Wikipedia:Recent additions/2012/December
This is a record of material that was recently featured on the Main Page as part of Did you know (DYK). Recently created new articles, greatly expanded former stub articles and recently promoted good articles are eligible; you can submit them for consideration.
Archives are generally grouped by month of Main Page appearance. (Currently, DYK hooks are archived according to the date and time that they were taken off the Main Page.) To find which archive contains the fact that appeared on Did you know, go to article's talk page and follow the archive link in the DYK talk page message box.
Did you know...
Please add the line ==={{subst:CURRENTDAY}} {{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}===
for each new day and the time the set was removed from the DYK template 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 month. Thanks.
31 December 2012
- 12:00, 31 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Kaiser Wilhelm II (pictured) ordered plans drawn up for Germany to invade two US cities: Boston and New York?
- ... that Elizabeth de Vere, Countess of Oxford, was abducted by the half-brother of her intended bridegroom?
- ... that over 130 works of literature were published in the propaganda newspaper Asia Raja?
- ... that forest degradation and illegal exports threaten the survival of the Rainforest Chameleon?
- ... that Hans Østerholt edited the satirical magazine Hvepsen from 1905 to 1925?
- ... that over 10 million people visited the Africa Joint Pavilion during Expo 2010?
- ... that the inaugural running of the British Classic 2,000 Guineas Stakes was won by the colt Wizard in 1809?
- ... that cricketer Allan Border holds the record for making the most number of consecutive appearances (153 matches) in Tests?
- 00:00, 31 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Bach created "colourful and delicate effects" by scoring 1714's Tritt auf die Glaubensbahn, BWV 152, a dialogue of Jesus and the Soul, for recorder, oboe, viola d'amore (pictured) and viola da gamba?
- ... that at one time Arizona Territorial Delegate Hiram Sanford Stevens owned a sheep ranch in Colorado and was one of the richest men in Arizona?
- ... that in 1906, ties between England and Spain were sufficiently strong that King Edward VII and King Alfonso XIII became joint patrons of the Royal Calpe Hunt?
- ... that Charles W. Adams, a Confederate colonel during the American Civil War, was a grandfather of Helen Keller?
- ... that the French aimed to use the Casablanca Fair of 1915 to open up trade markets in Morocco and to demonstrate their power?
- ... that with their victory over Mississippi State, the 1956 Alabama Crimson Tide football team ended a 17-game losing streak and gave Ears Whitworth his first win as head coach?
- ... that the shell of the extinct sea urchin Pelanechinus corallina was composed of separate groups of fused plates which resulted in its being flexible?
- ... that Dancing Barry started as a Houston Rockets counterpart to Dancing Harry and later performed with Paula Abdul for the Los Angeles Lakers?
30 December 2012
- 12:00, 30 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the Monastery of the Holy Trinity, Meteora (pictured) in Greece was featured in the 1981 James Bond film, For Your Eyes Only?
- ... that Zuber Usman was an early pioneer of Indonesian literary criticism?
- ... that the building of the Bangas Gymnasium in Korcë, Albania, was erected with the support of the Lasso, a local community fund aimed at the promotion of Greek education and culture?
- ... that Australian bass-baritone Horace Stevens was also a dentist, teacher, tennis player, sculler, and World War I Army officer?
- ... that middle to upper Paleolithic sites have been found along the Shetrunji River?
- ... that French Army officer Henri Simon helped to produce the 1934 film Itto?
- ... that Jamil Mihhu, contesting the Beirut II constituency in the 1968 election, was the first Kurd to run for office in Lebanon?
- ... that six conductors took part in the retirement concert for Stephen Gray, including Simon Rattle, whose career Gray promoted?
- 00:00, 30 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that in 2011, geneticist Riin Tamm (pictured) was chosen as one of 26 scientists to travel around Estonia and take part in events at schools and academic institutions?
- ... that tools made from human bones have been found at the Carlston Annis Shell Mound in Kentucky?
- ... that a "magnificent" furniture depository in Hove, England, designed by local architects Clayton & Black, later became an insurance office and—in November 2012—the Montefiore Hospital?
- ... that Townsend F. Dodd was the first US pilot to receive the Distinguished Service Medal in World War I?
- ... that the Maya city of Dzibanche in southeastern Mexico was the early capital of the Kan dynasty, which later ruled from Calakmul?
- ... that Mike Jolly was the starting weak side cornerback in 35 of 36 games for Michigan teams that played in two Rose Bowls and a Gator Bowl from 1977 to 1979?
- ... that during the early 20th century, Halfaya, in central Syria, was a village where collective farming was practiced by the twelve clans who inhabited it?
- ... that when he was 13, Leonard Wood created a washing machine engine-powered go-kart that reached a top speed of 25 miles per hour (40 km/h)?
29 December 2012
- 12:00, 29 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the Prince Regent sometimes stayed at Moulsecoomb Place (pictured), where he would sit in a dovecote and practise the flute?
- ... that Indonesian batik designer Obin sometimes asks people not to cut up her cloths?
- ... that The 1975 became popular because of Sex?
- ... that the Japanese goose barnacle broods its eggs in its mantle cavity where they may be eaten by a worm living there?
- ... that the authors of Crisis and Transformation conclude that the erotic novel The Carnal Prayer Mat was not written by 17th-century Chinese scholar Li Yu?
- ... that the release of Google Maps as an application on iOS caused iOS 6 upgrades to surge 30%?
- ... that the USS Clifton was originally named the SS Dilworth?
- ... that the song "Otome Sensō" by Momoiro Clover Z can be interpreted as the girl group's declaration of war for the top of the Japanese idol music scene?
- 00:00, 29 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that according to WAD Magazine, identical twin brothers Larry and Laurent Bourgeois of the French dance duo Les Twins (pictured) started walking at five months old?
- ... that the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act instituted an "up or out" promotion system across the United States Armed Forces?
- ... that María Isabella Cordero, a former Mexican anchorwoman on Televisa, was killed in Mexico's most violent state in 2010?
- ... that McNeese State defeated Tulsa in the inaugural 1976 Independence Bowl despite the suspension of sixteen McNeese players?
- ... that the BBC comedy-drama Lapland was set in Finland but filmed in Norway, where the cast stayed in army barracks?
- ... that renowned antebellum potter Christopher Haun was executed for his participation in the East Tennessee bridge-burning conspiracy?
- ... that the Gibraltar Heritage Trust is a non-profit charity responsible for preserving and promoting Gibraltar's manmade and natural heritage?
- ... that the trout population in Mann Lake was once threatened by goldfish, prompting the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to intervene?
28 December 2012
- 12:00, 28 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that though Japanese girl group Momoiro Clover Z member Momoka Ariyasu (pictured) claims to be stupid, other members say she is very studious, even studying backstage?
- ... that Gibraltar's North Bastion and South Bastion were built by Spain to protect the city against attacks from either direction?
- ... that Dr. Moshe Wallach, founder and director of Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Hospital for 45 years, lived in the hospital and was buried beside it?
- ... that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg made a cameo appearance in the series finale of Gossip Girl?
- ... that Amala Shankar, the Indian danseuse, is the wife of Uday Shankar and sister-in-law of Ravi Shankar?
- ... that the giant slit-pore sea rod can grow to more than a metre (yard) tall?
- ... that Peter Penfold was widely considered a hero in Sierra Leone, despite having been dismissed as British High Commissioner?
- ... that the graphics for the video game Clay Jam were produced in a garage using 44 pounds (20 kg) of clay and 400 toothpicks?
- 00:00, 28 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that above the north doorway of St Laurence's Church, Church Stretton (pictured), is a sheila-na-gig?
- ... that Edda Goering played in a fifty-metre-long replica of Frederick the Great's Sanssouci palace, built for her by the Luftwaffe in an orchard at Carinhall?
- ... that today is the birthday of Dattatreya, the combined form of the Hindu Trinity?
- ... that Owen Ray Skelton is credited with engineering a rubber engine mount system for cars known as "floating power" to greatly cut down on engine vibration to the chassis?
- ... that A Is for Acid, a biopic of Acid Bath Murderer John Haigh, was filmed in Scarborough because of the town's similarity to parts of 1940s London?
- ... that at the age of 16, Karl Towns was named to play on the Dominican Republic national basketball team while he was a student at St. Joseph High School in New Jersey?
- ... that the 1971 Chouf parliamentary by-poll was described at the time as the "most fiery" by-election ever in Lebanon?
- ... that Lupton City in Chattanooga, Tennessee, was created in the 1920s as a planned community for a thread mill and its workers?
27 December 2012
- 12:00, 27 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the 15.4-metre (51 ft) long Anantashayana Vishnu at Saranga (pictured) is the longest sculpture of a reclining Vishnu in India?
- ... that while the roots of the international human rights movement are about a century old, it grew in global significance around the 1970s?
- ... that Norman Claxton won the South Australian National Football League twice, scored 199 not out in first-class cricket, and was inducted into the Baseball Australia Hall of Fame?
- ... that Steindamm Church was destroyed during the Siege of Königsberg and rebuilt in 1263?
- ... that Kānekapōlei prevented the kidnapping of her husband King Kalaniʻōpuʻu and their sons by Captain Cook, one of the events that led to Cook's death in Hawaii?
- ... that Mike Shula succeeded Mike Price as the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team in 2003?
- ... that Natir Puja (1932) is the only film where Rabindranath Tagore was credited as film director?
- ... that John Lennon's ballad "Out the Blue" expressed his devotion to wife Yoko Ono, even though Lennon and Ono were separated at the time?
- 00:00, 27 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that news of the conquest of Everest by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay (pictured) came to the outside world by a runner bearing a coded message?
- ... that in Salazar v. Ramah Navajo Chapter, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the federal government was obligated to pay in full any contracts that it had entered into with Indian tribes?
- ... that Bach's cantata for the second day of Christmas, Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes ("For this the Son of God appeared"), BWV 40, is his first Christmas cantata composed for Leipzig?
- ... that Jean Forbes-Robertson, a Shakespearean actress, frequently played Peter Pan?
- ... that Benin adopted a Presidential Council system with three political rivals serving as president together to prevent civil war following the 1970 elections?
- ... that jewelled chameleons are threatened by the burning of their grassland habitat?
- ... that the video game Rotozoa is part of Nintendo's Art Style series?
- ... that Paul Thurmond, the youngest son of Strom Thurmond, was born when his father was 73 years old?
26 December 2012
- 12:00, 26 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that besides being India's second longest serving prime minister, Indira Gandhi (pictured) was also the world's second longest serving female prime minister?
- ... that a single HVDC converter can convert up to two thousand megawatts of electric power from DC to AC?
- ... that Catalan flamenco guitarist "Chicuelo" has been the music director of Shōji Kojima's dance company in Japan since 1992?
- ... that the "get out the vote" system used by Mitt Romney in the 2012 United States presidential election crashed repeatedly on election day, depriving his campaign of last-minute information?
- ... that William I of Germany was crowned King of Prussia in the Schlosskirche within Königsberg Castle?
- ... that the second single from Leona Lewis' third studio album Glassheart was originally going to be "Fireflies", but "Lovebird" was released instead?
- ... that the extinct maple Acer ivanofense is known from four Alaskan fossils?
- ... that Erdene Zuu Monastery in Mongolia has a 24-inch penis?
- 00:00, 26 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the Adoration of the Shepherds (1607–10, pictured) by Domenichino shows the newborn Jesus listening to bagpipe music?
- ... that junitoite and ruizite were both discovered in Christmas, Arizona?
- ... that the installation of an artificial Christmas tree in Brussels prompted an online petition against it with 25,000 signatures?
- ... that in Dandy Dick Whittington, Dick is a circus rider who goes to Siam to secure love and fortune?
- ... that the Tamale Teaching Hospital, the third teaching hospital in Ghana, started as the Tamale Regional Hospital in 1974?
- ... that it has been suggested that Father Christmas in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Father Christmas Letters may have been an inspiration for Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings?
- ... that despite the belief that the Christmas pickle tradition originated in Germany, it is generally unknown there?
25 December 2012
- 12:00, 25 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Christmas jumpers (example pictured) have become popular in the UK during the 2010s?
- ... that Hans Pfitzner composed Das Christ-Elflein (The Little Elf of Christ, sometimes given as The Little Christmas Elf) first as incidental music, then in 1917 as an opera?
- ... that The Big Bang Theory episode "The Santa Simulation" features a Christmas-themed Dungeons & Dragons game?
- ... that on Christmas Day in 1997, a One Day International between India and Sri Lanka became the first international cricket match to be called off because of a dangerous pitch?
- ... that director Ken Russell created the Christmas themed A Kitten for Hitler after being challenged by Melvyn Bragg to make a film Russell himself would want to ban?
- ... that in New South Wales, the mountain beech can hybridise with the native holly and the crinkle bush?
- ... that Cliff Richard's 1990 UK Christmas number one song "Saviour's Day" was succeeded by Iron Maiden's "Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter"?
- 00:00, 25 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Pasterka (pictured), a Midnight Mass of Christmas celebrations across Poland, can be held three times on Christmas Eve, including at midnight?
- ... that Carl Russ started as a walk-on and became the starting wide linebacker for Michigan football teams that had a record of 20–1–1?
- ... that Trinitatis Church was seriously damaged in the Copenhagen Fire of 1728 but was rebuilt in 1731?
- ... that William Hatteclyffe served King Edward IV as physician, King's Secretary, and diplomat?
- ... that a Viking torc and an 18th century harpsichord are exhibited at Falsters Minder?
- ... that the rights for Rambo: The Video Game were secured in part because of the scheduled release of the Sylvester Stallone action film The Expendables 2?
- ... that the fortune of England's richest commoner, William the Miser, was lost in lawyers' fees in 117 years of litigation over his estate?
24 December 2012
- 12:00, 24 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that 99 years ago on December 24, Italian Hall (pictured) in Calumet, Michigan, was the site of a fatal stampede from a Christmas party organized by Anna Clemenc and the Western Federation of Miners?
- ... that the 1966 film The Sons of Great Bear was East Germany's first Western, presenting the Oglala Lakota as heroes struggling against the villainous Whites?
- ... that before founding his own production company, Iddo Patt appeared in a remake of the game show Twenty One?
- ... that, in preparation for British military intervention in the Sierra Leone Civil War, two CH-47 Chinooks conducted the longest self-deployment of helicopters in British history?
- ... that South Carolina's U.S. Senate seat for the 2014 special election should be filled by Stephen Colbert, according to a Public Policy poll?
- ... that Charles Garabed Atamian's paintings of the beach in Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie consolidated his reputation as an artist?
- ... that the upcoming video game Johann Sebastian Joust has no graphics and does not even use a video screen?
- 00:00, 24 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the Miocene maple Acer traini may be the same species as the living Douglas Maple (fruits pictured)?
- ... that Chhota Bheem and the Curse of Damyaan, a 2012 Indian animated film, was a surprise success at the box office?
- ... that with the addition of Bhutan, Grenada, and Andorra in 2012, the Ramsar Convention has 163 contracting countries with 2,065 wetlands of international importance?
- ... that the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, a cooperative effort involving six Christian denominations, has been described as "one of the more successful ventures in black ecumenism"?
- ... that while travelling in Italy in 1898, American hydraulic engineer Clemens Herschel found an ancient manuscript about the water system of Rome, and translated and published it in English?
- ... that Fred Julian led Michigan in rushing in 1959 and led the New York Jets in interceptions in 1960?
- ... that an employee of the Bank of England's incinerator plant in Debden helped to steal more than £600,000 over four years by stuffing banknotes into her underwear?
23 December 2012
- 12:00, 23 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Tongan Prince Vuna Takitakimālohi (pictured with his parents) was King George Tupou I's only surviving legitimate son according to Christian law, and his early death in 1862 left his father without an heir?
- ... that today is the day when Krishna gave the holy sermon of the Bhagavad Gita to the Pandava prince Arjuna, as described in the Mahabharata?
- ... that Japanese industrialist Inabata Katsutaro, a member of the House of Peers, put on Japan's first projected film programme?
- ... that when it first opened in 1991, The Peninsula Beverly Hills was the first luxury hotel to open in Beverly Hills for 20 years?
- ... that a 27-year-old law student was the sole challenger against the candidature of Maronite strongman Suleiman Frangieh in the 1968 election in the Zgharta constituency?
- ... that professional mixed martial arts fighter Abel Trujillo was expected to make his UFC debut at UFC 151, but it became the first-ever cancelled event in the organization's history?
- ... that by the end of the Third Siege of Gibraltar in 1333, the city's inhabitants were reduced to eating their shoes because the town's governor had stolen the money meant to pay for food?
- 00:00, 23 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that philosopher Bertrand Russell feared the ridicule of his grandmother, Lady Stanley of Alderley (pictured), best known for defending the "right of women to the highest culture hitherto reserved to men"?
- ... that the Iron Confederacy, an alliance of North American Plains Indians, expanded its power base from what is now northern Manitoba in the 1690s to Montana by the 1850s?
- ... that Noori is the first pashmina goat to be cloned by using the process of nuclear transfer?
- ... that Walt Downing, the seventh All-American center for Michigan, won a Super Bowl with the 1981 San Francisco 49ers?
- ... that the Leningrad première of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 was broadcast by loudspeakers throughout the city, and to the German forces as psychological warfare?
- ... that Kojo Tovalou Houénou became a prominent critic of French colonialism in Africa after being ejected from a Paris club where he was attacked by Americans who objected to an African being served?
- ... that all Armenian parliamentarians elected from the Beirut I constituency in 1968 ran unopposed?
22 December 2012
- 12:00, 22 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Tarsar Lake (pictured) is separated from its twin sister in the Kashmir Valley by a mountain?
- ... that Israel Keyes confessed to murder, rape, arson, and bank robbery in several states before committing suicide in his jail cell in Anchorage, Alaska?
- ... that in the Hindu epic Ramayana, Maricha assumed the form of a golden deer studded with gems to facilitate the kidnapping of the heroine?
- ... that Maryland Route 170 was relocated for the construction of Baltimore/Washington International Airport in the late 1940s?
- ... that the creator of the TV series Homeland, Gideon Raff, is the son of a former Accountant General in Israel's Ministry of Finance?
- ... that the 1968 election in the Beirut III constituency saw Sunni former rivals Abdallah al-Yafi and Saeb Salam unite around a joint candidature?
- ... that when Oprah Winfrey saw American model Jasmine Tookes perform on the runway at Lincoln Center, she extolled Tookes' "butter" soft skin and requested that Tookes "rub your face against mine"?
- 00:00, 22 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that on some Celtic imitations of the Kingdom of Macedonia's gold philippeioi (pictured), the chariot on the reverse side was replaced by a single horse sporting a humanoid head?
- ... that Bo Schembechler praised Pete Newell for traveling to Iowa with the 1969 Michigan football team rather than to a large antiwar rally "with the damn hippies where he really wanted to be"?
- ... that the Mexican gang Los Ántrax is named after the disease anthrax?
- ... that the Crusaders under Bohemond I of Antioch exacted a large tribute from the Muslim residents of al-Muslimiyah following their capture of the village in 1103?
- ... that Orson Welles used a pseudo-documentary sequence in his film Citizen Kane?
- ... that the eldest son of Richard Neville, 2nd Baron Latimer, was married to Catherine Parr before she was King Henry VIII's Queen?
21 December 2012
- 12:00, 21 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Amdavad ni Gufa (pictured), a cave-like underground art gallery in Ahmedabad designed by B. V. Doshi, exhibits works of M F Husain?
- ... that the video game Wizorb was originally released for a game console, but the developers recommend using a mouse over a gamepad for the PC version?
- ... that after Nik Stauskas became Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Week, he scored twenty points in back-to-back games to earn the honor again?
- ... that climbing routes on Gibraltar Rock include Crime of Passion, Illusions of Grandeur, and Rooster Carnage?
- ... that Andy McDonald, the newly elected Member of Parliament for Middlesbrough, has already worked with parliamentarians as a special adviser to the Defence Select Committee?
- ... that defence may not have been the primary function of Cornwall's cliff castles?
- 00:00, 21 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that three alleged miracles drew pilgrims to Kippinge Church (pictured)?
- ... that Hermann Hogeback's entire bomber crew was decorated with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II, a unique distinction in the Luftwaffe?
- ... that the year 1930 in tennis saw the record for the most match points saved in a match of the Davis Cup Inter-Zonal Zone final between Giorgio de Stefani and Wilmer Allison?
- ... that Daggerfall, the second game in Elder Scrolls series of video games, has a game world claimed to be of the size of Great Britain?
- ... that the sea urchin order Echinothurioida was known only from fossils until deep water exploration discovered living species such as Calveriosoma gracile?
- ... that Mal Sanders, the winner of the Mike Marino Memorial Shield, had been travelling with Marino when he died on the M20 motorway in 1981?
20 December 2012
- 12:00, 20 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that a few years after earning two degrees in marine toxicology, Riki Ott (pictured) became unexpectedly involved with the Exxon Valdez oil spill?
- ... that a voltage controller is a device which dims street lights, controls the temperature of heating at home, and controls the speed of motors?
- ... that the Glen Davis Shale Oil Works was the last oil-shale operation in Australia until the commencement of the Stuart Oil Shale Project in late 1990s?
- ... that the USCGC Smilax (WLIC-315), a 100-foot inland construction tender, is the current "Queen of the Fleet" of the United States Coast Guard?
- ... that the video game Street Fighter X Mega Man was developed by one fan with the support of Capcom?
- ... that "Normal", the twentieth episode of American TV series New Girl, inspired a real-life drinking game with rules released by Fox?
- 00:00, 20 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that award-winning realist artist Zygmunt Ajdukiewicz (artwork pictured) illustrated the Imperial 24-volume encyclopedia initiated and sponsored by Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria?
- ... that Charles Darwin called The Naturalist on the River Amazons "the best book of Natural History Travels ever published in England"?
- ... that Ivo Puhonny created the Baden-Baden puppet theater in 1911, and many of his marionettes are preserved in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden?
- ... that the upcoming video game Demon Gaze is a sequel and will include new half-machine demons?
- ... that BRISMES awarded Westminster professor Naomi Sakr the Middle Eastern Book Prize for "the best book written on Arab television"?
- ... that the Chouf District had the highest number of voters in the 1968 Lebanese parliamentary election?
19 December 2012
- 12:00, 19 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that in the video game The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, monsters (one pictured) have taken over, and Abraham Van Helsing's son must fight them?
- ... that the star of Pah Wongso Pendekar Boediman, Indonesia's first detective film, was best known as a social worker?
- ... that the commanding officer of the New Zealand Army's 4th Division for part of 1942 and 1943 was also the professor of agriculture at Massey University?
- ... that the Sargassum nudibranch travels the world's oceans on seaweed?
- ... that Rekha's portrayal of a classical courtesan in Umrao Jaan fetched her the National Film Award for Best Actress?
- ... that Lady Carlisle so adamantly opposed alcohol consumption that when her daughter married a brewer, she refused to speak with her for years?
- 03:03, 19 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the auricular style of Baroque ornament (example pictured) is so called because it can resemble the inside of the human ear?
- ... that Michigan quarterback Jim Betts persuaded Bo Schembechler in 1969 to relax his clean-shave policy by claiming that facial hair was part of the African-American players' "heritage"?
- ... that the island city of Nojpetén was the capital of the last surviving Maya kingdom when the Spanish stormed it in 1697?
- ... that Body of Proof episode "Hunting Party" was directed by Paul Holahan and featured Jeri Ryan, both of whom had worked on the legal drama Shark?
- ... that decorator crabs stick camouflage on their backs using Velcro-like curved hairs?
- ... that Hidden Cave, an archaeological cave site located in the Great Basin near Fallon, Nevada, got its name because its entrance was difficult to find?
18 December 2012
- 17:50, 18 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Antoine de Bosc de la Calmette (pictured) excavated Møn's Neolithic burial mound, Klekkende Høj, in 1797 while he was governor?
- ... that following the death of Pope John Paul II, some 40,000 Catholics gathered in front of the Bishop's Palace in Kraków for a night vigil and prayer?
- ... that Pringle Stokes, captain of HMS Beagle on its first voyage, and Robert FitzRoy, captain on the second voyage, both committed suicide?
- ... that numerous Olympic and World weightlifting champions from Armenia hail from Gyumri, a city with a population of 150,000?
- ... that Kučuk Alija killed Hadži Mustafa Pasha, a vizier of the Belgrade pashalik, at the end of 1801?
- ... that Marty Friedman left Megadeth only to get mixed up with bodacious space pirates?
- 10:05, 18 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the Singapore Government believes representative democracy is better understood as focusing on the electorate choosing political parties than individual Members of Parliament (Parliament House pictured)?
- ... that Ohio's first archaeological investigation was conducted at the Marietta Earthworks?
- ... that the Off TV Play feature of the new Wii U does not work for all games, and some developers have chosen not to offer it?
- ... that the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, led by future poet laureate Sam Ragan, was the first cabinet-level department in the United States focused solely on the arts and history?
- ... that the Dawson river blackbutt indicates sodic soil?
- ... that Bo Schembechler knew his 1969 team was no longer afraid of Ohio State when a fight the day before the game ended with Cecil Pryor yelling, "And we're gonna kick your ass tomorrow, too!"?
- 02:20, 18 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that land-acquisition costs for the old post office (pictured) in Albany, New York, went so far over budget the building's architectural style had to be changed?
- ... that the conquest theory of state formation in anthropology has its roots in work by Ibn Khaldun, who wrote in the 14th century?
- ... that Lieutenant General Thomas G. Miller oversaw the First Army moving its command from Fort Gillem to Rock Island Arsenal in 2011?
- ... that there is an Elfstedentocht display at the Fries Scheepvaart Museum?
- ... that her experiences with girls on the street led philosopher Bertrand Russell's "stern and gloomy" Aunt Maude to write Clubs for Working Girls?
- ... that Showtime was inspired by a nightclub frequented by Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss?
17 December 2012
- 18:35, 17 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Dutton Horse Bridge (pictured) on the River Weaver in Cheshire is one of the earliest surviving laminated timber structures?
- ... that Ahmad Tohari's Kubah (Cupola), which follows a man's induction into communism, has been characterized as Islamic preaching?
- ... that video game studio Crystal Dynamics is the developer of the Legacy of Kain, Gex and Tomb Raider video game series?
- ... that Hayazn burned the Hungarian flag after Ramil Safarov's release to Azerbaijan?
- ... that Moses Moreno filed a grievance against the San Diego Chargers for releasing him while he was injured?
- ... that the General Post Office in Zagreb has been featured on postage stamps of Croatia and Austria?
- 10:50, 17 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Vishvarupa (pictured) should have as many arms as possible?
- ... that the flowers of the dwarf apple attract a wide variety of beetles?
- ... that Shania Twain's Las Vegas residency show, Shania: Still the One, marks her first live performance show since the Up! Tour in 2004?
- ... that Hamka's novel Tuan Direktur (Mr Director) has been read as anti-materialist and anti-superstition?
- ... that Tristan Bancks was selected from a group of 200 actors to play the role of Tug O'Neale in Australian soap opera Home and Away?
- ... that Greg Morton, college football's defensive player of the year for 1976, collected exotic flora, including a purple passion plant he named Claudine?
- 02:50, 16 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... the type material of the recently described psychedelic mushroom Psilocybe allenii (pictured) was collected on the campus of the University of Washington?
- ... that the earliest head coaches of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team include John C. B. Pendleton, Henry Van Hoevenberg, Alfred Ellet Hitchner, and Arthur P. Robinson, all four combining for a record of 12–33?
- ... that the 9.2-inch gun at Gibraltar's Spur Battery was transferred to the Imperial War Museum Duxford in Project Vitello?
- ... that Marienborg Manor incorporates designs by Vilhelm Walther and Axel Berg?
- ... that the United States Coast Guard has operated life-saving stations both on shore and in floating installations for over 150 years?
- ... that lumberman Augustus Barrows was elected Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1878, even though his Greenback Party only held 13 seats out of 100, and he was a freshman legislator?
16 December 2012
- 16:50, 16 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes (pictured), site of Willy Brandt's Warschauer Kniefall in 1970, was made from labradorite intended to be used in monuments in Nazi Germany?
- ... that after twice fleeing civil unrest in Nigeria, Amina Mama moved to South Africa, where she became director of the African Gender Institute and founding editor of its peer-reviewed journal, Feminist Africa?
- ... that half of the town of Mori, Hokkaido, Japan, was destroyed by fire in 1961?
- ... that Lionel Palairet was chosen as captain of Somerset County Cricket Club in 1907, despite having played only one match in 1906?
- ... that in spite of challenges from the left, all incumbent parliamentarians from Tripoli City were re-elected in 1968?
- ... that there are mermen on the pulpit of St James' Church, Cardington, in Shropshire?
- 08:00, 16 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the Noisy Pitta (pictured) uses an anvil when it feeds on the giant panda snail?
- ... that Bai Yansong, a leading news anchor for China Central Television, established China's first live news commentary program?
- ... that Goodenia paniculata can grow in acidic soils with pH as low as 2.5?
- ... that professional baseball player Derek Dietrich is an accomplished juggler, performing at hospitals and community events?
- ... that the Manila City Council banned films that featured Claire Danes in 1998, and The Da Vinci Code in 2006?
- ... that Guy Murdock, the MVP of football's Chicago Fire, joined with the Winds after the Fire was extinguished?
- 00:00, 16 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the listed buildings in Wrenbury cum Frith, Cheshire, include three timber lift bridges (example pictured) constructed by Thomas Telford?
- ... that 21 players from the 1976 Michigan football team went on to play in the NFL, and another opted instead to play Major League Baseball?
- ... that Maurice Le Glay fought against Mouha ou Hammou Zayani in the Zaian War but later wrote a book praising Zayani's leadership skills?
- ... that the Native American grass dance originated in the warrior societies on the Northern Great Plains?
- ... that leaves of the fossil maple Acer palaeorufinerve resemble the living redvein maple?
- ... that during World War II, German actress Inge Keller entered a sham marriage to avoid enlistment into the Reich Labour Service?
15 December 2012
- 16:00, 15 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Scottish suffragette Jessie Stephen (pictured) led attacks on Glasgow pillar boxes in 1913?
- ... that chef Joël Robuchon has twelve "L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon" restaurants around the world, including in London and Hong Kong?
- ... that Fatima-Zahra Mansouri's father, who was pasha (deputy governor) of Marrakech for eight years, died the evening Fatima won the mayoral elections?
- ... that indigenous people of Broome used a concoction of the bark of the native orange to treat animal bites and stings?
- ... that San Francisco police supervised the controversial North American premiere of Al-Nakba at the Castro Theater?
- ... that according to Lucille Ball, God was a New York hairdresser called Kenneth?
- 08:00, 15 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the 1950s American automobile culture (tail fin pictured) led to the McDonald's double arch sign and suburbia?
- ... that Stotts Island Nature Reserve is home to the endangered Mitchell's rainforest snail?
- ... that tight end Doug Marsh was Michigan's leading receiver in 1979 and later played seven NFL seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals?
- ... that Sam Pek Eng Tay was The Teng Chun's first in a series of film adaptations of Chinese myths?
- ... that Daniel Hough and Edward Galloway were the first two deaths of the American Civil War?
- ... that the drupes of boobialla were eaten by the Aborigines?
- 00:00, 15 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Frances Hashimoto, who became CEO of Mikawaya confectionery company at the age of 27, invented mochi ice cream (pictured)?
- ... that the extinct Oligocene-age vulture Phasmagyps may be the oldest New World vulture from North America?
- ... that although Mykola Leontovych's secular music was well known in the twentieth century, his Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom was little known because of a ban on sacred music in the Soviet Union?
- ... that at the funeral of his uncle, from whom he inherited the earldom, John de Vere, 14th Earl of Oxford, received an axe brought into the church by a mounted horseman?
- ... that cattle are brought to the uninhabited island of Kalvø for summer grazing in a small barge, three or four at a time?
- ... that Coty Award-winning jewelry designer Clifton Nicholson currently breeds peafowl and pheasants?
14 December 2012
- 16:00, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Torkilstrup's 17th-century post mill (pictured) was in operation until 1945, but is now a windmill museum?
- ... that the 1952 film Anhonee had Nargis enacting a dual role, and also marked the first occasion in Bollywood where an actor was cast in such a role?
- ... that Alastair Cook has scored the highest number of Test centuries for England, and is the youngest batsman to score more than 7,000 runs in Test cricket?
- ... that the Supreme Court of the United States decision in Zivotofsky v. Clinton concerned the status of Jerusalem in United States foreign policy?
- ... that the Namib sand gecko spends the day underground, emerging at night to feed on small arthropods?
- ... that the 2007 film Atonement received fourteen nominations from the British Academy Film Awards, the most of any film that year?
- 08:00, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Princess Teriivaetua (pictured) was given precedence ahead of any children born to her uncle King Pōmare V and his part-English wife Queen Marau in order to secure a pure-Tahitian heir to the throne?
- ... that Buffalo River State Park preserves one of the largest and highest-quality prairie remnants in Minnesota?
- ... that 2012 Pacific-12 Defensive Player of the Year Will Sutton was a high school football teammate of Taylor Martinez and Vontaze Burfict for the undefeated 2008 Centennial High School state champions?
- ... that the presence of prickly-leaved paperbark can indicate saltier areas in wallum heath?
- ... that "Off to the Races" by Lana Del Rey has been lyrically described as "a freak show of inappropriate co-dependency"?
- ... that Obamadon was an extinct lizard that was named after President Barack Obama as a tribute to his "role model of good oral hygiene for the world"?
- 00:00, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Giacomo Bove (pictured) was icebound in the Arctic Ocean, shipwrecked off Tierra del Fuego and fever-stricken on the Congo River?
- ... that Mitchell Olenski coached the Alabama Informals in 1943 and later played for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League?
- ... that Nakba scholar Rosemarie Esber has been a consultant for the World Bank?
- ... that the first issue of the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic comic book had pre-orders exceeding 100,000 copies, making it one of the most successful comics of 2012?
- ... that baked beans have hairy eyes and iridescent antennae?
13 December 2012
- 16:00, 13 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that in the Baltic Sea, the brittle star Ophiura albida (pictured) is the favourite food of the starfish Luidia sarsi?
- ... that William Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby de Eresby, was on the commission which condemned to death Archbishop Scrope, the first English prelate to suffer judicial execution?
- ... that the Mahagujarat Movement in 1956, led by Indulal Yagnik, resulted in formation of Gujarat and Maharashtra states on May 1, 1960, by dividing Bombay state?
- ... that the original title of "Loveeeeeee Song" by Rihanna featuring Future was "Love & Affection"?
- ... that Free Syrian Army general Ahmad al-Fajj prohibited Islamists from serving under his command during the Siege of Base 46?
- ... that after 17 years, not even 36 km of the Balangir-Khurda Road project was developed in India?
- 08:00, 13 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that a tunnel (pictured) constructed in 1901 by the Beaver Dam Railroad of Tennessee was originally too low for trains to pass through?
- ... that the marriage of the Tulsi plant to the god Vishnu inaugurates the Hindu wedding season?
- ... that Carl Breer was one of the core engineering people who formed the present day Chrysler Corporation?
- ... that the Khmer Rouge destroyed Phnom Penh's Notre Dame Cathedral by tearing it down stone by stone?
- ... that David Robidoux has composed more than 850 works for NFL Films?
- ... that on certain beaches of Java, people are warned not to wear green clothes due to the belief that the color may offend the queen of the sea and cause the person to drown?
- 00:00, 13 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the Ashanti celebrate the Adae, Adae Kese, Akwasidae, Awukudae, and Yam (pictured) festivals?
- ... that Ricardo Arjona's compilation album, Trópico, includes performances by Elvis Crespo, Marc Anthony and Gilberto Santa Rosa?
- ... that Robert Falcon Scott was educated at Stubbington House School, "the cradle of the Navy", which closed in 1997?
- ... that Sir Robert Willoughby surrendered the Bastille to the French on 17 April 1436?
- ... that NASA has considered sending Mars rock samples to Earth from its next planned rover mission launching in 2020?
12 December 2012
- 16:00, 12 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that due to the large number of pilgrims who visit Bahrain during Muharram (Muharram procession pictured), the country has been referred to as the "Karbala of the Gulf"?
- ... that musicologist Klaus Hofmann reconstructed a trio sonata for violin, viola and basso continuo, and attributed it to both Johann Sebastian Bach and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach?
- ... that in 1786, every church in Denmark donated a rigsdaler for building the Stubbekøbing Church tower?
- ... that part of the reason Arthur Dobbs, colonial governor of North Carolina, ordered the construction of Fort Dobbs in 1755 was to protect 200,000 acres of land he owned?
- ... that the Russian ship of the line Tsesarevich was transferred to the Baltic Fleet before her steam engine was installed because the Black Sea was demilitarized after the end of the Crimean War?
- ... that producer and screenwriter Jeremy Boreing met future writing partner Joel David Moore by helping move Moore's couch with his pickup truck?
- 08:00, 12 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Eugene Turenne Gregorie was a designer of the 1936 Lincoln-Zephyr (pictured), referred to as "the first successfully streamlined car in America"?
- ... that the Mediterranean crab Brachynotus sexdentatus also lived in Swansea Docks, where the water was warmed by a power station?
- ... that Esme Tombleson's career covers reciting Shakespeare, ballet, civil service, farming, membership of the New Zealand Parliament, and MS advocacy?
- ... that the Saint Mary Ranger Station in Glacier National Park was built by its first resident ranger?
- ... that Desmond Dekker's 1967 single "007 (Shanty Town)" was the first Jamaican-produced song to reach the UK Top 20?
- ... that Dennis Franks, an American football offensive lineman, participated in figure skating to develop his agility and leg strength?
- 00:00, 12 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that in the Battle of Sidi Bou Othman, French Army Colonel Mangin (pictured) formed his 5,000 troops into a single large square with the artillery units placed at the center of the infantry formations?
- ... that Happy Days producer Bob Brunner created Fonzie's nickname and penned Henry Winkler's character's catchphrase, "Sit on it"?
- ... that several Slovak newspapers founded in the United States in the late 19th century, including Slovák v Amerike and Amerikánsko-Slovenské Noviny, were initially written in Eastern Slovak dialects?
- ... that Ron Ball defeated former UK government minister James Plaskitt to become the first Police and Crime Commissioner of Warwickshire?
- ... that Stamp Stampede, an organization devoted to "Getting Money Out of Politics", was founded by Ben & Jerry's co-founder Ben Cohen?
- ... that the inscription on the Statue of Iddi-Ilum of ancient Mari warns: "Whosoever erases this inscription will have his line wiped out by Inanna"?
11 December 2012
- 16:00, 11 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Upper Rock Nature Reserve (pictured) in Gibraltar is famous for its population of Barbary Macaques, the only wild monkeys in Europe?
- ... that like all ekadashis, the god Vishnu is worshipped but in particular his fifth avatar of Vamana is worshipped, on Varuthini Ekadashi?
- ... that Aikaintaite, the début album by the Finnish ambient, neofolk and metal band Syven, prominently features kanteles?
- ... that due to the effects of climate change on wine production, the northern boundary of European viticulture is shifting northward?
- ... that English baron Charles August Selby built the manor house of Orupgaard on the Danish island of Falster?
- ... that the rotifer Adineta ricciae gave up sex about 80 million years ago?
- 08:00, 11 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the Tso Kar (pictured) is a salt lake in Ladakh, in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir?
- ... that the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts is the oldest Mechanics' Institute and the oldest continuous lending library in Australia?
- ... that John Roning served as head coach for the college football teams at Gustavus Adolphus, Utah Agricultural and Denver and later as commissioner of the Big Sky Conference?
- ... that Gambler's Lament, one of the few non–religious poems in the ancient Hindu scripture Rig Veda, testifies to the popularity of gambling among Vedic Aryans?
- ... that the music video for the song "Menor Que Yo" cost $60,000?
- ... that students of the Leichhardt Campus contend with colonies of wild platypuses and wombats at their rural retreat?
- 00:00, 11 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Ben Sheets (pictured) is the most recent Major League Baseball pitcher to strike out 18 batters in one game, accomplishing the feat on May 16, 2004?
- ... that Antonín Dvořák could not conduct his symphonic poem A Hero's Song in Berlin because of a nervous breakdown?
- ... that Hugh Waddell helped secure North Carolina's alliance with the Cherokee as a peace envoy during the French and Indian War, but later fought against the tribe during the Anglo-Cherokee War?
- ... that Hollyoaks storyline "Enjoy The Ride" killed off four regular characters whose identities were kept a secret from viewers until transmission?
- ... that Jacques Cousteau was general secretary of the Mediterranean Science Commission (CIESM) and Prince Rainier III the president?
- ... that the upcoming TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs event will include a fight for the World Heavyweight Championship?
10 December 2012
- 16:00, 10 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... the British armoured cruiser Minotaur (pictured) never fired her main or secondary armament during the Battle of Jutland in 1916?
- ... that Nykøbing Castle was the traditional residence of Denmark's queen dowagers?
- ... that Amanita nivalis is found growing in sub-Arctic and Alpine conditions in Europe, Greenland and the Rocky Mountains?
- ... that Matthew Arundell bought back Wardour Castle from Lord Pembroke, to whom it had escheated when Arundell's father was attainted?
- ... that Mohammad Azharuddin is the only cricket player to score centuries in each of his first three Tests?
- ... that the Forestry Commission reportedly advocated the cutting down of Pencoedtre woods in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, to make way for housing?
- 08:00, 10 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that although Norman Selfe's steel cantilever bridge design (pictured) won the 1903 competition for a Sydney Harbour Bridge, it was never built?
- ... that Rihanna and Eminem sampled Kanye West in "Numb", a song that evokes taking drugs?
- ... that Steve Court is majority leader in the Arizona House of Representatives?
- ... that both the Canopy Chameleon of Madagascar and the Mayotte Chameleon of the Comoros Islands have been exploited as export commodities?
- ... that the publisher for the Forest Grove, Oregon-based News-Times newspaper thinks the launch of the competing Forest Grove Leader is part of a battle over coverage in nearby Hillsboro?
- ... that Solomon Asch showed that group pressure can persuade people to endorse obviously incorrect statements?
- 00:00, 10 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Hugh Lee Pattinson took the first-ever photo (pictured) of Niagara Falls in 1840?
- ... that the chameleon Furcifer nicosiai has only been found in the Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park?
- ... that the 20th Arizona Territorial Legislature passed a law requiring children between 8 and 14 years of age attend at least 12 weeks of school each year?
- ... that satellite Eutelsat 70B was launched from a floating platform in the Pacific Ocean?
- ... that Queen Victoria said that Viscountess Amberley "ought to get a good whipping" for speaking publicly in favour of women's suffrage?
- ... that four presidents visited the Cocolobo Cay Club in Biscayne National Park, U.S.?
9 December 2012
- 16:00, 9 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Mary Browne (pictured) married the Earl of Southampton at the age of thirteen?
- ... that Hindus worship dogs on Bhairava Ashtami?
- ... that a breaching experiment involves studying other people's reactions to the violation of basic social rules?
- ... that according to Michael Gallucci for PopCrush, the Christina Aguilera song "Blank Page" is a "show-stopper" and a "classic vocal performance"?
- ... that in 1987 South African women tennis players made up about a tenth of the foreign women players in U.S. NCAA Division I university tennis?
- ... that while the German conquest of the Norwegian port of Egersund on 9 April 1940 occurred without resistance, popular panic broke out the next day due to rumours of 600 incoming British bombers?
- 08:00, 9 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that St. Mary's (pictured) was the first church in Albany, New York, to have electric lighting?
- ... that tectonic plates in the Earth's crust are not completely rigid but can be deformed by the melting of an ice cap?
- ... that tasting and collecting Burgundy wine, the hobby of violinist David Chan, concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera orchestra, led to a festival that brings together music and wine enthusiasts?
- ... that the music video for Ricardo Arjona's song "Si Tu No Existieras" is composed of live clips taken from his Metamorfosis World Tour?
- ... that the Fozzy Group is Ukraine's largest supermarket company and food retail group?
- ... that, even at 13,427 feet (4,100 m), the Grizzly Peak in Summit County, Colorado, is only the fourth-tallest "Grizzly Peak" in the state?
- 00:00, 9 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Nicolas-Henri Tardieu (pictured), his son Jacques-Nicolas Tardieu and grandson Jean-Charles Tardieu all made pictures for kings of France?
- ... that players of the video game GetAmped2 can participate in a 64 person battle tournament or design furniture?
- ... that E. A. Dalton, the first paid coach for the Iowa Hawkeyes football team, had a coaching tenure that lasted for ten days in October 1892?
- ... that the site chosen for Operation Tracer during World War II was in close proximity to Lord Airey's Battery?
- ... that, prior to the release of her new album, Rihanna performed "Phresh Out the Runway" at live concerts over a period of seven days in seven cities in seven countries?
- ... that the 2.5 billion year old Grouse Creek block forms part of the basement of North America?
8 December 2012
- 16:00, 8 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that in the Monegros Desert in Spain, the Aregon Steppes are home for many endangered bird species including the Great Bustard (pictured)?
- ... that Munir Malik played 49 first-class matches and took 197 wickets, including 14 five-wicket hauls, at the average of 21.75?
- ... that composer Christoph Nichelmann was the second harpsichordist at the court of King Frederick the Great of Prussia?
- ... that people tend to overestimate their ability to relay emotions over email?
- ... that Laurence Drummond commanded a troop of Methuen's Horse during the Bechuanaland Expedition of 1884–1885?
- ... that the two Hindu fasting days Putrada Ekadashi and Putrada Ekadashi are both devoted to the goal of acquiring a son?
- 08:00, 8 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that one predecessor to Lincoln Highway Bridge (pictured) was toppled by steamship and the lift span of another fell into the Hackensack River?
- ... that 2900 photographs were trimmed in order to create the sequences included in the music video "Me Voy" by Mexican band Jesse & Joy?
- ... that coal loading in the Tatanagar–Bilaspur section has helped South East Central Railway to be the largest freight handling zonal railway in India?
- ... that among the 1,018 cases listed on Samuel R. Gross's National Registry of Exonerations are people who were falsely accused, mistakenly identified, or confessed to crimes they did not commit?
- ... that current Canberra Capitals player Samantha Norwood was the vice captain of the 2004 and 2005 Western Australia under-18 team?
- ... that there is a laboratory test designed to stress people out?
- 00:00, 8 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Squeaky Fromme's pistol (pictured), used in the first assassination attempt on US President Ford, is on display at the Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan?
- ... that Bin Weevils is a video game in which children play as weevils inside of a trashcan?
- ... that Herman Steiner was the head coach at Duke University in football, baseball and track?
- ... that Christina Aguilera restrains her melisma on "Red Hot Kinda Love"?
- ... that much like Anne Frank's diary, the letters of Philip Slier, discovered more than fifty years after his death, reveal the history of Nazi-controlled Netherlands through a personal perspective?
- ... that Old Colfeians were once knocked out of the National Trophy by Camels?
7 December 2012
- 16:00, 7 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that local Muslim tribes in Balochistan, Pakistan, follow an ancient tradition and join the pilgrimage group to the Hindu shrine Hinglaj Mata (pictured) and call it the "Nani Ki Haj"?
- ... that Polish Jewish resistance fighter Vladka Meed was a central source of the 2001 television movie Uprising?
- ... that the United Kingdom began enumerating people by race/ethnicity in 1991, two centuries after the United States?
- ... that Peter Hersleb Classen, statesman and amateur architect, was probably assisted by Andreas Kirkerup in designing the Copenhagen library on Amaliegade?
- ... that the Monkey King Festival in China is a celebration dedicated to the monkey Sun Wukong?
- ... that Vladimir Landau, the first ever Davis Cup tennis player of Monaco, was actually Russian?
- 08:00, 7 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Trudell's spleenwort (pictured) was named by Edgar T. Wherry for his "favorite field companion"?
- ... that the Singaporean army comedy Ah Boys to Men is meant to commemorate the 45th anniversary of Singapore's National Service?
- ... that American missionary Rev. Artemas Bishop blamed the low church attendance in Hilo on the hedonistic behavior of high chief Koahou?
- ... that Ivy Queen's song "Quiero Bailar" is regarded as influential on reggaeton's mainstream exposure in 2004?
- ... that Wikipedia is an example of a produsage community?
- ... that in 1984 the Premier of New South Wales decided to ban a bout between two women kickboxers citing the Theater and Public Halls Act 1908 relating to preservation of good manners and decorum?
- 00:00, 7 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the 1890 book The Colours of Animals introduced the term aposematism for the skunk's warning colours (pictured)?
- ... that Harald Kihle is particularly known for his motifs from Telemark, including nature, rural life and legends?
- ... that Billy Goodyear, the first football coach at Washington State, became a newspaper publisher, ran for Congress and died weeks after having his leg amputated?
- ... that Major General Johan Frederik Classen, founder of Det Classenske Fideicommis, built a summer house near Corselitze Forest?
- ... that the Safari Club provided Soviet and American weapons to Somalia during the Ogaden War?
- ... that Pat Creeden was hitless in the eight at bats of his five-game long major league career in 1931?
6 December 2012
- 16:00, 6 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the inscription on the stone tablet accompanying the Urkish lions (pictured) is the earliest known text written in the Hurrian language?
- ... that Mary Barber discovered that natural selection caused penicillin resistance to increase in Staphylococcus bacteria?
- ... that after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, parts of St Mary the Virgin's Church, Bromfield, Shropshire, were converted into a house?
- ... that the most widely distributed and commonest rotifer is probably Keratella cochlearis?
- ... that the Algerian-born tapestry patron Marie Cuttoli displayed works at the 1925 International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts?
- ... that the "wide-eyed" goddess of North India forms a triad with love-eyed and fish-eyed goddesses of the South?
- 08:00, 6 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the version of Albin Polasek's sculpture Forest Idyl (pictured) on display at Ball State University is known as the "Naked Lady"?
- ... that María Santos Gorrostieta Salazar, a female politician from Mexico, survived three assassination attempts before being killed?
- ... that to keep students enrolled at the Morris Industrial School for Indians, a Native American boarding school, superintendent William H. Johnson prohibited students from taking vacations to go home?
- ... that BBQ Pitmasters judge Tuffy Stone spent four years in the United States Marine Corps?
- ... that Sydney's Belmore Park is on land that used to be a police barracks, a cemetery, a women's shelter, an asylum and a common?
- ... that Pizza Hut commemorated college basketball player Jack Taylor's record 138-point game by selling pizzas for $1.38?
- 00:00, 6 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that at the age of 14, Norwegian footballer Vegar Eggen Hedenstad (pictured) became the youngest-ever senior player at Elverum Fotball?
- ... that the 17th Arizona Territorial Legislature authorized a US$5,000 bounty for the capture of the Apache Kid dead or alive?
- ... that both Denny Chimes and Bryant–Denny Stadium are named in honor of former University of Alabama president George H. Denny?
- ... that Susan Mayse's creative non-fiction book Ginger: The Life and Death of Albert Goodwin covers the mysterious 1918 killing of a Canadian labour activist in the woods of British Columbia?
- ... that Maine native Harold Drew coached the Alabama Crimson Tide football team to a 54–28–7 record and appearances in the Sugar, Orange and Cotton Bowls?
- ... that Candi Milo voiced Dexter in both Dexter's Laboratory: Mandark's Lab? and the original television series?
5 December 2012
- 16:00, 5 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the 18th-century Camberley Obelisk (pictured) may have been built by John Norris to communicate by heliograph with Sir Francis Dashwood at West Wycombe church, about 20 miles (32 km) away?
- ... that the Rhodesian-born pilot Ernest Melville Guest was part of the RAF escort that flew with HMS Hereward taking the Dutch Royal Family to safety in England during World War Two?
- ... that Blanc's Leaf Chameleon is threatened by slash-and-burn?
- ... that Nils Arntzen Ramm served as aide-de-camp for the Crown Prince of Norway from 1932 to 1940?
- ... that Robert fitz-Fulk, the lord of Zardana in Syria, became a powerful figure in the Principality of Antioch due to the town's strategic importance?
- ... that J. M. M. Erskine was elected to the UK parliament in 1921 as an "Independent Anti-Waste" candidate?
- 08:00, 5 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that in 1849, Justin Butterfield (pictured) was appointed commissioner of the General Land Office in preference to Abraham Lincoln?
- ... that both heads of Indonesia's first government-owned film production company, Berita Film Indonesia, had worked for the Japanese occupation forces?
- ... that extreme mass ratio inspirals are one of the most promising detectable sources of gravitational waves for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA/eLISA/NGO)?
- ... that in 1966 Arthur T. Mosher identified five components necessary for Getting Agriculture Moving in rural areas of the developing world?
- ... that the namesake for Colorado's Mount Sniktau was the nom de plume of E. H. N. Patterson, a local journalist who was friends with Edgar Allan Poe?
- ... that Eric Bickerton guides legally blind downhill skier Jessica Gallagher in competitions, using a headset to communicate with her?
- 00:00, 5 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that local aborigines would squat over burning cones of Banksia dentata (pictured) to treat diarrhea?
- ... that Gadis Desa was Andjar Asmara's last film as a director?
- ... that part of High Street in Fremantle, Western Australia, was closed in the 1960s in order to reinstate Kings Square as a town square?
- ... that the 1943 Michigan Wolverines football team lost its only game to Notre Dame in a game that matched teams ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the AP Poll?
- ... that Ridgeview High School in Redmond, Oregon, has classroom space for jewelry making?
- ... that the site for Bangalore fort was said to have been chosen because a hare was seen chasing a hunting dog there?
4 December 2012
- 16:00, 4 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Mayor Mikołaj Zyblikiewicz (pictured) acquired Emperor Franz Joseph's approval for saving the royal Wawel castle from further decay by proposing to make it his seat in Poland's former capital?
- ... that the Spanish military stud farm Yeguada Militar, founded in 1847, started the oldest written breed registry for Arabian horses, and is also a genetic reservoir for the Andalusian horse?
- ... that Aharbal is a hill station in Kulgam district of Kashmir Valley, known for its waterfall?
- ... that Otto Weiß was the first Luftwaffe attack aircraft pilot to receive the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross?
- ... that Guldborg is located at the narrowest point between the Danish islands of Falster and Lolland?
- ... that ice dancing coach Betty Callaway, best known for coaching Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean to Olympic gold in 1984, also taught Prince Charles and Princess Anne?
- 08:00, 4 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the Old Meigs County Courthouse (pictured) is Ohio's oldest standing courthouse?
- ... that Stuart Forbes, the first head coach of the Arizona Wildcats football team, was also the author of Trail Sketches: Word Pictures of the West?
- ... that Tito El Bambino received an American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers award for Latin Song of the Year for "El Amor"?
- ... that the royal Maya name Kan Ek', first recorded in the ninth century, was given to all of the Itza kings of central Petén?
- ... that the 2013 World Court of Women Against Poverty in the United States will be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania?
- ... that amorous couples and erotic scenes are depicted on the outer walls of the Vimala Temple?
- 00:00, 4 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Patrick Omameh (pictured) began his Michigan football career as the lowest-rated player of 24 in the incoming class of 2008 and finished it as a 2012 first-team All-Big Ten selection?
- ... that United States Secret Service agent Vincent Mroz shot an attempted presidential assassin in the "biggest gunfight in Secret Service history"?
- ... that pillar coral is susceptible to both bleaching and white plague disease?
- ... that Rihanna filmed the Loud Tour Live at the O2 during the final three sold-out shows of the Loud Tour at London's O2 Arena?
- ... that Cedar Point's Mill Race was only the second log ride in the world?
- ... that John Y. T. Smith's initials stand for "Yours Truly"?
3 December 2012
- 16:00, 3 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the Big 4 outside Channel 4's headquarters in London has been covered with umbrellas, dressed as a wheelchair paralympian, made to "breathe" and has had a snowman fly over it (pictured)?
- ... that the nectar of the hoary banksia turns olive green and then black with age?
- ... that, having played 465 league matches, Jaroslav Šilhavý holds the record for the most appearances in top-flight Czech football?
- ... that in 2000, the holding company of chef Jean-Christophe Novelli's restaurant Maison Novelli ran up a debt of £200,000 and went into voluntary liquidation?
- ... that Kommercekollegiet was established in 1704 for the purpose of advising the Danish monarch on matters related to trade and industry?
- ... that William Morris described decorating Sir Lowthian Bell's mansion as "ministering to the swinish luxury of the rich"?
- 08:00, 3 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that New York City's Department of Correction has used boats as prisons on at least five occasions including the Vernon C. Bain Correctional Center (pictured)?
- ... that Cyclone Osea caused significant damage to parts of French Polynesia?
- ... the burrowing and feeding of Listriolobus pelodes, a marine spoon worm, helped increase the biodiversity near wastewater outlets off the coast of California?
- ... that Manson family disciple Squeaky Fromme attempted to kill U.S. President Gerald Ford in Sacramento, California, near his suite at the historic Senator Hotel?
- ... that in 1697 the culmination of the Spanish conquest of Petén resulted in the defeat of the last independent native kingdom in the Americas?
- ... that Mr. Fingers was not allowed to go to war because he was under five feet tall?
- 00:00, 3 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that William Allen (pictured) played on the undefeated 1898 Michigan football team and led Washington State to an undefeated record as head football coach in 1900?
- ... that the crafting of crosses has been designated as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Lithuania?
- ... that student Marc Salles played midfield with the Spanish field hockey team in the 2012 Olympics?
- ... that Bach interpolated music from his secular cantata BWV 36c with four stanzas from two Advent hymns in Schwingt freudig euch empor, BWV 36, for the first Sunday in Advent, 2 December 1731?
- ... that it was said of Richmond, Maine, shipbuilder T. J. Southard that there was scarcely an "institution in town he hasn't a corner in"?
- ... that the golden coral shrimp cleans fish but is rather more shy than the banded cleaner shrimp?
2 December 2012
- 16:00, 2 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the Château Pastré (pictured) in Marseille, designed by Jean-Charles Danjoy for Eugène Pastré, was a haven for Jewish artists in World War II?
- ... that the death of Iranian blogger Sattar Beheshti has prompted international outcry and an official investigation, even though his blog had only 30 views during the month before?
- ... that "Just a Fool", performed by Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton, is the first country music song by Aguilera?
- ... that the Roman Catholicism of the 2nd Earl of Southampton has been called the key to his unhappy life?
- ... that there is a toy museum in Ejegod Windmill's old mill house?
- ... that when he was 42, Fred Ridgeway gave up his career in finance to become a professional actor?
- 08:00, 2 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Hindus worship Krishna (pictured) on Kamada Ekadashi for fulfilment of all desires?
- ... that Greensboro, North Carolina, architect Orlo Epps was also a professor of mathematics and physics and a socialist?
- ... that Russian military satellite Meridian 6 is in the highly elliptical Molniya orbit?
- ... that after Hawaiian governor Kapeau sent tax assessors in 1849 to the Catholic priests of Kailua, and King Kamehameha III refused to dismiss him, French Admiral Tromelin invaded Honolulu?
- ... that the extinct Cuban condor Gymnogyps varonai may have fed on ground sloths?
- ... that National Lacrosse Hall of Fame coach Roy Simmons, Jr. once fielded two goaltenders in a game?
- 00:00, 2 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Austrian musician Hubert von Goisern (pictured) has collaborated with Tibetan musicians, campaigned on behalf of the Tibetan people, and once toured with a barge converted to a floating stage?
- ... that rhinoceroses are nearsighted but have superior senses of hearing and smell?
- ... that the Gibraltar Ranges predate the Great Escarpment?
- ... that male features of high cheekbones and a strong jaw and chin are a sign of a high level of testosterone, and also an attractive physical trait?
- ... that Beth Rodford has rowed for Britain since 1999, including in two Olympic games?
- ... that a 1961 comics satire involving Archie characters in a hedonistic Roman-style orgy provoked a lawsuit by Archie Comics that resulted in the parody's creators handing over copyright to the work?
1 December 2012
- 16:00, 1 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that frescos (pictured) in Tingsted Church are attributed to the Elmelunde Master?
- ... that the award-winning film Frank's Cock is split into quadrants to symbolise the "fragmentation of the body" experienced by those with AIDS?
- ... that botanist and geologist Sydney Barber Josiah Skertchly wrote a book on the manufacture of gun flints?
- ... that the Levant Battery on Windmill Hill was named after the Levanter cloud, below which it is situated?
- ... that Cemenco holds a monopoly on cement sales in Liberia?
- ... that Lars Ingier is credited for having introduced right-hand driving in Norway?
- 08:00, 1 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the Ship Shoal Light's (pictured) cisterns had to be repaired when it was found that the paint was poisoning the keepers?
- ... that Hawaiian chiefess Julia Alapai died right before the French invasion of Honolulu by Admiral Tromelin in 1849, prompting her husband Keoni Ana and King Kamehameha III to return to the capital?
- ... that the Yalain have been proposed as one of the three most important Maya polities in the Petén Basin of Guatemala during the Postclassic period (c. 1000–1697)?
- ... that convicted murderer Robert Peernock attempted to hire a fellow prisoner to murder his daughter while the trial was in progress?
- ... that the elephant ear sponge is said to resemble a piece of tanned cow hide?
- ... that despite having served as a member of the United States Congress, John G. Campbell was unable to prove to a court that he was a United States citizen?
- 00:00, 1 December 2012 (UTC)
- ... that an American civil rights group ran campaigns for Black prisoners (example pictured), told the world about the Martinsville Seven, protested a presidential inauguration, and accused the US of genocide at the UN?
- ... that the song "Sentimientos" by Ivy Queen combines the Latin styles of reggaeton and bachata?
- ... that the anti-slavery organization Temedt won the 2012 award from Anti-Slavery International for its work against ongoing slavery in Mali?
- ... that former Clinton Administration attorney David Marchick was the first in-house lobbyist at The Carlyle Group?
- ... that the Antimena Chameleon of Madagascar is considered a vulnerable species due to massive forest clearing?
- ... that the day they first met, Calvin Wooster caused his supervising elder to fall to the ground by praying for him?