Wikipedia:Recent additions/2012/January
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 January 2012
- 16:00, 31 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Irish plasterer John Henry Devereux became a noted architect in South Carolina, designing a church (pictured) that was the state's tallest building for 101 years?
- ... that award-winning film The Dancer, about a traditional dancer, is one of only three Indonesian films addressing the country's anticommunist purges of 1965–66?
- ... that the 17th-century Swedish scholars Olaus Verelius and Johannes Schefferus disputed bitterly over the location of the heathen temple at Uppsala?
- ... that one of Aeroflot's worst accidents occurred in August 1979 , when two Tupolev Tu-134s collided over Dniprodzerzhynsk in the Ukrainian SSR, claiming 178 lives?
- ... that the Derg military junta supported the formation of the Union of Ethiopian Marxist-Leninist Organizations, but eventually crushed or disbanded its member organizations (Meison, Seded, Echat, Waz and Malerid)?
- ... that racing legend Bobby Allison's sons, Davey and Clifford Allison, both died within the span of eleven months in 1992–1993?
- ... that Jean-Paul Sartre did not know that his existentialist play No Exit was adapted to a 1962 film, which featured "surprisingly overt" lesbianism?
- 08:00, 31 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Harriet Low (pictured) caused a diplomatic incident when she entered the banned port of Canton dressed as a boy?
- ... that in "Schoolin' Life", Beyoncé Knowles channels the friskiness of American singer Prince in his prime and employs guttural vocals to address many life lessons to everyone from their 20s to their 50s?
- ... that German writer Ernst Ottwalt, who sought refuge from the Nazis in the Soviet Union but became its victim, was nonetheless quoted by the Soviet prosecutor at the Nuremburg Trials?
- ... that due to the popularity of the item numbers Munni Badnaam Hui and Sheila Ki Jawani, the actresses Malaika Arora Khan and Katrina Kaif were pitted against each other in what was called the Munni vs Sheila debate?
- ... that Canberra Capitals player Lauren Jansen and coach Carrie Graf both started playing in the WNBL at the age of 15?
- ... that Albanian philosopher and poet Arshi Pipa was imprisoned for ten years because he antagonized the communist regime in Albania with his recitation of a verse by Goethe?
- ... that the first Derby Stakes to be officially timed took place in 1846, with Pyrrhus The First completing the mile-and-a-half (2.4 km) course in 2:55.0?
- 00:00, 31 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the filly Dancing Rain (pictured) was the first British-trained horse to win the Preis der Diana?
- ... that the undefeated 1922 Michigan football team held opponents to 1.8 points per game and shut out Vanderbilt and Ohio State at dedication games for their new stadia?
- ... that the archaeological site of Tel Michal in Israel owes its name to an ancient identification of Apollo with the Semitic god Reshef?
- ... that the black sea cucumber can split into two by transverse fission?
- ... that Horst Janssen painted Friedrich von Keller with the orders he had earned during his career, which took him as a German ambassador to Belgrade, Brussels, Buenos Aires and Ankara?
- ... that Lord High Treasurer William le Scrope was beheaded at the Bristol High Cross?
- ... that Amnesty International recruited writers to lobby at the Edinburgh Festival for the release of the UAE Five, imprisoned in 2011 for insulting political figures of the United Arab Emirates?
30 January 2012
- 16:00, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the Phoenician ruins (temple pictured) of the ancient city of Amrit, near Tartus in Syria, are preserved in their entirety without extensive remodeling by later generations?
- ... that Rally Finland began as a qualifying event for the Monte Carlo Rally?
- ... that after the Italian Navy ship Sibilia collided with Kateri i Radës in the Tragedy of Otranto, as many as 83 would-be migrants from Albania died?
- ... that the abolition of serfdom in Poland was spurred by unrest and uprisings such as the Kraków Uprising and the January Uprising?
- ... that the Materials Adherence Experiment on the Mars Pathfinder examined the effects of Martian dust on solar cells?
- ... that footballer Billy Barnes scored the winning goal in the 1902 FA Cup Final for Sheffield United and played in the first Charity Shield match for QPR in 1908?
- ... that Indonesian author Andrea Hirata's debut novel sold three times more pirated editions than original ones?
- 08:00, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that emaciation (pictured) is referred to as "shosha roga" in India, where more than 200 million people are affected by malnutrition?
- ... that the Mull Covered Bridge is the last covered bridge still standing in Sandusky County, Ohio?
- ... that FK Fyllingsdalen originally was named FK Varden by the board, even though a majority of the club members voted for FK Fyllingsdalen?
- ... that Elysia diomedea is one of three species of sea slug known to exhibit kleptoplasty and thus benefit from photosynthesis?
- ... that the Michigan Mining School, now Michigan Technological University, held its first classes in the Houghton Fire Hall?
- ... that carpenter Peter Street secretly arranged to dismantle a theatre in Shoreditch, north London, for material to build the new Globe Theatre in Southwark?
- ... that Johnny Otis' song "Willie and the Hand Jive", also covered by Eric Clapton and George Thorogood, has been accused of glorifying masturbation?
- 00:00, 30 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that when the 150-year-old Monmouthshire Beacon newspaper moved into Cornwall House (pictured), the new office was opened by Princess Margaret?
- ... that in his Poetics, Aristotle used Sophocles' plays Odysseus Wounded and Oedipus the King as examples of one type of effective plot for tragedy?
- ... that the United Hockey League's Danbury Trashers disbanded after their owner was arrested for racketeering?
- ... that a company of French-speaking volunteers briefly served in the Rhodesian Security Forces?
- ... that the stems in the pseudo-trunk of the extinct fern Tempskya decayed as the plant matured, leaving a layer of adventitious roots behind?
- ... that William Jones bequeathed money to the Company of Haberdashers to found Monmouth School and provide almhouses for people "as blind and lame as it shall seem best to them"?
- ... that over 700,000 bunkers were built in Communist-era Albania, most of which now have little use other than as a place to lose one's virginity?
29 January 2012
- 16:00, 29 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that an American Star Bicycle was ridden down the United States Capitol steps in 1885 (pictured) to demonstrate its enhanced stability?
- ... that the director who discovered Italian film actress Lorella De Luca followed the 14-year-old girl to her home, where he convinced her father that she should pursue an acting career?
- ... that the Brazilian big-eyed bat is one of only two species of bat in the world to chew the seeds of figs?
- ... that Canberra Capitals player Marianna Tolo dressed as Xena during the team's 2010/2011 Mad Monday celebrations?
- ... that during the Red Terror in Ethiopia, the Provisional Office for Mass Organizational Affairs supervised urban militia squads?
- ... that the fossil bivalve Emiliodonta shared its name with a coccolithophore for about a decade?
- ... that after winning the 1841 Derby Stakes, the Thoroughbred racehorse Coronation kicked and killed a spectator?
- 08:00, 29 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Emma Caulfield (pictured) was cast in a Once Upon a Time episode because the producers "couldn't think of anyone better to trap two children in a house and try to eat them"?
- ... that a fossil of Concavodonta described in 1843 has been lost?
- ... that Jeb Burton will share a ride in the 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with his father Ward?
- ... that after 11 leaders of the U. S. Communist Party were sentenced to prison in 1949 for their political beliefs, the judge sent all five of their attorneys to jail for contempt of court?
- ... that despite its common name, California grass is not naturally found in California?
- ... that Bach based his cantata Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit, BWV 111, on the 1554 hymn by Albert, Duke of Prussia, who introduced the Reformation into Prussia?
- ... that during the Sino-Xiongnu War, the Han empire attempted alliance with a people whose king's skull the Xiongnu had made into a drinking cup?
- 00:00, 29 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that hippies once lived in the old coke ovens (pictured) outside Redstone, Colorado?
- ... that, for her generosity towards her employees and benevolence to local good causes, brewer Elma Yerburgh was dubbed Blackburn's "lady bountiful"?
- ... that the choir Groningse Bachvereniging sang Bach's Magnificat with Harnoncourts' Concentus Musicus Wien in the orchestra's first appearance in the Netherlands in 1970?
- ... that when Waxy won the 1793 Derby Stakes, more than half of the competing racehorses were his siblings sired by Pot-8-Os?
- ... that Tampa, Florida, is worried that the poorly paved Bayshore Boulevard will make a bad impression on TV when the Republican Convention is held there in August 2012?
- ... that Jan Maroši scored directly from a corner for Sigma Olomouc in a 1992–93 UEFA Cup match against Juventus?
- ... that Heze Shenhui (670–762 CE) initiated the conflict between those advocating "sudden" over "gradual" enlightenment in Zen Buddhism?
28 January 2012
- 16:00, 28 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that former prime minister of Syria Sabri al-Asali (pictured) was part of the delegation that attended the founding of the Arab League in Cairo in 1945?
- ... that the children of Vietnamese prostitutes and American servicemembers from the Vietnam War were often forced into prostitution themselves?
- ... that the 1948 Michigan Wolverines football team won the national championship while holding opponents to 4.8 points per game and extending the team's winning streak to 23 games?
- ... that Russian wildrye is "one of the most versatile forage grasses available for dryland pastures"?
- ... that Porter Edward Sargent's Handbook of Private Schools was viewed as giving "the most comprehensive critiques of education published anywhere"?
- ... that Rakni's Mound in Ullensaker, Norway, the largest barrow in Scandinavia, contained no body, only cremated skull fragments?
- 08:00, 28 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that three Chartists held at Monmouth County Gaol (pictured) were sentenced at the Shire Hall to be hanged, drawn and quartered in 1840?
- ... that the pilot episode of The Firm begins with a frenetic chase scene followed by a flashback to six weeks prior?
- ... that Norwegian newspaper editor Christian Friele was an honorary member of the Conservative Press Association, despite not attending any of its meetings?
- ... that prothrombin G20210A carriers who take oral contraceptives are at a 15-fold increased risk of developing blood clots in their veins (venous thrombosis)?
- ... that Mr. Basketball USA winners have been determined retroactively going back to 1955?
- ... that because he believed the American government had been infiltrated by communists, one young US Marine discharged himself from the officer training program and joined the Rhodesian Security Forces instead?
- 00:00, 28 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the Dearborn River High Bridge (pictured), near Augusta, Montana, is the last standing pin-connected Pratt half-deck truss bridge left in the United States?
- ... that Ephraim Blaine helped to supply the Continental Army with food during their winter at Valley Forge and was the great-grandfather of U.S. House Speaker James G. Blaine?
- ... that when Little Wonder won the 1840 Derby Stakes, his jockey was awarded a gold-tipped riding-whip by Prince Albert?
- ... that the Xbox Live Arcade game Death By Cube was one of the bloodiest games to appear at the 2009 Tokyo Game Show?
- ... that in 1138 the Anglo-Norman nobleman Geoffrey Talbot was besieged twice by King Stephen of England but escaped capture each time the castle surrendered?
- ... that the Cape Verdean spiny lobster Palinurus charlestoni is named after a French fishing boat?
27 January 2012
- 16:00, 27 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Muslims and followers of Chinese religious traditions pray together at Sam Poo Kong (pictured), the oldest Chinese temple in Semarang, Indonesia?
- ... that the race horse Phosphorus sprained a leg and was rejected by his jockey shortly before winning the 1837 Derby Stakes, during which he aggravated his injury and did not race again that year?
- ... that the live performance of the song "Keep It Together" was inspired by the 1971 science fiction film, A Clockwork Orange, in its staging?
- ... that Indonesian film director Ifa Isfansyah is expected to marry the daughter of another director, who is a director herself?
- ... that a fire in Christiania in 1858 left about 1,000 people homeless?
- ... that the medieval Anglo-Norman nobleman William de Chesney took the surname of his mother's family, as did his paternal half-brother Simon, even though Simon wasn't related to that family?
- 08:00, 27 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Mother Goose Tales, or Histoires ou contes du temps passé, (title page pictured), published by Charles Perrault in 1697, was written for an audience of aristocratic adults?
- ... that the New York City restaurant Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare, which seats 18 people, received three Michelin stars?
- ... that Brazilian-born NASCAR drivers Miguel Paludo and Nelson Piquet, Jr. will be driving for the same team in the 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series?
- ... that several Freemasons are buried on the oldest Jewish cemetery in Montana, Home of Peace in Helena?
- ... that Josef Jiří Kolár was the first to begin a systematic translation of Shakespeare's plays into Czech?
- ... that although God Bless members Ahmad Albar and Jockie Soerjoprajogo have had a falling out, their sons play music together?
- 00:00, 27 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the Arab Spring has revved up the Saudi Arabian "Women to drive movement" (poster pictured)?
- ... that on January 10, 2012, two new Republican members of the New Jersey General Assembly were sworn in, both named Christopher Brown (Christopher A. Brown and Christopher J. Brown)?
- ... that some oxohalide ions contain a linear M—O—M structure (where M = W, Ru, Os)?
- ... that artisan botanist John Horsefield was born "dead" but went on to champion the "ignorant and degraded" Lancashire textile workers?
- ... that Q.U.B.E., an indie puzzle video game, was developed by Toxic Games without having a single programmer on its team?
- ... that on the Glee episode "The Spanish Teacher", Ricky Martin sings "Sexy and I Know It" and Elvis Presley is covered in Spanish?
26 January 2012
- 16:00, 26 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Monmouth Museum opened in the Market Hall (pictured) six years after a fire partly destroyed the building?
- ... that screenwriter Seth Lochhead shared the writing credit for the 2011 film Hanna with David Farr although they do not personally know each other?
- ... that the Ingalls 4-S was the only locomotive ever built by Ingalls Shipbuilding?
- ... that 15 star pearlfish were found living inside a single leopard sea cucumber?
- ... that the United States manufactured over 2,500,000 M8 barrage rockets during World War II?
- ... that Stanisław Jaros was executed in 1963 for trying to kill Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and Polish Communist leader Władysław Gomułka?
- 08:00, 26 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that John Joseph Scanlan (pictured) was appointed the governor of Hobart Gaol while he was a prisoner?
- ... that the 259-year-old Blenduk Church is the oldest church in Central Java?
- ... that Hockey Hall of Famer Mickey MacKay was the highest-scoring player in the history of the Pacific Coast and Western Canada Hockey Leagues?
- ... that authorship of the 16th-century manuscript usually referred to as Cronaca Magno is attributed to Stefano Magno?
- ... that a tropical storm in 1887 holds a record for the highest number of incidents at sea?
- ... that the Watergate scandal might have been avoided had G. Gordon Liddy followed Operation Sandwedge?
- 00:00, 26 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the former Harmanus Bleecker Library (pictured) was the first building in Albany, New York, meant to be used exclusively as a library?
- ... that Jimmy Van Ostrand recorded both of Canada's runs batted in during the gold medal baseball game of the 2011 Pan American Games?
- ... that the fordilloid Camya asy is one of four accepted Cambrian bivalves?
- ... that in his 1734 cantata for no specified occasion of the liturgical year, In allen meinen Taten, BWV 97, Bach set nine stanzas of Paul Fleming's hymn in as many movements, using the famous tune in the outer two?
- ... that after co-founding Safe Kids Worldwide, Herta Feely became an award-winning writer?
- ... that the cargo ship MV Spiegelgracht ferries luxury yachts from Europe to the Caribbean and back every year, allowing their owners to cruise in both summer and winter?
25 January 2012
- 16:00, 25 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Dangerous (pictured), despite a career-ending injury sustained after winning the 1833 Derby Stakes, was able to walk over and claim two prizes unopposed before retiring later that year?
- ... that Henry P. H. Bromwell's magnum opus Restorations of Masonic Geometry and Symbolry "may very well be the most important written document on the subject of Masonry" according to the Grand Master of Colorado in 2010?
- ... that the tiger's tail uses its tentacles to push detritus, sand and gravel into its mouth?
- ... that Hikari and Riho became professional wrestlers in 2006 when they were 11 and 9 years old, respectively?
- ... that the old Lahaina Fort was built to protect the town from riotous sailors?
- ... that although Madonna's "Masterpiece" won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song, it is ineligible for the Oscar for Best Original Song?
- 08:00, 25 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the shrimp-like 510-million-year-old arthropod Waptia (artist's restoration pictured) was named after two mountains?
- ... that the experimental Holland 5 was one of the first two submarines to be accepted into Royal Navy service, but was already considered obsolete?
- ... that the 2005 film Original Child Bomb included footage previously labeled top secret by the US government?
- ... that an injury to minor league baseball player David Adams prevented the New York Yankees from acquiring major league all-star pitcher Cliff Lee?
- ... that the log and half-timber construction Kluge House in Helena, Montana, a rare and historic example of Silesian fachwerk, was almost demolished in 1964?
- ... that during World War I, Marthe Cnockaert was recruited as a spy by both Germany and Britain, and she arranged for her German recruiter to be killed?
- 00:00, 25 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that poet and physician Paul Fleming (pictured) wrote love-poems to his fiancée, but she married another man while he was on a diplomatic mission for the Duke of Holstein in Isfahan?
- ... that Exercise Summer Pulse was a worldwide surge deployment of seven carrier strike groups to test the United States Navy's new Fleet Response Plan?
- ... that in the 1930s, black students from the segregated Douglass High School in Webster Groves, Missouri, were allowed to visit the local public library only one afternoon per week?
- ... that Raad Shallal al-Ani's resignation last year as Iraq's Electricity Minister was said to be because he was the "scapegoat for continued electricity shortages"?
- ... that the bite of the colourful Collett's snake can lead to rhabdomyolysis and kidney failure?
- ... that Phoenix Sports F.C. is so called as it rose from the ashes of the Blitz?
24 January 2012
- 16:00, 24 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the Phoenix United Mine (pictured) is one of only two places in the world where you can walk on Cornish path moss?
- ... that Queen Liliʻuokalani's song "Aloha ʻOe" was inspired by the tender farewell and fond embrace between Colonel Boyd and one of the young ranch ladies at Maunawili?
- ... that the Karlino oil eruption put an end to the dreams of Poland becoming a "second Kuwait"?
- ... that the Hallaton Helmet may have been owned by a Briton who fought alongside the Romans during their conquest of Britain in AD 43?
- ... that winning time of 3.04 by Ellington at the 1856 Derby Stakes was the slowest ever recorded, breaking the "record" of 3.02 set in 1852 by Daniel O'Rourke?
- ... that the Reformation spread to Switzerland following a dispute about sausages?
- 08:00, 24 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the ancient Egyptian deity Ptah was often shown carrying a scepter which was a combination of the djed symbol (seal with djed hieroglyph pictured) and the ankh, the symbol of life?
- ... that actor Saqib Saleem used to work with his father in their family restaurant, Saleem's, in Delhi, India?
- ... that the series of arson fires that began on December 29, 2011, was the worst set of arson events in Los Angeles since the 1992 riots?
- ... that species of the Cambrian bivalve Tuarangia lived near the continents of Baltica and East Gondwana?
- ... that the Atari 2600 dental hygiene game Tooth Protectors was among the earliest examples of advergaming?
- ... that 1810 Derby winner Whalebone had a 16-year career as a stud, which ended with a fatal injury sustained while covering a mare?
- 00:00, 24 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that while Luidia superba usually has five limbs, Luidia magnifica (pictured) can have ten or eleven?
- ... that as commander of the destroyer USS Fanning during the action of 17 November 1917, Lieutenant Arthur S. Carpender engaged the U-boat U-58, and forced it to surface and surrender?
- ... that a gulag used to mine black oil in The X-Files was inspired by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn?
- ... that at one point in the 1970s, the Ethiopian underground publication Democracia had a larger readership than the official government press?
- ... that the St Austell Clay Pits, in Cornwall, are one of only three locations in the UK where the rare Western Rustwort grows?
- ... that the Society for Development and Change supports eastern Saudi Arabians campaigning to create an elected legislature?
23 January 2012
- 16:00, 23 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Guido Dessauer (pictured), a German executive and art collector, registered more than 30 patents in paper technology and started the career of Horst Janssen as a lithographer?
- ... that after the shipwreck of the Italian SS Sirio, in which more than 100 passengers died, the captain was the first to abandon ship, and died "of a broken heart" within a year?
- ... that National Hero of Indonesia Halim Perdanakusuma flew 44 bombing raids against Nazi Germany?
- ... that although winter honeysuckle is used as a decorative plant in cultivation, it can become an invasive weed in the wild?
- ... that the National Aboriginal Veterans Monument in Ottawa, Canada, depicts four animal spirit guides surrounding the human figures?
- ... that Australian basketball player Nicole Hunt of the Canberra Capitals is nicknamed 'Flea'?
- 08:00, 23 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Pattimura, who was stirred to rebellion in part by the advent of paper money, is featured on the 1,000 rupiah bill (pictured)?
- ... that the Eighth Army Ranger Company lost 80 percent of its strength and only had 10 men still standing after the Battle of Ch'ongch'on River in the Korean War?
- ... that as a boy, Charlie Chaplin appeared on stage in Sherlock Holmes?
- ... that English football team Queen's Park Rangers did not introduce their current blue and white strips until 1926, some 27 seasons after they turned professional?
- ... that explorers in the American West used wood from the bush oceanspray to make nails?
- ... that the Brunei Civil War was triggered by a cockfight?
- 00:00, 23 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the tubular sea cucumber (pictured) spawns at the time of the full moon?
- ... that Monmouth had one of the highest proportions of Catholics in Wales 20 years before St Mary's Roman Catholic Church was built in 1793?
- ... that future College Football Hall of Fame inductees Johnny Vaught and Bear Bryant served as assistant coaches for North Carolina Pre-Flight Cloudbusters football during World War II?
- ... that Henry Kressel helped develop the first practical laser diodes and solar cells while working for RCA Laboratories?
- ... that there were no aftershocks recorded after the 6.7 Mw 1965 Olympia earthquake?
- ... that torpedograss has been called "one of the world's worst weeds"?
22 January 2012
- 16:00, 22 January 2012 (UTC)
Flags of the EU and Croatia
- ... that the Croatian EU accession referendum is the first referendum held in Croatia (EU and Croatian flags pictured) since its independence?
- ... that Tempair International Airlines never operated flights in its own right, but it flew on many other companies' behalf by leasing its aircraft?
- ... that with a minimum pressure of 900 hPa (26.58 inHg), Cyclone Susan (1997–98) was one of the most intense tropical cyclones to exist in the South Pacific basin?
- ... that the bark of the stringybark she-oak is shaggy?
- ... that National Heroine of Indonesia Nyai Ahmad Dahlan worked for women's rights and against sun worship?
- ... that the Buryat people use the alcoholic beverage tarasun in their religious ceremonies?
- 08:00, 22 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that prolific Brighton architects Clayton & Black's works include churches, mansion flats, banks, cinemas and their "chef d'œuvre"—a pink granite insurance office (pictured)?
- ... that Canberra Capitals player Carly Wilson is renowned for wearing pink socks while playing basketball in the WNBL?
- ... that it is all but impossible to match up species known by leaves with those known by trunks in the prehistoric cycad-like genus Cycadeoidea?
- ... that fossils of the extinct bivalve family Praenuculidae have been found on every continent except Antarctica?
- ... that Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall swapped Merthen for Tintagel Castle?
- ... that in local New Guinea folklore, the magic-man sends the Papuan black snake to kill enemies?
- 00:00, 22 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Bolotnaya Square, one of the sites for the recent large-scale protests in Moscow (pictured), used to be a venue for public executions?
- ... that a parishioner at the Methodist Church in Monmouth said she would buy an organ if the minister ever filled the church?
- ... that the Nagle Warren Mansion, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Cheyenne, hosted two U.S. Presidents?
- ... that in 1848, Surplice became the first racehorse to win both the Derby and the St. Leger Stakes since 1800?
- ... that Save The Bay helped stop San Bruno Mountain from being destroyed to create landfill along 27 miles (43 km) of San Francisco Bay?
- ... that a football match was won by scoring an own goal on purpose?
21 January 2012
- 16:00, 21 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that blackeye gobies (pictured) are all born female, but some later become males?
- ... that "Michael", the Glee tribute episode to Michael Jackson, took more than a month to film and features performances of ten of his songs?
- ... that cattle can experience ergotism if they eat tobosa infected with the fungus?
- ... that Božena Němcová was the only author who got paid for her contribution to the Czech literary almanac Máj?
- ... that Canberra Capitals players Alice Coddington and Brigitte Ardossi majored in marketing while attending university in the United States?
- ... that National Hero of Indonesia Teuku Nyak Arif said of the Japanese occupation of Indonesia "we had driven out dogs only to have pigs come"?
- 08:00, 21 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Chief Joseph (pictured) and his warriors defeated the U.S. Army in 1877 at the Battle of Cottonwood as the Nez Perce began their 1,400 mile (2,300 km) fighting retreat?
- ... that the Walter Merchant House is one of the few townhouses left in Albany, New York, with a rear carriage house?
- ... that the onyx seal of Jaazaniah dating from the 6th century BCE depicts one of the earliest known images of a fighting rooster?
- ... that Prisia Nasution, who won a Citra Award for her debut role, has a background in the martial art of pencak silat?
- ... that the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad was at the heart of a scandal that affected the Republican nomination for President in 1876?
- ... that a year after winning the 1816 Derby Stakes, Prince Leopold was castrated for poor behaviour?
- 00:00, 21 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that torture at Kemna concentration camp (memorial pictured), one of the first Nazi concentration camps, was so brutal that the Nazis held hearings on it?
- ... that oxide jacking has damaged St Paul's Cathedral and Farnsworth House?
- ... that Hynds Lodge in Wyoming's Curt Gowdy State Park, built in 1922 of native rough granite, was donated to the Boy Scouts of America by Harry P. Hynds, who made a fortune in gambling saloons?
- ... that in a chorale of Bach's cantata Meine Seufzer, meine Tränen, BWV 13, two recorders and an oboe da caccia play with the alto, whereas the strings play an "optimistic, wordless answer" to its prayer?
- ... that the Hanson brothers pioneered the rear-entry ski boot, but the bankruptcy of their company in the 1980s allowed European companies to take over the market they created?
- ... that production babies, children born to the crew during the making of an animated film, were first listed in the end credits of Toy Story (1995)?
20 January 2012
- 16:12, 20 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Patomskiy crater, in Siberia gained the notice of Russian ufologists after a 2010 scientific expedition?
- ... that Stanisław Samostrzelnik, the first Polish Renaissance painter known by name, portrayed Bishop Piotr Tomicki (pictured)?
- ... that the Chola expedition to North India between 1019 and 1024 was precipitated by a succession dispute in the Eastern Chalukya kingdom?
- ... that Johan van der Meer conducted the first historically informed performance in the Netherlands of Bach's St Matthew Passion in 1973, with Marius van Altena as the Evangelist and Max van Egmond as the Vox Christi?
- ... that Salvador Dalí lived at the Royal Suite in Hôtel Meurice in Paris for periods over a duration of 30 years?
- ... that according to the Russian edition of Esquire magazine, Russian physicist and TU Delft professor Yaroslav Blanter deleted thousands of pages from Wikipedia?
- ... that Corsia is a genus of small plants which lack chlorophyll and parasitize fungi for nutrition?
- 08:27, 20 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Blink Bonny (pictured) broke the course record when she became the second of only six fillies to have ever won the Epsom Derby?
- ... that several Russian villages were flooded by the reservoir formed for the Uglich Hydroelectric Station?
- ... that for four consecutive seasons, current Cleveland Cavaliers player Mychel Thompson led the Pepperdine Waves men's basketball team in three-pointers scored?
- ... that the Monmouthshire Show was started after John Rolls and the Duke of Beaufort contributed £30 in 1857 to fund it?
- ... that "Glory"'s debut on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart meant that the first child of Jay-Z and Beyoncé Knowles became the youngest person in the history of Billboard to have a charted song?
- ... that the "children of the water" were considered to be the "flesh of the gods"?
- 00:27, 20 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that seed from an endangered Chrysophyllum imperiale tree (pictured) planted in Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney in 1868 by Prince Alfred has been sent to its native Brazil to aid in recovering the species there?
- ... that in 2004, Arfa Karim became the youngest Microsoft Certified Professional at the age of nine years?
- ... that the Mirabito Outdoor Classic was the first outdoor game in the 74-year history of the American Hockey League?
- ... that Jockie Soerjoprajogo has refused to give his blessings to God Bless to play "Kehidupan", his composition and one of the band's biggest hits?
- ... that in 1974, Ruben Ayala became the first person of Mexican-American descent elected to the California State Senate since 1911?
- ... that a gravestone in St Mary's Priory Church in Monmouth says "Here lies John Renie" in 46,000 different ways?
19 January 2012
- 16:00, 19 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that J.B.A. Acland (pictured) and his friend George Tripp were the first settlers in Canterbury to establish sheep farms in the high country?
- ... that although banned in 1943, the Baklahorani carnival, in Istanbul, revived after nearly 70 years?
- ... that one critic thought that The Artist's dog actor Uggie outperformed J. Edgar's Leonardo DiCaprio?
- ... that the Once Upon a Time episode "Desperate Souls" features actor Brad Dourif as a "beggar who befriends evil Rumpelstiltskin"?
- ... that Stuart Robinson School was a settlement school in the Kentucky mountains that was operated as a Presbyterian mission from 1913 until the 1950s?
- ... that the Antarctic sea urchin eats microscopic algae and small invertebrates, and feasts on seal faeces when available?
- 08:00, 19 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Gerp's mouse lemur is a newly discovered mouse lemur species from Madagascar, and is only known from an area smaller than the size of Puerto Rico?
- ... that production of The X-Files episode "Terma" involved an oil plume 300 feet (91 m) high?
- ... that some Renaissance caskets decorated with pastiglia work mixed musk perfume into the material, and were believed to have an aphrodisiac effect?
- ... that in his rookie season, Johnny Gildea led the National Football League in interceptions with 20 while passing for either two or three touchdowns?
- ... that the granular poromya is a carnivorous, bivalve mollusc?
- ... that Upper Michigan's Trinity Episcopal Church had to be rescued from floating down a canal?
18 January 2012
- 00:00, 18 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the figure of Abbé Morio in Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace was modeled on Scipione Piattoli (pictured), one of the drafters of the Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791?
- ... that Jambo OpenOffice was the first office suite in Swahili, a language spoken by about a hundred million people?
- ... that in medieval typology, Isaac carrying wood up the mountain for his sacrifice is the most common parallel for Christ carrying the cross?
- ... that during All-American basketball player Elliott Loughlin's U.S. Navy career, he earned two Navy Crosses, two Legions of Merit and one Silver Star?
- ... that the oldest working theatre in Wales is said to be the Savoy Theatre in Monmouth?
- ... that the Vicinage Clause of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution may allow for the commission of the "perfect crime" in Yellowstone National Park?
17 January 2012
- 16:00, 17 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that female red-banded sand wasps (pictured) dig burrows in sandy ground, provisioning each burrow with a food supply of paralyzed caterpillars, always laying one egg on the first caterpillar?
- ... that Sim Bhullar, a 7-foot-5-inch (2.26 m) Indo-Canadian college basketball player at New Mexico State University, has been said to be "poised to become the world's first prominent men's basketball player of Indian descent"?
- ... that a carved wooden lectern in the 900-year-old St Martin of Tours Church, Detling, has been called "the finest medieval fitting in any parish church in the county"?
- ... that the 1939 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show Best in Show Ferry v. Rauhfelsen of Giralda was the grandfather of the 1952–53 winner Rancho Dobe's Storm?
- ... that Tommy Tebb scored Nelson's last goal in the Football League?
- ... that the giant tube worm is not a worm at all?
- 08:00, 17 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the planehead filefish (pictured) has a retractable spine on its head from which its age can be determined?
- ... that the outdoor parts of indoor-outdoor thermometers are used indoors by building service engineers by swinging them around?
- ... that American football linebacker Jake Ryan is the grandson of American jurist Francis E. Sweeney?
- ... that maidencane is a keystone species of many wetlands, including the Everglades?
- ... that Daguangba Dam, the largest dam in Hainan, is also the province's largest hydroelectric power station?
- ... that Mikhail Sokolovsky's 1779 opera The Miller who was a Wizard, a Cheat and a Matchmaker was for many years mistakenly attributed to Yevstigney Fomin?
- 00:00, 17 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the newly inaugurated Baluarte Bridge in Mexico (pictured) is the highest cable-stayed bridge in the world?
- ... that both Fordilla and Pojetaia, Cambrian members of the extinct bivalve family Fordillidae, are part of the Turkish small shelly fauna?
- ... that Roy Cooper was the first rodeo cowboy to exceed $2 million in earnings for his career?
- ... that Set in Stone won the 2006 Costa Book Award for Best Children's Book, despite the recommendation that it should not be read by anyone less than 14 years old?
- ... that American football linebacker Desmond Morgan had ten tackles in each of his final two games as a freshman?
- ... that Cuban-American singer Gloria Estefan became the first female performer to debut at number one at the Billboard Latin Songs chart with her song "Hotel Nacional"?
16 January 2012
- 16:00, 16 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the scallop Annachlamys flabellata (shell pictured) often exhibits protandric sex reversal, changing sex as it grows?
- ... that the light aircraft carrier Shōhō, sunk on 7 May 1942 during the Battle of the Coral Sea, was the first Japanese aircraft carrier to be sunk during World War II?
- ... that although the American Racing Manual now only covers Thoroughbred horse racing, its earlier precursors also covered harness racing and other sports?
- ... that The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery won the Pulitzer Prize for History, the Bancroft Prize, and the Lincoln Prize in 2011?
- ... that a female taekwondo fighter, who wore a headscarf under her helmet, won the sole medal for Afghanistan at the 2002 Asian Games after the fall of the Taliban?
- ... that Saint Benedict wanted his monks to prefer nothing to the love of Christ?
- 08:00, 16 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that between March and April of 1981, 298 cedar waxwings were killed trying to get fruits from thorny-olive shrubs (pictured) growing along a highway in Brazos County, Texas?
- ... that the Pointe de la Torche in Brittany has a Mesolithic midden, a Megalithic passage grave, and a World War II German blockhouse?
- ... that the Well-Manicured Man served as the "voice of reason" amongst The X-Files' antagonists?
- ... that Bobby Cummings was the first English footballer to score a hat-trick against Rangers in the Scottish League?
- ... that in 1898, the United States Navy attempted to purchase a battleship from Chile for use against Spain?
- ... that in Egyptian mythology, the Eye of Ra slaughtered masses of people, got drunk, ran away from her owner, and was brought back by her husband?
- 00:00, 16 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the Oxford Canadians (pictured) ice hockey team wore a red maple leaf on their uniform?
- ... that the Research Works Act proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives would ban open access mandates for federally funded research?
- ... that in a successful military ambush, every enemy soldier in the kill zone might be killed in less than one minute?
- ... that "I love you ... and especially you, size nine" was one of the catchphrases of Dandy Dan Daniels, one of the Good Guys?
- ... that Germanus of Winchester, an 11th-century English abbot, carried the newly discovered relics of a saint from their discovery location to Ramsey Abbey with his own hands?
- ... that the horse fly Scaptia beyonceae was named after singer and actress Beyoncé Knowles because of its striking golden behind?
15 January 2012
- 16:00, 15 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that when the Parliament of Croatia issued Croatia's declaration of independence from Yugoslavia, it left its usual building (pictured) for fear that it would be bombed by the Yugoslav Air Force?
- ... that Ernie Robinson worked as a coal miner before becoming a professional footballer?
- ... that the Medieval Chola king Rajendra Chola I sent a naval expedition to South-East Asia in 1025?
- ... that in the chess game Rotlewi versus Rubinstein, Rubinstein sacrificed his queen and rook for two minor pieces but forced checkmate?
- ... that light artist Yann Kersalé saved boat lifts in Thieu and a submarine base in Saint-Nazaire by illuminating them?
- ... that crazy fish are upside down sleepers?
- 08:00, 15 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the sargassum fish (pictured) is a predator that can change its colour rapidly to blend in with its surroundings?
- ... that the night after the Lewis and Clark Expedition broke camp at Camp Disappointment was the only time during the entire expedition that they killed any Indians?
- ... that after the 1860 Derby winner Thormanby died suddenly at age 18, its tail was mounted as a whisk in the hall of racehorse trainer Mathew Dawson's house?
- ... that NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Joey Gase won two short track racing championships before graduating from high school?
- ... that a single Antarctic scallop was found to have 10 different species of demosponge living on its shell?
- ... that Rihanna's "Birthday Cake", said to resemble a real-life quickie, lasts just 78 seconds?
- 00:00, 15 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the Lake Shore Drive Bridge in Eagle River, Michigan, has been restricted to pedestrian use since the opening of the Eagle River Timber Bridge (pictured) in 1990?
- ... that in 1903 the first ice hockey league in Europe was formed in the United Kingdom?
- ... that 155 aftershocks were felt at Campo, California, in the first twelve hours after the 1892 Laguna Salada earthquake?
- ... that the explorer and big game hunter Thomas Alexander Barns undertook an expedition to the Congo in pursuit of a giant butterfly that he called "the Antizox"?
- ... that former Philadelphia Eagles left tackle Stan Walters started in 122 consecutive games and earned two Pro Bowl selections after being traded to the team in 1975?
- ... that controversial New Zealand politician and lawyer Trevor de Cleene kept a pump-action shotgun under his bed for personal protection?
14 January 2012
- 16:00, 14 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that cattle are being re-introduced to Rosenannon Downs in Cornwall, UK, to benefit the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary butterfly (pictured)?
- ... that Stoke Edith House has been cited as a good example of Williamite architecture from the late 17th-century period?
- ... that George Pechiney was the Cleveland Blues' Opening Day starting pitcher for the baseball franchise's first game in the Major Leagues in 1887?
- ... that National Hero of Indonesia Teungku Chik di Tiro led a holy war against the Dutch in 19th-century Aceh?
- ... that Afghanistan returned to the Asian Games after the fall of the Taliban government in the midst of ongoing war?
- ... that The Fool's The Fool guitar helped Eric Clapton achieve his signature "woman tone"?
- 08:00, 14 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that for five baseball seasons, including two of the team's National League championship seasons, the Baltimore Orioles' Opening Day starting pitcher was Sadie McMahon (pictured)?
- ... that Captain Walker of HMS Monmouth told his crew to wash "the stain off your characters in the blood of your foes"?
- ... that the United States Supreme Court once said that "there is no constitutional value in false statements of fact"?
- ... that Afif al-Bizri, as chief of staff of the Syrian Army, forced Prime Minister Sabri al-Assali to follow a pro-Nasser policy under threat of arrest?
- ... that stipple engraving was used in the 18th century to make accurately sanguine reproductions of red chalk drawings by artists such as Watteau?
- ... that the founder of Pinboard operates it by himself, although the website has 25,000 registered users?
- 00:00, 14 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Holy Virgin Mary (pictured) is the largest Catholic church in Russia?
- ... that the 6th-century Byzantine official Athanasius was dispatched by Justinian I to Ravenna in 536 and Carthage in 545, and he ended up in prison on both trips?
- ... that over three million Chinese military and civilian personnel served in Korea during the Korean War?
- ... that the efforts of the 12th-century Anglo-Norman nobleman Josce de Dinan to defend Ludlow Castle form the background to the medieval work Fouke le Fitz Waryn?
- ... that Hugh Carless, who accompanied travel writer Eric Newby on an expedition to Northern Afghanistan in 1956, later served as the British ambassador to Venezuela?
- ... that Prussia refused to meet its obligations from the Polish–Prussian alliance of 1790, and instead of aiding Poland during the Polish–Russian War of 1792, helped Russia to quell the Kościuszko Uprising the following year?
13 January 2012
- 16:00, 13 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that an 1851 match between Voltigeur and The Flying Dutchman (see painting) drew 100,000 spectators, the largest crowd at the Knavesmire since 1759?
- ... that the exploits of the Polish partisan People's Army were significantly exaggerated by the propaganda of the People's Republic of Poland?
- ... that the 165-foot (50 m) smokestack at the Holden Lixiviation Works in Aspen was said to be the tallest in Colorado when it was in use?
- ... that assaulting or obstructing a clergyman in the discharge of his duties is a non-fatal offence against the person in English law?
- ... that because of competition from Costa Rican television broadcaster Repretel, Teletica Channel 7 was prompted to upgrade its programming and equipment?"
- ... that the Hogbetsotso festival of the Anlos of Ghana commemorates the escape of their ancestors from a tyrant king by walking backwards?
- 08:00, 13 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that a group of Late Permian mammal relatives called Nanictidopidae (restoration pictured) may have eaten fruit because their small teeth were unsuitable for grinding most plant material?
- ... that Japhet Asher wrote and produced the TV film Peace on Borrowed Time for the American Broadcasting Company when he was 21 years old?
- ... that in a chapter of Contemplative Practices in Action, Doug Oman suggests that meditation and other spiritual practices act "synergistically ... like ... complementary food groups"?
- ... that NBA Development League team Iowa Energy broke the league's attendance record in their first ever home game?
- ... that the first television transmission in Croatia was made by Philips engineer Eric Klaas de Vries at the Zagreb Fair on 26 August 1939?
- ... that despite the commercial successes of earlier games in the 7th Guest series, Uncle Henry's Playhouse sold only 176 copies worldwide?
- 00:00, 13 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the winning nation (trophy pictured) at the UEFA European Football Championship was determined by a golden goal in two consecutive tournaments?
- ... that the Freudenberg Group placed Vileda brand cleaning cloths on the market after noticing that their cleaning ladies were using scraps of their experimental fabrics?
- ... that Chrisye's album Beautiful Flower featured work by the son of former president Sukarno on every track?
- ... that members of the extinct bivalve family Bakevelliidae have shells made from rectangular calcium prisms and mother of pearl?
- ... that under the prosperous and benign rule of Husayn Pasha, the city of Gaza was regarded as the capital of Palestine?
- ... that actors and audience in the Jacobs Well Theatre, a Georgian era playhouse in Bristol, England, could obtain drinks through a hole in the wall to an adjoining ale house?
12 January 2012
- 16:00, 12 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that French architect Léon Azéma, a prisoner of the Germans during World War I, designed the Douaumont ossuary (pictured) to hold the bones of 130,000 unidentified soldiers of both sides?
- ... that Scottish footballer Dan Friel played more than 300 matches for Burnley, many of them as captain?
- ... that writer Christian Keymann and composer Andreas Hammerschmidt collaborated on a hymn, the base for Bach's cantata Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht, BWV 124 ("I will not let go of my Jesus")?
- ... that in Mexico, tea prepared using tarbush, a shrub native to the Chihuahuan Desert, is consumed to treat indigestion and diarrhea?
- ... that footballer Adam Cunnington's strike partnership with Kevin Charley produced more than 50 goals for Barwell in 2009–10, helping the club win the Midland Football Alliance?
- ... that "Monday" was ranked among UGO Networks' 100 Greatest Moments in Time Travel?
- 08:00, 12 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that increased breeding of the threadsail filefish (pictured) to enhance the stock has caused genetic differentiation between its hatchery and ocean populations?
- ... that the Tibet Improvement Party founded in 1939 by Pandatsang Rapga opposed the rule of the Dalai Lama government, and was supported by the Kuomintang in China?
- ... that Abdullah Atfeh was the first chief of staff of the Syrian Army following the country's independence?
- ... that one unusual feature of a charter issued around 1141 by Roger de Valognes was that it mentions that Valognes was persuaded to be more generous than he had originally planned?
- ... that in Jon Klassen's 2011 children's book I Want My Hat Back a bear eats the rabbit who stole his hat?
- ... that Chicken Hawks, a Pie, and a Pretzel have all played in Major League Baseball?
- 00:00, 12 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Eleanor (pictured) was the first of only six fillies to have ever won the Derby Stakes?
- ... that the Christmas Island Seamount Province, a group of 50 seamounts (submarine volcanoes) near Australia, formed during the breakup of Gondwana, up to 136 million years ago?
- ... that Siedlce pogrom in the Congress Poland was organized by the Russian Empire's secret police, and carried out by the Imperial Russian Army, whose soldiers were later decorated?
- ... that there are eight exceptions to the freedom of speech in the United States?
- ... that the grass Oplismenus can be used as a substitute for lawn?
- ... that Deep Throat's daughter is Monk's wife?
11 January 2012
- 16:00, 11 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that if the sea ginger coral (pictured) detects a sea fan growing nearby, it will send out "attack" branches to eventually smother it?
- ... that avant-garde musician Harry Roesli helped over 36,000 street children before his death in 2004?
- ... that Jamestown College, North Dakota's oldest post-secondary institution, was founded in 1883, six years before North Dakota became a U.S. state?
- ... that Muhsin al-Barazi, former prime minister of Syria, conducted secret negotiations with Israel and discussed the possibility of a summit between Ben-Gurion and al-Za'im in 1949?
- ... that Brad Sweet will be competing in both NASCAR stock car racing and World of Outlaws sprint car racing in 2012?
- ... that Tamil writer Bama had served as a Roman Catholic nun for seven years?
- 08:00, 11 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that impoverished shoemaker Richard Buxton (pictured) was illiterate at 16 but published a botanical guide at the age of 62?
- ... that the extinct, Triassic, bivalve family Cassianellidae may have evolved from the family Bakevelliidae, which survived longer into the Eocene?
- ... that former Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Wade Key started out as a member of the taxi squad in 1969 and eventually became the Eagles' longest-tenured player in 1979?
- ... that one of the sanjakbeys of the Sanjak of Ohrid was Ballaban Badera, famous for his bloody battles against Skanderbeg?
- ... that Love Song from High School, the third most viewed Indonesian film of 1979, featured a cameo from Chrisye meant to market his upcoming album?
- ... that with titles such as 1983's Kool-Aid Man, Mattel's M Network was an early developer of "promogames"?
- 00:00, 11 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Greek writer Dido Sotiriou (pictured) deals in her novels with the Asia Minor Catastrophe, the civil war and the postwar period in Greece?
- ... that the cover for Andrew Miller's 2011 Costa prize winning novel Pure was inspired by Francisco Goya's etching The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters?
- ... that the British Houses of Parliament in London, rebuilt after a destructive fire in 1834, include ventilation systems by Scottish physician David Boswell Reid?
- ... that Hurricane Celeste in 1972 triggered evacuations due to a threat of nerve gas dispersal?
- ... that Elias Abraham Rosenberg, a peddler from San Francisco, became an adviser to King Kalākaua of Hawaii due to his purported ability to predict the future?
- ... that in "Odorono", The Who sang about the consequences of body odour?
10 January 2012
- 16:00, 10 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the smooth trunkfish (pictured) blows a jet of water into the sandy seabed to expose the invertebrates on which it feeds?
- ... that British surgeon Victor Negus carried out pioneering research in comparative anatomy in the 1920s on the structure and evolution of the larynx?
- ... that among the players in the 2011 Liberty Bowl were the grandson of civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy and the brother of Super Bowl-winning quarterback Aaron Rodgers?
- ... that the medieval Islamic brickwork technique of banna'i was used to cover whole buildings with names of Allah, Muhammad and Ali?
- ... that American torch singer Roberta Sherwood became a sudden nationwide success at age 43?
- ... that a key event leading up to the 1984 Tanjung Priok massacre in Jakarta was a Christian entering a mosque without removing his shoes?
- 08:00, 10 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Thomas Bailey Aldrich's The Story of a Bad Boy (pictured) inspired a genre of "bad boy" literature that included Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer?
- ... that the 2007 Murphy Complex Fire burned 652,016 acres (263,862 ha) of land and was the largest wildfire in Idaho in 97 years?
- ... that recently appointed Indonesian justice minister Amir Syamsuddin has represented the former head of Golkar and Tempo magazine?
- ... that the Russian ballistic missile submarine K-84 Ekaterinburg was the first submarine to attempt to launch all her missiles while submerged?
- ... that Michael Plumb was the first (and, to date, only) equestrian inducted into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame?
- ... that Chrisye had second album syndrome on his fifth album?
- 00:00, 10 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Georg Christian Lehms (pictured), court librarian and poet in Darmstadt, was the author of Teutschlands galante Poetinnen (Germany's gallant poetesses)?
- ... that the United States Supreme Court dismissed an important First Amendment case after it was found to be moot?
- ... that apart from The Cenotaph in Whitehall, London, Edwin Lutyens also designed The Southampton Cenotaph?
- ... that the Eagles song "Already Gone" appeared on the Hot 100 chart and was included on the compilation albums Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) and The Very Best of Eagles?
- ... that the belah can be found with bimble box, black gidyea, brigalow, nealie, boonaree and wilga?
- ... that the American minister George Went Hensley taught that Christians should eschew baseball and embrace venomous snakes?
9 January 2012
- 16:00, 9 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the honeyeaters of the genus Manorina (Noisy Miners pictured) have a pale patch of skin behind their eyes giving them a cross-eyed look?
- ... that two of the 46 United Kingdom-born players to play in the National Hockey League have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame?
- ... that during the 1976 Çaldıran-Muradiye earthquake 95% of the traditional houses in Çaldıran were destroyed due to their low resistance to lateral loads, causing most of the casualties?
- ... that the writer of The X-Files episode "Per Manum" has described it as being about "the way you perceive connections between people"?
- ... that Chairil Anwar's most celebrated poem, "Aku" ("Me"), shows similarities to the philosophies of Ayn Rand and Friedrich Nietzsche?
- ... that in the chess game Levitsky versus Marshall, legend has it that the winning move drew a shower of gold coins?
- 08:00, 9 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that despite the presence of a minor basilica (pictured), Plaza Miranda in Manila is a center for fortune-telling and the sale of lucky charms and amulets?
- ... that Nelson W. Fisk of Vermont played a key role in connecting Lake Champlain's Grand Isle to the Vermont mainland?
- ... that the film English Vinglish marks the comeback of actress Sridevi after a 14-year sabbatical?
- ... that Ismail Saleh was the longest serving Minister of Justice of Indonesia?
- ... that owing to his declining popularity as a priest in Christiania, Niels Wulfsberg decided to make a journalistic career, establishing amongst other newspapers the royal friendly Tiden?
- ... that the name of the Nuer White Army, a militant group in South Sudan, reportedly originated from the Nuer youths' use of light-colored insect repellents on their skin?
- 00:00, 9 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the Ratonero Valenciano (pictured) was only recognized by the Spanish Kennel Club in 2004, despite having existed since the 16th century?
- ... that historians called Harry Toulmin the "frontier Justinian" for his work in codifying the laws of Kentucky, Alabama, and Mississippi Territory?
- ... that in 1989 BBC broadcaster Barbara Sturgeon was nominated for a Sony Radio Award for a programme which featured live coverage of a human birth?
- ... that on his debut in Test cricket, Sri Lankan bowler Dhammika Prasad took the wicket of his favourite player, Sachin Tendulkar?
- ... that the Prison Officers Association threatened a job action when it was announced that both Birmingham and Oakwood Prisons were to be contracted to security company G4S?
- ... that Chaim Walder's first book for Haredi children became one of Israel's all-time bestsellers?
8 January 2012
- 16:00, 8 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the leaves of Gardner's saltbush (pictured) are an important source of nutrients for pregnant ewes?
- ... that a stable worker was bribed to allow Middleton to drink buckets of water, leaving the racehorse bloated, in a plan by bookmakers to prevent it from winning the 1825 Derby Stakes?
- ... that Summit Credit Union became the largest credit union in the state of Wisconsin after a 2008 merger?
- ... that the town of Dhanushkodi in Tamil Nadu, India, was submerged during a 1964 cyclone and has not been resettled since?
- ... that Intercession of Christ is the Christian belief in the continued intercession of Christ and his advocacy on behalf of mankind, even after he left the earth?
- ... that until 2007, the New Zealand Poet Laureate was not appointed by the New Zealand government, but by Te Mata Estates, a commercial winery?
- 08:00, 8 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that molecular analysis of the genes of Hygrocybe virginea (pictured) suggests that the fungus should not be classified into the genus Hygrocybe?
- ... that the United States Supreme Court's decision in Lackawanna County District Attorney v. Coss concerned a prisoner who had been "adjudged a juvenile delinquent on five separate occasions"?
- ... that Archboldomys kalinga, a rodent of the genus Archboldomys, is found throughout the Central Cordillera on the island of Luzon in the Philippines?
- ... that John Rinehart Blue, owner of a local Ben Franklin five and dime store, was appointed to fill a vacant seat in the West Virginia House of Delegates?
- ... that one of the largest operations of the Combat Organization of the Polish Socialist Party became known as the Bloody Wednesday?
- ... that the 400 people interviewed for an oral history of MTV's early years could not agree on what was the best video, but they all agreed Billy Squier's "Rock Me Tonite" was the worst?
- 00:00, 8 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that James H. Horne (pictured), the first head coach of the men's basketball team at Indiana University, accidentally killed a man with a twelve-pound hammer?
- ... that George Harrison's 1970 song "Beware of Darkness" marked his return to the spiritual concerns of such Beatles' songs as "Within You Without You"?
- ... that the United States Supreme Court ruled in Cleveland v. United States that video poker licenses are not "property"?
- ... that the celebration of the Dodoleglime festival by the Ve people of Ghana commemorates the escape, through a town wall hole, of their ancestors from a tyrant king in Togo?
- ... that construction of Roosevelt High School in St. Louis, Missouri, required the removal of a cemetery, yet not all bodies were removed and local children took bones away from the work site?
- ... that the beach pea was used in traditional Hawaiian medicine to treat wounds?
7 January 2012
- 16:00, 7 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Montpelier Crescent in Brighton was unusually built facing the South Downs instead of the sea—but this view was blocked within ten years by Vernon Terrace (pictured)?
- ... that Aaron Lockett holds two Big 12 Conference football records: single-season punt return average and longest pass reception?
- ... that Singapore is said to espouse a "green-light" approach towards administrative law – that good government should be sought through the political process – given the government's focus on efficiency?
- ... that discoveries in Wilson Butte Cave in Idaho, which formed as a lava tube, include both camel bones and the oldest evidence of human presence on the Snake River Plain?
- ... that Nasida Ria, one of the oldest qasidah modern groups in Indonesia, received an organ from the mayor of Semarang?
- ... that in the 1889 Scottish Cup Final, conditions were so poor that the players threw snowballs at each other?
- 08:00, 7 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Mayan eccentrics (pictured) were often buried under monuments and buildings?
- ... that Baseball Hall of Famer Monte Ward was the Opening Day starting pitcher for the Providence Grays in half of their Major League seasons?
- ... that a guest part on The X-Files helped drive Bryan Cranston to his role in Breaking Bad?
- ... that deputy governor of Banten Rano Karno has played in more than seventy films?
- ... that former Burnley footballer Arthur Bell also worked as an architect and designed a new stand at the club's Turf Moor stadium in 1911?
- ... that although winners of the American version of The Singing Office won $50,000, winners of the Australian version received only a trophy?
- 00:00, 7 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that until the discovery in 1975 of the "living fossil" Neoglyphea inopinata (pictured), glypheoid crustaceans were thought to have been extinct since the Eocene?
- ... that a parking garage in Miami Beach was described as having a "stunning" design and has hosted weddings, wine tastings, and dinner parties?
- ... that Polish writer and educator Konrad Prószyński, author of internationally recognized primers, had to struggle with the censorship in the Russian Empire?
- ... that Bach ends his chorale cantata for Epiphany Liebster Immanuel, Herzog der Frommen, BWV 123, by repeating the final lines of the last stanza softly?
- ... that Bush the Old Fire Dog is memorialized at the Vigilant Firehouse?
- ... that the Blackfoot have used crushed leaves of the fringed sagebrush to "revive gophers after children clubbed them while playing a game"?
6 January 2012
- 16:00, 6 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the beau gregory (pictured), a small damselfish, maintains a territory and drives away intruders?
- ... that Ezedin Abdel Aziz Khalil, an alleged al-Qaeda operative based in Iran, is one of three designated terrorists in the Rewards for Justice Program's $10 million reward bracket?
- ... that Portland Fire Station No. 7, built in Portland, Oregon in 1927, was the last of many firehouses designed by Lee Gray Holden, who died of a stroke while visiting it?
- ... that El Manik went from being a vagrant to Citra Award-winning actor in six years?
- ... that population of the crofting hamlet Skerray in northern Scotland fell from 500 in 1926 to around 100 by the 1980s?
- ... that the perfume Truth or Dare was inspired by singer Madonna's memory of her mother's fragrance?
- 08:00, 6 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that both grandfathers of Ormond Wilson (pictured), New Zealand Labour Party MP, and one grandfather of his second wife, were Members of Parliament?
- ... that the 8th-century Sanskrit play Mahaviracharita by Bhavabhuti has two alternative endings?
- ... that "Fotos Y Recuerdos" was positioned at number four on the US Hot Latin Tracks the day Selena was murdered?
- ... that the Healdsburg Memorial Bridge in Healdsburg, California, was the first steel bridge across the Russian River?
- ... that singer-cum-writer Dewi Lestari, who draws much of her inspiration from spirituality, has called fundamentalists "crazy"?
- ... that people's preferred walking speed is correlated with their country's per capita GDP and purchasing power parity?
- 00:00, 6 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the Temple of Kwan Tai in Mendocino, California (pictured) was founded by a survivor from a fleet of seven Chinese junks, two of which landed on the California coast in 1854?
- ... that University of Alabama-Birmingham basketball player Carldell Johnson led all Division I college basketball players in assist–to–turnover ratio as a sophomore?
- ... that Irish journalist and broadcaster Jim Fahy was described by President Michael D. Higgins as having a "seductive charm"?
- ... that Fred Barron played exactly 400 matches in The Football League for Burnley between 1898 and 1911?
- ... that Virginia Trotter, Assistant Secretary of Education from 1974 to 1977, was the first woman to hold the U.S. government's highest education post, although it did not become a cabinet-level position until 1979?
- ... that as a toddler, composer Dian HP refused to eat unless she was sitting next to the family piano?
5 January 2012
- 16:00, 5 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the fungi Aquamarina speciosa, Keissleriella rara, Massarina carolinensis and Paraphaeosphaeria pilleata were discovered growing on stems of dead black needlerush plants (pictured)?
- ... that a duel between Clay Beauford of the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature and a copper company's lobbyist was called off due to difficulties in finding French sabres?
- ... that Bostick's Store in Causeyville Historic District in Lauderdale County, Mississippi, has been in business continuously since it was built in 1895?
- ... that the Estonian Maritime Museum paid 300 tons of scrap iron for the steam-powered icebreaker Suur Tõll?
- ... that during the Battle of Bull's Ferry in New Jersey in 1780, Continental officer "Light-Horse Harry" Lee was in charge of rounding up British Army cattle?
- ... that when Tony Bennett broke a grand piano before a concert at the Brighton Dome, staff went to the Hounsom Memorial Church in Hangleton and borrowed theirs?
- 08:00, 5 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Varda Viaduct (pictured), a 98 m (322 ft) high railway viaduct in the Taurus Mountains, will be a shooting location of the next James Bond movie Skyfall?
- ... that Christmas was not celebrated in Hawaii until the arrival of Protestant missionaries from New England in 1820?
- ... that one of the early news reports on effects of the 1931 Oaxaca earthquake in Mexico came from Russian film maker Sergei Eisenstein?
- ... that after tearing an anterior cruciate ligament as a high school senior, Quincy Miller helped the 2011–12 Baylor Bears get off to their best start in school history?
- ... that My Week with Marilyn has earned three Golden Globe Award nominations?
- ... that originally, "Unfaithful" was a dark and moody track, inspired from the works of American rock band Evanescence?
- 00:00, 5 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Polish writer Ferdynand Goetel (pictured) participated in the first delegation sent by the Nazis to confirm the discovery of the Katyn massacre perpetrated by the Soviets?
- ... that Newton's second law is not valid for variable-mass systems, such as rockets?
- ... that Blair Athol won the 1864 Derby despite getting repeatedly kicked in the genitals by a lad paid by bookmakers to prevent him from competing, and later sired Silvio, who also won the Derby in 1877?
- ... that Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's proposed Skybus rapid transit system became an issue in the 1969 mayoral campaign?
- ... that the Yellala Falls on the Congo River were reached in 1485 by Portuguese explorers whose engraved stone commemorating their visit was only discovered in 1911?
- ... that architect Andrew Geller designed quirky, eye-grabbing vacation homes on Long Island that he gave nicknames including the Box Kite, Milk Carton and Reclining Picasso?
4 January 2012
- 16:00, 4 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the Gregory Rift in East Africa contains the world's only active carbonatite volcano, Ol Doinyo Lengai (pictured)?
- ... that the chamber choir Dresdner Kammerchor celebrated its 25th anniversary with Mendelssohn's Paulus in the Kreuzkirche, conducted by founder Hans-Christoph Rademann?
- ... that the 1764 Russo-Prussian alliance, formed two years after the signatories clashed in the Seven Years' War, allowed them to intervene in internal matters of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth?
- ... that in his book Life of Lincoln, Ward Hill Lamon speculated that U.S. President Abraham Lincoln may have been the illegitimate child of Nancy Lincoln and Kentucky politician Martin D. Hardin?
- ... that Norwegian businessman and patron of the arts Jørgen von Cappelen Knudtzon met Napoleon and Lord Byron in his trips in Europe?
- ... that one of the two theories about the Christmas gamma ray burst places it just 10,000 light years from Earth, but the other theory indicates a distance of 5.5 billion light years?
- 08:00, 4 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Jeremy Doyle (pictured) represented Australia on the wheelchair basketball team, the wheelchair hockey team, and at the World Cyber Games in Counter-Strike?
- ... that the Frank Gehry-designed New World Center in Miami Beach features live outdoor "wallcasts" of the concerts going on inside?
- ... that the Four Counties Ring is a canal ring linking the English counties of Cheshire, Staffordshire, Shropshire, and the West Midlands?
- ... that artist and suffragist Adele Goodman Clark and her partner Nora Houston set up their easels on a downtown streetcorner in Richmond, Virginia, and canvassed passers-by about women's suffrage?
- ... that the Miocene maple Acer latahense is most similar in appearance to the living Honshū maple?
- ... that Abraham Lincoln was the only U.S. president to have a registered patent to an invention?
3 January 2012
- 23:45, 3 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that despite the devastation of the second U.S. Patent Office fire (pictured), in a supposedly fireproof building, not one patent was lost?
- ... that Master L. Cz.'s depiction of Satan in The Temptation of Christ provided an important precedent for Albrecht Dürer's Knight, Death and the Devil?
- ... that novelist Matt Bondurant is the grandson of one of the main characters portrayed in his 2008 novel, The Wettest County in the World?
- ... that Ryota Igarashi used to hold the Nippon Professional Baseball record for the fastest pitch thrown?
- ... that in response to the Norwegian butter crisis, Danish people have donated thousands of packs to butter-starved Norwegians?
- ... that the home of a former enslaved Chinese teenager became a National Registered Historic Place known as Polly Bemis House in Idaho, US?
- 15:30, 3 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the Russian nuclear-powered submarine K-114 Tula (pictured) launched the R-29RMU Sineva missile for a record 11,547 km (7,175 mi) in 2008?
- ... that the short story "A Stroke of Good Fortune" by Flannery O'Connor features early versions of characters from O'Connor's first novel, Wise Blood?
- ... that George Harrison wrote the song "Wah-Wah" in response to his frustration with Beatles bandmates John Lennon and Paul McCartney?
- ... that St Leonard's Church in St Leonards-on-Sea was partly crushed by a collapsing cliff, and later destroyed when a damaged doodlebug crashed outside its doors?
- ... that Bao Guo'an won the 1995 Golden Eagle Award for Best Actor for his role as Cao Cao in the 1994 television series Romance of the Three Kingdoms?
- ... that in 1920, Irish footballer Jack Doran achieved the rare feat of being the top goalscorer for two English clubs in the same season?
- 07:15, 3 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Ayu Utami's (pictured) 1998 novel Saman launched an Indonesian literary movement focusing on women's views of sexuality?
- ... that the sinking of the Japanese ocean liner Terukuni Maru by Nazi mines off the English coast in 1939 may have been Japan's first World War II casualty outside East Asia?
- ... that its 2011 acquisition of Oceanic Bank made Ecobank Nigeria one of the five largest banks in Nigeria?
- ... that Natchez Indians attacked French colonists in Louisiana in 1729, killing over 240 people?
- ... that the North Florida Ospreys men's basketball team made their first ever playoff appearance in the 2011 Atlantic Sun Tournament, in which they advanced to the conference final?
- ... that Brian Eno described Kaddish, an album that reflects on the Holocaust, as "the most frightening record I have ever heard"?
2 January 2012
- 23:00, 2 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the Lagan Canal (pictured) was once one of the most successful canals in Ireland but closed in the 1950s after succumbing to competition from road and rail transport?
- ... that much of the United States Bill of Rights is devoted to criminal procedure?
- ... that in 1884, Louisville Colonels Opening Day starting pitcher Guy Hecker went on to win 52 games, the third-highest total in Major League Baseball history?
- ... that the third Sochatchover Rebbe supervised the education of several hundred yeshiva students in the Warsaw Ghetto?
- ... that the Ypsilanti Heritage Festival includes a spoof of the Woodward Dream Cruise called the "Nightmare Cruise"?
- ... that Viola Thompson, a left-handed pitcher in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the 1940s and a consultant for the 1992 film A League of Their Own, turns 90 years old today?
- 14:45, 2 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Carrier Strike Group Seven (logo pictured) was disestablished effective 30 December 2011?
- ... that guerrilla fighter and National Heroine of Indonesia Martha Christina Tiahahu died in Dutch custody two days before her 18th birthday?
- ... that St Mary's Church, Lenham has a wall painting of St Michael weighing souls that is dated to about 1350?
- ... that the United States Supreme Court upheld a requirement that federal judges have to pay taxes for Medicare in United States v. Hatter?
- ... that Ravinder Singh became a writer after he lost his love in an accident five days before they were to be engaged?
- ... that the 2012 season of the ASEAN Basketball League includes the SSA Saigon Heat, the first international basketball team from Vietnam?
- 06:30, 2 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that Japanese flying ace Kaneyoshi Muto (pictured) was compared to the legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi?
- ... that the bowling alley in the basement of the University Club of Albany is one of the oldest in the U.S.?
- ... that three Davids (Shearer, Cunliffe and Parker) contested the 2011 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election?
- ... that Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson made the video game Minicraft in under 48 hours for the Ludum Dare competition?
- ... that American theologian Edward Fudge is the subject of an upcoming film, Hell and Mr. Fudge?
- ... that the television series Kokosei Restaurant is based on the true story of the first restaurant in Japan that is run by high school students?
1 January 2012
- 22:15, 1 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that in 1900, the year before Edward, Prince of Wales ascended to the throne, he was the leading owner in British flat racing and his horse Diamond Jubilee (pictured) won the Triple Crown?
- ... that Easwaran's Original Goodness describes the Beatitudes as a "discovery about the nature of the human spirit as revolutionary as Einstein's theories"?
- ... that bibliophile, literary historian and theatre director Jan Lorentowicz, who first published the complete works of Jan Kochanowski, was also an amazing father according to his daughter's memoirs?
- ... that the Bavarian municipality of Hainsfarth once had a population that was almost 40 percent Jewish and still has a Jewish cemetery and synagogue?
- ... that the successful expeditions of Spanish captain Ruy Diaz Melgarejo in the late sixteenth century led to his being nicknamed the "Invincible Captain"?
- ... that Public Domain Day is celebrated on January 1 in several countries, but not in the United States or Australia, where no currently copyrighted works will enter the public domain until 2019 and 2026 respectively?
- 14:00, 1 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that dancers over seven years of age are forbidden to dress up as Robin Hood in the Fancy Dress Festival (masquerade pictured) held on the first of January in Winneba in Ghana?
- ... that Tom Loftin Johnson won a 1941 prize for his American Pietà, which substitutes an African American mother for the Virgin Mary and the black victim of a lynching for Jesus?
- ... that Bach's cantata for New Year's Day, Herr Gott, dich loben wir, BWV 16, opens with Luther's German Te Deum and contains "an unusual and imaginative combination of aria and chorus"?
- ... that Hendy Woods State Park, an old-growth coast redwood forest in the Anderson Valley of northern California, is scheduled to be closed in 2012 because of state budget cuts?
- ... that two men from Wisbech, constable William Wolsey and painter Robert Pygot, condemned for Christian heresy by the bishop's chancellor John Fuller at Ely, were burnt at the stake on 16 October 1555?
- ... that Rembrandt's Joseph and Potiphar's Wife is considered "unprecedented in its erotic candor"?
- 05:45, 1 January 2012 (UTC)
- ... that the salmon caught by grizzly bears (pictured) during salmon runs contribute significantly to the nitrogen cycle in adjacent woodlands where bears urinate, defecate, and drop partially eaten fish carcasses?
- ... that, in addition to his work on convex sets, mathematician Hans Rådström edited the Swedish translation of Martin Gardner's Scientific American Book of Mathematical Puzzles and Diversions?
- ... that the Partenair Mystere, a homebuilt aircraft, had an estimated building time of 1000 hours?
- ... that John Crockett, father of American folk hero Davy Crockett, crossed the Appalachian Mountains with the "Overmountain Men" to fight in the American Revolutionary War Battle of Kings Mountain?
- ... that the awns of porcupine grass drill its seeds into the soil?
- ... that Joey Johnson, who won the landmark United States freedom of speech case on flag burning, was said to show up at protests with a bloody, severed pig's head on a leash?