Wikipedia:Recent additions/2008/October

31 October 2008

 * 20:47, 31 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that in Mesoamerican folklore, it is believed that a dog (mythical dog pictured) carries the newly deceased across a body of water into the afterlife?
 * ... that Abandon's music was first discovered when a record label manager was dining and got distracted by hearing them play a concert next door?
 * ... that phasmophobia is a fear of ghosts?
 * ... that Holton Windmill did not have a fantail when it was a working mill?
 * ... that Halloween in the Castro, San Francisco's gay village, started as a children's costume contest in 1948 and was attended by 500,000 people in 2002?
 * ... that Lars Andreas Oftedahl, member of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly in 1814, was also a renowned speaker?
 * ... that the Mother Shipton Moth is named after the likeness of the legendary witch Ursula Southeil on its wings?
 * ... that the high school quiz competition Brain Game has aired on local television in Indianapolis since 1972?
 * ... that in The Fairy's Dilemma, Victorian dramatist W. S. Gilbert parodied the harlequinade, a genre that had fascinated him since childhood?


 * 15:33, 31 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the permanent collection on display at Ye Olde Curiosity Shop in Seattle, Washington includes "Sylvester" (pictured), an excellently preserved mummy?
 * ... that the wife of sawmill owner Julius Nicolai Jacobsen was said to haunt their house in Fredrikstad, Norway after she died?
 * ... that some types of vampire moth can bite and drink human blood?
 * ... that Utu Abe Malae and the American Samoa Power Authority received an award from the Mayor of Honolulu for their policies promoting sustainable development?
 * ... that millions of children participate in Halloween-related fundraising events for Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF, a program that has raised over US$188 million worldwide?
 * ... that using the memory of his late sister as motivation, Tyler Sloan made his National Hockey League debut on October 21 after seven years in the minor leagues?
 * ... that Harold Owen claimed the ghost of his brother, the poet Wilfred Owen, appeared to him on board HMS Astraea a week after Wilfred's death?
 * ... that candy pumpkins were placed on the seat of every U.S. Senator by the candy industry in 1985 in hopes of extending U.S. daylight saving time to cover Halloween?


 * 09:37, 31 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that in classical mythology, Cerberus (pictured) is a monstrous dog with multiple heads that guards the gates to the underworld?
 * ... that the Convention on the Continental Shelf codified international law relating to continental shelves during the first United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea?
 * ... that The Witchery of Archery, written by Maurice Thompson in 1878, was the first book about hunting with a bow ever published?
 * ... that David J. Skal and Elias Savada wrote the first book-length biography of Tod Browning, who directed the films Dracula and Freaks?
 * ... that the Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.10 seaplane was a military trainer of the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service, and served from 1929 until the 1940 German invasion of Norway?
 * ... that the Dictum of Kenilworth agreed on Halloween 1266 created a reconciliation between the Barons and Henry III of England?
 * ... that the Northern River Street Historic District is a well-preserved transitional neighborhood between the industrial and commercial areas of Troy, New York?
 * ... that the Norwegian film Cold Prey 2 was the sequel to what was called "the best slasher flick" of 2006?


 * 03:39, 31 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the name of Shichirigahama (pictured), a beach in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, means "Seven Ri (approximately 27 km/17 mi) Beach" in Japanese, but it is only about one-tenth of that in length?
 * ... that Luther Prentice Bradley, a Union brigadier general in the American Civil War, was severely wounded during the Battle of Chickamauga where he commanded a brigade?
 * ... that Captain Abu Raed, Jordan's submission to the 81st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, is the first Jordanian feature film made in over 50 years?
 * ... that three of the last four U.S. Presidents have been left-handed, as are both major party candidates for the 2008 election?
 * ... that the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was re-established on 15 March 1922, less than a month after Egypt was officially granted independence from Britain?
 * ... that as founder and former chairman of Primedia, Bill Reilly built a publishing firm with more than 200 magazines, including American Baby, National Hog Farmer, Chicago and New York?

30 October 2008

 * 22:59, 30 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that six of the seven destinations added by Horizon Air (airplane pictured) in 1982 when they purchased Air Oregon, are still operated today?
 * ... that the proposed Macau security law would make treason punishable by a maximum of 25 years in prison?
 * ... that during the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong hung buckets of mud with urine in trees to thwart American people sniffers?
 * ... that key relevance is a locksmithing term that refers to the measurable difference between an original key and a copy made of that key?
 * ... that the winner of the 2008 United States House of Representatives election in the Northern Mariana Islands will be the very first Congressional delegate from the Northern Mariana Islands?
 * ... that despite being built for the Spanish Navy, the frigate Santa Margarita spent just five years in service with them, but served for nearly 60 years with the Royal Navy?
 * ... that among Lexington, Kentucky's contributions to the American Civil War were residents U.S. First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln and Confederate leaders John C. Breckinridge and John Hunt Morgan?


 * 13:47, 30 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Neoclassical style Embassy of Germany in Saint Petersburg (pictured), whilst reviled by the Saint Petersburg artistic community, was admired by Adolf Hitler?
 * ... that Vince Naimoli, founding owner of the Tampa Bay Rays, contributed US$1 million in 2007 for the construction of a baseball complex at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey?
 * ... that Põhja-Kõrvemaa Nature Reserve, now a protected area in Estonia, used to be proving grounds used by the Red Army for military training during the Soviet Era?
 * ... that British actress Glynis Johns appeared in the short-lived 1963 CBS sitcom called Glynis, in which she played a mystery writer, with Keith Andes as her lawyer-husband?
 * ... that during the 1990 ethnic clashes in Osh between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks, 5,000 crimes were committed?
 * ... that no football team in Berlin was declared the winner of the Berlin Cup in 1969 because the penalty shootout was not yet introduced and the finalists were unable to schedule a re-match after a draw?
 * ... that 2.2 million people participated in the U.S. 2008 Kids Pick the President event held by the Nickelodeon TV network?


 * 07:13, 30 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that in 1894, US$20,000 to US$40,000 mysteriously disappeared from the Mississippi Levee Board, of which General Samuel W. Ferguson (pictured) was both secretary and treasurer?
 * ... that Süreyya Opera House in Istanbul, built in 1927 as a musical theater but used all the time as a cinema, gained its intended status only in 2007 after redevelopment?
 * ... that mitochondrial DNA testing of the 300 to 500-year-old Canadian "iceman" mummy Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi and current clans of British Columbia revealed 17 living relatives?
 * ... that the Apple Valley Airport near Buxton, Oregon, was built by Portland, Oregon TV personality Ramblin' Rod Anders?
 * ... that the Global Health Council is an international membership alliance of public health professionals in more than 100 countries?
 * ... that the Russellville Historic District in Kentucky, U.S. is the site of the first documented bank robbery of Jesse James?


 * 00:44, 30 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that yellow-bellied sliders (pictured), popular as pets, are found in a wide variety of habitats, including rivers, floodplain swamps, seasonal wetlands, and permanent ponds?
 * ... that Russian-born Israeli mathematician Aryeh Dvoretzky is the first graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to become a full professor there?
 * ... that in 1953, the U.S. Army used human subjects to test decontamination methods for chemical and biological agents as part of Operation Top Hat?
 * ... that painter Henrietta Rae burned Valentine Prinsep's hat in revenge for his smearing one of her works with cobalt blue paint?
 * ... that Amrutanjan Healthcare Limited, an Indian pharmaceutical company specializing in Ayurvedic balm for headaches and cold, was founded by freedom fighter Kasinadhuni Nageswara Rao?
 * ... that between 1874 and 1884, Norwegian politician Jens Holmboe was the head of four different government ministries, each on at least two occasions, the tenure ending with impeachment?
 * ... that the Delmar post office is the only one of the 13 in New York designed by Louis Simon in the Colonial Revival style without a cupola?

29 October 2008

 * 15:35, 29 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the freshwater snail Radix auricularia (pictured) serves as a host to numerous parasites, some of which can infect humans?
 * ... that an intense rivalry between composers Francisco Asenjo Barbieri and Emilio Arrieta helped rekindle the popularity of Spanish opera during the mid 19th century?
 * ... that USS Philippines (CB-4) and USS Puerto Rico (CB-5) were scheduled to be the fourth and fifth of six Alaska-class "large cruisers" of the U.S. Navy, but were canceled prior to construction?
 * ... that tin(IV) fluoride, a chemical compound of tin and fluorine, is used in toothpaste to prevent dental decay?
 * ... that the largest group of Asian residents in Germany are Vietnamese, totalling 83,526 people as of 2004?
 * ... that Against All Odds is a video game developed by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees designed to teach players about the plight of refugees?
 * ... that Dorothy Miner was acknowledged as the person "who helped establish the legal right to designate landmarks" in the U.S. for her role in Penn Central Transportation Co. v. New York City?


 * 09:25, 29 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the people of Khichan, India have a tradition of offering five quintals of grain per day to Demoiselle Cranes (pictured)?
 * ... that at any given time, the United States holds as many as 31,000 illegal immigrants in administrative detention while they await removal proceedings?
 * ... that in Anyang, Gyeonggi, South Korea, a road sings the nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb" to passing car drivers on the road?
 * ... that at the time of her completion in 1918, American cargo ship USS West Lianga (ID-2758) held the distinction of being both the fastest-launched and the fastest-constructed ocean-going ship in the world?
 * ... that production on the 1969 Fred Zinnemann film Man's Fate was canceled one week before shooting was to begin?
 * ... that Australia Post took over the postal service on Christmas Island in 1993 and promised to issue Christmas stamps?
 * ... that artist Henrietta Ward claimed she gave her husband's friend Wilkie Collins the idea for his novel The Woman In White?


 * 03:24, 29 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System (pictured) destroyed more than 400,000 American chemical munitions from 1990 to 2000?
 * ... that in 874, Byzantine admiral Niketas Oryphas hauled his ships overland over the Isthmus of Corinth in order to catch an Arab fleet by surprise and defeated it?
 * ... that Stanley Kubrick dismissed his 1953 film Fear and Desire as "a bumbling amateur film exercise"?
 * ... that in 1930/31, John Stephenson made 117 runs and took six wickets for the Europeans cricket team to guide the European side to an innings victory against the Indians cricket team?
 * ... that Nettleship-Falls syndrome, the most common type of ocular albinism, may be caused by recessive mutations in the X chromosome?
 * ... that in 1961, Bishop of Hamar Kristian Schjelderup ordained the first female priest in the Church of Norway?
 * ... that many of the tendencies within anarchism criticized by Chaz Bufe in his pamphlet Listen, Anarchist! are thought to have stemmed from the movement's individualist, Stirnerite wing?
 * ... that Julio A. Garcia, called a "legal lion" by his hometown newspaper in Laredo, Texas, once broke a bone while passionately defending a client in court?

28 October 2008

 * 20:53, 28 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Allied Arts of Seattle, a major force in preserving the city's Pioneer Square (pictured) and Pike Place Market, began as the Beer and Culture Society?
 * ... that up to 78 percent of 1,016 leading political figures in post-Soviet Russia have served previously in organizations affiliated with Russian intelligence services like the KGB?
 * ... that former Ohio House of Representatives minority whip and current U.S. House candidate Steve Driehaus coordinated the largest U.S. professional exchange program with the "new" South Africa?
 * ... that the Tamil film Meera based on the life of poetess-saint Mirabai was filmed at the actual places which Mirabai had visited on her pilgrimage?
 * ... that Ariel Sharon named his former party, Shlomtzion, after the newly born daughter of Amos Keinan, co-founder of the Israeli–Palestinian Council?
 * ... that Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.12, the last trainer of the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service and the intended replacement of the 1920s Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.8, was only built in a prototype before the German invasion of Norway halted work?
 * ... that before becoming mayor of Seattle in 1912, George F. Cotterill had been instrumental in platting its piers, building its sewers, and innovating its mode of financing major utility projects?


 * 14:51, 28 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Parikrama, an integral part of Hindu ritual, involves walking around a sacred object or place, as Ganesha (statue pictured) walked around Shiva in legend?
 * ... that operatic soprano Celestina Boninsegna sang her first leading role at the unusually young age of 15?
 * ... that the unusual breeding season of the Monteiro's Storm-petrel was the first clue that led to the cryptic species' recent discovery by scientists?
 * ... that in the eight seasons he played Major League Baseball, Harry Schafer played for six teams that won the league championship?
 * ... that the cost of operating mine ventilation fans can account for one-third of the entire electrical power cost for a typical underground mine?
 * ... that prior to Singapore's first Formula One race in 2008, the last running of the Singapore Grand Prix was as a non-championship race run to Australian Formula Two rules in 1973?
 * ... that because Seattle's Central Waterfront piers are not zoned as residential, the 1998 shoot of The Real World: Seattle officially treated Pier 70 as a 24-hour-a-day film set?
 * ... that women baring their breasts in front of higher class people and deities was considered a sign of respect in the 19th-century Travancore kingdom in South India?


 * 08:04, 28 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Radiohead (pictured) have received ten nominations at the Grammy Awards, which won them the Best Alternative Music Performance award twice, for OK Computer in 1998 and Kid A in 2001?
 * ... that Mike and Janet Huckabee became the first governor and spouse to run on the same ballot for state office in the 2002 Arkansas gubernatorial election?
 * ... that Tang Dynasty chancellor Qiao Lin was both born and executed on the seventh day of the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar?
 * ... that three of the Texas Rangers' Opening Day starting pitchers have been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum?
 * ... that Indian indigenous tribal journalist and activist Dayamani Barla once worked as a maid to pay her way through University?
 * ... that although the freshwater snail Valvata piscinalis is widely distributed in some parts of North America where it is non-indigenous, it is endangered in some of its native areas?
 * ... that Anna Elinor Jones was jailed as an accused Confederate spy due to being involved in a dispute between Union generals George Armstrong Custer and H. Judson Kilpatrick?


 * 02:02, 28 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that after Moses Collyer built his retirement home (pictured) in Chelsea, New York, he cowrote the definitive history of the sail era in Hudson River navigation?
 * ... that Morelia spilota spilota, the Diamond python, of East Gippsland live at the highest altitude of any python?
 * ... that best-selling author Laurence Leamer, author of The Kennedy Women, spent two years in Peru while researching the cocaine trade for his book Assignment?
 * ... that the Supreme Court of Israel judge Yoel Zussman was awarded the Israel Prize in 1975 for his contributions to Israeli law?
 * ... that Paal Brekke has been called the father of modernism in Norway?
 * ... that the five-eyed predator Alalcomenaeus is one of the most common fossils in the Cambrian Burgess shale?
 * ... that the Tang Dynasty official Cui Youfu had a dispute with his superior Chang Gun over whether a mother cat allowing a mouse to live with her constituted a sign of good fortune or ill fortune?
 * ... that USS Samoa (CB-6) was scheduled to be the last of six Alaska-class "large cruisers" built for the United States Navy, but was canceled prior to construction?

27 October 2008

 * 17:43, 27 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Church of England (Archbishop of Canterbury pictured) launched a Prayer for the Current Financial Situation that calls God to be a "a tower of strength amidst the shifting sands" of the global economic turmoil?
 * ... that during the interwar period chief of the U.S. Army's Chemical Warfare Service Amos Fries viewed chemical disarmament as a Communist plot?
 * ... that The Best Little Girl in the World, a 1981 film about anorexia nervosa, was back in the news in 1983 when performer Karen Carpenter died of complications from the same disorder?
 * ... that former Major League Baseball pitcher Juan Marichal made ten Opening Day starts for the San Francisco Giants between 1962 and 1973?
 * ... that the earliest references to the hill station of Kodaikanal had been made in works of Sangam literature?
 * ... that a former White House media manager was hired to make the political television comedy Running Mates more realistic?
 * ... that Bloodhound SSC is a pencil-shaped car powered by a jet engine and a rocket being designed to travel at approximately 1000 mph?


 * 10:50, 27 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Victorian plant collector Charles Maries introduced over 500 species of plants to England, including Viburnum plicatum "Mariesii" (pictured) which was named after him?
 * ... that Mickey Rooney won a Golden Globe Award in 1964 for his ABC sitcom Mickey?
 * ... that Australian politician Greg Pearce was a director of Clean Up the World?
 * ... that the world's shortest scheduled air route once was from Perth Airport to Rottnest Island Airport, a distance of 32 km?
 * ... that actress-singer Anabela, who represented Portugal in the 1993 Eurovision Song Contest, just finished playing the role of Maria von Trapp in the Portuguese production of The Sound of Music?
 * ... that U.S. Route 151 stretches 108 mi across Iowa to the Wisconsin border?
 * ... that former Governor of the Bank of England and Lord Mayor of London Sir Richard Levett ' s country house, Kew Palace, was subsequently sold to the Royal Family?
 * ... that American Student Assistance is the oldest guarantor of student loans in the United States?


 * 04:47, 27 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that AMiBA (pictured) is a radio telescope located on Mauna Loa in Hawaii that is being used to observe the Cosmic Microwave Background and the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect in clusters of galaxies?
 * ... that Moshe Landau, who presided over the Eichmann Trial as a Supreme Court of Israel judge, later headed a commission that investigated the Israel Security Agency?
 * ... that although the official government death toll of the 1997 Ardabil earthquake was given as 965 deaths, rescue workers at the scene claimed it was as much as three times higher?
 * ... that Tang Dynasty general Li Na was, at one point, reduced to tears when he was under siege by another general, Liu Qia?
 * ... that four of the candidates for either Governor or Lt. Governor in the 2008 American Samoa gubernatorial elections have ancestral ties to the Manu'a Islands?
 * ... that charges of firebombing department stores against four Ecuadoreans were dismissed after the NYPD corroborated information first printed in articles by Paul L. Montgomery in The New York Times?

26 October 2008

 * 22:40, 26 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that as many as 50–70% of people who survive traffic accidents have facial injuries (X-ray pictured)?
 * ... that the author of Hollywood Undercover posed as an aspiring gay actor while investigating claims of a Church of Scientology "cure" for homosexuality?
 * ... that Gorillaz received four nominations at the 2006 Grammy Awards for their song "Feel Good Inc.", winning the award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals?
 * ... that the Lind Coulee Archaeological Site provided the first evidence of ancient human occupation of Washington, U.S.?
 * ... that Ewan Crawford of the Supreme Court of Tasmania is the first Australian chief justice to stop using ceremonial court robes?
 * ... that three 1972 Nobel laureates affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania were each awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree by the university in 1973?
 * ... that The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show, a western variety and comedy series, was cancelled by ABC in 1962 after 13 weeks?
 * ... that Danish-born jurist Bredo Henrik von Munthe af Morgenstierne was disqualified from the Norwegian Parliament in 1824, having previously accepted a personal payment from the King?
 * ... that the rock band Matchbox Twenty received two Grammy Award nominations in 2004?


 * 17:06, 26 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that in 2008, the IUCN revised the conservation status of the Central American Squirrel Monkey (pictured) from endangered to the lesser risk status of vulnerable?
 * ... that the current Lieutenant Governor of American Samoa, Ipulasi Aitofele Sunia, is the younger brother of the late Governor Tauese Sunia?
 * ... that Gwen Stefani's 2005 song "Hollaback Girl" received four nominations from the MTV Video Music Awards, and won the award for Best Choreography?
 * ... that PK Dwyer is credited with forming the first-ever street band to busk at Pike Place Market, Seattle, Washington?
 * ... that the Biblioburro is a traveling library that distributes books to patrons in the Caribbean Sea hinterlands of Colombia on the backs of two donkeys, Alfa and Beto?
 * ... that Moshe Smoira, the first President of the Supreme Court of Israel, was wounded during the First World War while fighting for the German Empire?
 * ... that the Higginbotham's, based in Chennai, is India's oldest bookstore in existence?
 * ... that Bredo Henrik von Munthe af Morgenstierne, professor of law and rector of the University of Oslo, was a nephew of Norwegian Prime Minister Frederik Stang?


 * 11:02, 26 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the first recorded owner of the Spanish Inquisition Necklace (pictured) was an Indian Maharaja?
 * ... that Akon received five Grammy Award nominations in 2008, including Best Contemporary R&B Album for his album Konvicted?
 * ... that Henry Tsang was the first Asian-Australian to be Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney?
 * ... that Washington State Route 8, which currently runs from Elma to Olympia, originally used the current route of U.S. Route 12 from Elma to Grand Mound, from 1964 until 1967?
 * ... that exhibition drag racer Wild Bill Shrewsberry drove the drag racing replica of the Batmobile from the popular 1966 American television series Batman?
 * ... that there have been 28 New Zealand police officers killed in the line of duty due to a criminal act?
 * ... that the monastic goldsmith Spearhafoc became Bishop-elect of London in 1051, but absconded abroad with a large treasure after his consecration was prevented?
 * ... that SearchFox, a website that offers personalized RSS feeds, was co-founded by James Gibbons, a Stanford University professor and former dean of the university's School of Engineering?
 * ... that Bill Cunningham ' s lucky street photograph of Greta Garbo in 1978 has led to a 30-year career with The New York Times?
 * ... that the Prussian state railways was the largest German company by number of employees in 1907?
 * ... that upcoming film Afterwards is shot entirely in English, despite being written and directed by Frenchman Gilles Bourdos, adapted from a French novel and co-produced by a French production company?


 * 05:01, 26 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Napoleon Bonaparte presented the Napoleon Diamond Necklace (pictured) to his wife to celebrate the birth of his son, Napoleon II?
 * ... that Montserrado County is the smallest county in Liberia, but also the most populous?
 * ... that Quốc ngữ, the Vietnamese alphabet in general use today, was established by the 1651 trilingual Latin-Portuguese-Vietnamese dictionary Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum?
 * ... that Animerica, launched in 1993, was one of the first American professional anime and manga magazines, and was one of the most popular throughout the 1990s?
 * ... that discontinuous gas exchange is a respiratory system used by over 50 species of insect?
 * ... that Rabbi Stephen Wise founded New York City's Free Synagogue in 1907 after turning down a position at Temple Emanu-El because its trustees would review his sermons?
 * ... that the Division of Altenburg in Saxony led to a war between two brothers in 1446 known as the Bruderkrieg, or Saxon Brother War?
 * ... that Coolio's 1995 song "Gangsta's Paradise" was nominated at the Grammy Awards in 1996 for Record of the Year and received the award for Best Rap Solo Performance?
 * ... that three Nobel laureates affiliated with the City University of New York graduated together from the City College of New York in 1937?
 * ... that William Shay, a ragman in New Hamburg, New York, built a duplex and warehouse/stable that were unusually ornamented for their time and region?

25 October 2008

 * 23:17, 25 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the portraiture of Elizabeth I (pictured) contains complex iconography of empire and virginity that conveyed to Elizabethans the majesty and significance of the Virgin Queen?
 * ... that Addison Road was the first debut Christian music act to receive a special Napster website stream of their self-titled debut album?
 * ... that  Vasilissa ergo gaude, the first known motet by Guillaume Dufay was to celebrate the marriage of princess Cleofa Malatesta to the Byzantine lord of Mistras?
 * ... that M-69, a state trunkline highway in Michigan, was truncated in 1960 to one-fifth of its length for 33 years?
 * ... that Baard Iversen, a businessman based in Trondheim, Norway, was nicknamed "the father of the Dovre Line"?
 * ... that former Major League Baseball pitcher Kevin Appier made six consecutive Opening Day starts for the Kansas City Royals from 1992 through 1997?
 * ... that Beth Groundwater ' s A Real Basket Case was nominated for the Best First Novel Agatha Award in 2007?
 * ... that prior to the First Liberian Civil War the Mount Coffee Hydropower Project produced 35 percent of Liberia's electricity?


 * 17:15, 25 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that anti-homeless laws may take on the form of restricting public sleeping (pictured), prohibiting begging, or relocating the homeless?
 * ... that Admiral Henry Wolsey Bayfield had joined the Royal Navy by the age of eleven?
 * ... that the United States Department of War was once headquartered in the Munitions Building, a temporary structure built on the National Mall (Potomac Park) in Washington, D.C.?
 * ... that P. Munuswamy Naidu, senior leader of the Justice Party in Madras Presidency, British India, supported the inclusion of Brahmins in the party?
 * ... that Fiji has been contributing troops to United Nations peacekeeping operations around the world since 1978?
 * ... that The Notorious B.I.G., who was killed in 1997 from a drive-by shooting, received three Grammy Award nominations posthumously?
 * ... that the Goldenface is a small bird with bright plumage that is endemic to the hills and mountains of New Guinea?
 * ... that Bulgarian television director Hacho Boyadzhiev once worked as a stoker on a Beirut–Marseille steamship?


 * 11:27, 25 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that there are fourteen subspecies of the Pacific Robin (pictured) scattered from Samoa to Norfolk Island?
 * ... that only three novels catering to soldiers ' sexual proclivities during the American Civil War are known to still exist?
 * ... that Cockle Creek in Tasmania is the furthest point one can drive south in Australia?
 * ... that Red Corridor is a term used to describe an impoverished region in the east of India that experiences considerable Naxalite communist militant activity?
 * ... that of the twenty-two Nobel laureates affiliated with Washington University in St. Louis, seventeen won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine?
 * ... that Barenaked Ladies has received six Juno Awards from nine nominations, including Group of the Year in 1992?
 * ... that Lyceum-The Circle Historic District is where James Meredith's enrolment on October 1, 1962 integrated Ole Miss and led to riots?
 * ... that legend describes Fleance, a minor character in Shakespeare's Macbeth, as an ancestor of King James II of England connecting him to King Arthur?
 * ... that the Newfoundland Butter Company of Newfoundland manufactured only margarine, and was the first margarine manufacturing plant allowed in Canada?
 * ... that Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Steve Woodard received a no-decision when a 2000 game against the Cincinnati Reds was called due to rain, making it the first Opening Day tie game since 1965?


 * 04:29, 25 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Joe Wilson (pictured) scored West Bromwich Albion's first goal in The Football League?
 * ... that Alexander M. Thompson, a socialist journalist beginning in the 1880s, became the author of lighthearted Edwardian musical comedies in the early years of the 20th century?
 * ... that Horatio Nelson's legacy has been celebrated in books, paintings and monuments?
 * ... that the Bulgarian village and architectural reserve Brashlyan was referenced in the "Strandzha Marseillaise", the song The Clear Moon is Already Rising?
 * ... that Phoebe Ann Patten, wife of early LDS church leader David W. Patten, served a mission to Tennessee with her husband, an assignment almost unheard of at the time?
 * ... that the 1997 Qayen earthquake leveled 700 homes in the village of Abiz alone?
 * ... that Tang Dynasty general Tian Xu designated his youngest son Tian Ji'an as his heir because his sonless wife adopted Tian Ji'an, born of a concubine, as her own?

24 October 2008

 * 22:35, 24 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Zion Memorial Chapel (pictured) in New Hamburg, New York, represents a late stage of Gothic Revival architecture in American churches?
 * ... that the re-education through labor penal system in the People's Republic of China was overhauled in 2007?
 * ... that by the time of the 1918 Meuse-Argonne Offensive, none of the soldiers of the American 1st Gas Regiment had fired chemical weapons in combat?
 * ... that Alfonsina Strada, nicknamed the devil in a dress, was the only female ever to compete in the Giro d'Italia?
 * ... that of the thirty-two Nobel laureates affiliated with Princeton University, seventeen have won the Nobel Prize in Physics?
 * ... that Hesaraghatta Lake is a freshwater lake created from the Arkavathy River in 1894 to produce drinking water for Bangalore?
 * ... that Katy Perry's song "I Kissed a Girl" was nominated for five awards at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2008?


 * 16:03, 24 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the freshwater snail Viviparus georgianus (pictured), the "banded mystery snail", is native to the southeastern U.S. but is an introduced species in the northern U.S. and Canada?
 * ... that William Ernest Cooke was Western Australia's first government astronomer?
 * ... that George M. Keller added US$1 per share at the last minute to his company's bid for Gulf Oil, providing the margin needed to win a 1984 bidding war to buy Gulf in a deal valued at US$13.3 billion?
 * ... that 2008 Swedish film Let the Right One In was marked for an English language remake to be directed by Matt Reeves before it was even released in U.S. cinemas?
 * ... that the bells of Altgeld Hall of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign play a short daily concert at 12:50pm despite not having a complete musical scale?
 * ... that the name of Operation Defensive Shield, launched by the Israel Defense Forces in 2002, was taken from a song written in 1948 by Palmach songwriter Haim Hefer?


 * 10:18, 24 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Golden Monarch (male pictured) is found in New Guinea and New Ireland but not in the large island New Britain which lies between them?
 * ... that The Californians, an NBC western which aired from 1957 to 1959, featured later Jeopardy! host Art Fleming as an ambitious lawyer?
 * ... that some species of starfish that live in tide pools have the ability to regenerate lost arms and can regrow entire new arms in time?
 * ... that Julia Morton was the "poison plant center in south Florida"?
 * ... that rock band Guns N' Roses has been nominated for the Best Hard Rock Performance award from the Grammy Awards three times but has never won it?
 * ... that in 2007, archaeologists discovered that the Stonehenge Cursus is even older than Stonehenge?
 * ... that in the only inning he pitched in Major League Baseball, Cal Cooper gave up five hits, a walk and five runs for a lifetime ERA of 45.0?


 * 00:32, 24 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Marie Curie (pictured) is the only female Nobel laureate to have won multiple Nobel Prizes?
 * ... that the Ohio Solicitor General is appointed by the Ohio Attorney General to handle the office's U.S. Supreme Court, Ohio Supreme Court and 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals appellate work?
 * ...that many battles were fought between the Croatian medieval cities of Kaptol and Gradec over ownership of Medveščak creek?
 * ... that Arizona Territorial Governor Frederick A. Tritle presented Nevada's silver spike at the ceremony celebrating completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad?
 * ... that only the hero Sigurd could remove the sword that the god Odin plunged into the huge tree Barnstokkr, which stood in King Völsung's hall?
 * ... that Chuck Riley ' s original opponent for the November 2008 election was disqualified for living in the wrong Oregon House District?
 * ... that Jens Boyesen, who in his early twenties was a secretary in the Norwegian resistance movement, later went on to become a top diplomat?
 * ... that motivational speaker and self-help author Shiv Khera has started a political party that opposes caste and religion-based reservation in India?

23 October 2008

 * 17:10, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the statues of the Two Working Men (pictured) in Cork, Ireland were originally set to be unveiled outside the Liberty Hall in Dublin, but were deemed a traffic hazard?
 * ... that the biography My Life in Orange: Growing Up with the Guru recounts a child's experiences growing up in Bhagwah Shree Rajneesh's Osho movement?
 * ... that modern experts estimate that around 90% of the natural gas discovered in the Indiana Gas Boom was wasted in flambeau displays?
 * ... that Sinop Fortress Prison in Turkey, abandoned in 1997, hosts hundreds of thousands tourists yearly thanks to its featuring in popular literature, music and film?
 * ... that screenwriter Oliver Crawford worked to remove an anti-Communist loyalty oath from the membership application of the Writers Guild of America, a relic of the Hollywood blacklist era?
 * ... that the Vanuatu Labour Party first gained parliamentary representation in 2005, as the Minister for Ni-Vanuatu Business Joshua Kalsakau joined the party?
 * ... that Johan Christian Tandberg Castberg, father of Johan Castberg, served three terms in the Norwegian Parliament and was the first editor-in-chief of Varden?
 * ... that Ne-Yo received four nominations at the Grammy Awards in 2008, winning the award for Best Contemporary R&B Album for his album Because of You?


 * 11:50, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Kate Nash (pictured) won the award for British Female Solo Artist at the BRIT Awards in 2008?
 * ... that three different emperors ruled over the German Empire during 1888, the Year of the Three Emperors?
 * ... that the 15th-century Guillaume Dufay wrote a Lament of the Holy Mother Church of Constantinople for a political show banquet to propagate a crusade against the Ottoman Turks?
 * ... that Robert Van Lierop is an American film director who became one of Vanuatu's senior diplomats in the 1980s?
 * ... that out of the sixteen metropolitan regions of Norway, only one contains more than half a million inhabitants?
 * ... that the Kennedy Administration positioned John R. Reilly on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial ready to cut off Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech if the rhetoric got too inflammatory?
 * ... that Beck has received four nominations for Best Alternative Music Performance at the Grammy Awards but only won it once, in 1997 for the album Odelay?
 * ... that the first keeper of the South Bass Island Light was picked up and committed as insane on the same day that his assistant's suicide was reported in the newspaper?


 * 02:38, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Russian anarchist-communist organisation Chernoe Znamia (pictured) were the first with a deliberate policy of terror against the established order?
 * ... that all of the known hurricanes in the 1854 Atlantic hurricane season made landfall?
 * ... that the 19th-century periodical The Eclectic Review gave its profits to the British and Foreign Bible Society?
 * ... that the first speeding ticket in Norway was given to a tram driver in 1894 on the Briskeby Line?
 * ... that Antonín Dvořák conducted the first performance of his oratorio Saint Ludmila at the Music Festival in Leeds?
 * ... that R. J. Reynolds marketing executive Ralph Seagraves facilitated using red and white paint on American short track's walls to give the illusion of greater speed?
 * ... that 3-MCPD, a food contaminant sometimes found in soy sauce and oyster sauce, has male antifertility effects and may be used as a rat chemosterilant?
 * ... that Sir Walter Balfour Barttelot, who was killed in action in World War I, lost his father, Sir Walter George Barttelot in the Boer War, while his son, Sir Walter de Stopham Barttelot was KIA in World War II?

22 October 2008

 * 19:30, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Yuan Dynasty dietician Hu Sihui ' s culinary encyclopaedia was the first book to contain a recipe for Peking Duck (pictured)?
 * ... that Google purchased in-game advertising company Adscape for US$23 million, only five years after the company was founded?
 * ... that Norwegian football goalkeeper Jon Knudsen made his national team debut one month before turning 34?
 * ... that Window on the Plains Museum in Dumas, Texas, which preserves Panhandle history and culture, was relocated in 2001 from a former hotel to a new building?
 * ... that Max Blouw was chosen unanimously by Wilfrid Laurier University's selection committee to become its seventh president?
 * ... that the cable channel Z Music Television was a Christian version of MTV until it closed in 2000?
 * ... that Avraham Herzfeld, one of the founders of the Ahdut HaAvoda party and the Histadrut, was known for his habit of bursting into song, sometimes in the middle of his speeches?


 * 14:12, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Capitol Loop, a state highway in Lansing, Michigan serving the State Capitol (pictured), was designated in a plan to revitalize downtown?
 * ... that Wilfrid Laurier University's senate voted unanimously in favor of instating John A. Pollack as the university's seventh chancellor?
 * ... that HMS Swiftsure fought at the Nile for the British, and at Trafalgar for the French?
 * ... that BuzzTracker was acquired by Yahoo! to complement its Yahoo! News product, and compete with other news aggregators including Google News and Digg?
 * ... that Todd Friel performed over 1,500 times on stage as a stand-up comedian, mostly in venues in the Minneapolis – Saint Paul area in Minnesota?
 * ... that Tropical Storm Rosa was the first eastern North Pacific tropical storm to develop during the month of November since 2000?
 * ... that, when Tang Dynasty general Zhang Xiaozhong turned against the warlord Li Weiyue whom he had served and joined the imperial cause, Li killed Zhang's brothers and sons?
 * ... that all Nobel laureates in Economics are men?


 * 07:34, 22 October 2008 (UTC)


 * ... that the American Civil War saw buglers (infantry band pictured) required to learn forty-nine separate calls for infantry alone?
 * ... that while attempting to produce malleable platinum, Pierre-François Chabaneau lost his temper and smashed all of his laboratory equipment?
 * ... that towards the end of World War II, British Air Marshal Douglas Evill advocated the bombing of eastern German cities to disrupt Wehrmacht reinforcements moving to the Eastern Front?
 * ... that although the Round scad is considered a good food fish, it is mostly caught for use as bait?
 * ... that mathematician Brian Bowditch wrote a paper solving the angel problem of John Conway, proving that the angel can win and evade the devil in the "angel game"?
 * ... that Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated 1910–13 Antarctic expedition was the inspiration for two of Doris Lessing's novels, The Sirian Experiments and The Making of the Representative for Planet 8?
 * ... that the fourth president of Wilfrid Laurier University, John Angus Weir, helped form the university's undergraduate music therapy program?
 * ... that Johan Castberg became the first Norwegian Minister of Social Affairs, only to leave office after one year due to disagreements with Prime Minister Gunnar Knudsen?

21 October 2008

 * 23:52, 21 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that James L. Holloway, Jr. and James L. Holloway III (pictured) are the only father and son to both serve as four-star admirals in the U.S. Navy while on active duty?
 * ... that the Ashtamudi Lake is the second largest and deepest wetland ecosystem in Kerala, India?
 * ... that the Laughing Baby, a YouTube viral video which has expanded into a worldwide internet phenomenon, has been viewed by over 65 million people including Queen Elizabeth II?
 * ... that a siruv is a contempt of court order issued by a Jewish rabbinical court that can exclude people who do not observe the court's orders from participation in religious services?
 * ... that The Golden Fleece, written in 1628 by Sir William Vaughan while at his colony New Cambriol, was a fanciful attempt to galvanise his colonists into hard work?
 * ... that ImageAmerica provided Google Earth with high resolution black and white images of New Orleans immediately after the events of Hurricane Katrina?
 * ... that the arrival of Cuban doctors to Kiribati is credited with reducing the child mortality rate in Kiribati by 80%?


 * 17:04, 21 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the flora of Western Australia (floral emblem pictured) comprises 9437 native vascular plant species of 1543 genera within 226 families?
 * ... that the houses built by Abraham and Adolph Brower in New Hamburg, New York have matching porch columns and front doorways?
 * ... that Richard Marson, former chief editor of the BBC's Blue Peter also worked freelance for such companies as Disney, Planet 24 and LWT?
 * ... that the 1937 Tamil film Ambikapathy starring M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar was made by American director Ellis R. Dungan?
 * ... that one of sculptor Paul Manship's earliest public works, "The Four Elements", is at the former AT&T corporate headquarters at 195 Broadway in Manhattan?
 * ... that Saint Vigilius of Trent, stoned to death for overturning a statue of Saturn, was the first martyr canonized by a pope?
 * ... that Ohio State Treasurer Richard Cordray is a five-time undefeated Jeopardy! champion and carried the Olympic Torch in 1996?
 * ... that Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss donated US$125 million to Harvard University, the school's largest gift?


 * 09:44, 21 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the dome-shaped nest of the Yellow-rumped Thornbill (pictured) has a cup-shaped depression fake nest to distract attention from the real nest inside?
 * ... that Mary Ann Müller has been described as "New Zealand's pioneer suffragist"?
 * ... that the Local Void is an empty region of space, devoid of matter, lying adjacent to our own Milky Way galaxy?
 * ... that during a storm in the Dolomites, Mo Anthoine probably saved the life of Al Alvarez, who later wrote his biography?
 * ... that the worst ever tram accident in the United Kingdom occurred on the Dover Corporation Tramways system in 1917?
 * ... that Willard L. Boyd, President Emeritus of The University of Iowa and The Field Museum, was one of the first recipients of the National Humanities Medal?
 * ... that Łaski's Statute of 1505 was the first codification of Polish law?
 * ... that University of Notre Dame basketball player Luke Harangody and his brother were banned from playing basketball in their backyard as children because their games regularly ended in fights?


 * 03:19, 21 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that New York's Sony Building (pictured), with its distinctive Chippendale roof, was originally built by AT&T as its headquarters, but they no longer needed the space after the Bell System divestiture?
 * ... that after they both appeared in the 1951 film Sailor Beware, Richard Clayton became a talent agent and represented James Dean?
 * ... that the congenital disorder fibrochondrogenesis may result in dwarfism, shortened ribs with a concave appearance, a severely underdeveloped jaw, an enlarged head, and even death during infancy?
 * ... that Yamamoto Tatsuo, former head of the Bank of Japan, was the first businessman to become a cabinet minister in Japan?
 * ... that Jingning County, in Gansu, People's Republic of China, is one of the seats of Chinese civilization, with a history dating back to the Neolithic era?
 * ... that in 1913, baseball player Jim Viox set a rookie record for batting average by a second baseman that was not matched until 2007?
 * ... that for both his tenures as Norwegian Minister of Finance (1905–1906 and 1920–1921), Edvard Hagerup Bull was both preceded and succeeded by persons who at one point were Prime Ministers?

20 October 2008

 * 20:13, 20 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Thomas Johnes planted three million trees to make his Hafod Uchtryd estate (pictured) picturesque?
 * ... that Maine produced more Union soldiers in proportion to its population than any other Union state in the American Civil War?
 * ... that Tang Dynasty general Ma Sui was removed from his command due to his disastrous proposal to make peace with Tufan?
 * ... that Jean-Claude Latombe ' s motion planning algorithm Probabilistic Roadmap Method not only applies to robotic motion planning, but can also be used in protein trajectories simulations?
 * ... that the planned community of Albany, Alabama existed for 40 years (1887 to 1927) and formed a major population center before merging with the modern city of Decatur, Alabama?
 * ... that Nini Stoltenberg, the little sister of the Norwegian Prime Minister, has spoken openly about her past heroin addiction and has become an advocate for drug policy reform in Norway?
 * ... that salt workers in the Confederate States of America were immune from being drafted?
 * ... that Hungarian painter Béla Iványi-Grünwald was influenced by many French artistic movements including Symbolism, Fauvism and Impressionism, and in particular the work of Paul Gauguin?


 * 13:47, 20 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the volcanic ring dike at Pawtuckaway State Park (pictured), an important orienteering venue in New Hampshire, resembles a meteor impact crater?
 * ... that Yitzhak Tabenkin, one of the founders of the socialist Kibbutz Movement, joined the Movement for Greater Israel after the Six-Day War?
 * ... that in Shinto, yorishiro, such as sacred trees, attract spirits, give them a physical space to occupy and make them accessible to people for religious ceremonies?
 * ... that the 73 class were the first New South Wales Government Railways locomotives built in Queensland?
 * ... that American wheelchair racer Jean Driscoll won the Boston Marathon eight times, more than any other person?
 * ... that STAR radio was named Liberian radio station of the year in 2008, winning a tape deck?
 * ... that Tropical Storm Arlene of the 1959 Atlantic hurricane season was the earliest storm to ever make landfall in Louisiana?
 * ... that Marcellus A. Stovall left West Point after one year but later became a general?


 * 07:38, 20 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Sweden's tallest building is Turning Torso (pictured), which rises 190 m?
 * ... that painter Sydney Curnow Vosper ' s most famous work, Salem, gained widespread popularity in Britain when it was used to promote Lever Brothers' Sunlight soap?
 * ... that the Waterford Covered Bridge, in Erie County, Pennsylvania, is nicknamed the "Old Kissing Bridge?"
 * ... that after his ship was captured by the French, Captain Thomas Thompson complained that his captors stole his surgeon's instruments whilst he was trying to operate on the wounded?
 * ... that in 1962, politicians Robin Bailie and Bob Cooper launched a journal entitled Review, even though they were only able to publish a single issue?
 * ... that Navagunjara is a beast in Hindu mythology, composed of parts of nine different animals?
 * ... that Clemson University coach William "Dabo" Swinney got his nickname as an infant, when his 15-month older brother tried to enunciate "that boy"?
 * ... that Porlock Bay in England contains a submerged forest?


 * 01:22, 20 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Merck headquarters campus (pictured) is home to the largest ground-mounted solar power tracking system east of the Mississippi River?
 * ... that Joseph Baptista coined the phrase "Swaraj is my Birthright" that was made popular by Lokmanya Tilak during the Indian independence movement?
 * ... that Dave Matthews Band received two Grammy Awards, one in 1997 for the song "So Much to Say" and another in 2004 for the song "Gravedigger"?
 * ... that when the Polish Eddie Borysewicz became coach of the US cycling team in 1977, he used a 12-year-old to translate his commands?
 * ... that the historic Slipper Chapel in Norfolk, England was used as a cow-shed and barn for almost 400 years before being rededicated as a chapel in 1934?
 * ... that the 1993 appointment of Bjørn Skogstad Aamo as director of the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway drew criticism from the opposition parties?
 * ... that Joe Hatten was the Brooklyn Dodgers' Opening Day starting pitcher when Jackie Robinson broke the color line in Major League Baseball on April 15, 1947?
 * ... that Alastair Borthwick ' s adventures ranged from hitchhiking to Ben Nevis in a lorry full of dead sheep to leading 600 men behind enemy lines during World War II?

19 October 2008

 * 16:04, 19 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Ivor McIntyre (pictured) was lead pilot in two pioneering aviation feats, the first circumnavigation of Australia by air, and the first international flight by an RAAF plane and crew?
 * ... that in the Canary Islands, palm syrup is made from sap collected laboriously from the crown of a date palm?
 * ... that Tang Dynasty general Hun Zhen was pleased that his requests to Emperor Dezong were sometimes rejected, believing that it showed the emperor trusted him?
 * ... that the song "Gubben Noak" (Songs of Fredman no 35) offended the Swedish church so much that Lund chapter attempted to collect all prints and transcripts in circulation, in 1768?
 * ... that United States Army officer James H. Trapier graduated one position below P. G. T. Beauregard in his class at the U.S. Military Academy and later served under him in the American Civil War?
 * ... that Ronnie Boon scored all the match points for Wales when their rugby team finally broke the "Twickenham bogey", beating England at Twickenham after 21 years and ten failed attempts?
 * ... that Clarin Mustad, a co-heir of the industrial corporation O. Mustad & Son, was also involved in the early automotive industry?


 * 10:04, 19 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Venezuelan painter Cristóbal Rojas produced a painting of purgatory (pictured) shortly before his death in the knowledge he was going to die from tuberculosis?
 * ... that the San Diego Padres' first Opening Day starting pitcher was Dick Selma, who received a win against the Houston Astros in ?
 * ... that William Wroth founded the first independent chapel in Wales in 1639, after he refused to obey King Charles' instruction to allow sports to be played on Sundays?
 * ... that Odd Karsten Tveit, foreign correspondent for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, was awarded the Brage Prize for non-fiction in 2005?
 * ... that in 1969, Major League Baseball player Kevin Collins was traded by the New York Mets with three other players for Donn Clendenon, who would be the World Series MVP that season?
 * ... that although having no formal medical training Anne Margrethe Strømsheim served as a nurse during the 25-day Battle of Hegra Fortress in 1940, gaining national fame in Norway?


 * 04:02, 19 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Kodaikanal Lake (pictured) was developed in 1863, amid the town of the same name, by the British and early missionaries from the USA?
 * ... that Nirvana's 1994 song "Heart-Shaped Box" was nominated for five MTV Video Music Awards, winning two of them?
 * ... that the SS-physician Alfred Trzebinski, who was involved in the homicide of 20 children at the former school Bullenhuser Damm, was executed by hanging in 1946?
 * ... that the Larmer Tree Festival has made the shortlist for three UK Festival Awards, including Best Toilets?
 * ... that despite failing health, American racer Joe Shear won four of his last five races?
 * ... that the Alabama Confederate Soldiers Home was the only home for Confederate veterans in Alabama?
 * ... that retired Israel Defense Force Major General Eitan Ben Eliyahu flew as a fighter escort during Operation Opera in 1981, which resulted in the destruction of Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor?
 * ... that David Drake wrote his first novel, The Dragon Lord, after another author declined to develop the plot Drake had written?
 * ... that former Norwegian Supreme Court Justice Ferdinand Schjelderup was among the first ascenders of several mountains in Nordland county during 1910, including the 1392 m Stetind?

18 October 2008

 * 18:24, 18 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the orchid Masdevallia veitchiana (pictured), which can be found around Machu Picchu, was named after the founder of the Chelsea Flower Show, Sir Harry Veitch?
 * ... that the popular statement that USS Arizona (BB-39)'s 14"/45 caliber guns were never fired in anger is a myth?
 * ... that the English of Selim Aga, a former slave from Sudan, was so faultless that his book was believed to be fabricated by a Briton?
 * ... that more than a million NSU Quickly mopeds were sold between 1953 and 1963?
 * ... that Admiral Naokuni Nomura, WW2 Japanese naval attache to Berlin, returned home on U-511, a submarine that had been presented by Adolf Hitler to Japan in 1943?
 * ... that Courtland Center in Burton, Michigan had three separate JCPenney stores until a new one opened in March 2008?
 * ... that between 1874 and 1884, Hans Mustad co-owned the industrial company O. Mustad & Son with his father Ole Hovelsen Mustad?
 * ... that Empire, a 1962–1963 NBC Western dramatic series set on a New Mexico ranch, provided the first recurring role for future film star Ryan O'Neal?
 * ... that Royce Pollard, the mayor of Vancouver, Washington, bought and destroyed Starbucks coffee mugs bearing Portland, Oregon logos in a media stunt to assert his city's independence?


 * 12:19, 18 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the 1937 film Chintamani (promotional snapshot pictured) was the first Tamil film to run for a year in a single theatre?
 * ... that Edward Jardine, after commanding 200 Union troops in an attempt to quell the New York Draft Riots, only escaped the rioters by wearing civilian clothes?
 * ... that Betsy, a border collie, has intelligence greater than that of the great ape which is regarded as humans' closest relative?
 * ... that George Gordon Byron drew up a will leaving Nicolò Giraud, his young companion while in Greece, £7,000, but later changed his mind?
 * ... that the jeep problem is a mathematical problem in which a jeep must maximise the distance it can travel into a desert with a given amount of fuel?
 * ... that Ruatara, chief of the Ngā Puhi, hosted the first Christian mission in New Zealand in 1814?
 * ... that the Overman Committee, led by Senator Lee Slater Overman, investigated allegations that groups such as the United States Brewers Association were promoting "un-American activities"?
 * ... that Eli Hurvitz, Chairman of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, joined the company in the early 1950s as a dish washer?


 * 06:05, 18 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the expansion of the New York Central Railroad isolated Main Street (houses pictured) in New Hamburg, New York while making Stone Street more accessible?
 * ... that Czeslaw Lejewski, Polish philosopher and logician, who studied under Jan Lukasiewicz and Karl Popper, became one of the members of the Lwów-Warsaw School of Logic?
 * ... that Margaret Kelly Leibovici, a French-Irish dancer, was interrogated by the Gestapo in occupied France?
 * ... that 10,000 people were employed in the 1830s simply to build canals by the Indiana Mammoth Internal Improvement Act?
 * ... that the liberal Jewish Folksgrupe played an important role in the 1917 Russian Provisional Government, but only obtained around 1% of the Jewish votes the same year?
 * ... that Court Avenue, Ohio, was the first street in the United States to be paved with concrete?
 * ... that the Catedral de San Nicolás in Rionegro, Antioquia, Colombia was built because the original church was believed to have been possessed by evil spirits?
 * ... that carotene can be used to alter the optical properties of carbon nanotubes?


 * 00:18, 18 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Iraqi Army launched an offensive into Saudi Arabia on 29 January 1991, leading to the Battle of Khafji, the first major ground engagement of the Gulf War (U.S. Marine artillery pictured)?
 * ... that Ntare Mwine is a Ugandan-American actor, playwright and documentarian who has appeared in Heroes and interviewed Idi Amin's brother?
 * ... that the Teatro del Silenzio is an open air amphitheatre in Italy which remains silent for 364 days of the year?
 * ... that Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has mandated a return to paper ballots after an extensive study as well as an experience with failing direct-recording electronic voting machines?
 * ... that Swiss lawyer Georges Brunschvig was first to prove The Protocols of the Elders of Zion to be false in court?
 * ... that Meinong's jungle is the name given to the ontological realm in which non-existent objects such as unicorns, square circles, and golden mountains subsist?
 * ... that after Dale Earnhardt's first win, his crew chief Jake Elder said, "Stick with me, kid, and we'll win diamonds as big as horse turds"?

17 October 2008

 * 16:50, 17 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that experiments have indicated that ruffed lemurs (pictured) can understand the outcome of simple arithmetic operations?
 * ... that the death of Captain Henry T. Waskow in WWII was the subject of one of Ernie Pyle's most famous columns and the basis for the Oscar-nominated film The Story of G.I. Joe?
 * ... that Borgarting Court of Appeal dates back to at least 1047, at the time organized as a thing?
 * ... that Henry Compton ran away from home three times before his family finally accepted his wish to become an actor?
 * ... that Cloudland Canyon State Park, situated on Lookout Mountain in Georgia, contains many unusual sandstone boulder formations?
 * ... that the enmity between Tang Dynasty general Li Sheng and chancellor Zhang Yanshang began over a military prostitute?
 * ... that during the 2007 Alum Rock earthquake, over 60,000 reports of the earthquake were received?
 * ... that The New York Times moved in 1858 to a building at 41 Park Row, making it the first newspaper in New York City housed in a building built specifically for its use?


 * 11:12, 17 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Snuppy (pictured) is the world's first cloned dog?
 * ... that, in his first season as a baseball player, Brian Barber ' s age of 22 was the youngest on an aging St. Louis Cardinals team?
 * ... that a brutal rape of a Bengali child by her 35-year-old husband served as a catalyst for increasing the age of consummation to 12 in British India?
 * ... that the media of the Mortal Kombat franchise not only includes the video game series which has sold 26 million copies but also two feature films, a television series, two books, and several comics books?
 * ... that ripple can cause wavy lines on television pictures?
 * ... that after serving in a number of battles of the American and French Revolutionary Wars, Captain Ralph Willett Miller was killed in an accidental explosion aboard his ship HMS Theseus?
 * ... that impeachment in Norway was used six times in 1814–1845, but only twice since?
 * ... that Tropical Storm Kirsten of 1966 did $35.18 million (2008 USD) in damages and caused heavy rain all the way to Phoenix, Arizona when it made landfall?
 * ... that historic Sleddale Hall, the filming location for Crow Crag in the 1986 cult film Withnail and I is derelict and has faced demolition in the past?


 * 03:02, 17 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Filipino proverbs were grouped into six categories by Damiana Eugenio, a professor and author known as the Mother of Philippine Folklore (sample myth pictured)?
 * ... that offset agreements are one of the methods used to ensure a country's balance of trade?
 * ... that after being rejected from HaShomer, a Jewish defense organization in Ottoman Palestine, Yosef Lishansky founded a rival group called HaMagen, operating in the south of the country?
 * ... that Our Man Higgins, a 1962–1963 ABC sitcom, featured Stanley Holloway of My Fair Lady as an emphatic English butler to a suburban American family?
 * ... that Zola Maseko was the first South African filmmaker to receive the top prize at FESPACO, the Golden Stallion of Yennenga, in 2005?
 * ... that when the Church of St Demetrius was built in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria, a rumour was spread that the saint would come to the city?
 * ... that Rettamalai Srinivasan, Dalit leader from the Madras Presidency, was a brother-in-law of famous Dalit activist Iyothee Thass?
 * ... that County Route 41 in Onondaga County, New York, was once part of two state highways and one turnpike?
 * ... that Franciszek and Magdalena Banasiewicz, Polish Righteous among the Nations, hid 15 Jews on their farm during World War II undeterred by public execution of their Ghetto liaison?

16 October 2008

 * 21:35, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Queen Victoria wore the George III Tiara, part of Elizabeth II's jewel collection, while being painted in Franz Xaver Winterhalter's The First of May (pictured)?
 * ... that over 3,000 Nebraskans participated in the American Civil War, though only 35 were killed in action?
 * ... that Orson Welles originally planned to end his film Don Quixote by having Don Quixote and Sancho Panza survive an atomic cataclysm?
 * ... that Dipor Bil reportedly provides its natural resources for the livelihood of 14 indigenous villages (1,200 families) located in its wetland ecosystem in Assam, India?
 * ... that the Alice Springs Reptile Centre has the largest collection of reptiles in the Northern Territory, and has twice had its animals attacked by humans?
 * ... that Ensign O'Toole, a 1962–1963 NBC military comedy series starring Dean Jones, was filmed aboard the USS Frank E. Evans, which was thereafter destroyed following a collision?
 * ... that Bruce Voeller coined the term "acquired immune deficiency syndrome"?
 * ... that Kazakhstan and Turkey have sought to promote closer bilateral relations and foster close ties between Turkic nations of Central Asia?
 * ... that all U.S. Presidents from Dwight D. Eisenhower through Ronald Reagan ordered glassware from Fostoria Glass Company of Moundsville, West Virginia?


 * 13:19, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the wool used in the uniforms of the Confederate military (pictured) caused many Confederate soldiers to suffer from heatstrokes on long marches?
 * ... that "The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World" won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1969?
 * ... that Jason Dozzell is the youngest player to have scored in the Football League First Division when he scored for Ipswich Town aged 16 years and 57 days?
 * ... that growing relations between Kazakhstan and People's Republic of China help China avert the establishment of U.S. military bases in Kazakhstan and harness its oil resources?
 * ... that alternative rock band The Strokes has been nominated for Best International Band three times from the NME Awards, winning it in 2006?
 * ... that the Palestinian village of Nabi Samwil, near Jerusalem, is regarded by Muslims, Jews and Christians alike as a holy site for containing the tomb of Samuel?
 * ... that protests at the 2002 meeting of the World Bank in Oslo, Norway saw the police prepare for large riots, but turned out to be peaceful?
 * ... that the Amrita Club is one of only two brick Colonial Revival buildings in Poughkeepsie, New York?


 * 07:39, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Solna Church (altar pictured), a round church in Stockholm from the late 12th century, was originally built for defense purposes?
 * ... that cancer specialist Julian Aleksandrowicz, a Polish Jew, joined Polish resistance Armia Krajowa after being aided in the Kraków ghetto by one of the Polish Righteous?
 * ... that former places of worship in Brighton and Hove, England, have been converted into a pub, a screen-printing factory, an art gallery and a sheltered housing complex, among other things?
 * ... that Pre-Raphaelite English artist John Wharlton Bunney painted a picture including the entire western facade of St. Mark's Basilica over six hundred early morning sessions?
 * ... that both the first forensic pathologist and the first female pediatrician in Maine used to live in the Skolfield-Whittier House, now a museum in Brunswick, Maine?
 * ... that Alfred Philippe Roll was the French government's official painter?


 * 02:30, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Historic-Cultural Monuments in South Los Angeles include Ray Charles' recording studio, a stadium that hosted two Summer Olympics (pictured), and an early home of the Oscar ceremonies?
 * ... that until the 1990s, the Short-beaked Common Dolphin and the Long-beaked Common Dolphin were considered the same species?
 * ... that mountaineer William Woodman Graham had to abandon an expedition to Kanchenjunga when a porter accidentally burned his boots?
 * ... that the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution sparked army mutinies in Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika?
 * ... that Olivia Colman bonded the cast of Beautiful People by arranging a visit from a mobile blood donor unit?
 * ... that the dumbbell-shaped devices commonly seen on overhead power lines are Stockbridge dampers, used to suppress wind-induced vibrations?
 * ... that the Jewish Socialist Workers Party in the Russian Empire mobilized 3,000 of its cadres in self-defense militias during 1906?
 * ... that footballer Peter Stringfellow suffered a dramatic decline in form, which ultimately ended his professional career, after being involved in a car crash in which a team-mate died?

15 October 2008

 * 20:07, 15 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that in 2000, an ammonia discharge into a tributary of the River Clun (pictured) in Wales killed its entire population of European bullheads?
 * ... that after his son was murdered during a study abroad program, entrepreneur Tom Petters formed a foundation to provide endowments that would benefit future students at several universities?
 * ... that the first person to learn what is in the United Kingdom Budget, presented by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on Budget Day, is the Queen?
 * ... that South Liberty Street in Poughkeepsie, New York, was renamed Garfield Place after the assassination of U.S. President James A. Garfield?
 * ... that the Celts were animists who believed that all aspects of the natural world contained spirits?
 * ... that New Zealand Police Commissioner Howard Broad successfully completed rewriting the policing law and the introduction of tasers to the New Zealand Police?
 * ... that Spiraea japonica, an invasive plant native to East Asia, was introduced in the United States as an ornamental plant?
 * ... that unique versions of Percy Bysshe Shelley's poems "Mont Blanc" and "Hymn to Intellectual Beauty" were rediscovered in a notebook 160 years after they were originally composed?


 * 14:27, 15 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Marguerite Sylva (pictured) modestly told W. S. Gilbert at her sister's audition that she "sang a little" and, after demonstrating, was offered a part?
 * ... that France has strengthened bilateral ties with India by signing agreements allowing it to purchase French-made nuclear reactors, the Mirage 2000 fighters, and the Scorpène submarines?
 * ... that despite a 600-year long tradition of being the back garden of the Zagreb cathedral, the Ribnjak neighborhood in Zagreb, Croatia is a focal point of gang violence in the city?
 * ... that Horatio Nelson called the captains who fought with him at the Battle of the Nile his "Band of Brothers"?
 * ... that Georgia Tech professor Jeff S. Shamma and his MIT Ph.D. advisor Michael Athans both received the Donald P. Eckman Award, one of the most prestigious awards in control theory?
 * ... that All Saints' Church, Childwall is the only medieval church in the metropolitan borough of Liverpool, England?
 * ... that American singer Becca provided the closing theme "I'm Alive!" for the episodes of the 2008 Japanese anime Kuroshitsuji?
 * ... that Friston Windmill is the tallest surviving post mill in the United Kingdom?


 * 08:27, 15 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Renaissance woodcuts by Hans Wechtlin (example pictured) cover both the chivalric ideal of war and graphic details of war wounds?
 * ... that Ronn Reynolds spent parts of six seasons as a Major League Baseball catcher, despite a career batting average of just .188?
 * ... that the 1943 German Donbas Operations led to the destruction of 52 Soviet divisions, and the recapture of the cities of Kharkov and Belgorod from the Red Army?
 * ... that Tang Dynasty general Li Huaiguang saved Fengtian, where Emperor Dezong of Tang was at the time, from falling to the rebel Zhu Ci?
 * ... that the only print of Orson Welles' 1938 film Too Much Johnson was destroyed in a 1971 fire at Welles' home outside of Madrid, Spain?
 * ... that army officer and M.P. William Hacket Pain was involved in planning and organising the Larne Gun Running operation, which helped to arm the Ulster Volunteers during the Home Rule crisis of 1912?


 * 02:55, 15 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Welsh politician David Lloyd George (pictured) said that he would prize no honour more highly than his Honorary Fellowship of Jesus College, Oxford?
 * ... that Haruka Tomatsu, who provides two pieces of theme music for the episodes of the Kannagi anime, is also the seiyū of one of the series' titular characters, Nagi?
 * ... that William Tresham was elected as a Knight of the Shire for 12 successive parliaments?
 * ... that Emily McPherson College of Domestic Economy, an Australian domestic science college for women, was officially opened on April 27, 1927 by Her Royal Highness Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon?
 * ... that William Trueheart was the acting U.S. ambassador to Saigon during the Vietnam Conflict, because his superior, Frederick Nolting, wanted a break from duties?
 * ... that cold weather kept the Montreal Expos on the road for their first 19 Opening Day games, until 1988 when Dennis Martínez became the starting pitcher of the team's first opening day home game?

14 October 2008

 * 20:38, 14 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Fiji government claims the entire U.S. zoo population of Fiji Banded Iguanas (pictured) are descended from illegally smuggled animals?
 * ... that Empress Wang, the wife of Emperor Dezong of Tang, was empress for only three days prior to her death in 786 AD?
 * ... that the Universal Edit Button is a Firefox add on supported by many websites that informs users when the web page they are viewing contains editable content?
 * ... that Sir Davidge Gould, who served during the American Revolutionary, French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars, was promoted to the rank of Admiral in 1825?
 * ... that the Australian hard rock band AC/DC has never won a Grammy Award despite receiving four nominations during their career?
 * ... that Framsden Windmill was raised by 18 ft in 1836, and worked for another 100 years?
 * ... that the replacement of stale chewing gum, by a sales representative, led to the U.S. Supreme Court case of the Wisconsin Department of Revenue v. William Wrigley, Jr., Co.?
 * ... that Bob McLean, who is a member of the Australian Football Hall of Fame, also played first-class cricket and scored a double century in the Sheffield Shield?


 * 12:36, 14 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the pre-Columbian ruins of Dainzú are distinguished by their gallery of bas-reliefs representing ball-players (pictured)?
 * ... that the power of the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana was once so great its Grand Dragon D. C. Stephenson claimed "I am the law in Indiana"?
 * ... that before he became Chief Scout of South Africa, Nkwenkwe Nkomo was an anti-apartheid activist who was imprisoned on Robben Island with Nelson Mandela?
 * ... that in Saskatchewan, Oban was known for having the last Interlocking tower at the CNR and CPR level crossing, until it was closed in 1990?
 * ... that Jock Wilson, who died at the age of 105 in September 2008, was Great Britain's oldest D-Day veteran?
 * ... that India has supported Kazakhstan ' s bid to create a Caspian Sea naval fleet despite Russia's opposition?
 * ... that Carson Parks, who wrote the hit song "Somethin' Stupid", was the brother of Beach Boys' collaborator Van Dyke Parks?
 * ... that Dick Trickle, billed as the winningest short track driver in history, won his first race outside of his home region at the 1966 National Short Track Championships at Rockford Speedway?


 * 06:35, 14 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that St George's Church, Everton (pictured) and St Michael's Church, Aigburth were two of the three churches in Liverpool built by John Cragg which contained many cast iron components?
 * ... that Jasper Goodwill, later a mayor in Louisiana, was given the middle initial "K" by the U.S. Army during World War I as a way to enhance identification of the soldiers?
 * ... that the Tugboat Spence and its barge Guantanamo Bay Express deliver cargo twice-monthly from Naval Station Mayport near Jacksonville, Florida to Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba?
 * ... that during the World War II, English footballer Jimmy Boswell served in the same army unit as four other future Gillingham F.C. players?
 * ... that the day that British East India Company acquired a sliver of land to build Fort St. George is celebrated as Madras Day in Madras, India?
 * ... that the Victorian painter William Shakespeare Burton was said to have dug a hole in the ground to stand in, so that he could paint the grass and ferns at eye level?
 * ... that Zac Brown Band's single "Chicken Fried" was previously recorded by The Lost Trailers, whose version was withdrawn after Brown changed his mind about licensing the song to that record label?
 * ... that Georg J. Lober′s sculpture of Hans Christian Andersen in New York City's Central Park was funded in part by contributions from Danish and American schoolchildren?


 * 00:04, 14 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the MIM-46 Mauler (pictured) was the first in a long string of failed attempts to add armored anti-aircraft missile systems into the US Army?
 * ... that despite being of common birth, the marriage of Falkes de Breauté made him "the equal of an earl"?
 * ... that Germany helped India establish the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and their bilateral trade is expected to reach €30 billion by 2010?
 * ... that John Harber Phillips, the legal counsel who defended Lindy Chamberlain, later became the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia?
 * ... that the Bain Commercial Building is the only intact Second Empire-style building in Wappingers Falls, New York?
 * ... that the penitential tone of John Audelay ' s poetry may have been influenced by his sense of responsibility for his lord's involvement in a fatal brawl?
 * ... that Spain, which placed second at the Eurovision Song Contest 1979 with "Su canción", was rumored to have given high marks to a competitor so it would not have to host the contest the following year?
 * ... that Dave Levine, the president of an e-commerce company, was featured in the inaugural episode of Millionaire Matchmaker where he described the type of wife he sought?

13 October 2008

 * 18:04, 13 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that after the 1985 Mexico City earthquake (destroyed building pictured), a number of infants were safely rescued from the Juárez Hospital despite being without food and water for seven days?
 * ... that Australian politician Charlie Lynn held the New South Wales 24-hour Ultra Marathon record in 1985 and 1986?
 * ... that the 2008 teen comedy film Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist was Lorene Scafaria ' s ninth screenplay but first novel adaptation?
 * ... that unlike their peers in other Australian states, physiotherapists in New South Wales are subject to discipline by a special Physiotherapists Tribunal?
 * ... that having lost his father early, Norwegian Parliament member Nils Landmark was raised by Jens Stub, a founding father of the Norwegian Constitution?
 * ... that among Connecticut's contributions to the American Civil War are the Henry rifle and the song "Marching Through Georgia"?
 * ... that the British late night satire show Up Sunday was described by one of the cast members as "aimed at dirty-minded insomniacs"?
 * ... that John J. Leonard, a professor at MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, developed a vision-based simultaneous localization and mapping algorithm for mapping the RMS Titanic?


 * 12:04, 13 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Neel Kashkari (pictured), six years after completing his MBA, was put in charge of the $700 billion U.S. Government bailout of financial institutions?
 * ... that Arya Samaj spearheaded the 19th-century cow protection movement, Hindu opposition to Muslim cow sacrifice, leading to violent riots spreading all across India?
 * ... that Arthur Wimperis, after a career as a songwriter and librettist for British musical comedies, became an Academy Award-winning screenwriter in Hollywood, surviving a torpedo attack to get there?
 * ... that pollution has risen in the Sundarijal reservoir in Nepal due to large numbers of tourists who crowd the area every weekend?
 * ... that Queensland lawyer Mostyn Hanger said it was "a chore" to be Chief Justice?
 * ... that the SS Schenectady, an oil tanker, broke in two while sitting at the dock in calm weather?
 * ... that the 5th-century Palace of Lausus in Constantinople housed a vast collection of classical statues, including that of Zeus at Olympia, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World?
 * ... that Jack Montgomery, a Louisiana state senator from 1968 to 1972, was preceded and succeeded in the post by Harold Montgomery, and they were unrelated?


 * 06:04, 13 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that after the standardisation of the German Shepherd Dog, other herding dogs in Germany became known as Old German Shepherd Dogs which is now the name given to a rare modern breed (pictured)?
 * ... that Tam Spiva, from a family of small-town newspaper publishers, wrote scripts for such television series as The Brady Bunch and Gentle Ben?
 * ... that the Japanese manga Black God was created by a manhwa team of Koreans who do not know the Japanese language?
 * ... that the Oregon State Bar was the first bar association in the U.S. to provide complete access to all attorney records it keeps, but only after a lawsuit?
 * ... that Ole Hovelsen Mustad, namesake of the company O. Mustad & Son, also served one term in the Norwegian Parliament?
 * ... that King's Mill on the River Trent was used to grind flints for the pottery industry?
 * ... that Swaminarayan's biography, Satsangi Jeevan, comprises of 19,387 Shlokas among 360 chapters, in 5 volumes?
 * ... that virologist Harald zur Hausen is recipient of both the Gairdner Foundation International Award and the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2008?


 * 00:00, 13 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that on Jackie Robinson Day of 2007, more than 200 baseball players wore number 42 in honor of the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's (pictured) major league debut?
 * ... that Kang Hye-jeong made her feature film debut in the 2001 science fiction film Nabi, winning Best Actress at the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival?
 * ... that the Art Building is the third oldest building at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, but has been on campus longer than all but one other building?
 * ... that Captain William Mounsey, in command of the much smaller HMS Bonne Citoyenne, captured a frigate and later commanded her as HMS Furieuse?
 * ... that Tropical Storm Karina is currently the shortest-lived storm in the 2008 Pacific hurricane season?
 * ... that Tang Dynasty chancellor Chang Gun was demoted over Emperor Dezong's erroneous belief that Chang had falsified signatures from his colleagues Guo Ziyi and Zhu Ci?
 * ... that Future Primitive and Other Essays by anarcho-primitivist philosopher John Zerzan is regarded as an underground classic by anarchists and technophobes alike?

12 October 2008

 * 17:23, 12 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the 1962–1963 CBS sitcom The New Loretta Young Show (Loretta Young pictured) introduced audiences to later stars Dack Rambo and Ted Knight?
 * ... that Cubbon Park in Bangalore, India, has indigenous and exotic botanical species of 68 genera and 96 species with about 6,000 plants?
 * ... that Bolivian Mollo culture drinking cups included a built-in straw?
 * ... that Chicago Bulls and Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf is a C.P.A. and lawyer whose first job assignment was the delinquency of then-owner of the White Sox Bill Veeck?
 * ... that in Shinto, a gongen represents a manifestation of a buddha from India to guide the Japanese people to salvation?
 * ... that two companies with the name Oregon Central Railroad both claimed the same federal land grants?
 * ... that Tang Dynasty official Yang Wan declined a customary stipend as a senior official of his rank and distributed the stipend to his colleagues?
 * ... that Eduardo Galeano's 1978 revolutionary chronicle Days and Nights of Love and War inspired anarchist collective CrimethInc. to write their manifesto Days of War, Nights of Love 22 years later?


 * 11:22, 12 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that art historian George Kubler declared The Wrestler (pictured), an ancient Olmec statuette, "among the great works of sculpture of all ages"?
 * ... that Nicholas Carr wrote a controversial article titled "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" in the July/August 2008 edition of The Atlantic Monthly?
 * ... that South African Jean-Michel d'Avray played football in England and Holland before becoming the last ever National Soccer League Coach of the Year in Australia?
 * ... that M-67, a state highway in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, has remained essentially unchanged but the highways connecting to it have changed three times since 1919?
 * ... that Jens Landmark, Norwegian Lieutenant Colonel and director of Kongsberg Weapons Factory, also served three terms in the Norwegian Parliament?
 * ... that Julie Couillard's memoir My Story reveals confidential opinions that Canadian member of Parliament Maxime Bernier allegedly shared with her and was released eight days before Bernier is seeking re-election?
 * ... that architect Sidney Eisenshtat designed a futuristic synagogue that was later a filming location for the 1991 film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country?


 * 05:21, 12 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that before Charles Aitken installed electric lighting, the Tate Gallery (pictured) was cleared of visitors on dark and foggy days?
 * ... that anyone who has loaned or borrowed money has participated in the hypothetical loanable funds market that brings savers and borrowers together?
 * ... that the Welsh inventor Edwin Stevens devised the world's first wearable electronic hearing aid?
 * ... that the Zionist Socialist Workers Party broke with the World Zionist Organization after the 1905 WZO congress had rejected the proposal to resettle Jews in East Africa?
 * ... that an oil painting by Ryūsei Kishida was auctioned for 7.731 billion yen, the highest price ever achieved for a Japanese painting?
 * ... that MTA Regional Bus Operations consolidates all bus operations formerly maintained by MTA New York City Bus, MTA Long Island Bus, and MTA Bus?
 * ... that Hungarian István Réti travelled to Turin, to paint 1848 revolutionary Lajos Kossuth, who had died there recently?
 * ... that the plesiosaur Bathyspondylus was first described in 1982 from a specimen collected in 1774?
 * ... that William Long, Minister of Home Affairs in Northern Ireland at the start of The Troubles, later became the skipper of a fishing boat?
 * ... that only a few English churches celebrate the ancient custom of "clipping the church"?
 * ... that Ontario has more universities, with 22, than any other Canadian province?

11 October 2008

 * 23:17, 11 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Fiji Crested Iguana (pictured) was discovered when a scientist saw the lizard in the 1980 film Blue Lagoon?
 * ... that Clarence D. Wiley, already a 40-year public official in Louisiana, was to have joined his parish governing council when he died in 1976 of a sudden stroke?
 * ... that the 2008 Bangkok gubernatorial election campaign saw candidates bathing in a canal and punching a journalist?
 * ... that as Israeli military governor of the Gaza Strip, Yitzhak Pundak planned to relocate the Palestinian refugees there to a new city in the Sinai Peninsula, but met with opposition from Ariel Sharon?
 * ... that unlike other Dutch Colonial stone houses in the Hudson Valley, the Wynkoop House has no stone with the builder's initials?
 * ... that Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz studied economics at Harvard University for two years before moving to Palo Alto, California to work on Facebook full-time?


 * 13:41, 11 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that juvenile and adult Novaculichthys taeniourus (pictured) are so different in appearance they have distinct common names?
 * ... that in 1793, Admiral John Gell captured a Spanish ship that contained two million dollars and goods worth over 200,000 pounds?
 * ... that Bümpliz-Oberbottigen, a district of Berne, Switzerland, contains rural hamlets, Baroque estates and modernist highrise satellite towns?
 * ... that One Night the Moon, a 2001 Australian film depicting the search for a missing child, was inspired by indigenous police tracker Alex Riley's work in the 1930s?
 * ... that Tang Dynasty chancellor Du Hongjian, immediately prior to his death, undertook tonsure and formally became a Buddhist monk?
 * ... that according to a survey by Reader's Digest, the Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is New Zealand's second most trusted charity?
 * ... that Owen Thomas, managing editor of New York City-based gossip and news blog Valleywag, writes most of the website's articles?


 * 07:41, 11 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the 6th-century Archangel ivory (pictured), depicting the archangel Michael holding a sceptre and imperial orb, is the largest surviving Byzantine ivory carving?
 * ... that the National Debt Clock in Manhattan ran out of digits on 30 September 2008, when the United States public debt passed the $10 trillion mark?
 * ... that a medallion awarded by the city of Hamburg to honor "those—both Jewish and non-Jewish—who have contributed to Jewish life in Germany" is named for the Jewish First Mayor Herbert Weichmann?
 * ... that Orson Welles took the role of Hastler in his 1962 film The Trial after comic actor Jackie Gleason turned down the part?
 * ... that, as a teenager, American Civil War Confederate brigadier general Richard Waterhouse ran away from home to fight in the Mexican–American War?
 * ... that presenters Jay Burridge and Mark Speight created all of the art projects for the children's television show SMart?


 * 01:48, 11 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Manasbal Lake (pictured), with the sobriquet "the supreme gem of all Kashmir Lakes", is the deepest lake in the Kashmir valley?
 * ... that after Captain George Blagdon Westcott was killed at the Battle of the Nile, Horatio Nelson gave his own medal from the battle to Westcott's family?
 * ... that Jack Womack's 2000 alternate history novel Going, Going, Gone is set in two converging parallel versions of New York?
 * ... that Baltic Finns are considered to be among the early indigenous inhabitants of Europe according to the Settlement Continuity Theory?
 * ... that Hulk Hogan lost the WWF Championship at King of the Ring 1993 after a ringside photographer's camera exploded in Hogan's face?
 * ... that the constitution of Cyprus broke down in 1963 when Turkish Cypriots withdrew from the government?
 * ... that the Adriatic LNG terminal is the world's first offshore liquid natural gas terminal?
 * ... that Norwegian piano manufacturer Karl Hals was also active in politics for the Conservative Party?
 * ... that British National (Overseas) was a British nationality specially created for British Dependent Territories citizens of Hong Kong in 1985?

10 October 2008

 * 17:13, 10 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that marine loading arms (pictured) are used to safely and efficiently move liquids between tankships and cargo terminals?
 * ... that English footballer Glen Thomas came close to losing an eye in 1996 when he stumbled into a tree during a training session and was hit in the face by a branch?
 * ... that after six years as Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Mary Schiavo wrote Flying Blind, Flying Safe, a book critical of air safety practices at the Federal Aviation Administration?
 * ... that in 2007, the New Zealand initiative eDay saw 415 t of electronic waste collected?
 * ... that British WWII prisoner of war John Fancy dug eight tunnels with a table knife and escaped a total of 16 times, but was always recaptured?
 * ... that Adobe Systems made its largest acquisition ever by purchasing rival company Macromedia for over US$3.5 billion?
 * ... that the upcoming film Sherlock Holmes revolves around Holmes and Watson, played by Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law, stopping a conspiracy to destroy Britain?
 * ... that Modernisme architect Enrique Nieto not only designed the main synagogue in Melilla, but also the Central Mosque and several Catholic church buildings?


 * 11:13, 10 October 2008 (UTC)


 * ... that Irving Berlin wrote the song "Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning" while serving in the United States Army during World War I?
 * ... that Tate gallery director Sir Norman Reid was the son of a shoemaker?
 * ... that alpine Lake Wakatipu has a unit of the Royal New Zealand Coastguard?
 * ... that Hurricane Rosa caused 100-year floods at 19 locations in Texas?
 * ... that analgesic nephropathy was a major cause of kidney failure until the analgesic drug phenacetin was banned from markets?
 * ... that the medieval motet Sub Arturo plebs has the name of its composer along with those of 14 fellow musicians, plus instructions on how to perform the piece, written into its own lyrics?
 * ... that the House character Detective Michael Tritter has been compared to Inspector Javert in Les Misérables?
 * ... that Nonghyup, the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation of South Korea, provides 48 percent of the country's rural food marketing?
 * ... that General William C. Chase was awarded the Bronze Star for his successful defense against Japanese counterattacks during the Admiralty Islands campaign in World War II?


 * 05:08, 10 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that evidence indicates that the Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin (pictured) may be more closely related to the Atlantic Spotted Dolphin than to the Common Bottlenose Dolphin?
 * ... that Hans Prydz came to Nittedal as a physician, but eventually served as mayor of that municipality as well as representing the district in the Norwegian Parliament?
 * ... that a retired teacher Simon Vega operates the "Little Graceland" museum in Los Fresnos near Brownsville, Texas as a tribute to his Army buddy Elvis Presley?
 * ... that BBC Radio 4 current affairs programme The Media Show, which looks at the current state of the media, is seen as a replacement to The Message, a similar programme axed by the BBC earlier in 2008?
 * ... that only twelve examples survive of the Bosom of Abraham Trinity, a uniquely English subject in late medieval religious art?
 * ... that the 106 km Voss Line was converted from narrow to standard gauge in one night?
 * ... that Norwegian Parliament member and priest Søren Georg Abel was the father of mathematician Niels Henrik Abel?
 * ... that after Moscow mayor Nikolay Alekseyev was mortally wounded by an insane gunman, he bequeathed 300,000 rubles of his personal money to a psychiatric hospital he had built?
 * ... that Charles Frederick Holder invented the sport of big-game fishing and was also a founder of Pasadena's Tournament of Roses?

9 October 2008

 * 22:16, 9 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that some hermaphrodite snails and slugs pierce each other with love darts (pictured) during mating?
 * ... that one of John Romney ' s etchings which sold well was of The Chester and Holyhead Railway Bridge Accident which occurred in 1847?
 * ... that Nintendo plans to release a revised model of the Nintendo DS Lite handheld game console called the Nintendo DSi, with two built-in cameras?
 * ... that Krishnammal Jagannathan, one of this year's winners of the Right Livelihood Award, began her struggle for the rights of the landless after an incident in which 44 people were burnt alive by landlords?
 * ... that Legacy Meridian Park Hospital in Tualatin, Oregon, was built when the city had only 750 residents?
 * ... that, when Tang Dynasty poet Wang Wei was set to be punished for having joined the rebel state Yan under duress, his brother Wang Jin successfully interceded for him by offering to resign as an imperial official?
 * ... that the Egyptian Geological Museum, established in Cairo in 1904, was the first of its kind in Africa?
 * ... that although Carl Emil Krarup was originally a civil engineer, he was responsible for the first ever continuously loaded submarine telecommunication cable?
 * ... that the publication of his Striking and Picturesque Delineations of the Grand, Beautiful, Wonderful, and Interesting Scenery Around Loch-Earn led to Angus McDiarmid being called "the world's worst author"?


 * 09:48, 9 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that British activist Emmeline Pankhurst (pictured) once slapped a police officer so she would get arrested to raise awareness about the need for women's suffrage?
 * ... that the website Techmeme, created by Gabe Rivera, searches for the most popular technology-related news on the Internet and orders them based on an algorithm that determines popularity?
 * ... that a 1989 Samsung commercial began the late South Korean actress Choi Jin-sil ' s path to stardom?
 * ... that the Canadian province of Nova Scotia has 11 universities, including the University of King's College, the oldest university in British North America?
 * ... that at Henry Parkyns Hoppner ' s court martial, he received "no blame whatever" for his actions while commanding the HMS Fury, ice-damaged and left on Somerset Island in 1825?
 * ... that according to Australian bush poet Banjo Paterson's poem "Hay and Hell and Booligal", the town of Booligal, New South Wales is regarded as being worse than Hell?
 * ... that former American Idol winner Carrie Underwood holds the record for the biggest-selling American Idol album?
 * ... that the Historie of the Arrivall of Edward IV. in England and the Finall Recouerye of His Kingdomes from Henry VI. A.D. M.CCCC.LXXI is considered the most reliable source for those events?


 * 01:54, 9 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Minthorn Hall (pictured) in Newberg, Oregon, is the oldest building on the campus of George Fox University?
 * ... that Nic Waal, who rescued Jewish children in Norway from the Holocaust, started her own institute for pediatric psychiatry when turned down for a job because her appearance was too messy?
 * ... that Meralco's John F. Cotton Corporate Wellness Center was the first implementation of a corporate wellness program in the Philippines?
 * ... that after Robert Bealknap offended the people of London before the coronation of Richard II they placed a model of his head on a water fountain so that it would vomit wine when the king walked past?
 * ... that the Nerepis River in New Brunswick was exposed to dioxins from the use of Agent Orange and Agent Purple during secret tests in 1966 and 1967?
 * ... that Mexico's largest pawnbroker, Nacional Monte de Piedad, is legally recognized as a charity?
 * ... that in 1967, Ray Miller, a Houston news director, hired future U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison as the first female television journalist in Texas?

8 October 2008

 * 19:59, 8 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Hannikel (pictured), today a character of the Swabian-Alemannic carnival, was a 18th-century robber and murderer in Württemberg, Southern Germany?
 * ... that the existence of a Stroke Belt in the southeastern United States was recognized as early as 1962, but the causes of high stroke incidence in this region have not been determined?
 * ... that 1970 Italian crime thriller film Città violenta was only picked up for distribution in the United States after the success of Death Wish established star Charles Bronson as a leading man?
 * ... that the outback town of Tilpa, New South Wales claims to have the only cemetery in Australia with no burials?
 * ... that Bob Miller, signed as a "bonus baby" by the Detroit Tigers, was the youngest of three 17-year-olds to play in Major League Baseball in the 1953 season?
 * ... that Eelam, a Tamil name for Sri Lanka, could also mean toddy, spurge, or gold?
 * ... that the St. John's Lodge in Portsmouth, New Hampshire is one of the oldest continuously operating Masonic Lodges in the Americas?
 * ... that during the Catalonian Civil War, three different pretenders were proclaimed against John II of Aragon?


 * 09:50, 8 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that noise rock band Jucifer's L'Autrichienne is a concept album about Marie Antoinette (pictured)?
 * ... that Sir Trevor Williams of Llangybi in Wales changed sides between Royalists and Parliamentarians four times in the English Civil War, before being imprisoned for the crime of scandalum magnatum?
 * ... that Typhoon Jangmi was upgraded to a category five super typhoon by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center?
 * ... that architect Stiff Leadbetter ' s house Elvills was the first completely new house of the Georgian Gothic revival in England?
 * ... that upcoming film The Marc Pease Experience has been dubbed "the next Rushmore" as the two films share both similar character traits and Jason Schwartzman in the lead role?
 * ... that the song "Steal My Sunshine" by Len was almost not released because its master recording was hidden under the producer's bed?
 * ... that the Campbell's Covered Bridge, built in 1909, is the last remaining covered bridge in South Carolina?
 * ... that Matthew T. Mason, a professor of robotics at Carnegie Mellon University, developed the first origami-folding robot in 2004?


 * 03:58, 8 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Martin Luther compared images of the Virgin of Mercy (example pictured) to "a hen with her chicks"?
 * ... that the United States Academic Decathlon National Championships have featured teams from Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea, Northern Ireland and Brazil?
 * ... that in addition to teaching underprivileged youth, Giovanni Buscaglione designed such architectural works as Colombia's Santuario Nacional de Nuestra Señora del Carmen?
 * ... that the butterfly Argynnis hyperbius has been threatened in New South Wales by the draining of swamps containing its natural foodplant Viola betonicifolia?
 * ... that the Tang Dynasty chancellor Liu Yan had, as a child, impressed Emperor Xuanzong of Tang by writing a song dedicated to his sacrifices at Mount Tai?
 * ... that after Milt Davis was rejected by the Detroit Lions because they did not have a black roommate for him, Davis won two championships in four seasons with the Baltimore Colts?

7 October 2008

 * 21:56, 7 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the colorful kkachi durumagi (pictured) evokes the good fortune associated with the magpie in Korean folklore?
 * ... that Quentin Tarantino, a longtime fan of Australian cinema, helped put together 2008 documentary film Not Quite Hollywood, examining the "Ozploitation" B movies of the 1970s–'80s Australian New Wave?
 * ... that Bogdan Saltanov, the court artist of Tsar Alexis I of Russia, was born in Persia and granted Russian nobility eight years after arrival to Moscow?
 * ... that Drinkstone Post Mill is the oldest surviving windmill in Suffolk, England, having been built in 1689?
 * ... that comedian and actor Asi Cohen performed in Mesudarim, an Israeli television show purchased by the Fox Entertainment Group?
 * ... that Roy Oswalt has been the starting pitcher on six consecutive Opening Days for the Houston Astros from 2003 to 2008?
 * ... that after Li Xilie, who had rebelled against the Tang Dynasty, grew ill after eating beef, his general Chen Xianqi induced his physician to poison him to death?
 * ... that the 2004 Cairns Tilt Train derailment was the result of excessive speed which may have been caused by the driver leaving his seat?
 * ... that the LoPresti Fury sports plane was built based on the design of aeronautical engineer Roy LoPresti?


 * 15:02, 7 October 2008 (UTC)


 * ... that George Orwell interpreted the lyrics of "Ain't We Got Fun?" (listen) as representative of post-World War I working class unrest?
 * ... that Anastasiu di Iaci wrote Vinuta di lu re Iapicu in Catania shortly after 1287, making it one of the earliest narrative sources for the War of the Vespers?
 * ... that, according to Afrikaner nationalistic ideology, Afrikaners were seen as a chosen people?
 * ... that Reuben Noble-Lazarus became the youngest footballer in the Football League when he came on as a substitute in Barnsley's 3–0 defeat to Ipswich Town in 2008?
 * ... that the distinctive rustic porch trim of the Fish and Fur Club in Nelsonville, New York, which earned it a listing on the National Register of Historic Places, has since been replaced?
 * ... that while his father-in-law, brother and son were national politicians, Wincentz Thurmann Ihlen concentrated on entrepreneurship, establishing the railway car factory Strømmens Værksted?
 * ... that southern African vine Acetosa sagittata is a weed in Australia and New Zealand, and may smother vegetation it grows upon?
 * ... that Tove Strand, Norwegian government minister in 1986–1989 and 1990–1992, was formerly married to fellow Labour Party politician Rune Gerhardsen?


 * 08:58, 7 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Obando Fertility Rites are held annually at the Obando Church (pictured) of Bulacan in the Philippines during the month of May?
 * ... that Cress Williams portrayed a Jem'Hadar leader in the Star Trek series, in the Deep Space Nine episode "The Jem'Hadar"?
 * ... that the first mass transport to Auschwitz concentration camp consisted of 728 Polish political prisoners from Tarnow prison?
 * ... that the Japanese visual novel Twinkle Crusaders received three manga adaptations before its release?
 * ... that Oregon State Senator Laurie Monnes Anderson is a first cousin of The Simpsons creator Matt Groening?
 * ... that Sir Robert Charleton was appointed Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas despite having no previous experience in that court?
 * ... that writer-director Brian Dannelly was expelled from the first grade for hitting a nun at his Catholic elementary school?
 * ... that the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton hosts an annual event honoring girls and women named "Elizabeth" and "Elizabeth Ann"?


 * 02:35, 7 October 2008 (UTC)


 * ... that Irving Berlin stuffed towels into a piano while he was composing "That International Rag" (listen) to muffle the sound because other hotel guests made noise complaints?
 * ... that Nakamura Yoshikoto, director of the South Manchurian Railway, sponsored his childhood friend, the famed author Natsume Sōseki on a publicity jaunt to Manchuria?
 * ... that the historic monuments in the Los Angeles Harbor area include a Civil War Powder Magazine, a World War I coastal artillery battery, and the bridge of a World War II heavy cruiser?
 * ... that according to John Foxe and Raphael Holinshed, the fate of Lady Jane Grey drove Richard Morgan insane?
 * ... that Aerosteon, a 9 m long bipedal carnivorous dinosaur that lived approximately 84 million years ago, had air-sacs in its bones similar to those in the respiratory systems of modern birds?
 * ... that Korean composer and violinist Hong Nan-pa is best known for his song Bongseonhwa written in 1919 which was widely sung during the Japanese occupation of Korea?
 * ... that the Great Mosque of Aleppo, built by the Umayyads in 717, is the oldest mosque in Aleppo, Syria?
 * ... that the opening theme of the eighth season of the Bleach anime, "After Dark", was provided by the Japanese rock band Asian Kung-Fu Generation?
 * ... that in 1947, Thelma Dewitty became not just the first African American hired to teach in the Seattle Public Schools, but one of the first married women as well?

6 October 2008

 * 20:34, 6 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the ancient opencast iron ore workings known as scowles (pictured) in the Forest of Dean, England, are believed to have been an inspiration for settings in J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings?
 * ... that a Rotarian and an active sponsor of sports Joakim Puhk was one of the richest men in pre-WWII Estonia?
 * ... that in 878, the Byzantines lost Syracuse in Sicily to the Arabs because the imperial fleet was occupied with transporting marble for the construction of the Nea Ekklesia cathedral?
 * ... that the Virginia Civil Rights Memorial commemorates the 1951 protests started by 16-year-old Barbara Johns which helped bring about school desegregation in Virginia?
 * ... that Zamosc Fortress, one of the biggest fortresses of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, was besieged six times by various armies?
 * ... that in July 1530, Clan Forbes attacked Aberdeen?
 * ... the Cape Spinytail iguana coexists with the giant San Esteban Chuckwalla on San Esteban Island contrary to predictions of ecological niche theory?
 * ... that Los Angeles police were sent to guard the remains of the 1000-year-old Encino Oak Tree, a victim of "slime flux", after it was felled by an El Niño storm in 1998?
 * ... that there are currently over 1,000 more international chess tournaments per year than there were in 1951?


 * 12:29, 6 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Rohitha Bogollagama (pictured) represented Sri Lanka at peace talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam at Geneva in 2006?
 * ... that "Back 2 You / Still Grey" was simultaneously the first single by drum and bass band Pendulum to feature either a guest vocalist, or a guest instrumentalist?
 * ... that in addition to being a government aide during the Vietnam Conflict, Michael Forrestal was also a mediator in international disputes between the USSR and the US?
 * ... that the album title Ordinary Dreamers is about doing extraordinary things with a "dreamer mentality" as an ordinary person?
 * ... that two summits of Potter Fell in the Lake District are mentioned in Alfred Wainwright's The Outlying Fells of Lakeland?
 * ... that musician Bruce Conforth was the first curator at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio?
 * ... that the Church of Our Lady of Light in Chennai, India was built in 1516 by Portuguese missionaries?
 * ... that Dutch Arts and Crafts designer Peter Waals was the nephew of a Nobel Prize-winning physicist?
 * ... that Bangladesh Police plan to recruit 3,000 women to expand the newly-created Special Women Police Contingent across Bangladesh?
 * ... that as a result of Janina San Miguel ' s response to a question in the 2008 Binibining Pilipinas World pageant, the Philippine government proposed English courses for beauty pageant contestants?


 * 07:09, 6 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the first public Swedish orienteering competition, held in 1901, had two churches, Spånga and Bromma kyrka (pictured) as control points?
 * ... that the 1944 Avery-MacLeod-McCarty experiment, later celebrated for showing that DNA is the genetic material, challenged the prevailing wisdom that genes were made of protein?
 * ... that in 1992, when Oddny Aleksandersen was appointed Norwegian Minister of Government Administration and Labour, no male had yet held this position?
 * ... that the recent series of "I'm a PC" advertisements for Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system were created using Apple Macintosh computers?
 * ... that Steve Souchock was possibly going to be first baseman for the New York Yankees, but instead served military service during World War II, eventually earning five battle stars and one Bronze Star?
 * ... that the opera Les vêpres siciliennes (1885) by Giuseppe Verdi was based in part on the medieval Sicilian tract Lu rebellamentu di Sichilia (1290)?
 * ... that the Dhaka Metropolitan Police first inducted female officers in 1978?
 * ... that American Australian astronomer Penny Sackett has been appointed as the next Chief Scientist of Australia and will commence her duties in November 2008?

5 October 2008

 * 23:22, 5 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that suggestions for rejuvenating the Big Orange (pictured), near Berri, South Australia, include turning it into a big golf ball?
 * ... that the press box at the University of Wyoming is named for Larry Birleffi, who announced all Wyoming Cowboys football and basketball games from 1947–1986?
 * ... that former Chief Justice of Queensland Neal Macrossan ' s brother and nephew were also Chief Justice as well?
 * ... that The Independent Journal, a New York newspaper and journal edited and published by John McLean, was the first newspaper to publish the first of the eighty-five Federalist Papers?
 * ... that Roger Vanderfield, an Australian doctor, rugby union referee and administrator, was instrumental in establishing the first Rugby World Cup?
 * ... that after witnessing first hand the carnage of the First World War, English artist David Bomberg lost his faith in modernism and Russian Ballet was his last work in a vorticist idiom?
 * ... that, during the 1994 Major League Baseball strike, umpire Larry Young refereed a match at WrestleMania XI?
 * ... that San Marino debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with "Complice", a song performed by Miodio?
 * ... that Swedish-American ornithologist Thure Kumlien was probably poisoned by preservatives used on bird specimens sent to him?


 * 16:35, 5 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that a jeogori (pictured) is a Korean basic upper garment of traditional hanbok having been worn by both men and women?
 * ... that publisher Irvin J. Borowsky created TV Digest, America's first television program listing, which was sold to Walter Annenberg and became part of TV Guide?
 * ... that the HMS Inconstant, a Royal Navy frigate, captured three French warships during the French Revolutionary Wars?
 * ... that Bob Miller lost his first 12 games with the 1962 New York Mets and played for 10 different teams in his Major League Baseball career, tying modern-day records for both that have since been broken?
 * ... that painter Karp Zolotaryov created a handmade Zodiac calendar for teaching then-seven-year-old Peter I of Russia?
 * ... that Christopher Munch had to shoot his film The Sleepy Time Gal over an extended two-and-a-half year period due to a lack of finances?
 * ... that Nils Claus Ihlen served as Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs for seven years, but as Minister of Industrial Provisioning for only seven days?
 * ... that the Bangladesh Police inherits much of its structure from the police of British India and contributes to U.N. peace-keeping missions?


 * 10:30, 5 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that Ochna serrulata is called "Mickey Mouse Plant" because the plant's bright-red sepals (pictured) resemble the face of Mickey Mouse?
 * ... that the Umikaze class destroyers of the Imperial Japanese Navy were the first large destroyers designed for open ocean service to be built in Japan?
 * ... that John T. David, a small-town Louisiana mayor, was elected to his parish governing council in 1956, less than a year after resigning as mayor because of two bootlegging convictions?
 * ... that Iceland and India established diplomatic relations in 1972?
 * ... that William T. Kane, a physicist with Corning Incorporated, held three patents in crystallography important to the development of fiber optics?
 * ... that the Supreme Court of Cocos (Keeling) Island once administered laws described as "Byzantine" in complexity?
 * ... that Artus de Lionne, who went to China for missionary work in 1689, played a role against Jesuits in the Chinese Rites controversy?
 * ... that the ballad Mulga Bill's Bicycle by Australian bush poet Banjo Paterson was inspired by an outback worker who purchased a bicycle when drought meant there was no feed for horses?
 * ... that Don Ultang co-won the 1952 Pulitzer Prize for images of the Johnny Bright Incident, showing a violent hit by an Oklahoma A&M player on Drake University's Johnny Bright that broke Bright's jaw?


 * 04:36, 5 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the band Green Day (lead vocalist pictured) has been nominated for 10 American Music Awards, 13 Grammy Awards, and 25 MTV Music Video Awards?
 * ... that Dravidian parties rose to power in Tamil Nadu after the 1967 general election in India, in which they won all the seats they competed for?
 * ... that the Stockbridge Militia was the first Native American unit in the Continental Army?
 * ... that an island purchased by Lloyd Mathews for use as a prison is now a conservation area for giant tortoises?
 * ... that the television broadcast of the 2000 Sugar Bowl was watched by an estimated 18.4 million people?
 * ... that Tang Dynasty general Li Zhongchen, whose emperor-bestowed name meant "faithful subject," later betrayed Emperor Dezong of Tang and served the rebel Zhu Ci?
 * ... that the gilt-copper Reliquary Shrine of Saint Eleutherius in the cathedral of Tournai is considered the most sumptuous surviving mid-13th century reliquary?
 * ... that The New York Times published an article mentioning that MLB player Jeff Johnson had been bothered because of rumors he had heard about the New York Yankees pursuing different pitchers?

4 October 2008

 * 22:43, 4 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the 1923 Tour de France winner Henri Pélissier (pictured) was shot by his lover using the gun with which his wife had shot herself some years earlier?
 * ... that the main house on the grounds of the city-owned Orcutt Ranch Horticulture Center in Los Angeles incorporates swastikas in its architecture?
 * ... that the trouvère Andrieu Contredit d'Arras joined a Crusade in 1239 as a knight and minstrel?
 * ... that the BTR-90, an armoured personnel carrier in service with Russian Internal Troops, is fitted with a gun turret identical to the one used on the BMP-2?
 * ... that Robert Steinberg and John Scharffenberger experimented with the original varieties of Scharffen Berger brand chocolate in Steinberg's home kitchen?
 * ... that the Niue Star, founded in 1993, is Niue's only printed newspaper?
 * ... that the Arizona Diamondbacks won the World Series in just their fourth season of Major League Baseball?
 * ... that MS European Stars, built in 2002, was the last new cruise ship delivered to Festival Cruises before their bankruptcy in 2004?
 * ... that Bancroft Gherardi, Jr. was one of the foremost authorities in early telephone engineering, and received the IEEE Edison Medal for his work on electrical communication?


 * 16:49, 4 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that drag racer Bruce Larson hired sprint car racer Maynard Yingst (sprint car pictured) as his crew chief for his 1989 NHRA Funny Car championship season?
 * ... that during World War II, the SS-run Haidari concentration camp near Athens was so infamous that it became known as the "Bastille of Greece"?
 * ... that Tang Dynasty warlord Tian Yue was, along with his mother, wife, and children, killed by his cousin Tian Xu, who then took over the circuit that he governed?
 * ... that the original of the 1812 painting Sadak in Search of the Waters of Oblivion by John Martin was only recently discovered in Sweden and acquired by the Saint Louis Art Museum in 1983?
 * ... that Henry Jolles, who had played Schubert's complete piano music in Heidelberg in 1928, escaped Nazi persecution in 1942 by fleeing from France to Brazil with the assistance of American Varian Fry?
 * ... that the construction of the Storm King Highway took 22 mi off the drive between Newburgh and West Point, New York, two cities only 10 mi apart?
 * ... that Imperial Japanese Army general Takaji Wachi attempted to create a collaborationist state in Guangxi, China in the mid 1930s?
 * ... that the book Deadly Cults: The Crimes of True Believers was written by a former commander of the homicide branch of the Indianapolis Police Department?


 * 10:52, 4 October 2008 (UTC)


 * ... that the song "I'm Just Wild About Harry" (listen) was the most popular number from the first successful Broadway show to have an all African-American cast?
 * ... that the 1931 Workers Olympiad held in Vienna, organized by the Socialist Workers' Sport International, was larger than the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics both in number of participants and spectators?
 * ... that while growing up in Kentucky, aerobatics pilot Gene Soucy would wash and refuel airplanes at a local airport in exchange for flight time?
 * ... that Mary Shelley's edition of Percy Bysshe Shelley's Prometheus Unbound was delayed 19 years because Percy's father, Timothy Shelley, refused to allow any of his son's poetry to be published?
 * ... that Croatian composer Alfi Kabiljo 's plays have been produced over 2,000 times?
 * ... that the 1971 book Encounters with the Archdruid by John McPhee chronicles environmentalist David Brower's confrontations with his ideological enemies?
 * ... that boy soprano Andrew Johnston's debut album, One Voice, features a duet with Britain's Got Talent contestant Faryl Smith?
 * ... that former California State Assemblyman Glenn E. Coolidge was the 1962 Republican congressional candidate for California's 12th district, but died suddenly during the campaign?


 * 04:56, 4 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that after 19 years broadcasting from an antenna atop the 42-story DuMont Building (pictured) in Midtown Manhattan, WKCR-FM became the first station to broadcast from the mast on top of the World Trade Center?
 * ... that former Regimental Sergeant Major Harry Lapwood was known as having the loudest voice in the New Zealand House of Representatives?
 * ... that a scripted argument at Royal Rumble 1995 set up a wrestling match between wrestler Bam Bam Bigelow and American football player Lawrence Taylor?
 * ... that in 1951, Bulgarian politician and exile G. M. Dimitrov helped found the first Bulgarian NATO company?
 * ... that the ruined Saxon St Peter's Church, West Blatchington was used as a henhouse for many years before being restored in the 19th century?
 * ... that Edith Killgore Kirkpatrick published a short book of favorite songs titled Louisiana Let's Sing in honor of her husband Claude's unsuccessful candidacy for Governor of Louisiana in 1963?
 * ... that canal engineer Hugh Henshall was both pupil of and brother-in-law to James Brindley, the famous canal architect of the Industrial Revolution?
 * ... that it took Peter Steinfeld six weeks to write the opening eleven pages of his first screenplay, Drowning Mona?

3 October 2008

 * 23:13, 3 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Dome of the Chain (pictured), a free-standing dome functioning as a prayer house on the Temple Mount, was possibly used as a building model for the adjacent Dome of the Rock?
 * ... that deadpan comedian Kevin Wu was one of three Asians under the age of 21 to be in the top five of YouTube's all time most subscribed in 2008?
 * ... that by 1937, the Warsaw branch of the Bundist Morgnshtern was the largest sporting organisation in Poland?
 * ... that art historian George Zarnecki worked with a Soviet spy for almost 30 years at the Courtauld Institute of Art?
 * ... that Japanese rock band Abingdon Boys School provided one of the two opening theme tunes for the first season of the D.Gray-man anime?
 * ... that Dutch cricketer Maurits van Nierop had been recalled to the Netherlands national cricket team squad for the first time in two years just two weeks before he died?
 * ... the loading coil saved AT&T an estimated US$100 million in the first quarter of the 20th century but Oliver Heaviside was paid nothing for the idea?
 * ... that after the resignation of Roman Abramovic, Roman Kopin was unanimously confirmed by local legislators to be the next governor of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug?


 * 16:21, 3 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the threadfin jack (pictured) has been found at a number of archaeological sites in Central America, indicating this species has been caught by humans for food for at least three millennia?
 * ... that British architect Rodney Gordon considered running for Parliament, but could not decide which party he wanted to be in?
 * ... that the Willamette Law Review offices are housed in a former Carnegie library re-dedicated in a ceremony featuring U.S. Supreme Court judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg?
 * ... that "The Nose" is a 1916 Japanese short story by Akutagawa Ryūnosuke about a Buddhist priest who is obsessed with his ungainly nose?
 * ... that Eero Saarinen's Bell Labs Holmdel Complex was called the "The Biggest Mirror Ever" because of its unique exterior?
 * ... that Jacopo I da Carrara, signore of Padua, Italy, voluntarily stepped down in 1319 to save the city from Cangrande I della Scala?
 * ... that ticket scalpers were arrested prior to the 2008 UAAP men's basketball finals for reselling tickets at exorbitant prices?
 * ... that the Bandra Fair in Mumbai, India was established to commemorate finding a statue of Mary in the Arabian Sea?
 * ... that American film producer Sandy Stern ' s producing partner is R.E.M.'s lead singer Michael Stipe?


 * 10:20, 3 October 2008 (UTC)


 * ... that "Frog Legs Rag" (listen) was the second highest selling ragtime song after "Maple Leaf Rag" in publisher John Stillwell Stark's catalog?
 * ... that Loughborough University's Pilkington Library is cooled by an on campus combined heat and power plant which provides electricity to the rest of the university?
 * ... that the 2002 Battle of Nablus continued for two hours after the Palestinian fighters announced their willingness to surrender?
 * ... that biochemist Rollin Hotchkiss, a pioneer in bacterial transformation and molecular genetics, helped to popularize the term "genetic engineering"?
 * ... that the September 2008 attacks on Christians in Mangalore started in response to the allegations by Bajrang Dal that the New Life Fellowship Church was indulging in forcible conversion of Hindus?
 * ... that Henry Bohlen, an American Civil War Union Brigadier General who was born in Germany in 1810, was the first foreign-born Union general in the Civil War?
 * ... that the High Arctic relocation of 87 Inuit people in the Cold War was called "one of the worst human rights violations in the history of Canada" by the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples?


 * 04:21, 3 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Flagellation of Christ first appears in art (example pictured) in the 9th century?
 * ... that Sadamu Shimomura, the last Army Minister of the Imperial Japanese Army, was appointed after the surrender of Japan?
 * ... that the Alabama Crimson Tide college football team holds NCAA records for both bowl game appearances and victories with 55 and 31 respectively?
 * ... that although designed for use on light rail lines, the Valmet RM 2 trams were only ever used on traditional tram systems?
 * ... that computer criminal Jeanson James Ancheta was the first person to be charged for controlling large numbers of hijacked computers or botnets?
 * ... that conductor gallop, the wind-induced 1 Hz oscillation of overhead transmission lines, is also known as "dancing"?
 * ... that British equestrian Anne Dunham won her first individual Paralympic gold medal in the 2008 Games at the age of 59?
 * ... that the Red Hill fire tower was the last in the Catskills to be closed down?
 * ... that Sir Michael Seymour was appointed to command HMS Niemen in September 1809, a ship he had captured from the French that April?

2 October 2008

 * 21:06, 2 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Goodpasture Covered Bridge (pictured) spanning the McKenzie River near Vida, Oregon is decorated for the Christmas season?
 * ... that at the funeral of Sir Anthony Browne, friends were given mourning rings engraved on the outside with 'Wee dye'?
 * ... that M3 Amphibious Rig, a self-propelled amphibious bridging vehicle, was originally developed by the German firm Eisenwerke Kaiserslautern?
 * ... that the first work of Texas literature in English was the 1833 book Texas by Mary Austin Holley, cousin of Stephen F. Austin?
 * ... the San Esteban Chuckwalla can exceed two feet (61 cm) in length, making it the largest member of its genus, and a textbook example of insular gigantism?
 * ... that Warren A. Morton, a Speaker of the Wyoming House, was the father of a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and the son-in-law of a U.S. representative from Pennsylvania?
 * ... that the Norwegian river Lysakerelven, an ecosystem of national importance, has walking and cycling trails on both banks from its source to its mouth at the Oslofjord?
 * ... that Charlie Hillard was the first American to win the World Aerobatics Championship?


 * 15:20, 2 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the Holgate School in Nottinghamshire, England had a Khatchkar (pictured) installed in thanks by the Armenian Government for UK-funded Lord Byron School in Gyumri?
 * ... that Springfield Armory, Inc. assisted Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division in making the United States Navy Mark 14 Mod 0 Enhanced Battle Rifle by supplying the needed machinery to make it?
 * ... that according to Hansard, Northern Irish boxer Paddy Maguire once sparred with Conservative politician Colin Moynihan in a London pub?
 * ... that the weroance of the Appomattoc tribe, Perecute, personally led Thomas Batts and Robert Fallam on an expedition in 1671 to become the first Europeans to set foot within what is now West Virginia?
 * ... that Slovenian biologist Ivan Regen is considered the founder of modern bioacoustics due to his work on cricket and katydid acoustic communication?
 * ... that in Mexico City's Zócalo, 18,000 Mexicans stripped naked for the artist Spencer Tunick?
 * ... that many of the pieces of the anthology Suspiria de Profundis were lost before publication, as its author Thomas de Quincey may have accidentally set them on fire?
 * ... that after living in the U.S. for 50 years, painter Kazys Varnelis returned to Lithuania in 1998 at the age of 81?


 * 08:58, 2 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that rains from Tropical Storm Lester (pictured) triggered a mudslide that temporarily buried a man in Mexico?
 * ... that Else Højgaard was a prima ballerina who was awarded knighthood in the Order of the Dannebrog?
 * ... that the 1871 Battle of Blanco Canyon marked the first time a foreign military force had penetrated to the heart of the Comancheria since the Comanche rose to power on the Great Plains?
 * ... that Gliricidia sepium is used as firewood, live fencing, fodder, coffee shade, green manure and rat poison?
 * ... that Alaskan fiber artist Fran Reed was known for her distinctive baskets made from dried fish skins?
 * ... that Hapoel Tayibe was the first ever Arab football club to play in the top division in Israel?
 * ... that A.U. Fuimaono was the first Delegate from American Samoa to the United States House of Representatives?
 * ... that Brazilian nursing assistant Edson Isidora Guimaraes is thought to have killed patients in a hospital in São Paolo because a funeral home was paying him $60 a time for the relatives' contact details?
 * ... that in August 1936, the Matson Navigation Company cargo ship SS Mauna Loa came to the aid of a windjammer that was crewed by Sea Scouts and had been missing for two weeks?


 * 02:58, 2 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that more than 100,000 Heinkel Tourist (pictured) scooters were sold despite being heavier and more expensive than Vespas and Lambrettas?
 * ... that Nora Kimball co-starred with Mikhail Baryshnikov in David Gordon's Made in U.S.A.?
 * ... that the last common ancestor of bilaterian animals has been reconstructed as a tiny worm with a combined mouth and anus?
 * ... that the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law was named after its founder Sir Elihu Lauterpacht and his father Sir Hersch Lauterpacht?
 * ... that 29 out of 40 prepared songs were excluded from the final track list of Brandon Heath's album What If We?
 * ... that following the purchase of British Energy by Electricité de France, plans for a new Hinkley Point C nuclear power station have been announced?
 * ... that on April 17, 1964, Tim Harkness of the New York Mets became the first Met player to bat and the first to get a hit in the team's first game played at Shea Stadium?
 * ... that the Oxford Music Hall, opened in 1861, burned down twice within its first dozen years of operation?
 * ... that Prussian-born American surveyor and city planner Julius Pitzman was directly responsible for the development of the private place in St. Louis, Missouri around the turn of the 20th century?

1 October 2008

 * 18:45, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that the magazine Electrician and Mechanic (cover pictured) changed its title six times in two years before acquiring its current title, Popular Science?
 * ... that Mike J. Manning was threatened with deportation from Papua New Guinea for a report criticizing corruption in the government?
 * ... that the United Arab Emirates has signed an agreement with the Guggenheim Foundation to build a Guggenheim museum in Abu Dhabi?
 * ... that although Iván DeJesús, Jr. was selected to play in the 2008 Southern League All-star game, he instead played in the 2008 All-Star Futures Game?
 * ... that the song "Another Planet" by drum and bass band Pendulum uses samples from Jeff Wayne's musical version of The War of the Worlds?
 * ... that, after the rebellious Tang Dynasty general Zhu Tao was defeated by Wang Wujun and Li Baozhen, he immediately executed two subordinates who had suggested that he battle Wang and Li?
 * ... that Betty Furness, a Hollywood film actress turned consumer advocate, was appointed by Nelson Rockefeller as the first chairman and executive director of the New York State Consumer Protection Board?
 * ... that when Giurgiu Cathedral in Romania was inaugurated in 2006, it received a box with the relics of Saint George, but this was stolen the following year?


 * 09:32, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that David Bowie (pictured) was awarded a lifetime achievement award at the 2007 Webby Awards?
 * ... that the followers of the Socialist Workers Party in Palestine, the precursor of the Communist Party of Israel, were known as mopsim?
 * ... that Double Falshood is a 1727 play by Lewis Theobald based on the "Cardenio" episode in Don Quixote?
 * ... that Olympic distance runner Matt Centrowitz was the number one high school mile runner in America in 1973?
 * ... that Dustin the Turkey, a puppet, represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008?
 * ... that Gary D. McCaleb, a former mayor of Abilene, once recruited the late Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan to speak to a community gathering in his West Texas city?
 * ... that Cleckheaton railway station was stolen in August 1971?
 * ... that Supreme National Tribunal, a war crime tribunal active in Poland from 1946 to 1948, presided over seven high-profile cases, including the First Auschwitz Trial?
 * ... that Morris Sullivan ' s relocation of his Sullivan Bluth Studios animation company from the U.S. to Ireland, to exploit tax advantages, helped stimulate the development of Ireland's animation industry?


 * 02:56, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ... that according to writings by missionary Ivan Popov, an 18th-century settlement on Uliaga Island (pictured) was destroyed by a Russian settler at the request of natives on nearby Umnak Island?
 * ... that the Red-backed Kingfisher nests in burrows in riverbanks but not near water?
 * ... that the Great Swamp in Putnam and Dutchess County, New York is one of the largest wetlands in the state?
 * ... that Richard Kessel, a consumer advocate who opposed the US$5.5 billion Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant, purchased the facility for one dollar as head of the Long Island Power Authority?
 * ... that Ayrlies Garden has been described as the "quintessential New Zealand garden"?
 * ... that in 2004, Ouaga-Saga was one of two or three films the Burkina Faso government produces in a year?
 * ... that Dave Needham is only one of a few British boxers to have been both a BBBC bantamweight and featherweight champion?