the Boers' side during the Second Boer War in South Africa as a youth?
...that Air Chief Marshal Sir Lewis Hodges was awarded two DSOs and a Bar to his DFC for flying secret missions for SOE in Europe and the Far East in the Second World War?
...that two officers have quit their jobs over purported paranormal activity at George Stickney House, home to the Bull Valley, Illinois Police Department?
...that Stephen Maylad became Voivode of Transylvania with the help of Petru Rareş, who later doomed him to a wretched death in the Yedikule dungeons?
...that American papermaking authority Dard Hunter published a volume created entirely by himself—including its paper, type design, typesetting, and printing?

01:44, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

...that Darwin Falls (pictured) is the tallest waterfall in Death Valley National Park and features a rare example of riparian greenery in the driest place in North America?
...that William E. "Bud" Davis, who had a successful career as president at four universities, originally wanted "to be the world's greatest football coach" before he went 2-8 in 1962 and never coached again?
...that, in autumn 1934, Amicii URSS, a Romanian left-wing cultural society, dispatched the writer Alexandru Sahia on an illegal visit to the Soviet Union, as a means to commemorate the October Revolution?
...that Mandy Mitchell-Innes was the last surviving English cricketer to have played Test cricket before the Second World War?
...that William Dronfield founded the United Kingdom Alliance of Organised Trades, which inspired the creation of the Trades Union Congress?
...that "On the very first of May", a work composed by singer and organist William Savage, was set to nonsense verses by his wife?

14 January 2007

14:58, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

...that renowned brothel-keeper Elizabeth Needham, depicted in William Hogarth's A Harlot's Progress (pictured), was pelted so severely in the pillory that she died 3 days later?
...that Scottish international rugby player Tremayne Rodd was banned from playing amateur rugby union in 1966 after accompanying the British and Irish Lions?
...that the BBC journalist Barbara Plett's admission of having cried at the sight of the terminally ill Yasser Arafat led to a controversy?
...that the title of Namestnik of Kingdom of Poland became unused and replaced with that of Governor-General of Warsaw without any formal decree after the death of the last namestnik?
...that members of the music trio Queen of Japan use aliases that sound like Japanese names and are known for synthpop covers of artists such as John Lennon and Bob Dylan?

12:46, 14 January 2007 (UTC)
...that the Kentucky High School Athletic Association divides its member schools into separate enrollment classes in only three of the 13 sports in which it conducts state championships?

00:55, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

...that Beaumont House (pictured) was constructed for Augustus Short, the first Anglican bishop of Adelaide and founder of St Peter's Cathedral?
...that American activist Nelson Cruikshank is considered the most important non-legislator responsible for the enactment of the U.S. Social Security Disability Insurance in 1956 and Medicare in 1965?
...that Têtes à Claques was originally intended to be stop motion animation, but instead superimposed faces on the figurines to save time?
...that the Karnataka politician Hotte Paksha Rangaswamy is the world record holder for number of elections contested?
...that during the 1793 Siege of Mainz, Goethe was a military observer and later wrote a book about the bombardment of the city?
...that the first three Ministers of the Privy Treasury of the Ottoman Empire were Armenian, the first being Hagop Kazazian Pasha?

13 January 2007

17:01, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

...that of Kraków's eight original medieval city gates, only the Gothic Florian Gate (pictured) remains?
...that Dutch governor-general Jan Willem Janssens surrendered both the Cape Colony and the Dutch East Indies in separate incidents during the Napoleonic Wars?
...that at the 1974 Coalition of Labor Union Women convention, Myra Wolfgang declared "...there are 3,000 women in Chicago and they didn't come here to swap recipes!"?
...that three members of the Hot 8 Brass Band have died as a result of gun violence in New Orleans?
...that runestones have allowed archaeologists to reconstruct the family saga of the powerful Viking woman Estrid?
...that Robert Keyes was related to five of the other Gunpowder Plot conspirators?

01:20, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

...that Constantine the Great ordered the construction of Abu Mena after his daughter was cured by the body of Saint Mina (pictured)?
...that David Colville Anderson, whose career was ended by a scandal involving teenage girls, blamed it on the KGB?
...that the Alliance for Retired Americans was instrumental in enacting Medicare?
...that the Sajama Lines in Bolivia took 3,000 years to make and might be considered the largest artwork in the world?
...that Cecilia Muñoz-Palma was the Philippines' first female prosecutor, district judge, and Supreme Court justice?
...that the six Charles Tayleur locomotives ordered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Railway were unsuccessful?
...that Pope Pius XII tried to prevent the bombing of Rome in World War II?

12 January 2007

17:35, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

...that Chroogomphus (pictured) is an edible mushroom that grows as a parasite on other fungi in pine forests?
...that toso is a medicinal sake drunk during Japanese New Year celebrations?
...that hippocamps are mythological sea-horses that frolic in the Trevi Fountain?
...that the Terrace Mutiny of 1944 was the most serious disciplinary breach in Canadian military history?
...that pastor and linguist Christoph Mrongovius was honored by having a town named after him?
...that Baghdad Street in Istanbul was named by Murad IV to commemorate his conquest of Mesopotamia?
...that the mythical Canadian water monster Ogopogo inspired the British film Mee-Shee: The Water Giant?
...that Louisiana politician Arthur C. Watson lost the use of his legs in infancy?

05:34, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

...that the Egyptian Theater (pictured) in DeKalb, Illinois is purportedly haunted by ghosts?
...that the Imperial Japanese Army 14th Division made Chinese dumplings a specialty of Utsunomiya upon returning from Manchuria?
...that Iya Abubakar, a Nigerian mathematician, served as his country's Minister of Defence?
...that Sgurr na Ciste Duibhe, a Munro in Scotland, is one of the "Five Sisters of Kintail"?
...that Ovidiu Pecican co-wrote a textbook of Romanian history that caused a national scandal?
...that a protoplanetary nebula is a short-lived phase of stellar evolution?
...that Rolf Dudley-Williams helped set up the company that manufactured the world's first working jet engine?
...that John Casor was the first known slave in the Thirteen Colonies?

11 January 2007

20:09, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

...that an aircraft's pitot-static system (pictured) allows a pilot to know its airspeed, Mach number, altitude, and altitude trend?
...that the Oxford University Ice Hockey Club claims to be the second oldest ice hockey team in the world?
...that during the 1933 Simele massacre nearly 3,000 people were killed and more than 63 Assyrian villages were destroyed?
...that award-winning Japanese novelist Tachihara Masaaki was a Zainichi Korean, whose works were strongly influenced by Zeami's traditional Japanese Noh dramas?
...that most of the numerous Jarlabanke Runestones were made by a Viking chieftain in an attempt to immortalize his power and greatness?
...that the Land Coastal Defence that defended the Polish coast during the German invasion of Poland was subordinate to the Polish Navy, not the Army?

07:54, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

...that the nipples of the Ancient Greek statue Victorious Youth (pictured) were cast in copper to contrast with the bronze of the torso?
...that two Viking women named Gerlög and Inga documented their tragic and dramatic family saga on a series of runestones during the civil wars of 11th century Sweden?
...that the Aston Martin DBR1 sports car won the 1000km Nürburgring round of the World Sportscar Championship in all three years it entered?
...that the Ingvar Runestones commemorate Vikings who died in the raid led by Ingvar the Far-Travelled which pillaged the coasts of Persia?
...that St. Cyril's Monastery in Kiev, Ukraine was closed by the Tsarist Government and its living quarters were converted into a hospital and later an insane asylum, which lasted until the mid-late 20th century?
...that Zhang Zhenshi created a widely reproduced image of Mao Zedong which is known as China's Mona Lisa?

10 January 2007

22:31, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

...that the face of Chicago native Hazel Lavery (pictured) adorned the banknotes of Ireland for seventy years?
...that the Free Association of German Trade Unions was the only trade union in Germany to reject the Burgfrieden, a civil truce between the socialist movement and the German state during World War I?
...that Major Alan Shapley, survivor of the sinking of the USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor, had been relieved of duty on the Arizona the previous day, but had stayed aboard overnight before reporting to his next duty station?
...that Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia was urged by her mother-in-law to testify in the case of Anna Anderson, the woman who claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia?
...that there are four UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Scotland and four more sites currently undergoing a process of evaluation including the iconic Forth Bridge?

19:31, 10 January 2007 (UTC)
...that the inhabitants of Fjuckby, Sweden want to change the name of their village because of its unfortunate associations?

15:22, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

...that John Pasco (pictured) advised Nelson to change the wording of "England expects that every man will do his duty", his famous signal at the Battle of Trafalgar?
...that the 17th century Puritan physician Alexander Leighton incurred the wrath of King Charles I for publishing a pamphlet denouncing bishops, and was sentenced by his Star Chamber to public whipping, branding, and having his ears cut off?
...that the 1927 American silent film The Cat and the Canary was directed by German expressionist filmmaker Paul Leni?
...that the world's only memorial to war correspondents is located in Maryland's Gathland State Park?
...that Kenny Leon directed the Broadway premiere of the August Wilson play Gem of the Ocean?

9 January 2007

22:35, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

...that Rosersberg Palace (pictured), one of the Swedish Royal palaces, was used as a school of musketry for 101 years?
...that Alejandro Maclean, Spanish television producer and Red Bull Air Race World Series pilot, is nicknamed "The Flying Matador"?
...that the 2000 Sri Lanka Cyclone, which left over 500,000 homeless, was the first tropical cyclone of hurricane intensity to hit Sri Lanka since 1978?
...that the cornerstone for the first museum of space exploration, the Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics in Kaluga, Russia, was laid by Yuri Gagarin?
...that the 1968 Florida teachers' strike was the first statewide strike by teachers in United States history?
...that the Raven banner, a standard used by various Viking leaders including Sigurd the Stout and Harald III of Norway, was a totem believed to have the power to grant victory to its holder?

11:52, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Smokey the Mascot

...that Smokey (pictured) was selected as mascot by the University of Tennessee students after a bluetick coonhound howled during a halftime contest?
...that the 1939 planned encyclical of Pope Pius XI, Humani Generis Unitas, which condemned racism and persecution of Jews, became known as "The Hidden Encyclical" or "The Lost Encyclical," because it was never promulgated?
...that the 1985 Oregon State vs. Washington football game resulted in the biggest overcome point spread in college football history when the Beavers beat the Huskies, 21-20?
...that David Robinson, who tried to hijack Qantas Flight 1737 in 2003, wanted to crash the plane into a Tasmanian national park to release the Devil and bring about Armageddon?
...that kabuki actor Matsunosuke Onoe became the first superstar of Japanese cinema, appearing in over 1,000 films during the course of his 17-year career, including over 80 per year at his peak?
...that Ian Harvey, a Conservative junior minister in the United Kingdom, resigned his seat in 1958 after a sex scandal?

01:10, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

...that features of The Jurist in the painting by Giuseppe Arcimboldo are composed of fish and poultry?
...that the University of Cambridge denied Edward A. Irving a PhD when he submitted evidence supporting continental drift?
...that Delaware Canal State Park in Pennsylvania contains the only intact 19th century towpath canal in the United States?
...that 199 of the 210 soldiers of the 5th Infantry Regiment of the Imperial Japanese Army's 8th Infantry Division froze to death as a result of a winter training accident in January 1902?
...that U.S. Congressman Cecil R. King of California, deeply involved in the issue of Medicare, ran unopposed for his first 10 years in office?
...that the twelfth sultan of Aceh, Iskandar Muda, had his own son killed and named as his successor the son of the sultan of Pahang, whom he had brought to Aceh twenty years earlier?

8 January 2007

18:53, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

...that about half of the collection of the Württembergische Landesbibliothek (pictured) in Baden-Württemberg was destroyed in a fire following an air raid on Stuttgart during World War II?
...that before Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, the United Teachers of New Orleans was the largest trade union in the city?
...that the removal of President Rolandas Paksas from office by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania was the first successful case of impeachment of a head of state in the history of Europe?
...that Dave Burrell's operatic live jazz album Windward Passages was his response to land development in Hawaii during the late 1970's?
...that Acallam na Senórach, a tale of ancient heroes surviving to recount their deeds to St. Patrick, is the longest original text in medieval Irish literature?

04:14, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

...that the German fresco painter Johannes Zick (pictured: self-portrait) started his career as a blacksmith in his father's workshop?
...that the Vietnam War veteran Wesley Autrey jumped onto a New York City Subway track in front of an oncoming train to save another man?
...that the Romanian anti-communist resistance movement, operating between 1948 and 1960, was one of the most enduring armed resistance movement in the former Soviet bloc?
...that the song "Shambala" by Three Dog Night has a gospel music sound and Tibetan Buddhist subject matter?
...that the Swedish sculptor Willy Gordon received some attention with a sculpture showing a naked male figure carrying a piece of meat on his shoulders before a reclining female figure?
...that Sir Francis Mitchell was the last British knight of the realm to be publicly degraded?

7 January 2007

21:57, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

...that Xanten Cathedral (interior pictured), declared a basilica minor by Pope Pius XI, may be the biggest cathedral between Cologne and the North Sea?
...that famed Japanese literary critic Kobayashi Hideo toured China as a guest of the Imperial Japanese Army, with future Nobel-prize winner Kawabata Yasunari?
...that after former House representative John H. Burke was not a candidate for renomination in 1934, he went back to his home in Long Beach, California and became a real estate broker?
...that William Henry Holbert, a catcher for the 19th century New York Metropolitans baseball team, still holds the records for the most career at-bats without a home run?
...that the Landmarks Foundation helps conserve sacred sites such as the stone spheres of Costa Rica and the moai of Easter Island?
...that the carom billiards game, cushion caroms, was enjoyed on occasion by Mark Twain?

14:48, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

...that the Belgian military leader Herman Baltia (pictured) exhibited his watercolour paintings on the Yser Front while he was serving as a commander in World War I?
...that Byron N. Scott was a public school teacher in Long Beach, California prior to being elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1934?
...that the Mecelle, the Ottoman civil code of 1877, was the first attempt to codify part of the laws of an Islamic state?
...that mathematician Đuro Kurepa lectured at almost every university in Yugoslavia?
...that the Florida Education Association led the first statewide teachers' strike in American history in 1968?

03:11, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

...that curb feelers (pictured) are especially popular for hotrods with whitewall tires?
...that the 1978 musical film The Wiz re-tells L. Frank Baum's popular story The Wizard of Oz in an urban setting and with an entirely African-American cast?
...that USS Stewart, now a museum in Texas, is the only surviving example of an Edsall class destroyer escort?
...that Ani, a medieval city once rivaling Constantinople, was ransacked by Mongols and now stands in ruin?
...that former California representative Bertrand W. Gearhart ran unopposed and captured nearly 100 percent of the vote in his biennial re-election bids from 1936 to 1944?
...that the Russian composer Vladimir Shainsky created music and songs for popular cartoons such as Cheburashka and his best friend Crocodile Gena?

6 January 2007

18:37, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

...that approximately one-third of nearby galaxies contain low-ionization nuclear emission-line regions?
...that the McCarthy-style interrogations of the Florida Legislative Investigation Committee caused the firing or expulsion of scores of professors and students from Florida universities between 1956 and 1966?
...that among the earliest accounts of the use of a man-lifting kite is in the story of Ishikawa Goemon's robbery from Nagoya Castle?
...that Major Megan McClung, the first female United States Marine Corps officer killed in combat in Iraq, organized and competed in the first satellite running of the Marine Corps Marathon in Iraq?
...that John Litchfield trod on the foot of one Prime Minister, sat on the lap of another, and was the first person to toast the health of Queen Elizabeth II?
...that the future mother-in-law of Kunikida Doppo urged her daughter to commit suicide rather than marry the Japanese author?

11:18, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

...that the Hearthstone House (pictured) became the first residence in the world to be lit by a centrally located hydroelectric station using the Edison system?
...that for seven centuries Runamo was famous in Scandinavia as a runic inscription until scientists determined it to be natural cracks in the rock?
...that the Union of Salvation, a Russian secret society of revolutionary Decembrists, was organized according to a complex Masonic style system of rituals and vows?
...that Nobel Prize-winning author Kawabata Yasunari was a houseguest of fellow author Kambara Ariake for almost two years after the end of World War II?
...that Sandra Feldman, former president of the American Federation of Teachers, was mentored by civil rights activist Bayard Rustin and arrested twice during the Freedom Rides?
...that British MP Anthony Courtney was blackmailed by the KGB using photographs of him with a tour guide?
...that Nikki Haley of South Carolina is the first Republican Indian-American state legislator in the USA?

01:40, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

...that the Edmonson sisters (pictured) were African-American slaves who tried to escape to freedom and became celebrity abolitionists?
...that the mentally ill Egyptian policeman who perpetrated the Ras Burqa massacre, killing seven Israeli tourists, including four children, was hailed in the Egyptian opposition press as a national hero?
...that former California representative Allan O. Hunter was appointed as the president and chairman of Fannie Mae by President Richard Nixon in 1970?
...that sixteen people were killed during a general strike in Nepal in 1992, an incident that contributed to the breakout of a civil war four years later?
...that a pentimento is an alteration to a painting that can often only be seen in an X-ray or an infra-red photograph?
...that Japanese poet Kitahara Hakushu was jailed for adultery in 1912?

5 January 2007

15:31, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

...that those crossing the Fallasburg Bridge (pictured), a Brown truss covered bridge in Vergennes Township, Michigan at a speed faster than a walk may be subject to a $5 fine?
...that Nepalese politician Radha Krishna Mainali, once a communist revolutionary and a political prisoner for 16 years, was appointed Minister of Education & Sports by King Gyanendra after the king's seizure of power in February 2005?
...that the 2006 Insight Bowl featured the biggest comeback in NCAA Division I-A football bowl history?
...that 2006 was the 650th anniversary of the 1356 Basel earthquake, the most significant earthquake to have occurred in Central Europe in recorded history?
...that children's writer and illustrator Shirley Hughes has written more than fifty stories, and illustrated over two hundred?
...that Georgie White was the first woman to run a commercial Grand Canyon river guiding service?

04:27, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

...that the 2006 Alamo Bowl (pictured: the Alamodome) set a record for the most people to view a sporting event live in San Antonio, Texas, as well as the most television viewers ever to watch a bowl game on ESPN?
...that in Johnson Tan Han Seng v. Public Prosecutor, the Malaysian Federal Court held that a Proclamation of Emergency remains in force after the circumstances it was meant for have expired?
...that The Mall at Turtle Creek in Jonesboro, Arkansas was the only enclosed mall to open in the United States in 2006?
...that Powelliphanta Sp.Augustus is found only on a five hectare area northeast of Westport, New Zealand?
...that Hillsborough County, Florida Commissioner Ronda Storms was the author of an ultimately successful proposal that banned the county from acknowledging "gay pride"?
...that Tigranakert was a center of Armenian culture until the Armenian Genocide of 1915, when the population was eradicated and replaced by Kurds?

4 January 2007

21:50, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

...that some four-leaf clovers are actually ferns in the family Marsileaceae (pictured)?
...that an editor for Kangura magazine was convicted at the International Criminal Tribunal for inciting the Rwandan Genocide?
...that the first radiosonde was made by Soviet meteorologist Pavel Molchanov?
...that Beard Liberation Front efforts led to the inclusion of beard ism in the Oxford English Dictionary?
...that in 1936, 11-term U.S. Congressman Frederick R. Lehlbach closely lost his re-election bid to a political newcomer, Frank W. Towey, Jr.?
...that Bharatiya Janata Party leader Rajnath Singh has been active in the party since age 13?
...that in 1945, Frederick C. Branch became the first African-American U.S. Marine Corps officer?

13:14, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

...that Ichikawa Danjūrō I (pictured) was killed onstage by a fellow Kabuki actor?
...that the Swedish forces at the Siege of Jasna Góra were actually German mercenaries and Polish supporters of Charles X Gustav?
...that jazz musician Roscoe Mitchell, while in Germany for the U.S. Army, studied under the first clarinetist of the Heidelberg Symphony?
...that the Australian punk rock single "(I’m) Stranded" pre-dated the Sex Pistols' debut release?
...that Jaya Bharata Jananiya Tanujate, a Kannada poem, was declared the official anthem of the Indian state of Karnataka in 2004?
...that Plagiostomum vittatum, the "Candy Cane Worm", is a flatworm with red stripes?
...that the Normal School for Colored Girls was incorporated into the University of the District of Columbia?

3 January 2007

23:47, 3 January 2007 (UTC)

...that Haghpat Monastery (pictured) in Armenia was placed on the World Heritage List over 1,000 years after it was founded?
...that Randy Shilts was the first openly gay man in the mainstream U.S. media?
...that the chaperon was a hat from the Middle Ages that could be worn in at least six different ways?
...that Millennium City, Hong Kong has skyscrapers numbered 1, 2, 3, and 5, possibly because 4 is considered unlucky?
...that the Louvre describes Virgin and Child from the Sainte-Chapelle as the most beautiful ronde-bosse ivory carving ever made?
...that in his 1560s work the Zimmern Chronicle Count Froben Christoph von Zimmern tried to establish a lineage to the ancient tribe of Cimbri just because his name sounded similar?

17:30, 3 January 2007 (UTC)

...that Ford Madox Brown painted most of The Last of England (pictured) outdoors in bad weather?
...that Washburn University's mascot, "the Ichabod", is named after Ichabod Washburn, an owner of the world's largest wire mill?
...that in Public Prosecutor v. Khong Teng Khen & Anor. it was held that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia can promulgate ordinances with the force of law?
...that women in some societies may be subject to honor killing for violation of namus?
...that after Frank W. Towey, Jr. lost his House of Representatives re-election bid, he became assistant to the U.S. Attorney General?
...that the Young Bengal leader Dakshinaranjan Mukherjee was largely ostracized for marrying the widow of Maharaja Tejendra?
...that the Malta Summit was the first face-to-face meeting between George H. W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev?

03:39, 3 January 2007 (UTC)

...that New York's Panther Mountain (pictured) was the site of a prehistoric meteor crash?
...that British MP Will Owen was nicknamed "greedy bastard" by the Czechoslovak intelligence agency to whom he sold secrets?
...that 2-methylhexane and heptane are liquids with the same molecular formula but they have different density, freezing points and boiling points?
...that despite being a Soviet citizen and a confirmed NKVD agent, Alexandru Nicolschi served as head of Communist Romania's secret police?
...that a botánica is a Latin American store that sells religious goods, magical paraphernalia and brand name health care products?
...that Josef Frings, Archbishop of Cologne, was observed by the Gestapo during World War II?

2 January 2007

21:48, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

...that Elizabeth Margaret Chandler (pictured) introduced the famous abolitionist image of the kneeling female slave with the slogan "Am I not a Woman and a Sister"?
...that despite Irish neutrality, weather reports from Met Éireann were used to plan the D-Day landings?
...that Scottish language prodigy James Murdoch, after participating in a failed communist commune in Paraguay, was hired by the Australian Ministry of Defence as an expert on Japanese issues?
... that Ira Goldstein, an advertisement campaign character for the ASB Bank in New Zealand, supposedly drives a metallic-brown 1979 Leyland Princess 2000 HL?
...that former New Jersey Representative Henry Helstoski was charged with receiving bribes from illegal aliens in 1976?
... that the Ayles Ice Shelf at Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago collapsed in less than an hour in August 2005, setting a 66 km² (25 mi²) ice island adrift in the Arctic Ocean, but the collapse was only discovered during the recent analysis of satellite images captured by MODIS?

14:18, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

...that the Brown truss (pictured: truss detail) was patented in 1857, enjoyed a brief spurt in popularity, was used in several covered bridges in Michigan in the mid 19th century, and was apparently never used again?
...that Australian cricketer Trevor Chappell was reprimanded by the Prime Ministers of Australia and New Zealand when he rolled an underarm delivery to batsman Brian McKechnie to stop him from lofting the ball for six?
...that in Assa Singh v. Menteri Besar of Johore, the Federal Court of Malaysia found that an unconstitutional violation of a person's constitutional rights may be permitted through grandfathering of pre-independence laws?
...that the earliest fossil reef formations that show high biodiversity, containing the earliest corals, form the mid-Ordovician Chazy Formation, reaching from Tennessee to Labrador?
...that Dave Burrell recorded Echo to honor an all-star group Archie Shepp asked him to be a part of during the 1969 Pan-African Music Festival in Algiers?
...that Espiritismo is the Latin American and Caribbean belief that good and evil spirits can affect health, luck and other elements of human life?

1 January 2007

22:59, 1 January 2007 (UTC)

...that the history of the carom billiards disciplines, balkline and straight rail (balkline table pictured), features a veritable billiards evolutionary arms race, in which each new rule implemented was interdicted by a shot developed to counter it?
...that former New Jersey Representative Edward J. Patten was unanimously cleared by the House Ethics Committee of charges associated with the 1978 Koreagate scandal?
...that Bruce Campbell was removed from office as a Circuit Court Judge in the United Kingdom after being convicted of importing whisky and cigarettes without paying customs duty on them?
...that sleeve garters were first used in the 19th century and are still worn by poker dealers and barbershop musicians?
...that sonofabitch stew is a cowboy dish made with meats and organs from a freshly killed calf?

15:21, 1 January 2007 (UTC)

...that dust supplied by the Bodélé Depression (pictured) in the Sahara Desert not only feeds some of the world's largest dust storms, but also supports the continued existence of the Amazon Rainforest?
...that former New Jersey Representative Fred A. Hartley, Jr., co-sponsor of the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act, served as the chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor?
...that Robert Satloff researched the involvement of Muslims and Arabs both as rescuers and perpetrators during the Holocaust in the course of the Axis occupation of North Africa?
...that David Gross and Alan Kotok built Expensive Tape Recorder, a digital audio program that ran on MIT's TX-0 computer circa 1960?
...that the creator of the snack food Pirate's Booty was inspired by the ingredients of another brand's cheese puffs?
...that the Pueblo Clowns were priests in the Kachina religion of the Pueblo Indians?