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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.
... that the 1910–1911
Zionist newspaper Hamevasser called on
Jews to join the
Ottoman army, in an effort to improve Jewish-Turkish relations?
... that Charles Garvice, "the most successful novelist in England" in the period 1900–1920, sold millions of books annually but is virtually unknown today?
... that inventor and physicist
Nikola Tesla decided on his career path after being impressed by laboratory experiments of his physics professor at Gymnasium Karlovac?
... that Marcus R. Clark was elected in 2009 to the
Louisiana Supreme Court though he had years earlier been sanctioned by that body for backlogged cases as a district judge?
... that the sculpture of a freezing woman at the Golm War Cemetery was not erected because it did not match the artistic perceptions of the
East German party line?
... that two of the singer-songwriters in
Little River Band wrote so many songs that they formed the duo Birtles & Goble to record the unreleased material?
... that the forests of Syria, celebrated throughout ancient times for their richness, have been reduced to their present-day area of 4,500 square kilometres (1,700 sq mi)?
... that the word "pitcher" originates from the 13th century
Middle English wordpicher, which means earthen jug?
... that the nineteenth-century American botanist Edward Tuckerman liked to write his studies in Latin?
... that in 2003, an English translation of Shadow Tower Abyss, the forerunner to
From Software's award-winning Demon's Souls, was cancelled by
Sony over fears that the game's style lacked market appeal?
... that comedian
Andy Samberg guest starred in the Parks and Recreation episode "Park Safety", which he called "the best episode, and maybe not just of this show but of any show on television ever"?
... that Winifred Collins was one of the first females to be commissioned in the
WAVES when it began in 1942 and was later Chief of Naval Personnel for Women?
... that Blazed Alder Creek, which supplies part of the drinking water for
Portland, Oregon, was named for a 24-inch (61 cm) blazed (marked) alder tree used as a benchmark for early watershed surveys?
... that the Ananda Temple(pictured) in
Bagan,
Myanmar, with four standing
Buddhas facing the cardinal directions, is said to be an architectural wonder titled the "Westminster Abbey of
Burma"?
... that the music
websiteSongMeanings was created after its founder was inspired by a debate surrounding the meaning behind music group
Ben Folds Five's song "
Brick"?
... that after the original owner of the Walsh-Kaiser Company shipyard had difficulty managing the yard, a shipbuilding and a construction company took over?
... that the town of Otumba,
Mexico, has an annual Donkey Fair where the animals feature in fashion shows and costume contests?
14:47, 26 March 2010 (UTC)
... that in the Sera Chöding Hermitage(pictured) in
Lhasa,
Tibet, according to a local legend, the ‘local site-spirit’ used to enter through a small window to meet
Tsongkhapa?
... that in March 2010, Australia became the first country in the world to officially recognise a 'non-specified' gender, when Norrie May-Welby was found to be neither a man nor a woman?
... that approximately 1 in every 10,000 to 20,000 babies are born with a laryngeal cleft, a gap between the
oesophagus and
trachea which allows food or fluid to pass into the airway?
... that when officials cracked down on vice in Texas during the 1940s and 1950s, some of Texas' most notorious crime figures helped establish major casinos in Las Vegas, including the
Sands Hotel?
... that the Flader J55 jet engine used a
supersonic compressor in order to achieve small size, which ultimately proved to be beyond the
state of the art?
... that the film Green Lantern starring
Ryan Reynolds has been in development since the 1990s and once included a comedic incarnation with
Jack Black set to star?
... that "
Grace, Replaced", the Will & Grace episode, attracted the series' highest ratings of the first season?
... that the discovery of a population of smaller, less spiny
palms in
Dominica has led to speculation that Aiphanes minima may not be the only species of Aiphanes on that island nation in the
Caribbean?
... that
RAAF pilot Allan Walters(pictured) made use of his
aerobatic skills while courting his wife-to-be in 1930, performing stunts above the church where her father was
rector?
... that soprano Annette Dasch appeared as Elettra in Mozart's Idomeneo at the reopening of the
Cuvilliés Theatre, where that opera had been premiered in 1781?
... that the village of Ulnaby was
abandoned in the 16th century when labour-intensive
arable farming gave way to
pasture?
... that the nickname of Paro Taktsang(pictured) in
Bhutan, "The Tiger's Nest", derives from the legend which tells that
Padmasambhava founded a meditation cave there after travelling on a tigress?
... that Lars Oftedal founded several social institutions in
Stavanger, Norway, including an
orphanage for boys and a home for women?
... that during the annual Dutch book week, a book was occasionally published
anonymously to let readers guess who the author was?
06:00, 23 March 2010 (UTC)
... that Thistle, Utah, was destroyed in 1983 by the most costly landslide (pictured) in United States history and was the first
federal disaster area declared by the U.S. President in the state of Utah?
... that actor Richard Stapley, who was sometimes known by the
stage nameRichard Wyler, published his first novel at age 17?
... that sea interferometry uses
radio waves reflected off the surface of the
sea to improve the resolution of a single radio detector?
... that two plaster
maquettes made by sculptor John Evan Thomas for House of Lords bronzes have just been found in
Westgate, Canterbury, after being hidden in a tower for 100 years?
... that the Citadel of Damascus(pictured) in
Syria was built not on the top of a hill, but on flat ground, at the same level as the rest of
Damascus city?
... that
Yothu Yindi's song "Treaty" was the first song by a predominately-
Aboriginal band to chart in
Australia and the first in any Aboriginal Australian language to gain international recognition?
... that Aritsugu, a supplier of swords to the
Imperial House of Japan during the 16th century, now produces cooking knives and utensils?
... that, although it had been assigned to them in 1853, the
AtikamekwFirst Nation did not settle on the Wemotaci Reserve (
Quebec) until the beginning of the 20th century?
... that German and Scottish mercenaries, sent by Sweden to retaliate the roasting of a Swedish commander by Russian forces, killed each other instead in the Siege of Wesenberg (1574)?
00:00, 20 March 2010 (UTC)
... that the unnamed woman with seven sons(pictured) portrayed in
2 Maccabees is known variously in other sources as Hannah, Miriam and Solomonia?
... that the Birmingham Charity Cup, a Victorian
football trophy, featured engravings of a football match and of "the poor and sick succoured by the heavenly spirit"?
... that Heinz Stahlschmidt was credited with saving 3,500 French lives when he refused to blow up the port of
Bordeaux and instead blew up the munitions bunker, killing approximately 50 Germans?
... that
Joseph Goebbels called Hitler Youth Quex a successful "first large-scale attempt" to transmit Nazi ideology via movies?
... that according to one contemporary source,
Barbara Strozzi showed off a bejeweled necklace she received from Anna de' Medici by placing it between her "two darling, beautiful breasts"?
... that the 1980s German television series The Black Forest Clinic was so popular that it was once dubbed "the epitome of German television bliss"?
18 March 2010
18:00, 18 March 2010 (UTC)
... that while
veils in the 1400s were usually worn to preserve modesty, the garment worn by the sitter in
Rogier van der Weyden's c. 1460 painting Portrait of a Woman (pictured) is used to draw attention to her unusual beauty and sensuality?
... that the art student scam is a
confidence trick in which scammers sell cheap paintings as original art by up-and-coming talents?
12:00, 18 March 2010 (UTC)
... that the Temple of Bel(pictured), dedicated in 32 AD, formed the center of religious life in
Palmyra,
Syria and is considered its "best preserved" ruin?
... that the Parks and Recreation episode "Woman of the Year" mocked the meaninglessness of awards, which some critics saw as a jab about the show's failure to win major
industry awards?
... that what is thought to have been the first ever properly floodlit
association football match in the United Kingdom took place between two non-league teams, Ashton National and
Hyde United, in December 1932?
... that according to legend, New York Assemblywoman Ida Sammis' first act in the legislature was to polish the brass
spittoon assigned to her, and to place it on her desk as a flower vase?
... that an excerpt of
Nick Bertozzi's The Salon containing a nude depiction of
Picasso caused a comic book store owner to be charged with distributing obscene material to a minor?
... that after purchasing three shares for $180 in 1935 and living a frugal lifestyle, Grace Groner donated seven million dollars to her alma mater
Lake Forest College upon her death?
... that the National Leprechaun Museum, the first museum dedicated to
leprechauns(example pictured), is designed in a way that makes humans seem very small?
... that the Ghab valley swamp in northwest
Syria was drained between 1953 and 1968, providing an extra 41,000 hectares (160 sq mi) of irrigated lands?
... that
Duchess Sophie of Alençon died in a fire at a French charity bazaar, but some hotel visitors escaped through the kitchen window of the adjoining hotel with the help of the cook?
... that a housebarn, a combined house and barn, is more costly to insure than a house because of a higher fire risk?
... that following his retirement from professional
football, Bobby Bell managed car manufacturer
Rolls-Royce's football team?
... that while training in 1944, the German U-804 shot down a Norwegian
Mosquito?
16 March 2010
18:00, 16 March 2010 (UTC)
... that crossing sweepers(pictured) helped nineteenth-century women avoid having their dresses soiled with horse
dung?
... that according to oral history, the
Kingdom of
Rwanda was founded in the 14th or 15th century on the shores of Lake Muhazi?
... that from 1965 to present,
FinnishlyricistVexi Salmi has written over 4000 song lyrics, more than 2400 of which have been recorded?
15 March 2010
18:00, 15 March 2010 (UTC)
... that one of the earliest mentions of driving on the left in the
UK was in an 1827
Act of Parliament for the rebuilding of Shillingford Bridge(pictured)?
... that the Vizsoly Bible, the first complete Hungarian translation of the Bible, was published in 1590?
... that the Admiral Apartments, built in 1909, had "sporting girls" (prostitutes) operating out of it by 1913?
... that
Harvey Pekar described his collaboration with Heather Roberson on the comic book Macedonia as one of the best working relationships he has ever had?
... that the scope of the English case of Pepper v Hart, at first accepted by the judiciary, has "been reduced to such an extent that the ruling has almost become meaningless"?
12:00, 15 March 2010 (UTC)
... that the trophic level of the world
fisheries catch has steadily declined because many high trophic level species, such as
tuna(pictured), have been
overfished?
... that the family of William Harris changed churches during the
American Revolution because the church they had been attending continued to say prayers for the
king?
... that when a teenager tore up a photograph of Canadian Prime Minister
St. Laurent as the PM spoke, the ensuing fracas was seen as a turning point in the 1957 Canadian election?
... that the couple Mette and Philip Newth have made picture books for blind and for deaf children?
... that at least twenty horses were needed to transport a kartouwe?
... that
Football Hall of FamerHuntington "Tack" Hardwick was called "a big, fine-looking aristocrat from blue-blood stock" who "loved combat – body contact at crushing force – a fight to the finish"?
... that
Portland, Oregon's Tanner Springs Park was described as "a sort of cross between an Italian piazza and a weedy urban wetland with lots of benches"?
... that the final resting place of John FitzAlan, 14th Earl of Arundel (pictured), who died in 1435, was not definitely established until the discovery of a one-legged
skeleton in 1857?
... that resentment of the
sales tax called the alcabala triggered several revolts in
Spain's colonies, even though rates there were lower than in
Spain itself?
... that
Nebraska's first
All-AmericanVic Halligan was called "The premier punter of the West, A master of the forward pass, A tackler equal to the best"?
... that Wilfred Wong, BevMo!'s cellar master, tastes some 8,000 wines each year for the large retail chain?
06:00, 14 March 2010 (UTC)
... that in the
Madrid version (pictured) of Titian's series of Danaë paintings, the nursemaid by the side of the
Greek legendDanaë is portrayed as a hag, while in the
Vienna version, the dog by her side is absent?
... that one species of Dictyonema lichen is a powerful hallucinogen that is traditionally used by the
Huaorani of the Amazon jungle of
Ecuador to cast curses on their enemies?
... that the captain of the
cargo linerSS Beaverburn was given a gold-headed cane for commanding the first ship in 1947 to reach the port of
Montreal?
... that other than "incapable" beneficiaries, the British Variation of Trusts Act 1958 only allows the courts to alter trust documents for potential beneficiaries, not confirmed ones?
... that the 80-acre refuge at Wolf Haven International shelters 47 wolves that would otherwise have no homes and is visited by over 20,000 people a year?
... that an unknown burglar—exhibited in a coffin at the Red Lion Inn in
Shoreham,
West Sussex, in the 1850s after being shot dead—was identified by his dog?
... that Bobbi Trout became the first woman to fly an
aircraft all night and broke the previous women's solo endurance record in a February 10, 1929, flight?
... that the
Byzantine general Priscus survived the violent depositions of two successive
Byzantine emperors and retained high office under their successors?
... that George Fielding Eliot's military analysis was part of the ten-hour
CBS TV news coverage of the
Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941, which was the first extended television coverage of a major breaking news event?
... that the Apastovsky Museum in Apastovo,
Tatarstan, contains archaeological and paleontological finds such as ancient tools, bone needles, stone hammers, a skull of a
rhinoceros and
mammoth teeth?
... that
World War Ifighter pilotLes Holden gained the nicknames "Lucky Les" and "the homing pigeon" after returning from successive missions with his aircraft riddled with bullet holes?
06:00, 12 March 2010 (UTC)
... that the royal dynasty at the
Maya city of Copán(fragment pictured) in
Honduras was founded by a warrior sent from the distant city of
Tikal?
... that following the invasion of
Tibet in 1959, the fifth Keutsang incarnation of the Keutsang Hermitage was incarcerated and later sought asylum in
India in the 1980s?
... that
Lord Palmerston threatened "immediate and frightful" war against the United States if they would not repatriate Alexander McLeod, a Canadian accused of killing an American sailor?
... that in the 840s, the
emir of
Malatya, Umar al-Aqta, gave refuge to the
Paulicians who were being persecuted by the
Byzantine Empire, and gave them territory where they founded their own state?
... that by the time of his death in 1947, the Spanish financier José Lázaro Galdiano has amassed a collection of about 12,000 art works, mainly by European
Old Masters?
... that according to legend, the 5th century Avukana statue(pictured), a large stone
figure of the Buddha, is the result of a competition between a sculpting master and student?
... that in 1648,
Oliver Cromwell sent letters to Haverfordwest Castle in west
Wales and threatened to have the townsfolk imprisoned unless the castle was destroyed?
... that in 2010, Jennie M. Forehand sponsored a bill limiting the ability of judges to sentence criminals to time in local jails if those jails are not reimbursed by the state?
... that The Mars Project, written by
Wernher von Braun in 1948, has been regarded as "the most influential book" on manned missions to Mars (artist's conception pictured)?
... that three
Byzantine emperors in the 6th century served as commanders of the imperial guard, known as the Excubitors, prior to assuming the throne?
... that the "restrained and dignified" Zion Chapel is the oldest
Nonconformist church in
East Grinstead—a
West Sussex town with a long history of Protestant Nonconformity and alternative religion?
... that Florence Luscomb, one of the first women to earn an architecture degree from
MIT, later left that field to become a full-time
women's suffrage activist?
... that fiction writer Cathy Kelly has sold over 1 million books in the
UK, at one time displacing both
Dan Brown and
J. K. Rowling from the top of the country's bestseller list?
... that Jane Ní Dhulchaointigh invented Sugru, described as "the most exciting product since
Sellotape or
Blu-Tack"?
... that the prominent
HinduGanesha cave temple at Lenyadri is located in the vicinity of about 30
Buddhist caves?
... that Evelina Haverfield, a British
suffragette who was arrested after hitting a police officer in the mouth, threatened to "bring a
revolver" next time?
... that
Spanish politician and feminist Clara Campoamor was one of three women elected to Spain's 1931
Constituent Assembly even though women were not allowed to vote in the election?
... that Strobilanthes callosus, a shrub found in the hill forests of
India used in folk medicines, flowers only once in eight years before dying off, exhibiting a once in a lifetime mass flowering and mass seeding life cycle?
... that Masako Katsura's participation in the World
Three-Cushion Billiards tournament of 1952 was the first time any woman ever competed in any billiards tournament for a world crown?
... that an early incarnation of Bimbo's 365 Club in
San Francisco included Dolfina, a nude woman who appeared to swim inside a large aquarium over the bar?
... that, although it does not set out to compete for visitors, in 2009 the Cloppenburg Museum Village had 250,000, more than any other museum in
Lower Saxony?
... that in 1881, George Washington Weidler, owner of Willamette Steam Mills and Manufacturing Company, became the first person to sell electric lighting in
Portland, Oregon?
... that the upcoming video game Scrap Metal, set to be released on
XBox Live Arcade, will allow players to customize monster trucks and bulldozers with flamethrowers and rocket launchers?
... that although Israeli forces were planning to attack Arab
Beersheba in May 1948, they were forced to delay the Battle of Beersheba until just one day before a planned
ceasefire in October 1948?
... that
Bulgarian writers and screenwriters Moritz Yomtov and Marko Stoychev worked together as the Mormarevi Brothers even though they were unrelated?
06:00, 5 March 2010 (UTC)
... that
Oliver Stone(pictured) based the final combat scene in his 1986 movie Platoon on a real battle that he survived when he was an American soldier in Vietnam?
... that at the Battle of Bathys Ryax, the
Byzantines attacked with only 600 men out of an army of 4,000–5,000, leaving the rest to raise much noise so as to simulate the arrival of a far larger force?
... that An Nam chí lược, a book published in 1335 during the
Yuan Dynasty, is considered the oldest historical work by a Vietnamese that has been preserved?
... that the gamma-ray burst (GRB) 090423(pictured), whose light took approximately 13 billion years to reach
Earth, is the oldest and most distant known object in the
Universe?
... that the
stargazer(pictured), a widespread coastal fish, is an
ambush predator which can deliver both
venom and electric shocks, and has been called "the meanest thing in creation"?
... that at the town next to the
Brazilian gold mine Serra Pelada, thousands of underage girls prostituted themselves for gold flakes while around 60–80 unsolved murders were registered every month?
... that some of the songs on the 2009 EP Criminal Intents/Morning Star detail the
story arc of a group of rebels fighting against a corporation out to rule the world?
... that the Nissan Terranautconcept car has a glass dome over its roof for an easy escape in case of emergency?
... that former
baseball player Joe Abreu became an enthusiast of
magic after he saw former baseball player and professional magician
Carl Zamloch put on a magic show at his high school?
... that German extreme
in-line skater Dirk Auer roller skated down a large wooden roller coaster (pictured) at Erlebnispark Tripsdrill, reaching speeds of 90 kilometres per hour (56 mph)?
... that
Google Images caused controversy in 2009 after it was discovered that the number-one result for the search term "Michelle Obama" was a derogatory doctored photo of the US first lady?
2 March 2010
18:00, 2 March 2010 (UTC)
... that the self-decapitated
HindugoddessChhinnamasta(pictured) standing on a copulating couple signifies that life, death and sex are interdependent?
... that in the
1920s, Cudahy Packing Company shifted from exporting cured pork because of British
tariffs and focused instead on domestic sales of canned
hams, sliced dried beef, Italian-style
sausage, and sliced
bacon?
... that Arthur Crispien, who was dismissed as editor of a
Social Democratic Party newspaper for his opposition to war credits in 1914, later became the Party's Chairman?
... that Danish Bacon is sliced, packed, and sold in the
UK?
... that King Philip V ordered that any
lepers found guilty of poisoning wells in
medieval France were to be burnt and their possessions forfeited to the
Crown?
... that a flitch of bacon was offered at
Wychnor Hall to married couples if they could swear that they did not regret their union, but it was so rarely claimed it was replaced with a wooden one?
1 March 2010
18:00, 1 March 2010 (UTC)
... that the figures in
Ilya Repin's Barge Haulers on the Volga(pictured) are based on real characters, including a former priest, a former soldier and a painter?
... that the Quadro Tracker detection device, which was advertised as being able to detect drugs, weapons, explosives, alcohol, missing people, precious metals, dead pets, and lost golf balls, was denounced by the
FBI as a fraud?