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31 May 2009
30 May 2009
- ... that despite his father calling him 'the flower of my fleet', Fleetwood Pellew (pictured) still managed to provoke two mutinies and spent thirty years on half-pay?
- ... that when a member of the Royal Commission on Local Government in England in 1966–69, Derek Senior wrote a memorandum of dissent as long as the report itself?
- ... that Scott Lost, while teaming with Joey Ryan, won the PWG World Tag Team Championship, but lost the championship to himself and Chris Bosh?
- ... that after winning the 2008 Atlantic Championship, Brooks Associates Racing sold both its cars to Primetime Race Group and will not compete in 2009?
- ... that the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009, which was signed into law on May 20, gives an additional 165 million USD in funding to the Justice Department to detect and prosecute fraud?
- ... that actress Helen Ernstone appeared in stage adaptations of Charles Dickens novels?
- ... that most staff in the Australian Government's Department of Post-War Reconstruction were young economists who had been conscripted into the Australian Public Service during World War II?
- ... that Mrs. Pack was selected as wet nurse for William, Duke of Gloucester by his father because of her breasts, which were "gigantic"?
- ... that Lowndes Grove (pictured) was the Woman’s Building at the South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition of 1901?
- ... that Sir Henry Benson was the first living non-American to be inducted into the Accounting Hall of Fame?
- ... that Davey Richards' PWG World Tag Team Championship reign with Super Dragon holds the record for most defenses, while his reign with Roderick Strong is tied with seven other teams for least?
- ... that Teresa Saporiti, the soprano who created the role of Donna Anna in Mozart's opera Don Giovanni, lived to be 106?
- ... that after 14 years above an ambulance company, KDCQ in Coos Bay, Oregon, relocated its radio studios to a former buffet restaurant?
- ... that Matthew Mullineux, captain of the 1899 British Lions rugby team, was immortalised in verse by Australian bush poet Banjo Paterson, famed author of "Waltzing Matilda"?
- ... that Italian architect Donato Bramante was nicknamed il Ruinate for the destruction of the papal tombs in Old St. Peter's Basilica?
- ... that while fleeing from Greece to Egypt during World War II, a frustrated Olivia Manning used a chamberpot to crush a fellow refugee's Parisian hats?
29 May 2009
- ... that the wind engine (pictured) at Crux Easton, Hampshire, was built in 1891 by John Wallis Titt?
- ... that 1996 Yukon election candidate Lois Moorcroft received less than a third of the votes, but still won her seat in the Legislative Assembly?
- ... that the inscriptions in Hieronymus Bosch's Ecce Homo are used to convey their conversation like speech balloons in comics?
- ... that the father-and-son architects Amon and Amon Henry Wilds—leading figures in Brighton's development—used the ammonite capital as their signature device as a pun on their first names?
- ... that before the Revolutionary War, Fenwick Hall on Johns Island, South Carolina, was called Johns Island Stud because of its thoroughbred horses?
- ... that in 1901, after the death of John Flint Kidder, president of the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad, his widow took over, becoming the first female railroad president?
- ... that an illustration for Hans Christian Andersen's "The Most Incredible Thing" was published during the Nazi occupation of Denmark that depicted a rabbi striking a semi-naked Aryan?
- ... that although the Quarter Horse Lightning Bar is known as a racehorse and father of racehorses, he won a roping contest once?
28 May 2009
27 May 2009
- ... that after Vermeer's Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid (pictured) was stolen, it was given to the National Gallery of Ireland in absentia?
- ... that James J. and James A. Galdieri each served one term in the New Jersey Legislature, the father in the Assembly and the son in the State Senate?
- ... that the first annual diary with printed daily sections for notes was published in 1812?
- ... that in 1909 Étienne Lombard found that people automatically adjust their voice in noise to keep it audible, a finding known as the Lombard effect?
- ... that the marine fish Pacific crevalle jack is usually not found north of the Gulf of California, but may appear in San Diego Bay due to El Niño events?
- ... that John Douglas was an architect responsible for the 19th-century black-and-white revival in Chester, Cheshire?
- ... that the album Early Music (Lachrymæ Antiquæ), by the American Kronos Quartet, features Tuvan throat singers, a Swedish bagpipe and nyckelharpa, and Chinese ruans?
- ... that after selecting Sean Brewer in the 2001 NFL Draft, the Cincinnati Bengals discovered that he suffered from a three-pack-a-day cigarette habit?
- ... that the site of the Zagreb synagogue (model pictured), demolished in World War II, has been used as a volleyball court and a parking lot?
- ... that the first vampire story written by a woman was The Skeleton Count, by Elizabeth Caroline Grey, in 1828?
- ... that during his 1950 U.S. Senate race, Richard Nixon was so angered by his opponent, Helen Gahagan Douglas, that he threatened to castrate her?
- ... that Gillingham Football Club's supporters donated £2,500 in an attempt to fund a month's extension to loanee defender Mick Bodley's contract?
- ... that on Floodplain, San Francisco-based string quartet the Kronos Quartet plays instruments built by Walter Kitundu, including the beguèna maridhia, which is based on an Ethiopian 10-string lyre?
- ... that the Frisian kingdom came to an end after their king was killed in the Battle of the Boarn where they were defeated by the Frankish Empire?
- ... that during World War II, Brigadier General Alberto A. Nido (USAF), a native of Puerto Rico, fought for three different countries?
- ... that Chikara to Onna no Yo no Naka, released in 1933 and directed by Kenzō Masaoka, was the first "talkie" animated film in Japan?
26 May 2009
- ... that the former St Stephen's Church (pictured) in Brighton, England, was built as a tavern ballroom a mile away from its present site?
- ... that Canadian politician Louis Deniset only served a term of nine months and 21 days before losing his seat?
- ... that after 60 years of service to Greenville, Alabama, the FCC is allowing radio station WGYV to move to Aurora, Indiana, a suburb of Cincinnati?
- ... that actress Kate Terry, grandmother of John Gielgud, had a very successful acting career until she left the stage at age 23?
- ... that heavy metal band Destroy Destroy Destroy played their first show in a pizzeria as the opening band for Mastodon?
- ... that James Annesley, an Irishman, was kidnapped by his uncle and shipped to America to work as a slave in the plantations, before returning in 1741 to try to claim the title "Earl of Anglesey"?
- ... that the battle of Ancona was the only independent operation of the Polish II Corps in World War II?
- ... that press agent Lee Solters had Pope John Paul II made an honorary Harlem Globetrotter, represented Frank Sinatra for decades and claimed to have known client Dolly Parton "since she was flat-chested"?
25 May 2009
- ... that Harvard's All-American football quarterback Dudley Dean was cited by Theodore Roosevelt for bravery after the Rough Riders' charge of San Juan Hill (pictured)?
- ... that in September 1844 a clown from Astley's Amphitheatre sailed from Vauxhall Bridge to Westminster Bridge in a washtub towed by geese?
- ... that Newt Heisley designed the POW/MIA flag in 1971 for the National League of Families, which Congress requires be flown at federal and military buildings on six days annually, including Memorial Day?
- ... that actor Sterling Hayden admitted his shame at having co-operated with the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1983 documentary film Leuchtturm des Chaos?
- ... that Carl Fredrik Johannes Bødtker, a military officer whose highest rank was Major General, presided over the Norwegian Order of Freemasons?
- ... that according to her groom, when the racehorse Chicado V stood in the starting gate, she looked like a rabbit because all you could see above the gate were her ears?
- ... that Edwin "Big Ed" Wilkes, a Lubbock, Texas, radio talk show host, and a colleague, Bud Andrews, produced the first albums of the country comedian Jerry Clower?
- ... that in 1955, the Glass Age Development Committee proposed to demolish the whole of London's Soho district and rebuild it entirely in glass?
- ... that the architect John Douglas built Walmoor Hill (pictured) in Chester, Cheshire, as a house for himself, and since his death it has been used as a girls’ college and as the County Fire Headquarters?
- ... that All-American Beaton Squires wrote an editorial in 1905 against turning football into a "parlor game" after Harvard's president criticized its violent nature?
- ... that the red Pinot noir wines of the Côte Chalonnaise villages Givry and Mercurey were reportedly the favorite wines of King Henri IV of France and his mistress, Gabrielle d'Estrées?
- ... that jockey Bill Passmore, winner of 3,531 races, described fellow riders as "the worst touts at the track" and said that "the track makes a big mistake not installing a mutuel window in the jocks' room"?
- ... that the United States Lebanese cuisine restaurant chain Aladdin's Eatery has grown to more than 20 sites from an initial $10,000 in 1994?
- ... that Jørgine Boomer, born and raised in a remote valley in Norway, rose to prominence as an executive at the Waldorf-Astoria, befriending a generation of celebrities?
- ... that the giant pulses of PSR B1937+21, the first discovered millisecond pulsar, are the brightest radio emission ever observed?
- ... that former You're a Star winner David O'Connor participated in the 2004 Karaoke World Championships in Finland, placing sixth?
- ... that Richard B. Dominick, an amateur lepidopterist, collected over 25,000 moths over ten years at his Wedge Plantation (pictured) in South Carolina?
- ... that Skytterdalen near Sandvika, Norway, is so named because it was the site of a sport shooting field?
- ... that the earliest commentary on a part of Maimonides' transforming work of Jewish philosophy, The Guide for the Perplexed, was written by Muhammad ibn Muhammad Tabrizi, a Persian Muslim?
- ... that the pose of the goddess in Hans Holbein the Younger's Venus and Amor closely echoes that of Jesus in Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper?
- ... that Garrett's Miss Pawhuska, a Quarter Horse racehorse, lost a match race by running over a stake 50 yards from the finish line?
- ... that quarterback Mark Vlasic was injured when, after Iowa beat Michigan on a last second field goal, a mob tore down the goalpost in celebration?
- ... that an appeals court overturned one formulation of the toothpaste tube theory in administrative law?
- ... that Winfried Freudenberg was the last person to die in an attempt to escape across the Berlin Wall?
24 May 2009
- ... that as CEO of its U.S. subsidiary, Robert J. Sinclair had Saab-Scania build cars with turbochargers and convertible tops (pictured) for America, while the company sold no-frills cars in its home market?
- ... that after the second Mong Kok acid attack, the initial 100,000 HK$ reward for information was tripled?
- ... that Shirley E. Flynn, a local historian in Cheyenne, Wyoming, is considered an authority on the history of the annual Cheyenne Frontier Days, one of the largest outdoor western celebrations in the world?
- ... that the Goa Opinion Poll was the only referendum to have been held in Independent India?
- ... that the Mill Street-North Clover Street Historic District in Poughkeepsie, New York, was expanded 15 years after its designation to include two city blocks that had been originally scheduled for demolition?
- ... that Sid Laverents' 1970 film Multiple Sidosis, which features up to 11 different images of him simultaneously playing a song, is one of the few amateur films chosen for the National Film Registry?
- ... that Arkansas State Senator Kim Hendren authored a failed bill to require motorcyclists to wear helmets or offer proof of health insurance?
- ... that in 1998, during the two IFMAR World Championship events for 1:10th scale gas powered radio-controlled cars held at the same weekend, all Top 10 positions were dominated by users of Serpent cars?
- ... that Vice Admiral Henry Burrell (pictured) initiated a Royal Australian Navy re-equipment program in the 1960s that included new helicopters, submarines, destroyers, minesweepers, and auxiliaries?
- ... that Jack Benny was so impressed with native Canadian singer Gisele MacKenzie that he was co-executive producer of her NBC variety show, The Gisele MacKenzie Show?
- ... that Wernher von Braun's father Magnus von Braun was dismissed out of civil service for supporting the Kapp Putsch in 1920?
- ... that the watershed of Sulphide Creek, a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) stream, harbors at least three waterfalls taller than 2,000 feet (610 m)?
- ... that racehorse Clyde Van Dusen, winner of the 1929 Kentucky Derby, was named after his trainer?
- ... that dozens of sled dog races have been created since the first organized long-distance sled dog race was held in 1908?
- ... that Rai Purdy raised over C$250,000,000 for charity through his Telethon efforts?
- ... that the Bergh-Stoutenburgh House, one of only two remaining Dutch Colonial stone houses in Hyde Park, New York, has been converted into a Japanese restaurant?
23 May 2009
- ... that the Maya archaeological site of Xlapak (pictured) in Mexico features well-preserved examples of the ostentatious Puuc style of architecture?
- ... that the Niagara Engine House building is the only one of six engine company firehouses in Poughkeepsie, New York, still standing?
- ... that Philadelphia Athletics manager Connie Mack once sent hunchbacked batboy Louis Van Zelst out to coach first base, but the umpires made Mack recall him to the dugout?
- ... that each of the Chinese languages has over 100 classifiers, or "measure words", which must be used any time a noun appears with a number or a demonstrative?
- ... that the Father Millet Cross on the grounds of Fort Niagara, at just 0.0074 acres (30 m2), was the smallest National Monument ever established in the United States?
- ... that the Interstate Bridge over the Menominee River was sculpted with wild rice motifs in the concrete?
- ... that the first of Thomas Eakins's William Rush and His Model paintings provoked controversy by its inclusion of the discarded clothes of William Rush's nude model?
- ... that although Mellor hill fort is Iron Age in origin, artefacts possibly as old as 10,000 years have been discovered on the site, including a 4,000-year-old amber necklace?
22 May 2009
- ... that with a voyage of 59 days, the SS American (pictured) set a 1901 record for the fastest New York – San Francisco ocean passage?
- ... that by pinpointing three counter-cultural traits of Western Norway — Landsmål, temperance and laity — Gabriel Øidne laid the grounds for Norwegian voter sociology?
- ... that "I Don't Know What It Is", the first single from Rufus Wainwright's album Want One, samples Maurice Ravel's Bolero?
- ... that Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weissenfeld was an Austrian aristocratic night fighter flying ace who fought for the German Luftwaffe in World War II?
- ... that the South Carolina town which Biggin Church's chapel of ease, Strawberry Chapel, was built to serve, no longer exists?
- ... that Egyptian actor C. K. Alexander composed under the pseudonyms Mario Quimber and Basheer Qadar?
- ... that, under the drug policy of Canada, of those convicted of drug offences under Canadian law in 1921, three-quarters were Chinese?
- ... that former President of Poland Lech Walesa only won 1% of the vote in the 2000 Polish presidential election?
- ... that Bettino Ricasoli (pictured), developer of the first "modern" Chianti wine recipe based on the Sangiovese grape, later became Italian Prime Minister?
- ... that the Latting Observatory, described as "New York's first skyscraper", was the tallest building in the United States at 315 feet (96 m) during its brief life from 1853 until it burnt down in 1856?
- ... that the 350cc engine in the 1949 Douglas Mark III British motorcycle was based on a WW2 electricity generator engine?
- ... that while still in college, children's author Eloise Greenfield realized that she was too shy to be a teacher and dropped out to work at the U.S. Patent Office?
- ... that the previous owners of KWVR in Enterprise, Oregon, actually lived at the radio station until they sold it in 2008?
- ... that Yohl Ik'nal, queen of the Classic Period Maya city of Palenque in Mexico, was the first known female Mayan ruler?
- ... that after a hurdle was misplaced on the running track, Angelo Taylor said he would never again compete at the Adidas Track Classic?
- ... that Nevada City, California’s Doris Foley Library for Historical Research includes a Cornish Studies Collection?
- ... that neurosurgeon Keith Black, featured in a Time special issue on "Heroes of Medicine", is known for his discovery that the peptide bradykinin can be effective in opening the blood-brain barrier?
- ... that The Torment of Saint Anthony (pictured) has recently been identified as the earliest known painting by Michelangelo?
- ... that the Smith Tobacco Barn is one of the few remaining examples of intact flue-cured tobacco barns in Dillon County, South Carolina, built between 1895 and the 1950s?
- ... that the N100 brain response to auditory stimuli can help predict coma patients' probability of recovery?
- ... that in May 2009, the District of Columbia ruled that Third Church of Christ, Scientist could go forward with demolition of its brutalist-style building?
- ... that John G. Cullmann was nearly assassinated after establishing a settlement of German immigrants in northern Alabama?
- ... that a Zen temple's Main Hall looks like a two story building, but has in fact only one?
- ... that architect Richard Neutra used mirrors and reflecting pools to provide spaciousness for his home on a small lot, the Neutra VDL Studio and Residences, on Silver Lake in Los Angeles?
- ... that 73 Mansion St., Poughkeepsie, New York, was architecturally inconsistent with the neighboring Balding Avenue Historic District, so it was later listed separately on the National Register of Historic Places?
21 May 2009
- ... that despite the decisive action of the Trafalgar Campaign being the Battle of Trafalgar (pictured), the final action was fought a fortnight later, at the Battle of Cape Ortegal?
- ... that Marc Sautet started the philosophical cafe known as Café Philosophique?
- ... that the Vassar Home for Aged Men, in Poughkeepsie, New York, could not operate at full capacity until Matthew Vassar's wife died and left it the money to do so?
- ... that Håkon Stenstadvold, rector of the Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry, was a member of the Bærum municipal council?
- ... that Robert Lindahl, the recording engineer on The Kingsmen's famous version of "Louie Louie", lost his job as a disc jockey for KBKR because he refused to empty the Oregon station's chemical toilet?
- ... that the real name of Hagop Hagopian, the leader of the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia, was revealed only after his assassination in Athens in 1988?
- ... that rock band 21 Demands made chart history after finishing as runners-up in the fifth series of You're a Star, featuring 1992 Eurovision winner Linda Martin as a judge?
- ... that Ray H. Altman, as a Kentucky state representative from tobacco-growing Taylor County, opposed a bill in 1990 to ban smoking zones for students in public schools?
20 May 2009
19 May 2009
- ... that the Sea Cloud (pictured), the first fully racially integrated United States warship in World War II, later served as a private yacht to racist dictator Rafael Trujillo?
- ... that according to Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen, there are more than 100 million women "missing" in Asia?
- ... that the rock band Goes Cube obtained its name from a poor back-translation of the phrase "Go Die" between English and German?
- ... that The Wire actress Felicia "Snoop" Pearson wrote an autobiography, Grace After Midnight, chronicling her drug-dealing days in Baltimore, imprisonment on murder charges and rehabilitation?
- ... that in the late 18th century, the Gotha Observatory became an international center for astronomy, and the most modern astronomical institute specifically for its instruments?
- ... that despite nearly throwing a perfect game in 1993, American baseball pitcher Tom Kramer never pitched at the highest professional level again after that year?
- ... that according to the Golden Legend, Saint Genebald left his wife around AD 499 to become Bishop of Laon, and was later imprisoned by her uncle, Saint Remigius, for sleeping with her when she visited?
- ... that one of Germany's Kaiser-class battleships, SMS Prinzregent Luitpold, never received a planned diesel engine to supplement her turbines, so her range was much less than her sister ships?
- ... that the painting (pictured) of Robert Hollond, Monck Mason and Charles Green planning their record-making balloon trip also includes the artist, John Hollins?
- ... that the 2007 dedication of the 1872-built Confederate Monument in Crab Orchard, Kentucky, included Kentucky governor Ernie Fletcher and the United States Army?
- ... that Norwegian geochemist Knut S. Heier was a member of the Apollo Project?
- ... that Aaron Spelling's 56,500-square-foot mansion, known as The Manor, is the largest house in Los Angeles County?
- ... that al-Mansur Ibrahim, the Ayyubid governor of Hims, ended Khwarezmid power in Syria after defeating them in a battle near Lake Hims?
- ... that a promising anti-cancer drug, swainsonine, causes pea struck in Australia, locoismo in Argentina, and locoweed poisoning in North America?
- ... that there is more potential for ullage development in wines bottled with long corks than in wines with short corks because wine is lost through absorption into the cork?
- ... that shortly before the 1989 Revolution, current Romanian Transport Minister Radu Berceanu was questioned at length by the Securitate for allegedly intending to flee the country using a hang glider he had built?
18 May 2009
- ... that the site of Riddle Ranch (pictured) in eastern Oregon was a Native American settlement for over 1,000 years?
- ... that Shitou Xiqian was an obscure Zen teacher during his life but is now considered one of the two ancestors of all existing branches of Zen?
- ... that during the Civil War years, the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles experienced floods, droughts, a smallpox epidemic, and even a plague of locusts?
- ... that after subduing most of the Hejaz, Qatada ibn Idris went on to become the Sharif of Mecca establishing a tradition of sharifs descended from him to rule the city until 1925?
- ... that Operation Bayshield was the first machinima work to use digital assets not provided by the video game in which it was created?
- ... that Asbjørn Kjønstad has been referred to as the "father of the smoking ban" in Norway?
- ... that the marine fish Caranx sansun, first described in 1775, has no common name, has no known holotype, and is labeled a nomen dubium as the correct identification is unlikely to be made?
- ... that John B. Watson and Harvey A. Carr conducted a study called the kerplunk experiment, so named because of the sound the rat made when hitting the end of a maze?
- ... that in 2002, the submersible Pisces V (pictured) and her sister vessel discovered a Japanese midget submarine in Pearl Harbor, the first vessel to be sunk during the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor?
- ... that while most Enlightenment scholars criticized the Byzantine system of the Eastern Roman Empire, Konstantin Leontiev, a scholar from the Russian Empire praised it for the very same reasons?
- ... that Charles Carroll the Settler's attempts to gain office in colonial Maryland led to all Catholics in the colony losing the right to vote?
- ... that official turnout in the 2005 Algerian national reconciliation referendum was 99.95% in Khenchela but only just over 11% in Tizi Ouzou Province?
- ... that Sol Rosenberg, a survivor of the Dachau concentration camp, established an international steel company in his adopted city of Monroe, Louisiana?
- ... that the Oslo square Eidsvolls plass has been referred to as "the National Mall of Norway"?
- ... that former United States President George H.W. Bush is a member of the invitation-only Alibi Club in Washington, D.C.?
- ... that Horatio Nelson called Skeffington Lutwidge, his commander on two separate occasions, 'that good old man'?
17 May 2009
- ... that Toniná in Mexico (pyramid pictured) was one of the last of the Classic Period Maya cities to fall into ruin?
- ... that Eunice Taylor, a catcher for the Kenosha Comets of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, was the model for Rosie O'Donnell's character in the film A League of Their Own?
- ... that in the 2008 motorcycle Scott Trial event, there were only 60 official finishers out of a starting entry of 200?
- ... that in 1767, Union Street first connected Poughkeepsie, New York, to the Hudson River?
- ... that at the Battle of Pulo Aura, a fleet of East Indiamen under Commodore Nathaniel Dance fought off an entire French squadron?
- ... that "Thrilla in the Villa", the first season finale of Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire, was seen by 858,000 households, about half the viewership of the season premiere one month earlier?
- ... that the summit of Mount Scott is the highest point in Crater Lake National Park?
- ... that Czech singer and pianist Jiří Šlitr died from coal gas poisoning?
- ... that in an annual festival in Koovagam, India, eunuchs and transvestites ritually marry the Hindu god Aravan (statue pictured)?
- ... that Philip Glass composed a soundtrack in 1998, recorded by the Kronos Quartet, for the 1931 Dracula film starring Béla Lugosi?
- ... that Czech jazz double-bassist Luděk Hulan co-founded Studio 5, one of the most important modern jazz ensembles in Czechoslovakia?
- ... that the shell of marine snails in the family Juliidae is composed of two parts, like a clam?
- ... that Raquel Forner was one of the earliest fine artists to portray scenes of outer space?
- ... that radio station KLBS broadcasts a Portuguese-language world music format to California's San Joaquin Valley?
- ... that Shamar Sands, the Bahamian 110 metre hurdles national record holder, has a degree in accountancy?
- ... that Spratt's supplied army dogs with 1,256,976,708 dog biscuits during World War I?
16 May 2009
- ... that for over 20 years after his posthumous execution in 1661, Oliver Cromwell's head (pictured) stood on a spike outside Westminster Hall?
- ... that Earl Sprackling, who was selected as the best college football player of 1910, gained 456 total yards and kicked three field goals in one game?
- ... that Belgian firm Interbrew has a 34.4% share in the Ukrainian beer market?
- ... that Norwegian Minister of Agriculture and Member of Parliament Bernt Holtsmark had two first cousins, Wilhelm and Finn Blakstad, who were also Members of Parliament?
- ... that farmed salmon can escape from their sea cage and interbreed with wild salmon?
- ... that Friedrich Foertsch was the second chief of staff of the Bundeswehr and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II?
- ... that Danny Friend was the Chicago Colts' Opening Day starting pitcher in 1896, despite only having pitched five previous Major League Baseball games?
- ... that after Pacific States Lumber went bankrupt in 1939, the company town of Selleck, Washington, was sold for US$3,000?
A pregnant male common seahorse
15 May 2009
14 May 2009
- ... that the heroic Greek marble Gaddi Torso (pictured) in the Uffizi, Florence, was so admired in the Italian Renaissance that it was never "restored" by completing it?
- ... that Carlton Skinner commanded the first racially integrated United States warships, and later served as Guam's first civilian governor?
- ... that Hel Fortified Area was in 1939 the last place of Poland to surrender to the invading Wehrmacht, and during World War II it was used as a Kriegsmarine base?
- ... that William Butler Yeats originally published the poem "On being asked for a War Poem" under the title "A Reason for Keeping Silent" in 1916?
- ... that the Baptist folk high school at Strand, Akershus, Norway, was visited by Martin Luther King in 1964?
- ... that James Edward Hanger, the first amputee of the American Civil War, designed his own prosthesis and went on to found a prosthetic manufacturer still in business today?
- ... that two aircraft working for the New Zealand Police collided in mid-air over central Auckland in 1993?
- ... that New York talent agent Sam Cohn, who Time magazine called "the first superagent of the modern age", liked to eat paper?
- ... that the Osaka Maritime Museum (pictured) is a geodesic dome that sits out in Osaka Bay and is accessed by an underwater tunnel?
- ... that The Hate That Hate Produced, a documentary critical of the Nation of Islam, caused the group's membership to double?
- ... that Praise of the Two Lands is the first ship mentioned by name in a written record?
- ... that in college basketball a bonus is awarded to a team beginning with the seventh foul in a half from the opposing team?
- ... that Ukrainian sculptor Mikhaylo Parashchuk, who decorated many major buildings in Sofia, Bulgaria, was reportedly a student of Auguste Rodin?
- ... that Jonathan Roberts, a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1814 to 1821, built a school for poor children?
- ... that the song "Que No Se Rompa la Noche", first performed by Julio Iglesias, has been covered by Pandora, Vikki Carr and Ray Conniff?
- ... that in 2003 a ricin contaminated letter was sent to the White House?
- ... that Dutch film pioneer Willy Mullens worked as a human cannonball before becoming a film director?
13 May 2009
- ... that when a Japanese honeybee hive is invaded by a giant hornet scout, the honeybees "bake" the hornet in a ball of about 500 bees (pictured)?
- ... that on April 7, 1977, baseball pitcher Ken Brett was the Chicago White Sox's Opening Day starter against the Toronto Blue Jays in the latter's first-ever regular season game?
- ... that Ismail Shammout's painting Where to ...?, depicting the Lydda Death March of July 1948, is said to have attained iconic status in Palestinian culture?
- ... that because actor Alan Dale was unable to go to Hawaii to appear on ABC's Lost as Charles Widmore, the camera crew moved to London to include him on the show anyway?
- ... that the fungus Helvella acetabulum resembles a cabbage leaf?
- ... that Anne Donahue was one of only five Republicans in the Vermont House of Representatives to vote in favor of a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in the state?
- ... that when the new Argentine dreadnought Rivadavia arrived in Buenos Aires on 19 February 1915, over 47,000 people, including President Victorino de la Plaza, came out to see the ship?
- ... that Karsten Solheim's invention of the modern lob wedge golf club may have come from experimentally gluing a potato chip to a straw?
12 May 2009
- ... that the Worthington–Simpson triple expansion steam engine at Brede Waterworks (pictured) can pump 3,500,000 imperial gallons (16,000,000 L) of water per day to a height of 515 feet (157 m)?
- ... that radio evangelist "Fighting Bob" Shuler, known for his attacks on politicians and support of the Ku Klux Klan, received 25% of the votes in a 1932 US Senate election in California?
- ... that no specialist ceramics museum has as large a collection as the 340,000 pieces in The Palace Museum, Beijing?
- ... that in NASCAR, 1952 was the first year that companies started to pay award monies for publicity?
- ... that in the Capture of Ré island in 1625, English and Dutch warships were used controversially to quell a revolt of French Huguenot coreligionaries?
- ... that Tyler Shanabarger's death was believed to be caused by sudden infant death syndrome until his father confessed to the murder?
- ... that one can list every positive rational number without repetition by breadth-first traversal of the Calkin–Wilf tree?
- ... that George Cryer, Mayor of Los Angeles in the Roaring Twenties, was allegedly controlled by the city's political boss Kent Parrot and vice king Charles Crawford, whose coterie of bootleggers and criminals was known as the "City Hall Gang"?
11 May 2009
- ... that Changuu Island, Zanzibar, houses a collection of endangered Aldabra Giant Tortoises (pictured)?
- ... that Brigadier Generals Winfield Scott and Edmund P. Gaines fought bitterly over a promotion to major general in the United States Regular Army that Colonel Alexander Macomb received instead?
- ... that when the Chinese delicacy Buddha Jumps Over the Wall was introduced to South Korea, the name ignited a controversy in the Buddhist community?
- ... that Abigail Bush, in 1848, was the first American woman to serve as president of a women's rights convention?
- ... that Nymphaea leibergii is an uncommon North American dwarf waterlily whose flowers open each day and close at night?
- ... that Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford had a father, a grandfather and a son, all with the same name?
- ... that, despite having a run of only 18 months, close to 1.5 million Penny Venetian Red postage stamps were printed in Great Britain between 1880 and 1881?
- ... that the Gibson Mansion, once believed to be a haunted house, is now a historical museum with a working blacksmith?
- ... that Humbug Mountain (pictured) is one of the tallest mountains in Oregon to rise directly from the ocean?
- ... that the Labour party lost control of Hartlepool council for the first time in 21 years after the 2000 Hartlepool Council election?
- ... that the Billy Joel and Ray Charles duet, "Baby Grand", was originally produced because Charles had contacted Joel over Joel naming his daughter after Charles?
- ... that Wilmslow Road in Manchester is reputed to have the busiest bus corridor in Europe?
- ... that, unable to sell the radio station and facing financial difficulties, KORC in Waldport, Oregon, went dark on April Fool's Day 2009?
- ... that the perpetrator of the Orly airport attack, Varujan Garabedian, was freed and deported to Armenia in 2001, after serving 17 years in jail?
- ... that the Kentucky Route 2014 Bridge in Pineville, Kentucky, is one of only two bridges built in Kentucky by an in-state construction company?
- ... that British motorcycle pioneer Bert Greeves owned a 1912 Triumph with the registration 'OLD 1'?
- ... that in 1867, the Oregon Iron Company (furnace pictured) became the first company to smelt pig iron west of the Rocky Mountains?
- ... that Peter Gummer, founder of Shandwick, went to Selwyn College, Cambridge wanting to be a priest?
- ... that singer Matthew West's song "The Motions" was "brought to life" for him after having vocal surgery?
- ... that Margitta Gummel-Helmboldt was the first woman to throw a shot put more than 19 meters in the Summer Olympic Games?
- ... that the film version of Hello, Dolly used Garrison Landing, New York, for scenes set in 1890 Yonkers?
- ... that Tofo in southern Mozambique draws foreign tourists to its beaches and population of whale sharks?
- ... that critically-acclaimed Bolivian Aymara painter, Alejandro Mario Yllanes, disappeared from New York after winning, but not claiming, the Guggenheim fellowship in 1946?
- ... that the Dokos shipwreck is the oldest underwater shipwreck known to archeologists?
10 May 2009
- ... that Moth Ki Masjid (pictured) was a new type of mosque built in 1505 by Miya Bhoiya, Prime Minister during Sikander Lodi's reign in the fourth city of medieval Delhi of Delhi Sultanate?
- ... that with his number one single "Laura (What's He Got That I Ain't Got)", Leon Ashley became the first country music artist to write, record, release, distribute and publish his own material?
- ... that the suburb of South Dunedin in Dunedin, New Zealand, contains one of only three known preserved gasworks museums in the world?
- ... that Five Tango Sensations by the Kronos Quartet was the last studio recording by tango music legend Ástor Piazzolla?
- ... that despite playing the position of wide receiver in American college football, LaShaun Ward was the third leading rusher for the University of California Golden Bears in 2001?
- ... that Stevie Smith's most famous poem, "Not Waving but Drowning", describes a man who drowns because onlookers mistake his thrashing for waving?
- ... that Aleksander Sulkiewicz was a Muslim Tatar who co-founded the Polish Socialist Party and probably saved the life of the future leader of Poland, Józef Piłsudski, by planning his escape from a mental hospital?
- ... that "The Cowboy Culture Center" is a weekly three-hour block of cowboy poetry and western music on radio station KNND in Cottage Grove, Oregon?
9 May 2009
Painting of the two pilgrims, Danta and Hemamala, who brought the relic of the tooth of the Buddha from India to Sri Lanka
8 May 2009
- ... that the 1905 film The Misadventure of a French Gentleman Without Pants at the Zandvoort Beach (screenshot pictured) is one of the oldest surviving Dutch fictional films?
- ... that J.T. Alley, police chief of Lubbock, Texas, vowed in 1970 to shoot looters taking advantage of his city's devastating tornadoes?
- ... that Queen Millennia was combined by Harmony Gold and Carl Macek with another Leiji Matsumoto series, Captain Harlock, to create Captain Harlock and the Queen of a Thousand Years?
- ... that professional wrestler Alex Koslov was the first Russian to wrestle in Arena Coliseo, 72 years after it was built?
- ... that during the 2008–09 flu season in the United States, only 14.1% of influenza tests were positive for influenza?
- ... that Jerzy Borejsza, in charge of the Polish communist cultural policy in the early postwar years, was so influential that his network was called an "empire" or "state within a state"?
- ... that in the comic fantasy sitcom ElvenQuest, "The Chosen One" who will find the sacred Sword of Asnagar is a dog called "Amis"?
- ... that Spanish murderer Francisco Arce Montes developed an obsession with personal hygiene during his teenage years?
7 May 2009
- ... that Sultan Ghari (pictured), built in 1231 for Prince Nasiru'd-Din Mahmud, eldest son of Iltumish, was the first Islamic mausoleum in the "funerary landscape of Delhi"?
- ... that in 1994, Joseph Takahashi and his collaborators identified the genetic basis for circadian rhythms in mammals?
- ... that Harriman Historic District in Bristol, Pennsylvania, originally built to house workers of the Merchant Shipbuilding Corporation, was the largest single housing project undertaken by the EFC in World War I?
- ... that Wes Schulmerich turned down an offer to play football for Knute Rockne at Notre Dame, later becoming a Major League Baseball player?
- ... that South Africa's Take a Girl Child to Work Day started in 2003 to fight gender inequality in the workforce?
- ... that Rigoberto Torres and John Ahearn collaborated on the South Bronx Hall of Fame, monuments of ordinary people, as a response to the practice of enshrining public figures?
- ... that the Lipka Rebellion of 1672 was the only time that the Muslim Lipka Tatars mutinied against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth?
- ... that an early Washington National Opera, unrelated to its modern namesake, presented Bidu Sayão in her 1936 U.S. operatic debut with organ, not orchestra, accompaniment owing to a financial dispute?
6 May 2009
5 May 2009
- ... that the definition of monumental sculpture (example pictured) may vary depending on the period being discussed?
- ... that Rufus Wainwright's second studio album Poses features a song originally written by his father, Loudon Wainwright III?
- ... that St Joseph's Church, a Roman Catholic church in Brighton, England, was not officially dedicated until 100 years after building work started because a debt had not been settled?
- ... that The Grove at Ole Miss was called "the mother and mistress of outdoor ritual mayhem" for its legendary football game day tailgating by The New York Times?
- ... that Pacnews stopped reporting on Fijian news rather than submit to government censorship in the wake of the 2009 Fijian constitutional crisis?
- ... that the alfalfa grown on the Wendelin Grimm Farmstead in Carver County, Minnesota, became the source of varieties of alfalfa grown on 25,000,000 acres (10,000,000 ha) of the United States?
- ... that the Hallein Salt Mine is known for its long wooden slides for miners and tourists to descend into the mine?
- ... that although professional wrestler B-Boy lost a Loser Leaves Town match to Nate Webb in Combat Zone Wrestling in August 2005, he returned to the promotion the next month?
- ... that John Roach (pictured) rose from humble origins to establish America's largest postbellum shipbuilding empire, John Roach & Sons, which included the Etna Iron Works, the Morgan Iron Works, and the former Reaney shipyard, renamed the Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works?
- ... that the "Devil's Cigar" is a mushroom found only in Texas and Japan?
- ... that among French handball player Valérie Nicolas´ triumphs are victories at the World Championship, Champions League, EHF Cup, Cup Winners' Cup, and both French and Danish national championships?
- ... that an 1830s newspaper article in Freedom's Journal in favor of the free produce movement determined that the sugar consumption of 25 people required the toil of one slave?
- ... that British flight instructor Valentine Baker taught such noted pupils as Edward, Prince of Wales, Amy Johnson, and Lord Londonderry of the Air Ministry?
- ... that Johanson-Blizzard syndrome, a recessive congenital disorder, can cause abnormal development of the pancreas, nose and scalp, with mental retardation, hearing loss and growth failure?
- ... that in April 2009, Lim Hwee Hua became the first woman to be appointed a full Minister in Singapore's Cabinet?
- ... that the Royal Navy accepted Gay Viking and Gay Corsair into their service during the Second World War, with another 12 Gay class fast patrol boats joining in the 1950s?
4 May 2009
3 May 2009
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- ... that 14-year-old Raymond Steed (pictured) was the youngest person in the British services to die in battle during the Second World War, when his ship SS Empire Morn was damaged by a mine?
- ... that the 2009 World Wrestling Entertainment Draft featured seven selections that affected seven of the company's nine championships?
- ... that before becoming director general of the Norwegian State Railways in 1924, Eivind Heiberg was the director of the manufacturing company Skabo Jernbanevognfabrikk?
- ... that Queen Latifah's rendition of "I'll Be Seeing You" from the Broadway musical Right This Way during the 81st Academy Awards In Memoriam tribute was the annual tribute's first vocal accompaniment?
- ... that Jan Konopka was a Polish cavalry commander in the Napoleonic period, a general, a Baron of the French Empire, and was decorated with the Légion d'honneur?
- ... that "Broke", a fifth season episode of The Office, was directed by lead actor Steve Carell himself?
- ... that Hamby Park in Hillsboro, Oregon, is named after the owner of a Chevrolet car dealership?
- ... that the Dragon Goby, which looks like a tiny dragon, is actually an almost blind and totally harmless fish?
- ... that the Boeng Tonle Chhmar wildlife sanctuary in Cambodia is home to many rare, vulnerable and endangered species including the Brahminy Kite (pictured)?
- ... that although Leo Wolman was once director of research for the Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union, his criticisms of unions led directly to the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947?
- ... that the extreme luminosity observed for supernova 2005gj could be explained by the incidence of a quark nova?
- ... that after professional wrestler "the New Horror" Sami Callihan won the CZW Iron Man Championship, he renamed it the "CZW New Horror Championship"?
- ... that George Habash, founder of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was a survivor of the Lydda Death March of July 1948?
- ... that NBC network executive Perry Lafferty produced the 1985 television movie An Early Frost, one of the first dramatic films to deal with the subject of HIV / AIDS?
- ... that the first chapter of Hamamatsu Chūnagon Monogatari, an eleventh-century Japanese tale, no longer exists?
- ... that David Shaw, who won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism for coverage of the McMartin preschool trial, got his first writing job at age 16 filling in at a motorcycle race for an absent reporter?
2 May 2009
- ... that Zen master Línjì Yìxuán (pictured) once jumped up, grabbed a monk, shouted at him, and then called him a "shit stick" in an episode of Dharma combat?
- ... that American journalist Phelan Beale, Jr. was a son of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and a brother of Edith Bouvier Beale, whose lives were highlighted in the documentary Grey Gardens?
- ... that the Foothill Yellow-legged Frog secretes an anti-fungal protein from its skin to prevent infections by various fungi such as Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis?
- ... that during the First Great Migration, the majority of Shubuta, Mississippi, moved to Albany, New York, with some recreating a religious rural community in Rapp Road Community Historic District?
- ... that protected areas of Sri Lanka such as Sinharaja Forest Reserve account for 26.5 percent of the total area of Sri Lanka?
- ... that Anshei Glen Wild Synagogue in Glen Wild, New York, is so small it has never had its own rabbi?
- ... that Norwegian politician Lars T. Platou was an electrical engineer and farmer by occupation?
- ... that the term maverick, referring to an animal without a brand, came from Texas land baron Samuel Maverick who was notorious for not branding his cattle?
1 May 2009
- ... that an air well (pictured) collects water by promoting the condensation of moisture from air?
- ... that Wilco's upcoming studio album is expected to feature a duet with Canadian singer Feist?
- ... that Islam and Protestantism have an early history of mutual support against Catholicism, and share some common attitudes to faith, such as textual criticism and iconoclasm?
- ... that Johnny Madison Williams Jr., one of the most successful bank robbers in American history, was nicknamed "The Shootist" by the FBI because of his modus operandi of firing into the air at the beginning of each heist?
- ... that the Kyshtym disaster was a serious nuclear accident in 1957, which resulted in permanent evacuation of about 10,000 people?
- ... that Benjamin Edwards, who expanded the privately-held A. G. Edwards into the largest U.S. brokerage firm headquartered outside of New York City, owned the world's largest collection of Imari porcelain?
- ... that both members of Duo Crommelynck, a noted classical piano duo, committed suicide in 1994, the only known such case in classical music history?
- ... that children in the high-altitude gold mining town of Kimberly, Utah, attended school from April through November to avoid the deep snows of winter?
- ... that the tiny commune of La Porta, with only 196 inhabitants (1999 census), has the most famous Baroque church and belltower (pictured) in Corsica?
- ... that the Welbike was the smallest motorcycle ever used by the British Armed Forces?
- ... that Baton Rouge attorney Dan Claitor was elected in 2009 to the Louisiana State Senate despite his fellow Republican, Governor Bobby Jindal endorsing his opponent?
- ... that the problem of deforestation in Costa Rica in the 1980s and early 1990s was referenced in Michael Crichton's 1990 novel, Jurassic Park?
- ... that, although professional wrestlers Kurt and Karl Von Steiger won the AWA World Tag Team Championship, their title reign is not recognized because the previous champions were not authorized to lose the title?
- ... that the 64-pillared 17th century marble monument Chausath Khamba is a tomb for Mirz Aziz Koka?
- ... that Jeffrey Zients, the new United States Chief Performance Officer, was in a club that tried to buy the Washington Nationals baseball team?
- ... that Sofmap, a Japanese retailer, released a collector's box of Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns that mirrors the design of erotic eroge games?