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
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... that violent content in the video game Road Rash disqualified it from official motorcycle manufacturer endorsements, resulting in soundalike brands such as "Panda" for
Honda and "Kamikaze" for
Kawasaki?
... that in the 1883 political cartoon "An appalling attempt to muzzle the watch-dog of science", Friedrich Graetz portrayed
Herbert Spencer as a monumental dog?
... that the bypassing of Nizar in the
Fatimid caliphal succession, and his subsequent revolt and execution, led to a split in the
Isma'ili branch of
Shia Islam that lasts to this day?
... that a 1986 contest by radio station KXUS jammed all telephone circuits in
Springfield, Missouri, for an hour?
30 January 2020
12:00, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
Assassination attempt on Louis Philippe I of France
... that the infernal machine was a 25-barrel gun used in a failed assassination attempt on King
Louis Philippe I in 1835 (depicted)?
... that boxer Charles Lubulwa is the youngest Ugandan ever to compete at the Olympic Games?
... that the magazines Pulp and Animerica Extra have been called "instrumental in disseminating manga culture" in North America?
... that despite her membership in two of Scotland's largest land-owning families, philanthropist Lady Victoria Campbell dedicated her life to helping those who lived on the islands of
Argyll?
... that the International Ice Hockey Association was established as a means of shifting the control of world hockey to Canada, "where it rightfully belonged"?
... that Prince Minye Kyawhtin, who had rebelled against three
Ava kings for over 32 years, was killed by his own bodyguard for sexually assaulting the guard's sister?
... that despite spending 15 years in the Soviet Union's Italian embassy, diplomat Valentin Bogomazov's only ambassadorships were to South American countries?
... that the bell of the Church of the Good Shepherd(pictured), one of New Zealand's most photographed buildings, commemorates photographer and explorer Edward Sealy and his granddaughter?
... that sand blown from a landslide in the Ringold Formation has created sand dunes nearby?
... that one out of ten labourers in the haruwa–charuwa system is forced to work when seriously ill or injured, and may still face deduction or non-payment of wages?
... that the identification of the body of outlaw Joseph Henry Loveless more than 100 years after his death is the oldest successful identification by the
DNA Doe Project?
27 January 2020
08:39, 27 January 2020 (UTC)
Kraków szopka by Bronisław Pięcik, 1998
... that it would take Bronisław Pięcik upwards of a thousand hours on average to build his elaborate
Kraków szopka nativity scenes (example pictured)?
... that five days after evacuating Blechhammer concentration camp in January 1945, German soldiers returned to murder prisoners who had been unable to leave?
... that Israeli wildlife photographer Roie Galitz won first place at the
Siena International Photo Awards in the "Fragile Ice" category for his picture of a sleeping polar bear?
... that the 1989 film Begotten was made to resemble what the director called "a time that predates spoken language"?
... that although afarit are not necessarily components of a person, but independent entities, a common belief in
Islamic Egypt associates them with part of a human's soul?
... that Yefim Gorodetsky and the "Mints group" were criticised by
a fellow Soviet historian for being objective, fact-based, internationalist, and insufficiently partisan?
... that fashion model Kesewa Aboah is descended from British nobility?
... that the Mad About You episode "The Conversation" was filmed with a single camera in one take, and broadcast without interruption from commercials?
... that cricketer Khaya Majola rejected offers to play alongside white players and overseas because he believed that black Africans were "being used as stooges" to benefit white South Africans?
... that the Hong Kong restaurant Shia Wong Hip stores hundreds of live and venomous snakes on-site for its cuisine, and serves a soup made from lizards, silkworms, and seahorses?
... that Baya Jurquet organized demonstrations by female prisoners in France in the 1950s?
... that when Eureka Iron & Steel Works produced the first steel rails in the United States in 1865, it marked the beginning of the American steel industry?
... that Infection, the first Venezuelan
zombie film, has been banned in the country despite horror being a popular genre there?
... that Wanjira Mathai aims to continue the work of her mother,
Nobel Peace Prize–winning environmentalist
Wangari Maathai, by restoring 12.6 million acres (5.1 million hectares) of Kenyan land by 2030?
... that the music of Grim Fandango is considered one of the best early examples of
adaptive music systems in video gaming, heralding the era of cinematic experiences in gameplay?
... that George Downing created the first surfboard with a removable fin?
... that the egg sacs of the newly discovered Phinda button spider are made of bright purple silk that fades to grey when it dries?
... that many survivors of the Holocaust in the Sudetenland lost their Czechoslovak citizenship after the war because they were deemed to be "Germans"?
... that Georgina Gascoyne-Cecil became a leading member of the
Primrose League, the first British political organisation to give women a prominent role, despite finding its medieval influences absurd?
... that
Peter Hedges was paid $10 to write the screenplay for Pieces of April, and another $10 to direct the film?
... that upon the demise of WFAN-TV in Washington, D.C., its owner took out a full-page newspaper advertisement declaring that the station had been "choked to death" by an inability to upgrade its signal?
... that Klepetan and Malena have been described as "Croatia's most unusual love story"?
21 January 2020
12:00, 21 January 2020 (UTC)
Passionvine bug
... that hosts of the passionvine bug(example pictured) include coffee, citrus, mung bean, squash, and mango?
... that when he was killed, Mexican drug lord Luis Alberto Guerrero Reyes was wearing a live grenade as a necklace?
... that producer Orla Doherty spent 500 hours underwater in a submarine during her work on Blue Planet II?
... that after its sale to Western Bible College, radio station KJOL toned down its protests against abortion clinics and grocery stores that sold pornographic materials?
... that
T. S. Eliot defended himself from the grave after 1,131 of his letters to Emily Hale(pictured) were released in January 2020, stating that he "never at any time had sexual relations" with her?
... that after Mexican drug lord Ediel López Falcón was ordered to forfeit US$15 billion in the U.S., Mexican authorities wanted to keep fifty percent of it?
... that Dreamer's Bay on the island of Cyprus is considered "one of the best-preserved ancient ports in the Mediterranean"?
... that 23 of the 25
disc jockeys of Utah radio station KJQN-FM defected and started
their own station, taking with them a converted truck called the "Milk Beast"?
... that the uncle–nephew conflict between
Liu Xianshi and Wang Wenhua in the Guizhou clique involved student organizations, an attempted assassination, and a violent coup?
... that
amateur radio operator Charles E. Apgar's recordings of radio transmissions during World War I were found to include covert messages that exposed an
espionage ring?
... that the Royal Commission on London Traffic proposed constructing 9 miles (14 km) of avenues with railways underneath at the cost of £30 million in 1905 (equivalent to £3 billion in 2016)?
... that after world-record breaststroke swimmer Gordon Warner lost his left leg, he resumed practising the Japanese
way of the sword and eventually became the discipline's highest-ranked Westerner?
... that Reema Juffali(pictured in race car) is the first Saudi Arabian woman to obtain a racing license and compete in an international racing event in the country?
... that although Michael Buie practiced
Fox News anchor
Bret Baier's speaking style for his role in the film Bombshell, they had never talked to each other until after filming had finished?
... that the corporate history of Xinuos begins with repeated attempts to acquire a troubled software company in bankruptcy?
... that the palm scale was first found on an
endemic species of palm on the island of
Réunion, but now infests plants in at least 78
families around the world?
... that New York City's Governors Island has been the site of a Statue of Liberty celebration, a U.S.–Soviet summit, and the signing of a peace treaty between Haitian political leaders?
... that despite being nearly illiterate, Chinese soldier Gao Yubao wrote an autobiographical novel that has had more than six million copies in print?
00:00, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
Guillaume Brune
... that French general
Guillaume Brune(portrait shown) signed the Armistice of Treviso on 16 January 1801, despite promising Napoleon that he would not agree to a ceasefire on such terms?
... that gay pornographic film actor and director Erik Rhodes was posthumously outed as
HIV-positive in his New York Times obituary?
... that the first episode of Welcome to the Family was Catalan network
TV3's most watched premiere in over a decade?
... that unlike most of its competitors in Hong Kong, stationery retailer Cheap Lab allows its retail staff to manage its Facebook fan page with few restrictions?
... that in France, the beetle Aepus marinus is restricted to a narrow strip of the beach near the high-water mark?
... that the Polish publishing house WSiP had a monopoly on textbook publishing from the 1950s to 1989?
... that the
parting of the Red Sea scene in Cecil B. DeMille's 1956 film The Ten Commandments was created by filming the release of hundreds of thousands of gallons of water into a large tank and playing the resulting footage backwards?
... that all the residents of Wallacepur, a village in the Indian state of
Gujarat, are Christian?
14 January 2020
12:00, 14 January 2020 (UTC)
Interior of Mariä Krönung
... that the Mariä Krönung pilgrimage church in
Lautenbach(interior pictured) retains original
Gothic features, such as the high altar and fused stained-glass windows?
... that a Nepali girl who spent three years in jail for showing a black flag of protest to King
Mahendra went on to become the country's first female deputy prime minister?
... that around 200 CE, the Indian monk
Nagarjuna exhorted a king to make "Images of
Buddha with fine proportions / Well designed and sitting on lotuses" (example pictured)?
... that Earl Landgrebe said, "Don't confuse me with the facts. I've got a closed mind. I will not vote for impeachment" when asked about the transcript of the
"smoking gun" tape?
... that in 2007, a rescued
European bison calf dubbed Pubal grew so attached to humans in southeastern Poland that he could not be successfully reintegrated back into the wild?
12 January 2020
12:00, 12 January 2020 (UTC)
Eleanor Vadala
... that Eleanor Vadala(pictured), the third woman in the U.S. to receive
FAA certification as a
balloon pilot, also studied and repaired balloons, and drove chase cars after them?
... that when the Daryl Roth Theatre opened within a former bank, it was described as one of a "growing number of unconventional spaces" that were being converted to theatres?
... that when WFAB radio in
Miami was forced off the air in 1977, Hispanic-owned shops in
Homestead closed for an hour in protest?
... that British neuroscientist Rebeccah Slater led a study that showed that not only do
babies experience pain, they may be more sensitive to it than adults?
... that a mandarin duck(pictured) that appeared in New York City's
Central Park became an international celebrity, with followers whom the
Associated Press called "quackarazzi"?
... that Saida Muna Tasneem is the first woman to hold the positions of Bangladeshi high commissioner to the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Liberia?
... that an initiative by a
Daimaru department store in which
menstruating employees could choose to wear a badge featuring the cartoon character Little Miss P caused a public outcry?
... that WWNN (980 AM) in
Pompano Beach, Florida, was the first radio station in the United States to adopt a format consisting of motivational speeches?
... that Ivan Borkovský, under Nazi German pressure, identified the Prague Castle skeleton as a Nordic burial and then later, under Soviet pressure, as a Slavic burial?
... that a severe infestation of the palm weevil borer can kill its host palm?
... that after American baritone Raymond Wolansky appeared as a guest at the
Staatsoper Stuttgart as Verdi's
Rigoletto, he remained at the theatre for more than 30 years and made an international career?
... that Czech fictional outlaw Rumcajs was so popular in Poland that a brand of detergent was named after his son?
... that to counter the influence of Western missionaries,
a Japanese woman was hired as the first principal of Bangkok's Rajini School for girls (pictured) in 1904?
... that the
Land League's "rival government" surpassed the power of the British government in many parts of Ireland during the late 19th century?
... that the Heckscher Playground, the oldest playground in New York City's
Central Park, was initially opposed because people wanted to preserve the park's passive landscape?
... that The Conspiracy Collection, a makeup palette whose creation is profiled in The Beautiful World of Jeffree Star, sold out in 30 minutes?
00:00, 6 January 2020 (UTC)
Chess players photographed in Burma by Max Henry Ferrars
... that British colonial officer Max Henry Ferrars took hundreds of pictures of Burmese life and customs in the late 19th century, such as two men playing the
Burmese version of chess(shown)?
... that in a 1967 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the deportation of an alien for being homosexual?
... that Satoru Noda, author of the manga series Supinamarada!, cited the series's difficult-to-remember name as a probable reason for its commercial failure?
... that after Steeplechase Park burned down in 1907, its owner offered "admission to the burning ruins" for ten cents?
5 January 2020
12:00, 5 January 2020 (UTC)
LuEsther T. Mertz Library
... that the LuEsther T. Mertz Library(pictured), one of the world's largest botanical libraries, had 6.5 million plant specimens and 75 percent of the world's systematic botany literature in 2002?
... that Australian biologist Lee Berger identified Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis as being responsible for the decline and extinction of hundreds of amphibian species?
... that William J. Devlin was called the "builder of the super-structures" at
Boston College, despite his fundraising campaign falling short of its goal?
... that space entrepreneur Susmita Mohanty has started companies on three continents?
... that the card game of Kaschlan, named after its top
trump, became so popular that it was used in the
Prussian idiom "my stomach's playing Kaschlan with my bowels"?
... that although judge R. W. Buzzard has been criticized for drinking and carrying a loaded gun on the job, he has also personally intervened in fistfights and pursued fleeing suspects?
... that as recently as 2013, girls as young as six from landless families were sold each year as labour in Nepal?
... that
Keanu Reeves's film roles include a time-travelling slacker, a computer hacker, an exorcist, and a dentist?
... that Missouri radio station KADY was the first ever recipient of a fine from the
FCC for failing to illuminate its tower?
... that India's Mohan Samant managed the largest covert naval operation in history, which resulted in the destruction of around 100,000 tonnes of Pakistani shipping during the
Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971?
... that the manga series Our Colors was inspired by author
Gengoroh Tagame's desire to create a story about gay characters that was not centrally focused on romance or sex?
... that British teacher Joe Kirby has described marking homework as a
hornet?
2 January 2020
12:00, 2 January 2020 (UTC)
Colossal Buddha head in Ratnagiri
... that the Buddhist site of Ratnagiri(Buddha head pictured) in
Odisha, India, includes rare carved scenes that seem to combine eroticism and hair-cutting?
... that Cheng Sihan, a former driver and art-school dropout, started a successful acting career after becoming homeless and desperate for work?
... that
Twenty One Pilots had concerns over the sensitivity of their handling of the topic of suicide in their song "Neon Gravestones", but still kept it in their album Trench?
... that Andrew Watt Kay's paper describing his augmented histamine test was the single most cited paper in the British Medical Journal between 1945 and 1989?
... that the Century Building in New York City was built in 1880 as a
speculative project, the developers having purchased the land more than a decade earlier?
... that Dogor, an 18,000-year-old canine puppy, may represent a common ancestor of the dog and the wolf?
... that the STIR/SHAKEN protocols aim to end the "epidemic" of
robocalls, of which there were an estimated 5.7 billion in the U.S. placed in October 2019 alone?
... that the name of the Japanese band Spira Spica comes from a Latin word meaning "having hopes as long as one lives", and the star
Spica?
... that the Revolutionary Party of Mozambique initially relied on sticks, axes, machetes and spears to fight its insurgency in the late 1970s?
... that "Tom's Secret", an animated short film by Israeli artist Ohad Elimelech, was selected as the official video for the 2016 European Day on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse?
... that a
cantata titled God is Now, based on the hymn "Gott ist gegenwärtig" and scored for choir, big band, organ, and live electronics, premiered on the 250th anniversary of
the hymn writer's death?