Wikipedia:Recent additions 240

[ Edit the DYK archive navigation template]

Did you know...
''Please add the line  and   at the top for the newly posted set of archived hooks. This will ensure all times are based on UTC time and accurate. This page should be archived once a week, anytime on a Friday. Leave any already archived Friday hooks here and archive from the final Thursday update. Thanks.''

14 February 2009

 * 18:33, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that for the 1957 launch of Sputnik (pictured), Ben Blank filmed a golf ball attached to a clothes hanger rotating around a globe for use by CBS News in what has been described as the first newscast graphic?
 * ... that Ou Reang Ov District, Cambodia, was one of the 2008 sites for Operation Pacific Angel, a humanitarian mission of the U.S. Navy, Air Force, and Marines?
 * ... that model Jessica Hart, who was selected to appear in the 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, is known for her gap tooth smile?
 * ... that the British band Echo & the Bunnymen's eighth studio album, What Are You Going to Do with Your Life?, was the first not to make it into the top 20 of the UK Albums Chart?
 * ... that Yohannan Sulaqa, to oppose the hereditary patriarchal succession, took a step unprecedented in the Church of the East: traveled to Rome and was there consecrated patriarch in 1553?
 * ... that the Zen rock garden in the grounds of Zuisen-ji temple, near Kamakura, Japan, is a nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty?
 * ... that Sir Donald Luddington was the last person in history to be appointed High Commissioner for the Western Pacific?
 * ... that an anomalocaridid, a bizarre Cambrian organism, has been found 100 million years later, in the Devonian era?


 * 11:23, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that in addition to designing postage stamps (pictured), Armenian painter Arshak Fetvadjian also painted the monuments of the medieval Armenian city of Ani?
 * ... that Christ Bongo was one of only three Congolese footballers to score in final qualifying for the 2002 FIFA World Cup?
 * ... that Akanthosuchus, an extinct crocodilian from the Paleocene, is the only known crocodilian with both spiked and bladed armor?
 * ... that after King Edward the Confessor ordered the death of Rhys ap Rhydderch, Rhys was killed and his head brought to Edward in January 1053?
 * ... that Ernie Vick was an All-American football center while enrolled at the University of Michigan medical school even though his schoolwork did not allow him to practice with the team?
 * ... that Irish musicians Lisa Hannigan and Damien Rice dueted on "Unplayed Piano", a Burmese protest song that charted in the UK and was praised by The Independent as "a twinkly and beautiful thing"?
 * ... that Li Ning was made a crown prince of the Tang Dynasty, but his mother, a consort, had to settle for a much lesser honour?
 * ... that Nancy Cartwright wrote an autobiography, later adapted into a one-woman play, called My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy?


 * 04:11, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the Kentucky Railway Museum (pictured), next door to an historic hotel, features the official state locomotive of Kentucky, a "Jim Crow" car, a four-star hotel on rails, and the only gas-powered motor rail car in the southeastern United States?
 * ... that Charles Darwin suspected some saxifrages to be protocarnivorous plants?
 * ... that when called by the opposition to quit after the Kauhajoki school shooting, Finnish politician Anne Holmlund refused and compared resigning her post as Interior Minister to "desertion"?
 * ... that the World War Memorial, built in 1928 in Kimball, West Virginia, was the first memorial to African-American veterans of World War I in the United States?
 * ... that Ionel Fernic made the first parachute jump in Romania on May 31, 1936, at an aviation meeting held on the Băneasa Airport in Bucharest?
 * ... that Elizabeth Hamilton originally published Memoirs of Modern Philosophers in 1800 under a pseudonym because "even the sex of a writer may unwittingly bias the reader’s mind"?
 * ... that the architect Maxwell Ayrton co-designed the old Wembley Stadium of 1923 with his partner John William Simpson?
 * ... that, in the Faroe Islands, one way of preparing puffins as food is to stuff them with sweet cake dough, raisins, and spices?

13 February 2009

 * 20:56, 13 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that besides feeding on soybeans and transmitting viruses to them, a soybean aphid (pictured) can also injure the plant by interfering with its photosynthetic pathways?
 * ... that although Abbot Æthelwig of Evesham Abbey was known for his loyalty to William the Conqueror, he had an uncle who died fighting for King Harold, the man William deposed?
 * ... that the short-lived Republic of Biak-na-Bato ended after a pact was signed by Emilio Aguinaldo and Fernando Primo de Rivera?
 * ... that Charles Darwin's final scientific book discussed the formation of mould through the action of earthworms?
 * ... that Orlando Antigua survived a bullet wound to the head before becoming the first Hispanic and first non-black to play for the Harlem Globetrotters in 52 years?
 * ... that in 2005 UNESCO proclaimed the Moravian male recruit dance verbuňk as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Mankind?
 * ... that, according to architectural historian Neil Levine, Frank Lloyd Wright agreed to hold the 1930 Kahn Lectures for the "prestige of the venue and the bully pulpit it would afford him"?
 * ... that fishing for giant clams in the Maldives was banned by the island's government in 1991, just one year after the fishery was established?


 * 14:56, 13 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that Sir Thomas Allin's (pictured) service during the Second Anglo-Dutch War included covering the retreat at the Four Days Battle, and then leading the attack at the St. James's Day Battle?
 * ... that the idea that molecular evolution is dominated by genetic drift originally took its name from the 1969 paper "Non-Darwinian Evolution"?
 * ... that Tim Cole was the first person in Texas history to have his conviction posthumously overturned based on DNA evidence?
 * ... that Herbert Spencer, secretary of the Derby Philosophical Society, first suggested the term "survival of the fittest" after reading Charles Darwin's idea of evolution?
 * ... that the Hechal Yehuda Synagogue in Tel Aviv is often referred to as the Seashell Synagogue due to its unusal shape, inspired by the seashells on the shores of Thessaloniki?
 * ... that Consort Zheng, concubine of Emperor Xianzong of Tang, was originally a servant girl for his wife Consort Guo?
 * ... that two species of bird's nest fungi, Cyathus olla and Cyathus stercoreus, have been researched for use in agriculture?
 * ... that Paul Galloway and Bob Greene co-wrote Bagtime, a serial published in the Chicago Sun-Times about a fictional supermarket bagger, which was made into a stage musical and a pilot for a TV series?


 * 09:08, 13 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that Abraham Lincoln's "earliest recollection" was of his boyhood home Knob Creek Farm (pictured)?
 * ... that Charles Darwin conducted a psychological study of his son William Erasmus Darwin where he compared the child to orangutan babies?
 * ... that the T4 rII experimental system enabled biologist Seymour Benzer to map a gene down to the level of one or two base pairs before the invention of DNA sequencing?
 * ... that Emperor Xuānzong of Tang, the son of Emperor Xianzong by a concubine, suspected Xianzong's wife Consort Guo of being complicit in Xianzong's murder?
 * ... that the Chronicon Abbatiae de Evesham covers the history of Evesham Abbey from 714 to 1539?
 * ... that Joe M. Rodgers, who spent six hours a day for four months learning French after being named U.S. Ambassador to France, later became CEO of language school operator Berlitz International?
 * ... that to help promote their single "Showdown", drum and bass band Pendulum released a Space Invaders themed video game?
 * ... that during the Frankfort and Cincinnati Railroad's last week of passenger service, the superintendent transported the train's passengers in his own private vehicle?


 * 03:08, 13 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs, Charles Darwin's first published theory, explains how coral atolls (example pictured) form?
 * ... that India's imports fell by 47% and exports by 49% between 1929 and 1932 due to the Great Depression?
 * ... that on its first day of open beta testing, 20,000 players created 100,000 player characters in the free online video game Runes of Magic?
 * ... that because of the strict sex segregation of the era based on Confucianism, Korea's Joseon Dynasty created a class of specialist female physicians known as Uinyeo?
 * ... that Tsarong Dzasa was regarded by officials in British India as "the most powerful friend of His Majesty's Government in Tibet"?
 * ... that the concept of "molecular disease" from the 1949 paper "Sickle Cell Anemia, a Molecular Disease" became the basis for Linus Pauling's later views on molecular evolution and eugenics?
 * ... that coaches of the Great Western Railway were built up to 13 ft longer than most other British railway carriages of the time?
 * ... that Lucian Piane created a satirical techno remix, "Bale Out", utilizing a verbal rant actor Christian Bale made on the set of Terminator Salvation?

12 February 2009

 * 21:16, 12 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial (pictured) marks where Abraham Lincoln lived in Indiana, and where his sister and birth mother died?
 * ... that Charles Darwin joined the Plinian Society student naturalists' club at Edinburgh University?
 * ... that the one gene-one enzyme hypothesis is often considered the first significant result in what came to be called molecular biology?
 * ... that in 1915, T. V. Seshagiri Iyer founded the Indian Boat Club at Kodaikanal in response to discrimination against Indians at the English Boat Club?
 * ... that Annunciation Melkite Catholic Cathedral in Boston is the principal church of the Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Newton which encompasses the entire United States?
 * ... that some historians argue that Urse d'Abetot (d. 1108) was one of the first barons of the Exchequer?
 * ... that the Soviet Union provided a site in northern Russia for the secret Nazi German naval base Basis Nord as a part of a broader bilateral relation which included strategic and commercial agreements?
 * ... that The Great Snow of 1717 lasted nine days and caused snowdrifts more than 20 ft high in New England, USA?


 * 15:24, 12 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that in Fertilisation of Orchids, Charles Darwin showed how beautiful orchids (example pictured) evolved through natural selection for insect pollination?
 * ... that Lincoln Homestead State Park contains the house in which Abraham Lincoln's father Thomas proposed to his mother Nancy?
 * ... that William A. F. Browne, a radical student who proposed Charles Darwin for the Plinian Society, became a psychiatrist and pioneered art therapy?
 * ... that hikers can take a commuter train from Grand Central Terminal in New York City to two request stops near trailheads in Hudson Highlands State Park?
 * ... that Indian film actors M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar and N. S. Krishnan spent 30 months in jail in connection with the Lakshmikanthan Murder Case before being acquitted?
 * ... that Takalik Abaj, an archaeological site in lowland Guatemala, has one of the greatest concentrations of Olmec-style sculpture outside of the Gulf of Mexico coast?
 * ... that Shane Hurlbut became the youngest cinematographer ever to have been nominated for an American Society of Cinematographers award for a debut film, for his work on The Rat Pack?
 * ... that Irish singer Lisa Hannigan did the needlework for the cover of her debut album, Sea Sew?


 * 09:24, 12 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that Hodgenville, Kentucky's Abraham Lincoln Statue (pictured) was built to celebrate the centennial of Lincoln's birth a few miles away?
 * ... that the Orb Aqueduct in Béziers, France, was opened in 1858 and carries the Canal du Midi over the Orb River at a height of 12 m?
 * ... that during the Darwin Centennial Celebration of 1959, religious humanist Julian Huxley delivered a controversial "secular sermon" arguing that traditional religion was no longer needed?
 * ... that Mordecai Lincoln House in Washington County is the only home of a member of Abraham Lincoln's family that still stands in Kentucky?
 * ... that illustrator Blair Lent and author Arlene Mosel collaborated on Tikki Tikki Tembo, called one of the 50 best children's books of the preceding 50 years by The New York Times in 1997?
 * ... that three years before the Battle of the Little Bighorn, George Armstrong Custer faced the forces of Sitting Bull in battle at Honsinger Bluff?
 * ... that Nagavarma II, a Kannada language grammarian of the 11th century, authored important writings in prosody, rhetoric, poetics and vocabulary?
 * ... that the Belletable House, now located at the Fort Rock Valley Historical Homestead Museum, is thought to be the largest home built in the Fort Rock Valley during the area's homestead era?


 * 03:32, 12 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the numerous photographs of Charles Darwin&mdash;at least 53 (example pictured)&mdash;may have helped secure the singular connection between Darwin and the theory of evolution in popular thought?
 * ... that in his 1970 book Vitamin C and the Common Cold, Linus Pauling explains primates' inability to synthesize vitamin C as a result of evolution?
 * ... that the Petersen House, where Abraham Lincoln died after being shot, contains the bloodstained pillow that Lincoln laid on?
 * ... that the title of Rao Bahadur was bestowed upon Indian historian S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar?
 * ... that because it is difficult to approach, the nymphalid butterfly Euptoieta claudia was given a genus name which means "easily scared" in Greek?
 * ... that Mykhailo Krychevsky, a respected military commander, switched sides during the Khmelnytsky Uprising, joining the Cossacks, and died soon afterwards in the Battle of Loyew?
 * ... that sources indicate that Cedric "Pat" Smith, who later worked at Ford's Rouge plant, was either the second or third leading scorer in the NFL during its first season in 1920?
 * ... that the Nancy Lincoln Inn was once deemed an "unacceptable adjacent commercialization" to the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace N.H.S.?

11 February 2009

 * 21:32, 11 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that travellers in southern Cambodia must stop to pay their respects to the spirit of Yeay Mao?
 * ... that the 1988–1992 Irish television comedy Nighthawks was documented in the first episode of the 2008 Irish television show Boom! Boom! The Explosion of Irish Comedy?
 * ... that Butch Hartman, the first rookie to lead a Daytona 500, later won five championships in a rival stock car racing series?
 * ... that A Cat in the Brain is based on the reactions of its writer and director, Lucio Fulci, to real-life murders in Rome?
 * ... that when Romanian diplomat Mihail Fărcăşanu published in the newspaper a translation of Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls, the communist press called Fărcăşanu a fascist?
 * ... that Palaemon serratus is the British Isles' largest native shrimp?
 * ... that All-American football player Art Walker played in 479 of 540 minutes in the Michigan Wolverines' 1954 season and later played seven years for the Edmonton Eskimos?
 * ... that the Portuguese destroyed Korlai Fort only 73 years after building it because they did not have enough men to guard the fort?


 * 21:24, 11 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that Franz Anton Bustelli, who worked at Nymphenburg near Munich, is widely regarded as the finest modeller of porcelain in the Rococo style (example pictured)?
 * ... that between 1903 and 1924 Rover produced more than 10,000 motorcycles?
 * ... that prominent Beninese merchant and politician Paul Darboux went missing from 1963 to 1970?
 * ... that the Visna virus, a retrovirus that causes encephalitis and chronic pneumonitis in sheep, is used as a model system for HIV infection?
 * ... that King Yeongjo of the Korean Joseon Dynasty was said to have been born of a concubine from the musuri slave class?
 * ... that Michael Homer created Netscape's business plan and developed marketing campaigns for its web browser at a time when few had heard of the Internet?
 * ... that as of 2007, Romania has an installed wind power capacity of only seven megawatts?
 * ... that comedian Freddie Roman eulogized Milton Parker, who bought the famed New York City deli with Leo Steiner, saying that "Carnegie Deli caused more heartburn to the Jewish world than anything I've ever heard of"?


 * 15:32, 11 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that as CEO of The Hertz Corporation, Robert L. Stone chose O. J. Simpson (pictured) for a series of car rental ads that featured O.J. running through airports?
 * ... that the cobalt crust fungus was selected as the German Mycological Society's fungus of the year in 2009?
 * ... that Hungarian long jumper and triple jumper Gyula Pálóczi has been called "the most successful jumper Hungary has ever produced" by the European Athletic Association?
 * ... that Boss Weeks was quarterback of Fielding H. Yost's "Point-a-Minute" University of Michigan football teams in 1901–1902 that outscored opponents 1,211 to 12?
 * ... that Tamil devotional song "Kurai Onrum Illai" was composed by Indian statesman and Governor-General, C. Rajagopalachari?
 * ... that Hall of Famer Steve Carlton started 14 Opening Day games for the Philadelphia Phillies?
 * ... that British singer Adele was nominated for four 2009 Grammy Awards for "Chasing Pavements", winning in the Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance categories?
 * ... that inmates at the Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution in Pendleton, Oregon, manufacture Prison Blues brand jeans and other denim garments that are sold throughout the United States?


 * 09:40, 11 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the married couple Jerzy and Irena Krępeć (pictured), Polish Righteous among the Nations, saved over 30 Jewish refugees during the Holocaust?
 * ... that Knightsville, Utah, a company town owned and operated by Mormon entrepreneur Jesse Knight, was known as "the only mining camp in the United States without a saloon"?
 * ... that in his later years, Indian journalist C. Karunakara Menon was detested by the extremists of the Indian independence movement as well as the Government of British India?
 * ... that Michael Jackson narrated E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, the soundtrack of Steven Spielberg's 1982 film?
 * ... that after an alpine skiing career with modest results, Tomáš Kraus switched to competing in skicross, and became a double world champion?
 * ... that singer Ray LaMontagne was nominated for five 2005 Boston Music Awards, including Best Act, Best Male Vocalist, Best Male Singer/Songwriter, Best Song for "Trouble", and Best Album for his debut CD?
 * ... that Hamam al-Sammara is the only remaining Turkish bathhouse in Gaza of the original five that continues to function?
 * ... that college mathematics professor David Bressoud chose to major in mathematics because that was the quickest way to complete his degree and get away from college and academia?


 * 03:40, 11 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that in the Battle of Loyew (pictured) in 1649, dismounted Polish hussars took a Cossack wagon fort?
 * ... that headache is a symptom commonly described by patients suffering from lupus, but the existence of lupus headache as a specific disorder is contested?
 * ... that a sermon by St Asterius, a 4th-century Bishop of Amasia, was cited twice at the Second Council of Nicaea, an ecumenical council in 787, as evidence supporting the veneration of religious icons?
 * ... that Buck Creek State Park in Ohio contains a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dam and reservoir, an early 19th-century homestead, and patches of original prairie?
 * ... that Vicente González Lizondo, then President of the Valencian regional parliament, died a few days after collapsing from a fatal heart attack during a parliamentary session in 1996?
 * ... that besides causing anemia and reducing weight gains in sheep, the blood-feeding fly Melophagus ovinus can also stain the wool and devalue it?
 * ... that the fifth album by Missouri-based reggae band Jah Roots featured former Bob Marley & The Wailers lead guitarist Junior Marvin?
 * ... that students hoping to increase their brainpower before exams made offerings of incense to the body of a two-headed calf in Koh Sotin District, Cambodia?

10 February 2009

 * 21:48, 10 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that American football player "Aqua" Allmendinger (pictured), once described as "a young giant in perfect physical condition," acquired his nickname after working as a waterboy for railroad building crews?
 * ... that Memot District in eastern Cambodia is home to several huge prehistoric villages that date to the first millennium BCE?
 * ... that Beninese politician Sourou-Migan Apithy was said to have ended slavery in Benin, although in fact he was not involved with the abolition bill?
 * ... that one episode of Ireland's Project Ha Ha was criticised for featuring mainly Australian and American accents?
 * ... that opera singers Johann Nepomuk Beck, Marie Wilt, and Hans von Rokitansky all performed in the world premiere of Karl Goldmark's Die Königin von Saba on 10 March 1875?
 * ... that the Church of St Porphyrius, a Greek Orthodox church at the site where St Porphyrius of Gaza was buried, is the oldest active church in Gaza City?
 * ... that John Adams served as a member of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia for 20 years, making him one of the council's longest-serving members?
 * ... that gungnyeo is a generic Korean term referring to court ladies who waited on the king and royalty during the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties of Korea?


 * 15:56, 10 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that Oslo District Court accounted in 2007 for 50% of the usage of interpreters in courts in Norway, being used in 23% of cases?
 * ... that a park in Seattle is named after Terry Pettus, a onetime Communist whose conviction for conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government was overturned by the Supreme Court?
 * ... that male field crickets of the species Gryllus veletis attract sexually receptive mates by acoustic signals, and one changes his "courtship song" when a female enters his territory?
 * ... that Emperor Shunzong of Tang's close associate Wang Pi was described by historians as ugly, lacking ambition, and speaking in Wu Chinese?
 * ... that Los Angeles-based hip hop group Black Eyed Peas have released two number one albums in both Australia and Switzerland, but have yet to achieve the same on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100?
 * ... that in the Wii video game Neighborhood Games, when playing with more than one person, player characters can taunt opposing players to break their concentration?
 * ... that "The Peanut Vendor", composed by Cuban orchestra leader Moisés Simons, has been recorded by over 160 bands?
 * ... that in the 15th century, cutting down a Nebbiolo grapevine in the Piedmont region of La Morra was punishable by a heavy fine, hanging, or having your right hand cut off?


 * 10:08, 10 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that Golar Spirit (pictured) is the world's first floating storage and regasification vessel converted from a LNG carrier?
 * ... that cycling world champion Wilhelm Henie was his daughter Sonja Henie's guide and manager in her figure skating career?
 * ... that the price war started by Color Air in 1998 led to its bankruptcy after 14 months?
 * ... that the restoration of Ifield Water Mill in West Sussex, England, was carried out almost entirely by volunteers?
 * ... that Naomi Klein's second book, Fences and Windows, is a collection of newspaper articles about the anti-globalization movement which she wrote while promoting her first book, No Logo?
 * ... that San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Billy Wilson has been described as "probably one of the most underrated players in NFL history"?
 * ... that Cambodia’s current First Lady, Bun Rany, was once in charge of a Khmer Rouge hospital in Krouch Chhmar District?
 * ... that when Prince Philip first saw the stumpery at Highgrove House he asked his son, Charles, "when are you going to set fire to this lot?"?


 * 04:17, 10 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that Neil Snow (pictured), ranked by Grantland Rice as one of the three greatest all-around athletes ever turned out in college sports, died of heart failure at age 34 after a game of squash?
 * ... that the schooner and research vessel Vema was initially a luxury yacht built for E.F. Hutton?
 * ... that Wang Yongmin, developer of the Wubi method, brought the first case for protection of intellectual property rights in the People's Republic of China?
 * ... that chocolataires, popular around the late 19th century, were thrown as a novel alternative to tea parties&mdash;once even for a kindergarten fundraiser in Indiana, USA?
 * ... that to ensure his 1948 reelection, Republican Congressman Richard Nixon cross-filed in the Democratic primary, beating Stephen Zetterberg who ran after Nixon's 1946 foe, Jerry Voorhis declined to run?
 * ... that 467 mass graves containing 32,690 victims were found in the grounds of a pagoda in Kang Meas District in Cambodia?
 * ... that Bert Shelley made 448 appearances for Southampton Football Club between 17 January 1920 and 16 April 1932, a club record that was broken by Tommy Traynor in 1966?
 * ... that after John Rich of Big & Rich released his single "Shuttin' Detroit Down", Detroit radio station WDTW began playing the song hourly?

9 February 2009

 * 22:48, 9 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the Valhalla structure (pictured) on Jupiter's moon Callisto is the largest multi-ring basin in the Solar System?
 * ... that the American band Scissor Sisters won all three international categories at the 2005 BRIT Awards for their debut album?
 * ... that in the aftermath of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed three economic agreements: in 1939, in 1940 and in 1941?
 * ... that the white Piedmont wine grape Arneis is known as "white Barolo" because it was traditionally blended with Nebbiolo to soften that grape's harsh tannins?
 * ... that 22 Australians have been decorated with the George Cross, the highest civil decoration for heroism in the British Empire?
 * ... that the grandfather of Barack Obama's new Cabinet Secretary, Chris Lu, was attorney general for the Republic of China?
 * ... that Teddy Air was the first airline to win a public service obligation in Norway?
 * ... that one critic described the Arliss Howard film Big Bad Love about an alcoholic Vietnam veteran as "a self-indulgent celebration of self-indulgence"?


 * 16:56, 9 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that Georgette Leblanc (pictured) portrayed the role of Ariane in the original 1899 play Ariane et Barbe-bleue by Maurice Maeterlinck and in the 1907 opera adaptation by Paul Dukas?
 * ... that before his inauguration, President Barack Obama read The Defining Moment, planning to apply some of Franklin D. Roosevelt's strategies outlined in the book into his own administration?
 * ... that Fredrik Kayser volunteered for the Winter War, served in the Norwegian Campaign, and helped sabotage the Nazi nuclear programme?
 * ... that St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Walden, New York, was not consecrated for nine years as it took that long to pay off the construction debt?
 * ... that the slipper lobster Scyllarus arctus is less common around Great Britain than the giant squid Architeuthis dux?
 * ... that before he flew the Spirit of St. Louis on his historic transatlantic flight, Charles Lindbergh's first choice of aircraft was the Ryan M-2?
 * ... that the United Kingdom political party the Liberal Democrats received £456,000 in state political funding in 2006?
 * ... that stand-up comedian Tommy Johnagin achieved two personal career goals within one year: to appear on the Late Show with David Letterman and to host his own Comedy Central Presents special?

pitcher Dave Wainhouse became the first Canadian-born player to be selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball Draft?
 * 10:56, 9 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that Britain's Dacres family produced an Admiral and First Naval Lord, Sydney, three vice-admirals, James Richard (pictured), Richard and James Richard, a naval Captain, Barrington, and a field marshal, Richard James?
 * ... that the first dinosaur to be discovered in Antarctica was unearthed in 1986 from the Santa Marta Formation?
 * ... that the Rudge Ulster racing motorcycle was named after Graham Walker's 1928 race win in the Ulster Grand Prix, the first time a road race had been won at over 80 mph?
 * ... that the zamindar of the estate of Ramnad held the title "Sethupathi" or "protector of the bridge"?
 * ... that the operation of the Adria oil pipeline was stopped in 1991 because of the conflict in Croatia?
 * ... that in 1988,
 * ... that Bridgemere Garden World in Bridgemere, Cheshire, now one of the largest garden centres in Europe, started as "a little garden shed in a small field" in 1961?
 * ... that Johnny Kitagawa has held a virtual monopoly on the creation of boy bands in Japan for more than 40 years?


 * 05:08, 9 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that Natural Arch, Tirumala hills, located in Andhra Pradesh, is a  naturally formed geological wonder in quartzites with estimated geological age of 1600 to 570 Ma?
 * ... that the Hudson's Bay Company's Joseph Adams oversaw the creation of a trading post from which Ontario 's first English settlement originated?
 * ... that British marque AJW built high-end 1000cc motorcycles in the 1920s but were producing 50cc "Fox Cubs" by the 1960s?
 * ... that former Romanian boxer Gogea Mitu is listed by the Guiness Book of World Records as the world's tallest professional boxer?
 * ... that the Nintendo DS video game, Elebits: The Adventures of Kai and Zero, requires that players catch "elebits", which are small beings that pulse with electricity?
 * ... that in the middle of building Fagernes Airport, Leirin, the authorities changed their minds and gave the airport more than twice the runway length?
 * ... that in c. 990, Nagavarma I authored the earliest available work on the science of prosody in the Kannada language?
 * ... that Academy Award winner Glen Hansard was a regular visitor to Dublin's Road Records store before its closure in January 2009?
 * ... that former West Indian cricketer John Maynard gained his nickname The Dentist after knocking out an opponent's teeth with one of his fast deliveries?

8 February 2009

 * 19:42, 8 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that when the pre-dreadnought battleship Connecticut (|pictured) ran aground in 1907, the U.S. Navy tried to cover it up, prompting Congress to consider an official inquiry?
 * ... that Joan Bright Astley is believed to be one of the women on whom novelist Ian Fleming based the James Bond series character Miss Moneypenny?
 * ... that although it is now endemic to Fiji, fossils attributed to the Fiji Goshawk have been found in Eua, Tonga?
 * ... that Rabbi Leon Klenicki called the We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah significant in establishing that "the deniers of the Holocaust in Europe now have to deal with the Vatican"?
 * ... that the 2007 French science fiction film Eden Log, created by first-time director Franck Vestiel, was shot using only hand-held cameras?
 * ... that about 600 ships have been wrecked on the Doom Bar at the estuary of the River Camel on Cornwall's north coast in the past 200 years?
 * ... that Grady Nutt, known as "The Prime Minister of Humor" for his humorous sketches of Protestant culture in the Southern United States, was a licensed Baptist minister at age thirteen?
 * ... that Beer Day in Iceland celebrates the end of prohibition of beer on 1 March 1989, though wine and other spirits had been legal since 1935?


 * 13:40, 8 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that effects of the financial crisis of 2007–2009 on museums have included the National Academy of Design's controversial sale of Frederic Edwin Church's Scene on the Magdalene (|pictured)?
 * ... that Rideau was the first Canadian company to be granted its own coat of arms by The Heraldic Authority?
 * ... that according to indigenous chronicles, the Chajomá kingdom was one of the three principal kingdoms in highland Guatemala before the Spanish Conquest?
 * ... that Arthur Bagot was awarded the Albert Medal in 1918 for removing depth charges from a motor launch whilst the launch was ablaze?
 * ... that on 28 May 1931, a Bellanca CH-300, fitted with a Packard DR-980 diesel engine, set a 55-year record for staying aloft for 84 hours and 32 minutes without being refueled?
 * ... that Steve Carson, the producer/director husband of RTÉ host Miriam O'Callaghan, has been named as the channel's Director of Television?
 * ... that in medieval England the regalian right was an important, if irregular, source of income for the kings?
 * ... that Roger Neilson was made the head coach of the Ottawa Senators for the last two games of the 2001–02 season to become the ninth head coach in National Hockey League history to coach 1,000 games?


 * 07:48, 8 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the Jaffa Clock Tower (|pictured) in Israel was built to celebrate the silver jubilee of the reign of the Ottoman Sultan Abd al-Hamid II?
 * ... that Sydney Dickens, the son of novelist Charles Dickens, accumulated so much debt that his father refused to see him?
 * ... that informed consent for Icos's experimental drug rovelizumab (LeukArrest) was waived during clinical trials if the patient was unconscious and had a high chance of dying?
 * ... that Conrad Wilhelm Eger was an associate of Norwegian industrialist Sam Eyde, serving as CEO of Elkem from 1912 to 1950?
 * ... that the Mechanics Bank based in Richmond, California, declined a 60 million dollar government bailout?
 * ... that two court orders sought to force the Philippine Basketball Association to allow Filipino basketball player Asi Taulava to play in the 2004–05 PBA Philippine Cup despite him being suspended?
 * ... the first bridge over the Mekong in Cambodia was built in Kampong Cham District?
 * ... that actor Peter Falk, the affable detective in the long-running TV series Columbo, was propelled to stardom by portraying a vicious killer in the 1960 film Murder, Inc.?


 * 01:48, 8 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the Cambridge CAP (|pictured) was the first successful experimental computer that demonstrated the use of capabilities, both in hardware and software?
 * ... that in 1938, Time magazine stated that Carleton Beals is "now the best informed and the most awkward living writer on Latin America"?
 * ... that Albania expects to accede to NATO this April after individual NATO member states ratify its accession protocol?
 * ... that Ray Edwin Powell was the president of Alcan, a Canadian aluminum company, before becoming the 10th Chancellor of McGill University in 1957?
 * ... that dessert bars are considered one of two essentials for potlucks in Minnesota, the other being hotdish?
 * ... that Dag Berggrav, whose father and grandfather both were bishops, served as the vice president of the International Ski Federation from 1979 to 1983?
 * ... that during clinical trials of the experimental drug erlizumab (rhuMAb), four patients suddenly started coughing up blood and later died?
 * ... that American wine writer Matt Kramer coined the definition of terroir as a wine's "somewhereness"?

7 February 2009

 * 19:56, 7 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the well-preserved Khan al-Umdan (|pictured), located in Acre, is the largest caravanserai in Israel?
 * ... that Major League Baseball catcher Nelson Santovenia caught Vince Coleman stealing on July 28, 1989, ending Coleman's streak of 50 consecutive stolen bases?
 * ... that the Gulag ship Indigirka was shipwrecked trying to enter the La Perouse Strait with a loss of 741 lives?
 * ... that William Agar Adamson, who was the personal chaplain to Lord Sydenham, the first Governor of the Province of Canada, also wrote a book on salmon fishing?
 * ... that Coast Aero Center and Norving were the first airlines with scheduled services at Geilo Airport, Dagali located in Hol, Norway?
 * ... that University of Michigan gymnast Beth Wymer won three consecutive NCAA championships in the uneven bars and was a first-team All-American in the all-around and balance beam?
 * ... that the 500-year-old title Yeonguijeong was created in 1400 CE during the Joseon Dynasty of Korea, and given to the Chief State Councilor as the highest government position of "Uijeongbu"?
 * ... that the Giannini sextuplets, the second set of sextuplets in the world to live past infancy, were born in Italy six years to the date after the first set of surviving sextuplets?


 * 14:08, 7 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that Hrelja, a 14th-century semi-independent feudal lord under Serbian suzerainty, built the defensive tower (|pictured) in Bulgaria's largest monastery, the Rila Monastery?
 * ... that in the second season of Burn Notice, the main character offers asides on topics such as how to burglar-proof a house or break out of prison?
 * ... that the King's Police Medal was created to reward the gallantry of three police officers involved in the Tottenham Outrage in 1909?
 * ... that the Perek Shirah, an ancient Jewish text, contains 84 songs of various elements of creation, ranging from the heavens to dogs, based upon Biblical and Talmudic verses?
 * ... that according to Second World War general "Jumbo" Wilson, Hermione, Countess of Ranfurly "outmanoeuvred every general in the Middle East" in her efforts to remain in the theatre of war?
 * ... that the Tony Jannus Award for distinguished achievement in commercial aviation is named for the pilot of the first scheduled commercial airline flight?
 * ... that Tuva or Bust!, a book about Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman's efforts to visit Tannu Tuva, was inspired by Feynman's childhood memories of seeing postage stamps from Tannu Tuva?
 * ... that Cinderella, as broadcast on CBS in March 1957, is the only Rodgers and Hammerstein musical written for television?


 * 08:16, 7 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that Xochipala-style figurines (|pictured) are considered some of the earliest and most naturalistic in Mesoamerica?
 * ... that Ignatz Urban ' s type collections of Caribbean plants were largely destroyed in the 1943 bombing of the Berlin Herbarium?
 * ... that more than 900 different Great Western Railway telegraphic codes were in use to make the GWR's telegraph messages more efficient?
 * ... that Lu Chen ' s magic show was the second-most popular performance in China's 2009 CCTV Spring Festival special?
 * ... that The Go-Getter's theatrical run in the U.S. lasted only three days in June 2008?
 * ... that Gáspár Békés organized two unsuccessful rebellions against Stephen Báthory of Poland but later became Báthory's close advisor despite differences in their religions?
 * ... that in Gretchen, a play by W. S. Gilbert based on Goethe's Faust, Faustus hopes to be purified by loving Gretchen, but instead his influence corrupts and eventually kills her?
 * ... that while Auguste Achintre was traveling to New York City as Haiti's ambassador to the United States, the Haitian government was overthrown, revoking his role as ambassador?


 * 02:24, 7 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that passenger pigeons, eskimo curlews, buffaloes (|pictured), and gophers were Saskatchewan wildlife of great population which diminished due to massive over-hunting and natural habitat change?
 * ... that American author Malcolm MacPherson was inspired to become a journalist after interviewing Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru while attending a high school summer program in New Delhi?
 * ... that only 33 Portuguese soldiers survived the 1638 Battle of Gannoruwa, fought between the occupying Portuguese forces and the Sinhalese army?
 * ... that Louisiana journalist Robert Angers in 1977 established the International Relations Association of Acadiana to foster goodwill and commerce with French and Spanish-speaking nations?
 * ... that the Port of Lázaro Cárdenas is the largest seaport in Mexico, handling 20,860,647 tonnes of cargo in 2008?
 * ... that the Western Australian Drosera stolonifera species complex was split into six related species in 2005?
 * ... that John Duncan Watson was responsible for the construction of the first large-scale percolating filter sewage treatment plant?
 * ... that after the cult comedy show Mystery Science Theater 3000 was cancelled, the writing staff created an animated comedy/fantasy miniseries for the Sci Fi Channel website called Edward the Less?

6 February 2009

 * 20:32, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the 5,000-calorie Bacon Explosion (|pictured) was created in response to a Twitter challenge to develop "the ultimate bacon recipe"?
 * ... that the didactic Jain literature, Vaddaradhane, written by Shivakotiacharya in c. 900, is the earliest available prose work in the Kannada language?
 * ... that during the inauguration of Barack Obama, Macon Phillips, the White House Director of New Media, posted the first official Obama Administration blog entry from Whitehouse.gov?
 * ... that Sgurr nan Spainteach, a mountain in Glen Shiel, was named after the Spanish soldiers who retreated up it during the Battle of Glen Shiel?
 * ... that the plant genus Tricarpelema contains seven Asian species from moist tropical forests and one African species found on dry inselbergs?
 * ... that the Dubois-Sarles Octagon in Marlboro, New York, has a recessed entrance and sidehall interior plan, both unusual in mid-19th century octagon houses?
 * ... that Ugandan 800 metres runner Abraham Chepkirwok missed out on the 2007 World Championships bronze medal by only 0.02 seconds?
 * ... that when Hayden Edwards asked fellow empresario Stephen F. Austin to support the Fredonian Rebellion, Austin replied "You are deluding yourselves and this delusion will ruin you"?


 * 14:32, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that because he misidentified the stalked lattice stinkhorn fungus (|pictured) as a new species, George Atkinson was ridiculed in print by fellow mycologist Curtis Gates Lloyd?
 * ... that the recently announced Marianna Fault in Arkansas was discovered due to the stretches of fine sand in otherwise fertile soil?
 * ... that efforts taken by Roman Catholic missionary Henrique Henriques to publish religious books in local languages led him to be called The Father of Tamil press?
 * ... that the English village of Gresham, Norfolk, once had a 14th-century castle with four round towers and a moat, now ruined and overgrown by trees?
 * ... that gymnastics coach Bev Plocki led Michigan to 15 Big Ten championships and 18 NCAA championship tournaments after taking over a last-place program in 1990?
 * ... that Egypt's Fahd Armored Personnel Carrier has specialized variants ranging from an infantry fighting vehicle to a command post vehicle to deal with different threats?
 * ... that advertising executive turned vintner Robert Palmer was one of the first to export overseas wines produced in the North Fork of New York's Long Island?
 * ... that the decking for the pier at the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port in Cambodia was so heavy that a railway had to be constructed to move it?


 * 08:40, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the stag's horn fungus (|pictured) contains a sugar binding protein with potent anti-tumor properties?
 * ... that worldwide there are four million commercial fishing vessels, including 1.8 million undecked traditional craft still powered by oars or sail?
 * ... that Michael Jackson's autobiography, Moon Walk, was given the code name "Neil Armstrong", that of the first "moonwalker"?
 * ... that in a festival at the Norse Temple at Uppsala, men and male animals were sacrificed by hanging?
 * ... that the Milton-Madison Bridge, which carries U.S. Route 421 across the Ohio River, is considered structurally poor and unable to handle modern truck traffic?
 * ... that the Kh-31 was the first supersonic anti-ship missile that could be launched by tactical aircraft?
 * ... that former Los Angeles Clippers coach Larry Brown is the only one of the 22 head coaches in franchise history with a winning NBA regular season record?
 * ... that K-Space third album, Infinity, was a new type of CD that is different every time it is played?


 * 02:48, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the idea for the Red Scapular of the Passion (|pictured) approved by Pope Pius IX is said to have been given to a French nun by visions of Jesus and Mary in 1846?
 * ... that Alexis Belonio, for his innovations on the rice husk stove, becomes the first Filipino to receive a Rolex Award for Enterprise?
 * ... that the old stone jail in Bardstown, Kentucky, an active prison from 1819 to 1987, is the last stone jail in operation in Kentucky, USA?
 * ... that the English architectural historian Edward Hubbard wrote the definitive biography of the Cheshire architect John Douglas, but died before it could be published?
 * ... that various species in the fungal genus Antrodia, used in Taiwan as traditional medicines, have been shown to have antioxidant and anticancer properties?
 * ... that the first ever mission of the U.S. Peace Corps to Cambodia began in the Kampong Siem District?
 * ... that developmental biologist Aron Moscona research on growth of embryos into complex tissues and organs led to the discovery of cadherins, which help cells recognize each other and cluster together?
 * ... that in some countries, digital DJ licensing is required before DJs can legally perform with a laptop?

5 February 2009

 * 20:56, 5 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the airline Vildanden started its first route with wet leased aircraft (|example pictured) from Coast Air?
 * ... that New York City's Stock Exchange Luncheon Club closed in 2006 after more than a century on Wall Street?
 * ... that former Six band member Sinéad Shepherd returned to Irish television on The All Ireland Talent Show in February 2009?
 * ... that Haung Falls in the Cambodian district of Dambae have carved out a 1,425 square metre stone crater under the cascade?
 * ... that mountaineer Otto Meiling kept in such good physical shape, he made a one-day ascent of Argentina's Mount Tronador in his mid 80s?
 * ... that a subspecies of the carnivorous plant Drosera stolonifera has only been collected from the summits of two mountains, Bluff Knoll and Toolbrunup in Western Australia?
 * ... that firefighters had to shut off a fire hydrant in Hawaii after it was struck by a rockslide as a result of heavy rainfall from Hurricane Darby in 2004?
 * ... that Francois-Gabriel D'Angeac, the first French governor of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, began his military career at age eight?


 * 15:08, 5 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that after being completed in October 2008, Tokyo's Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower (|pictured) is the second-tallest educational building in the world, at 204 m?
 * ... that Adolphe Colrat, the High Commissioner of the Republic in French Polynesia, previously worked as the chief of staff for the police commissioner of Réunion?
 * ... that Sammy Davis Jr.'s 1933 role in Rufus Jones for President is considered to be the first portrayal of an African American president of the United States in popular culture?
 * ... that in 1953, Jessurun Cardozo became the first rabbi to conduct Jewish High Holidays services in Madrid since the Alhambra Decree of 1492 expelled Jews from Spain?
 * ... that in 1995–96, fans of the NHL's Florida Panthers celebrated goals by throwing plastic rats on the ice as their team reached its first Stanley Cup final?
 * ... that in late 2008, Norwegian novelist Johan Harstad won the Brage Prize and was hired as the first in-house playwright at the National Theatre of Norway?
 * ... that after the New York Central Railroad ended service to it, the Milton Railroad Station in Milton, New York, was used by a local winery for tastings?
 * ... that a relative of the culinary herb sage, Salvia involucrata, has been found to contain compounds that can help prevent memory loss?


 * 09:16, 5 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that in 1716, Richard Phelps cast the hour bell popularly known as "Great Tom" (|illustration pictured) still in use at St Paul's Cathedral, London?
 * ... that of all head coaches of what are now the New Orleans Hornets, Basketball Hall of Famer Dave Cowens has had the best record, winning more than 60% of games in his three seasons coaching the team?
 * ... that British novelist Mary Shelley was blackmailed by the Italian exile for whom she wrote the travel narrative Rambles in Germany and Italy?
 * ... that before a shogunate tribunal in 1787, the temples Myōhō–ji, Ankokuron-ji and Chōshō-ji in Kamakura all claimed to be the site where Nichiren, founder of Nichiren Buddhism in Japan, had his hermitage in a hut in the 13th century?
 * ... that 19th-century English portrait painter Henry William Pickersgill was a member of the Royal Academy for almost 50 years, and showed a total of 384 works there?
 * ... that Keith Smith was a leading Australian rules footballer of the 1930s and '40s?
 * ... that 19th-century French newspaper Le Constitutionnel established the reputation of critics such as Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve?
 * ... that despite what its scientific name implies, the perennial garden plant Salvia indica is not naturally found in India?


 * 03:24, 5 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the indigenous flora of Saskatchewan (|example pictured) is used for jellies, jams, pies, herbal teas, medicinal decoctions and technological products?
 * ... that film producers Keith Calder, Felipe Marino and Joe Neurauter acquired their first script within a week of forming their production company, Occupant Films?
 * ... that art and architecture collective Fashion Architecture Taste designed a bicycle shelter in the shape of a castle in Scheveningen that appeared on the 69c Dutch postage stamp?
 * ... that Jack Brennan ' s accidental interruption of the Frost/Nixon interviews allowed Richard Nixon's staff to convince Nixon to offer a mea culpa?
 * ... that the medieval Old Punch Bowl in Crawley, England, has been a house, a dairy farm, a tearoom, an officers' mess, a YMCA and a bank, and is now a pub?
 * ... that Carol Hutchins, coach of the first eastern team to win the Women's College World Series, is the winningest coach in the history of the University of Michigan in any sport?
 * ... that taranakite, a mineral formed from the reaction of clays or aluminous rocks with materials derived from bat or bird guano, was first found in New Zealand's Sugar Loaf Islands in 1865?
 * ... that, according to the Book of Tang, the Tang Dynasty official Wang Shuwen first became a staff member of then-Crown Prince Li Song because of his Go abilities?

4 February 2009

 * 21:32, 4 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that some Dartmoor crosses (|example pictured) were probably used not for religious purposes, but rather to mark the tracks between Buckfast Abbey, Tavistock Abbey and Buckland Abbey?
 * ... that Ira Eaker and Allen Zwerdling established Back Stage in 1960, considered the "casting bible" for theater performers?
 * ... that despite being a widely-used garden plant on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, Salvia interrupta can only be found in nature in the Atlas Mountains in the African country of Morocco?
 * ... that Shirley Chisholm was the first African American candidate for president of the United States for a major political party when she campaigned during the 1972 election?
 * ... that in 1018, Byzantine general Eustathios Daphnomeles entered the stronghold of Ibatzes of Bulgaria and blinded and captured him, thereby ending Bulgarian resistance to the Byzantine conquest?
 * ... that although it was founded in 1924, Congregation Beth Israel in Berkeley, California, did not hire its first rabbi until 1963?
 * ... that the monuments of the ancient Maya city of Seibal in Guatemala display an unusual mix of Maya and foreign elements?
 * ... that unlike most other lemurs, the Collared Brown Lemurs do not demonstrate female dominance?


 * 12:32, 4 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that it has been claimed that Clan Schaw descends from cup bearers to the Scots kings Alexander II or Alexander III; and that the clan's heraldry (|pictured) alludes to the office of cup bearer?
 * ... that Peter Tsiamalili, the first chief administrator of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, also served as Papua New Guinea's ambassador to Belgium?
 * ... that in 2008, Unionsexpressen started a luxury intercity train service between Oslo and Stockholm, in competition with the state-owned SJ?
 * ... that operatic tenor Gustav Walter portrayed the role of Assad in the world premiere of Karl Goldmark's Die Königin von Saba?
 * ... that after Noel Coward's play cycle Tonight at 8.30 premiered, he added four more plays, including Family Album and Still Life?
 * ... that Bateay District in Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia, was the site of an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 virus in 2006?
 * ... that Flip Saunders is the only Minnesota Timberwolves head coach to have been to the playoffs with the Timberwolves?
 * ... that during the reign of Emperor Shunzong of Tang, who was debilitated by a stroke, his concubine Consort Niu was one of the key decision-makers?


 * 06:40, 4 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that water puppetry (|pictured) from North Vietnam dates back to the 11th century CE?
 * ... that William Henry Ellis ' s tenure as Master Cutler of the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire lasted for four years instead of just one because of the First World War?
 * ... that to survive during Prohibition, some winemaking families in what is now California's Russian River Valley AVA converted to bootlegging operations that sold a water-based wine known as "jackass brandy"?
 * ... that Karl Graul, former director of Leipzig Lutheran mission and a Tamil scholar, believed that Christian missionaries in India should not interfere with the local traditions including the caste system?
 * ... that within the Source Seine commune in France is the source of the Seine?
 * ... that American football player Buddy Burris was the first Oklahoma Sooner to be named an All-American three times?
 * ... that Deutsche Evangelische Oberschule, Cairo's oldest German school, has been running since 1873?
 * ... that Sammy Stephens, an internet sensation for his "It's just like a mini-mall" rap advertisements for Flea Market Montgomery, got his start in broadcasting at WMGY in Montgomery, Alabama, USA?


 * 00:48, 4 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the trees that gave Maple Lawn (|pictured), a Frederick Clarke Withers-designed house in Balmville, New York, its name were later destroyed in a hurricane?
 * ... that television chef Ingrid Espelid Hovig is considered the "culinary mother" of Norway?
 * ... that Isidore de Lara ' s Messaline was the first opera by an English composer to be produced at La Scala?
 * ... that the prolific author Maxwell Gray, whose real name was Mary Gleed Tuttiett, was a permanent invalid who seldom left her home in Newport, Isle of Wight?
 * ... that, when the München RFC played the Bad Tölz US Army in June 1978, it was the first game of rugby union played in Munich in almost 50 years?
 * ... that the film Dark Habits was rejected by the Cannes Film Festival because the organizing committee considered it sacrilegious, blasphemous and anti-Catholic?
 * ... that S. Muthiah Mudaliar spent Rs. 4 lakhs on a propaganda campaign against consumption of liquor in the late 1920s?
 * ... that although it has not been formally assessed by the IUCN, the plant Justicia flaviflora is considered critically endangered because it can only be naturally found on one mountain in Trinidad and Tobago?
 * ... that Derek Forster became the youngest Sunderland footballer to have made a first team appearance when he was 15 years 185 days old?

3 February 2009

 * 18:56, 3 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the Maryland Residence (|pictured) in Bethesda, USA, one of the few houses designed by César Pelli, consists of five pavilions linked by a central gallery?
 * ... that 11th-century "minister of war and peace" Durgasimha wrote the Kannada language version of the Panchatantra, the first Indian vernacular adaptation of these fables?
 * ... that the Apalachia Dam in North Carolina has an underground conduit carrying water from the dam's reservoir to its hydroelectric powerhouse 12 mi away in the neighboring state of Tennessee?
 * ... that Empress Dowager Wang, the mother of Tang Chinese Emperor Xianzong, was to be a concubine of his great-grandfather Daizong, but as she was young, was instead given to Xianzong's father, Shunzong?
 * ... that most of U.S. Route 2 in Vermont was originally part of the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway, an early transcontinental North American auto trail?
 * ... that in 1946, Welsh international footballer Bert Turner became the first player to score for both sides in an FA Cup Final?
 * ... that Chamkar Leu District in eastern Cambodia is home to a 6000 ha rubber plantation?
 * ... that David Yuile and his brother William attempted to control the Canadian glass manufacturing sector by founding the Diamond Glass Company, which did not make any glass?


 * 13:08, 3 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that Skuon town in Cambodia's Cheung Prey District is famous for fried spiders (|pictured) seasoned with garlic and salt?
 * ... that Lucien Galtier, the first Roman Catholic priest in Minnesota, was responsible for renaming the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota, from its previous name of Pig's Eye?
 * ... that NSB Gjøvikbanen won the first, and so far only, rail transport public service obligation tender in Norway in 2005?
 * ... that Angus Goetz played for Buffalo in the National Football League on the weekends while attending medical school at the University of Michigan?
 * ... that the commune of Gory in south-western Mali is the subject of a 0,000 UNESCO–Mali educational project, funded by the Norwegian government?
 * ... that singer Phil Ochs wrote "The War Is Over" in 1967 to declare that the Vietnam War was over, eight years before the war actually ended?
 * ... that the World Wide Fund for Nature rates the Mizoram-Manipur-Kachin rain forests bordering India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar (Burma) as "Globally Outstanding" in biological distinctiveness?
 * ... that in 1785, men between 16 and 50, who were not ministers, were required to help build Bardstown, Kentucky's Cobblestone Path or be subject to a fine?


 * 07:16, 3 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels warned that their boycott of Jewish businesses (|pictured) "will be resumed... until German Jewry has been annihilated", if the Anti-Nazi Boycott of 1933 was not ended?
 * ... that Sinuessa, the last town of Latium on the Appian Way, was famous for its springs whose visitors included Horace, Virgil, and Julius Caesar?
 * ... that John Calvin's works include some 1,300 letters, making him "the great letter-writer of the Reformation age" according to B. B. Warfield?
 * ... that during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the Palmach referred to the Palestinian Arab village of Burayr as "the village of the killers"?
 * ... that Victor Vacquier escaped Russia by sleigh across the frozen Gulf of Finland and went on to pioneer the use of submarine detectors for investigating plate tectonics?
 * ... that Norwegian railway company Ofotbanen went bankrupt due to the minority owner Autolink starting the competitor Cargolink?
 * ... that Joan Snyder, a MacArthur Fellow and a Guggenheim Fellow, has had her paintings exhibited at Jewish Museum in New York?
 * ... that every household in the Dhaniakhali bloc of West Bengal, India, has at least one loom, where handloom saris are made?


 * 01:16, 3 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that Three Crosses (|pictured) were built on the same hill in Kalnai Park as the Crooked Castle, destroyed during the Lithuanian Civil War (1389–1392)?
 * ... that John Isaacs, signed out of high school by the all-Black New York Renaissance team, led the Rens over the Oshkosh All-Stars to win the first World Professional Basketball Tournament, held in 1939?
 * ... that the critically endangered Philippine eagle is the namesake of the Agila 2 communications satellite?
 * ... that a civil rights lawsuit brought by Andrew W. Cooper led to the election of Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to the U.S. Congress?
 * ... that sex workers across the world have organised since the mid-1970s to demand sex workers’ rights, including the decriminalisation of prostitution and equal protection under the law?
 * ... that Senegalese long jumper and triple jumper Ndiss Kaba Badji was the only person from his country to reach a final at the 2008 Summer Olympics?
 * ... that the Irish romantic comedy Little White Lie followed the attempts of an actor to attract the attention of a television presenter by pretending he was a psychiatrist?
 * ... that prior to becoming a chocolatier, Louis Barnett trained birds of prey at a falconry centre to gain permission to keep a pet eagle owl?

2 February 2009

 * 19:24, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that English embroidery (|example pictured) includes styles called Opus Anglicanum, stumpwork, crewel work and art needlework?
 * ... that an episode of the documentary series Hostage detailed Saddam Hussein's placing of two Irish civilians as "human shields" at sites of strategic importance during the Gulf War?
 * ... that the Parc de Belleville is the highest park in Paris and also contains the city's longest cascading water fountain?
 * ... that Michael Watson took six days to complete the London Marathon in 2003, an achievement that won him the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award that year?
 * ... that Russian historian and scientist Vladimir N. Beneshevich was arrested on charges of spying for Germany and executed because one of his books was translated into German in 1937?
 * ... that Chatuge Dam and Nottely Dam in the Tennessee Valley were originally constructed in 1942 solely for flood control to maximize hydroelectric production at Hiwassee Dam, but were only outfitted with power generators later in the 1950s?
 * ... that operatic tenor Andreas Dippel portrayed the title role in Alberto Franchetti Asrael in its United States premiere at the Metropolitan Opera?
 * ... that DSV 78/08 Ricklingen, the oldest rugby union club in Germany, was formed under the leadership of 15 year old Ferdinand-Wilhelm Fricke in 1878?


 * 13:32, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that to open the swing door on the General Aircraft Hamilcar glider (|pictured) and allow vehicles to emerge, pilots had to climb out of the glider's cockpit and slide down 15 ft of fuselage?
 * ... that Romanian professional armwrestler Ion Oncescu is the current world champion for both the left and the right arms?
 * ... that the endemic flora of Trinidad and Tobago consists of 59 plant species, including one that was last collected between 1786 and 1791?
 * ... that Laurie D. Cox performed the first comprehensive tree census in New York City in 1915, finding that most street trees in Manhattan were in bad condition?
 * ... that the first Filipinos to settle in Saudi Arabia arrived in 1973?
 * ... that Jim Crockett Promotions hosted an unusual series of pro wrestling tag team matches in the 1970s, as heel (villain) teams such as the Blond Bombers (Rip Hawk and Swede Hanson) faced fellow heels Brute Bernard and Skull Murphy?
 * ... that a predominance diagram purports to show the conditions of concentration and pH where a chemical species has the highest concentration in solutions in which there are multiple acid-base equilibria?
 * ... that the largest ship sunk by the Austro-Hungarian U-boat SMS U-32 (Austria-Hungary) during World War I was carrying onions from Karachi, Pakistan?