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 2010
- 20:02, 31 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Teresa de Francisci, the model for the depiction of Liberty on the Peace dollar (obverse pictured), was born in a town south of Naples, Italy?
- ... that the administrative offices of the Caprivi Region were once located beneath a giant baobab in Katima Mulilo that today is known as the "Toilet Tree"?
- ... that a lawsuit brought by William Shernoff against an insurance firm that refused to pay claims for damage from Cyclone Val in American Samoa yielded penalty payments of $86.7 million?
- ... that the power plant workers union SITRANDE was the first public sector trade union founded in Paraguay after the fall of Stroessner?
- ... that Harry Neal Baum ghostwrote the 1917 novel Mary Louise Solves a Mystery when his ailing father, L. Frank Baum, could not fulfill his obligations to his publishers?
- ... that during World War I the United States Army recruited over 28,000 soldiers for the Spruce Production Division, which harvested Sitka spruce in the Pacific Northwest?
- ... that the help of Cyrus Eaton, Jerome Wiesner and Nikita Khrushchev was needed so that Frederick and Milena Jelinek could marry?
- 14:02, 31 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Byzantine silk designs include the tree of life, winged horses, and imaginary beasts, along with fashionable images of hunting and quadrigas (pictured)?
- ... that the Kentuckian LaVerne Butler was a leader in the "Conservative Resurgence" within the Southern Baptist denomination in the 1970s and 1980s?
- ... that Zakopane Style architecture became so popular that designs inspired by it were built in Warsaw, Łódź, and even a train station in Saldutiškis, Lithuania?
- ... that during its operational history, the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade has ranged in size from 1,200 men to almost 10,000?
- ... that baseball pitcher Lefty Herring later became a position player and made it back to the major leagues five years after his first game?
- ... that Terry Bradshaw's daughter Rachel co-wrote Jerrod Niemann's "What Do You Want" and appeared in the song's music video?
- ... that the tower of St Martin's Church, Colchester, Essex, was damaged in 1648 during the Civil War, and has never been repaired?
- 08:02, 31 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that John Constable called the Superintendent of the British Institution (pictured) "a much greater man than the King—the Duke of Bedford—Lord Westminster—Lord Egremont, or the President of the Royal Academy"?
- ... that Harry Kingman was the first Major League Baseball player to be born in China?
- ... that socialist politician Kiranmoy Nanda has been the Fisheries Minister of the Indian state of West Bengal since 1982?
- ... that an experience at an auction in the early 1960s led John Rice Irwin to start the Museum of Appalachia?
- ... that the High Virgo ballistic missile was launched from a B-58 bomber at a speed of Mach 2?
- ... that although American surf music group The Astronauts only spent one week on the Billboard Hot 100 in their entire career, they outsold The Beach Boys in Japan in the early 1960s?
- ... that Hannibal killed 15 swans?
- 02:02, 31 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the Lower Eissee (pictured), a lake which lies in a shallow cirque in the Dachstein Mountains, was left behind when the Hallstätter Glacier retreated?
- ... that after an unsuccessful debut album, Mexican singer-songwriter Mario Domm formed the band Camila?
- ... that Anubias afzelii, described in 1857, was the first species of the genus of popular aquarium plants, Anubias, known to science?
- ... that Frank Bancroft managed his now-defunct Major League Baseball team, the Providence Grays, to the 1884 World Series championship?
- ... that No. 201 Flight's role was considered so secret by the Royal Australian Air Force that few people outside the unit knew that it even existed?
- ... that Nelson Mandela proposed that Robben Island, where he was imprisoned for 18 years, be renamed after Xhosa warrior and prophet Makana?
- ... that Common Sense Media protested the ESRB's rating downgrade of a revised version of Manhunt 2 from "Adults Only" to "Mature", since that version was still banned in the UK?
30 December 2010
- 20:02, 30 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that according to a diocesan official of Richmond, Virginia, the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart (pictured) was the world's only cathedral financed by a single family?
- ... that Basil Cave issued an ultimatum that led to the shortest war in history?
- ... that the aviary Bird Kingdom was once a museum that at one time held the mummy of Ramesses I?
- ... that Michigan Wolverines football running back Michael Shaw was a teammate of Roy Roundtree at Trotwood-Madison High School, where he was coached by National Football League veteran Maurice Douglass?
- ... that the Nationalist Citizens' Party's platform during the 1957 Philippine elections was described as "businessman's nationalism"?
- ... that Bob Dylan recorded his song "Gates of Eden" in a single take on January 15, 1965?
- ... that the 1 kg (2.2 lb) $3,000 Platinum Koala coin is an official means of payment in Australia?
- 14:02, 30 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Gavin Trippe introduced European style motocross to the US, invented supermoto (pictured), helped start AMA Superbike, and is promoting a new single cylinder motorcycle racing class?
- ... that the Alzheimer's disease medication Galanthamine is synthesized using Saegusa-Ito oxidation?
- ... that the Lawrason Act, named for State Sen. Samuel Lawrason, allows Louisiana municipalities to create their own form of government without legislative approval?
- ... that the communist student organization CGMI ran campaigns against hazing at Indonesian universities?
- ... that Bill James described Mike Mitchell, who set a National League assists record as a rookie, as having the best outfield arm in baseball?
- ... that Tom Derrick received the Victoria Cross for his actions during the Battle of Sattelberg in November 1943?
- ... that future Star Wars make-up artist Rick Baker handled the effects for The Incredible Melting Man, a 1977 horror film about an astronaut whose body is literally melting?
- 08:02, 30 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the extinct crocodyliform Sebecus (skull pictured) was named after Sebek, the ancient Egyptian crocodile god?
- ... that Judson Welliver is widely regarded as having been the first presidential speechwriter?
- ... that the Azerbaijan region has been producing wine since the 2nd millennium BC and was noted by Herodotus, Strabo, Abu'l-Fida and Al-Muqaddasi?
- ... that American anthropologist Frank Bessac was fleeing China when his group was attacked by Tibetan border guards, killing three of his party, including the first CIA agent to be killed in the line of duty?
- ... that the Ansbach Grizzlies, one of the oldest American football teams in Germany, played in every one of the first eight editions of the German Bowl?
- ... that in the lyrics of the 2010 song "Coming Home", Diddy makes references to the classic 1979 song "Ain't No Stopping Us Now" by McFadden & Whitehead, as well as events in his own life?
- ... that the Umm al-Qura Mosque in Baghdad, Iraq, has minarets in the shape of Scud missiles and Kalashnikov rifle barrels?
- 02:02, 30 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, often attended weekend society gatherings held at Easton Lodge, home of Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick (pictured)?
- ... that it was debated in 1896 whether the Louisiana planter Meredith Calhoun was the model for the character of Simon Legree in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin?
- ... that the aquarium plant Anubias heterophylla has reportedly been used as a stomachic for children?
- ... that Hydro-Québec's project of four hydro-electric power stations on the Romaine River is called "the biggest construction project in Canada"?
- ... that the Batavia, New York post office is one of only three in the state to be a contributing property to its historic district despite being ineligible for an independent listing on the NRHP?
- ... that Colin Beyer was informed about the sex reassignment surgery planned by his stepdaughter, former New Zealand MP Georgina Beyer, before her mother received the news?
29 December 2010
- 20:02, 29 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Sempringham Priory (pictured) was built by Saint Gilbert, the only Englishman who ever founded a monastic order?
- ... that the Wilmington, North Carolina airport was named for Arthur Bluethenthal, a Princeton football All-American who was awarded the Croix de guerre twice, and died in combat for France in World War I?
- ... that after dropping out of the 1992 New York City Marathon due to breathing problems, Kim Jones suffered from bronchitis and was bedridden for a month?
- ... that Maxim model and reality television contestant Gia Allemand has been selected to play the role of Ava Gardner in an upcoming film about the life of Gianni Russo?
- ... that Mexico's Biutiful was named Best Foreign Language Film of 2010 at the 17th Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards?
- ... that since March 2007 there have been controversial discussions about including of parts of the northern Steigerwald Nature Park in UNESCO's World Heritage Programme by turning them into a national park?
- ... that Ralph "Human Ripcord" Savidge invented a baseball pitch called the "finger nail curve"?
- 14:02, 29 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Jamaica Inn (sign pictured) of Bodmin Moor is the setting for Daphne du Maurier's 1936 novel of the same name?
- ... that the 1999 film The Sixth Sense received six Academy Award nominations, and grossed more than sixteen times its budget?
- ... that Sir Francis Wythens was illegally returned to Parliament after a book containing 700 votes for the opposition "was artificially mislaid and lost by the officers trusted"?
- ... that archaeologist David Ussishkin has described the Chalcolithic Temple of Ein Gedi as "a monumental edifice in terms of contemporary architecture"?
- ... that although the bat Myotis alcathoe was only described in 2001, it is now known to range widely across Europe?
- ... that Arthur Augustus Tilley resigned as a tutor of King's College, Cambridge, after being blamed for the throwing into the college fountain of the "long-haired bounder" Robbie Ross?
- ... that during the Great Depression, the construction of a country estate named for a candy bar was the largest source of jobs in Giles County, Tennessee?
- 08:02, 29 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Alvingham Priory, active until most of its inhabitants died from the Black Death, has a churchyard (pictured) containing the only church in England dedicated to St. Adelwold?
- ... that though his early burlesques, including The Merry Zingara, featured actresses performing male roles, W. S. Gilbert later renounced this practice?
- ... that the Mount Sunapee Resort in New Hampshire was built in response to the success of a tram at Cannon Mountain?
- ... that the Internet and Technology Law Desk Reference defines information technology law jargon using legal opinion from case law?
- ... that the name for the Mexican band Jotdog was inspired by the pop art work of Andy Warhol?
- ... that despite having reconstructive Tommy John surgery prior to the season, Zach Daeges was named to the first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference squad as a designated hitter in 2005?
- ... that a decomposing rhino carcass and lack of water led to the establishment of Henties Bay?
- 02:02, 29 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the Schneeferner (pictured) in the Bavarian Alps is Germany's largest glacier?
- ... that, when Thomas M. Carnegie tried to get his brother, Andrew Carnegie, to invest in the Edgar Thomson Steel Works (later a key element in the Carnegie steel empire), Andrew initially refused?
- ... that a signal mortar used to be fired to summon the lifeboat crew to Poole Lifeboat Station but this was stopped in 1914 as people could mistake the sound for an explosion at the nearby gas works?
- ... that in 1944, Sam Caldwell, as the mayor of Shreveport, ran against Jimmie Davis for governor of Louisiana even though both had served in the same municipal administration?
- ... that the Nobel Prize-winning chemist E.J. Corey described a total synthesis of hexacyclinol as "blatantly wrong science"?
- ... that in the 1932 NFL championship game, Chicago Bears coach George Halas stuck out his foot from the sidelines and tripped Ace Gutowsky while he was returning a kickoff for the Portsmouth Spartans?
28 December 2010
- 20:02, 28 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that while the origin of recent shark attacks in Egypt (species pictured) is unknown, experts cite overfishing and illegal dumping of animal carcasses as possible causes?
- ... that 37 different contracts were issued for venue construction and renovation among three different governmental ministries for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens?
- ... that, according to Fieldhouse, militant agitation by the Indonesian communist trade union Serbuni during the 1963/1964 confrontation sought to prevent nationalization of Unilever factories?
- ... that the American painter George Burroughs Torrey, who was also known as the "painter of presidents", was decorated with the Order of the Savior by King George I of Greece for his services?
- ... that W. K. Henderson, the founder in 1925 of KWKH Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana, rallied his listeners against the new Federal Communications Commission and chain stores?
- ... that remains of the largest known stone ship, either 170 or 354 metres long, have been found under the two royal barrows at Jelling in Denmark?
- 14:02, 28 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that of Andorra's 65 mountain peaks over 6,560 feet (2,000 m), the peak of Coma Pedrosa (pictured) is the highest at 9,652 feet (2,942 m)?
- ... that former Oregon Duck and Detroit Lion George Christensen co-founded a multinational manufacturing company with factories in France, Japan, Canada and the United States?
- ... that the Bible manuscript minuscule 801 has an unusual order of books, with the Gospels placed at the end, after the Pauline epistles?
- ... that the tropical marine fish Gillellus inescatus possesses an esca similar to that of an anglerfish, which might be used for luring prey and attracting mates?
- ... that contractor George Caldwell was sentenced to four years in a U.S. Penitentiary for income tax evasion and kickbacks received on buildings that he completed at Louisiana State University?
- ... that the construction of a summer palace for the King of Jordan was interrupted by the 1967 Arab–Israeli War, and the unfinished building in Tell el-Ful near Jerusalem is now a haven for drug addicts?
- 08:02, 28 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (signing pictured) extends not only the Bush tax cuts but also tax-reducing aspects of the 2009 Stimulus?
- ... that the selection of Jamshid Amouzegar as Prime Minister of Iran in 1977 instead of Hushang Ansary has been called “one of the shah’s two biggest mistakes, leading to the revolution”?
- ... that pitcher Davey Dunkle won 30 minor league baseball games in 1902 and made it back to the major leagues the following season?
- ... that award-winning experimental filmmaker and animator Skip Battaglia is also a professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology?
- ... that three partial cross veins in the wings make D. appendiculata a unique fruitfly among the more than 1500 species of Drosophila?
- ... that as a lobbyist in 1997, former State Rep. Randy Pendleton worked for the constitutional amendment which permits home-equity loans in Texas?
- ... that visitors of the 2002 Winter Olympics had the option of traveling to one of the venues by horse-drawn sleigh?
- 02:02, 28 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that William Goyen, whose acclaimed first novel The House of Breath was first published in 1950, was married to Doris Roberts (pictured), who played Marie Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond?
- ... that Australian child murderers John and Sarah Makin were caught after the bodies of two of their many victims were discovered in a blocked drain?
- ... that the design of the Third Presbyterian Church in Springfield, Ohio, may have been patterned after the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem?
- ... that Bill Kemmer set a Texas League record with 12 runs batted in during a single baseball game?
- ... that after serving as a deputy MP in Norway, Martha Schrøder worked as an ergotherapist and a spinning wheel teacher?
- ... that New York Mayor Ed Koch expressed his frustration with the overly generous deals Eric Schmertz negotiated with unions, saying that city workers should say "Thank you Mr. Mayor, for the Schmertz"?
- ... that the principal exhibit of the Fabergé Museum in the German town of Baden-Baden is an egg bought for nine million pounds?
27 December 2010
- 20:01, 27 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the present Alto Vista Chapel (pictured) in Aruba, completed in 1952, stands at the location where the original chapel was built in 1750 by Domingo Silvestre, a missionary from Venezuela?
- ... that Bach has a choir of trombones double the choir in his cantata Sehet, welch eine Liebe hat uns der Vater erzeiget, BWV 64, for the Third Day of Christmas?
- ... that Episcopal bishop of Louisiana Charles Edward Jenkins III retired due to post-traumatic stress disorder from Hurricane Katrina?
- ... that in his first professional baseball season, Lefty Houtz led the Texas League in triples, home runs, hits, total bases, and slugging percentage?
- ... that the German Benedictine missionary and bishop Thomas Spreiter helped found Inkamana Abbey in KwaZulu-Natal?
- ... that as the runaway winner of a special election for his late father's seat in the Texas House of Representatives, John Kuempel of Seguin is the 101st Republican in the 150-seat body?
- ... that a playboy originally was a boy performing in a theatre?
- 12:00, 27 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that according to a legend of the Pyrenees, witches performed naked dances near Lake Engolasters (pictured) in Andorra?
- ... that since 1989, Don Shows has coached his West Monroe High School Rebels to seven Louisiana state football championships and five runner-up designations?
- ... that Whitney Houston's 1985 single "How Will I Know" was originally written for Janet Jackson?
- ... that Major League Baseball player and former fireman Len Koenecke was beaten to death with a fire extinguisher?
- ... that Dratshang Lhentshog is the Commission for the Monastic Affairs of Bhutan?
- ... that diplomat and historian Ignas Jonynas contributed articles to the first universal encyclopedia in the Lithuanian language?
- ... that the Salcombe Lifeboat capsized in 1916 with the loss of 13 lives, and again in 1983, with no loss of life?
- 06:00, 27 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that buoy tender USCGC Woodrush (pictured) helped rescue 520 passengers and the crew from the cruise ship Prinsendam that sank in the Gulf of Alaska in 1980?
- ... that the 16th-century judge Sir William Dolben was described by biographer Roger North as an "arrant old snarler"?
- ... that peroxides were used in the 2005 London bombings and the 2001 shoe bomb plot?
- ... that Matt K. Miller, a stage actor and playwright who recently became the artistic director of the Sacramento Theatre Company, is also a voice artist for Japanese anime?
- ... that the 12th-century Lectionary 303 was taken to Paris and later to America despite a colophon threatening "the wrath of the eternal Word of God" for anyone who removed it?
- ... that Mexican band Jotdog included a cover version of a song previously recorded by Cyndi Lauper on their debut album?
- ... that from 1902 to 1996, Ham Iburg had the most wins in Major League Baseball for a pitcher whose last name starts with the letter "I"?
- 00:00, 27 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that in the 12th-century frescoes (example pictured) of St John the Baptist's Church, Clayton, West Sussex, "a spike-heeled devil riding a large beast separates the doomed from the blessed"?
- ... that African American Republican Walter L. Cohen of New Orleans held the post of comptroller of customs under both Presidents Harding and Coolidge?
- ... that the Puszcza Darżlubska Forest is the second largest site of Nazi mass killings of Poles and Jews in Pomerania?
- ... that Isuzu Yamada was the first actress to receive the Order of Culture, Japan's top cultural award, from the Emperor of Japan?
- ... that the Powder Ridge Ski Area was home to the first quad chairlift in New England?
- ... that Francis Skeat designed over 400 stained glass windows, including memorials to the footballer Duncan Edwards and the explorer John Smith?
- ... that although Justices of the King's Bench received salaries from 1278, the first pension provisions were not made until 1799?
26 December 2010
- 18:00, 26 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that diamond (example pictured) is superhard but not supertough?
- ... that Gardiner considers Bach the "best writer of dramatic declamation ... since Monteverdi" for the dialogue in his cantata for the Second Day of Christmas, Selig ist der Mann, BWV 57?
- ... that American diplomat, orator, and Harvard professor Edward Everett bought two New Testament manuscripts, Lectionary 297 and Lectionary 298, during a visit to Greece in 1819?
- ... that Dick Hoerner played in three consecutive NFL Championship Games, became the Los Angeles Rams' all-time leading rusher and was considered "a murderous line backer"?
- ... that insertion reactions are integral to the Cativa process, a method used to produce millions of tons of acetic acid annually?
- ... that the only remaining original scrolled station sign on the New York City Subway can be found at the Van Cortlandt Park – 242nd Street station?
- ... that Harvey Wells founded the city of Wellston, Ohio, but he never owned his own house there?
- 12:00, 26 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the stained glass windows at Anykščiai Church (pictured), the tallest church in Lithuania, were made by Anortė Mackelaitė?
- ... that Stephen Venard, a 19th century Nevada City, California lawman and renowned road agent killer, used a Henry rifle?
- ... that Louis Gruenberg's The Emperor Jones was available to premiere at New York City's Metropolitan Opera because an opera by a Jew about a black was not wanted in Berlin in 1933?
- ... that the Jacksonville Rockets, an Eastern Hockey League franchise based in Jacksonville, were Florida's first professional ice hockey team?
- ... that the crest of the Königstein Ridge near Westerhausen, Germany, is dominated by the striking Kamelfelsen rocks whose shape resembles two camels lying down?
- ... that Monte Scheinblum, son of All-Star baseball player Richie Scheinblum, hit a golf ball over 329 yards (301 meters) into a 20 mph (32 kph) wind to win the 1992 U.S. National Long Driving Championship?
- ... that despite attaching an inscription to his first wife's grave implying he would not marry again, British politician Giles Eyre not only remarried but buried his second wife in the same grave?
- 06:00, 26 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the redundant round-towered St Mary's Church, Moulton in Norfolk (pictured) contains 14th-century wall paintings depicting Saint Christopher, and the Seven Acts of Mercy?
- ... that Teresa Teng's "The Moon Represents My Heart" was one of the first love songs to become popular in mainland China under the Open Door Policy?
- ... that when District of Columbia judge Robert L. Wilkins was recently out of law school, he was stopped by Maryland State Police for "driving while black" and won a landmark racial profiling lawsuit?
- ... that 11 out of 19 species of land snails found on the Samoan island of Tutuila are endemic?
- ... that the drama series Huge, created by Savannah Dooley and her mother, Winnie Holzman, employed Dooley's father as an actor and her uncle as the cinematographer?
- ... that Jim Cockman is the oldest player to ever make his Major League Baseball debut with the New York Yankees?
- ... that the ancient Gambuh dance is performed in Batuan, Bali, every full moon?
- 00:00, 26 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the Robert Haven Schauffler book for Christmas 1907 (pictured) included prose by Dickens and Washington Irving and an article on whether there is a Santa Claus?
- ... that after a tsutsugamushi epidemic occurred at Sausapor, research was conducted on the area's rats and mites, using C-rations as rat bait, to better understand the illness's epidemiology?
- ... that Spanish songwriter Javier Limón earned the Latin Grammy Award for Producer of the Year in 2004?
- ... that the world's first quantum machine "literally vibrated a little and a lot at the same time" and was named "Breakthrough of the Year" by Science in 2010?
- ... that when Great Britain lost the 1951 Ryder Cup by a score of 9½–2½, golfer Arthur Lees took part in the team's only two match wins?
- ... that A Christmas Record released in 1981 on the ZE label was described as the first-ever alternative Christmas album and contains both a hit single and a "blasphemous, nearly tuneless piece of skronk"?
25 December 2010
- 18:00, 25 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Michigan football captain James Van Inwagen (pictured) operated the Tiffany Enameled Brick Co. and the company that made Tiffany Never-Wind Clocks?
- ... that the Christmas album Una Navidad con Gilberto by Gilberto Santa Rosa won a Latin Grammy Award for "Best Traditional Tropical Album" in 2009?
- ... that the Aero HC-2 Heli Baby was the first Czechoslovakian-designed helicopter to go into production?
- ... that although Geographia Neoteriki, written by Grigorios Konstantas and Daniel Philippidis, was welcomed with enthusiasm by western intellectuals, it was largely neglected by Greek scholars?
- ... that after winning a minor league baseball batting title in 1903, Charlie Loudenslager joined a major league team but only appeared in one game?
- ... that the Cincinnati Riot of 1853 involved Germans objecting to the presence of an Italian cardinal preaching in French in the United States on Christmas Day?
- 12:00, 25 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the first cantata Bach composed for Christmas Day in Leipzig was in 1724 the chorale cantata Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, BWV 91, based on Martin Luther's hymn for Christmas Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ (pictured)?
- ... that in 1874, a 5720 pound copper nugget whose surface had been worked by prehistoric miners was discovered at the Minong Mine?
- ... that Joe Marshall, also known as "Home Run Joe", did not hit any home runs in his Major League Baseball career?
- ... that Dylan Thomas' short prose A Child's Christmas in Wales was first published under its own title two years after his death?
- ... that in 1958 the Public Personnel Association named the New Orleans attorney Charles E. Dunbar "Mr. Civil Service of North America"?
- ... that a Group Representation Constituency is a type of electoral division in Singapore in which a team of candidates stands for election and is voted into Parliament as a group?
- ... that Dionte Christmas led the 2008–09 Temple Owls men's basketball team in points per game, three-pointers completed, and total steals?
- 06:00, 25 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that although first published in the 1582 songbook Piae Cantiones (pictured), the Christmas carol Unto Us is Born a Son may be derived from 12th and 13th century French organum repertories?
- ... that the freshman State Rep. Leopold Caspari in 1884 pushed successfully for the creation of Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana?
- ... that the bigheaded ant, Pheidole megacephala, protects the source of its food supply, green scale insects, by removing predatory larvae that might eat them?
- ... that Derek Lynch won his first NASCAR Canadian Tire Series race during his first full season on the tour?
- ... that Brace Mountain, the highest peak in Dutchess County, New York, is a popular launch spot for hang gliding and paragliding due to the smooth geography of the area?
- ... that Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band's first released single was a blues rock cover of Bo Diddley's "Diddy Wah Diddy"?
- ... that the people of Saukorem produce Korwar figures, which are often made with the skulls of deceased family members?
- 00:00, 25 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Henry Ramsden Bramley's Christmas Carols, New and Old (pictured), compiled in collaboration with John Stainer, is credited with creating a Christmas carol revival in Victorian England?
- ... that Andrew McKinley, David Aiken, and Leon Lishner created the parts of the Three Kings in the world premiere of Menotti's Christmas opera Amahl and the Night Visitors which was broadcast live by NBC to an audience of millions on Christmas Eve 1951?
- ... that the investigation by the Bundesstelle für Flugunfalluntersuchung into the Crossair Flight 850 accident took 3,005 days to complete?
- ... that Claybrook Cottingham, the president of two colleges in Louisiana, began his academic career as an assistant principal at an academy in Virginia when he was 19?
- ... that Jason Aldean's duet with Kelly Clarkson, "Don't You Wanna Stay", is the first duet of his career?
- ... that Ed Householder won his first minor league baseball batting title at the age of 37?
- ... that the official Chicago Christmas tree was constructed from multiple individual trees until 2009?
24 December 2010
- 18:00, 24 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that four centuries after being aggrieved by Benedict Spinola in a property deal, Magdalene College, Cambridge, avenged itself by erecting a gargoyle of him (pictured)?
- ... that the Rugby League Atlantic Cup, held at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida, is contested by emerging rugby league nations in North America?
- ... that the Schnarcherklippen rocks in the German High Harz are mentioned in Goethe's dramas Faust I and Faust II?
- ... that baseball player Farmer Steelman appeared in one game for the 1900 Brooklyn Superbas and was the only rookie to play for that team during the entire season?
- ... that Dexter executive producer Daniel Cerone encouraged the mother of his son's friend not to let her son audition for "Seeing Red" because he would be filmed sitting in a pool of blood?
- ... that the wildlife of Malaysia is some of the most diverse in the world, existing in forests believed to be 130 million years old?
- ... that the Scott Sisters of Mississippi are serving life sentences for their alleged involvement in a robbery in which $11 was stolen and no one was injured, although they had no previous criminal records?
- 12:00, 24 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Air Vice Marshal Ian McLachlan's (pictured) concerns regarding cost and delivery of the F-111 to the RAAF proved "painfully prescient" as the new bomber came six years late and way over budget?
- ... that the communist-led federation SOBSI was the largest trade union movement in Indonesia prior to the Suharto era?
- ... that former New Zealand wrestler Onno Boelee worked as an actor and opened a private security company after his retirement from wrestling?
- ... that Swedish financial assistance to the Namibian liberation movement SWAPO increased significantly under the Torbjörn Fälldin cabinet?
- ... that Milwaukee's Bronze Fonz is an $85,000 public artwork of a Happy Days TV show character?
- ... that the crew of the ill-fated slave ship Luxborough Galley became cannibals?
- 06:00, 24 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that after Rosa Ponselle created the role of Carmelita in Joseph Breil's "Lyric Tragedy in One Act" The Legend (libretto pictured) at the Met, she burned her copy of the score?
- ... that professional wrestler Bobby Walker sued World Championship Wrestling for making him look "obnoxious" and "shiftless"?
- ... that the Marlborough White Horse was cut from a hillside in 1804 by boys at Mr Greasley's Academy?
- ... that college football coach A. M. Miller was notified to testify during the Scopes Monkey Trials?
- ... that one of the stages in the Xbox Live Arcade game Faery: Legends of Avalon takes place in a city on the back of a giant beetle?
- ... that Louisiana State Rep. Fred H. Mills, Jr., wrote legislation in 2010 to permit pharmacists, such as himself, to administer medication therapy management services?
- ... that Harvard Divinity School's Hollis Professor of Divinity has the right to graze a cow on the Harvard Yard?
- 00:00, 24 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the Blood Qur'an, formerly displayed in the Mother Of All Battles mosque in Baghdad (pictured), was written in over 20 litres of Saddam Hussein's blood?
- ... that before his elections in 1944 and 1956 to both houses of the Louisiana Legislature, Frank Estes Cole had been an LSU Tigers football player and a high school coach in Rayville and Many, Louisiana?
- ... that the German dreadnought battleship SMS Kaiserin was the first battleship to pass through the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal in July 1914, days before the outbreak of World War I?
- ... that one of the largest aboriginal title claims in the United States was rejected based on an interpretation of the Articles of Confederation?
- ... that Sakis' Parafora (2010) received more bids than any other Greek album to be released as a covermount since the practice became common after the recent economic crisis, and all were refused?
- ... that Albanian American Anthony Athanas, who rode a donkey en route to the United States, became a multi-millionaire restaurateur in Massachusetts?
23 December 2010
- 18:00, 23 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that all species of the fruit fly genus Zaprionus (Z. indianus pictured) have the same characteristic white stripes over the head and thorax?
- ... that the former Confederate officer Christopher Columbus Nash, as sheriff in Grant Parish, Louisiana, crushed the Colfax Riot in 1873 and formed the White League in 1874?
- ... that 40,000 people were involved in the construction of venues for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney?
- ... that the deindustrialization of Youngstown has had the effect of cutting the population of the Ohio city in half?
- ... that the Soviet ship MO-103 sank the German submarine U-250, capturing the commander and five crewmen in July 1944?
- ... that Roald Hoffmann's development of the isolobal principle helped him earn the 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry?
- ... that feathers from a dead swan, which crashed into scaffolding at All Saints Church in Roffey during construction, were incorporated into the church's antependium?
- 12:00, 23 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the three species of the fungal genus Collybia—C. cookei (pictured), C. cirrhata, and C. tuberosa—all grow on the decomposing remains of other mushrooms?
- ... that Karuizawa, Japan, where curling competitions were held during the 1998 Nagano Olympics, is the first town to have hosted both Summer and Winter Olympic events?
- ... that the CBC's senior correspondent Neil Macdonald is the brother of comedian Norm Macdonald?
- ... that the busiest Namibian border post is the Angolan one at Oshikango in the town of Helao Nafidi?
- ... that the Atlanta Neighborhood Union, an all-women African-American association founded in 1908, was a model for other improvement associations?
- ... that the light novel series Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? was an honourable mention at Fujimi Shobo's 20th Fantasia Awards?
- ... that before the 62nd Grey Cup, CFL defensive back Tony Proudfoot fired staples from a staple gun into his shoes to improve his traction on an icy football field?
- 06:00, 23 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Satyavati (pictured) – who initially stank of fish – was blessed with the musk fragrance by a sage, with whom she had premarital sex?
- ... that the award-winning war photographer Yuri Kozyrev, who spent several years working for the American press in Baghdad, lived together with Iraqis in the city?
- ... that newly promoted Arkansas State head football coach Hugh Freeze was depicted in the movie The Blind Side about Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Michael Oher?
- ... that Hiroshi Ishikawa won the New Montreal Film Festival's Best Director award for Su-ki-da, his second film?
- ... that Sir William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England (published 1765–1769) is still cited by the Supreme Court of the United States between 10 and 12 times a year?
- 00:00, 23 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the bell in the cupola of the Genesee County Courthouse (pictured) in Batavia, New York, was originally acquired for use in a practical joke?
- ... that zombie apocalypse drama The Walking Dead was named as one of the top 10 television programs of 2010 by the American Film Institute?
- ... that Louisiana state court judge O. E. Price of Bossier City participated in two triathlons when he was in his fifties?
- ... that in 1936, the North Fork Shenandoah River flooded Cootes Store in Virginia during the Great Flood which reached four feet high at its worst?
- ... that the 2010 documentary Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story was written by a Pulitzer Prize-winning sports reporter and narrated by Dustin Hoffman?
- ... that 17 years after an aircraft crash killed most of the Zambia national football team, the Zambian government has yet to release a report on the crash?
22 December 2010
- 18:00, 22 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Sotra Facula (pictured), a prominent feature on Saturn's giant moon Titan, is thought to be an ice volcano that may have erupted water, methane, polyethylene, paraffin waxes or even asphalt?
- ... that a survey conducted in 1993 on the influence of the children's television program Sesame Street found that by the age of three, 95% of all American children had watched the show?
- ... that the English landscape architect Edward Kemp was buried in Birkenhead, Merseyside, in the Flaybrick Hill Cemetery, which he had designed himself?
- ... that the Bulgar notable Mauros intended to organize an uprising in Thessaloniki on the night before Easter in order to catch its defenders unprepared?
- ... that Bach first performed his cantata for Advent, Bereitet die Wege, bereitet die Bahn! BWV 132, on 22 December 1715 in the Schlosskirche Weimar?
- ... that the Louisiana sheriff Cat Doucet of St. Landry Parish apparently obtained his nickname from his practice of protecting illegal "cathouses," a slang term for brothels?
- 12:00, 22 December 2010 (UTC)
A photograph of a Simarouba amara sapling.
- ... that the seeds of Simarouba amara (sapling pictured) are more likely to germinate once they have been eaten by monkeys?
- ... that Monica Nashandi was removed from the 2009 Namibian general election SWAPO electoral list because she had not registered to vote in the previous election?
- ... that "The Virgin's Cradle Hymn", a lullaby collected by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in Germany in 1799, was derived from a Flemish engraving by Hieronymus Wierix?
- ... that Mark Miodownik is delivering the 2010 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures?
- ... that the Pervenetz class ironclad was the first ironclad class of ships in the Russian Navy?
- ... that the music of songwriter Lincoln Chase, who wrote "Such a Night", "Jim Dandy", and "The Clapping Song", has been described as "like a black Frank Zappa but groovier"?
- 06:00, 22 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the Cuernavaca Cathedral (pictured) in Cuernavaca, Mexico, was originally one of the 16th century monasteries built near the Popocatepetl volcano that have been designated a World Heritage Site?
- ... that the Richmond Theatre fire of 1811, which killed around 72 people, was at the time the worst urban disaster in American history?
- ... that of the great glaciers of the French Oisans, the Glacier Noir descends farthest because of favourable topography and moraines that screen it from the sun?
- ... that though 2000 lay dead on the field of the Battle of Zappolino (November 1325), when forces of Modena routed Bologna, the status quo was re-established afterwards and historians generally ignore the event?
- ... that John Deering volunteered to have his heart monitored by an electrocardiogram while he was shot to death?
- 00:00, 22 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that a large waterbag (pictured) can bring water to California and, according to its inventor, peace to the Middle East?
- ... that Western Wood was preselected for the City of London seat in 1861 in preference to future Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone?
- ... that The Pretty Druidess (1869) was the last of W. S. Gilbert's early operatic burlesques, written before the Gilbert and Sullivan operas?
- ... that Frederick S. Lyman's account of the eruption of the Mauna Loa volcano and 1868 Hawaii earthquake was written from a nearby sheep and goat ranch?
- ... that Plas yn Rhiw house in Gwynedd was originally built in the 10th century to prevent incursions by Vikings into Porth Neigwl, and is reportedly haunted?
- ... that medieval Bulgarian noble Aldimir, the despot of Kran, changed sides to the Byzantines even though he had blinded a rival in order to gain the Bulgarian emperor's trust?
- ... that when Weymouth Lifeboat Station was sent a new lifeboat in 1930 it was too big to fit in the boathouse so it had to be kept moored in the harbour instead?
21 December 2010
- 18:00, 21 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that before Dr. Andrea Crestadoro became Chief Librarian in Manchester, he patented improvements to the horse powered locomotive Impulsoria (pictured)?
- ... that actress Julia Stiles had no idea whether her character was going to live or die in "The Big One", the fifth season finale of the Showtime series Dexter?
- ... that a radar station which was active at Grassy Hill Light during World War II included an imitation lighthouse keeper's cottage for camouflage purposes?
- ... that Stanford and Detroit Lions running back Ernie Caddel, known as the "Blond Antelope," led the NFL in average yards gained per rushing carry for three consecutive years?
- ... that despite his role in the Counter-Reformation, the abbot of Göttweig Abbey David Gregor Corner reluctantly included Protestant hymns in his 1631 Gross Catholisches Gesängbuch?
- ... that The Fisherman's Cot in Devon overlooks the River Exe and a bridge which was wrongly thought for many years to be the inspiration for Paul Simon's song "Bridge Over Troubled Water"?
- ... that in 1925, Hortense Sparks Ward led a special all-female Texas Supreme Court after no male judges or lawyers could be found to hear a case?
- 12:00, 21 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the final term of Vigor Brown (pictured) as Mayor of Napier in New Zealand was extended due to the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake?
- ... that the scams uncovered by Operation Broken Trust, the largest investment fraud sweep by the US Government, may have involved over 120,000 victims?
- ... that English-born footballer Ellis Remy made his international debut playing for the Montserrat national football team?
- ... that La Vivandière (1867) was one of the early comedies by W. S. Gilbert that used satiric devices later employed in his famous Gilbert and Sullivan operas?
- ... that chef Louis Diat, a recipient of the distinguished Chevalier du Mérite Agricole, learned to cook at the age of five?
- ... that anywhere from 60 million to 1 billion monarch butterflies spend the winter at the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in central Mexico?
- ... that in 1863 the 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos was propelled underground from Holborn to Euston railway station in a parcel capsule to demonstrate the system built by the London Pneumatic Despatch Company?
- 06:00, 21 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the Glacier Blanc (pictured) is the largest glacier in the Southern French Alps with an area of 5.34 km2 (2.06 sq mi) and a length of 5.9 kilometres (3.7 mi)?
- ... that artist Thomas Eakins suggested Anna Willess Williams pose for the depiction of Liberty on the Morgan dollar?
- ... that seven Croatian Army generals were forcibly retired in 2000 for signing an open letter to the Croatian public?
- ... that English artist Chantal Joffe, who sometimes uses pornography for source material, created such large paintings that she required scaffolding to work on them?
- ... that the Albuquerque Thunderbirds were awarded the first overall selection in the 2009 NBA Development League Draft?
- ... that when New Zealand-born pop artist Dinah Lee became 'Queen of the Mods' in 1964, her own mother could not recognise her?
- ... that James W. Rodgers requested a bulletproof vest before he was executed by firing squad?
- 00:00, 21 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Mongol script was used in Western medieval art (example pictured) as a decoration from the late 13th century to early 14th century?
- ... that six years after passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Louisiana NAACP president Emmitt Douglas was arrested for trying to desegregate a restaurant in Baton Rouge?
- ... that adult males of the parasitic wasp, Encarsia perplexa, can only develop when a virgin female lays eggs in a fully developed larva of her own species?
- ... that Ellingham Hall, an 18th century country house near Bungay, Norfolk, is the temporary residence of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange during his extradition hearings in the United Kingdom?
- ... that in 1878, the old-time cowboy author Frank H. Maynard sang one of his poems over the grave of Dodge City Marshal Ed Masterson, the victim of a gunfight?
- ... that during the wreck of the Algoma, the worst loss of life in Lake Superior history, victims were literally dashed to pieces?
- ... that diners at beefsteak banquets "keep score" by piling up the bread slices that come with their beef tenderloin?
20 December 2010
- 18:00, 20 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that a 1907 stagecoach robbery organized by Vladimir Lenin (pictured) and Joseph Stalin killed an estimated 40 people and netted approximately 250,000 rubles (over $3 million in current USD)?
- ... that Richard Bustillo learned Jeet Kune Do directly from Bruce Lee and went on to instruct Lee's children Shannon and Brandon in the martial art?
- ... that the action role-playing game Infinity Blade is the fastest grossing application on Apple's iOS, selling 271,424 copies in merely four days?
- ... that in 1934, the congregation of the St. John's Lutheran Church in New Finland, Saskatchewan, Canada, had their church cut into two halves so as to relocate it by five miles using a tractor?
- ... that Jonah Hex was named "Worst Picture" of 2010 by the Houston Film Critics Society at their 2010 awards ceremony?
- ... that McGaheysville in Virginia was originally named "Ursulaburg" after the wife of the ousted Reverend Charles Lang, who was ordered to leave the Colony of Virginia in 1771 and left Ursula behind?
- 12:00, 20 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that New Caloundra Light (pictured), an inactive lighthouse resembling an airport control tower, is the only surviving example of its design in Australia?
- ... that a by-election in 1869 was held in the borough of Blackburn, Lancashire, England, after an election petition led to a previous election being overturned due to systematic intimidation?
- ... that the Hilo Masonic Lodge Hall in Hawaii cost twice its original budget, partially due to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake?
- ... that the Admiral Lazarev class monitors had their main armament replaced during their career, allowing them to remain among the most powerful ships in the Russian Navy's Baltic Fleet?
- ... that in May 2009, when proposing that Nominated Members of Parliament should be a permanent part of Singapore's Parliament, the Prime Minister said they had "outshone even the Opposition MPs"?
- ... that New Zealand explorer and surveyor Charlie Douglas claimed that not being able to swim "had saved his life many a time"?
- 06:00, 20 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the eccentric Victorian sculptor Richard Cockle Lucas (pictured) believed in fairies and drove around in a Roman chariot?
- ... that a 1977 book by the historian Martin V. Melosi examines the role of partisan politics in delaying public disclosure of events leading to the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor?
- ... that the Canyon Hotel in Yellowstone National Park burned while being demolished in 1960?
- ... that Oregon entrepreneur Norm Winningstad helped found Floating Point Systems, Thrustmaster, and Lattice Semiconductor?
- ... that on December 19, 1981, the entire crew of the Penlee Lifeboat were killed trying to rescue people from a ship in a storm, but sufficient volunteers came forward within a day to form a new lifeboat crew?
- ... that "football nut" "Sturzy" Sturzenegger spent most of his career coaching college football at Michigan, USC and UCLA despite having attended Harvard Law School?
- ... that San Andrés islanders practice obeah, a voodoo witchcraft of West Indies?
- 00:00, 20 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the mite Aceria anthocoptes (pictured) is a potential biological control agent of the invasive Canada thistle?
- ... that Guy Touvron has been called "one of the leading pedagogues of trumpet technique and interpretation France has ever produced"?
- ... that the Duke of Wellington chose not to buy Somerhill House in Kent because he considered the local fox hunting not good enough?
- ... that Sam McMackin died less than six months after making his Major League Baseball debut?
- ... that St. Peter's Episcopal Church of Carson City is the oldest building still in use by the Episcopal Church in the state of Nevada?
- ... that the Ashuapmushuan River in Quebec, Canada, is named for an Innu word meaning "place where one lies in wait for moose"?
- ... that after a period of retirement which included a stint as a beer delivery man, Alberto Davila returned to boxing and won the World Boxing Council bantamweight title in 1983?
19 December 2010
- 18:00, 19 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Harz granite was used in memorials at the concentration camps of Buchenwald, Ravensbrück and Sachsenhausen, as well as the Soviet War Memorial (pictured) in Berlin's Tiergarten?
- ... that the Alfredo Guati Rojo National Watercolor Museum in Mexico City was the world's first museum dedicated to watercolor painting?
- ... that Chris Brown's song "Sing Like Me" is a slow jam R&B and pop ballad, featuring 808 drum beats and Asian-influenced strings?
- ... that the Florida Reef is the third largest coral barrier reef in the world, and that in the middle of the 19th century there were close to 50 shipwrecks a year on the reef?
- ... that Johann Wilhelm Schwedler preferred other engineering solutions over his own invention, the Schwedler truss, on aesthetic grounds?
- ... that Kristubhagavatam: A mahakavya in Sanskrit based on the life of Jesus Christ, a Sanskrit epic poem in 33 cantos and 1600 verses, won the Sahitya Akademi Award for Sanskrit in 1980?
- 12:00, 19 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Scottish engineer James Blyth built the world's first-known structure by which electricity was generated from wind power (pictured) in 1887?
- ... that the Childress County Heritage Museum contains an exhibit on World War II bombardier training held near Childress, Texas?
- ... that Tell Shemshara in Iraq was once the capital of the "land of the gatekeeper"?
- ... that American yachtswoman J. J. Isler, who competed in both the Olympics and the America’s Cup races, was the first woman named to the Sailing World Hall of Fame?
- ... that Brad Paisley released "This Is Country Music" as a single long before the album was to come out, even though it was "bad timing for his label"?
- ... that Walter Keane, known for paintings of "big-eyed waifs," claimed a sore shoulder and declined a 1986 court-ordered paint-off with his ex-wife, resulting in a US$4 million judgment against him?
- ... that jars uncovered at Hajji Firuz Tepe in the Zagros Mountains contained wine and resin residue which suggested that the inhabitants were making a wine similar to Retsina over 7 millennia ago?
- 06:00, 19 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Michigan fullback John Bloomingston (pictured), who became one of Chicago's best known trial lawyers, was disbarred from athletics in 1896 for playing professional baseball?
- ... that The Old Bell Hotel and Restaurant in the Cotswolds is reputed to be the oldest existing hotel in England, dated to 1220?
- ... that Erik Røring Møinichen was a Norwegian Minister of Finance five times?
- ... that when it was built in 1795, Fort Carondelet was the farthest western outpost of the Chouteau fur trading operation in the Spanish Louisiana Territory?
- ... that communist politician Salawati Daud was the first female mayor in Indonesia?
- ... that Little Sea Hill Light was the first of a group of eight lighthouses in Queensland made of a hardwood frame clad with corrugated iron?
- ... that the marine worm, Parborlasia corrugatus, fires an adhesive, barbed proboscis as a means of defense, and to capture prey?
- 00:00, 19 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the former Holland Land Office (pictured) in Batavia was the first National Historic Landmark designated in Western New York?
- ... that screenwriter and film director Norman Thaddeus Vane referenced the 1931 movie Dracula in his work Shadow of the Hawk?
- ... that xiaochi, or Chinese and Taiwanese "small eats", can include such ingredients as stinky tofu, sheep head, grass jelly or pork intestines?
- ... that Not Worse Than Thomon, edited by Sergei Olegovich Kuznetsov, was described by Vremya Novostei as one of the best Russian books in the field of art in 2007?
- ... that Nerstrand City Hall was built at the center of a close-knit community of Norwegian American pioneers including the Osmundson, Bonde and Veblen families?
- ... that an obituary for Hughie Hearne stated that he was a "well known baseball star" and "one of the game's best catchers," although he never played a full major league season?
- ... the Hydnaceae family contains mushrooms with "teeth"?
18 December 2010
- 18:00, 18 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Hyder Ali (pictured) made a forced march of 130 miles (210 km) to bring British East India Company officials to negotiate an end to the First Anglo-Mysore War?
- ... that Olympia Bucureşti was the winner of the inaugural Romanian football championship held between 1909 and 1910?
- ... that St Mary's Church in North Cockerington, Lincolnshire, England, stands a mile away from the village it served, sharing the churchyard of the adjoining parish church?
- ... that the A535 road in Cheshire is the main road that gives access to the Jodrell Bank Observatory and the Quinta Garden, both founded by Sir Bernard Lovell?
- ... that California Court of Appeal Associate Justice James A. McIntyre was previously a Little League Baseball manager?
- ... that the Trudenstein rocks in the Harz Mountains are so-named because they supposedly resemble a drude, a German witch-like figure associated with dreams?
- ... that the Westerman Lumber Office and House is now home to Big Honza, who is "bigger, smarter and wiser" than Paul Bunyan?
- 12:00, 18 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the wasp Megarhyssa macrurus (pictured) paralyzes her prey by injecting it with an ovipositor 4 inches (10 cm) long?
- ... that the manuscripts of Thomas Kantzow's 16th-century chronicles were rediscovered in 1729, 1832 and 1973?
- ... that on October 21, 1915, a band of Mexicans invaded the United States and conducted a raid on Ojo de Agua in Texas as part of the Plan de San Diego?
- ... that The Skywalk Is Gone was the first short film to ever get a theatrical commercial run in Taiwan?
- ... that the American historian Gerald W. Wolff collaborated on studies of six Indian tribes, the Arikara, Hidatsa, Mandan, Ponca, Ottawa, and Comanche?
- ... that Chapultepec Park is the largest urban park in Latin America?
- ... that Italian model and skydiver Roberta Mancino has performed several thousand skydives, including four while completely naked?
- 06:00, 18 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Les Jackson (pictured), who fought in and later commanded the same squadron as his brother John, became the first RAAF fighter ace of the New Guinea campaign in World War II?
- ... that Triple H won his match at the World Wrestling Federation's Armageddon (1999) event after hitting Vince McMahon, his father-in-law and boss, with a sledgehammer?
- ... that German epigrapher Nikolai Grube co-presented workshops teaching Maya hieroglyphs to native Maya in Mexico and Guatemala?
- ... that in 1922–23, journalist Elmo Scott Watson wrote Stories of Great Indians, an attempt to refute the noble savage concept then popular among writers about the Native American tribes?
- ... that Slovenia's Velenje Castle, along with two castles in Šalek and Ekenštajn, played a key role in defending the routes from the Celje Basin to Carinthia?
- ... that Hillsboro, Oregon, based Acumed, a medical device company, once built a motorcycle that included titanium body parts?
- ... that the Time pyramid, a public work of art begun in 1993, is scheduled for completion in the year 3183?
- 00:00, 18 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Michigan football player "Octy" Graham (pictured) at age 16 was called a "young Hercules" after "gripping machines did not register high enough to show his strength"?
- ... that in a plasma antenna, plasma is used instead of the metal elements of a traditional radio antenna?
- ... that Clancy Carlile wrote the novel and the screenplay for Honkytonk Man that starred Clint Eastwood?
- ... that according to legend, Wormy hillock henge is the burial site of a dragon?
- ... that the surprise about the WikiLeaks revelations of spying on UN leaders by US diplomats was not that it was done, but rather who would be doing it, and what information would be required?
- ... that the church St. Bonifatius was built in Wiesbaden in Gothic Revival style, after a first building had collapsed?
- ... that John Tyner and Charles Krauthammer don't want you touching their junk, but Michael Kinsley wants you to go ahead and touch his, and Wendy Kaminer thinks Krauthammer just wants you to touch someone else's?
17 December 2010
- 18:00, 17 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that one in six of all English country houses (Tong Castle pictured) are thought to have been demolished during the 20th century?
- ... that Tsar Alexander II regarded his morganatic son Prince George Alexandrovich Yurievsky as a "true Russian", causing rumors that he was considering giving him dynastic rights?
- ... that Bullacta exarata is a commercially important sea snail in eastern China?
- ... that the Magni M-16 Tandem Trainer autogyro is used by traffic reporters and farmers as well as sport pilots?
- ... that visitors to the Wank mountain in Germany can use a Wankpass to ride the Wankbahn up to the Wank-Haus at the summit?
- ... that the NFL's first championship game was won by Chicago over New York via a successful hook and ladder play run by the Bears with less than two minutes remaining?
- ... that of roughly 200 magic spells in the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, five are intended to protect the dead from snakes in the afterlife?
- 12:00, 17 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the Wachau in Austria (abbey pictured) inspired the name of the Wachovia area in North Carolina?
- ... that the Airedale Terrier Paddy the Wanderer was a famous stowaway and traveler who had Wellington harbour as his base?
- ... that Marie Kudeříková wrote her literary legacy while waiting for her execution in Breslau?
- ... that style of handwriting of lectionaries ℓ 296 and ℓ 1599 have resemblance to Codex Cyprius?
- ... that IGN's Adam Ballard described the Wii video game Chrysler Classic Racing as "basically one giant, terrible commercial"?
- ... that John Hartwell Cocke, who helped Thomas Jefferson build the University of Virginia, has been cited by historians for his knowledge of Jefferson's relationship with Sally Hemings?
- ... that the rainforests of eastern Australia harbour such trees as the yellow satinheart, five-leaf bonewood, northern yellow boxwood, shiny-leaved condoo, yellow bulletwood and veiny lace-flower?
- 06:00, 17 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Harry Yount (pictured) killed 70 antelope in one day during a hunting competition, but was ashamed because "it went against his heart to kill so many innocent creatures just for the glory"?
- ... that after acquiring the script for Santa Santita, the director did not start production for five years due to the lack of an appropriate lead actress?
- ... that nearly 10,000 quartz artifacts were found at a Neolithic site known as the Scord of Brouster?
- ... that Anne Rouse's poetry often draws upon her experiences as a mental health worker, such as the preoccupations of patients on a dementia ward?
- ... that San Francisco City Clinic is a specialty municipal sexual health center that opened in 1933 and serves people over the age of 12?
- ... that Sir William Blackstone's A Discourse on the Study of the Law was his only work to survive its various editions without alterations by the author?
- ... that Heaven 17's 1981 song "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" was banned by the BBC over fears it libeled Ronald Reagan?
- 00:00, 17 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Chicago's La Salle Hotel (pictured) became a de facto White House during U.S. President William Howard Taft's extended stay in its presidential suite?
- ... that La Stazione, a restaurant and former train station in New Paltz, New York, burned down in 1907, killing the station agent's dog?
- ... that the Pluton-class minelayers, built just before World War I, were the first purpose-built minelayers in the French Navy?
- ... that The River was called a "porn movie" by the lead actor's father?
- ... that college football coach Harry Baum helped build the Broadmoor Hotel and three state capitol buildings?
- ... that after the Woodlawn subway station was opened in The Bronx in 1917, nearby Woodlawn Cemetery built a new sales office to meet demand?
- ... that the phrase "more bang for the buck" was used to describe the United States' New Look policy of depending on nuclear weapons, rather than a large regular army, to keep the Soviet Union in check?
16 December 2010
- 18:00, 16 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that baseball player Socks Seybold (pictured) held the American League home run record before Babe Ruth broke it in 1919?
- ... that LZ7's 2010 single "This Little Light" is based around the 20th century gospel song "This Little Light of Mine"?
- ... that the science fiction film Laserblast consistently ranks among the Internet Movie Database's bottom 100 films list, and was featured in the last episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 broadcast on Comedy Central?
- ... that in August each year, City of London Councillor Sir Alpheus Morton used to present the Lord Mayor with a basket of mulberries from the garden at Finsbury Circus?
- ... that the 1896 South Australian referendum was the first referendum to be held in Australia?
- ... that although Owen Bieber intended to be an auto parts worker only for a single summer, he stayed on the job and later became president of the United Auto Workers?
- ... that while most of Austria labels their wine similar to Germany, with names such as Spätlese and Auslese, producers in Wachau label their wines after feather grass, falconry and a green lizard?
- 12:00, 16 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the bee Anthidium manicatum (pictured) scrapes fur from leaves to line its nest?
- ... that both bombings, in May 2008, by Spain's ETA in Legutiano and Getxo involved Citroën Berlingos?
- ... that sprinter Seun Ogunkoya broke the 10-second barrier in the 100 metres before turning 20 years old?
- ... that underwater welding was invented by Konstantin Khrenov in 1932?
- ... that under football coach J. White Guyn, the cash-strapped Kentucky program arranged to play Michigan to generate revenue, but travel costs limited its income and the team lost, 62–0?
- ... that the Minnesota Building became more Moderne as it was being built?
- ... that after losing the Second 2010–11 Ashes Test to England, the selectors for the Australian cricket team thought that Beer could help them in the Third Test?
- 06:00, 16 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that a novel pigment with antibiotic properties was discovered in fruit bodies of the golden-edge bonnet (pictured)?
- ... that John Francis Wheaton was the first African American elected to the Minnesota State Legislature?
- ... that e-Government and controlled thermonuclear fusion are among the long-term goals of the Medvedev modernisation programme in Russia?
- ... that the 1958–59 ABC reality show Confession, hosted by Jack Wyatt, featured criminals discussing the circumstances which propelled them into a life of lawlessness?
- ... that Michigan footballer and Rhodes Scholar James K. Watkins became Detroit Police Commissioner and formed a group in 1936 "to save their country from a perpetuation of the New Deal"?
- ... that the California towns of La Placita and Agua Mansa, located across from each other on the Santa Ana River, were the largest settlements between New Mexico and Los Angeles in the 1840s?
- ... that during the 1892–1894 war in the Eastern Congo, Baron Dhanis allowed his men to bring their wives, slaves and servants along with his army?
- 00:00, 16 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Sony plans to develop a Spider-Man reboot starring Andrew Garfield (pictured) as Spider-Man that will be released in 2012 in 3-D?
- ... that Chris Strachwitz, German-born founder of blues and Cajun music specialist Arhoolie Records, accumulated the largest private collection of Mexican and Mexican-American music in the world?
- ... that Bremo Slave Chapel is the only place of worship known to have been built for slaves in the Commonwealth of Virginia?
- ... that Giovanni Orsini was the nephew of Pope Nicholas III, a legate for Pope John XXII, helped to drive Antipope Nicholas V from Rome, and took part in the election of Pope Benedict XII?
- ... that the Bristol Festival of Ideas, set up in 2005 as part of the city's bid to become European Capital of Culture, now awards one of the most valuable annual book prizes in the UK?
- ... that in 1899, Major League Baseball rookie Jimmy Williams set a Pittsburgh Pirates team record with his 27-game hitting streak?
- ... that New Zealand Army officer Rhys Jones, the next Chief of Defence Force, was told in 2000 that he would receive no further promotions?
15 December 2010
- 18:00, 15 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that some chemical reactions are used for welding rail tracks (example pictured)?
- ... that Knute Rockne called Thomas A. Barry "the man who laid the football foundation at Notre Dame"?
- ... that the Gruta das Torres is a three-dimensional braided lava tube system, the longest in the Azores?
- ... that film director Tracie Laymon won the 2009 award for Best Short Film from the Women's Image Network for her work directing the short film Inside?
- ... that although it was originally designed as a test machine, Sceptre was turned into a fusion reactor when ZETA apparently produced fusion?
- ... that Rev. Shubael Dummer was killed at York, Maine, by the Abenaki in the Candlemas Massacre of January 1692?
- ... that the French armored cruiser Sully struck a rock in Halong Bay, French Indochina, in 1905, only eight months after she was completed, and was a total loss?
- 12:00, 15 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that access to the 1870 construction site of Sandy Cape Light (pictured) on Fraser Island, Queensland, Australia, was so steep that materials were raised on a whim?
- ... that the Viveros de Coyoacán was the first tree nursery in Mexico and the first large scale tree nursery in Latin America?
- ... that the Office of Science in the Department of Energy is the predominant U.S. federal government sponsor for research in the physical sciences and initiated the Human Genome Project?
- ... that former CANOE Live host Janette Luu was the first ever Vietnamese TV anchor in Toronto, Canada?
- ... that in St Peter's Church, Kingerby, Lincolnshire, is a slab carved with the effigy of a knight whose lower body and legs have been replaced by a cross?
- ... that basketball player Charlie T. Black won two national championships and was named the Helms Foundation National Player of the Year while at Kansas?
- ... that Grover, Utah used to be named "Carcass Creek"?
- 06:00, 15 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that a self-educated Norwegian immigrant farmer built the finest farmhouse (pictured) in Dodge County, Minnesota?
- ... that one of the educational goals of the children's television show Sesame Street was to prepare young children for school?
- ... that the 1927 presidential election in Liberia made it into the Guinness Book of Records as the most fraudulent ever?
- ... that within a year after the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, one venue was converted into a baseball stadium while two others were imploded?
- ... that No. 61 Wing RAAF built a 10,000-foot (3,000 m) runway at Darwin, Northern Territory, in 1944 to accommodate a proposed deployment of 100 USAAF B-29 Superfortress bombers that never eventuated?
- ... that, after giving up five runs in his Major League Baseball debut with the Cincinnati Reds, pitcher Martin Glendon quit the team and moved to San Francisco?
- ... that the fungus Entomophthora muscae makes flies climb upwards before killing them, so they are better able to release a shower of spores for the next cycle of infection?
- 00:00, 15 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the German battleship Friedrich der Grosse (pictured) was the flagship of the Imperial Navy during the majority of World War I, including the Battle of Jutland?
- ... that Bruce DuMont, investigative reporter and host of Beyond the Beltway, is the nephew of the inventor of the first commercially viable television?
- ... that the namesake of the Patrick Henry Hotel in Roanoke, Virginia, is the American Founding Father Patrick Henry?
- ... that Jason Ratcliff was the 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion crew chief?
- ... that with the foundation of the Athonite Academy, near Vatopedi monastery, the monastic community of Mount Athos took a leading role in the 18th century modern Greek Enlightenment?
- ... that an oxaziridine rearrangement reaction is the key step in the synthesis of erectile dysfunction medication yohimbine?
- ... that the location of one of the venues of the 1994 Winter Olympics at Lillehammer was moved because the original site was too close to a bird sanctuary?
14 December 2010
- 18:00, 14 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that after RAAF Tomahawk pilots John Jackson (pictured) and Bobby Gibbes shared in destroying a Vichy French fighter plane in 1941, they tossed a coin to see who would take the credit for it?
- ... that over 30,000 eggs were used to prepare the paint and glaze that went into the elaborate decorations of the Šarena Džamija of Tetovo?
- ... that former Florida State Seminoles player Ryan Reid had more wins than any other player in the school's college basketball history?
- ... that there were only two successful prison breaks in the history of Chi Hoa Prison?
- ... that Old Caloundra Light, a lighthouse inactive since 1968, was relocated twice, in 1970 and back in 1999, and was damaged on the second relocation attempt?
- ... that Harry W. Child received a knighthood from the King of Sweden after giving the king a guided tour of Yellowstone National Park?
- ... that in its early years, the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra featured a solo performance by Isaac Stern and the premiere of a musical composition about a nuclear reactor?
- 12:00, 14 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that a turning enthusiast built the most elaborate commercial building (pictured) in New Ulm, Minnesota?
- ... that before he co-founded Soundcraft, Graham Blyth helped build the mixing console used by Emerson, Lake & Palmer at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970?
- ... that all 16 episodes from the third season of the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation will be filmed before the first one is aired?
- ... that George Leslie Hunter's early work was destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake?
- ... that the German battleship SMS Markgraf is a popular diving site in Scapa Flow, where it was scuttled in 1919?
- ... that Sri Lankan politician A. M. M. Naushad, as Deputy Secretary of the UNP, created a problem for his party leader by advocating his view that "his community came first and the party next"?
- ... that the Memphis Symphony Orchestra performs annual concerts in honor of the birthday of Elvis Presley?
- 06:00, 14 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the Late Cretaceous crocodile relative Simosuchus (restoration pictured) ate plants and had a pug-nosed snout?
- ... that Jeremiah Dummer (1643–1718) was the first American-born silversmith?
- ... that the new Royal Enfield Fury 500cc single is the first Royal Enfield motorcycle in 40 years with twin exhaust pipes?
- ... that it was not until the Fair Housing Act of 1968 that housing discrimination in the United States became illegal?
- ... that according to a study by the International Committee of the Red Cross, the civilian casualty ratio in wars fought since the mid-20th century has been 10 civilian deaths for every soldier death?
- ... that the home of Danish sea captain Cornelius Jensen on the Jensen Alvarado Ranch is the oldest non-adobe structure in California's Inland Empire?
- ... that both Joe Matthews and his father were charged with and acquitted of treason in 1956?
- 00:00, 14 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the Peacekeeper Rail Garrison Car (pictured) was designed not only to hide the MGM-118 Peacekeeper ICBM from Soviet attack but also to act as a platform for launching the missile?
- ... that there were numerous complaints from the contestants over dead rats and appliances floating at the venue for the sailing competitions at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona?
- ... that Seattle's historic counterculture coffeehouse, the Last Exit on Brooklyn, was a noted chess venue frequented by grandmasters Peter Biyiasas and Yasser Seirawan?
- ... that the Lympha is an ancient Roman deity of fresh water?
- ... that Bill Mizeur never batted under .300 until his 14th season in professional baseball?
- ... that one design for a flight deck cruiser was described as a cross between a Brooklyn-class light cruiser and the aircraft carrier USS Wasp?
- ... that the Rosendale trestle, once the highest span bridge in the United States, was sold in 1986 for one dollar?
13 December 2010
- 18:00, 13 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the 1946 fire at the Winecoff Hotel (pictured) in Atlanta, Georgia, was the deadliest hotel fire in U.S. history?
- ... that between 90% and 98% of all amputees report retaining all or part of the missing limb in their body schema?
- ... that snowy plovers nest in former salt evaporation ponds in the Moss Landing Wildlife Area?
- ... that the match for the WWE Championship at Royal Rumble (2004) was booked after Brock Lesnar legitimately broke his opponent's neck?
- ... that Frank "Piano Mover" Smith was the first Chicago White Sox baseball pitcher to throw two no-hitters?
- ... that the Tiger of Pilibhit was responsible for killing and partially eating eight people before being captured?
- ... that the boathouse for the Burnham Area Rescue Boat was built in just three days as part of the Challenge Anneka television series?
- 12:00, 13 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Charles Ingle, who composed the music for "My Old Dutch" (1899 sample right), gained his pseudonym in a "spirit of waggery"?
- ... that the Mount Baker waxy cap was named after the volcano on which it was first collected?
- ... that as Regius Professor of Physic at Cambridge for over 40 years, Christopher Green did "little if any teaching"?
- ... that the Russian monitor Smerch was constructed at the Charles Mitchell shipyard in England, broken down, and shipped to Saint Petersburg for reassembly?
- ... that Helena Bliss married her co-star from the original Broadway production of Gypsy Lady?
- ... that The Big Tree Plant is a new Government-sponsored campaign in England to promote the planting of one million trees in neighbourhoods?
- ... that in 1857, Peter White was a storekeeper, lawyer, county clerk, registrar of deeds, school board treasurer, postmaster, customs collector, state representative, and a newlywed?
- 06:00, 13 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the Class 15F 4-8-2 steam locomotives (example pictured) were the most numerous on South African Railways?
- ... that after the Russian Revolution and Civil War, Princess Catherine Yurievskaya, a daughter of Czar Alexander II, became a professional singer?
- ... that in 2010, Gus and Tavo Vildósola of the Vildosola Racing team became the first Mexican competitors to win the Baja 1000, an annual off-road race held in Mexico?
- ... that Brett Domino's song about Gillian McKeith was inspired by McKeith's exploits on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!?
- ... that German metallurgist Curt Netto was honored by the Japanese Emperor with the Order of the Rising Sun in 1885?
- ... that the speed skating venue for the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville was the last outdoor rink to hold Olympic speed skating competitions?
- ... that Constance Ortmayer designed a commemorative coin for the anniversary of an event that never happened?
- 00:00, 13 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the First Hungarian Reformed Church of New York (pictured) on the Upper East Side is the only Christian religious building designed by Emery Roth?
- ... that Michael Rimington raised an irregular cavalry force in the Boer War, known as Rimington's Tigers?
- ... that the Chinese translations of the IS (Infinite Stratos) light novels were under indefinite suspension because the publisher had entered into overseas contracts without the writer's consent?
- ... that in 1952 the pastor L. L. Clover launched Louisiana Missionary Baptist Institute and Seminary with two students studying from his home in Minden, Louisiana?
- ... that the art of the United Kingdom only dates from 1707 onwards?
- ... that the planned community of Celebration, Florida, was the 1989 brainchild of Pete Rummell when he was President of Disney Development Company?
- ... that until the Spanish Civil War, chocolate was a much more popular drink than coffee in Spain?
12 December 2010
- 18:00, 12 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that according to Frederick Henry Ambrose Scrivener, Lectionary 183 (pictured) probably is the most valuable manuscript he had ever collated?
- ... that the 14th century Englishman Thomas Fastolf is the first known to have reported cases in the papal court known as the Rota?
- ... that the Bremo Plantation at Bremo Bluff, Virginia, provided refuge to the family of General Robert E. Lee during the American Civil War?
- ... that the communist Moni Guha was amongst the first in India to criticize the 1956 line of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union?
- ... that Activision founder Larry Kaplan called Street Racer the one game he wished he had done differently?
- ... that Katy Munger is known for her writing in the Tart Noir genre?
- ... that the ravens of the Tower of London are enlisted as soldiers of the Kingdom, and can be dismissed for unsatisfactory conduct?
- 12:00, 12 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the Perry Nelson House (pictured) – dubbed the "House of Politics" – was a place where Yankee farmers and politicians discussed issues of the day?
- ... that the oriental mole cricket, Gryllotalpa orientalis, can not only dig a burrow a metre deep but can also swim?
- ... that pastor A. T. Powers, president of the American Baptist Association from 1957 to 1959, once led a blue collar church in Monticello, Arkansas, which paid him only US$12.50 per month?
- ... that silos for the Advanced Intercontinental Ballistic Missile were intended to be 10 times harder than those used by Minutemen?
- ... that Thomas R. Potts, the first mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota, was a physician?
- ... that St Mary the Virgin's Church, Little Hormead, Hertfordshire, is particularly noted for its preserved 12th-century ironwork door which depicts a serpentine dragon?
- ... that the 1997 production of its passion play caused a controversy when the Park Performing Arts Center cast an African-American actor to play the role of Jesus?
- 06:00, 12 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that after Soviet dissident Leon Trotsky and his wife obtained political asylum in Mexico in 1937, they were accommodated in artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo's "Blue House" (pictured), now a museum in Coyoacán, Mexico City?
- ... that the historian James L. McCorkle, Jr., has researched heavily on the importance of rural truck farming in feeding the urban population of the American South?
- ... that although Massachusetts is located at the 42nd parallel north, some of its rocks originated near the South Pole?
- ... that Swedish emigrants brought kalvdans, a dessert made out of colostrum milk, to North America?
- ... that although the seeds of Cycas rumphii contain a toxic glucoside, they can be made edible by pounding, washing and cooking?
- ... that General Lee and the Confederate Army retreated over the Sachs Covered Bridge after being defeated in the Battle of Gettysburg?
- ... that the historical novel Night Thoughts of a Classical Physicist, about the rise of modern physics, inspired a lecture by Steven Weinberg called "Night Thoughts of a Quantum Physicist"?
- 00:00, 12 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the Yellow-fronted Parrot is from Ethiopia, while the Yellow-faced Parrot (pictured) is from Brazil and Bolivia?
- ... that 20 Province of Carolina traders and 300 Tallapoosa and Alabama Indians laid siege to Pensacola (then in Spanish Florida) in November 1707?
- ... that baseball catcher George Yeager had his best statistical season cut short after 19 games due to a knee injury?
- ... that the Olympic Saddledome venue used for the 1988 Winter Olympics was under construction in 1981 when Calgary was awarded the Games?
- ... that when the Ottoman Turks controlled Santorini, they still permitted production of the local wine, despite Islamic laws against alcohol, and even its trade to enemies like the Russian Empire?
- ... that artist Teodoro Cano García was discovered by Diego Rivera and is known for his works depicting the Totonac culture of his native Papantla?
- ... that a pile of junk wooden pallets built up by Daniel Van Meter became a cultural historic monument?
11 December 2010
- 18:00, 11 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that New York City offered the 5-acre (2.0 ha) Kingsbridge Armory (pictured), in The Bronx, reputedly the largest in the world, to the UN General Assembly as a temporary meeting space?
- ... that many sturgeons of the Sungari River spent the last several months of their lives in Fate Town, Jilin?
- ... that nematode Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita is used to kill slug pests?
- ... that Íslendingur, the Icelandic replica of the Gokstad Viking ship that sailed across the Atlantic to L’Anse aux Meadows in 2000, is now displayed in the new Viking World museum in Reykjanesbær?
- ... that after he injured Indianapolis Colts linebacker O'Brien Alston, New York Jets running back Freeman McNeil was so distraught that he "committed a flagrant act of compassion"?
- ... that Kunitz domains, the active protein domains of certain protease inhibitors, are used for the development of new drugs?
- ... that in 1935, muralist Gilbert Brown Wilson was paid only US$28 in coins collected by schoolchildren for three years of work in Woodrow Wilson Middle School, Terre Haute, Indiana?
- 12:00, 11 December 2010 (UTC)
Portrait shot showing the face of a young man wearing a black jersey with the words ADIDAS on the right and All Blacks under a silver fern on the left
- ... that in 2010 All Blacks captain Richie McCaw (pictured) was named the IRB International Player of The Year, for a record third time?
- ... that the Mashteuiatsh Reserve on Lake Saint-Jean in Quebec, Canada, had an original size of 23,040 acres (93.2 km2) but currently is only 3,600 acres (14.6 km2)?
- ... that the Palestinian Authority has detained Palestinian blogger Walid Husayin for allegedly blaspheming against Islam on Facebook and in his personal blog?
- ... that under Article 9 of the Singapore Constitution no one may be deprived of life or personal liberty save in accordance with law, which a 1980 case says includes fundamental rules of natural justice?
- ... that to this day, Tulane University and Louisiana State University dispute the results of a football game coached by H. T. Summersgill in 1901?
- ... that the comic series Lips Tullian was selected as the third most significant Czech comic in the history of the genre?
- ... that in Devon a cream tea includes a scone spread with clotted cream and topped with jam, but in Cornwall it is prepared the other way around?
- 06:00, 11 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the Platt-LePage Aircraft Company, formed after one of its founders was impressed by a Nazi rotorcraft, beat Sikorsky for the contract to supply the first American military helicopter (pictured)?
- ... that Joseph Levien became Mayor of Nelson, New Zealand, after the City Council had gone bankrupt?
- ... that a documentary investigating corruption within FIFA was broadcast in the week that the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup hosts were chosen?
- ... that Louisiana educator and debate coach E. R. Minchew was himself the winner in 1929 of the state collegiate championship in oratory?
- ... that a woman's G-Spot can be easily reached in the spoons sex position?
- ... that although Persier was due to be scuttled as a blockship during Operation Overlord in June 1944, she was returned to service, only to be torpedoed and sunk in February 1945?
- ... that John McKechnie, recipient of a 1987 Coach of the Year award, was winless in college football?
- 00:00, 11 December 2010 (UTC)
Figural representation of Indiana
- ... that in 1893 a sculpture of Indiana (pictured) by Retta Matthews portrayed an "ideal figure of Indiana" at the Chicago World's Fair?
- ... that in the deepest underwater rescue in history, CURV-III, a US Navy ROV, saved two men stranded in a submersible at a depth of 1,575 ft (480 m) with just minutes of air remaining?
- ... that Arnold Aronson, a founder of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, helped inspire the career of his nephew, singer-songwriter and organizer Si Kahn?
- ... that Creek Indians assisted by English traders defeated a larger force of Apalachee and Spanish fighters in the October 1702 Battle of Flint River?
- ... that research on the acochlidians, a group with 30 species, resulted in the redefinition of the Heterobranchia, the largest clade of gastropods, and has led to the creation of the new clades Euopisthobranchia and Panpulmonata in 2010?
- ... that Walter T. Bailey was the first licensed African-American architect in Illinois?
- ... that despite being a builder of railroad rolling stock, US Railcar has no facilities with which to construct their products?
10 December 2010
- 18:00, 10 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that at the "Red Basilica" of Pergamon (pictured), worshippers of the Egyptian gods may have reenacted the flooding of the Nile?
- ... that philanthropist Richard Goldman and his wife established a prize in 1990 that has been called "The Green Nobel"?
- ... that the first iron mine in the Lake Superior region, the Jackson Mine, was established where iron ore was found in the roots of a fallen tree?
- ... that this year a U.S. Embassy attaché visited the tomb of Samuel Lucas who lived to hear the "tidings of the destruction of the slave power in the United States"?
- ... that the reality TV programme Bedsitcom featured actors following the producer's instructions, as well as unaware members of the public, leading to it being labelled "morally reprehensible"?
- ... that M-1 Global's welterweight (Shamil Zavurov vs. Abner Lloveras), middleweight (Magomed Sultanakhmedov vs. Rafał Moks), and light heavyweight (Tomasz Narkun vs. Vyacheslav Vasilevsky) mixed martial arts champions will be determined at M-1 Challenge XXII today?
- ... that Bill Wiese claims to have spent 23 Minutes in Hell?
- 12:00, 10 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that coffee production in India (coffee plantation pictured) started when Baba Budan, while on a pilgrimage, smuggled seven coffee beans from Yemen by concealing them around his waist, and planted them in Karnataka?
- ... that Chase Aircraft lost the contract to produce its C-123 transport aircraft due to a scandal involving Henry J. Kaiser, that also resulted in Chase's CEO starting his own company?
- ... that in his last professional baseball season, Bobby Treviño set a Texas League record by hitting safely in 37 consecutive games?
- ... that Indian politician Harihar Narayan Prabhakar began his political career in the Communist Party of India, but later represented the Bharatiya Janata Party in the legislative assembly of Bihar?
- ... that actors Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston will reprise their Thor movie roles in the video game, Thor: God of Thunder?
- ... that in certain organisms sperm stored by females allows for a process called sperm competition?
- ... that Australian actress and filmmaker Elsa Chauvel met her future husband Charles when he scouted her for the lead role in Greenhide?
- 06:00, 10 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that when the foundations of an old Scottish castle in Angus were cleared in 1819, a floor slab in the castle's kitchen was found to be a Pictish stone, the Woodwrae Stone (pictured)?
- ... that Frantisek Janecek, founder of Jawa motorcycles, was originally famous as the inventor of the Janecek hand grenade?
- ... that the second CIA spyplane developed under Project Isinglass was designed to fly at Mach 22?
- ... that William Huskisson MP was killed at the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway by Stephenson's Rocket?
- ... that during the creation of the Ottoman Archives in the 19th century, hatt-i humayuns were cut out from their documents without cross-referencing, resulting in great loss of information to historians?
- ... that during the Great Recoinage of 1816 the design of the portrait of King George III by Benedetto Pistrucci was met with such public hostility that it was withdrawn?
- ... that the Devil's Highway and the Mother Road are two of the U.S. Routes in the U.S. state of New Mexico?
- 00:00, 10 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that samarium (pictured) was the first chemical element named after a person, Vasili Samarsky-Bykhovets?
- ... that Eliseo Medina is the first Mexican American to serve on the executive board of the Service Employees International Union?
- ... that the Maya city of Ixkun in Guatemala erected one of the tallest stone stelae in the entire Petén Basin?
- ... that Thomas Benton Cooley was inducted into the Legion of Honour for his work with the children of France during World War I and later discovered "Cooley's anemia"?
- ... that in the mid-1940s Temple Beth Israel of Sharon, Pennsylvania, held Reform services on Friday nights and Orthodox ones on Saturday mornings?
- ... that Gerard Hodgkinson – a Royal Flying Corps pilot, Swahili-speaking former Somerset cricketer and owner of Wookey Hole Caves – sued John Cowper Powys for libel and won, even though the story was fictionalized?
- ... that despite having only one arm, Arthur Lea played international football for Wales?
9 December 2010
- 18:00, 9 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that during training cruises near Pearl Harbor, Pisces IV (pictured) and its sister Pisces V found the long lost Ko-hyoteki class midget submarine whose wreckage confirms that America fired the first shot in their war against Japan?
- ... that Brian Halligan, an executive and author, draws inspiration for marketing from the rock band the Grateful Dead?
- ... that the Trilokinath Temple at Tunde in Lahul, Himachal Pradesh, India, is sacred to both Tibetan Buddhists and Hindus?
- ... that Daniel O'Brien, senior editor for Cracked.com, was confronted by the FBI and United States Secret Service after writing an article titled "How to Kidnap the President's Daughter?"
- ... that with regards to black history and ice hockey, Grant Fuhr was the first black player inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame?
- ... that the extinct sandfly species Lutzomyia adiketis is host to the Paleoleishmania species P. neotropicum?
- ... that Burnham-on-Sea's lifeboat used to be pulled by horses along a railway line from its lifeboat station to the beach where it could be launched?
- 12:00, 9 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that initially described as devouring children on the sixth day after birth, today the Hindu goddess Shashthi (pictured) is worshiped on this day as the protector of children?
- ... that the most recent no-hitter for the Cleveland Indians, pitched by Len Barker in 1981, and that for the Cincinnati Reds, by Tom Browning in 1988, were both perfect games?
- ... that Cullen Wines' chief wine maker, Vanya Cullen, trained and received a degree in zoology prior to joining the family winery?
- ... that, prior to the 2010–11 Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball season, the Charlotte 49ers fired coach Bobby Lutz, despite his being the team's all-time wins leader?
- ... that the National Assembly of Azerbaijan was the first secular republican parliament in the Muslim world?
- ... that the jazz history of 1924 included George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, widely regarded as one of the finest compositions of the 20th century?
- ... that in preparation for moving to HD broadcasting, the British soap opera EastEnders' set was lit on fire?
- 06:00, 9 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the Salvation Army chose the Zigzag Moderne-style for their Minnesota headquarters (pictured) in order to demonstrate that it was a modern organization?
- ... that British politician Edward Jenkins was best known as the author of satirical political novels?
- ... that many of the venues of the 1988 Summer Olympics were tested when Seoul, South Korea, hosted the Asian Games two years earlier?
- ... that when No. 72 Wing of the Royal Australian Air Force deployed in 1943, it was to what was described as "a desolate marshy little port" in Dutch New Guinea?
- ... that baseball pitcher Ed Kinsella won 144 games in a 10-year minor league career but had only one major league victory?
- ... that Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika was said to be "keeping a watchful eye" over the investigation into the crash of South East Airlines Flight 372?
- ... that in 1955 the Indonesian film workers union Sarbufis launched a campaign to ban American newsreel film?
- 00:00, 9 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Brighton-born conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton have all topped the bill at the Brighton Hippodrome (pictured)?
- ... that Gustav Jebsen researched, and later oversaw as chief executive, the mid-1910s innovation in production of titanium white?
- ... that the bronze bust of Robert Dale Owen at the Indiana Statehouse was stolen in 1970 and the culprit(s) have never been found?
- ... that Fort Julien near the mouth of the Nile in Egypt was the place where French soldiers discovered the Rosetta Stone in 1799?
- ... that the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens, is the oldest continuously serving Presbyterian church in the United States?
- ... that Joseph Whittaker, who has 2,200 pressed plants in Derby Museum, sold 300 South Australian plants he collected in 1839–40 to Kew Gardens?
- ... that after Steven Posner filed suit against his financier father Victor Posner, the amount of the settlement was determined based on the result of a golden coin flipped in front of the judge?
8 December 2010
- 18:00, 8 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the stripes on tulips (examples pictured) that caused tulip mania were probably caused by a virus, but this was unknown to science at the time?
- ... that, as suggested by Alexander Sergeyevich Stroganov, Alexander I established the Depository of Manuscripts in the National Library of Russia?
- ... that the squidworm is a newly discovered genus of deep water worms with physical characteristics of both seabed-dwelling and free-swimming worms?
- ... that members of the Belize Evangelical Mennonite Church include Creoles, Garifuna, Maya, and Mestizos?
- ... that while on location in Alaska shooting the 1933 film Eskimo, Oscar winner Clyde De Vinna was rescued from carbon monoxide poisoning because he was using his short wave radio?
- ... that ZALA Aero is the only company in Russia that produces unmanned helicopters?
- ... that Enrico Vittori's sculpture Christopher Columbus at the Indiana Statehouse was donated by members of the state's Italian American community as a tribute to America?
- 12:00, 8 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Wolffia arrhiza (pictured) is the smallest vascular plant on earth?
- ... that Al Jacks was the football coach for Williams College for just five days?
- ... that the Şeyh Süleyman Mosque in Istanbul was almost certainly an annex of Constantinople's Monastery of Pantokrator in the Byzantine Age?
- ... that the composer Olof Åhlström, who had parallel careers in the Swedish war office and as an organist in two Stockholm churches, also founded the first larger-scale musical printing press in Sweden?
- ... that, when BHP Billiton awarded the contract to manage the Yarrie mine to Ngarda Civil & Mining, it was the largest-ever mining contract awarded to an Australian Aboriginal-owned company?
- ... that Indonesian Minister of Education Prijono received the Stalin Peace Prize in 1954?
- ... that Hudson's Bay Company fur trader John Work fell out of a tree during an 1840 expedition and tore open his abdomen, but pushed his intestines back inside, recovered and continued his journey?
- 06:00, 8 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that grateful Confederate prisoners commissioned the bust of camp commander Colonel Richard Owen (pictured) in 1913?
- ... that the 2006 homebrew Medieval Mayhem and the 1984 Starpath Supercharger version of Frogger are the only two Atari 2600 games to receive an "A+" rating from The Video Game Critic?
- ... that the 27th Laird of Pitmilly was the joint fastest man in the world in 1892?
- ... that "1000 Miles Apart" was written by a British army captain serving in Afghanistan and is a contender for the 2010 UK Christmas number-one single?
- ... that the house in which Leon Trotsky was murdered is a museum which hosts yearly exhibits by graffiti artists?
- ... that the sixth generation descendants of Joseph Dodson, one of the early brewers of Nelson, New Zealand, are still in the brewing business?
- ... that a 7-foot-8 Japanese basketball player, a future Baseball Hall of Famer and a former college football star were selected in the 1981 NBA Draft, but none of them ever played in the league?
- 00:00, 8 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Mike McCullough (pictured) of the Saskatchewan Roughriders was named the inaugural winner of the Jake Gaudaur Veterans' Trophy at the 98th Grey Cup?
- ... that when the Deir ez-Zor Museum in Syria was founded in 1974, its collection consisted of only 140 objects?
- ... that Adam Houghton, a former Lord Chancellor, helped to negotiate the marriage of King Richard II and Anne of Bohemia?
- ... that Sandy Cape on Queensland's Fraser Island is a rookery for the endangered loggerhead and green turtles?
- ... that, in his Major League Baseball debut, Bill Harrelson got involved in a pitchers' duel with a future Hall of Famer?
- ... that a 2010 study found eleven carcinogenic compounds in third-hand smoke?
- ... that Tart Noir, a type of crime fiction, was created by four writers who decided to make the genre while they were drunk at a writer's conference?
7 December 2010
- 18:00, 7 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Guanajuato contains one of the older sites of Mesoamerica (artifact pictured)?
- ... that 18-year-old NASCAR driver Johanna Long became the second woman to win the Snowball Derby?
- ... that the black bean aphid is able to reproduce asexually, giving birth to live offspring through a process known as parthenogenesis?
- ... that in 2010, Aaron Kelton became Williams College's first black varsity coach, and its first football coach to go undefeated in his debut season?
- ... that Bustard Head Light, an 1868 lighthouse near 1770, Queensland, Australia, was the first to be established in Queensland after Queensland's formation in 1859?
- ... that the British cricketer and politician Sir Arthur Priestley went pig-sticking in Patiala?
- ... that in the spring of 1904, Ed Poole was arrested twice for playing a Major League Baseball game on Sunday?
- 12:00, 7 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that a part of the Croatian A7 motorway near Rijeka that passes only 40 metres (130 feet) away from residential buildings is fully enclosed by noise barriers (pictured) covered by 1,155 solar panels?
- ... that Robert Louis Stevenson wrote his poem "To H. F. Brown" to celebrate Horatio Brown's book Life on the Lagoons?
- ... that shells of Achatina vassei are held by only two museums worldwide?
- ... that a Billboard review called Justin Bieber's vocals on "Bigger" both "boyish" and "mature"?
- ... that despite being a friend of Kim Il-sung, a Hero of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and a decorated general during the Korean War, Lee Kwon Mu was purged in 1959?
- ... that Charles Chauvel conceived his Australian historical film Heritage in order to maximise his likelihood of winning a £2,500 Commonwealth Prize?
- ... that in 1893, T. L. Bayne coached both sides in a college football game, which prompted the Chicago Daily Tribune to note that "Bayne's Tulane team whipped Bayne's L.S.U. team"?
- 06:00, 7 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the Photothèque (pictured) in Luxembourg houses photographs of the city taken as early as 1855?
- ... that screenwriter Shauna Cross is adapting the pregnancy guide What to Expect When You're Expecting into a romantic comedy film?
- ... that the most recent no-hitter by Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers went into extra innings and concluded with a pinch-hit walk-off home run?
- ... that Andrew Sinclair, second Colonial Secretary of New Zealand, has 16 New Zealand plants named for him?
- ... that "Down to Earth" is a ballad by Justin Bieber inspired by his parents' divorce?
- ... that the death in June 1945 of the Labour Party candidate Walter Windsor caused Hull East to be the last constituency to declare a result in the 1945 general election in the United Kingdom?
- ... that Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola's book The Five Orders of Architecture from 1562 is considered to be "one of the most successful architectural textbooks ever written" despite having almost no text?
- 00:00, 7 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the Venetian Sandolo (pictured) can be distinguished from a Gondola as it lacks a high steel prow, or ferro?
- ... that fashion model Ann Ward, who was mocked as a child due to her height, was the only contestant of America's Next Top Model to be named best photo five times in a row?
- ... that although "relatively little scholarly attention" was paid to William Blackstone's An Analysis of the Laws of England, its initial success necessitated the printing of four editions in four years?
- ... that director Andrei Konchalovsky stated that "ballet cannot work in cinema very well," and as such, did not include any in his 2010 film, The Nutcracker in 3D?
- ... that William Albrecht of the University of Missouri made a significant contribution to soil ecology with his work on the Base Cation Saturation Ratio?
- ... that the namesake peak of the 1950 Battle of Battle Mountain changed hands 20 times in two weeks of fighting?
6 December 2010
- 18:00, 6 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that in 1926, Lise Meitner (pictured), a co-discoverer of protactinium, became Germany's first female full professor in physics?
- ... that the first no-hitter in the history of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball franchise was pitched on October 4, 1891, by Ted Breitenstein in his first major league start?
- ... that when Tiberius was dethroned in 681, he and his brother and Byzantine co-emperor Heraclius were mutilated, but after Tiberius III was deposed in 705, he and his brother Heraclius were executed?
- ... that in 1846, Ashbourne Hall and its Derbyshire estate were withdrawn from a sale and sold later in 46 lots by a local solicitor?
- ... that composer Rudi Spring accompanied Salome Kammer in songs and chansons at the Rheingau Musik Festival?
- ... that the Furuset and Grorud Lines of the Oslo Metro each serve one side of the Grorud Valley, and several proposals have been made to connect the two?
- ... that the upcoming BBC TV series Just William is the latest in a number of BBC-TV adaptations of the Just William books?
- 12:00, 6 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that when the Churches Conservation Trust took St Martin's Church, Waithe, Lincolnshire (pictured) into its care, parts of it were close to collapse, it was overgrown, and it contained bat guano?
- ... that Syracuse University dean emeritus William Harrison Mace was a Michigan Wolverines football player in 1882?
- ... that samarium monosulfide changes color from black to golden when scratched?
- ... that a long-range artillery shell killed General Abel Douay on the first day of the first battle of the Franco-Prussian War?
- ... that the 1976 thriller movie Deadly Hero features James Earl Jones as a mugger named Rabbit?
- ... that Oleg Nikolaenko was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which believes him to be responsible for one-third of the world's electronic spam?
- ... that critic Christopher Gray said the U2 song "Yahweh" could be about Jesus or lead singer Bono's two children?
- 06:00, 6 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that although the Rans S-12XL Airaile (pictured) was scheduled to go out of production in 2006, customer demand has kept the kitplane in production?
- ... that Tainan mayor-elect William Lai was named Taiwan's "Best Legislator" for four consecutive years?
- ... that the ancestral home of U.S. Presidents William Henry Harrison and Benjamin Harrison, believed to be the oldest three-story brick mansion in Virginia, was built by Benjamin Harrison IV in 1726?
- ... that RAAF Base Richmond, one of the largest military airfields in Australia, was established in 1925 on a piece of land known as Ham Common?
- ... that ABC's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom (1957–1960) invited numerous African American singers to perform, including Pearl Bailey, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Mathis, and The Mills Brothers?
- ... that the U.S. Army's Parachute Rigger Badge first appeared in action during Exercise Swarmer?
- ... that Peter Shivute, Chief Justice in the Supreme Court of Namibia, spends his office hours on a fault?
- 00:00, 6 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Papyrus 6 (pictured), manuscript of the New Testament, contains text of the apocryphal First Epistle of Clement in Coptic (Akhmimic dialect)?
- ... that Cyrus Pitt Grosvenor, a Baptist abolitionist from Massachusetts, made a significant contribution to the problem of squaring the circle?
- ... that after the Nürnberger Platz Berlin U-Bahn station was replaced by Spichernstraße and demolished, the Augsburger Straße station had to be built to reduce the distance between stations?
- ... that Daniel D. Badger, with James Bogardus, was one of the major forces in creating cast-iron architecture in the United States?
- ... that the three prevailing causes of geriatric trauma are falls, traffic collisions and burns?
- ... that from 1914 to 1922 the British Member of Parliament Arthur Fell led an all-party committee which campaigned for a Channel Tunnel?
- ... that performance of Bach's cantata Wachet! betet! betet! wachet!, for the Second Sunday of Advent in Weimar, was not acceptable in Leipzig during Advent?
5 December 2010
- 18:00, 5 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the quarterbacks for the Michigan Wolverines football teams of the 19th century included a Brigadier General decorated for valor in World War I, the brother of a famous novelist, one of the founders of General Motors, the physician at a Kimberly-Clark mill, the son of the Governor of Wyoming, a steamboat builder, a Grand Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias (pictured) and a sheep rancher from Walla Walla?
- ... that the legacy of the mercantile Röhss family in Gothenburg includes a museum for design and three professorial chairs at Gothenburg University?
- ... that Richard Herbert raised a foot regiment and a troop of horse for the king during the English Civil War?
- ... that the archaeological sites of Tell Fray and Dibsi Faraj in Syria were flooded by the rising waters of Lake Assad?
- ... that Lt. Governor Frank G. Higgins was the first person born in Montana to become a member of the state's bar and of its legislature?
- ... that in the 2010 book Mao's Great Famine: The History of China's Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958-62, the author estimates an overall mortality of 45 million for the Great Chinese Famine, including some 2 to 3 million beaten or tortured to death?
- 12:00, 5 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the term "death panels," which Sarah Palin (pictured) coined on her Facebook page, was named "Lie of the Year" by PolitiFact.com and the "Most Outrageous" word of 2009 by the American Dialect Society?
- ... that Guinea was the only French colony to reject the 1958 constititution in a referendum, thereby opting for independence?
- ... that Uspenski Gospels is the oldest dated Greek manuscript of the New Testament?
- ... that Troy, an unincorporated area in the U.S. state of Virginia, is named after the president of the defunct Virginia Air Line Railway?
- ... that the British Conservative MP Sir Edmund Royds was defeated at the 1922 general election when the National Farmers Union supported his Liberal opponent?
- ... that in 2008–09, 64 percent of the 316 million tonnes of iron ore produced in Western Australia was exported to China?
- ... that the US 35th Infantry Regiment guarded a bridge for a week during the 1950 Battle of Nam River before it was accidentally destroyed by US bombers?
- 06:00, 5 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that although a recommendation to establish Booby Island Light (pictured) was made in 1873, it was only constructed in 1890, and was the last major lighthouse to be constructed along the Queensland coast?
- ... that in a 1998 case the Singapore Court of Appeal traced the origin of the concept of equality in Article 12 of the Constitution of Singapore to the 40th article of the Magna Carta of 1215?
- ... that the song "Una Canción Me Trajo Hasta Aquí" performed by Jorge Drexler received two nominations for the 11th Latin Grammy Awards even though it was not promoted to radio in the United States?
- ... that South African President Jacob Zuma has commented on the "special relationship" between his country and Ireland?
- ... that Canada has vowed to boycott the United Nations Durban III conference, calling it a "charade" and a "hatefest"?
- ... that Zimbabwe only played one One Day International cricket series in 2009–10, beating Kenya 4–1?
- ... that after Lieutenant-General Hew Fanshawe was removed from command of the British V Corps in 1916, he was replaced by his elder brother Edward – who was himself sacked in 1918?
- 00:00, 5 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Italian mountaineer Angelo Dibona (1879–1956) has a French mountain (pictured) named for him, and was still making first ascents at age 65?
- ... that online Facebook game Car Town features pace cars used in the 2010 Indianapolis 500 and the 2010 Brickyard 400?
- ... that Anika Moa has released platinum-certified albums under multiple record labels?
- ... that the opening of Seagram's Distillery in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1937 drew a crowd of 71,000 people during the week of the Kentucky Derby?
- ... that, only one month after the Berlin Wall was built, two West German aircraft accidentally violated East German airspace, flying to Berlin Tegel Airport on 14 September 1961?
- ... that Jacob B. Warlow was commended for his service as a police captain during the New York Draft Riots, which protested the American Civil War?
- ... that the Erkin Rakishev parody film My Brother, Borat is intended by the director to counter the negative perceptions of Kazakhstan generated by the 2006 film Borat?
4 December 2010
- 18:00, 4 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Olivia Shakespear (pictured), mother-in-law to Ezra Pound, was indirectly responsible for supporting struggling modernist writers such as T. S. Eliot and James Joyce?
- ... that despite being enveloped by the urban sprawl of Mexico City, the borough of Coyoacán still has areas with the narrow winding roads of rural villages?
- ... that American lawyer Lloyd K. Garrison was chairman of the "first" National Labor Relations Board, the National War Labor Board, and the New York City Board of Education?
- ... that the role-playing game Shining Hearts features hearts, collectible and usable by the player, that represent the other characters' feelings about the player's actions?
- ... that deputy minister Roman Romkowski, charged along with Director-general Anatol Fejgin and Col. Józef Różański of the Polish Ministry of Public Security, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 1957?
- ... that Clarence Brown's 1925 silent film Smouldering Fires starring Pauline Frederick is considered a cautionary tale?
- ... that the list of no-hitters by Baltimore Orioles pitchers includes a loss in the 1967 season, with runs given up in the ninth inning on walks, a wild pitch and an error?
- 12:00, 4 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Yanar Dag (pictured) is a natural fire that burns "eternally" on a hillside on the Absheron Peninsula in Azerbaijan?
- ... that the Guinean journalist Siradiou Diallo was suspected of being a double agent for President Sékou Touré?
- ... that the First Battle of Yeonpyeong was a deadly clash between the navies of North and South Korea in 1999 off Yeonpyeong island, which North Korea subsequently attacked in November 2010?
- ... that James Gross considers NLRB v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corp., NLRB v. Columbian Enameling & Stamping Co., and NLRB v. Sands Mfg.Co. the most significant Supreme Court rulings on the National Labor Relations Act since the Court upheld the Act?
- ... that when the Portuguese Royalty moved to Brazil to escape the French invasion of Portugal the Brazil–Portugal relationship was of a former colony ruling the Portuguese Empire?
- ... that German lawyer Rainer Rene Graf Adelmann von Adelmannsfelden, founder of the Federation of German mercenaries, was the subject of a question in the German Parliament in regards to organ donor laws?
- ... that Moss Airport, Rygge is the first airport in Europe to replace all the runway and taxiway lights with light emitting diodes?
- 06:00, 4 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that ice cream manufacturer William Wilson Talcott (pictured) killed himself by jumping from an excursion steamer into Lake Michigan with rocks in his pockets after he was unable to extricate his wife from a "love cult" in 1922?
- ... that medieval Bulgarian anti-Bogomil writer Cosmas the Priest was regarded as a saint although there is no data that he was ever canonised?
- ... that the Russian ironclad Kniaz Pozharsky was the first Russian armored ship to leave European waters when she cruised the Pacific Ocean in 1873–75?
- ... that more than 9,000 women were sterilized during the Iron Fist Campaign?
- ... that the Specialized Stumpjumper became the first mass-produced mountain bike when it was first introduced in 1981?
- ... that by the time Jeannie Carson joined Hey, Jeannie! she had become the second highest paid entertainer in the UK, behind Vivien Leigh?
- ... that fish have been sighted in Lake Burton, Antarctica?
- 00:00, 4 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that in addition to conducting minelaying operations in the South West Pacific, No. 76 Wing RAAF (PBY Catalina pictured) dropped over a million propaganda leaflets before the end of World War II?
- ... that Bill Stein hit a home run in his Major League Baseball debut on September 6, 1972?
- ... that by 1962 the communist-led Indonesian forest workers union Sarbuksi claimed to have a quarter of a million members?
- ... that Brock Reservoir in California saves unused water from the All-American Canal that would otherwise be "lost" to Mexico?
- ... that three composers, flutist Jens Josef, cellist Graham Waterhouse and pianist Rudi Spring, each set a Christmas carol for their trio concert at the Gasteig?
- ... that 1973 comedy film Bad Charleston Charlie was loosely based on gangster Charles Birger, the last man to be executed in Illinois by public hanging?
- ... that in 1899 the Lynmouth Lifeboat was pulled over a 1,423-foot (434 m) hill by men and horses so that it could launch to the aid of a ship 15 miles (24 km) from Lynmouth?
3 December 2010
- 18:00, 3 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Bill Naito (pictured), who abruptly left Portland, Oregon, at age 16 to avoid Japanese-American internment during World War II, later became one of the city's most esteemed business and civic leaders?
- ... that only two new permanent venues were constructed for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles?
- ... that the first Australian baseball player to sign a professional contract with a Major League Baseball organisation, after the dead-ball era, was Neil Page, who signed with the Cincinnati Reds in 1966?
- ... that the NBC television series The Ford Show referred to the sponsor, the Ford Motor Company, rather than the star, Tennessee Ernie Ford?
- ... that Nels Johnson built Century tower clocks, designed to last 100 years?
- ... that Eugenios Voulgaris, scholar and first director of the Maroutsaia School in Ioannina, Greece, insisted that the Greek intellectual revival should remain theologically and socially conservative?
- ... that the National Docks Secondary freight rail line uses a short tunnel that took eight years to build at twice the originally estimated cost because of a frog war with the Pennsylvania Railroad?
- 12:00, 3 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Norwegian neo-impressionist painter Ludvig Karsten is represented at the National Gallery of Norway with several paintings, including The blue Kitchen (pictured) from 1913?
- ... that the 2009–10 Stanbic Bank 20 Series was heralded as a success by Zimbabwe Cricket, after the crowd for the final was described as "the biggest for a domestic match in living memory"?
- ... that Diethard Hellmann reconstructed the music of the lost Bach cantata for the Third Sunday in Advent, Ärgre dich, o Seele, nicht, BWV 186a?
- ... that Guinean Fodéba Keïta was the founder of the first professional African theatrical troupe, Theatre Africain?
- ... the indigenous people of Malaysia, known as the Orang Asal, were originally named as such by communist rebels seeking support during the Malayan Emergency?
- ... that when the Queensbury mill-owner William Henry Foster died in 1908, a special train brought the Lord Mayor of Bradford to his funeral near Hornby Castle?
- ... that the wings of the Rans S-11 Pursuit provide only 20% of the aircraft's lift?
- 06:00, 3 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that in 1985, Carmelita Vigil-Schimmenti (pictured) became the first Hispanic female to attain the rank of Brigadier General in the United States Air Force?
- ... that several days after Nicholas II's abdication, his relative Alexander, Duke of Leuchtenberg warned the British ambassador the tsar was in "the gravest danger"?
- ... that Joe Raposo, first musical director of the children's show Sesame Street, won four Grammys for writing much of the show's music?
- ... that Oliver Dyer established the first American periodical devoted to shorthand?
- ... that the Indonesian trade union centre SOBRI decided to join the World Federation of Trade Unions following the death of Stalin in 1953?
- ... that the Michigan Federation of Labor in 1906 wrote that perhaps no individual had done more to "promote the interests of wage-earners than William W. Hannan, the real estate hustler"?
- ... that it was so cold during the 1962 NFL Championship Game that television crews used bonfires to thaw out their cameras, and one cameraman suffered frostbite?
- 00:00, 3 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Michael Stroukoff, a Russian emigrant from Kiev, designed the largest glider ever built in the United States (pictured), as well as its first jet-powered transport?
- ... that when Prohibition forced the Kentucky-based Bavarian Brewing Company to stop producing beer, it continued to produce soft drinks as The William Riedlin Beverage Company?
- ... that as recently as the 1980s there were up to a thousand native speakers of a unique French dialect around Old Mines, Missouri, descendants of French colonists from the early 1700s?
- ... that in 1996 Chaturanan Mishra became one of the two first communist cabinet members in India?
- ... that the first no-hitter by an Oakland Athletics pitcher after the Major League Baseball club relocated to Oakland, California, was a perfect game by Catfish Hunter in 1968?
- ... that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's East Rutherford Operations Center has a state-of-the art automated 1 million cubic foot vault for storing US currency?
- ... that bent edge was created as a counter-movement to straight edge and was a sign of a rising tide of anti-Dischord sentiment in the DC punk scene?
2 December 2010
- 18:00, 2 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that 17 species of slime mould (myxomycetes) have been isolated from the bark of the tree Banksia attenuata (pictured)?
- ... that Provino Mosca, the founder of the Louisiana Creole Italian restaurant Mosca's, was reportedly a chef for Al Capone?
- ... that in 1947, baseball player Buck Frierson led the Big State League with 58 home runs and 197 runs batted in?
- ... that haematite found during the excavation of Nympsfield Long Barrow may have been used to make face-paint, so that the dead could appear alive?
- ... that Punjabi revolutionary Baba Bujha Singh predicted the disintegration of the Soviet Union?
- ... that British spies helped sink some German minesweepers of the Sperrbrecher type, through determining how to adjust the fuses on magnetic mines?
- ... that when choosing Suillus pungens mushrooms for the table, one should pick young specimens to avoid "fat, agitated maggots"?
- 12:00, 2 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the election of William Steward (pictured) as Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives was the first time that this position was contested?
- ... that following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the venues used for the 1980 Summer Olympics were divided between four of the new sovereign states?
- ... that a good contact-connection between undamaged plain waveguide flanges can outperform a choke-connection, but a bad one can cause arcing?
- ... that John Keble, founding member of the Oxford Movement, was curate to St Michael and St Martin's Church, Eastleach Martin, Gloucestershire, and a bridge nearby was named after him?
- ... that The New York Times called the U.S. Supreme Court's Ontario v. Quon decision "almost aggressively unhelpful" to lawyers and judges in electronic privacy cases?
- ... that General Stafford played over 100 Major League Baseball games at three different positions?
- ... that hairy aspen is from the citrus family?
- 06:00, 2 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the Madison Square Presbyterian Church building completed in 1854 was knocked down to become the site of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower (pictured), then the world's tallest building?
- ... that Nelly's first five studio albums all reached the top three of the Billboard 200?
- ... that actor Antonio Te Maioha of the television drama Spartacus: Blood and Sand publicly promotes the recycling organization Xtreme Waste, but resists being called an environmentalist?
- ... that the English historian Walter Alison Phillips was the first Lecky professor in the University of Dublin?
- ... that holders of the position that would become the United States Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council have included Eleanor Roosevelt and Geraldine Ferraro?
- ... that Greg Koubek was the first men's basketball player to play in four NCAA Tournament Final Fours?
- ... that banana powder was utilized by scientists in the 1980s for its antiulcer compounds that both helped prevent ulcers and helped in healing areas where ulcers had previously occurred?
- 00:00, 2 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Second World War search and rescue dog Rip (pictured) is credited with saving over a hundred lives during 1940 and 1941?
- ... that Thomas Tropenell built the Manor House at Great Chalfield?
- ... that the first album released by the black metal record label The Ajna Offensive was not part of the metal genre?
- ... that a Welshman, Dai Davies, is the only person to have appeared in both the rugby league Challenge Cup final and the association football FA Cup Final?
- ... that Sextans B is one of the smallest galaxies in which planetary nebulae have been detected?
- ... that twink gay porn star Tory Mason was discovered through his dudesnude profile?
- ... that professional wrestler Kyle O'Reilly once wrestled in almost 40 matches in a period of 72 hours for charity?
1 December 2010
- 18:00, 1 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the decomposing skeleton of a right whale was found on the underwater volcano Patton Seamount (pictured)?
- ... that Judge Howard Abbott was the captain and quarterback of the first Minnesota Golden Gophers football team in 1886?
- ... that plans to convert the tomb of Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi on the Mount of Olives, Israel, into a church sparked strong protests?
- ... that the 2002 Sumatra earthquake is considered to be a foreshock of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake?
- ... that Zimbabwean cricketer Ryan Butterworth's performances in the 2010–11 Stanbic Bank 20 Series saw him named as player of the series?
- ... that the Radioplane RP-77D target drone was planned to be capable of launching target drones itself?
- ... that baseball pitcher Roy Hitt, a member of the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame, was nicknamed "Rhino" because his shape reminded people of a rhinoceros?
- 12:00, 1 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that Thaddeus P. Mott (pictured), a 19th-century adventurer and soldier of fortune, recruited ex-Union and Confederate veterans for service in the Egyptian Army?
- ... that Transportation Security Administration officials tipped off Covenant Aviation Security employees to undercover tests of their luggage screeners at airport checkpoints?
- ... that German footballer Willy Tröger began his career as a goalkeeper, but converted into a successful forward after losing his hand in World War II?
- ... that the bottom section of the Burgundy Premier Cru vineyard Clos Saint-Jacques used to be planted with alfalfa instead of grapevines?
- ... that RAAF Flight Lieutenant Gordon Steege was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross after shooting down three German aircraft in one mission during the North African campaign in 1941?
- ... that the shortest state road in New Mexico is only 0.250 miles (402 m) long?
- 06:00, 1 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... that the 1919 demolition of "one of the most costly religious edifices" in New York City, the 1906 Madison Square Presbyterian Church (pictured), was called "a distinct architectural loss"?
- ... that the Italian Barnabite missionary Father Sangermano preached in Burma from 1783 to 1808 to descendants of Portuguese colonists?
- ... that the first All-Star Game in National Hockey League history was played in 1934 to benefit Toronto's Ace Bailey, who was nearly killed by a violent on-ice hit earlier in the season?
- ... that during the Western Bulldogs' 2010 season, Australian rules footballer Andrew Hooper was described by the Herald Sun as a "cult figure"?
- ... that the warden of the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women defied an order by the Virginia Department of Corrections to ban cosmetics from the inmates?
- ... that anglers using the Motueka River in New Zealand must clean their boots to stop the spread of invasive algae or face up to five years in prison?
- 00:00, 1 December 2010 (UTC)
- ... how to tell which of the two possible Saint Catherines is shown marrying Jesus in a painting of the Mystic marriage of Saint Catherine (example pictured)?
- ... that baseball pitcher Russ Christopher's only All-Star appearance was canceled due to World War II?
- ... that Jim Matheson and his father Jack are both sports journalists in Canada, but are members of halls of fame in different sports?
- ... that current President of Bolivia Evo Morales was elected to parliament in 1997 on a United Left ticket?
- ... that Clellan S. Ford and Frank A. Beach, in their 1951 book Patterns of Sexual Behavior, concluded that there is a "basic mammalian capacity" for homosexuality?
- ... that Baku's Maiden Tower was showcased on many Azerbaijani banknotes for 14 years?
- ... that in 2010, Sudha Ragunathan gave a Carnatic recital at Yaksha despite suffering from a severe bout of viral fever?