Wikipedia:Recent additions/2008/December

31 December 2008

 * 23:30, 31 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Transfiguration of Jesus, described in the Synoptic Gospels, is believed to have taken place where the Church of the Transfiguration (pictured) now is located?
 * ... that Chronotron, the only flash-based video game out of ten games nominated for the 2008 Penny Arcade Expo's prestigious "PAX 10," was developed by only one person?
 * ... that the 1811 comet vintage of Veuve Clicquot has been described as one of the first modern Champagnes made according to the méthode champenoise?
 * ... that in February 1962, Motor Cycling magazine achieved a best one-way speed for the Norton 650SS of 119.5 mph—more than 10 mph faster than the rival Triumph Bonneville?
 * ... that Japan's entomological warfare program in China during World War II used plague-infected fleas and cholera-coated flies to kill nearly 500,000 people?
 * ... that American Idol host Simon Cowell felt it was a mistake that Josiah Leming did not advance to the semifinals of the program's seventh season?
 * ... that the inspiration for the character Judy Ann Santos played in the film Ploning was based on a Cuyonon folk song from the Palawan town of Cuyo?
 * ... that East German politician Erich Mückenberger led four district organizations of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany during his political career?
 * ... that A&M Records released three versions of Phil Ochs' "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends" because of the song's reference to marijuana?


 * 17:25, 31 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Cors Caron (pictured) represents the most intact surviving example of a raised bog landscape in the United Kingdom?
 * ... that Canadian martial artist Tomasz Kucharzewski, who fought in an estimated 300 fights, was described as "happy-go-lucky" by his trainer due to his friendly demeanor?
 * ... that in the early 20th century, growers in the Champagne region rioted and burned down the city of Aÿ over producers using grapes from the Loire Valley, Germany and Spain to make champagne?
 * ... that South African ANC activist Kate Molale organised a pioneer movement in the struggle against the 1953 Bantu Education Act?
 * ... that William Cowper Alexander lost the 1856 election for the Governor of New Jersey by less than 3,000 votes?
 * ... that the Gray-handed Night Monkey is nocturnal and monogamous?
 * ... that Sports Illustrated described high school player Kevin Laue as "the most exciting player in basketball" because of his playing skill with only one hand?
 * ... that Robert Brandon, goldsmith to Queen Elizabeth I and later Chamberlain of London, was the father-in-law of the artist Nicholas Hilliard and of Captain John Martin of the Jamestown Colony?
 * ... that James J. Hill of the Great Northern Railway built the Great Northern Depot in Wayzata, Minnesota, in 1906 after moving the former stop a mile east of town 12 years earlier in a dispute with town residents?


 * 11:22, 31 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Poet's Daffodil (pictured) is a source for Narcissus oil, one of the most popular fragrances used in high quality perfumes?
 * ... that Augustus Louis Chetlain was said to have been the first man in Illinois to volunteer for the American Civil War?
 * ... that unlike Bordeaux and Burgundy, vineyards in Champagne are classified according to what village they are in?
 * ... that out of 300 entries for the Honor Award from the United States Department of Transportation and the National Endowment for the Arts, Wallace Roberts & Todd was one of eleven who won the award?
 * ... that the 1989 Valvettiturai massacre was called "India's My Lai" by the Indian politician George Fernandes?
 * ... that Patriarch Gregory II Youssef of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church spoke against the proposed doctrine of papal infallibility at the First Vatican Council?
 * ... that unlike its modern-day relative the gharial, the extinct crocodilian Aktiogavialis lived in saltwater?
 * ... that the 21st Chancellor of the University of Toronto, Samuel Beatty, was the first person to receive a PhD in mathematics from a Canadian university?
 * ... that the freshwater turbellarian Microstomum caudatum can swallow prey about as large as itself?


 * 04:46, 31 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that when Vladimir Putin introduced George W. Bush to his dog Koni (pictured), Putin is reported to have said she is "Bigger, tougher, stronger, faster, meaner—than Barney"?
 * ... that African American singer Cora Green performed the Yiddish tune Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen in the 1938 race film Swing!?
 * ... that devotees across faiths swarmed St. Michael's Church, Mumbai, as news of a reported "bleeding" Jesus picture spread in June 2008?
 * ... that World War I flying ace Frank Linke-Crawford completed a reconnaissance mission in 1917, despite having his Hansa-Brandenburg C.I biplane riddled with 68 bullet holes?
 * ... that U.S. singer-songwriter Phil Ochs recorded "Bwatue" with African musicians more than ten years before Paul Simon famously did the same thing for his Graceland album?
 * ... that the scientific-technical journal Oil Shale is the only journal in the world that focuses on oil shale as a main subject?
 * ... that Oregon banned alcohol twice before the rest of America: once prior to statehood (from 1844 to 1845) and then again in 1915, four years before passage of the 18th Amendment?
 * ... that J-pop band Round Table provided the song "Nagareboshi" as the closing theme of the episodes of the Yozakura Quartet anime?
 * ... that the extinct arachnid Attercopus was once considered as the world's oldest spider?

30 December 2008

 * 21:44, 30 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that following the death of Brian Rossiter, his father took High Court action (Four Courts pictured) against An Garda Síochána?
 * ... that Mayor of New York City Ed Koch was sworn into office on New Year's Eve 1977 in the Manhattan home of David Margolis, president of Colt Industries, a firm founded in 1836 by Samuel Colt?
 * ... that as little as five milligrams of the chemical agent phenyldichloroarsine can induce severe vomiting?
 * ... that Sir Douglas Fox was, with James Greathead, joint engineer of the Liverpool Overhead Railway – the first electric elevated city railway in the world?
 * ... that although the Nationalist Congress Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party belong to opposing alliances in national Indian politics, they are both partners in the governing coalition in Meghalaya?
 * ... that payments made by Lockheed president Carl Kotchian to encourage purchases of his company's L-1011 aircraft led to the arrest and conviction of Prime Minister of Japan Kakuei Tanaka?
 * ... that two of the 48 episodes of Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse served as pilots for the 1960s television shows The Twilight Zone and The Untouchables?
 * ... that the Israeli Air Force's first heavy bombers were three B-17 Flying Fortresses smuggled to Israel in the late 1940s by Charles Winters and his associates?
 * ... that Adolf Hitler lived in a public dormitory in Vienna from 1910 to 1913?


 * 15:30, 30 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that changes in Formula One car racing rules introduced in 1978 banned the use of the Brabham BT46B "fan car" (pictured) after it won its first—and only—race at the Swedish Grand Prix?
 * ... that blind blues musician Cortelia Clark won a Grammy for his 1966 album recorded live on a sidewalk in Nashville, Tennessee?
 * ... that Bartlett's bisection theorem can be used in the design of quartz crystal filter circuits to overcome drawbacks of traditional ladder topology?
 * ... that eunuch admiral Yishiha is credited with constructing the only two Ming Buddhist temples ever built in modern-day Russia?
 * ... that the laboratory of Dr. Wade Regehr conducts research on axon terminals in the brain to further understanding of disorders such as epilepsy, schizophrenia, and clinical depression?
 * ... that a controversy over hidden loans led to the resignation of three executives from Anglo Irish Bank within twenty-four hours in December 2008?
 * ... that Bless You Boys is Sparky Anderson's diary as manager of the first American League baseball team since the 1927 Yankees to "lead the race from wire-to-wire" and win the World Series?
 * ... that bananas grown in Brazil account for approximately ten percent of the entire world's banana production?


 * 09:25, 30 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Old Albany Post Road (pictured) in Philipstown, New York, is one of the oldest dirt roads still in use in the United States?
 * ... that Archbishop Robert Knox, father of Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Edmond Knox, founded the Belfast Church Extension Society?
 * ... that the U.S. Army continued production of staphylococcus enterotoxin type B for several months after a 1969 policy statement ended the biological warfare program?
 * ... that Russian cellist Valentin Berlinsky played for the Borodin Quartet for 60 years, the longest-serving member of what was described as "the longest continuously playing" string quartet in the world?
 * ... that Temple House of Israel in Staunton, Virginia, was founded in 1876 by Alexander Hart, a former major in the Confederate States Army?
 * ... that a bootstrapping node is a node in an overlay network that provides initial configuration information to newly joining computer nodes so that they may successfully join the overlay network?
 * ... that Wu Cheng'en is thought to have written the Chinese classic novel Journey to the West anonymously, because writing in the vernacular language was considered vulgar?
 * ... that Burnt Hair Records was part of Michigan's space rock music scene in the 1990s?


 * 03:20, 30 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that when threatened, the redeye gaper (pictured) rapidly takes in water to swell its body?
 * ... that a design competition for a New Routemaster bus received 225 entries in the "Design" category and 475 entries in the "Imagine" category?
 * ... that in 2005, the fishing industry in China reported 32.4 million tons of fish from aquacultures, more than 10 times that of the second-ranked country, India?
 * ... that when Frank Fitzsimmons was named acting president of the Teamsters in 1967, a union insider said, "He's just a peanut butter sandwich; he'll melt in no time"?
 * ... that the Japanese Army used 320 mm mortars to frighten American Marines during the Battle of Iwo Jima?
 * ... that Mech Platoon was the first real-time strategy video game released for the Game Boy Advance?
 * ... that the 1921 Oscar Micheaux-directed race film The Gunsaulus Mystery was inspired by the 1913 murder of Mary Phagan?
 * ... that it took 59 years and a legal battle through the High Court of Australia for the Warumungu, a group of Indigenous Australians, to regain their land claim?
 * ... that Alliance for Labor Action launched a $4 million organizing drive targeting African American workers in Atlanta, Georgia, in the fall of 1969?

29 December 2008

 * 21:15, 29 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Portuguese Expeditionary Corps in the First World War (pictured) took 14,000 casualties out of a strength of 60,000 men?
 * ... that the Red Army invasion of Georgia in 1920 prevented the Polish–Georgian alliance from being fully implemented?
 * ... that when the Wildwood was commissioned she was named USS PC-1181, and was only renamed the Wildwood after she was decommissioned?
 * ... that the Marine Corps Test Unit along with the 3rd Marine Corps Provisional Atomic Exercise Brigade carried out mock maneuvers 3,500 yards away from the detonation site of a nuclear bomb?
 * ... that Nolan Reimold led the Mid-American Conference (MAC) in home runs (20), runs batted in (60), total bases (137), on-base % (.496), and slugging % (.770) throughout the baseball regular season?
 * ... that the Irish TV show Hanging with Hector was criticised for being "about as original as washing your teeth each morning"?
 * ... that after serving as a Union Army general during the American Civil War, George Henry Chapman served as a judge in the Indiana Criminal Court, and later a state legislator in the Indiana Senate?
 * ... that William Kaufmann developed the counterforce approach in the 1950s, in which a Soviet invasion of Western Europe would be met by a sequence of escalating responses, not by massive retaliation?
 * ... that Polish writer Franciszek Karpiński is best remembered through his hymns and carols?


 * 15:10, 29 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the funeral of C. N. Annadurai (pictured), who held the post of Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for just two years, was the most attended until that time making it a Guinness record?
 * ... that Joseph Kahn and Howard Pack had both been in the fur trade before entering the shipping business, culminating with their 1965 purchase of Seatrain Lines?
 * ... that out of three partitions of Poland, the Austrian partition had the most local autonomy, but was also the poorest?
 * ... that Barack Obama biographer Christoph von Marschall compares his life story with the American Dream?
 * ... that a 1930 proposal in the Czechoslovak parliament for greater autonomy for Transcarpathia, presented by the Autonomous Agrarian Union, gained support from the German National Socialists?
 * ... that Royce Howes won the Pulitzer Prize for an editorial on the shared responsibility of labor and management for an unauthorized strike that put 45,000 Chrysler workers out of work?
 * ... that Norwegian resistance fighter Gregers Gram conducted several sabotage missions together with Max Manus, before being killed in an ambuscade in 1944?
 * ... that vascular myelopathy refers to an abnormality of the spinal cord in regards to its blood supply?
 * ... that, according to the modern historian Bo Yang, the large body of petitions written by Tang Dynasty chancellor Lu Zhi was important to understanding mid-Tang life?


 * 09:05, 29 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Geoffroy's Tamarin (pictured) engages in both polyandrous and polygynous mating?
 * ... that Indian revolutionary poet Jwalamukhi was arrested for his writings in 1971?
 * ... that Republican Joan Huffman, a former Houston judge who won a special election to the Texas State Senate on December 16, 2008, became the sixth woman in the 31-member chamber, a legislative record?
 * ... that the Tang Dynasty general Li Shigu, in his illness, refused to endorse his brother Li Shidao as his successor because Li Shidao spent too much time painting and playing the bili?
 * ... that Order of Australia Medal recipient Bill Scott began writing poetry while serving in the Royal Australian Navy during World War II?
 * ... that the army career of the Tang Dynasty general Wu Shaocheng was launched when the general Li Xilie adopted his suggestions in the campaign against Liang Chongyi?
 * ... that Jones Hewson played leading roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1896 to 1901 but died in 1902 at the age of 27?
 * ... that although Frede Castberg retired as a professor of jurisprudence at the age of seventy, he continued to preside over the Hague Academy of International Law for thirteen years?


 * 03:00, 29 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that though it is generally agreed that paintings by Jean Malouel survive (possible work pictured), no one work is universally accepted as his?
 * ... that broadcasting brothers James R. Doss, Jr. and James L. Doss named Alabama radio stations WJRD and WJLD after themselves?
 * ... that out of three partitions of Poland, the Russian partition was the largest and most populous?
 * ... that as Texas Attorney General from 1957 to 1963, Will Wilson cracked down on prostitution rings operating in such Texan cities as Galveston, Beaumont, Texarkana and Victoria?
 * ... that the Chinese beverage suanmeitang is made with ingredients such as sour plums, sweet osmanthus, licorice root, rock sugar, and rose petals?
 * ... that the 705th Tank Destroyer Battalion of the U.S. Army received a Presidential Unit Citation for its role in the Siege of Bastogne?
 * ... that Dorje Pakmo ('The Diamond Sow') is the highest female incarnation in Tibet, and the third-highest ranking person in the lamaist hierarchy after the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama?
 * ... that the fifth season premiere of the television show Lost, titled "Because You Left", was the first episode of the series to be both shot and edited in high-definition?

28 December 2008

 * 20:55, 28 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that when Tuscany issued its first postage stamps (example pictured) in 1851, Donatello's heraldic Marzocco of Florence was featured?
 * ... that Lisa Rossbacher, president of Southern Polytechnic State University, is the first female geologist to become a university president?
 * ... that an exit bag, consisting of a large, clear plastic bag with a drawstring, is a commercially available device for committing suicide?
 * ... that Katrina Mumaw became the youngest person to break the sound barrier when she piloted a MIG-29 fighter jet at Mach 1.3 on July 12, 1994 at the age of eleven?
 * ... that the Konovalyuk Commission has claimed that Ukraine's arms sales to Georgia before and during the 2008 South Ossetia War adversely affected the country's defense capabilities?
 * ... that five former members of the Portland Trail Blazers have been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame?
 * ... that Olav Ulleren, who in 1999 left his position as mayor of Tinn, Norway to become a State Secretary, lost his new position after less than one year?
 * ... that the 1930 silent film A Daughter of the Congo was billed as a “talking, singing, dancing picture” although it only contained a single short sound sequence?


 * 14:50, 28 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that William Lobb earned the sobriquet "messenger of the big tree" for introducing the Chilean "monkey puzzle" tree (pictured) and the massive North American "Wellingtonia" to English commerce?
 * ... that Merrill Connally, a county judge, played a part in Steven Spielberg's 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind?
 * ... that New South Greenland was a phantom island near Antarctica, described in 1832 by Benjamin Morrell, who was called "the biggest liar in the Southern Ocean"?
 * ... that Bill Johnston was the last Australian to take 100 wickets on an Ashes tour of England, being the leading wicket-taker during the 1948 Invincibles tour?
 * ... that the U.S. state of New York offers a school tax rebate program that saves homeowners money by reducing the assessed value of a home when calculating the property tax?
 * ... that a principal work of mathematician Wilhelm Cauer was twice destroyed during World War II and was only published after his death by his family, who reconstructed it from the table of contents?
 * ... that Freedom House, founded in 1949, raised money to support Operation Exodus, a voluntary desegregation and busing project in Boston before court-ordered desegregation?
 * ... that the history of the ancient Mayan city of Dos Pilas has been reconstructed in more detail than almost any other Mayan site?
 * ... that Ramon Vila Capdevila continued to fight against the government of Francisco Franco for 24 years after the end of the Spanish Civil War?


 * 08:45, 28 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Ray Lindwall (pictured) was Australia's equal-leading Test wicket-taker on the 1948 Invincibles tour of England?
 * ... that the SS Empire Advocate was seized twice by Britain—from Germany after the First World War, and then from Italy during the Second World War?
 * ... that Iraqi lawyer Dheyaa al-Saadi was elected president of the Iraqi Bar Association in 2006, but his election was annulled because he was once a member of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party?
 * ... that in the Prussian partition of Poland, Germanization policies had the opposite effect of strengthening Polish national consciousness?
 * ... that Wayne Connally, a brother of former Texas governor John Connally, was honored as "Governor for a Day" on October 7, 1971?
 * ... that Ole Georg Gjøsteen—supported by his brother Johan—is considered the "father" of Norway's comprehensive school system?
 * ... that the Abbott-Holloway Farm has two of the only four pre-1840 buildings in Bethlehem, Indiana, that were not destroyed by fire or tornado?
 * ... that Oleg Bogayev was honored for his absurdist play about an impoverished Russian pensioner who engages in fanciful correspondence with Queen Elizabeth II, Vladimir Lenin, and Robinson Crusoe?


 * 02:40, 28 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that a study at Berijam Lake (pictured) by the Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History indicates that the near threatened Grey-breasted Laughingthrush has suffered from habitat degradation?
 * ... that before being used by American soldiers in the Vietnam War, the racial slur "gook" was originally directed towards Filipinos?
 * ... that North Audley Street in Mayfair, London, is named after the English moneylender Hugh Audley?
 * ... that the Frazier–Lemke Farm Bankruptcy Act was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in May 1935 as violating the Fifth Amendment?
 * ... that the German Social Democratic Party in Poland was formed in 1922 by the merger of Silesian branches of the German SPD, USPD and the Austrian SDAP?
 * ... that the Chicago Transit Authority closed its Kostner station only eleven years after it opened, making it one of the city's shortest-lived train stations?
 * ... that Canadian authorities used the academic enrollment list of a diploma mill to arrest 24 students they wrongly accused of being an "al-Qaeda sleeper cell" in Project Thread?
 * ... that Oregon politician Ralph Carey Geer's grandson, Homer Davenport, was a political cartoonist?

27 December 2008

 * 20:35, 27 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that an impacted shoulder presentation during childbirth (pictured) can lead to both the death of the baby and of the mother?
 * ... that while serving in the elite Russian Preobrazhensky regiment, Fyodor Ivanovich Tolstoy served with the future literary critic Faddei Bulgarin?
 * ... that U.S. testing during Operation Big Itch successfully dispersed rat fleas from an aircraft?
 * ... that due to a bureaucratic error Sir Curtis Keeble was placed in charge of 2000 Russian refugees despite not speaking fluent Russian?
 * ... that Israel's deadliest traffic accident took place in December 2008 when a tourists' coach en route to the resort town of Eilat plunged into a ravine?
 * ... that quarterback Scott McBrien transferred from West Virginia to the Maryland and led Maryland to a 41–7 win over his former alma mater in the 2004 Gator Bowl?
 * ... that Senegal pumps 1.4 billion cubic meters of water per year, 92% of which is for agriculture?
 * ... that U.S. Judge John Sprizzo refused to extradite Provisional IRA member Joe Doherty in the 1981 killing of a British soldier, citing the ambush as a "political act"?


 * 14:30, 27 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that grammatically incorrect phrases such as *"the pizza was in the eaten" can elicit an early left anterior negativity (ELAN) (pictured, first peak) in the brain?
 * ... that English dramatist Edward Rose published The Rose Reader, "a new way of teaching to read," that only used words that were spelled as they sounded?
 * ... that the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue is the only functioning synagogue building in the city of Detroit, Michigan?
 * ... that Kisbarnaki Ferenc Farkas became the Chief Scout of the Hungarian Scouts-in-Exile when scouting was banned by the Communist government after World War II?
 * ... that the May 1938 interception of the Rex was the largest training exercise conducted up to that time by the United States Army Air Corps?
 * ... that the former Arab village of Majdal Yaba with its large fortress was the center of power of a clan that controlled up to 25 villages in Sanjak Nablus?
 * ... that Wang Shizhen, then a guard commander for his brother-in-law, the Tang Dynasty warlord Li Weiyue, turned against Li Weiyue to allow his father Wang Wujun to kill Li?
 * ... that the childhood home of Rear Admiral Richmond P. Hobson was dedicated as an Alabama state shrine in 1947?


 * 08:25, 27 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Belgian musician Adolphe Sax, who invented the saxophone, also devised the brass instrument saxtuba (pictured)?
 * ... that a Saudi businessman offered US$10 million to buy the shoes thrown by al-Baghdadia TV correspondent Muntadhar al-Zaidi at U.S. President George W. Bush during a recent press conference?
 * ... that the Danish Monarchy's status was changed from absolute to constitutional on 5 June 1849?
 * ... that the Jordan Valley Unified Water Plan was developed by a U.S. ambassador in 1955 to reduce conflict between Israel, Jordan, and their neighbors?
 * ... that after United States Navy SEAL Erik Kristensen died in Afghanistan in 2005 California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called for flags at the state Capitol to be flown at half-staff?
 * ... that the fisheries of Chilka Lake in India sustain more than 150,000 fisherfolk living in 132 villages?
 * ... that there is suspicion that the death in prison of Kenneth Michael Trentadue was related to the Oklahoma City bombing?
 * ... that Daniel Hoevels's work has been described as "helping critics rediscover Hamburg's theater"?


 * 02:20, 27 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Flora Drummond was known as "The General" for her habit of leading Women's Suffrage processions (lapel pin pictured) wearing an officer's cap and epaulettes whilst riding a large horse?
 * ... that the Lola T93/30 Formula 1 car was described as "virtually undriveable" by the team's drivers after its first race, 1993 South African Grand Prix, because of its aerodynamic deficiencies?
 * ... that author Jacqueline Wilson described Dustbin Baby, the BBC dramatisation of her novel of the same name, as the best ever film adaptation of her work?
 * ... that Finnish Swede Gustav Orreus was the first Doctor of Medicine ever commissioned in Russia?
 * ... that there have been nine head coaches who have spent their entire National Hockey League head coaching careers with the Montreal Canadiens, a Canadian professional ice hockey franchise?
 * ... that The Golden Age is the ninth studio album by sadcore band American Music Club?
 * ... that prior to the 1930 election the Polish government declared the candidacy of Heinrich Scheibler, the leader of the German Socialist Labour Party in Poland - Left, to be invalid?
 * ... that 19th-century California bandit Procopio, also known as Red-Handed Dick, was said to "love the feel and the color of warm blood," and his name was used by mothers to frighten their children?

26 December 2008

 * 21:30, 26 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the production of Swaledale cheese (pictured) includes soaking the cheese wheel in 85 percent brine for 24 hours?
 * ... that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Sears v. Stiffel that companies can make and sell exact copies of other companies' inventions if they are not patented?
 * ... that the Early Cretaceous turtle Caririemys was the fifth such turtle genus to have been discovered in Brazil's Santana Formation?
 * ... that The New York Times called CBS News executive Robert Chandler the "creator of the 60 Minutes format" of television newsmagazines?
 * ... that a march fracture is a fracture of metatarsals mostly occurring in soldiers who need to do a lot of marching?
 * ... that the Tigris River's tributary, the Botan in southeastern Turkey, looks during times of peak discharge much bigger than the Tigris?
 * ... that Evald Rygh, a former Norwegian Minister of Finance and Customs, helped establish the Holmenkollen ski jump?
 * ... that, during the team's first official season, a Maryland Terrapins football player was accused of "unaccreditable ignorance of football" after running the wrong way for 30 yards (27 metres)?


 * 15:02, 26 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that William Blake sought in his illustrations of Milton's Nativity Ode (example pictured) to depict the rebirth of John Milton's poetry into the creative imagination of Christ?
 * ... that the Little Blitzen River is a tributary of Oregon's Donner und Blitzen River and part of the first redband trout reserve in the United States?
 * ... that the Westminster Retable, a 13th-century panel painting at Westminster Abbey, is the oldest known altarpiece in England?
 * ... that in Doris Lessing's 1983 novel, The Sentimental Agents in the Volyen Empire, language becomes so distorted that some of the characters succumb to a condition called "undulant rhetoric"?
 * ... that the Naked Camera character Jake Stevens released the Christmas single "Merry Christmas Jakey Boy" in 2006?
 * ... that the species name Symphurus thermophilus means "heat lover", referring to the organism's association with hydrothermal vents?
 * ... that to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Christmas lights and decorations on Summer Street in Duboistown, Pennsylvania, the mayor proclaimed "December as Candy Cane Lane month forever more"?


 * 06:05, 26 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Tirggel, traditional Christmas cookies from Switzerland, are said to have originated as pagan offertory cakes, cut in the shape of sacrificial animals?
 * ... that The Irish Times referred to a single by the band The Kinetiks as "‘Kin brilliant"?
 * ... that a plant pathologist conducted research on Christmas tree stands that showed just 6 of 22 had adequate water capacity for large Christmas trees?
 * ... that the novel Uncle Daddy by Ralph Fletcher was awarded a 2002 Christopher Medal in the books for ages 10–12 category?
 * ... that presenter Pat Kenny tore up two tickets for The Late Late Toy Show live on air in 2008?
 * ... that the interior vaulting of the wooden synagogue of Wolpa is considered to have been "the most magnificent of all known wooden ceilings" in Europe?
 * ... that in the town of Santa Claus, Arizona, visitors could once purchase Dasher and Dancer omelettes and Santa burgers?
 * ... that in 1599, English bookseller William Barley helped publish Anthony Holborne's Pavans, Galliards, Almains, the first instrumental (rather than vocal) music to be printed in England?


 * 01:55, 26 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Berner Haselnusslebkuchen (pictured), a traditional Christmas cookie from Switzerland, is a lebkuchen made from ground hazelnuts?
 * ... that California's Sierra Nevada Conservancy is the largest state conservation effort of its kind in the United States?
 * ... that "the boy Jones" repeatedly broke into Buckingham Palace in the early years of Queen Victoria's reign?
 * ... that the 2002 album Happy Clucking Holidays consists of Christmas songs performed by Dirk Keysser clucking like a chicken?
 * ... that WKKR and WZMG (now known as WTLM) were the first radio stations in Alabama to win NAB Crystal Radio Awards for outstanding commitment to community service?
 * ... that Paul Lynde, who played the lead role in the 1977 U.S. television special 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, was responsible for casting fellow actor Martha Raye as his character's mother-in-law?
 * ... that Kellogg v. Nabisco, a court case about Shredded Wheat breakfast cereal, "may be the [ U.S. ] Supreme Court's most ... influential trademark decision"?''
 * ... that the computer game "Attack of the Mutant Artificial Christmas Trees" invites players to stop mutant fake trees from sucking the spirit out of Christmas?

25 December 2008

 * 13:55, 25 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the 1965 broadcast of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is credited with ending the era of the aluminum Christmas tree (pictured)?
 * ... that Bill May, an international champion in synchronized swimming, was barred from competing in the Olympics because of his gender?
 * ... that Robert Wells and Mel Tormé wrote "The Christmas Song" in the sweltering July heat as a means of keeping themselves cool?
 * ... that the Hooded Butcherbird of New Guinea mimics other birds such as the Rusty Pitohui, Spangled Drongo, and Helmeted Friarbird?
 * ... that the forger who wrote an extra verse to the Norwegian Christmas song Musevisa claimed to have been inspired by the Hitler Diaries?
 * ... that Samira Hill Gold Mine is the first commercial gold mine in Niger?
 * ... that Bóg się rodzi, a Polish Christmas carol, has been called "one of the most beloved Polish Christmas carols"?
 * ... that Million Fax on Washington is a petition to the transition administration of Barack Obama organized by the UFO community to put the extraterrestrial issue on the new U.S. administration's agenda?


 * 05:50, 25 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Star of Bethlehem (detail pictured) by Edward Burne-Jones, the largest watercolour painting of the 19th century, is based on his 1887 tapestry design depicting the Adoration of the Magi?
 * ... that Henrik Anker Bjerregaard wrote Norway's first national anthem?
 * ... that American Civil War soldiers celebrated Christmas by using salt pork and hardtack as ornaments on Christmas trees?
 * ... that houses in the Indian village Shani Shingnapur do not have doors?
 * ... that in 1937, Harry Osman was the last footballer to score a goal on Christmas Day at Southampton's The Dell stadium?
 * ... that the village of Christmas Common was the home of philologist and lexicographer William Craigie?
 * ... that Bill Guckeyson, the first Maryland football player selected in the National Football League's Draft, attended West Point and was later shot down as a fighter pilot in World War II?
 * ... that Christmas Island National Park hosts the world's largest population of the world's largest land invertebrate, the Coconut crab?

24 December 2008

 * 21:45, 24 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that John Prideaux Lightfoot commissioned the Adoration of the Magi tapestry (detail pictured) from Morris & Co. for the Gothic revival chapel at Exeter College, but died before it was completed?
 * ... that celebrity solicitor Gerald Kean was featured in a number of Sunday newspapers when he bought a jet for his wife?
 * ... that some of the earliest artificial Christmas trees were made of feathers?
 * ... that Guri Hjeltnes, though a professor of journalism, has mainly concentrated on Norwegian World War II history during her academic career?
 * ... that the annual Christmas on the River festival in Demopolis, Alabama, features a parade with floats on boats?
 * ... that Jack Armstrong pitched a no-hitter for the Nashville Sounds against the Indianapolis Indians a day after Randy Johnson and Pat Pacillo of the Indians combined for a no-hitter against the Sounds?
 * ... that Shakin' Stevens recently launched Christmas FM, Ireland's first radio station dedicated to the festival?
 * ... that Trina Belamide, who has written songs for most of the Philippines' top recording artists, also writes custom theme songs for weddings?


 * 13:40, 24 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that dopamine dysregulation syndrome (dopamine molecular model pictured) is characterized by self-control problems such as addiction to medication, gambling, or hypersexuality?
 * ... that lexicographer Henry Cockeram wrote the first known English language dictionary to contain "dictionary" in the title?
 * ... that despite being described as "one of the strongest fortifications in the Atlantic Wall", the fortress of Le Havre fell after only three days of attacks by British and Canadian forces in Operation Astonia?
 * ... that as President of the Professional Golfers' Association of America, Max Elbin oversaw the departure of tournament professionals led by Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer to form the PGA Tour?
 * ... that Peloroplites was one of the largest nodosaurid dinosaurs, and came from a time when armored dinosaurs in general were attaining large sizes?
 * ... that composer William Furst died of a blood clot in his brain after injuring his foot while gardening?
 * ... that after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the Polish II Corps in Russia refused to surrender to the Germans?
 * ... that it took the publisher's lawyers 14 months to approve the publication of You'll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again, Julia Phillips' scandalous autobiography?


 * 07:35, 24 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the population of Grasshopper Junction in Arizona, USA, received the same estimated radiation dose pre-Plumbbob (pictured) as they did afterward?
 * ... that tree moss, lichen species Pseudevernia furfuracea, was used in ancient Egyptian embalming?
 * ... that the land that became Quail Hollow State Park was owned by only two families between 1820 and its sale to Ohio as a park in 1975?
 * ... that under current Mongolian nationality law, dual citizenship is not accepted?
 * ... that although the Ironton Railroad was built to haul iron ore, it was used to deliver deer and buffalo to the Trexler Game Preserve in 1911?
 * ... that Walter Sisulu considered Moses Kotane to be a "giant of the struggle" because of his logical and non-dogmatic approach against apartheid?
 * ... that the first draft of the script for Remember Last Night? was rejected by the Production Code Administration for its depiction of excessive drinking?
 * ... that in the Latin poem De vetula, its supposed author Ovid renounces adultery?


 * 01:30, 24 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Korean women's dance Ganggangsullae (pictured) was used by Admiral Yi Sun-sin to intimidate the Japanese army during their invasion of Korea?
 * ... that the Barack Obama 2009 presidential inauguration is scheduled for four days of celebration, with Washington, D.C. bars authorized to stay open until 5:00 a.m.?
 * ... that Norwegian historian Tore Pryser has criticised the perceived importance of Norwegian resistance members during World War II?
 * ... that Pennsylvania Route 343 underwent numerous realignments until 1970?
 * ... that a murder conviction without a body was considered impossible in English law for nearly 300 years?
 * ... that Julius Fast ' s first novel, Watchful at Night, won the first award presented at the inaugural Edgar Allan Poe Award ceremonies in 1946 as Best First Novel by an American author?
 * ... that tenor Albert Reiss sang in 1,070 performances at the Metropolitan Opera?
 * ... that the captain of the Italian submarine who misidentified patrol boat USS PC-496 for a destroyer and torpedoed her was court-martialed for "wasting" a torpedo on such a small ship?

23 December 2008

 * 19:25, 23 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that for the filming of Max Manus (filming location pictured), the flag of Nazi Germany was flown atop the Norwegian parliament building for the first time in over 60 years?
 * ... that John Tortorella is the only American to be the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning, a professional ice hockey team based in the USA?
 * ... that although Melchior Broederlam is regarded as being key in the emergence of Early Netherlandish painting, only two of his paintings survive today?
 * ... that the Reformed Church of Beacon has the only manual-tracker pipe organ in the Hudson Valley?
 * ... that in 1908, Maypole Colliery in Abram, Greater Manchester, England, was the site of an underground explosion that killed 75 miners?
 * ... that the USS PGM-18 was blown five feet (1.5 m) out of the water after striking a Japanese mine off the coast during the Battle of Okinawa?
 * ... that Irish writer Edna O'Brien made her screen debut as an extra in an adaptation of her novel, Wild Decembers?
 * ... that Charles S. Moore served as county judge for Klamath, Oregon, USA, after his father had served as the first judge there?


 * 13:20, 23 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Oregon State Beavers men's basketball team (Gill Coliseum pictured) is coached by Craig Robinson, brother-in-law of US President-elect Barack Obama?
 * ... that the privately-held phone call switch company TouchWave was purchased for US$46 million two years after its 1997 founding?
 * ... that the Irish quiz show series Brendan O'Carroll's Hot Milk and Pepper was named after a constipation cure?
 * ... that linguist Carol Chomsky developed the technique of repeated reading, in which children gain fluency by reading along with a recording of a text until they can do so on their own?
 * ... that the Scotch Professors, a group of 19th-century Scottish footballers, are credited with inventing the passing style of the modern game and spreading the sport globally?
 * ... that English once had a four-form yes and no system, employed by Shakespeare and others, instead of the two-form system that it has today?
 * ... that Major-General Richard Hutton Davies, the first New Zealand officer to command a division in World War I, committed suicide in 1918?
 * ... that the 1981 Rose Bowl was the first bowl victory for Michigan Wolverines football Coach Bo Schembechler – after seven prior bowl game losses?


 * 06:45, 23 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Pennsylvania class ocean liners—Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois (later USS Supply, pictured)—were the largest iron ships built in the United States upon their completion in 1874?
 * ... that "Albino Ballerina", the final single by indie rock band Sweet Jesus, gained extensive critical acclaim before the band's commercial success dwindled and they soon disbanded?
 * ... that the history of netball is linked to that of basketball, and that netball was primarily developed as a women's sport?
 * ... that Charles Darwin frequently visited Osmaston Hall in Derby, England?
 * ... that Silesian socialist politician Józef Biniszkiewicz died at Buchenwald concentration camp during World War II?
 * ... that the Everett Railroad is named after its former location near Everett, Pennsylvania, USA?
 * ... that Handling Ships, the first animated British Technicolor feature film, was never meant to be released to theatres but was an "Official Selection" at Cannes in 1946?
 * ... that the first road in Alaska was built on Woody Island for horses, brought in by the Russian-American Company to cut ice blocks, to exercise?


 * 00:55, 23 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Grey-crowned Central American Squirrel Monkey (pictured) and Black-crowned Central American Squirrel Monkey are both endangered due to small, fragmented ranges and habitat loss?
 * ... that at a fantasy basketball camp, John W. Rogers, Jr. defeated Michael Jordan in a game of one-on-one, witnessed by John Thompson, Jr., Mike Krzyzewski and Damon Wayans?
 * ... that the gardens of St George's Square, Pimlico, London, contain a statue of William Huskisson MP, the first person ever to be run over and killed by a railway engine?
 * ... that country music songwriter Tim Nichols once worked in a factory, manufacturing buckets for KFC?
 * ... that one of the specimens used to describe the extinct turtle Cearachelys was actually procured eight years prior to it being formally described in 2001?
 * ... that Irish ballerina Monica Loughman, aged 14, was the first Westerner to dance for the State Theatre of Opera and Ballet in Perm, Russia?
 * ... that the 1987 hospital massacre in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, took place on Diwali, a major Hindu holiday?
 * ... that Mildred Constantine organized the 1968 exhibition Word and Image of 300 posters at the Museum of Modern Art called "so handsome that for a minute you wonder why billboards are disfigurements"?

22 December 2008

 * 18:50, 22 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that John W. Lambert (pictured) in 1891 made the first U.S. car for sale as well as Union cars and Lambert cars using his gasoline engines and gearless transmissions for the Union car company and Lambert car company as subsidiaries of the Buckeye Manufacturing Company?
 * ... that Rangzieb Ahmed was the first Al-Qaeda operative to be convicted of directing terrorism in the United Kingdom?
 * ... that Detroit's Rosedale Park, containing 1,533 properties, is the largest district in Michigan to be listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places?
 * ... that two carved wood altarpieces of 1399 by Jacques de Baerze have no comparable Netherlandish survivals for another 80 years?
 * ... that in 1973, Oregon became the first state to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana in the United States?
 * ... that American Basketball Association player Al Smith was a standout in three different sports during his high school days?
 * ... that the "lung lichen", species Lobaria pulmonaria, has been used for dyeing, tanning, perfume manufacturing, and brewing?
 * ... that Gale Benson was not a spy according to her brother, even though the 2008 film The Bank Job depicted her as one?


 * 12:45, 22 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Danebury (pictured), an Iron Age hillfort in Hampshire, England, was occupied from about 550 BC until 100 BC when the gates were burnt down, probably in an attack?
 * ... that 14th-century Turkish polymath Al-Taftazani completed one of his best-known works at the age of 16?
 * ... that the recent ice storm in the Northeastern United States was the worst in over a decade, resulting in at least four deaths and more than a million utility customers left without power?
 * ... that 18th–19th century British fur trader John Johnston was a leader in the Ojibwa tribe near Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, USA?
 * ... that tropical ulcers are lesions occurring on the ankles of those who often go barefoot?
 * ... that Francis A. Chenoweth served as speaker of both the Oregon House of Representatives and the Washington House of Representatives?
 * ... that a species of the 80-million year-old sea turtle Terlinguachelys fischbecki was actually named after a school teacher?
 * ... that Tang Dynasty general Tian Ji'an, in anger, buried his staff member Qiu Jiang alive?


 * 06:35, 22 December 2008 (UTC)


 * ... that Australian cricketer Arthur Morris (pictured) was the batsman at the other end when Don Bradman was bowled for a duck in his last Test innings?
 * ... that the first themed Lego Modular Houses set, released in April 2007, was designed for people aged 16 and older and meant to be "toys for adults"?
 * ... that Hanan Porat, who was evacuated as an infant from the Jewish village of Kfar Etzion in the Judean Mountains, later founded the first Israeli settlement in the West Bank?
 * ... that Holy Deadlock, a 1934 novel by A. P. Herbert, was credited with helping create a more favourable attitude toward reform of English divorce law?
 * ... that teenage aviatrix Elinor Smith, the "Flying Flapper of Freeport", had her pilot's license suspended for 15 days for flying under New York City's four East River bridges in 1928?
 * ... that the Bayeux War Cemetery, the largest for World War II Commonwealth soldiers, includes the Bayeux Memorial, honoring more than 1,800 soldiers killed in the Normandy Landings with no known grave?
 * ... that the Palestinian Arab village of Abil al-Qamh near Safad was established on a site that had been inhabited since 2900 BCE?
 * ... that screenwriter Dana Fox works with Diablo Cody and Lorene Scafaria in a writing group they call "The Fempire"?


 * 00:30, 22 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Moscow Gay Pride has been described as "satanic" and likely to increase the spread of HIV/AIDS by Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov (pictured)?
 * ... that 1949 Michigan football MVP Dick Kempthorn later flew more than 100 missions as a jet fighter pilot in the Korean War and received the Distinguished Flying Cross?
 * ... that the Griffdu was the 37th and final ship built by J. F. Duthie & Company?
 * ... that Johanna Wokalek portrayed Red Army Faction terrorist Gudrun Ensslin in the Golden Globe-nominated film The Baader Meinhof Complex?
 * ... that the Matchless G12 CSR motorcycle designation officially stood for Competition, Sport, Road, but was dubbed the Coffee Shop Racer by its rivals?
 * ... that Ron Carey was the first Teamsters General President elected by a direct vote of the membership?
 * ... that during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, 105 Israelis were taken prisoner by Egypt in the Battle of Nitzanim, which was viewed as humiliating in Israel?
 * ... that the New York Giants' hype of Andy Cohen was called "the most efficient job of ballyhoo that has been performed in the sport industry", with "ice cream Cohens" sold to fans at the Polo Grounds?

21 December 2008

 * 18:25, 21 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that masters of Singapore-registered ships are subject to a fine of S$1,000 if they do not hoist the Red Ensign (pictured) before entering or leaving port?
 * ... that the designation of Rahm Emanuel as White House Chief of Staff will necessitate at least one 2009 United States House of Representatives special election in Illinois?
 * ... that in 1976, Japanese pink film actor Mitsuyasu Maeno carried out a kamikaze attack on multi-millionaire and ultra-nationalist leader Yoshio Kodama?
 * ... that during the 1975 earthquake in Morris, Minnesota, USA, one man thought the loud bangs he heard came from a nearby gas plant that he thought exploded?
 * ... that Dutch baroque painter Jan Wyck spent most of his career in England, where he influenced the development of British military art?
 * ... that the 1980 Michigan Wolverines football team did not give up a touchdown in the final 22 quarters of the season?
 * ... that Denzil Onslow was Member of Parliament for Guildford after his nephew Foot Onslow, and was then succeeded by another nephew, Richard Onslow, 1st Baron Onslow?
 * ... that Norman Mailer claimed his 1968 experimental film Wild 90 "has the most repetitive, pervasive obscenity of any film ever made"?


 * 12:20, 21 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that 14th-century shogun Ashikaga Takauji (pictured) sent his son Motouji to Kamakura to consolidate his rule there, but ended up creating a rival shogunate because Motouji started calling himself Kubō?
 * ... that Bruce Hilkene was captain of the 1947 Wolverines who were selected as the greatest Michigan football team of all time?
 * ... that a screening of the documentary film Rebellion: the Litvinenko Case may have led to the St Petersburg branch of the human rights charity Memorial being raided by the Russian authorities?
 * ... that the Audubon Society of Portland, Oregon, USA, rehabilitates 3,500 animals and has over 20,000 hours volunteered each year?
 * ... that the only surviving Brough Superior Golden Dream, on display at the British National Motorcycle Museum has never run, as there are no internals in the engine or gearbox?
 * ... that the USS PGM-17 received no enemy damage while stranded on a coral reef for over a month during intense kamikaze attacks in the region during the Battle of Okinawa?
 * ... that Matthias Dolderer finished second at the 2008 World Aerobatics Cup's "Unlimited" Category in the Czech Republic and in doing so he qualified for the 2009 Red Bull Air Race?
 * ... that BodyLove is an Alabama-based radio soap opera that uses drama to reach African American listeners with messages that promote diabetes awareness and healthy lifestyles?


 * 06:15, 21 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that between 1778 and 1801, Manor House, 21 Soho Square, London, (pictured) was a high-class magic brothel called The White House, described by Henry Mayhew as a "notorious place of ill-fame"?
 * ... that Russian ski jumper Valery Kobelev's 1999 crash in Planica, Slovenia, has been called one of the worst ski jumping crashes ever?
 * ... that Washington, D.C.'s location as the U.S. capital on the Potomac River was decided by Congress, with passage of the Residence Act of 1790?
 * ... that Beninese physician Basile Adjou Moumouni won his country's 1968 presidential election with 80 percent of the vote only to have the results annulled by incumbent Alphonse Amadou Alley?
 * ... that the recently-discovered dinosaur Austroraptor is the largest dromaeosaur to have been found in the Southern Hemisphere?
 * ... that the Chicago Tribune ' s John McCormick received the 2002 Distinguished Writing Award for Editorial Writing for his work on 9/11, Afghanistan, and the sale of naming rights for Soldier Field?
 * ... that 410 Squadron RCAF was the top-scoring night-fighter unit in 2nd Tactical Air Force in the period between D-Day and VE Day?
 * ... that the phrase "It's your Wally" refers to Queensland's test cricketer Wally Grout and typically means that it is the listener's turn to buy a round of drinks?


 * 00:10, 21 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that silversmith Caleb Bentley made the brass cornerstone for the White House (pictured) in 1792 and provided refuge to U.S. President James Madison when the British burned the building in 1814?
 * ... that not a single woman in the village of Kunan Poshpora in Kashmir received a marriage proposal within three years after the Indian Army launched a search and interrogation operation there in 1991?
 * ... that member of the Order of Canada Carlo Cattarello received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, after he turned 80?
 * ... that the origins of the Church of Caucasian Albania date to Saint Eliseus' efforts in the first century AD to spread Christianity to the area?
 * ... that the unincorporated community of Oatmeal, Texas, was inhabited by a colony of former slaves after the American Civil War?
 * ... that the style of Irish investigative journalist Philip Boucher-Hayes has been compared to that of fictional detective Hercule Poirot?
 * ... that Julia's House is the first and only hospice in Dorset, England, for children with life-limiting conditions?
 * ... that William Stevens wrote a law review article, The Common Law Origins of the Infield Fly Rule, which treated the development of one of baseball's most-misunderstood rules as if it were a legal matter?

20 December 2008

 * 18:05, 20 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Łucja Frey (pictured) is considered to be one of the first female academic neurologists in Europe?
 * ... that millipedes in the genus Desmoxytes give off an almond-like smell as they produce hydrogen cyanide to ward off predators?
 * ... that in an incident he described as the highlight of his career, Phil Ochs sang "I Ain't Marching Anymore" and inspired hundreds of young men to burn their draft cards?
 * ... that the Nazi German Reich Office for Economic Expansion got the nickname Office for the Expansion of IG Farben, because its head Carl Krauch was also the chairman of that company?
 * ... that in 1996, over a dozen university professors documented the oral history of the Quindaro Townsite by interviewing Kansas City residents?
 * ... that Pakistan's newly created Ministry of Human Rights has announced a law which will assist in uncovering the fate of thousands who have disappeared since the War on Terror began?
 * ... that in the first day of sales, the tickets sold by the Cincinnati Bearcats for the 2009 Orange Bowl netted an estimated US$500,000 for the University of Cincinnati?
 * ... that Filipino actor of Igorot descent, Marky Cielo, is one of four recent Philippine young celebrities who died unexpectedly, after Julie Vega, Rico Yan, and Miko Sotto?
 * ... that Van Buren State Park in Ohio has family, large group, and equestrian camping areas, the latter with manure bins and picket lines?


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


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

19 December 2008

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


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


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


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

18 December 2008

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


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


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


 * 05:16, 18 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the leader of the French Garden Gnome Liberation Front was given a suspended sentence after the group "liberated" over 150 garden gnomes (example pictured) in 1997?
 * ... that Tommy Dunderdale is the only Australian-born player to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Canada?
 * ... that the M34 cluster bomb was the first major U.S. chemical weapon designed to deliver sarin nerve agent?
 * ... that the Dravidian parties extensively used Tamil cinema for their propaganda?
 * ... that Olav Rytter, a Slavic philologist who fled German-invaded Norway in 1940, returned in 1944 to participate in the liberation of Northern Norway?
 * ... that the Monumento al Ahogado, a Uruguayan landmark, was completed in only six days, even though the sculptor was given an entire summer to work on it?
 * ... that Greek singer Katy Garbi's new album Kainourgia Ego is the last release on her current contract with Sony BMG, which has in total lasted almost 20 years?
 * ... that Poland's only "official" ghost town, K%C5%82omino, used to be a base of both the Wehrmacht and the Soviet Army?

17 December 2008

 * 23:11, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that no type specimen of the Lord Howe Island Pigeon exists, as it was described from a painting (pictured) by George Raper?
 * ... that during the trial for the Toa Payoh ritual murders in Singapore, Howard Cashin received death threats for defending the accused, Adrian Lim?
 * ... that the Philadelphia Phillies was the name of a football team in the first National Football League?
 * ... that operatic soprano Romilda Pantaleoni sang the role of Desdemona in the original 1887 production of Giuseppe Verdi's Otello?
 * ... that Charter 08, a declaration signed by hundreds of Chinese intellectuals, was modeled on Czechoslovakian Charter 77?
 * ... that Archbishop D'Arcy of Armagh was a member of the Senate of Southern Ireland and a supporter of the Eugenics movement?
 * ... that Gene Krupa was asked to be in the 1947 race film Boy! What a Girl! when he stopped by to visit cast member Sid Catlett on the film's set?
 * ... that Norwegian jurist and peace activist Fredrik Heffermehl claimed that 45 percent of Nobel Peace Prize awards after 1945 are "illegal"?


 * 17:06, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the sculpture Berlin (pictured), created as a testament to East and West Berlin being close yet separate, was commissioned for the city's 750th anniversary?
 * ... that The New York Times obituary for actor/filmmaker Spencer Williams made no mention of his work as a film director?
 * ... that the Italian Royal Navy's Indomito-class destroyer of destroyers were the first large Italian destroyers and the first to be equipped with steam turbines?
 * ... that Tang Dynasty general Liu Ji was poisoned to death by his son Liu Zong while campaigning against the rebel general Wang Chengzong?
 * ... that WEPS in Elgin Area School District U46 is the oldest educational radio station in Illinois, USA?
 * ... that over a ten-year period, Olaus Michael Schmidt served as Norwegian Minister of Justice for four non-consecutive terms?
 * ... that according to a legend, the Eliseyevs hid their treasures in the walls of Chicherin House before they fled Russia after the October Revolution in 1917, but this treasure was never found?
 * ... that Mangaloreans hold a Guinness world record for non-stop singing for 40 hours?


 * 11:01, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Australian inventions include the boomerang, didgeridoo, black box flight data recorder, Vegemite, spray-on skin, and bionic ear (pictured)?
 * ... that "Johnny Mac" McDonald was elected mayor of Thomasville, Alabama, in 1976 while working at radio station WJDB-FM as announcer and account executive?
 * ... that Namibian Deputy Defence Minister Victor Simunja received military training in both the United States and Soviet Union?
 * ... that United States Conference of Mayors was founded at the Mayflower Hotel on the eve of the inauguration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt as U.S. President in 1933?
 * ... that Peter Harboe Castberg is credited with building Christiania Bank og Kreditkasse into one of the leading banks in Norway?
 * ... that Froudacity was an 1889 polemic which argued for self-government in the British West Indies?
 * ... that John Fuller, who led a Union Army division at the Battle of Atlanta and participated in Sherman's March to the Sea, was one of the few foreign-born generals in the American Civil War?
 * ... that a technician at the Beijing Film Laboratory refused to print the film or return the negatives for sex scenes from Curiosity Kills the Cat, having been punished over a similar matter?


 * 04:56, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that male Andean Cocks-of-the-rock (pictured) gather in a lek to put on a competitive mating performance?
 * ... that James Mill spent twelve years writing The History of British India from 1806 to 1818, but never visited the country?
 * ... that in 1799, the distillery adjacent to George Washington's Gristmill produced 11,000 gallons of whiskey along with apple, peach, and persimmon brandy?
 * ... that the term "no waris" in the Papua New Guinean language Tok Pisin is derived from the Australian English "no worries"?
 * ... that because he had no family, Judge George Muter was invited to live with Thomas Todd, his fellow justice on the Kentucky Court of Appeals, following Muter's retirement from the bench?
 * ... that construction of Mughal Road in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir was opposed because it impeded the movement of the Markhor goat?
 * ... that protests by the New York Board of Rabbis and others led to changes in Alec Guinness's portrayal of Fagin in the U.S. version of the 1948 film Oliver Twist, which was not released there until 1951?
 * ... that in 2008, almost 100 illegal fish cages were removed from the Pansipit River in the Philippines?

16 December 2008

 * 22:51, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Rod Blagojevich fraud cases (Blagojevich pictured) caused the Illinois General Assembly to consider erasing the Illinois Governor's statutory power to appoint a United States Senate replacement for Barack Obama?
 * ... that after being deposed by his brother Abdul Hamid II, Ottoman sultan Murad V was detained in the Malta Pavilion?
 * ... that, at 73 years old, Ken Mink became the oldest person ever to score in a college basketball game?
 * ... that in 2018, when the Follo Line is completed in Norway, it will reduce travel time between Oslo and Ski from 22 to 11 minutes?
 * ... that Hiberno-Latin poet Colman nepos Cracavist wrote the first known poem about Saint Brigid?
 * ... that the Vanity Ballroom, an intact dance hall that hosted the popular big bands of the Swing Era, billed itself as "Detroit's most beautiful dance rendezvous"?
 * ... that male and female Sternarchogiton nattereri knifefish are so different that males were thought to be members of a different genus for 40 years?
 * ... that American painter Leon Dabo was a spy in World War I?


 * 16:46, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the name of the Lasiognathus genus of anglerfish (L. amphirhampus pictured), distinctive for its huge upper jaw, derives from the Greek for "hairy jaw"?
 * ... that Charlie Bowman was a major influence on the distinctive fiddle sound that helped shape and develop early country music in the 1920s and 1930s?
 * ... that the Royal Navy repair ship HMS Artifex previously served as a liner for Cunard and as an armed merchant cruiser?
 * ... that during construction of the church that now houses the Walters Cultural Arts Center in Hillsboro, Oregon, the church was given all the rock they needed for US$1,000 as long as they hauled it away?
 * ... that Baruch Steinberg was the Chief Rabbi of the Polish Army during the German invasion of Poland in 1939, and died a year later as a Soviet prisoner of war in the Katyn massacre?
 * ... that although it was the tallest building in Perth, Western Australia, for most of the 1960s, Citibank House is now only the 26th tallest in the city?
 * ... that after Frederick Gottwald lost his position as director of the Cleveland Institute of Art, he got into a fistfight with his successor?


 * 10:41, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Congo, a chimpanzee who made over 400 paintings (example pictured), would scream if a painting was taken away from him before he was finished?
 * ... that American general Robert S. Beightler was the only World War II National Guard general to have commanded his division for the length of the war?
 * ... that Australian pop/rock band 1927, whose debut album ...ish sold multi-platinum, tried for a year to get a recording contract?
 * ... that Mark Rosenberg, described as "one of Hollywood's baby moguls", was only 35 years old when he succeeded Robert Shapiro as President of Worldwide Theatrical Production at Warner Bros.?
 * ... that Ryszard Reiff was the only member of the Polish Council of State to vote against the implementation of martial law in Poland in 1981?
 * ... that since the 1920s, the Whittier Hotel in Detroit, Michigan, has hosted Horace Dodge, Eleanor Roosevelt, Mae West, Frank Sinatra, and The Beatles?
 * ... that communist politician K. Ramani became the speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the Indian state Tamil Nadu in 1989?


 * 04:36, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Chemical Agent Identification Sets formerly used by the U.S. military included bottles of sulfur mustard (pictured) used to purposely contaminate terrain and equipment for training?
 * ... that of over 1,000 stone Buddha statues that once existed at the Korean Buddhist temple Unjusa, only 91 remain intact?
 * ... that stick candy, a form of hard candy with a colorful, barber pole-like spiral design, has a long history in the United States, dating to at least as early as 1837?
 * ... that English businessman David Ross was named one of the 100 richest people in the United Kingdom by The Sunday Times?
 * ... that the 14"/50 caliber gun was slated to be the main armament for the Lexington-class battlecruiser, but that class was redesigned in 1917?
 * ... that Keizō Tsukamoto set a Guinness World Record by creating the cover art for more than 1,900 issues of Weekly Manga Times starting in 1970?
 * ... that Birket Israel, once the largest reservoir in Jerusalem, is now a parking lot?
 * ... that while filming 1991's Barton Fink, the Coen brothers were contacted by an animal-rights group concerned about their treatment of mosquitoes?

15 December 2008

 * 22:31, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that celebrity chef Jamie Oliver (pictured) narrates the Nintendo DS cooking video game What's Cooking? with Jamie Oliver?
 * ... that the design of the U.S. anti-crop E77 balloon bomb was based on the design of the World War II Japanese fire balloon?
 * ... that wood infected by the "green elfcup" fungus, species Chlorociboria aeruginascens, is used in the manufacture of decorative inlaid woodwork like Tunbridge ware and parquetry?
 * ... that in January 1939, William Rosenwald and Rabbis Abba Hillel Silver and Jonah Wise combined the organizations they each led to form the United Jewish Appeal for Refugees and Overseas Needs?
 * ... that children's book illustrator Walter Crane was the first President of the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, founded in 1887 to showcase the decorative arts?
 * ... that Cromemco's Dazzler was the first commercial graphics card for microcomputers, and was widely used for displaying weather forecasts in the early 1980s?
 * ... that Fairview Creek in Oregon was once a tributary of the Columbia River, but was diverted to the Columbia Slough in the early 20th century?
 * ... that the Battle of the Severn in 1655 in Annapolis, Maryland, was closely related to the conflicts of the English Civil War, which had concluded four years earlier in England?


 * 16:26, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that when the Woodside Plaza (pictured) opened in 2004, it was the first high-rise office building to be constructed in Perth, Western Australia, in eight years?
 * ... that Peyton Short may have been responsible for the break-up of the first marriage of U.S. President Andrew Jackson's wife Rachel?
 * ... that coroners' juries in English inquests can bring in an open verdict that confirms a death is suspicious without specifying how it came about?
 * ... that Bill Paparian, who visited Cuba while mayor of Pasadena, California, was reported to admire both Che Guevara and the U.S. Marine Corps?
 * ... that the failed marriage of John Milton inspired his divorce tracts: Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce, Judgement of Martin Bucer, Tetrachordon, and Colasterion?
 * ... that in Joliet, Illinois, population declined during the decade before Arthur Schultz became mayor and has nearly doubled since?
 * ... that the Khedive Palace in Istanbul, Turkey, once a mansion for Ottoman governors, now serves as an upscale restaurant?
 * ... that English violinist John Lenton wrote one of the earliest extant treatises on violin playing?


 * 10:21, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that "grand design" spiral galaxy NGC 6118 (pictured) containing Supernova 2004dk is nicknamed the "Blinking Galaxy" for its tendency to flick in and out of view with different eye positions?
 * ... that the chance purchase of a $15 Yoruba carving in Hamburg by Warren M. Robbins led to the establishment of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African Art?
 * ... that live-line working involves making contact with a power line that may be energized up to 1,150,000 volts?
 * ... that award-winning television editor Walter Balderson was the only TV cameraman inside the White House for the 1953 Inauguration Day meeting between U.S. President Truman and President-elect Eisenhower?
 * ... that the African city of Careysburg, Liberia, hosted a large transmitter for Voice of America, the official external broadcasting service of the United States federal government?
 * ... that the Taping river is the first tributary of Myanmar's chief river, the Irrawaddy?
 * ... that Executive Order 13128 led to U.S. State Department rules outlining criminal penalties for violations of the Chemical Weapons Convention?


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

14 December 2008

 * 22:10, 14 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Romanesque St. Charles Borromeo Church (pictured) in Detroit, Michigan, serves a parish that was established to minister to Belgian immigrants to the city?
 * ... that the Australian plague locust can form swarms infesting areas up to 50 km2?
 * ... that S. A. K. Durga is the first Asian to have written a book on ethnomusicology?
 * ... that the 1948 Oscar Micheaux-directed film The Betrayal was the first race film to have its premiere in a Broadway theatre in New York City?
 * ... that British motorcycle pioneer Eugene Goodman joined his family's business, Velocette motorcycles, only after his car-making business failed in 1916?
 * ... that in 1979, ColorGraphics Weather Systems pioneered the use of color computer graphics in television weather forecasts, using the Apple II computer?
 * ... that Greek singer Paschalis Terzis's most recent album Mia Nihta Zoriki was certified gold the day it was released?
 * ... that Jim Foster and Madeline D. Davis were the first openly LGBT people to address a major U.S. national political convention when they spoke to the 1972 Democratic National Convention?


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


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


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

13 December 2008

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


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


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


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

12 December 2008

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


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


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

11 December 2008

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


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


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


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

10 December 2008

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


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


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

9 December 2008

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


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


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

8 December 2008

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


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

7 December 2008

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


 * 16:00, 7 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Robert Harrison, publisher of the gossip magazine Confidential (cover pictured), was once arrested for allegedly taking pornographic photos at a golf course?
 * ... that although construction of two submarines each from the U-48, U-50, and U-52 classes of the Austro-Hungarian Navy began in 1916, none were completed by the end of World War I two years later?
 * ... that the Jews of Massena, New York, were falsely accused of the kidnap and ritual murder of a Christian girl in September 1928 in an incident known as the Massena blood libel?
 * ... that Sri Lanka Army officer Lt. Col. Lalith Jayasinghe was killed while leading a special forces team on a reconnaissance mission behind enemy lines?
 * ... that Unverricht-Lundborg disease is the most common form of an uncommon group of genetic epilepsy disorders called progressive myoclonic epilepsy?
 * ... that one of the most gifted portrait painters of the 17th century is known as Cornelis Janssens, although he never used that name to sign his paintings?
 * ... that the Woodland Public Library is the oldest, and one of the last functioning Carnegie-funded libraries in California?
 * ... that footballer Johnny Warsap was signed by Gillingham F.C. after he played against the club for a team representing the Royal Berkshire Regiment?


 * 09:55, 7 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that golf in Scotland (example pictured) flourished despite "the fut bal ande the golf" (football and golf) being "vtterly criyt done" (utterly condemned) by a 1457 Act of the Parliament of Scotland?
 * ... that the regulations issued by an outgoing U.S. president's administration got the name midnight regulations when a record quantity of new rules was issued during Jimmy Carter's last months in office?
 * ... that the Anglo-Norman Latin text De obsessione Dunelmi is the first-known history of an English earldom?
 * ... that secondary students can take Yup'ik studies in the Yupiit School District, which is located in the Bethel Census Area of Alaska?
 * ... that Tytus Filipowicz, nominally the first Polish ambassador to Georgia, was captured during the Soviet invasion and ultimately organized the first Polish embassy to the Soviet Union?
 * ... that the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club developed some of the earliest safe sex education material in the United States?
 * ... that the Valley of Mexico has been one of the most heavily populated places on the planet for almost two millennia?
 * ... that the ideal length of a train melody is seven seconds?


 * 03:50, 7 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Royal Page Davidson, son of Northwestern Military Academy founder Harlan Page Davidson, invented the first U.S. military car and fully armored car (pictured) as well as a lightly armored car?
 * ... that Edwin Donayre, commander of the Peruvian Army, sparked an international controversy when a video surfaced in the media showing him making anti-Chilean remarks?
 * ... that the Central Commission of German Trade Unions organized 75 percent of unionized German workers in Czechoslovakia in 1921?
 * ... that Spanish footballer Paco Bienzobas was the first person to win the Pichichi Trophy, awarded to the top scorer in La Liga?
 * ... that recent restoration efforts were said to have "breathed new life" into Ulsoor Lake, one of the largest lakes in Bangalore?
 * ... that Norwegian illustrator Harald Damsleth was convicted for treason in 1950, for having drawn Nazi propaganda posters during World War II?
 * ... that Kamilo Beach on the island of Hawaii, along with 2.8 mi of adjacent shoreline, is considered one of the dirtiest beaches in the world because of accumulated marine debris from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?

6 December 2008

 * 21:45, 6 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the British Bulldog revolver (replica pictured) was first produced by Webley & Scott in England and later copied by gunmakers in Continental Europe and the United States?
 * ... that David Rubinger was the first photographer to receive the Israel Prize?
 * ... that the Moonlight Brewing Company sells its product only in kegs because the brewmaster believes the process of bottling beer "is cruel for the beer and a logistical nightmare"?
 * ... that Ian Chapman was the first former pupil of The Football Association's School of Excellence to play in The Football League?
 * ... that Aleksandr Pushkin's 1827 poem The Gypsies inspired some eighteen operas and six ballets, including Rachmaninoff's Aleko?
 * ... that radio station WHAL in Phenix City, Alabama, used to broadcast from a defunct airport terminal?
 * ... that so many people became custom harvesters in China in the late 20th century that it was no longer possible for them to generate a profit?
 * ... that during the Dead Rabbits Riot of 1857, residents of Mulberry Street in New York City were forced to barricade themselves in their homes?


 * 15:41, 6 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the three-story tall Torah Ark (pictured) of the Great Synagogue in Włodawa, Poland, is decorated with carvings of 18th-century musical instruments to illustrate one of the Psalms?
 * ... that Emerson Rodwell, a former captain of the Tasmanian cricket team, scored 11,542 runs and took 331 wickets in his club career, as well as earning the Military Medal in Borneo during World War II?
 * ... that when reporter George Crile compared San Francisco to Sodom and Gomorrah when interviewing Dianne Feinstein for the CBS documentary Gay Power, Gay Politics, she threw him out of her office?
 * ... that the 19th Golden Melody Awards ceremony in Taiwan featured Canadian recording artist Daniel Powter as a guest presenter?
 * ... that Confederate General John W. Frazer surrendered the Cumberland Gap during the American Civil War without a fight?
 * ... that although only 170 cars were carried between Lympne and Le Touquet airfields in 1948, by 1951 the air ferry service was so successful that over 13,000 vehicles were carried that year?
 * ... that the Israeli government is considering recognizing Indian nanny Sandra Samuel as a Righteous among the Nations?
 * ... that the Ulster cherry is named after Ulster County, New York, a region where sweet cherries are produced commercially?


 * 09:35, 6 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the ingredients for facials recommended in Medicamina Faciei Femineae by Ovid (pictured) more than 2,000 years ago, are still used in the production of modern cosmetics?
 * ... that Midnight Madness is an annual pep rally-like event that celebrates the first day that U.S. college basketball teams are allowed to practice?
 * ... that the 1971 restoration of Westbury Court Garden, a 17th-century water garden in Gloucestershire, only used plants that had been introduced to the British Isles before 1700?
 * ... that at 700 days, Rob Van Dam had the longest ECW Television Championship reign?
 * ... that Jose C. Abriol was the first person to translate the Catholic Bible into Tagalog?
 * ... that the Austro-Hungarian U-27 class of submarines had more members than any other Austro-Hungarian Navy submarine class?
 * ... that after retiring as a footballer, Mike Trusson worked as marketing manager for a football-themed restaurant in London?
 * ... that one bacterial strain of Streptomyces griseus has the capacity to produce up to 34 different secondary metabolites including antibiotics?
 * ... that one of the Roman soldiers in the Mesa Arizona Easter Pageant Jesus the Christ was played by NFL offensive lineman Deuce Lutui?


 * 03:30, 6 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the city of Plymouth (pictured) is the largest settlement in Devon, England, with a population of 240,720 in the 2001 census?
 * ... that using the pseudonym "Tanta", Doris Dungey blogged on Calculated Risk about the U.S. housing bubble, including a 13-article series on the mortgage industry called The Compleat ÜberNerd?
 * ... that ideational apraxia causes people to lose the ability to use everyday objects correctly, as they can no longer relate the object's purpose to the actions required to perform a task?
 * ... that Loyal B. Stearns served in the Oregon House of Representatives after his father served there, but before his father served in the Oregon State Senate?
 * ... that Clewer Mill Stream, a backwater of the River Thames, used to be out of bounds to boys from nearby Eton College and a punishment of 100 lines could be handed down for going there?
 * ... that after the French city of Metz was captured by the U.S. Army in the World War II Battle of Metz, German units in nearby isolated forts continued to hold out?
 * ... that historical structures in Yellagonga Regional Park include the City of Wanneroo's oldest residence and an early winery?
 * ... that the 1947 film Juke Joint was considered a lost film until a print was located in Tyler, Texas, in 1983?

5 December 2008

 * 21:25, 5 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that plans for the Royal Danish Navy's 1911 Havmanden-class submarines (pictured) were seized by the Austro-Hungarian Navy during the First World War and used as the basis for their own U-20-class submarines?
 * ... that Charles Ranken and Lord Randolph Churchill founded the Oxford University Chess Club in April 1869, with Ranken becoming its first president?
 * ... that typical symptoms of Urbach-Wiethe disease, a rare autosomal recessive disease, are a hoarse voice and beaded papules around the eyelids?
 * ... that what became Monster Worldwide, the parent company of the Monster.com jobs website, was started by Andrew McKelvey in 1967 as a Yellow Pages advertising company?
 * ... that although its design and construction are now appreciated for being modern and futuristic, the Westland Dreadnought monoplane crashed and was crippled on its inaugural flight?
 * ... that the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway Scandal forced the resignation of Alberta's first Premier, Alexander Cameron Rutherford?
 * ... that Singaporean backstroke swimmer Yip Pin Xiu, who has muscular dystrophy, won a gold and a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Paralympics, setting two world records in the process?


 * 15:20, 5 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that during the Crusader era in Palestine, the village of Kafr Lam (fortress pictured) was sold to the Hospitallers by the lord of Caesarea for 16,000 besants?
 * ... that Imero Fiorentino has served as a lighting designer for every U.S. President since Dwight D. Eisenhower?
 * ... that the Barony of Ladyland was established by a poet and fervent Roman Catholic who was imprisoned for plotting to re-establish the Catholic faith in Scotland through a Habsburg Spanish invasion?
 * ... that Tadeusz Pyka was appointed in 1980 to lead a Polish government commission to negotiate with strikers at Gdańsk, despite vowing that he would have "nothing to do" with the strikers' main representative body?
 * ... that when the Worcester Common Outlets shopping mall was completed in 1971, it had the world's largest parking garage?
 * ... that Cyril Pullin designed the first successful British helicopter and his son was the pilot for its first flight in June 1938?
 * ... that gemstone irradiation processes enable the creation of certain gemstone colors that do not exist or are extremely rare in nature?
 * ... that King Charles II rewarded Captain Richard Haddock for his actions in the Battle of Solebay by giving him a hat?


 * 09:15, 5 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the orchid Odontoglossum crispum (pictured), first discovered in the Andes Mountains in 1841, was highly sought after in Victorian England, when varieties sold at auction for more than 150 guineas?
 * ... that Hurricane Holly was the first Atlantic hurricane by this name, having replaced Hattie after the 1961 season?
 * ... that Antonín Dvořák arranged his Romantic Pieces from a trio he originally wrote to play with one of his mother's tenants?
 * ... that the Hawaii State Legislature declared October 29, 2005, "Samuel Kamakau Day," in recognition of the Hawaiian scholar who wrote over 200 articles about Hawaiian history?
 * ... that the Prague trade union centre Odborové sdružení českoslovanské was founded in 1897, as Czech unionists considered that the Austrian unions were neglecting them?
 * ... that the USS Timbalier, a Barnegat class seaplane tender, served as a postwar cruise ship until 1989?
 * ... that the first two steamboats on the Kootenay River sank when they were overloaded with supplies by the Northwest Mounted Police en route to quell an uprising?
 * ... that Japanese jūdōka Shokichi Natsui became the first World Judo Champion in 1956?


 * 03:10, 5 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the core group of paintings in the Orleans Collection (a Rembrandt pictured) remained together for two centuries in Prague, Stockholm, Rome, Paris and London?
 * ... that the body of Spence Broughton remained hanging in a gibbet on Attercliffe Common, near Sheffield, for 36 years after his execution for robbery in 1792?
 * ... that the oak mazegill fungus Daedalea quercina has been used as a horse-comb and as a bee anesthetic?
 * ... that Mahatma Gandhi was imprisoned at Sitabuldi Fort in Nagpur from April 10 to May 15 in 1923?
 * ... that Anne-Lise Seip was appointed at the Institute of History, University of Oslo in 1975, the same year as her husband Jens Arup Seip retired from his professorship there?
 * ... that Rajendra Prasad was the first President of India and the only one to have held the office for two terms?
 * ... that after Caltech eliminated its meteorology department, which was founded and led by Irving P. Krick, most of the staff left to join Krick's private weather business?
 * ... that overchoice refers to the situation where when faced with too many choices, people become indecisive and unhappy?

4 December 2008

 * 20:45, 4 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Alexander Pushkin's The Bronze Horseman (illustration pictured) has been described as "the best poem written anywhere in the 19th century"?
 * ... that before becoming a professor of the sociology of law, Vilhelm Aubert was a member of the Norwegian anti-Nazi resistance group XU?
 * ... that Serenity High School, the oldest public substance-abuse recovery high school in Texas, has served students from over 25 area high schools since opening in 1999?
 * ... that the 1932 National Hunger March, the largest hunger march in the 1920s and 1930s, led to days of widespread violence in central London?
 * ... that the bǎ construction in Chinese grammar has been used to perform neuroimaging studies of language processing and to evaluate theories of construction grammar?
 * ... that William Vaux, 3rd Baron Vaux was imprisoned and fined £1,000 by Queen Elizabeth for harbouring the Jesuit Edmund Campion?
 * ... that Paul McCartney's condition for guest starring in The Simpsons episode "Lisa the Vegetarian" was that Lisa, who becomes a vegetarian in the episode, remain one for the rest of the series?
 * ... that in 1865, Dr Edward William Pritchard, who poisoned his wife and mother-in-law, became the last person to be publicly executed in Glasgow?


 * 14:40, 4 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Erie Land Light (pictured) was the first lighthouse built by the United States Government on the Great Lakes?
 * ... that Adam Stanisław Grabowski, Prince-Bishop of Warmia, was a patron of the arts and a representative of the Catholic Enlightenment in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth?
 * ... that the Durham Performing Arts Center opened in November 2008 as the largest performing arts center in the Carolinas, at a cost of US$48 million?
 * ... that the exoperidium of the Bovista plumbea peels off at maturation in hot, dry conditions?
 * ... that before serving in the Union Army during the American Civil War, Brigadier General Stephen Gardner Champlin had his own law practice in Albany, New York?
 * ... that the Camp of Great Poland was an interwar fascist-influenced right-wing organization that aimed at toppling the Sanacja-dominated Polish government?
 * ... that Bob Blake was voted the most popular ice hockey player in Buffalo, New York, in 1941?
 * ... that Ingrid Semmingsen was the first female professor of history in Norway?


 * 08:35, 4 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that due to the subtly non-local nature of quantum reality, apparent telepathy can be achieved in games between separated players (example pictured)?
 * ... that Polish sculptor Maria Albin Boniecki practiced his craft even when imprisoned in the Nazi Majdanek concentration camp?
 * ... that the mid-19th century stone arch Bridge No. 3 over Plunketts Creek in Pennsylvania, USA, is listed on the Historic American Engineering Record even though it was destroyed in a 1996 flood?
 * ... that James Godkin was simultaneously the chief editor of the Daily Express newspaper and the Dublin correspondent of The Times of London?
 * ... that although Chuck Daly is a Basketball Hall of Famer now, when he served as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers he had a 9–32 record and was fired mid-season?
 * ... that Edward Vaux, 4th Baron Vaux of Harrowden did not marry Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Howard, until 27 years after plans for their marriage were abandoned in the wake of the Gunpowder Plot?
 * ... that in 1954, Israel walked out of the Israel-Jordan Mixed Armistice Commission after the commission failed to condemn Jordan for the Scorpion Pass Massacre?
 * ... that mathematician Karen Vogtmann co-authored a paper which produced a method for quantifying the difference and computing the distance between two phylogenetic trees?


 * 02:30, 4 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that forage fish (anchovy pictured), which feed the world's great marine predators, are now being removed from the oceans on an industrial scale and fed instead to farmed fish, pigs, and poultry?
 * ... that it now requires 250 employees and costs US$5-9 million to open a new location of the six-year-old America's Incredible Pizza Company?
 * ... that after executing Caesar Gallus, officer Apodemius grabbed his shoes, ran quickly from Pula to Mediolanum, and threw them at the feet of Roman Emperor Constantius II to prove his cousin's death?
 * ... that as a result of the Saxon Brother War and the subsequent divisions of land, Saxony was no longer one of the most powerful German states?
 * ... that Wessagusset Colony was the site of Miles Standish's real-life attack against Native Americans as depicted in Longfellow's poem The Courtship of Miles Standish?
 * ... that each country who participated in MGP Nordic 2008 entered two songs, rather than one, to make the contest bigger?
 * ... that the National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port, in Cheshire, England, contains the largest collection of canal boats in the world?
 * ... that the campus of the now-defunct University of Plano included a pagoda that had been the Malaysian pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair?

3 December 2008

 * 20:25, 3 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Panamanian Night Monkey (pictured) is one of the few monogamous monkey species?
 * ... that Albert Einstein, according to writer Illana Katz, may have had autism?
 * ... that the title of the 1944 race film Go Down Death derives from a poem by the African American writer James Weldon Johnson?
 * ... that Shigeko Higashikuni was the elder sister of Akihito, the reigning Emperor of Japan?
 * ... that the German football club Dansk Gymnastik Forening Flensborg, founded in 1923, is a club of the Danish minority of Southern Schleswig?
 * ... that the career of Tang Dynasty official Zhao Jing was launched after he was praised for his petition for frugality in the funerals of Emperors Xuanzong and Suzong?
 * ... that the Royal Navy ship of the line HMS Agamemnon (1781) ran aground in both the first and second Battles of Copenhagen, in 1801 and 1807, respectively?
 * ... that John F. Kelly ' s 2003 promotion to brigadier general while in Iraq was the first promotion of a U.S. Marine Corps colonel in a combat zone since Chesty Puller's 1951 Korean War promotion?


 * 14:20, 3 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that a St. Andrew's cross (pictured) was printed in four positions in place of a stamp on each sheet of the 1850 Austrian stamps so that the price would be an even number of Gulden?
 * ... that the pre-Columbian ruins of Teopanzolco in Mexico are said to have been rediscovered during the Mexican Revolution when an artillery emplacement shook loose some dirt from the stonework?
 * ... that Byron's 1819 poem Mazeppa inspired paintings by the French artists Eugène Delacroix, Claude-Joseph Vernet, and Théodore Géricault?
 * ... that, due to his considerable oratory skill, U.S. Representative Richard Menefee of Kentucky was called "the young Patrick Henry of the West"?
 * ... that south Bulgarian builders, bricklayers, and masons once spoke Meshterski, a secret language that includes many loanwords and metaphors?
 * ... that the military career of Australian Air Marshal Sir Alister Murdoch spanned 40 years, including seaplane flying in the 1930s and a tenure as Chief of the Air Staff during the Vietnam War?
 * ... that Wahsatch, Utah, established in 1868, was the first of many camps set up in Utah by the Union Pacific Railroad in the construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad?


 * 08:15, 3 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Kasim Reed, a 2009 Atlanta mayoral candidate, is known for keeping the battle emblem of the Confederate States of America (pictured) from being considered for inclusion on the Georgia State Flag?
 * ... that the Fountain of Qayt Bay, built by the Mamluks in the fifteenth century, has a large reservoir beneath it?
 * ... that Robert Howlett, photographer of the iconic picture of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, died from exposure to the arsenic and mercury used in the photographic process?
 * ... that Congregation Beth Israel, the planned site of a Jewish heritage museum in Scottsdale, Arizona, had been used as the First Chinese Baptist Church and the Central Baptist Church?
 * ... that despite their names, the revolver cartridge .476 Enfield, .455 Webley, .476 Eley, and .455 Colt all interchange?
 * ... that Diana Mitford had an appendectomy on the spare-bedroom table of the Mitford sisters' childhood home, Asthall Manor near Burford in Oxfordshire, England?
 * ... that French-designed cannons, manufactured in both the North and the South, were the primary artillery weapons of the American Civil War?
 * ... that MV Biscaglia was the 97th ship to be hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia this year?


 * 02:10, 3 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Great Fire of 1922 in the Timiskaming District, Ontario (aftermath pictured), was called one of the ten worst natural disasters in Canadian history?
 * ... that checkers champion Richard Fortman learned the game from his father, a telegraphist who would play the game with other operators by memorizing the board to avoid detection?
 * ... that rioting in 2001 involving Christians and Muslims in Jos, Nigeria, caused over 1,000 deaths along with many buildings, cars, and people being burned?
 * ... that the Fremont Canning Company, owned by Frank Daniel Gerber and Daniel Frank Gerber and known for its Gerber Baby logo, pioneered the commercial baby food industry in the U.S.?
 * ... that three years after the Battle of Marcelae in 756 AD, Constantine V invaded Bulgaria once more but suffered a crushing defeat in the Battle of the Rishki Pass?
 * ... that Pat Austin was the first drag racer to win two eliminators at an NHRA event?
 * ... that the simulation of medical procedures was first used by anaesthetists to reduce the rate of accidents?

2 December 2008

 * 20:06, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Riccardo Cassin made the first ascent of the Walker Spur of the Grandes Jorasses (pictured) without initially knowing exactly where the mountain was?
 * ... that the first guidebook to the English Lake District was written in 1778 by Catholic priest Thomas West?
 * ... that 1. FC Nuremberg reached every final of the Bavarian under 19 football championship from 1967 to 1994?
 * ... that Robert J. Morris lost a bid for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate from New Jersey in 1958, and then ran for the Senate in Texas in 1964 and 1970, losing both times to George H. W. Bush?
 * ... that English landscape architect Edward Milner designed three public parks in Preston, Lancashire, as a scheme for relieving unemployment caused by the cotton famine in the 1860s?
 * ... that during the Battle of Missionary Ridge, Confederate General James Argyle Smith was shot through both thighs and survived?
 * ... that Women For Sobriety, a group founded in 1976 as an alternative to twelve-step addiction recovery groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous, had over 200 chapters as of 1998?
 * ... that Air Marshal Charles Read broke with tradition by refusing to sit for the usual portrait painted of retiring RAAF Chiefs of the Air Staff?


 * 14:01, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that California hunter Seth Kinman (pictured), who claimed to have killed over 800 grizzly bears, gave several U.S. Presidents chairs made from grizzly bears and elkhorns?
 * ... that Hindi is the language used for educational and official matters in Bihari culture?
 * ... that the Westchester Tornado of July 2006 was the strongest tornado recorded in Westchester County, New York?
 * ... that Nicolas Sarrabat, a French scientist and Jesuit, conducted experiments on the circulation of plants, argued that magnetism was caused by a fire at the Earth's centre, and discovered the largest comet ever recorded?
 * ... that the winning cup for the European club champion of football is now kept by the final winners?
 * ... that Rabbi Asher Lopatin supported a Chicago ban on foie gras on the grounds that the Torah prohibits cruelty to animals, noting that "chopped liver is good, but foie gras is bad"?
 * ... that the Royal Navy ship of the line HMS Edgar (1779) was forced to fight unsupported for a time during the Battle of Copenhagen after the next ship in line, HMS Agamemnon (1781), ran aground?
 * ... that Gershom Sizomu of Uganda is the first native-born black rabbi in Africa?


 * 07:50, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Ueli Maurer (pictured), the former president of the nationalist Swiss People's Party, is the frontrunner in the upcoming Swiss governmental election?
 * ... that the first Pilgrim settlement in Massachusetts was on the site of a former Patuxet Indian village, all of whose residents had died in epidemics before the Pilgrims arrived?
 * ... that the Nariman House, which was home to a Chabad house, was a Mumbai landmark prior to falling victim to the November 2008 Mumbai attacks?
 * ... that in 2006, National Park Community College received the largest cash donation in the history of Arkansas community colleges?
 * ... that when it was completed in 1959, the Narrows Bridge in Perth, Western Australia, was the largest precast prestressed concrete bridge in the world?
 * ... that Norman Lear's 1977 soap opera spoof All That Glitters featured Linda Gray as the first recurring transgender character on American television?
 * ... that species of "cannonball fungi" (genus Sphaerobolus) may forcibly eject their spores a horizontal distance of 6 m?
 * ... that the Ineligibility Clause of the U.S. Constitution places limitations upon the ability of members of the U.S. Congress to serve in other branches of the U.S. Federal Government?


 * 01:46, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Handlebar Club (member pictured), a gentleman's club for those with handlebar moustaches, considers itself at war with a society that demands people choose "the bland, the boring and the generic"?
 * ... that St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in the Old Town area of Alexandria, Virginia, was designed by Benjamin Latrobe, the second architect of the United States Capitol?
 * ... that Mount Hermon was captured by Syria on the first day of the Yom Kippur War and recaptured by Israel fifteen days later?
 * ... that the Beverly Hills Diet, which starts with ten days of eating nothing but fruit, was labeled by doctors in 1981 as "perhaps the worst entry in the diet-fad derby"?
 * ... that the police shooting of Rahul Raj, a BEST bus hijacker in Mumbai, India, sparked nationwide protests and discussions?
 * ... that 13 baseball players Fred McAlister scouted for the St. Louis Cardinals became the team's first-round draft picks, and 12 made the major leagues?
 * ... that after organist Dudley Savage ' s radio request programme was cancelled in 1968, the BBC faced a protest described as "perhaps the biggest demonstration of its kind"?
 * ... that four former head coaches of the NBA franchise currently known as the Washington Wizards are members of the Basketball Hall of Fame as players?

1 December 2008

 * 19:32, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Esma Sultana Mansion (pictured), a multipurpose event venue in Istanbul, Turkey, looks ruined because only its interior was reconstructed after a 1975 fire?
 * ... that puffballs of fungal genus Bovista have been used in homeopathic medicine to treat a wide variety of ailments?
 * ... that U.S. journalist John Whitaker received the Italian War Cross for his coverage of the Italian conquest of Ethiopia but was expelled from Italy in 1941 for critical reports on the fascist regime?
 * ... that Sir Kirby Laing served as Deputy Lieutenant of both London and Hertfordshire?
 * ... that the Sunburst community, a Southern California commune combining elements of mysticism, Christianity and Hopi rituals, was once one of the largest shippers of organic products in the U.S.?
 * ... that Hesketh Hesketh-Prichard was an explorer, adventurer, big-game hunter, international cricketer, novelist and marksman who founded the British Army's sniping school during the First World War?
 * ... that Mount Silverheels was named after a popular dance-hall girl in the now-deserted ghost town Buckskin Joe, Colorado?
 * ... that in spite of her great reputation in Europe, operatic soprano Lucienne Bréval had limited success in America as critics thought her singing lacked polish?


 * 13:26, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Florizel von Reuter (pictured), a child prodigy on the violin, later developed psychic interests and wrote books describing communications with dead composers, including Paganini and Rimsky-Korsakov?
 * ... that Holy Trinity Church, Guildford served as pro-cathedral of the Diocese of Guildford until the consecration of the current cathedral?
 * ... that photographer Karl Bissinger took his first test photos with cameras and a studio loaned to him by Richard Avedon?
 * ... that the Royal Australian Navy auxiliary patrol boat HMAS Vigilant was the first aluminium ship built in Australia?
 * ... that the home of Massachusetts abolitionist Roger Hooker Leavitt was a sanctuary for escaped slaves and is now included in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom?
 * ... that both the Prime Minister and President of Pakistan resigned in order for the 1993 Pakistani general election to be held, after a power struggle between them?
 * ... that the names of the two main characters of Nicholas Sparks ' 2002 novel Nights in Rodanthe are a Christmas present to his in-laws?
 * ... that John Marius Trana went from being an illegal trade union leader during the German occupation of Norway to being chairman of the Norwegian Union of Railway Workers?


 * 07:20, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Confederate General Henry C. Wayne (pictured) gained a First Class Medal of Mammal Division by the Société impériale zoologique d'acclimatation for his introduction of the camel to the United States?
 * ... that Tropical Storm Olivia in 2006 was the eighth tropical cyclone to receive the name Olivia in the Eastern Pacific ocean?
 * ... that the diaries of Claus Pavels from 1812–1822 are an important source for Norwegian cultural and biographical history?
 * ... that the plant genus Regelia is named after the 19th-century Russian botanist Eduard August von Regel and is found only in Australia?
 * ... that the .44 Colt revolver cartridge was used in both percussion and centerfire and both black and smokeless powder loadings?
 * ... that Lucie Skeaping, a leading exponent and broadcaster on early music, has also worked with contemporary composer Michael Nyman, historian Simon Schama and comedian Ken Dodd?
 * ... that employees at radio station WIXI in Jasper, Alabama, reported that for more than 30 years their radio studios were haunted?
 * ... that the oldest known turtle is the 220 million year-old Odontochelys, a prehistoric turtle with teeth and possessing only half a shell?


 * 01:10, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that a blue Rayon I postage stamp of 1850 (pictured) is the most expensive Swiss stamp ever sold at auction?
 * ... that when Kjell Almskog left his job as CEO of Kværner in 2001, he became known for receiving a golden parachute worth NOK78 million?
 * ... that the nematode Capillaria aerophila is a parasite that infests the respiratory system of carnivorous mammals, including dogs and foxes?
 * ... that Sean Payton is the only head coach of the New Orleans Saints to lead the team to a National Football Conference (NFC) Championship Game?
 * ... that the radiator layout of the McLaren M20 was initially intended to increase driver comfort, but also led to a more aerodynamically efficient bodywork design?
 * ... that the Convincing Ground massacre of Gunditjmara people in 1833 or 1834 was caused by a dispute over a beached whale?
 * ... that Norwegian trade unionist Ludvik Buland, sentenced to death by the Nazi authorities in 1941, was later reprieved, only to die in a Nacht und Nebel camp four years later?
 * ... that the Muncy Creek Railroad tried to save money by using wooden rails in 1875, but found they were too light to support its trains?