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28 February 2009

 * 22:30, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that Pollicipes pollicipes (pictured), a goose barnacle found on rocky shores in the north-east Atlantic Ocean, is a delicacy in Spain where it may fetch up to €90 per kilogram?
 * ... that Royal Parker, who played a children's television show character on Baltimore's WBAL-TV, also broadcast the news bulletin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy's assassination on November 22, 1963?
 * ... that today Rare Disease Day, coordinated by the National Organization for Rare Disorders, is being observed in the United States for the first time ever?
 * ... that Walter A. McDougall received the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for History for his book The Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age?
 * ... that though it never made it on the air, Faze TV was planned as the first television channel in the United Kingdom specifically targeted towards gay men?
 * ... that while a professor at the University of Wisconsin, future I.C.C. commissioner Balthasar H. Meyer taught what was said to be the first course in insurance in the U.S.?
 * ... that Kandurata province cricket team entered the finals of 2007/08 Sri Lankan Inter-Provincial limited over tournament unbeaten, but the game was rained out and they had to share the trophy?
 * ... that the Yellow-throated Honeyeater is known for collecting hair from live animals such as horses, dogs and humans for lining its nest?


 * 15:50, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the ruined Elizabethan mansion of Rocksavage (pictured) in Runcorn was once the second-largest house in Cheshire?
 * ... that the Arpechim Refinery owned by Petrom produces around sixty percent of all the bitumen used in Romania?
 * ... that the Massacre of the Latins occurred in Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, in 1182?
 * ... that sexual activism group Sex Panic! criticized the efficacy of 1990s US anti-HIV campaigns that, they argued, demonized public sexual culture?
 * ... that the Thika River supplies eighty percent of the water for Nairobi, Kenya?
 * ... that more American astronauts have graduated from the United States Naval Academy than any other institution of higher learning?
 * ... that the winner of the 2005 Djiboutian presidential election, Ismail Omar Guelleh, said that he regretted having no opponent in the election?
 * ... that George Washington gave Martha Parke Custis a miniature of himself as a wedding gift, and later left her 1/32 of his estate in his will?


 * 09:06, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the Orbitron (pictured in restored state), an Ed Roth-built custom car, was feared lost until its 2007 rediscovery in dilapidated condition in front of a Ciudad Juárez adult bookstore?
 * ... that Polish caricaturist Eryk Lipiński worked for the Polish resistance during World War II, forging documents, and was imprisoned in Auschwitz?
 * ... that the 1886 Michigan football team had a "goalkeeper" and played games measured in "innings"?
 * ... that Svein Døvle Larssen, a newspaper editor by occupation, also served in three different municipal councils for the Conservative Party of Norway?
 * ... that Boxhill, a mansion near Louisville, Kentucky, sat vacant for years after it was the site of a double homicide, and was restored by the wife of a former Kentucky governor?
 * ... that Peter Schutz saved the Porsche 911 from extinction when he took over the CEO position at Porsche in 1981?
 * ... that the Middle Colonies were the most ethnically diverse British colonies in North America?
 * ... that the plot of the "4-D" episode of The X-Files was inspired by French journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby, who could only communicate by blinking his left eyelid?


 * 02:29, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that Texas State Representative Tommy Merritt (pictured) co-authored the bill which added "Under God" to the Texas Pledge of Allegiance in 2007?
 * ... that NATO pilots flew more than 100,000 sorties over Bosnia during Operation Deny Flight?
 * ... that Knut Korsæth, former mayor of Lillehammer and County Governor of Oppland, is also an honorary member of the Norwegian Olympic Committee and Confederation of Sports?
 * ... that MBM, a Barcelona based architecture firm, showed 32 designs that were never built in a 2003 show titled Lost Architectures?
 * ... that Norwegian speed skater Randi Thorvaldsen won nine national allround championships in a row from 1946 to 1954, and finished first in 34 distances out of 36 possible?
 * ... that the Alaska Conservation Society was the first grassroots environmental conservation organization created in the U.S. state of Alaska?
 * ... that the Petrobrazi Refinery owned by Petrom is the most efficient refinery in Romania having a Nelson complexity index of 11.4?
 * ... that in February 2008, David Mendell received an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work for Obama: From Promise to Power?

27 February 2009

 * 19:59, 27 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that Horace Prettyman (pictured) played eight years of "college" football for the University of Michigan from 1882 to 1890, some when he was in his 30s and no longer a student?
 * ... that the heads of some East Indian harvesting ant workers are ten times larger than other worker ants of the same species?
 * ... that an 1847 New York state law led to bodies buried in Manhattan graveyards being dug up for reburial in Brooklyn and Queens?
 * ... that Tang Dynasty warlord Li Shidao, hoping to save his ally Wu Yuanji, assassinated the chancellor Wu Yuanheng, who was in charge of the campaign against Wu Yuanji?
 * ... that the open access, peer reviewed journal Trials encourages publication of protocols, which the journal's editor Doug Altman has suggested may reduce data dredging and publication bias?
 * ... that Edmund Chojecki co-founded Le Temps, predecessor to France's most popular modern newspaper, Le Monde?
 * ... that Hebron, now a ghost town in Utah, was destroyed by an earthquake in 1902?


 * 14:08, 27 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the Bluespotted trevally (Caranx bucculentus, pictured) is a major predator of prawns on the coasts of Northern Australia?
 * ... that child actor Robbie Kay made his acting debut in the 2006 film The Illusionist, but was eventually cut from the film?
 * ... that when Typhoon Olive struck Wake Island in 1952, World War II bunkers provided shelters for 700 people, resulting in zero fatalities despite the destruction of 85% of the island's structures?
 * ... that Czech–Bulgarian architect Josef Schnitter, chief architect of Plovdiv from 1878 to 1914, is credited with shaping that city's modern appearance?
 * ... that the Indiana County Courthouse was featured with Indiana, Pennsylvania-native Jimmy Stewart on the cover of LIFE in 1945?
 * ... that a cow once got stuck in Boot's Folly at Strines Reservoir, South Yorkshire, England, after climbing its staircase?
 * ... that Reedville Creek Park had the first skatepark in a Hillsboro, Oregon, park when it opened in 2003?
 * ... that at the Expert Committee on Questions of Population and Racial Policy, Nazi eugenicist Wilhelm Frick claimed that up to 20% of the German population had genetic disorders?


 * 07:59, 27 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that handball player Joachim Boldsen (pictured) has participated in the Danish version of Dancing with the Stars?
 * ... that Confederate forces won the last battle at the end of the American Civil War?
 * ... that Brigadier General Mark Perrin Lowrey, the founder of Blue Mountain College, died at age 56 while buying a train ticket?
 * ... that archaeologists have discovered in Sagardighi, West Bengal, small Stone Age weapons not normally found in the Gangetic alluvial plains?
 * ... that Olympic Rower Steven Coppola was the first athlete from Western New York's West Side Rowing Club to medal at the Olympic Games?
 * ... that Harald Strøm's speed skating World Record in 5,000 metres set at Oslo's Frogner Stadion in 1922 lasted seven years?
 * ... that it took 66 years for an arrowhead found near the Boaz mastodon to be positively identified?
 * ... that in spite of years of development no one was able to get a Chromatron color television set to work properly, prompting Sony to develop the famed Trinitron?
 * ... that publicist Joe Goldstein generated media buzz for the first International Trot harness racing event at Roosevelt Raceway by placing ads that read "French Trotter Needs Artichokes. Can You Help?"


 * 02:22, 27 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that adult land snails in the tropical genera Anostoma and Ringicella carry their oddly-shaped shells (pictured) upside down (i.e. spire down)?
 * ... that Battle of Britain pilot Paul Egger was later awarded the Knight's Cross as a Tiger tank commander in the Waffen-SS?
 * ... that Cambodia's Mongkol Borei District was part of Thailand until the French demanded it back in 1907?
 * ... that Paul Kodish, best known as the current drummer for drum and bass band Pendulum, performed in 1986 with Brooklyn hip hop act Whodini?
 * ... that nearly half the area of Estonia's 342 km2 Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve was once a Soviet Air Force bombing range and its surrounding buffer zone?
 * ... that the John Cassavetes film Husbands, praised by Time magazine as Cassavetes' finest work, was condemned by Pauline Kael and other prominent critics?
 * ... that Joseph Stalin personally rewrote Falsifiers of History to respond to U.S.-released information about the German–Soviet Axis talks?
 * ... that the Heian period Japanese story Torikaebaya Monogatari is the tale of a man who lives as a woman and his sister who lives as a man, who eventually swap places in order to lead happy lives?

26 February 2009

 * 20:13, 26 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that Danny Huwé was a Belgian journalist killed in Bucharest during the Romanian Revolution?
 * ... that Matekane Air Strip in Lesotho is known as the world's scariest runway?
 * ... that sprites (pictured), large but very brief reddish forms of lightning that occur high over thunderstorms, were not photographed until 1989?
 * ... that Gordon McMillan from Saskatchewan, Wally Grant from Minnesota's Iron Range, and Wally Gacek from Manitoba led the Michigan Wolverines to the first ever Frozen Four NCAA hockey championship in 1948?
 * ... that there were almost 50,000 women serving in the Australian military in 1944?
 * ... that the Tang Dynasty warlord Wu Shaoyang often pillaged the tea-growing hills of neighboring Shou Prefecture?
 * ... that Stanford Financial Group, whose assets were frozen in 2009 due to charges of investment fraud, was the lead financier of the 2007 film The Ultimate Gift?
 * ... that Althea Byfield played collegiate basketball in the United States, is signed to play semi-professional netball in New Zealand, and has represented Jamaica internationally in both sports?
 * ... that paleolithic implements and a variety of speleothems have been found in the Borra Caves located in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh?
 * ... that Leif Tronstad, who helped establish the Norsk Hydro heavy water plant at Vemork, organized a sabotage mission against it later?


 * 14:03, 26 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that depending on the author, the odor of the stinkhorn mushroom Phallus hadriani (pictured) has been described as sweet, or fetid?
 * ... that two members of the $100,000 infield have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame?
 * ... that the tanker ship CHANT 26 ended up discharging her cargo in a French field during the Second World War?
 * ... that Sir Roger Hetherington was elected president of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1944 after the death of the president-elect, the second successive year this had happened?
 * ... that in the 2001 Somaliland constitutional referendum, 97.1% of those who voted approved the constitution of Somaliland?
 * ... that William Prowse joined the Royal Navy as an able seaman, saw action at the Glorious First of June, Cape St Vincent, Cape Finisterre and Trafalgar, and died a Rear-Admiral?
 * ... that AAA's first Triplemanía event in 1993 attracted 48,000 people, setting the all-time attendance record for a Mexican professional wrestling event?
 * ... that Kjell Magne Yri, a linguist at the University of Oslo, began his career as a Bible translator and priest in Ethiopia?
 * ... that despite support from Margaret Thatcher, the 1988 National Health Service Lottery was cancelled for contravening gaming regulations?


 * 07:51, 26 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the diet of the Gold-whiskered Barbet (video shown) includes papaya and lizards?
 * ... that Mel Wakabayashi, born in a wartime Japanese-Canadian internment camp, was called "perhaps the most unlikely star in the long history of Michigan sports, and surely one of the most inspirational"?
 * ... that the skating club Christiania Skøiteklub had more than 5,000 members in 1870, when the city Christiania had fewer than 70,000 inhabitants?
 * ... that Avadhanum Paupiah, Indian dubash of the British East India Company was convicted in 1792 of forging evidence against David Haliburton on behalf of the Holland brothers?
 * ... that the syndicated TV series Sheriff of Cochise was created by co-star Stan Jones, best known for the Western song "Ghost Riders in the Sky"?
 * ... that Mayotte situated in the Indian Ocean, Kosovo and Montenegro in the Balkans, and Saint Pierre and Miquelon, off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, have adopted the euro as their national currency?
 * ... that welterweight mixed martial arts fighter Satoru Kitaoka cut down to lightweight in 2008 and captured the Sengoku Lightweight Championship?
 * ... that the Walter Hand House, in Cornwall, New York, was built in 1870 to serve as both a farmhouse and a tourist boarding house?


 * 01:38, 26 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the Wannsee Conference was held in a house (pictured) that was sold to the Nazi security services by Friedrich Minoux while he was imprisoned for fraud?
 * ... that the largest shale oil plant in the world uses the Fushun process technology?
 * ... that pop entertainer Cathy Wayne was the first Australian woman killed in the Vietnam War, when a US Marine shot her on stage while she was performing?
 * ... that Romania's Daewoo Mangalia shipyard has built over 127 new ships and repaired another 300 since its founding in 1997?
 * ... that John Bell, New Hampshire's 18th governor, was both the brother of 14th governor Samuel Bell and the father of 46th governor Charles Henry Bell?
 * ... that the Crusader was the largest ship commissioned into service with the Australian Army during World War II?
 * ... that the Bay Area Puma Project is the first major study of mountain lions living in the San Francisco Bay Area?
 * ... that though trained as a nuclear physicist, Peer Portner created the ventricular assist device, a pump that assists a patient's heart until a heart transplant can be performed?

25 February 2009

 * 17:00, 25 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that a wonsam (pictured) was a female ceremonial robe  for the queen, royalty, and nobility during the Korean Joseon Dynasty, though commoners could wear it for their weddings?
 * ... that Wales Triple Crown winner Norman Biggs was killed after being struck by a poison arrow while on military duty in Northern Nigeria?
 * ... that prior to the 1962 Bou'in-Zahra earthquake, earthquake lights were sighted?
 * ... that Flying Officer (later Air Commodore) Frank Lukis was one of the original twenty-one officers in the RAAF when it was formed in 1921?
 * ... that though fruiting as a typical "little brown mushroom", Inocybe lacera is easily identifiable microscopically due to its extremely long, distinctive spores?
 * ... that Hungarian István Major held the high jump record at the European Indoor Championships from 1972 to 1977?
 * ... that five UH-1 Iroquois helicopters of the Experimental Military Unit were shot down by a single Viet Cong soldier armed with an AK-47 rifle?
 * ... that Humphrey Stafford was only Earl of Devon for three months before being killed by a mob?
 * ... that the pre-Columbian Zapotec storm god Cocijo was said to have created the world from his breath?


 * 11:05, 25 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that a lithograph (pictured) of Captain Stephen Ponsonby Peacocke's painting of the new bungalow at Sispara in India was published nine years after the Sispara ghat mountain trail was completed in 1838?
 * ... that, although it is traditionally classified as a transition metal, in forming compounds the element zinc has similarities to the alkaline earth metals?
 * ... that John Biehl, a Chilean government minister in the 1990s, led the successful campaign for Costa Rican president Óscar Arias to win the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize?
 * ... that the Grenville Canal on the Ottawa River in Grenville, Quebec, Canada, was built as an alternative military supply route after the War of 1812?
 * ... that Jens-Anton Poulsson was awarded the War Cross with Sword for his actions in the Norwegian heavy water sabotage?
 * ... that following a number of recent banking controversies, Irish ruling party Fianna Fáil was overtaken in opinion polls by the country's Labour Party for the first time in history?
 * ... that when Gordon Wilkie and his Michigan Wolverines teammates scored 21 points in a single ice hockey game against Ohio State University, their coach threatened to bench anyone else who scored?
 * ... that some living people claim to have traced their genealogy back to Adam and Eve?


 * 01:49, 25 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the Church of the Transfiguration, Pyecombe, England, has a rare Tapsel gate (pictured), which has a central pivot and was designed to keep cattle out and allow coffins through easily?
 * ... that United States Senator Jim Bunning threw the only perfect game out of the nine no-hitters in Philadelphia Phillies history?
 * ... that Corcovado National Park is the only national park in which all of Costa Rica's four native monkey species can be found?
 * ... that Kenelm Hubert Digby was the proposer of the notorious 1933 "King and Country" debate in the Oxford Union?
 * ... that the pilot of Showtime's Dexter was filmed through three hurricanes in 2005?
 * ... that writer Paul Georgescu helped enforce Socialist Realism in Communist Romania while concealing his sympathy for Trotskyism?
 * ... that an oleum leak at Chevron Richmond Refinery sent 25,000 people to the hospital in 1993?
 * ... that Kenyan long distance athlete Evans Cheruiyot and his teammates were stranded in France by their manager without food, money, or shelter?
 * ... that Gospel music station WNUZ in Talladega, Alabama, has been off-the-air since its transmitter was destroyed by lightning?

24 February 2009

 * 18:46, 24 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that as a blindfolded child, opera singer Pauline Joran (pictured) could identify absolute pitch and the notes of chords?
 * ... that the Heard Shag is a bird with a black crest, pink feet, orange caruncles and blue eye-rings?
 * ... that Hugh Foliot took custody of Hereford Castle in 1223 as part of Hubert de Burgh's takeover of power from Peter des Roches?
 * ... that in his 1999 book The Trouble With Normal, gay author Michael Warner argued that same-sex marriage is an undesirable goal for the gay rights movement?
 * ... that Yehoshua Cohen, the assassin of diplomat Folke Bernadotte, later became a close friend of David Ben-Gurion?
 * ... that John Sutton Hall at Indiana University of Pennsylvania was set for demolition until its listing on the National Register of Historic Places?
 * ... that five members of the Philadelphia Phillies' 2008 world championship team, including Pat Burrell, were also first-round draft picks of the franchise''?
 * ... that Margo Sappington received a Lifetime Achievement Award for choreography from the Joffrey Ballet?
 * ... that the Equus Survival Trust is the only conservation organization in the world that specializes in equines?


 * 12:53, 24 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the 1988–89 Swift Current Broncos was the first Western Hockey League team to win the Ed Chynoweth Cup (pictured) without losing a playoff game?
 * ... that the Trondheim newspaper Ny Tid switched allegiance from Labour to Communist when Knut Olai Thornæs was its editor?
 * ... that the Northern Woods and Water Route is a 2400 km highway route through northern Canada, from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, to Winnipeg, Manitoba?
 * ... that Ralph Carpenter's restoration of Hunter House, a historic building in Newport, Rhode Island that had been scheduled for demolition, was called "a brilliant restoration that gets better with age"?
 * ... that Norman Marjoribanks, later acting Governor of Madras, headed a commission to investigate the plight of indentured Tamil labourers on plantations in Ceylon?
 * ... that the title of the 1960–61 TV series COronado 9 refers to the telephone exchange for the home town of fictional detective Dan Adams?
 * ... that the first discovery of the remains of Dorset culture, Paleo-Eskimo people circa 1000 BC to 1100 CE, was made on Dorset Island in Nunavut, Canada?
 * ... that Moorhuhn, a series of German computer games that has spawned much merchandise, a comic book series, and a TV series, began in 1999 as a whisky advertisement?


 * 03:30, 24 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that 42 Australians became crewmembers of Confederate ship CSS Shenandoah (pictured) when the vessel was docked outside Melbourne?
 * ... that a song about Bulgarian rebel leader Delyo was sent into space in 1977 as part of the Voyager Golden Record?
 * ... that in 1971, half the houses in Noel Park, London, were still lacking basic facilities such as baths, internal toilets and hot water?
 * ... that Italian architect Ercole Manfredi took up Thai citizenship to overcome nationalist policies pursued by the Thai government?
 * ... that The French Democracy is an ironically titled political film about the 2005 civil unrest in France?
 * ... that during the Korean Joseon period, royal physicians squeezed milk from cows to make tarakjuk, a milk porridge, which was served only for the king and royalty?
 * ... that 18th-century bookseller Thomas Cadell refused to publish Charlotte Turner Smith's novel Desmond because it was too radical?
 * ... that the 1862 opening of the second Causeway in Perth, Western Australia, was disrupted by a young man on horseback who raced across after announcing that he would be first to do so?
 * ... that suffragette Norah Elam campaigned in 1918 for the internment of enemy aliens but in 1940 was interned herself as an 18B detainee due to her membership in the British Union of Fascists?

23 February 2009

 * 21:05, 23 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the manor at Austrått (pictured) harbored a pretender to the Swedish throne during the Reformation in Norway as the Protestant Lady Inger of Austrått battled the last Norwegian Catholic Archbishop?
 * ... that Jennifer Granholm became the first female governor of Michigan after winning the 2002 Michigan gubernatorial election?
 * ... that, with an oil-processing capacity of 4.8 million tonnes per year, the Petromidia Constanţa Refinery is the largest Romanian refinery?
 * ... that it took William Edwards four attempts to build the Old Bridge at Pontypridd in Wales?
 * ... that Quake III Arena's fast inverse square root code uses a "magic number" to generate a quick first approximation to Newton's method of computing roots?
 * ... that the 1955–56 NBC series Frontier was only the second western anthology program on television, preceded by Death Valley Days?
 * ... that tree-ring dating has linked the building of the Bishop's Palace at Hereford to 1179, during the episcopate of Robert Foliot?
 * ... that the Hare Indian dog, now extinct, was not known to bark, but puppies learned to imitate the barking of other dogs when the breed was introduced to Europe?


 * 14:27, 23 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that an important identifying feature of the Imposter trevally (Carangoides talamparoides, pictured) is its white or pale grey tongue?
 * ... that LaVelle Smith Jnr has won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Choreography five times, including one for Michael and Janet Jackson's "Scream"?
 * ... that Rod Cameron's syndicated crime drama City Detective was sold in 1955 for distribution to a then record 171 television stations?
 * ... that former Rwandan Interior Minister and political dissident Seth Sendashonga recognized one of his assailants in a failed assassination attempt as his old government bodyguard?
 * ... that the hexagonal-pored polypore mushroom produces the antifungal polypeptide alveolarin?
 * ... that dental student Robert Kavanaugh was awarded the Albert Medal following his rescue of a fourteen-year-old boy during a shark attack?
 * ... that as part of the Canterbury-York dispute in medieval England, Gerard, an Archbishop of York, once kicked over chairs and refused to sit until his chair was as high as the Archbishop of Canterbury's?
 * ... that the career of association football player Mark Maley was ended after he was accidentally shot in the eye by teammate John Oster with an air gun?


 * 07:07, 23 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that several species in the mushroom order Pezizales, such as Geopyxis carbonaria (pictured), Peziza violacea, Peziza praetervisa, and Rhizina undulata, grow on burned-over ground?
 * ... that 18th-century English historian William Rider's 50-volume A New History of England was later described by William Thomas Lowndes as one of the vilest Grub Street compilations ever published?
 * ... that the death of Libby Zion resulted in an eponymous law that regulates working hours during medical residency in New York State?
 * ... that at an expected cost of US$1 billion, a 3.15 km long suspension bridge linking Vladivostok with Russky Island is due to be built in time for APEC Russia 2012?
 * ... that from 14th to 17th century, the Tęczyński family from Lesser Poland had a major influence in the Kingdom of Poland?
 * ... that Tang Dynasty warlord Wang Chengzong, fearing reprisals after the defeat of his ally Wu Yuanji, offered his sons as hostages and two of his six prefectures to Emperor Xianzong?
 * ... that the Florida State Fair, which includes the Cracker Country living history museum, offers food oddities like chocolate covered bacon?


 * 01:23, 23 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that dangui (pictured) was an upper garment worn by the royal women and court ladies for ceremonial occasions during the Korean Joseon Dynasty?
 * ... that the Tilted Kilt is a bar and restaurant chain in the United States described as "Hooters with a Scottish twist"?
 * ... that Erna Hanfstaengl was claimed both to be romantically involved with Hitler and involved in a plot to overthrow him?
 * ... that Willow Prairie Cabin in Oregon's Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, built by a Forest Service crew in 1924, is a popular horse camp?
 * ... that the Imperial Japanese Navy's Haruna was one of the first vessels in the world to be equipped with 14-inch naval guns?
 * ... that the Leges Henrici Primi (written c. 1115) sets out a list of royal pleas or pleas of the crown, crimes that could only be tried in front of the king or his officials?
 * ... that besides delivering electric shocks, the characteristic defensive behaviour of a giant electric ray when threatened by a predator includes performing a "somersault" in the water?
 * ... that Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall is a live album recorded from Rufus Wainwright's June 2006 tribute concerts to legendary singer Judy Garland?

22 February 2009

 * 18:58, 22 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that Beverly Eckert (pictured) died in the crash of Flight 3407 while on her way to award a scholarship in honor of her husband, who was killed in the events of 9/11?
 * ... that India's government launched a programme in 2001 to provide employment for poor people living in rural areas?
 * ... that John Windet published composer Tobias Hume's First Part of Ayres, which contains what may be the earliest examples of pizzicato and col legno?
 * ... that the Emu Brewery in Perth, Western Australia, traced its history to the town's first standalone brewery, which was founded less than a decade after settlement?
 * ... that, although she was born in South Africa, Kate Dennison now holds the indoor British record for the pole vault?
 * ... that thousands of illegal Filipino immigrants are deported from Malaysia every year?
 * ... that Babe Ruth reportedly signed one of his most lucrative New York Yankees' contracts at Jacob Ruppert's Eagles' Rest estate in Garrison, New York, now Saint Basil Academy?
 * ... that taxidermist Walter Potter diorama, "The Death and Burial of Cock Robin", created when he was 19, features 98 stuffed British birds?


 * 12:12, 22 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the Tekkiye Mosque (pictured), built by the architect Sinan, has been described as "the finest example in Damascus of Ottoman architecture"?
 * ... that when the Tang Dynasty general Tian Hongzheng was young, his brother Tian Rong battered him after he won an archery contest, believing that he was drawing unnecessary attention to himself?
 * ... that the Versailles Cuban restaurant is part of actress Helen Mirren's ideal weekend in Los Angeles?
 * ... that despite claims that Pakistan made the Anza locally, it is believed the MANPAD was created with Chinese assistance via technology transfers?
 * ... that University of Michigan Hall of Honor inductee Dave Debol, known in the 1970s as "the Guy LaFleur of college hockey", set an NCAA record by scoring three goals in less than one minute?
 * ... that the fine rolls record offers of money to the Kings of England for concessions and favours?
 * ... that Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games is the second video game based on the Olympics to star Nintendo's and Sega's once-rival mascots, Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog?


 * 06:11, 22 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that with the Minas Gerais (pictured), Brazil became the third country to have a dreadnought under construction, ahead of traditional powers like France and Russia?
 * ... that although Robert of Melun disagreed with some of Peter Abelard's teachings, he still defended Abelard against heresy charges?
 * ... that the woodlouse Trichoniscus pusillus has some populations that reproduce sexually and others that reproduce clonally?
 * ... that internet hunting is the practice of hunting via remotely controlled firearms that can be aimed and shot using online webcams?
 * ... that Cambodia's "Romeo and Juliet" story, Tum Teav, is set in Tbong Khmom District?
 * ... that Martin Kolberg will retire as party secretary for the Norwegian Labour Party to run in the 2009 parliamentary elections?
 * ... that Josh Gibson Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is named for Negro League star Josh Gibson, who has been called the "black Babe Ruth?"
 * ... that Clothes-Line, aired in 1937, was the first television programme on fashion history and also probably the first to feature a heavily pregnant female presenter?

21 February 2009

 * 23:46, 21 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that chocolate covered bacon (pictured) is sold as "Pig Lickers" at the Minnesota State Fair, "Pig Candy" in New York City and "Mo's Bacon Bar" in Chicago?
 * ... that the Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway linking Plymouth and Princetown was almost twice as long as the distance between the two cities?
 * ... that the Democratic Movement for National Liberation was the sole communist faction in Egypt that supported the 1952 Revolution?
 * ... that the pill bug Armadillidium vulgare can reach population densities of 10,000 per square metre?
 * ... that Ed Schock earned an annual salary of just $7,000 as mayor of Elgin, Illinois?
 * ... that the Church of the Assumption in Uzundzhovo, Bulgaria, was initially built as a mosque and was probably commissioned to famous architect Sinan?
 * ... that Anders Buen was removed as editor of the Norwegian Labour Party organ Social-Demokraten in 1903, but continued as a prominent party member until 1921?
 * ... that the Family Guy episode "Ocean's Three and a Half" includes the actual audio of Christian Bale's outburst on the set of Terminator Salvation, making it appear to be directed at Peter Griffin?


 * 17:18, 21 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the European Commission declared the creation of the Folkestone White Horse (pictured) unlawful?
 * ... that tornadoes have passed through Washington, D.C., on at least seven occasions, and have damaged such landmarks as the United States Botanic Garden, the Smithsonian Institution, and the National Arboretum?
 * ... that the Luxembourg Palace, the meeting place of the French Senate, used to be the residence of Princess Élisabeth Marguerite of Orléans, who gave it to the King of France in 1694?
 * ... that after ceasing operations in New Jersey, the West Jersey Railroad operated in Michigan for several months before being renamed West Michigan Railroad?
 * ... that Tang Dynasty general Liu Pi, who rebelled against the authority of Emperor Xianzong, was described by the chancellor Du Huangshang as an "insane civilian" as Du urged military action?
 * ... that some of the 12"/45 caliber Mark 5 naval guns, which were first deployed on the 1906 pre-dreadnought USS Connecticut (BB-18), may still be in service in Brazil today?
 * ... that Hugh de Mapenor was elected Bishop of Hereford in 1216 even though he was not on King John of England's list of candidates?
 * ... that the Holiday Bowl in Los Angeles was a popular gathering place for the Nikkei community and African Americans, with the coffee shop serving grits, udon, chow mein, and hamburgers?


 * 11:06, 21 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that sculptor Cyprian Godebski lost the commission for the Adam Mickiewicz Monument in Kraków (pictured) to a newcomer, Teodor Rygier, but erected his statue ten years later in Warsaw for 50,000 rubles?
 * ... that after long-standing racketeering allegations, the FBI raided Chicago's Pui Tak Center, then known as the On Leong Merchants Association Building, in 1988?
 * ... that Sir Charles Knowles successfully sued Tobias Smollett for libelling him in Smollett's magazine The Critical Review?
 * ... that the Carnegie Library of Homestead in Munhall, Pennsylvania, trained four Olympic swimmers and sponsored both one of the 1890s' best football clubs and a baseball team with Hall of Famer Rube Waddell?
 * ... that French Roman Catholic archbishop Marcel Lefebvre's father René Lefebvre died in a Nazi concentration camp?
 * ... that Armet & Davis was an architectural firm in California that designed buildings in the so-called Googie architecture style popular during the 1950s?
 * ... that Tang Dynasty eunuch Tutu Chengcui was killed after Emperor Xianzong's death over his refusal to support the crown prince Li Heng as the emperor's successor?
 * ... that Prairie Bluff, Alabama, is a ghost town whose only remaining physical feature is a cemetery with marked graves dating from the 1830s to the 1860s?


 * 04:58, 21 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the mushroom Lactarius quietus (pictured) is found exclusively under oak trees in Europe?
 * ... that when Henry McCardie was a barrister, he often worked so late that his chambers were nicknamed "the lighthouse", as there was light coming from the windows?
 * ... that the Elm City Resident Card was the first municipal identification card in the United States?
 * ... that the population of Filipinos in the United Arab Emirates declined by 20% in 2008?
 * ... that the largest Hindu temple in South East England is being built in Crawley, where 3.4% of residents are Hindu compared to 1.1% in England as a whole?
 * ... that the 1881 Michigan Wolverines football team is credited with playing the first intersectional football games against Harvard, Yale and Princeton?
 * ... that Salvia pentstemonoides ("Big red sage") was thought to be extinct until a botanist rediscovered it while taking photos for a book on Texas wildflowers?
 * ... that Jaime Fonalledas is the President and CEO of Empresas Fonalledas, which owns the largest shopping mall in the Caribbean?
 * ... that heavy metal band Lamb of God was banned from performing in Los Angeles, for The Subliminal Verses World Tour because their former name was Burn the Priest?

20 February 2009

 * 23:33, 20 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the Morse U.S. Courthouse (pictured) in Eugene, Oregon, was the first new federal courthouse to earn a LEED Gold certification and the first U.S. courthouse featured at the Venice Biennale of Architecture?
 * ... that the Orange Mycena mushroom is bioluminescent?
 * ... that the World Netball Series is a new international netball competition, with modified rules inspired from Twenty20 cricket designed to make matches faster and more television-friendly?
 * ... that Humphrey Toy financed the publication of the first Welsh translation of the Book of Common Prayer?
 * ... that in 1863, the U.S. gave Russia plans to build ten Passaic class monitors, partly because of the fear that the American Civil War would escalate into war between Britain and Russia?
 * ... that Australian Stanley Frederick Gibbs was awarded the Albert Medal in 1927 for his rescue of a boy during a shark attack, during which he punched and kicked the shark until it released the youth?
 * ... that Kansas City Barbeque is a restaurant and bar in San Diego, California, made famous after scenes in Top Gun were filmed there?
 * ... that Wendy Henry, one of the first female newspaper editors on Fleet Street, later became a full-time dog re-socialiser for the Battersea Dogs' Home?


 * 17:35, 20 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that a study of lichen growth in the Canadian Rockies showed that Xanthoria elegans (pictured) expands at a rate of 0.5 mm per year for the first century before slowing down?
 * ... that Henry Weinhard, a brewer in Portland, Oregon, offered to pump free beer into the Skidmore Fountain when it was dedicated?
 * ... that six World War I German Type UB II U-boats—UB-42, UB-43, UB-44, UB-45, UB-46, and UB-47—were built in Bremen but cut apart and shipped by rail for reassembly at the Austro-Hungarian port of Pola?
 * ... that the dedication of St Cosmas and St Damian Church, Keymer, England—commemorating twin Christian martyrs from Syria—occurs on only two other extant churches in England?
 * ... that Sam the koala rose to fame when a video of her rescue from the 2009 Victorian bushfires was distributed across the internet?
 * ... that members of metal band Slipknot found the masks that they wear on stage to be particularly uncomfortable during their Tattoo the Earth concert tour?
 * ... that Kenneth Gandar-Dower introduced cheetah racing to England?
 * ... that the Super Mario Bros. theme has been listed as one of the top ten most downloaded ringtones in the United States for 226 consecutive weeks?


 * 11:36, 20 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that Anderson Ruffin Abbott (pictured), the first licenced Black Canadian physician, attended Abraham Lincoln's death bed?
 * ... that the Sideling Hill Tunnel is one of the two tunnels that make up the Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike?
 * ... that Norwegian long jumper Nils Uhlin Hansen was killed as a saboteur in World War II?
 * ... that the Morison equation, an equation in fluid dynamics introduced in 1950, is used in the design of oil platforms and other offshore structures?
 * ... that Marshall Loeb, managing editor of Fortune, called his colleague Daniel Seligman, author of 400 of the magazine's Keeping Up columns, "an acerbic slayer of (mostly liberal) prig-headedness"?
 * ... that children's novel Nordy Bank by Sheena Porter, set in Nordy Bank on Brown Clee Hill, Shropshire, was awarded the 1964 Carnegie Medal in Literature?
 * ... that in 1114, a combined fleet spearheaded by the Republic of Pisa launched a crusade against the Muslim Balearic Islands?
 * ... that Mark Shepherd, who served as CEO of Texas Instruments where he spearheaded development of the firms' integrated circuits, constructed a vacuum tube at the age of six and a radio a year later?


 * 05:41, 20 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that prior to the mid 19th century, the tannic Italian wine Barolo (pictured) was made as a sweet wine?
 * ... that when Elton Wieman moved east to play football for the University of Michigan in 1915, the Los Angeles Times called it "a calamity of almost national importance"?
 * ... that Lactarius pallidus is typically found half-buried in leaf litter at the base of beech or birch trees?
 * ... that the National Review called David Mendell's biography Obama: From Promise to Power "the single best source of background information on our new president"?
 * ... that the original mission of the Cini Foundation included the rehabilitation of its homebase, the island of San Giorgio Maggiore of Venice?
 * ... that José Francisco de Peralta was elected to represent Costa Rica to the Constituent Congress of the Mexican Empire, but it was dissolved before he was able to participate?
 * ... that the architecture firm of Sauerbruch Hutton designed the Museum Brandhorst in Munich?
 * ... that matador Diego Mazquiarán once used his overcoat as a cape to fight a bull that was running wild on the Gran Via of Madrid?

19 February 2009

 * 23:49, 19 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that according to National Geographic, La Maratona (2008 race pictured), an annual competition held in the Dolomites of the Italian Alps, is "one of the biggest, most passionate, and most chaotic bike races on Earth"?
 * ... that the Tang Dynasty general Tian Huaijian was, at age 10, briefly the ruler of Weibo Circuit before he was overthrown?
 * ... that the uncommon benign lesion verruciform xanthoma is usually found on the oral mucosa of middle-aged people, but has also been reported on the external genitalia in some recent cases?
 * ... that Albert Bassermann, bearer of the Iffland-Ring, considered the ring cursed after all three of the successors he named died shortly after he named them?
 * ... that the comedy film Skills Like This, created by a first-time director, won the award for Best Narrative Feature at the 2007 South by Southwest film festival?
 * ... that Fennemore Craig, founded in 1885, is the oldest law firm in Arizona?
 * ... that the Rylands Papyri held by Manchester University in the UK contain P52, believed by many scholars to be the oldest extant fragment from the Gospel of John?
 * ... that Christian Holtermann Knudsen was a founder of the Norwegian Labour Party and the newspaper Dagsavisen?
 * ... that William Sudell coined the name "Football League"?


 * 14:49, 19 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the mushroom Cortinarius triumphans (pictured) has a cap which is slimy in wet weather and sticky in dry?
 * ... that while serving as Governor of New Hampshire from 1842 to 1844, Henry Hubbard argued for reduced taxes for female property owners?
 * ... that thousands of grooves have been found carved into rock in Northern Europe, but no one knows how or why they were made?
 * ... that attorney Bill MacFarland had a dislocated knee and six broken teeth after playing 11 seasons of professional ice hockey?
 * ... that the never-completed Design 1047 battlecruisers were intended to be the first line of defense for the Dutch East Indies?
 * ... that economist Charles Hall claimed that the poor retained less than one-eighth of what they produced due to capitalist exploitation?
 * ... that Pinkie Road, a part of the Global Transportation Hub intermodal port authority facility, will link the Trans Canada Highway 1 and Highway 11 as a part of the Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative?
 * ... that Air Vice Marshal Joe Hewitt began his military career as a thirteen-year-old cadet in the Royal Australian Navy?


 * 07:31, 19 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that "Cappy" Cappon (pictured), known for his "five-man weave" basketball offense, was mentor to Princeton athletes from the 1930s to the 1960s, including Bill Bradley and Frank Deford?
 * ... that so far there have been more than 20 arsons in the Coatesville, Pennsylvania, area since January 1, 2009, and 15 reported arsons there in 2008?
 * ... that Histria Perla was the 500th ship to receive Emergency Response Service classification from the German company Germanischer Lloyd?
 * ... that Clussexx Three D Grinchy Glee, a Sussex Spaniel also known as "Stump", is the oldest dog to win Best in Show at the Westminster Dog Show?
 * ... that the Red Bull RB5 is among the first generation of Formula One cars to feature a Kinetic Energy Recovery System, which traps energy expelled while braking for later use?
 * ... that French botanist Jacques Labillardière's Novae Hollandiae plantarum specimen, published in 1804–1806, was the first major scientific study of Australia flora?
 * ... that under Pigford v. Glickman, the United States government paid nearly US$1 billion to African American farmers to compensate for 1980s and 1990s racial discrimination?
 * ... that 2009 Michigan Hall of Honor inductee Mindy Gehrs was called "the best swimmer to ever part the waters of the Atomic City"?
 * ... that the Fire Nation, from the Universe of Avatar: The Last Airbender, was inspired by photos of volcanic islands of Iceland and the Pacific Ocean?


 * 01:20, 19 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that a London Clubs International casino hosted the World Series of Poker Europe event in which Annette Obrestad became the youngest person to win a WSOP bracelet (pictured)?
 * ... that Welcome to Macintosh, a documentary focusing on Apple Inc. and its Macintosh line of computers, was praised by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak for being the most accurate film about the company?
 * ... that in 1993, an officer in New Zealand's Diplomatic Protection Squad accidentally discharged a pistol on a VIP aircraft while in flight?
 * ... that the first discovery of oil off the Texas coast came in 1941?
 * ... that William McAloney was awarded the Albert Medal for his attempted rescue of a pilot trapped in a burning aircraft?
 * ... that Craig Stevens's CBS series, Mr. Broadway, featured Liza Minnelli in her first television dramatic role in the episode "Nightingale for Sale"?
 * ... that Sir Alan Muir Wood worked on the 80 km Orange–Fish River Tunnel, the second-longest water supply tunnel in the world?
 * ... that half the pioneers who settled in northwestern Indiana used the Michigan Road?
 * ... that in 1945, footballer Doug McGibbon scored six goals in one match, one of which was timed at under five seconds from the second half kick-off?

18 February 2009
15:05, 18 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that His Majesty's Theatre (pictured) in Perth, Western Australia, is thought to be Australia's only remaining working Edwardian theatre?
 * ... that actor and broadcaster Dean Miller, who played the son-in-law on CBS's December Bride, later bought what became WMVR-FM radio in his native Ohio?
 * ... that communities of the Dagaaba people of Ghana in the 1990s still used cowrie shells as an alternate currency, long after they had been replaced elsewhere by the Ghanaian cedi?
 * ... that on January 22 Barack Obama issued an executive order requiring interrogations by any U.S. agency to comply with the Army's Human Intelligence Collector Operations field manual?
 * ... that Alexandru Callimachi was Dragoman of the Sublime Porte before becoming Prince of Moldavia in 1795?
 * ... that Rascal Flatts' 2009 single "Here Comes Goodbye" was co-written by American Idol season 6 finalist Chris Sligh?
 * ... that unlike the queens of other eusocial species, a queen of the paper wasp Ropalidia marginata is docile and maintains her reproductive monopoly in her colony without physical aggression?
 * ... that former fashion model Gail O'Neill refused to appear in advertisements for cigarettes or for sponsors with substantial investments in South Africa?


 * 09:14, 18 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that Levantine architect of French descent Raymond Charles Père, who designed the landmark Izmir Clock Tower (pictured) in Turkey, was a native of Izmir?
 * ... that the Dayton Triangles, a traveling team, folded after their 1929 season, losing their final seventeen games as a National Football League franchise by a combined score of 301–22?
 * ... that Australian Frederick Hamilton March was awarded the Empire Gallantry Medal for his conduct during the assassination of the Governor-General of Sudan, Sir Lee Stack?
 * ... that detection of fungal infection by the wood-decay fungus Fuscoporia torulosa can be performed in six hours using the polymerase chain reaction?
 * ... that Joe Dini, the owner of Dini's Lucky Club, a casino in Yerington, Nevada, was the longest serving member of the Nevada State Assembly?
 * ... that Apartment Building 63 located in Bucharest is the largest single residential building in Romania with a total of 950 apartments and over 1,600 residents?
 * ... that Luke Smith left video game journalism to work for game developer Bungie, after he had called their game Halo 2 "broken"?
 * ... that, unusually for an eighteenth-century novel, the heroine of Charlotte Turner Smith's Emmeline does not meet the man she marries until half-way through the story?


 * 01:40, 18 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the recipe for chicken fried bacon (pictured) was developed in the small town of Snook, Texas, at Sodolak's Original Country Inn?
 * ... that English barrister Joseph Keble went to the Court of King's Bench every day from 1661 to 1710, but was never known to have a brief for a client?
 * ... that Jack Kramer was the St. Louis Browns' Opening Day starting pitcher in 1944, the only season the Browns played in the World Series?
 * ... that the new Prime Minister of Somalia, Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, has Canadian citizenship and his family is based in Virginia, USA?
 * ... that the top of the Chapel of Saint-Michel at Parc naturel régional d'Armorique is the highest point in Brittany, France?
 * ... that musician and Presbyterian minister Isaiah Jones, Jr. was named "best songwriter of the year" in 1973 by the Gospel Music Academy?
 * ... that the Permanent University Fund's US$8.8 billion and 2.1 million-acre (840,000 ha) land assets help fund public higher education in Texas?
 * ... that rolling meth labs used for the illegal production of methamphetamine have been known to explode, endangering motorists and police officers?

17 February 2009

 * 19:36, 17 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that at Fort Glanville Conservation Park in Semaphore South, South Australia, there are regular firings of 19th-century RML 64 pounder 64 cwt guns (pictured)?
 * ... that refugee mathematician Emil Grosswald first three scientific papers were published under a pseudonym?
 * ... that the Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals in Hillsboro, Oregon, is the biggest of its kind in the Pacific Northwest?
 * ... that Tang Dynasty general Li Qi paid his best archers and soldiers of Xiongnu and Xi ancestry ten times as much as other soldiers, to garner their loyalty?
 * ... that William Close, the physician father of actress Glenn Close, played a pivotal role in stemming the outbreak of the Ebola virus in Zaire in 1976?
 * ... that Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen was born in a small village on the banks of the Mekong in Stueng Trang District?
 * ... that after scoring six touchdowns for Michigan against Ohio State in 1902, Albert Herrnstein became the winningest coach in Ohio State football history up to the time he retired?
 * ... that acqua pazza, an Italian herbed broth used to cook seafood, is literally translated as "crazy water"?


 * 13:52, 17 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that Alan Scott (pictured) was a blacksmith who designed and built brick ovens and promoted artisanal bread-making techniques and stone flour milling at the Callington Mill?
 * ... that upon entering the Stadio Olympica at the opening ceremonies of the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, the torch bearer tripped over a cable and fell, nearly extinguishing the Olympic flame?
 * ... that Phoebe Omlie, the first licensed female transport pilot, was considered by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to be one of "eleven women whose achievements make it safe to say the world is progressing"?
 * ... that while most beers are vegetarian, some—like British cask ales which use fish parts to clear the finished product—are not?
 * ... that Monroe Sweetland was the first Democrat elected to represent Clackamas County, Oregon, in the Oregon House of Representatives in 20 years?
 * ... that in 114 years of existence the Constanţa Shipyard in Romania constructed 432 ships with a total of over four million metric tons deadweight (DWT)?
 * ... that in January 2009, Mark Pollock became the first blind person to reach the South Pole?
 * ... that applying potassium hydroxide to the blue and yellow Australian mushroom Cortinarius rotundisporus will turn it pinkish-purple?


 * 07:39, 17 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that Sir Charles Knowles claimed that the theories on naval tactics expressed in his 1777 book were reflected in Lord Howe's victory in 1794 (pictured)?
 * ... that most buildings damaged in the 1848 Marlborough earthquake in Wellington, New Zealand were rebuilt with wood, reducing the damage and loss of life in the more powerful Wairarapa earthquake of 1855?
 * ... that in 1920, Henrik Ameln became the first Conservative Party politician to serve as mayor of Bergen since Christian Michelsen in 1893?
 * ... that despite the fact that self-described alligator farms have existed since the 1890s, true commercial farming of crocodilians did not begin until the mid-20th century?
 * ... that the Tang Dynasty's Princess Taihe, who became the Kedun (empress) of its ally Huigu, suffered through Huigu's collapse before she was able to return to the Tang?
 * ... that the German newspaper Illinois Staats-Zeitung, published in Chicago, played an important role in building the Republican Party in Illinois in the 1850s?
 * ... that Bobby Atherton was the last Hibernian captain to win the Scottish Cup, in 1902?
 * ... that Timetoget bought diesel trains to operate on the Bratsberg Line, despite it being electrified?


 * 01:33, 17 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the Comet (pictured), which sank in 1875, was described by the Evening News in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, in 1980 as the "only known treasure ship on the bottom of" Lake Superior?
 * ... that Polish historian, army officer, and independence activist Wacław Lipiński joined the anti-communist resistance, was arrested by communist secret police in 1947 and died in prison two years later?
 * ... that an outburst by Christian Bale on the set of Terminator Salvation inspired the band The Mae Shi to write the song "R U Professional"?
 * ... that 800 metres runner Andrew Hart was the fastest non-African in his event at the 1998 Commonwealth Games?
 * ... that Sanggung was an official title of the senior fifth rank, the highest attainable for gungnyeo, a lady-in-waiting during the Joseon Dynasty of Korea?
 * ... that following his rescue of a swimmer during a shark attack in 1922, Jack Chalmers was awarded the Albert Medal and gifted £3000?
 * ... that the discography of Lisa Hannigan includes collaborations with Mic Christopher, Mick Flannery, Cathy Davey and members of Snow Patrol and Bell X1, plus her well-known work with Damien Rice?
 * ... that Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel became the first Indians to sign Major League Baseball contracts after throwing a baseball for the first time a year earlier?

16 February 2009
16:50, 16 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the seafaring adventures of Anne Jane Thornton (pictured) inspired the ballad The Female Sailor Bold?
 * ... that the extreme points of Norway include Rossøya, at 80° North, and arguably the South Pole?
 * ... that Allama Prabhu, the mystic-saint of 12th century Karnataka, India, was also an accomplished Vachana poet?
 * ... that in 2008 a Vincent Black Lightning sold for £221,500 becoming the most expensive motorcycle sold at auction in the UK?
 * ... that former newspaper editor John W. Grace became the first Privacy Commissioner of Canada in 1983?
 * ... that Grassroots, an organization formed by block club leaders, has had members elected to the Buffalo Common Council, New York State Senate and New York State Assembly?
 * ... that while long jumper László Szalma won six medals in total at the European Indoor Championships, his best result at both the Summer Olympics and the World Championships was fourth place?
 * ... that Mule Bone, a play by Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, had its world premiere in 1991, more than 60 years after it was written?


 * 11:02, 16 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that on Stac an Armin, the highest stack in Scotland, the last great auk (example pictured) in the British Isles was clubbed to death in 1840 because it was thought to be a witch?
 * ... that Eslanda Goode Robeson, wife of Paul Robeson, was the first black to head the Surgical Pathology Department at New York-Presbyterian Hospital?
 * ... that Surtshellir, named for the fire giant Surtr, is the longest lava cave in Iceland?
 * ... that Isaac D. Barnard fought at the Battle of Plattsburg in the War of 1812, and later became Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania?
 * ... that Prey Chhor District, Cambodia, is home to an ancient temple built more than a thousand years ago?
 * ... that Wictor Esbensen, a manager of the Compañía Argentina de Pesca, is the namesake of Esbensen Bay off South Georgia island?
 * ... that the Philippine Overseas Labor Office estimates that 80% of Filipinos in Palau are undocumented immigrants?
 * ... that Mira Rostova, Montgomery Clift's acting coach, was sent off the set of the 1960 film Wild River by director Elia Kazan after a single day of filming?


 * 05:01, 16 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that Khan As'ad Pasha (pictured), built by Damascus governor As'ad Pasha al-Azem, is the largest khan in the city?
 * ... that American football star Albie Booth became famous after he scored all of Yale’s points in a 1929 upset win over Army?
 * ... that catastrophic flooding in 2000 destroyed 95% of the annual rice crop in Srey Santhor District, Cambodia?
 * ... that film art director Jeannine Oppewall was so heavily influenced by designers and filmmakers Charles and Ray Eames, she had her house built based completely around her Eames-designed furniture?
 * ... that early favorites in the 2009 Kentucky Derby include the filly Stardom Bound?
 * ... that Hans Kristian Seip, the father of Jens Arup Seip, also had a career of his own in engineering and politics, until removed by the Nazi occupants in Norway in 1941?
 * ... that a radio station in Evergreen, Alabama, made national headlines in 1992 when the Supreme Court of Alabama ruled that state law allowed a disc jockey to be fired just because she is a woman?
 * ... that Dr Charles White, co-founder of the Manchester Royal Infirmary, kept the mummified body of one of his patients in a room of his house for 55 years?

15 February 2009

 * 22:20, 15 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that novelist Charlotte Turner Smith (pictured) condemned her father for forcing her to marry and turning her into a "legal prostitute"?
 * ... that the Great Mosque of Al-Zaytuna, the oldest mosque in Tunis, Tunisia, was partly built using materials from the ruins of the ancient city of Carthage?
 * ... that Ralph Regenvanu has been described as Vanuatu's first anthropologist?
 * ... that the Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party was the sole Zionist party in Mandate Palestine to advocate national rights for Palestinian Arabs?
 * ... that NASCAR described its 2008 Crew Chief of the Year Steve Addington as the "complementary ice to driver Kyle Busch's fire"?
 * ... that the Special Boarding Unit was created by the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Forces in response to the alleged presence of North Korean spy ships in Japanese waters in 1999?
 * ... that Tom Brumley's performance on "Together Again" for Buck Owens was called "one of the finest steel guitar solos in the history of country music"?
 * ... that the Maasai common name for the plant Salvia merjamie is Naingungundeu, which means "smells of rats"?


 * 14:21, 15 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that near the altar of the Church of St Mary Magdalene (pictured) in Chewton Mendip, Somerset, England, there is a stone seat for criminals taking sanctuary in the church?
 * ... that although Hungarian hammer thrower Balázs Kiss won the 1996 Olympic gold medal, his best result at the World Championships was two fourth places?
 * ... that the limestone quarries near Ein Yabrud in the Judean Mountains have produced the only fossils for the extinct snakes Pachyrhachis and Haasiophis?
 * ... that actor and environmentalist Ron Hayes worked to establish the first Earth Day in 1970 and to preserve the Grand Canyon National Park?
 * ... that Ponhea Kraek District was the home of Sek Yi, who died aged 120 years, claiming the title of Cambodia’s oldest man?
 * ... that Joan Baez had a #8 hit single with "There but for Fortune" the same week her album Joan Baez in Concert, Part 2 reached #8?
 * ... that ice hockey coach Janne Karlsson has won two Swedish Championships, one World Championship, and one Olympic gold medal?
 * ... that the Peterson-Dumesnil House in Louisville, Kentucky, was once the only club in the United States open exclusively to teachers?


 * 08:38, 15 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that Flemish artist Peter Tillemans was one of the founders of the sporting school of painting (pictured) in England?
 * ... that merchants from ancient India brought Roman goods of styrax and frankincense to Han Dynasty China?
 * ... that during World War II, Kasper Idland was one of the four saboteurs who entered the Vemork heavy water facility to conduct heavy water sabotage?
 * ... that as Governor of Madras, John Sinclair, 1st Baron Pentland, had Annie Besant arrested in 1917 for advocating home rule for India?
 * ... that John McFarland was taken first overall in the 2008 Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection?
 * ... that Kerry Kohansky Roberts attended New York University's film school at the same time as Peter Sollett, but did not meet him until they collaborated on Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist?
 * ... that the RTÉ television series The Great Escape follows families as they relocate to countries such as South Africa, Australia, Austria, Italy, France and Spain?
 * ... that Bo Molenda played professional football, baseball and basketball and was the "workhorse" for the Green Bay Packers teams that won three consecutive NFL championships from 1929 to 1931?


 * 02:37, 15 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that Flemish artist Peter Tillemans was one of the founders of the sporting school of painting (pictured) in England?
 * ... that the bronze wushu coin first issued in 119 BC during the Han Dynasty, remained the standard coin for China until the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE)?
 * ... that Kerry Kohansky Roberts attended New York University's film school at the same time as Peter Sollett, but did not meet him until they collaborated on Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist?
 * ... that during World War II, Kasper Idland was one of the four saboteurs who entered the Vemork heavy water facility to conduct heavy water sabotage?
 * ... that Bo Molenda played professional football, baseball and basketball and was the "workhorse" for the Green Bay Packers teams that won three consecutive NFL championships from 1929 to 1931?
 * ... that the Governor of Madras from 1912 to 1919, John Sinclair, 1st Baron Pentland, recommended that an extensive survey of Rameswaram island and its environs be made by the Archaeological Survey of India?
 * ... that the RTÉ television series The Great Escape follows families as they relocate to countries such as South Africa, Australia, Austria, Italy, France and Spain?
 * ... that John McFarland was taken first overall in the 2008 Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection?


 * 01:58, 15 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ... that the Japanese icebreaker Sōya (pictured) survived a torpedoing by the USS Greenling (SS-213) in 1943 and rescued the Sakhalin Huskies Taro and Jiro from Antarctica in 1958?
 * ... that the first reported sighting of the bird's nest fungus Cyathus helenae was on mountain scree in the Canadian Rockies?
 * ... that Bonnie Newman, a former chief of staff to Judd Gregg, had been named to replace him in the United States Senate until Gregg withdrew his nomination for Secretary of Commerce?
 * ... that Jangipara, a block in the Indian state of West Bengal, includes a mosque built in 1375?
 * ... that American composer Danny Elfman was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1990 for creating "The Simpsons Theme" and in 2005 for the Desperate Housewives theme?
 * ... that Walter of Albano, a papal legate to England in 1095, helped secure the recognition of Pope Urban II by King William II of England?
 * ... that the Irish student group Free Education for Everyone has blockaded prominent politicians in protests over tuition?
 * ... that after their 1951 marital breakup, popular Old Mother Riley actor Kitty McShane filmed her last scenes with husband Arthur Lucan on separate days?