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.
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.
30 September 2012
16:00, 30 September 2012 (UTC)
... that since 1979, after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan,
Peshawar is the only direct market for gemstones from Pakistan(example pictured) and Afghanistan?
... that numerous piles of trash were set ablaze when Baltimore's garbage collectors and police officers conducted overlapping strikes in July 1974?
... that Gilla Gerzon, the Director of the Haifa USO, had 241 trees planted in Israel in memory of the 241 Americans killed in the
1983 Beirut barracks bombing?
... that Purshottam Solanki, the Fisheries Minister of
Gujarat, allegedly caused a loss of ₹400
crore (
US$72.4 million) to the state government when granting contracts for fishing in reservoirs?
... that the 52-Hertz whale is known only by its unique
sound(listen, speeded up ten times to 520 hertz), the only one of its kind ever recorded, and has been called the loneliest
whale in the world?
... that an
asteroid that Swiss physics teacher Michel Ory thought he had discovered in 2008 turned out to be a periodic
comet, and the discovery earned him an
Edgar Wilson Award?
... that Julius Achon was the first
Ugandan athlete to win a gold medal at the World Junior Championships?
... that the
European Commission-funded news portal Presseurop translates and publishes news articles from over two hundred sources into ten European languages?
... that Yad Kennedy(pictured), an Israeli memorial to
John F. Kennedy designed by architect David Resnick, is shaped like the trunk of a felled tree, symbolizing a life cut short?
... that according to
Buddhist cosmology, in the beginning of the world, Maha Sammata was elected by the people of
Jambudvipa, the only habitable continent on earth, to be their first
monarch?
... that the collection of the Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas of
Madrid has some 40,000 items, from
Ming and
Qing dynasty porcelains to Granadian silk, Moroccan embroidery, and Turkish inkpots?
... that the Gibraltar Dam was built on the
Santa Ynez River to impound 14,500 acre-feet (17,900
dam3) of water, but about half of the reservoir's capacity has been lost due to
siltation?
... that Ibn Ra'iq ordered the destruction of the Nahrawan Canal to stop a mutinous army from advancing on
Baghdad, even though it was the main irrigation network for the fields that fed the city?
... that in response to "
Heil Hitler", Karl Schneider said he regretfully could not cure
Adolf Hitler, as he was an ophthalmologist, not a neurologist?
00:00, 28 September 2012 (UTC)
... that Pieter Nieuwland(pictured), an 18th-century child prodigy and
polymath who died a year after becoming a professor, has been called the Dutch
Isaac Newton?
... that Henry Herx, a film critic for
Catholics, was upset that
Siskel and Ebert walked out on a film, as "his job was to sit there and watch it and give an honest review" no matter how bad?
... that in the early 1900s the Illecillewaet Glacier in British Columbia, Canada, was described as the "most visited glacier in the Americas"?
... that Caine's Arcade, a short documentary on nine-year-old Caine's cardboard arcade, has raised over $200,000 towards his college fund and the creation of a non-profit organization?
... that the school of surgery founded by Charles Illingworth, Glasgow's
Regius Professor of Surgery from 1939, "came to dominate academic surgery in Britain for a generation or more"?
... that the Australian tree Agathis atropurpurea is known as the black kauri or the blue kauri because of the colour of its
bark?
... that Ray Long was the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine between 1919 and 1931, and left to become a book publisher?
... that despite early concerns that the race course would be too long for Black Jester, the colt won the 1914
St. Leger Stakes by five
lengths and set a new record time?
... that Enamorada de Ti included previously recorded songs by American singer
Selena, which were turned into duets with other artists?
... that civic activist and former toymaker Carl Berner is the oldest living man in
New York City?
... that before entering The Clink restaurant, diners must hand over any mobile phones or sharp objects?
08:00, 25 September 2012 (UTC)
... that when
African-American former slaveJordan Anderson(pictured) was asked to come back and work for his old master, he replied with a
deadpan letter asking for 52 years' back pay as proof of good faith?
... that the leaves of the Port Arthur plum smell like stale cabbage when crushed?
... that Amanda Carter was the oldest member of the
Gliders at the
2012 Summer Paralympics, and the only one who had participated in 1992, 1996 and 2000 Summer Paralympics?
... that Chamant's win over Brown Prince and Silvio in the
2,000 Guineas Stakes in 1877 was misreported as a victory by 2,000 men under "Chamat Croun" and "Prince Silvio" in the ongoing
Russo-Turkish War?
... that although the Fischerinsel in central
Berlin was levelled in the 1960s to build tower blocks, a replica of the old inn Zum Nußbaum was constructed in the
Nikolaiviertel in 1987?
... that the daughter of Candice Cohen-Ahnine is a Jewish-Saudi princess whom French President
Nicolas Sarkozy attempted to bring to France, but failed?
... that although Charles Warren is best known for political leadership in environmental matters, he also crafted legislation that created the first U.S. statewide
9-1-1 emergency telephone service?
... that a legend likens some of the
earth pyramids near Stob in southwest
Bulgaria to petrified wedding guests?
... that the
Swedishfeminist network Bara Bröst won the right for women to
bare breasts at swimming pools in
Malmö, but the city's ruling did not result in any significant difference?
... that it was known as early as the 16th century that water held in a cup made of lignum nephriticum from
New Spain would become
brightly blue?
08:00, 22 September 2012 (UTC)
... that although British sculptor John Angel spent much of his career in America, he designed the Exeter(pictured) and Bridgwater War Memorials in the 1920s?
... that 120 Polish miners died in the rubble when the newly built train tunnel collapsed along the Poprad River Gorge(pictured) in the
Beskid Mountains?
... that U.S.-based television production company Zodiac Entertainment intentionally avoided references to American culture in its shows?
... that the 'false positives' scandal which broke in
Colombia in 2008 involved members of the military murdering civilians and presenting them as
guerrillas killed in battle, in order to inflate army body counts?
... that the 2012 political book Britannia Unchained attracted criticism for accusing British employees of being "among the worst idlers in the world"?
... that Klaus Martin Ziegler championed new church music as an organist, the founder and conductor of choirs in
Kassel and
Stuttgart, and as a festival director?
... that after New Zealand became the first country in the world to grant women the right to vote in parliamentary elections,
suffragistKate Sheppard enrolled women at Tuam Street Hall?
... that British
para-equestrianDeborah Criddle and Figaro IX were the first rider and horse pairing to win three gold medals at consecutive European, World and
Paralympic competitions?
... that the foul-smelling greenish-brown
slime in the lattice of the fungus Colus hirudinosus attracts insects that help disperse its spores?
... that gooks protected
bal maidens from sunlight, noise and flying debris?
... that there are ruins of an ancient
Romantemple off of the road between Rashaya and
Aaiha?
... that three years after arriving at the Fäviken estate as a
sommelier, Magnus Nilsson had become head chef and the restaurant was ranked the 34th
best in the world?
... that the fruits of the Lecythis ampla tree resemble little wooden pots with lids?
08:00, 18 September 2012 (UTC)
... that the green sea urchin(pictured) shades itself from the sun with bits of vegetation and shell but the jewel sea urchin prefers to hide in crevices during the day?
... that when the filly Tiffin retired from racing in 1929, the press described her as "the fastest horse in the world, irrespective of age or sex"?
... that Edwin Swope was the only
warden of
Alcatraz who did not have an escape attempt during his tenure?
17 September 2012
16:00, 17 September 2012 (UTC)
... that Banbhore is an ancient city in Pakistan dating back to the first century BC, which contains the remains of one of the earliest mosques (pictured) in the region?
... that Romanian Sandu Tudor, once a
Futurist poet and libelous journalist, was proposed for canonization?
... that in 1920, British Commander (and later Admiral of the Fleet)
Bruce Fraser was imprisoned in the Black Hole of Baku?
... that after starting his culinary career making bacon sandwiches in a
café, Steve Drake went on to win a
Michelin star as head chef at two restaurants?
... that one reviewer thought that the final battleground of video game Mass Effect 2: Arrival broke the laws of physics?
00:00, 17 September 2012 (UTC)
... that Palmeira Square(pictured) in
Hove, England, occupies the site of the Anthaeum—whose spectacular collapse the day before it opened made its promoter Henry Phillips go blind from shock?
... that, Jesús Blancornelas, a Mexican journalist, risked his life while reporting on the
Tijuana Cartel, the drug trade in Mexico, and political corruption?
... that despite being the son of a two-time
NASCAR champion and brother of a
Daytona 500 winner, Randy Baker never finished better than 17th in NASCAR competition?
... that the German left-liberal daily paper Berliner Börsen-Courier published stock exchange data from 1868, had a sports reporter from 1885 and made playwright
Bertolt Brecht known in 1922?
... that the
Phoenician settlement of Tell Sukas in modern Syria was located at the center of the fertile plain of
Jableh on a hill with access to two natural harbors?
... that Tracey Shelton had to run from the debris cloud after photographing the explosion from a tank
shell in
Aleppo, Syria, that killed three
opposition fighters?
... that although Czech psychiatrist and neuropathologist Oskar Fischer made significant contributions to the description of
Alzheimer's disease, his works largely remained unknown until 2008?
... that Edmond Panariti, the current minister of Foreign Affairs of
Albania, is the first Albanian government minister to visit
Australia?
... that DDG Hansa lost all but one of its ships in World War I and all its ships in and after World War II and still became the world's largest
heavy lift shipping company?
... that the British racehorse Teenoso won the 1983
Derby Stakes with the slowest winning time of this race in the 20th century?
... that María Soledad Iparraguirre was only the second woman to serve on the executive of the
Basque separatist group
ETA and was wanted by Spanish police for participation in at least 14 assassinations?
... that despite being founded in 1984, the Roux Scholarship contest was only first televised in 2012?
00:00, 13 September 2012 (UTC)
... that the Pyrenean desman(pictured) is believed to be almost extinct in the southern area of its range in the
Iberian Peninsula due to changes to its habitat?
... that indigenous Australian rapper Briggs toured with
Ice Cube, who he described as "my favourite rapper since I was a kid", just a year after releasing his first EP?
... that in 1955, two years after interviewing American actor
Gregory Peck for the newspaper France Soir, French journalist Veronique Passani became Peck's wife?
... that in 2009,
Arawak artist and archaeologist George Simon(pictured) and a team of researchers uncovered evidence of human settlements in
Guyana that date back to 3,000
BCE?
... that recent estimates of the number of political prisoners in Saudi Arabia range from a denial of any political prisoners at all to 30,000?
... that Mississippi's Spanish Fort is neither Spanish nor a fort?
00:00, 10 September 2012 (UTC)
... that the Alcatraz Gang(member pictured) was a group of eleven American POWs singled out for extra harsh treatment by their North Vietnamese captors because of their fierce resistance to captivity?
... that the
Umayyad military leader Abdallah al-Battal became a popular hero in medieval Arabic and Turkish tradition for his exploits against the
Byzantines?
... that
2012 Indian ParalympicpowerlifterFarman Basha won an event for non-disabled athletes in 2006, leading to a ban on disabled athletes in Indian Powerlifting Federation events?
... that the Ellerbusch Archaeological Site in the U.S. state of Indiana was picked for extensive excavation partly because it was so small?
... that Abdullah Al Rabiah, once named the world's 45th most influential
Arab by a business magazine, used to work as a surgeon who separated
conjoined twins?
... that the Astor Bridge was considered "one of the most hazardous road sections in Florida" in the 1970s?
... that the Corporation of Madras was established in 1688, and is the oldest municipal body in India?
... that in
the Kinks' song "Sitting in My Hotel", singer and songwriter
Ray Davies muses about the cost of stardom in terms of loneliness and losing touch with his roots?
... that five-time gold medallist Thomas Oelsner was the first athlete to be sent home from any
Winter Paralympic Games when he failed a drugs test in 2002?
... that the 2011 film Love's Kitchen starring Dougray Scott, Claire Forlani and featuring chef
Gordon Ramsay in a cameo role, took
£121 on its opening weekend?
7 September 2012
16:00, 7 September 2012 (UTC)
... that the wasp Deinodryinus velteni(pictured) is one of only three Deinodryinus species described from the fossil record?
... that of all the county bridges currently in use in Wyoming, EDZ Irigary Bridge has the longest clear
span?
... that in 2002,
Randy and Teri MacDonald were the first brother-sister combination to compete against each other in
NASCAR since
Ethel and
Tim Flock in 1949?
... that the Vätsäri Wilderness Area in
Lapland, which covers an area of 1,550 square kilometers (600 sq mi), includes taiga forests of
Scots Pine and thousands of small lakes (pictured)?
... that pottery from the Duffy Archaeological Site in Illinois is distinctive for its lack of decorative elements?
... that in 1332 Taynal, the
Mamluk governor of
Tripoli, was transferred to
Gaza as punishment by the viceroy of
Syria, only to be reassigned to Tripoli three years later?
... that a 19th-century brick synagogue in Radzanów designed with
Moorish-style motifs, serves as a public library since there are now no Jews in Radzanów?
... that the
tsunami triggered by the 1979 Tumaco earthquake coincided with low tide, greatly reducing the area inundated and the likelihood of a far higher death toll?
... that ruisreikäleipä(pictured) is a
Finnish rye hole loaf which was stored for all the Nordic winter's length and is still a main component of the Finnish diet?
... that mathematician Fredrik Lange-Nielsen was elected into several governmental commissions?
... that at 12,095 feet (3,687 m) in elevation, Colorado's Independence Pass(pictured) is the highest paved crossing of the
Continental Divide in the United States?
... that the music of Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, and Arnold Schoenberg inspired jazz-guitarist Ralph Patt to invent
major-thirds tuning?
... that a grey sandstone wall is all that remains of Caludon Castle in
Coventry, whose history stretches back to pre-
Norman times?
... that an alleged Burmese drug lord and nine Thai anti-narcotics soldiers are accused of committing the 2011 Mekong River massacre, the deadliest attack on Chinese nationals abroad in modern times?
... that after giving up professional football to serve in
World War II, Jack Roberts escaped from a POW camp and walked 400 miles to freedom with a broken neck?
3 September 2012
16:00, 3 September 2012 (UTC)
... that
2012 ParalympianChris Bond(pictured) is missing both legs below his knees, his left wrist and his right four fingers as a result of a severe infection from a flesh-eating disease?
... that two-time world champion water skier and 2012 Paralympic athletics competitor Scott Reardon was the first person with a disability to win
his state's water skiing championship?
... that the Faizrakhmanist sect, including 27 children, was discovered to be living underground in
catacomb-like chambers in
Kazan in
Tatarstan?
... that
Nicolas de Bruijn was inspired to prove De Bruijn's theorem on packing
bricks into boxes by his seven-year-old son's inability to pack some bricks into a box without wasted space?
... that the 1966 Syrian coup d'état removed the original founders of
Ba'athism from power, caused the party to split, and brought neo-Ba'athists to power in Syria?
... that the 2006 Swift raids were the largest workplace immigration action in United States history?
08:00, 2 September 2012 (UTC)
... that Selwyn in New Zealand, which celebrates its 150th birthday this month, was planned for 2,000 residents, but was depopulated by flooding and now has many derelict buildings (ruins pictured)?
... that Dexter Bean's BlackJack Racing team, which he drove for in
NASCAR's
Sprint Cup Series, was so named because his father formed the team after winning big in
Vegas?
... that John P. Bennett, the
Arawak priest and linguist, wrote An Arawak-English Dictionary at a time when the
Arawak language was thought to be near extinction in
Guyana?
... that American economist and professor Stanley Lebergott argued that
consumerism has had a positive impact on the U.S. economy and standard of living?
... that Smooth 70s is the UK's only national
1970s radio station, while Absolute Radio 70s claims to be the UK's only station dedicated to the decade?
... that
Franz Kafka wrote the 109 Zürau Aphorisms at the estate of his sister
Ottla and her husband in Zürau where he sought recovery from tuberculosis?
... that opponents of the new mosque of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro tried to block its construction by arguing in court that
Islam was not a religion?
... that when Sten Grytebust was selected for the Norway national under-23
football team, he didn't know that such a team existed?
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.
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.
30 September 2012
16:00, 30 September 2012 (UTC)
... that since 1979, after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan,
Peshawar is the only direct market for gemstones from Pakistan(example pictured) and Afghanistan?
... that numerous piles of trash were set ablaze when Baltimore's garbage collectors and police officers conducted overlapping strikes in July 1974?
... that Gilla Gerzon, the Director of the Haifa USO, had 241 trees planted in Israel in memory of the 241 Americans killed in the
1983 Beirut barracks bombing?
... that Purshottam Solanki, the Fisheries Minister of
Gujarat, allegedly caused a loss of ₹400
crore (
US$72.4 million) to the state government when granting contracts for fishing in reservoirs?
... that the 52-Hertz whale is known only by its unique
sound(listen, speeded up ten times to 520 hertz), the only one of its kind ever recorded, and has been called the loneliest
whale in the world?
... that an
asteroid that Swiss physics teacher Michel Ory thought he had discovered in 2008 turned out to be a periodic
comet, and the discovery earned him an
Edgar Wilson Award?
... that Julius Achon was the first
Ugandan athlete to win a gold medal at the World Junior Championships?
... that the
European Commission-funded news portal Presseurop translates and publishes news articles from over two hundred sources into ten European languages?
... that Yad Kennedy(pictured), an Israeli memorial to
John F. Kennedy designed by architect David Resnick, is shaped like the trunk of a felled tree, symbolizing a life cut short?
... that according to
Buddhist cosmology, in the beginning of the world, Maha Sammata was elected by the people of
Jambudvipa, the only habitable continent on earth, to be their first
monarch?
... that the collection of the Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas of
Madrid has some 40,000 items, from
Ming and
Qing dynasty porcelains to Granadian silk, Moroccan embroidery, and Turkish inkpots?
... that the Gibraltar Dam was built on the
Santa Ynez River to impound 14,500 acre-feet (17,900
dam3) of water, but about half of the reservoir's capacity has been lost due to
siltation?
... that Ibn Ra'iq ordered the destruction of the Nahrawan Canal to stop a mutinous army from advancing on
Baghdad, even though it was the main irrigation network for the fields that fed the city?
... that in response to "
Heil Hitler", Karl Schneider said he regretfully could not cure
Adolf Hitler, as he was an ophthalmologist, not a neurologist?
00:00, 28 September 2012 (UTC)
... that Pieter Nieuwland(pictured), an 18th-century child prodigy and
polymath who died a year after becoming a professor, has been called the Dutch
Isaac Newton?
... that Henry Herx, a film critic for
Catholics, was upset that
Siskel and Ebert walked out on a film, as "his job was to sit there and watch it and give an honest review" no matter how bad?
... that in the early 1900s the Illecillewaet Glacier in British Columbia, Canada, was described as the "most visited glacier in the Americas"?
... that Caine's Arcade, a short documentary on nine-year-old Caine's cardboard arcade, has raised over $200,000 towards his college fund and the creation of a non-profit organization?
... that the school of surgery founded by Charles Illingworth, Glasgow's
Regius Professor of Surgery from 1939, "came to dominate academic surgery in Britain for a generation or more"?
... that the Australian tree Agathis atropurpurea is known as the black kauri or the blue kauri because of the colour of its
bark?
... that Ray Long was the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine between 1919 and 1931, and left to become a book publisher?
... that despite early concerns that the race course would be too long for Black Jester, the colt won the 1914
St. Leger Stakes by five
lengths and set a new record time?
... that Enamorada de Ti included previously recorded songs by American singer
Selena, which were turned into duets with other artists?
... that civic activist and former toymaker Carl Berner is the oldest living man in
New York City?
... that before entering The Clink restaurant, diners must hand over any mobile phones or sharp objects?
08:00, 25 September 2012 (UTC)
... that when
African-American former slaveJordan Anderson(pictured) was asked to come back and work for his old master, he replied with a
deadpan letter asking for 52 years' back pay as proof of good faith?
... that the leaves of the Port Arthur plum smell like stale cabbage when crushed?
... that Amanda Carter was the oldest member of the
Gliders at the
2012 Summer Paralympics, and the only one who had participated in 1992, 1996 and 2000 Summer Paralympics?
... that Chamant's win over Brown Prince and Silvio in the
2,000 Guineas Stakes in 1877 was misreported as a victory by 2,000 men under "Chamat Croun" and "Prince Silvio" in the ongoing
Russo-Turkish War?
... that although the Fischerinsel in central
Berlin was levelled in the 1960s to build tower blocks, a replica of the old inn Zum Nußbaum was constructed in the
Nikolaiviertel in 1987?
... that the daughter of Candice Cohen-Ahnine is a Jewish-Saudi princess whom French President
Nicolas Sarkozy attempted to bring to France, but failed?
... that although Charles Warren is best known for political leadership in environmental matters, he also crafted legislation that created the first U.S. statewide
9-1-1 emergency telephone service?
... that a legend likens some of the
earth pyramids near Stob in southwest
Bulgaria to petrified wedding guests?
... that the
Swedishfeminist network Bara Bröst won the right for women to
bare breasts at swimming pools in
Malmö, but the city's ruling did not result in any significant difference?
... that it was known as early as the 16th century that water held in a cup made of lignum nephriticum from
New Spain would become
brightly blue?
08:00, 22 September 2012 (UTC)
... that although British sculptor John Angel spent much of his career in America, he designed the Exeter(pictured) and Bridgwater War Memorials in the 1920s?
... that 120 Polish miners died in the rubble when the newly built train tunnel collapsed along the Poprad River Gorge(pictured) in the
Beskid Mountains?
... that U.S.-based television production company Zodiac Entertainment intentionally avoided references to American culture in its shows?
... that the 'false positives' scandal which broke in
Colombia in 2008 involved members of the military murdering civilians and presenting them as
guerrillas killed in battle, in order to inflate army body counts?
... that the 2012 political book Britannia Unchained attracted criticism for accusing British employees of being "among the worst idlers in the world"?
... that Klaus Martin Ziegler championed new church music as an organist, the founder and conductor of choirs in
Kassel and
Stuttgart, and as a festival director?
... that after New Zealand became the first country in the world to grant women the right to vote in parliamentary elections,
suffragistKate Sheppard enrolled women at Tuam Street Hall?
... that British
para-equestrianDeborah Criddle and Figaro IX were the first rider and horse pairing to win three gold medals at consecutive European, World and
Paralympic competitions?
... that the foul-smelling greenish-brown
slime in the lattice of the fungus Colus hirudinosus attracts insects that help disperse its spores?
... that gooks protected
bal maidens from sunlight, noise and flying debris?
... that there are ruins of an ancient
Romantemple off of the road between Rashaya and
Aaiha?
... that three years after arriving at the Fäviken estate as a
sommelier, Magnus Nilsson had become head chef and the restaurant was ranked the 34th
best in the world?
... that the fruits of the Lecythis ampla tree resemble little wooden pots with lids?
08:00, 18 September 2012 (UTC)
... that the green sea urchin(pictured) shades itself from the sun with bits of vegetation and shell but the jewel sea urchin prefers to hide in crevices during the day?
... that when the filly Tiffin retired from racing in 1929, the press described her as "the fastest horse in the world, irrespective of age or sex"?
... that Edwin Swope was the only
warden of
Alcatraz who did not have an escape attempt during his tenure?
17 September 2012
16:00, 17 September 2012 (UTC)
... that Banbhore is an ancient city in Pakistan dating back to the first century BC, which contains the remains of one of the earliest mosques (pictured) in the region?
... that Romanian Sandu Tudor, once a
Futurist poet and libelous journalist, was proposed for canonization?
... that in 1920, British Commander (and later Admiral of the Fleet)
Bruce Fraser was imprisoned in the Black Hole of Baku?
... that after starting his culinary career making bacon sandwiches in a
café, Steve Drake went on to win a
Michelin star as head chef at two restaurants?
... that one reviewer thought that the final battleground of video game Mass Effect 2: Arrival broke the laws of physics?
00:00, 17 September 2012 (UTC)
... that Palmeira Square(pictured) in
Hove, England, occupies the site of the Anthaeum—whose spectacular collapse the day before it opened made its promoter Henry Phillips go blind from shock?
... that, Jesús Blancornelas, a Mexican journalist, risked his life while reporting on the
Tijuana Cartel, the drug trade in Mexico, and political corruption?
... that despite being the son of a two-time
NASCAR champion and brother of a
Daytona 500 winner, Randy Baker never finished better than 17th in NASCAR competition?
... that the German left-liberal daily paper Berliner Börsen-Courier published stock exchange data from 1868, had a sports reporter from 1885 and made playwright
Bertolt Brecht known in 1922?
... that the
Phoenician settlement of Tell Sukas in modern Syria was located at the center of the fertile plain of
Jableh on a hill with access to two natural harbors?
... that Tracey Shelton had to run from the debris cloud after photographing the explosion from a tank
shell in
Aleppo, Syria, that killed three
opposition fighters?
... that although Czech psychiatrist and neuropathologist Oskar Fischer made significant contributions to the description of
Alzheimer's disease, his works largely remained unknown until 2008?
... that Edmond Panariti, the current minister of Foreign Affairs of
Albania, is the first Albanian government minister to visit
Australia?
... that DDG Hansa lost all but one of its ships in World War I and all its ships in and after World War II and still became the world's largest
heavy lift shipping company?
... that the British racehorse Teenoso won the 1983
Derby Stakes with the slowest winning time of this race in the 20th century?
... that María Soledad Iparraguirre was only the second woman to serve on the executive of the
Basque separatist group
ETA and was wanted by Spanish police for participation in at least 14 assassinations?
... that despite being founded in 1984, the Roux Scholarship contest was only first televised in 2012?
00:00, 13 September 2012 (UTC)
... that the Pyrenean desman(pictured) is believed to be almost extinct in the southern area of its range in the
Iberian Peninsula due to changes to its habitat?
... that indigenous Australian rapper Briggs toured with
Ice Cube, who he described as "my favourite rapper since I was a kid", just a year after releasing his first EP?
... that in 1955, two years after interviewing American actor
Gregory Peck for the newspaper France Soir, French journalist Veronique Passani became Peck's wife?
... that in 2009,
Arawak artist and archaeologist George Simon(pictured) and a team of researchers uncovered evidence of human settlements in
Guyana that date back to 3,000
BCE?
... that recent estimates of the number of political prisoners in Saudi Arabia range from a denial of any political prisoners at all to 30,000?
... that Mississippi's Spanish Fort is neither Spanish nor a fort?
00:00, 10 September 2012 (UTC)
... that the Alcatraz Gang(member pictured) was a group of eleven American POWs singled out for extra harsh treatment by their North Vietnamese captors because of their fierce resistance to captivity?
... that the
Umayyad military leader Abdallah al-Battal became a popular hero in medieval Arabic and Turkish tradition for his exploits against the
Byzantines?
... that
2012 Indian ParalympicpowerlifterFarman Basha won an event for non-disabled athletes in 2006, leading to a ban on disabled athletes in Indian Powerlifting Federation events?
... that the Ellerbusch Archaeological Site in the U.S. state of Indiana was picked for extensive excavation partly because it was so small?
... that Abdullah Al Rabiah, once named the world's 45th most influential
Arab by a business magazine, used to work as a surgeon who separated
conjoined twins?
... that the Astor Bridge was considered "one of the most hazardous road sections in Florida" in the 1970s?
... that the Corporation of Madras was established in 1688, and is the oldest municipal body in India?
... that in
the Kinks' song "Sitting in My Hotel", singer and songwriter
Ray Davies muses about the cost of stardom in terms of loneliness and losing touch with his roots?
... that five-time gold medallist Thomas Oelsner was the first athlete to be sent home from any
Winter Paralympic Games when he failed a drugs test in 2002?
... that the 2011 film Love's Kitchen starring Dougray Scott, Claire Forlani and featuring chef
Gordon Ramsay in a cameo role, took
£121 on its opening weekend?
7 September 2012
16:00, 7 September 2012 (UTC)
... that the wasp Deinodryinus velteni(pictured) is one of only three Deinodryinus species described from the fossil record?
... that of all the county bridges currently in use in Wyoming, EDZ Irigary Bridge has the longest clear
span?
... that in 2002,
Randy and Teri MacDonald were the first brother-sister combination to compete against each other in
NASCAR since
Ethel and
Tim Flock in 1949?
... that the Vätsäri Wilderness Area in
Lapland, which covers an area of 1,550 square kilometers (600 sq mi), includes taiga forests of
Scots Pine and thousands of small lakes (pictured)?
... that pottery from the Duffy Archaeological Site in Illinois is distinctive for its lack of decorative elements?
... that in 1332 Taynal, the
Mamluk governor of
Tripoli, was transferred to
Gaza as punishment by the viceroy of
Syria, only to be reassigned to Tripoli three years later?
... that a 19th-century brick synagogue in Radzanów designed with
Moorish-style motifs, serves as a public library since there are now no Jews in Radzanów?
... that the
tsunami triggered by the 1979 Tumaco earthquake coincided with low tide, greatly reducing the area inundated and the likelihood of a far higher death toll?
... that ruisreikäleipä(pictured) is a
Finnish rye hole loaf which was stored for all the Nordic winter's length and is still a main component of the Finnish diet?
... that mathematician Fredrik Lange-Nielsen was elected into several governmental commissions?
... that at 12,095 feet (3,687 m) in elevation, Colorado's Independence Pass(pictured) is the highest paved crossing of the
Continental Divide in the United States?
... that the music of Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, and Arnold Schoenberg inspired jazz-guitarist Ralph Patt to invent
major-thirds tuning?
... that a grey sandstone wall is all that remains of Caludon Castle in
Coventry, whose history stretches back to pre-
Norman times?
... that an alleged Burmese drug lord and nine Thai anti-narcotics soldiers are accused of committing the 2011 Mekong River massacre, the deadliest attack on Chinese nationals abroad in modern times?
... that after giving up professional football to serve in
World War II, Jack Roberts escaped from a POW camp and walked 400 miles to freedom with a broken neck?
3 September 2012
16:00, 3 September 2012 (UTC)
... that
2012 ParalympianChris Bond(pictured) is missing both legs below his knees, his left wrist and his right four fingers as a result of a severe infection from a flesh-eating disease?
... that two-time world champion water skier and 2012 Paralympic athletics competitor Scott Reardon was the first person with a disability to win
his state's water skiing championship?
... that the Faizrakhmanist sect, including 27 children, was discovered to be living underground in
catacomb-like chambers in
Kazan in
Tatarstan?
... that
Nicolas de Bruijn was inspired to prove De Bruijn's theorem on packing
bricks into boxes by his seven-year-old son's inability to pack some bricks into a box without wasted space?
... that the 1966 Syrian coup d'état removed the original founders of
Ba'athism from power, caused the party to split, and brought neo-Ba'athists to power in Syria?
... that the 2006 Swift raids were the largest workplace immigration action in United States history?
08:00, 2 September 2012 (UTC)
... that Selwyn in New Zealand, which celebrates its 150th birthday this month, was planned for 2,000 residents, but was depopulated by flooding and now has many derelict buildings (ruins pictured)?
... that Dexter Bean's BlackJack Racing team, which he drove for in
NASCAR's
Sprint Cup Series, was so named because his father formed the team after winning big in
Vegas?
... that John P. Bennett, the
Arawak priest and linguist, wrote An Arawak-English Dictionary at a time when the
Arawak language was thought to be near extinction in
Guyana?
... that American economist and professor Stanley Lebergott argued that
consumerism has had a positive impact on the U.S. economy and standard of living?
... that Smooth 70s is the UK's only national
1970s radio station, while Absolute Radio 70s claims to be the UK's only station dedicated to the decade?
... that
Franz Kafka wrote the 109 Zürau Aphorisms at the estate of his sister
Ottla and her husband in Zürau where he sought recovery from tuberculosis?
... that opponents of the new mosque of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro tried to block its construction by arguing in court that
Islam was not a religion?
... that when Sten Grytebust was selected for the Norway national under-23
football team, he didn't know that such a team existed?