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.

31 January 2005

• ...that Manuc's Inn, the oldest operating hotel building in Bucharest, Romania, was the site of the preliminary talks for the peace treaty that put an end to the 1806–1812 Russo-Turkish war?
• ...that political illustrator Steve Brodner has caricatured American Presidents going back to Richard Nixon?
• ...that the common mullein plant was burnt in France during celebrations on the second Sunday of Lent to protect against evil spirits and demons?
• ...that British teacher and MP Leah Manning organised the evacuation of almost 4,000 Basque children to Britain during the Spanish Civil War?

30 January 2005

• ...that the Skyscraper Museum in New York City, USA was forced to close temporarily as its space was commandeered as an emergency information center after the September 11, 2001 attacks?

• ...that the South African Mokopa missile uses a powerful, tandem shaped charge HEAT warhead?
• ...that Buddhism in Austria is a legally recognized religion and has 10,402 followers according to the 2001 census?
• ...that although it was a hoax gone awry, scientists originally believed Drake's Plate of Brass to be genuine, based on initial metallurgical studies?
• ...that the NTSB recommended installing event recorders on grade crossing signals after the 1999 Bourbonnais train accident?

28 January 2005

• ...that Lighthouse Hill on Staten Island got its name from the Staten Island Lighthouse, built in 1912, which towers 141 feet (43 meters) above the Lower New York Bay and can be seen as far as 18 miles (29 km) away?
• ...that Austrian entrepreneur Richard Lugner has been nicknamed Mörtel (" Mortar", as in masonry) by the media?
• ... that the graves of 13 Britons and a Jamaican trained at Royal Canadian Air Force Station Mount Hope during World War II, are still maintained in a local churchyard in Glanbrook, Ontario?
• ...that Taum Sauk Mountain and its neighbors in the St. Francois range are believed to be one of the few spots in the central US that may never have been submerged under ancient seas?

• ...that the epidermis of the mantle, an organ in mollusks, secretes the calcium carbonate that creates their shell?
• ...that the hunchbacked marionette Karagiozis uses mischievous and crude ways to find money and feed his family in the traditional Greek theatre of shadows?
• ...that Father José María Arizmendiarrieta escaped a death sentence after the Spanish Civil War and went on to found the Mondragón Cooperative Corporation, the world's largest co-operative?

27 January 2005

• ... that the rex Nemorensis was a Roman priest of Diana who got his position by killing the previous incumbent?
• ...that Australian author Duncan Ball worked as an industrial chemist and as an editor before he became a full-time author?
• ...that Aer Arann is the only scheduled airline that uses Waterford Airport, which lies close to Tramore Bay in the Republic of Ireland?
• ...that Takashi Sakai, a General of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, was sentenced to death on August 27, 1946 for atrocities committed against civilians and surrendered soldiers in Hong Kong?

• ...that Szare Szeregi ( Polish for "Grey Ranks") was a codename for the underground Zwiazek Harcerstwa Polskiego (Polish Scouting Association) during World War II?
• ...that the Des Moines Register, "The Newspaper Iowa Depends Upon," ended its tradition of printing the sports sections on peach-colored paper in 1999?
• ...that in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, Ness' son Conchobar mac Nessa was brought up as the son of the druid Cathbad, although the true father may have been her lover, Fachtna Fáthach, the High King of Ireland?
• ...that hose clamps are sometimes used as a more permanent version of duct tape, and can be found mounting signs and holding together emergency home repairs?

26 January 2005

• ... that the Saddle-billed Stork is a large wading bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae?
• ...that the Blue Eagles are one of only two professional helicopter aerobatics teams in the world?
• ...that Labour's Alfred Dobbs was the shortest-serving post-war British Member of Parliament – just one day, before his death in 1945?
• ...that 19th century photographer Napoleon Sarony reportedly paid stage actress Sarah Bernhardt 1500 USD to pose for his camera, which would be equivalent to more than 20,000 USD today?

• ...that Russian singer and actress Alla Pugacheva has had a career lasting over 40 years, remaining one of the most popular musical artists to this day?

24 January 2005

• ...that Washingtonia is a genus of palm and produces a fruit, eaten by Native American people as a minor food source and by birds?
• ...that Salt is an ancient agricultural town in west-central Jordan, famous for the quality of its grape harvest, and therefore speculated to be the root for the English word sultana?
• ...that folk singer/ guitarist Nic Jones suffered multiple broken bones and brain damage after a serious car accident in February 1982?
• ...that Labour Member of Parliament Ellen Wilkinson organised the 1936 Jarrow March of 200 unemployed men and women from Tyneside to London to demand jobs?

22 January 2005

• ...that a Bok globule is a dark cloud of dense dust and gas, first observed by astronomer Bart Bok in the 1940s, in which star formation is taking place within the H II region?
• ...that L'Origine du monde, Gustave Courbet's most provocative painting, remained in the privacy of its successive owners for almost 130 years before entering the musée d'Orsay?
• ...that Mexican pilot Alberto Braniff was the first pilot to fly a plane over Mexico City?
• ...that the British ice hockey team The Blackburn Hawks are often referred to as the Blackhawks, and were briefly called the Lancashire Hawks?

20 January 2005

• ...that polymer banknotes (right) are made from the polymer biaxially-oriented polypropylene (BOPP), and that they incorporate many security features not available to paper banknotes making counterfeiting more difficult?
• ...that the Sydney Riot of 1879 was one of international cricket's earliest riots?
• ...the fire from the Weyauwega derailment on March 4 1996 displayed fireballs up to 300 feet (90 m) high?
• ...that Repenomamus may have been the largest mammal in the Cretaceous period and is the only mammal known to have eaten non-avian dinosaurs?

17 January 2005

• ...that one of international cricket's earliest riots occurred in Sydney in 1879?
• ...that BBC television series Watchdog helped uncover the Hoover Company "free flights" scam?

• ...that Untersturmführer was the first commissioned officer rank of the German SS?
• ...that the Chicken's Neck is a narrow strip of land 24 km in width connecting India to its north-eastern states?
• ...that the men's adventure genre of pulp magazine often featured damsels in distress menaced by Nazis?
• ...that melasma is a skin hyperpigmentation commonly affecting pregnant women that is caused by the overproduction of melanin?

16 January 2005

• ...that modern baby monitors use digital cameras similar to web cams to watch the baby as well as listen to it?
• ...that the racy George Michael song I Want Your Sex touted monogamy instead of promiscuity?

15 January 2005

• ...that the term United Nations Medal refers to over two dozen international military awards which have been issued since 1950?
• ...that Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, a major division of Lockheed Martin, is manufacturer of some of the world's most advanced military aircraft?
• ...that Jeopardy!'s impact on culture has earned it references or parodies in no less than 64 feature films, and appearances on more than 10 television show episodes?

13 January 2005

• ... that gear pumps use the meshing of gears to pump fluid by displacement?
• ...that Zentatsu Richard Baker was an influential American Zen priest who played a leading role in founding Tassajara, the first Buddhist training monastery outside of Asia?
• ... that the Pushkar Fair is the world's largest camel/ cattle fair?

• ... that DVD audio commentaries were introduced as laserdisc features to appeal to hardcore movie fans?

11 January 2005

• ...that the highlight event of the World Cricket Tsunami Appeal is a 2-match ODI series between a World XI and an Asian XI?
• ...that Justice Leila Seth was the first woman judge on the Delhi High Court and the first woman to become Chief Justice in India?
• ...that before building his first railroad steam locomotive, in 1832, Matthias W. Baldwin was apprenticed as a jeweler and devised and patented a method for applying gold plating?

• ...that metal can grow whiskers?
• ...that the U.S. federal government sold the disputed Erie Triangle region to Pennsylvania in 1792 so that state would have a freshwater port?
• ...that Bewitched actress Elizabeth Montgomery made her acting debut as a regular on her father's popular series Robert Montgomery Presents in 1952?

9 January 2005

• ...that Thomas Lord started Lord's Cricket Ground (right), the Home of Cricket in 1814?
• ...that Quebec-born singer Alys Robi was subjected to a lobotomy in 1952, following a mental breakdown?

• ...that with his roles in Malcolm in the Middle and Unhappily Ever After, Justin Berfield is the youngest person to appear in over 100 episodes of two different television shows?
• ...that a Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar was used in the 2004 movie The Flight of the Phoenix?

8 January 2005

• ...that the Comal River is the shortest river in Texas ( USA), running entirely within the city limits of New Braunfels?

7 January 2005

• ...that the East and West Memorial Buildings in Ottawa, Canada were originally built in 1949 to house the rapidly growing Department of Veterans Affairs?
• ...that the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad's plan to expand into Wyoming's Powder River Basin would be the largest new railroad construction in the United States since the American Civil War?
• ...that the Great Black Hawk is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes eagles, hawks and Old World vultures?

6 January 2005

• ...that Telford Taylor, the U.S. Chief Prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials, was also an opponent of McCarthyism and an outspoken critic of the U.S. conduct in the Vietnam War?
• ...that businessman John King was Chairman of British Airways from 1981 and was successfully sued by Richard Branson for libel as a result of BA's dirty tricks against Virgin Atlantic?
• ...that Wai-Wai is a popular noodle-like snack in Nepal, Sikkim and in northern parts of West Bengal?

5 January 2005

• ...that the first Wabash was a steam screw frigate in the U.S. Navy during the American Civil War?
• ...that The Vampyre was a short novel first published on April 1, 1819 in parts in the New Monthly Magazine with the false attribution "A Tale by Lord Byron"?
• ...that in October 1950, the U.S. National Guard bombed the small town of Jayuya, Puerto Rico, where Blanca Canales led a revolt?

3 January 2005

• ...that the neoclassical Mistley towers were part of the now demolished church of "St. Mary the Virgin" at Mistley in Essex?
• ...that Semmering is a mountain pass in the Northern Limestone Alps connecting Lower Austria and Styria?
• ...that the Zippe-type centrifuge, named after Gernot Zippe, is a device designed to collect uranium-235?

2 January 2005

• ...that 18th century actress Anne Bracegirdle most frequently played vivacious, breeches-wearing, guardian-tricking young women of great initiative?
• ...that a major milestone in the decline of Buddhism in India came in 1193 when the great university at Nalanda was destroyed by Turkish Muslim raiders?
• ...that Kordylewski clouds are large concentrations of dust that orbit Earth at the distance of the Moon?
• ...that Warton in Lancashire is a historic village famous for its contribution to the UK aerospace industry?

1 January 2005

• ...that the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism was famous for developing the shakuhachi flute as a means of meditation?