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 the U.S. government has tried to prevent Omar Lorméndez Pitalúa from accessing the international financial sector?
... that Alte Liebe (Old Love) is a novel about a couple married for 40 years, told by a couple married longer but separated, with chapters written alternately by wife and husband?
... that Wei Zhongquan, the chief designer of the
Fengyun-2 satellite (model pictured), was rescued by his colleagues when it burst into flames on the eve of its scheduled launch?
... that in addition to its retail operations, Japanese used goods chain K-Books operates a butler café?
... that Canadian professor Georges Larivière conducted a research project in which a
transceiver is inserted into a
hockey helmet to communicate directly with ice hockey players?
... that the 2018 indie video game Past Cure was developed by a team from Turkey, Belgium, Egypt, Romania, England, and North Macedonia?
... that in 1965, U.S. civil rights activist John Hulett became one of the first two black voters in
Lowndes County, Alabama, in more than six decades?
... that the
Leeds-based software company Visionware represented a
management buyout success story from the failure of a once much larger British company?
... that it was reportedly Elizabeth Willing Powel(pictured) who asked
Benjamin Franklin whether the United States was to be "a republic or a monarchy", to which he responded: "A republic... if you can keep it"?
... that Dutch baritone John Bröcheler first sang concerts including world premieres, but was "discovered" for opera in a role of Donizetti's Maria Stuarda alongside
Joan Sutherland?
... that the local medical officer thought it "inconceivable" that the Croydon typhoid outbreak of 1937 was caused by contaminated water?
... that Dua Saleh's debut single "First Take" was recorded in a single
take?
19 February 2020
00:00, 19 February 2020 (UTC)
Annelien Van Wauwe
... that the
yoga breathing and meditation practiced by clarinetist Annelien Van Wauwe(pictured) led to a specially commissioned concerto by composer
Wim Henderickx?
... that Indonesian-born Wang Wenjiao and Chen Fushou coached the Chinese national men's and women's badminton teams to win four
Thomas Cups and two
Uber Cups, respectively?
... that as part of a restoration of New York City's Bryant Park, 84 miles (135 km) of bookshelves were built underneath it?
18 February 2020
12:00, 18 February 2020 (UTC)
Blue Bridge on the A1206
... that the names of several side roads and buildings along the A1206(bridge pictured) in London relate to the
Isle of Dogs' connection with the shipping industry?
... that Vasily Bakalov oversaw the design of weapon systems to destroy tanks, such as the
9M113 Konkurs, and to protect tanks, such as the
Drozd?
... that in the 1830s, a Mère in
Lyon, France, became famous for her creation Tétons de Venus ('Venus's Breasts'), a dish of giant dumplings that was popular at
bachelor parties?
... that Zhang Changshou co-led a Sino-American archaeological project investigating sites that were sometimes buried under more than 10 meters (33 ft) of
alluvium?
... that Egyptian radiologist Sahar Saleem has used CT scans of
Tutankhamun's body to theorise that he died from the effects of a knee fracture?
... that the third of
Claude Debussy's three Nocturnes for orchestra requires a women's chorus to sing wordlessly like
sirens?
... that English footballer Mark Bright was a foster child, started on wages of £10 a week, and has gone on to earn £1.2 million during his career?
00:00, 17 February 2020 (UTC)
William Morrison's electric automobile
... that in 1890 William Morrison invented the first successful practical electric automobile (illustration shown) in the United States?
... that
time decompression is a common narrative technique in sports manga, with
one series stretching a four-month basketball season into six years' worth of weekly stories?
... that the Little Cut, a quarter-mile (0.4 km) branch of the
Leeds and Liverpool Canal, had the only tunnel containing a
towpath on the entire 127-mile (204 km) canal?
... that Wang Jin, one of China's first female archaeologists, participated in the discovery of the Neolithic
Qujialing culture?
... that according to a 1930s critic, "If ever a book comes to be written on How to Murder Architecture, the Swanage Town Hall(pictured) should find a place therein"?
... that during the Battle of Kalijati, a
Royal Air Force pilot managed to creep into his plane under Japanese fire and take off with it?
... that while other 1978
Chicago Marathon runners complained the late start meant finishing in 80 °F (27 °C) heat, winner Lynae Larson was concerned about its effect on her six-hour drive home?
... that common lousewort owes its name to the belief that livestock that ate it would become
lousy?
15 February 2020
12:00, 15 February 2020 (UTC)
William S. Hillyer
... that William S. Hillyer(pictured) transcribed and delivered
Union Army general
Ulysses S. Grant's famous words, "No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted"?
... that several mechanics of the
TurboGrafx-16 game Soldier Blade were mistakenly changed due to miscommunication between the designer and staff?
... that the young, attractive, and date-able portrayal of
Colonel Sanders in a parody dating sim is part of an effort by
KFC to make the Colonel a "part of pop culture"?
... that
Carlos Vives once invited Paraguayan violinist Ana Lucrecia Taglioretti to play with him on stage after she tried to sneak into his concert without a ticket?
... that viewers complained when the first episode of Living on the Veg, a vegan
cookery programme, was broadcast with a sponsor's advertisements showing animal products?
00:00, 15 February 2020 (UTC)
Diego in 2009
... that Diego(pictured) "had so much sex he saved his species"?
... that for three months after Michael Rosenblum's disappearance 40 years ago today, the local police did not tell anyone that they had the car he had been driving?
... that
Shirley Temple's mother tried to get the "notably talented and cute" Johnnie Russell fired from the set of The Blue Bird so that he would not share screen time with her daughter?
... that even after losing at the 2020 German Masters snooker tournament,
Sunny Akani continued to play on the practice tables at the venue for a further two days?
... that Cai Shaoqing's research showed that militarization and banditry fuelled each other during China's
Warlord Era?
... that at a meeting about zoning for a tower for KUCB-FM in
Des Moines, Iowa, a radio station board member hurled a wastebasket at the chairman of the city zoning board?
... that Teno Roncalio, the last Democratic representative from Wyoming, had
land claims along the
Snake River worth an estimated US$7 billion in gold?
... that after the closure of Tranvía Villasegura,
Tenerife's first tram system, in the 1950s, one of the trams was reused as a bar?
00:00, 14 February 2020 (UTC)
George Charles Moʻoheau Beckley
... that George Charles Moʻoheau Beckley(pictured) claimed that he beat King
Kalākaua of Hawaii in a game of poker and asked for a tax reduction in lieu of cash?
... that Brewer, the fictional Pennsylvania city in
John Updike's Rabbit novels, reflects change in American society throughout the second half of the 20th century?
... that musicologist Ulrich Konrad studied sketches that
Wolfgang Amadé Mozart made for composition, and concluded that the composer planned his works more thoroughly than previously assumed?
... that Brenda Nelson, host of the Talk of the Town interview program on KTLO-FM in
Mountain Home, Arkansas, retired after doing more than 8,000 interviews over 34 years?
... that after examining serial rapist Reynhard Sinaga's mobile phone, police discovered more than three
terabytes of digital video evidence of his assaults?
... that Dutch forces surrendered to Japanese invaders after their defeat in the Battle of Tjiater Pass because they did not want to fight in
Bandung?
... that in an Alden Rowing boat, you can expect your seat to slide out from under you?
... that one of the three gunmen involved in the 1991 Boston Chinatown massacre has not yet been found despite a "worldwide hunt"?
... that a live-action video adapting scenes from the manga The Way of the Househusband was produced to commemorate the series reaching 1.2 million copies in print?
... that Le Than Bwa, a 15th-century commander-in-chief of
Ava forces, left the battle scene after receiving a large bribe from
the enemy, forcing King
Nyo to flee
Ava shortly afterwards?
... that gerontologist Elaine Brody used the term "women in the middle" to refer to women who care for their elderly parents while raising their children?
... that
Jen Wang wrote The Prince and the Dressmaker in part because she wanted to tell the story of a superhero who could create clothes that transformed those who wore them?
... that although the bird of paradise fly was first described from an Angophora tree, it is quite likely that this is not the insect's host plant?
... that after her speech on the subject of marriage to the Womanhood Suffrage League of New South Wales in 1891, Eliza Ashton was accused of promoting "free love" and prostitution?
... that the Tedder certificate was awarded by the British government to foreign citizens who assisted Allied prisoners of war to escape German captivity during the Second World War?
... that participants in one of Dirshu's intensive study programs are tested on their knowledge of all
2,711 pages of the
Talmud at the end of the seven-and-a-half-year
Daf Yomi cycle?
... that Esther Lurie(pictured) used photographs of drawings to reconstruct most of her artwork that did not survive World War II?
... that even after narrowing the list of suspects in Geetha Angara's unsolved killing, 15 years ago today, down to three men, police could not charge any of them?
... that the Cymmer Colliery explosion of 1856 in Wales resulted in a "sacrifice of human life to an extent unparalleled in the history of coal mining of this country"?
... that Iranian women's rights activist Mastoureh Afshar organized the second Eastern Women's Congress, held in
Tehran in 1932, which drew delegates from
Afghanistan to
Zanzibar?
... that television station WETV in
Key West, Florida, was forced off the air by an act of Congress?
... that images of the widowed queen who commissioned the first major work of Indian Deccan painting were erased after
her son rebelled and imprisoned her?
... that Fort Tryon Park, located on steep terrain in
Manhattan, was designed as a landscaped park with
the Cloisters museum as the main point of interest?
... that Edda Tasiemka was known as the "human Google"?
... that Johann Baptist Sigl(pictured) was imprisoned multiple times for publishing insulting articles about the German chancellor
Otto von Bismarck and the German emperor?
... that the Courtois Hills region has the most rugged terrain and steepest average slopes of any sub-region of the
Missouri Ozarks?
... that during the
Cultural Revolution, Zhu Yuli was denounced as a counterrevolutionary and suffered beatings which caused disability in his right hand?
... that the Tulsa Club Building suffered four major fires in 2010, including three in a two-week period, yet remained strong enough to allow conversion to a hotel instead of demolition?
... that Cueros de Purulla volcano had a large eruption 7820 years ago and was later a source of
obsidian?
... that at the time of her retirement in 2008,
Florida State Seminoles coach JoAnne Graf held the record for most wins in the history of NCAA Division I softball?
... that the differences between live versions of
Rush's "Witch Hunt" were seen as an instance of "translation" à la
Walter Benjamin?
... that although author
Lao She declared his satirical novel Cat Country a failure, it has been translated into at least six languages?
... that despite an early career spent with the Soviet and
Russian Airborne Forces, Viktor Astapov is currently a deputy commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy?
... that American missionary Vernon Andy Anderson noted that those accused of witchcraft in the
Belgian Congo were likely to be women over 55 and subject to murder by vigilantes?
... that the blue pitta is a shy, secretive bird, but will respond to a recording of its call?
... that Italian soprano Carolina Crespi was born in Prague, appeared in Barcelona in a child role, met
her husband in Paris, and performed with him in world premieres of operas at
La Scala in Milan?
... that the 16-piece Detroit News Orchestra was the first symphonic orchestra in the world organized specifically to play on radio?
... that the
Fatimid military commander Dirgham abandoned his pupil
Ruzzik ibn Tala'i, the
vizier, to be deposed and killed by
Shawar, only to overthrow the latter a few months later?
... that archaeologist Winifred Lamb had previously worked in
Room 40, the
Royal Navy's cryptanalysis section, during World War I?
... that in 1952, Los Angeles radio station KFAC boasted a recording library weighing 28 tons, enough to program the station for a year without repeating a selection?
... that entomologist Karim Vahed led the team that found
a cricket species in which the
testes accounted for 14 percent of the insect's body mass?
... that after regular service to Leavenworth station ceased, annual trains continued to run to serve
ski jumping spectators?
... that before the creation of Roy Wilkins Park in 1976, the site was described as a wasteland with eighteen "rat-infested" buildings and a "leaking swimming pool full of dead dogs"?
... that growth in the brown seaweed Zanardinia typus occurs at the base of the hairs that grow around the edge of the frond?
... that James Thompson, who made the first
plat of Chicago, declined an offer of land in the city in favor of $300?
3 February 2020
12:00, 3 February 2020 (UTC)
Painting of the Shelton Oak
... that the hollow Shelton Oak(pictured) near
Shrewsbury was so big that a party of eight could dance a
quadrille inside it?
... that artist and illustrator Rune Naito, credited with pioneering the culture and aesthetic of kawaii, also contributed erotic illustrations to the gay men's magazine Barazoku?
... that a bus shelter on New York City's Q26 route was the subject of two 1948 lawsuits that alleged negative effects on nearby property values?
... that IG-11, from the Star Wars series The Mandalorian, so closely resembles the character
IG-88 that fans and journalists initially confused the two?
... that the mobile game Bleach: Brave Souls features story arcs from the manga Bleach that did not appear in its anime adaptation, including the unaired final arc?
... that the Siege of Hull took place in 1642 after the governor twice refused to admit King
Charles I to the town?
... that German politician Diether Dehm employed former terrorist
Christian Klar to work on his website?
... that the Dedham Covenant was meant to be eternally binding?
... that Mary Gordon, the first British female prison inspector, once forestalled
recidivism by supplying men's clothes and a train fare to South Wales to a female inmate who wanted to live as a man?
00:00, 2 February 2020 (UTC)
Thistle broomrape
... that Quarry Moor is one of the few locations in England where the rare parasitic plant thistle broomrape(example pictured) grows?
... that Dave Hakkens founded Precious Plastic, an
open hardware plastic recycling project, to enable individuals to set up "their own miniature recycling company"?
... that in 1939, Lawrence Milner testified against Australian-born longshoremen union leader
Harry Bridges in what Time magazine called "the most important deportation hearings of the decade"?
... that one surveyor's proposal for removing the Blackwall Rock obstruction in the
Thames involved using explosives he knew would likely kill some of the labourers?
... that Crepereia Tryphaena's doll (pictured) had its own kit, comprising several jewels, a wooden casket, two silver mirrors, and two tiny bone combs?
... that diversity ideologies are intended to reduce prejudice, but can backfire and promote more hostility instead?
... that former residents of Chicago's Aldine Square held a reunion at a hotel?
... that Canadian Yves Abel, the chief conductor of
a German symphony orchestra, founded Opéra Français de New York, which focuses on rarely played French operas?