Wikipedia:Recent additions/2015/December

• 00:00, 26 December 2015 (UTC)

Trafalgar Square Christmas tree in 2008

• ... that the Christmas tree (pictured) at Trafalgar Square is transported annually from Oslo to London and can be up to 75 feet (23 m) tall?
• ... that at least nine Christmas operas have been based on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol?
• ... that the Victorian Christmas bush is a member of the mint family?
• ... that "Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus" is intended to make people remember the Nativity of Jesus?
• ... that "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", as sung by Frank Sinatra and backed by Gus Levene and his orchestra, was originally recorded for the soundtrack of a 1963 war film?
• ... that the
  brown Christmas beetle can eat eucalyptus
  leaves to the point of defoliating the tree?
• ... that in Wales, there is one Christmas carol that is traditionally sung only by men?
• ... that in 1988, a NASA network was infected with a computer worm which sought to send all users a message from Father Christmas?

25 December 2015

• 12:00, 25 December 2015 (UTC)

Detail with Mary, Jesus, Joseph, the ox and ass

• ... that
  a politician, two painters, and a gardener
  ?
• ... that "Every Day Is a Holiday" is Katy Perry's first Christmas song?
• ... that Lady Alice Lucy toured towns giving presents of bread and meat each Christmas?
• ... that the 2004 Frank Sinatra Christmas Collection features three previously unavailable tracks, including Sinatra's last recorded Christmas carol?
• ... that the once-common King Christmas beetle has all but vanished from the Sydney region?
• ... that "
  Christmas Day in the Workhouse" was a criticism of the harsh conditions in English and Welsh workhouses under the 1834 Poor Law
  ?
• ... that the English actor Patrick Stewart plays more than 30 characters in his one-man stage performance of A Christmas Carol?
• ... that in his Christmas cantata Unser Mund sei voll Lachens, BWV 110, Bach embedded voices in the overture of his fourth orchestral suite and achieved a "marvellous rendition of laughter-in-music"?

• 00:00, 25 December 2015 (UTC)

Oxford Street Christmas lights

• ... that the Christmas lights on Oxford Street (pictured) have previously been switched on by Kylie Minogue, Bob Geldof, Terry Wogan, and Lenny Henry?
• ... that Queen's Christmas Eve 1975 gig at the Hammersmith Odeon was one of the first shows where "Bohemian Rhapsody" was played live?
• ... that
  Napoleon Bonaparte's siege of Acre
  , forcing a French withdrawal from Palestine?
• ... that
  presidential bid
  was unexpected because he had failed to submit his candidacy before the deadline?
• ... that the Chinese zokor, a small burrowing rodent, is considered to be an ecosystem engineer?
• ... that physiotherapist Avrilia Papayannis lived as a hermit in the Himalayas before becoming a Greek Orthodox nun later known as Mother Gavrielia?
• ... that a photo mailed to the Sodder family of Fayetteville, West Virginia, in 1968 is believed by them to be of one of their five children unaccounted for after a fire destroyed their home 70 years ago today?
• ... that the lobby of the $1 million St. Nicholas Hotel in New York City featured a painting of Sinterklaas placing presents into Christmas stockings?

24 December 2015

• 12:00, 24 December 2015 (UTC)

Frans Francken: De Visitatie

• ... that Johannes Eccard composed Übers Gebirg Maria geht (Over the mountains Mary goes)—a retelling of Mary's Visitation (pictured) to Elisabeth—as a motet for five voices?
• ... that new Iowa State Cyclones head coach Matt Campbell was hired on his 36th birthday?
• ... that the Armenian Monastic Ensembles of Iran comprises three Armenian monasteries established between the 7th and 14th centuries C.E.?
• ... that despite his role in saving its property from seizure by the Kingdom of Italy, Augustine Schulte was denied rectorship of the American College in Rome?
• ... that Macroelongatoolithus is a kind of giant fossil egg that can be over 60 centimetres (24 in) long, and probably was laid by a gigantic oviraptorid?
• ... that puppeteer Bernard H. Paul performed the first children's television program?
• ... that the cross-shaped fortress church of Capul was built in a similar style to Intramuros in Manila?
• ... that Australian priest Elizabeth Alfred led Holy Communion on her 100th birthday?
• 00:08, 24 December 2015 (UTC)

Magazine Fort

• ... that Jonathan Swift satirized the building of the Magazine Fort (pictured) in Dublin, as he felt the conditions in the city too poor to warrant defence?
• ... that the British orthopaedic surgeon Samantha Tross made long jumps during her education?
• ... that the song "Vrehei Fotia Sti Strata Mou" ("It's Raining Fire In My Way"), heard in the 1970 film Visibility Zero, launched the career of Greek laïko singer Stratos Dionysiou?
• ... that Steven J. Lopes has been named the first bishop of any of the Catholic Church's three Anglican Use ordinariates?
• ... that the extinct bee Euglossopteryx has a pollen basket made of long setae?
• ... that the lord of
  Mamluk
  authority?
• ... that Chris Christie credits his wife, Mary Pat Christie, and her financial success on Wall Street as the reason he could give up his law career and run for political office?
• ... that the
  Royal Regalia Building Museum exhibits include the golden hand and forearm that the Sultan of Brunei
  used to prop up his chin during his coronation?

Chocolate beer cake

• ... that stout and chocolate stout beer may be used in the preparation of chocolate beer cake (example pictured)?
• ... that between 2009 and 2014, the number of Indonesia's air passengers increased more than threefold, to over 94 million?
• ... that basketball player Malcolm Grant tied the Miami Hurricanes single-game record for three-pointers in 2011?
• ...that James Battersby of Battersby Hats believed that Adolf Hitler was Christ returned despite his father being on the RMS Lusitania when it was torpedoed by a German U-boat?
• ... that the first gristmill in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, was constructed on Hop Bottom Creek?
• ... that
  Kini Kapahu was recognized as Hawaii
  's "Honorary First Lady"?
• ... that Carl Llewellyn has won the Whitbread / Bet365 Gold Cup both as a jockey and as a trainer?
• ... that when a male clearfin livebearer mates with a female headwater livebearer, the offspring are all female?
• 00:00, 23 December 2015 (UTC)

Bicycle kick

• ... that the bicycle kick (pictured) is one of association football's most celebrated skills?
• ... that General Jacob L. Devers was the second-most senior American officer in Europe during World War II?
• ... that between 2,000 and 30,000 people were killed in the communal riots in Bihar in 1946?
• ... that interior designer Lena Larsson became known as a pioneer for the unconventional, family-friendly environments she created?
• ... that the Texas State Federation of Labor affiliated with the American Federation of Labor in 1903 only to avoid conflict with the railroad brotherhoods?
• ... that there were three Cumbrian Armitt sisters in the 19th century who all became writers—Sophia, Mary Louisa, and the novelist Annie?
• ... that the De Rohan Arch and the Hompesch Gate in Malta were built to commemorate Żebbuġ and Żabbar's elevation to city status?
• ... that a white, straight, female character in Master of None was rewritten as a black lesbian after Lena Waithe read for the role?

22 December 2015

• 12:00, 22 December 2015 (UTC)

Chianti bottle

• ... that physicist Albert Wattenberg kept an empty Chianti bottle (pictured) as a souvenir, the contents of which were consumed to celebrate the Chicago Pile-1 nuclear reactor going critical?
• ... that the 1964 Atlantic hurricane season featured the highest number of hurricanes to landfall in the United States since the 1933 season?
• ... that a cascade development on the
  Hrazdan River
  is the largest hydro-power scheme in Armenia?
• ... that opera singer Camellia Johnson performed at Donald Trump's wedding ceremonies to Marla Maples and Melania Knauss?
• ... that
  fangzhang
  ?
• ... that the most dominant fish species of the Lighthouse Reef in Belize are the creole wrasse and blue chromis?
• ... that actor Alex Saxon was told that his character in Finding Carter was to be killed off, but a month later found out that plans had changed?
• ... that when a new digital system of payment was put in place to prevent the skimming of salaries for Afghan police, the policemen thought they had been given a raise?

• 00:00, 22 December 2015 (UTC)

Anbarrhacus adamantis male

• ... that the fossil millipede Anbarrhacus (pictured) was described from a single immature male preserved in amber?
• ... that former National Football League head coach Jerry Glanville was among the drivers in the inaugural NASCAR Truck Series race?
• ... that physiotherapist Janet Carr specialised in rehabilitation after stroke?
• ... that the Democratic-controlled 25th Arizona Territorial Legislature overrode vetoes to bills creating a literacy test for voters and authorizing segregation of "African" students?
• ... that the Colombian footballer Stiven Mendoza signed in 2013 for América de Cali, the team which he supports?
• ... that Native Americans occupied sites throughout the East Lake Abert Archeological District for approximately 11,000 years?
• ... that Mark Hovell, a historian of Chartism, died during the First World War when he fell down a mine shaft?
• ... that "Busy Earnin'" details the circumstances of spending too much time making money?

21 December 2015

• 12:00, 21 December 2015 (UTC)

Ryuya Matsumoto

• ... that Ryuya Matsumoto's (pictured) height earned him the nickname "Eimei's Randy Johnson"?
• ... that Wimmera ryegrass is grown as a forage crop in Australia, despite sometimes being toxic to livestock?
• ... that Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice-elect David Wecht was one of three victors in the "most expensive judicial election in U.S. history"?
• ... that the Eckwersheim derailment in November 2015 is the only fatal accident of the TGV since it entered commercial service in 1981?
• ... that of the more than 3,000 midwives working in the state of Florida in the early 1920s, Victoria Joyce Ely was the only one who was trained and licensed?
• ... that Kennedy Creek is only about 5 miles (8 km) long, but is popular for canoeing?
• ... that gastroenterologist Sara Murray Jordan co-wrote a cookbook titled Good Food for Bad Stomachs?
• ... that pianist Ken Noda composed his first opera at the age of ten?

• 00:00, 21 December 2015 (UTC)

Maureen O'Hara in 1947

• ... that Maureen O'Hara (pictured) was only the second actress to receive an honorary Oscar without having previously been nominated for an Oscar in a competitive category?
• ... that among the wildlife found in Oman are the Arabian wildcat, the Dhofar toad, and the Oman garra, a freshwater fish with a blind, cave-dwelling form?
• ... that the scientist Harold Horton Sheldon wrote as early as 1929 about the serious possibility of man visiting other planets one day with the aid of rockets?
• ... that 35 years ago today,
  broadcast an entire NFL game without any announcers
  ?
• ... that although only 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long, Oxbow Inlet's silica, iron, magnesium, calcium, and sulfate concentrations were measured in 1966?
• ... that fifth-century poet Bao Zhao was executed following the failed rebellion of a child prince?
• ... that in 1964, a Swedish princess married an English businessman in Gärdslösa Church?
• ... that Bambi delivered over 35,000 babies?

20 December 2015

• 12:00, 20 December 2015 (UTC)

New Hurley Reformed Church in 2013

• ... that New York's New Hurley Reformed Church (pictured) was founded by members of another area church who were cut off from their building after a flood washed out a bridge?
• ... that Vice Premier Chen Muhua, one of China's top women politicians, was forced to give away her daughter and did not reunite with her until three decades later?
• ... that India is celebrating 26 November as Constitution Day as part of the 125th birth anniversary celebrations for Dr. B. R. Ambedkar?
• ... that Jan McFarlane, the Archdeacon of Norwich, worked with deaf children before being ordained?
• ... that one of the Brunei Museum exhibits consists of replicas of the suits of armour and weapons used in Japan from the 8th to 14th centuries?
• ... that
  Priscilla Chan and her husband Mark Zuckerberg pledged to donate 99 percent of their Facebook
  shares, valued at $45 billion, to their charitable foundation?
• ... that Srimanthudu became the second-biggest Telugu film opener of the year, with a first-day global gross of ₹310 million?
• ... that while working on her graduate degree in chemistry, Emīlija Gudriniece won the Latvian Women's Motorcycle Championship in 1949, and then won it again in 1953?

• 00:00, 20 December 2015 (UTC)

Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca, showing gills

• ... that the
  Tepehuán people
  of northwestern Mexico?
• ... that the only building still extant that is definitely attributed to Italian Renaissance artist Giovanni Mangone is Palazzo Massimo di Pirro in Rome?
• ... that Jarvis Cocker personally contacted Tony Christie asking him to appear on the All Seeing I's "Walk like a Panther"?
• ... that molecular cell biologist Mónica Bettencourt-Dias also studied scientific communication, the way scientists communicate with the public?
• ... that the east–west
  incense route, which operated from 300 BC to 200 AD in the northern Negev, brought economic progress to the Nabataeans
  ?
• ... that Sydney Beck was invited by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy to organize and conduct the musical entertainment for a state dinner at the White House?
• ... that the watershed of Ackerly Creek is the most developed part of the Tunkhannock Creek watershed?
• ... that the noble Roman Capizucchi family declined financially because of the passion of some of its members for gambling?

19 December 2015

• 12:00, 19 December 2015 (UTC)

The Monument of the Four Moors

• ... that the chained Moors of the Monument of the Four Moors (pictured) symbolise the four corners of the world?
• ... that Hayden Epstein set a record for the longest field goal by a Michigan Wolverines football player after setting a record for the longest field goal by a Michigan State Spartans opponent?
• ... that cotton, which is called mian or mumian in Chinese, was first produced in China from an area now known as Yunnan, some time around 200 BC?
• ... that Argentine author Patricia Ratto's novel Trasfondo depicts life on a submarine during the Falklands/Malvinas War?
• ... that the Dahla Dam in Kandahar Province is the second-largest dam in Afghanistan?
• ... that a poem composed by Ananda Thuriya of Pagan minutes before his execution is considered the first known poem in Burmese?
• ... that 6,000 slices of
  Strawberry Festival at La Trinidad, Benguet
  , Philippines, in March 2015?
• ... that
  Ruth Schmidt, an employee of the United States Geological Survey, was questioned in two McCarthyist
  hearings because of her association with a bookstore?

• 00:00, 19 December 2015 (UTC)

Émile Rey

• ... that the 19th-century Italian mountaineer Émile Rey (pictured) was known as "the Prince of Guides" in his home town of Courmayeur?
• ... that the upcoming film
  Wong Jack Man
  in 1965?
• ... that at the age of 18, Mario Trafeli became the youngest winner of the North American Outdoor Speedskating Championship with a win in the final 5-mile (8.0 km) race?
• ... that Max Reger composed "in new simplicity"
  Mary
  of a tree growing in her?
• ... that the War of the Maidens involved neither war nor maidens, only men dressed up as women?
• ... that conservationist Rose Gaffney, known as "The Belle of Bodega Bay," helped halt the construction of a nuclear power plant in Bodega Bay, California?
• ... that although the
  theropods
  ?
• ... that Doris Calloway studied farts, space food, and broccoli?

18 December 2015

• 12:00, 18 December 2015 (UTC)

Tutankhamun's mask

• ... that
  Tutankhamun's mask (pictured) contains many gemstone inlays, including lapis lazuli, carnelian, quartz, obsidian, turquoise, amazonite, and faience
  ?
• ... that cardiologist Walter S. Graf was a pioneer in establishing the modern system of paramedic emergency care?
• ... that in 2015, for the first time, a women's cycling race took place just prior to the final stage of the Vuelta a España?
• ... that
  Christopher Duggan, a British historian of Italy, once had his home raided by the Italian antiterrorism unit
  ?
• ... that the major export markets for Afghan almonds are India and Pakistan, with the former preferred because of better profitability?
• ... that Elisa Oricchio identified that the ephrin receptor EphA7 plays a role in tumor development of follicular lymphoma?
• ... that the dwarf shrub
  Zygophyllum qatarense has adaptations to help it survive the harsh environment of the wildlife of Bahrain
  ?
• ... that in 1917, future folk musician and Carnegie Institute of Technology professor emeritus Robert Schmertz was arrested while dressed in "a girl's middy blouse and a small white hat"?

• 00:00, 18 December 2015 (UTC)

Fishing in Laos

• ... that historically fishing activity in Laos (pictured) is noted from the writings on the gate and walls of the Wat Xieng Thong in Luang Prabang, dated to 1560?
• ... that as of 2015, India's second highest civilian award has been conferred upon 18 non-citizen recipients including Edmund Hillary, one of the first climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest?
• ... that Iris perrieri was named after Baron Eugène Pierre Perrier de la Bâthie, who ran a speciality plant nursery in Albertville?
• ... that Vincenzo Bellini's Oboe Concerto, written while he was a student, was possibly influenced by the wordless songs of his teacher Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli?
• ... that when former rugby league player Casey Conway came out, he expressed disappointment that Anthony Mundine had claimed homosexuality was not an acceptable part of Aboriginal culture?
• ... that some of the fruits used to produce Paper Boat–brand beverages are sourced in the wild?
• ... that Thawun Gyi was the founder of the Principality of Toungoo of Myanmar?
• ...that Wilson's Allen, a Tennessee Walking Horse stallion, was buried three different times?

17 December 2015

• 12:00, 17 December 2015 (UTC)

Ni Zhifu operating his drill

• ... that
  Chinese Politburo member Ni Zhifu
  (pictured) invented a drill that is named after him?
• ... that in the 1970s, the
  Sheraton Skyline Hotel at London Heathrow had a Wild West-themed cabaret
  show?
• ... that Hurricane Dennis in 2005 killed 56 people and wrought US$50 million in damage throughout Haiti?
• ... that the latest promotion in
  Conference Premier play-off final
  ?
• ... that collaboration between botanists
  Elinor Francis Vallentin and A.D. Cotton resulted in the first comprehensive study of cryptogams from the Falkland Islands
  ?
• ... that the
  St. Stephen, is built in the form of a cross-dome of four apses, with a circular tambour over a cupola
  ?
• ... that the New York City neighborhood of Spring Creek was once known as the place where "the city came to an end"?
• ... that at 101 years old, Esther Somerfeld-Ziskind was still attending patients at Los Angeles Children's Hospital?

• 00:00, 17 December 2015 (UTC)

Persoonia terminalis

• ... that the type specimen of Persoonia terminalis (pictured) was collected 3.4 km (2.1 mi) south of the Torrington pub in New South Wales?
• ... that searchers believed
  Michael Williams' body had been eaten by alligators in Lake Seminole
  after he disappeared 15 years ago today—until they learned alligators don't feed in winter?
• ... that the foreign direct investment in the mining industry of Laos has made significant contributions to the economic condition of Laos since 2003–04?
• ... that Ida Dixon, designer of the 18-hole golf course at the Springhaven Club, was the first female golf course architect in the United States?
• ... that the
  South Side of Chicago
  ?
• ... that Graham Waterhouse, who played the solo part in his Cello Concerto in Mexico in 1995, performed it at his university in Cambridge?
• ... that the address of the official residence of the Philippine ambassador to Japan can be translated literally as "a hill from which one can get a good perspective of Mt. Fuji"?
• ... that one of Frank Sinatra's most widely known public insults was leveled against The Washington Post columnist Maxine Cheshire?

16 December 2015

• 12:00, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

The body is a composite of elements.

• ... that the Sariraka Upanishad, a Hindu text on human physiology (pictured), states that the body is a composite of constituent elements, and that the soul, or jiva, is "the lord of the body"?
• ... that Claudette Sorel discovered and premiered two previously unknown Rachmaninoff nocturnes?
• ... that Lilo Milchsack was one of "the architects of post-war Europe"?
• ... that people from 19 countries can visit Kazakhstan without a visa?
• ... that Bank Tabungan Negara, established in 1897, was frozen during the Japanese occupation of Indonesia and then nationalized by the Indonesian government after the war?
• ... that the Gateway Center shopping mall in Brooklyn, New York, is built on a former landfill?
• ... that Anne Beloff-Chain founded the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Buckingham?
• ... that the American ballad "Cold Rain and Snow" was performed by the Grateful Dead throughout their career?

• 00:00, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

First print of the hymn in 1599

• ... that William G. Whittaker called Bach's chorale cantata Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (hymn pictured) "without a dull bar, technically, emotionally and spiritually of the highest order"?
• ... that
  busked at Westminster Underground Station in an attempt to recreate the Washington Post's Joshua Bell experiment
  ?
• ... that each of the six laps of the
  Manayunk Wall
  ?
• ... that Folake Solanke is the first female Senior Advocate of Nigeria?
• ... that at a 1966 concert, Frank Sinatra joked about the evenings he and others spent carousing at Dean Martin's Bel Air mansion?
• ... that French biochemist André Voisin is considered one of the founding thinkers of the permaculture movement?
• ... that the Battle of Fukuda Bay in 1565 was the first recorded naval battle between Europeans and the Japanese?
• ... that Blake Lively will be surviving shark attacks in The Shallows?

15 December 2015

• 12:00, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

Balliet Run, a Class A Wild Trout stream

• ... that Pennsylvania's 500 or so Class A Wild Trout Waters (example pictured) are the "best of the best" streams for angling in Pennsylvania?
• ... that Project NOAH Executive Director Mahar Lagmay of the Philippines won the Plinius Medal awarded by the European Geosciences Union in 2015?
• ... that
  Prince William have all stayed at the Explorer Hotel when visiting Yellowknife
  ?
• ... that Jessica Garretson Finch was a suffragette who founded Finch College and advocated for careers for women?
• ... that 200 acts performed at the final Camden Crawl music festival in 2014?
• ... that Chinese Vice Premier Fang Yi lost his mother 26 days after he was born, and his father at the age of eight?
• ... that the wildlife of Saudi Arabia includes species endemic to the region such as the Arabian woodpecker?
• ... that Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier was called the "Virgin of Italy" by his troops?

• 00:00, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

American bittern in typical posture

• ... that the American bittern (pictured) was first described from a specimen found in Dorset, England?
• ... that astrophysicist
  spiral arm in the Milky Way
  ?
• ... that butter for consumer use is graded "AA", "A", or "B" in the United States, but in Canada is graded "Canada 1", "Canada 2", or "Canada 3"?
• ... that Jack Entratter's "Copa Girls" wore US$12,000 worth of costumes for opening night in the Sands Hotel and Casino's Copa Room?
• ... that the Tusheti National Park, called one of the "12 best places you’ve never heard of" by BudgetTravel, has rich biodiversity with aesthetic terrain, hamlets, old defense towers, and folk culture?
• ... that
  Squadron Leader Daniel Everett
  was decorated three times for gallantry before being killed in action?
• ... that garage rock was the first form of music to be called "punk rock"?
• ... that Johann Ludwig Hasslocher's French teachers in Manhattan couldn't pronounce his name, so they changed it to "Louis Hostlot"?

14 December 2015

• 12:00, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

Liang Cheng

• ... that Qing dynasty ambassador to the United States Liang Cheng (pictured) was a star baseball player for Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts?
• ... that the HTC Desire 200, a low-end smartphone released in 2013, came with HTC's "highest quality in-ear headset"?
• ... that May Owen discovered that the talcum powder used on surgical gloves caused infection and peritoneal scarring?
• ... that the use of dairy salt that is impure can have adverse effects upon butter, spoiling its flavor, grain and preservation?
• ... that art dealer Konrad Bernheimer was born in Venezuela after his grandfather made a deal with Hermann Göring to allow the family to flee Germany?
• ... that the Seven Coloured Earths in Chamarel are the result of the cooling of molten rock from 3.5 to 7 million years ago?
• ... that in the 2014 edition of Indonesia's
  2014 Ebola outbreak
  in Africa?
• ... that Christopher John O'Neill, now a Broadway actor, was discovered by a casting director for The Book of Mormon while performing comedy at Edinburgh Festival Fringe?

• 00:00, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

HTC RE camera

• ... that the HTC RE Camera (pictured) has been described as "an upside down asthma inhaler", "more periscope than box", and "a tube that's bent on one end, slightly narrower than a roll of quarters"?
• ... that the chief of Cambodia's National Police Force, Neth Savoeun, is a member of the ruling party's Central Committee and married to the Prime Minister's niece?
• ... that
  Interns
  ?
• ... that since 1858, all new streets containing terraced houses in the United Kingdom have been at least 36 feet (11 m) wide?
• ... that in 2000 Midori Suzuki was a soprano in Sigiswald Kuijken's recording of Bach's Mass in B minor which uses one voice per part?
• ... that Wat Intharawihan was originally called Wat Rai Phrik, meaning "vegetable" in the Thai language, because its location was within a vegetable garden?
• ... that Lidija Liepiņa worked with a team of other scientists in a mobile laboratory in a train boxcar, testing filters to create Russia's first functional gas mask?

13 December 2015

• 12:00, 13 December 2015 (UTC)

Shwezigon Pagoda

• ... that the Shwezigon Pagoda (pictured) is like a bell-shaped stupa, in traditional Mon architectural style, which became the prototype architectural feature for many stupas built in Myanmar?
• ... that the yachtsman Keith White set out on 25 October 2015 to make a literally single-handed solo global circumnavigation?
• ... that Catherine Feuillet led a team to successfully map the largest wheat chromosome, 3B?
• ... that the zinc-iron statues of Court Square Fountain in Montgomery, Alabama (1885) were replaced by aluminum statues in 1984, but these became corroded within twenty years?
• ... that
  2014 Indian general election
  ?
• ... that during the early years of 20th century, the silk of Ordubad received 13 gold medals in international exhibitions and fairs?
• ... that the sealing ship Norsel was nicknamed "the Polar Bus" due to her many voyages to the Antarctic and Arctic?
• ... that, while working as a spy for MI9 at Colditz, Julius Green wrote coded messages to a fictional lover?

• 00:00, 13 December 2015 (UTC)

Frank Sinatra in 1957

• ... that American music critic Robert Christgau called Frank Sinatra (pictured) "the greatest singer of the 20th century"?
• ... that Frank Sinatra had a number 1 hit with "
  Oh! What it Seemed to Be" in 1946, and then recorded it again for 1963's Sinatra's Sinatra
  ?
• ... that Las Vegas casino manager Carl Cohen became a local folk hero after he knocked the caps off Frank Sinatra's front teeth?
• ... that Frank Sinatra Enterprises was founded in 2007 to manage the singer's recordings at Reprise Records?
• ... that Frank Sinatra was held at gunpoint at Caesars Palace in 1970?
• ... that
  Frank Sinatra, Jr. was first offered the part which was later developed into the Rat Pack-style character Vic Fontaine in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
  ?
• ... that after Frank Sinatra was happy with his recording of the song "That's Life", producer Jimmy Bowen annoyed him by asking him to do it again?
• ... that Frank Sinatra was a secret courier for the Haganah?

12 December 2015

• 12:00, 12 December 2015 (UTC)

Frank Sinatra c. 1943

• ... that after gaining a job as a singing waiter in 1938, Frank Sinatra (pictured) boasted that he would "become so big that no one could ever touch him"?
• ... that at his solo nightclub debut at the Riobamba, Frank Sinatra sang two songs "with trembling lips" and brought the house down?
• ... that Hank Sanicola, a boxer turned music manager, was Frank Sinatra's "song plugger"?
• ... that Frank Sinatra often visited the barber shop in the basement of the Hollywood Plaza Hotel to play gin rummy with the barber?
• ... that at age 16, singer Julie Budd was the youngest-ever opening act for Frank Sinatra?
• ... that Frank Sinatra's 1966 cover of "Summer Wind" was the final top 40 hit for lyricist Johnny Mercer?
• ... that
  Frank Sinatra and the 3 Flashes, newly renamed the Hoboken Four, performed in blackface in a short film aired at Radio City Music Hall
  ?
• ... that publicist Jim Byron once got into a fist fight with Frank Sinatra on the Sunset Strip?

• 00:00, 12 December 2015 (UTC)

A still from Her Humble Ministry (1911)

• ... that Her Humble Ministry, featuring Florence Lawrence as a character rehabilitated by nuns, was called "one of the most wisely conducted films" with a religious motif?
• ... that a sulfur mine at 5,950 metres (19,520 ft) altitude on the stratovolcano Aucanquilcha is notable for being the highest mine in the world?
• ... that
  fathometer
  for ships?
• ... that the distinctive roof shape of a Minangkabau rangkiang (rice granary) symbolizes the horn of a buffalo?
• ... that the Anatolian diagonal is a significant feature in the distribution of the flora of Turkey?
• ... that Chinese opera singer
  Operalia, The World Opera Competition and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions
  ?
• ... that
  1000 South Michigan is a supertall skyscraper planned to rise to over 1,000 feet (300 m), even though it is in a historic district
  zoned for buildings up to 425 feet (130 m)?
• ... that John Martin, the first Chief Justice of the Cherokee Supreme Court, had no formal legal training?

11 December 2015

• 12:00, 11 December 2015 (UTC)

Recruiting poster for the Cadet Nurse Corps

• ... that the Cadet Nurse Corps (recruiting poster pictured), established during World War II, influenced the way in which nurses would be educated and trained in the United States?
• ... that Japanese physicist Toshiko Yuasa studied in Paris under Frédéric Joliot-Curie and developed her own beta-ray spectrometer in Berlin?
• ... that although
  Format:B have had their own vanity label for the past six years, their most recent single was released on Ministry of Sound
  ?
• ... that the Lukut Fort and Museum has a display of the traditional culture of the community, and the customs and practice of adat perpatih (rules of life) typical of the state?
• ... that General Zhang Tingfa commanded the Chinese Air Force during the Sino-Vietnamese War?
• ... that while the
  Huawei Honor 4X was in the same price range as the second generation Moto G and the Sony Xperia M2, the Honor 4X is a phablet
  ?
• ... that the
  Magellan Shrine memorial tower was erected in 1866 in honor of the explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who was killed in the Battle of Mactan
  in 1521?

• 00:00, 11 December 2015 (UTC)

Nicola Mendelsohn

• ... that The Daily Telegraph has called Nicola Mendelsohn (pictured), Facebook's vice president for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, "the most powerful woman in the British tech industry"?
• ... that
  gut
  ?
• ... that
  flatworms to learn about their regenerative
  abilities?
• ... that American mechanical engineer Alice Agogino won the NSF's Presidential Young Investigator Award in 1985?
• ... that Andrea Ablasser discovered a molecule that warns nearby cells when it encounters a pathogen?
• ... that
  radiolabeling techniques that were used to study the success of chemotherapy
  ?
• ... that
  contagious cancer decimating the Tasmanian devil
  spreads due to lack of genetic diversity?
• ... that Una Ryan and Una Ryan both emigrated from their countries, studied infectious disease, and were honored with the Order of the British Empire and Prime Minister's Prizes for Science, respectively?

10 December 2015

• 12:00, 10 December 2015 (UTC)

Kathryn Parsons

• ... that Kathryn Parsons (pictured) co-founded a startup that teaches people how to "code in a day"?
• ... that Marguerite Lehr conducted a televised lecture course on mathematics in the 1950s?
• ... that ASI Corp., a wholesale distributor of computer components founded by Christine Liang, is one of the largest women-owned businesses in the United States?
• ... that Singaporean fungi expert Gloria Lim once assisted her country's Ministry of Defence when its storage bunkers developed mold?
• ... that Vera Faddeeva's 1950 book Computational methods of linear algebra was one of the first publications in that field of mathematics?
• ... that after
  L'Oréal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science
  she was received by the President of Argentina?
• ... that
  a major research university
  in her era?
• ... that
  multiple intelligences into the Universe
  ?

• 00:00, 10 December 2015 (UTC)

Leonite perched on a matrix of halite

• ... that leonite (pictured) has been found on Mars?
• ... that more than 1.5 million beer bottles have been used in the construction of the Buddhist temple site at Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew in Thailand?
• ... that Greek screenwriter and director Nikos Foskolos has been called the "Goldfinger of commercial shows"?
• ... that the
  his tomb
  ?
• ... that on 2 April 1662, the
  Galileo
  's principle of the independence of motions?
• ... that Maaibre Sheshi is the best attested ruler of the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt in terms of the number of artefacts attributed to him?
• ... that Paul Weller's first solo UK top ten hit, "The Changingman", sampled Electric Light Orchestra's "10538 Overture", which in turn sampled The Beatles' "Dear Prudence"?
• ... that the British Committee of the Indian National Congress was formed in 1889 because the Government of India was constitutionally responsible to the British electorate?

9 December 2015

• 12:00, 9 December 2015 (UTC)

Jean Sibelius

• ... that
  Voces intimae
  as the "kind of thing that brings a smile to your lips at the hour of death"?
• ... that the critically endangered Arabian leopard is among the wildlife found in Yemen?
• ... that
  2014 quarterfinalist One Voice Children's Choir
  had a waiting list of 250 children wanting to join as of January 2015?
• ... that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that "my India resides in people like Imran Khan"?
• ... that the Khongoryn Els in the Mongolian desert is popularly known as the "Singing Sands"?
• ... that following his death, Norwegian footballer
  right winger
  the country had ever produced?
• ... that the Cereal Research Centre in Winnipeg produced over two hundred varieties of crop and ornamental plants resistant to pests and blights?
• ... that the ancient fortifications of Xi'an were used as air raid shelters in World War II?

• 00:02, 9 December 2015 (UTC)

Mai Pokhari wetland

• ... that Mai Pokhari (pictured), a wetland in the Ilam District of Nepal, designated a Ramsar site in October 2008, is a pilgrimage center for both Hindus and Buddhists?
• ... that
  a minor planet and a crater on Venus
  named for her?
• ... that SC Union 06 Berlin was formed in 1950 when players of the East Berlin club SG Oberschöneweide moved to the western half of the city?
• ... that the victory of Sultan al-Atrash over French forces in the Battle of al-Kafr commenced the Great Syrian Revolt?
• ... that
  All India Institute of Medical Sciences Delhi and were both awarded the Padma Shri
  ?
• ... that the Floriana Lines are considered to be among the most complicated and elaborate of the Hospitaller fortifications of Malta?
• ... that the 1996 Andhra Pradesh cyclone resulted in more than 1,000 fatalities, and damaged more than 600,000 houses?
• ... that the ant species
  parasitic
  on M. nigriceps and M. vindex colonies?

8 December 2015

• 12:17, 8 December 2015 (UTC)

Summit of Aiguille de Bionnassay

• ... that in 1865, the first alpine climbers to reach the summit of the Aiguille de Bionnassay (pictured) arrived in a thunderstorm, their ice axes humming with electrical activity?
• ... that baritone Liao Changyong won first prize in three different international singing competitions in 1996 and 1997?
• ... that only the first three volumes of the manga series Princess Lucia have been licensed in English?
• ... that WSTRN bandmember Akelle Charles is the brother of Angel?
• ... that American artist
  ekphrastic
  poem called "Eyes Alive" written about her often-reproduced painting The Subway?
• ... that the earliest known historical find of cotton in Pakistan is from artifacts in a Neolithic-era burial site in Mehrgarh?
• ... that
  organosilicon chemist, served as President and CEO of Dow Corning
  ?
• ... that the King's Foundery for casting cannon became a Methodist chapel after a steam explosion?
• 00:15, 8 December 2015 (UTC)

Jean Sibelius

• ... that
  Snöfrid, an "improvisation for narrator, mixed choir and orchestra" by Jean Sibelius
  (pictured), opens with music depicting a storm?
• ... that the Okawachi Power Station is one of the largest pumped-storage hydroelectric power plants in Japan?
• ... that actress Charlize Theron made her debut in an uncredited role in the 1995 horror film Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest?
• ... that the collaborative browser game Broken Picture Telephone was defunct for three years before its 2013 relaunch?
• ... that Belgian painter Theodoor Verstraete was lauded as the "poet of rural life" due to his empathy with country folk?
• ... that Sarah Kalley and her husband started the first Protestant church in Brazil?
• ... that gastroenterologist S. K. Sama, known for his pioneering research on non-cirrhotic portal fibrosis and hepatitis B, received the Padma Shri award in 2004?
• ... that the beginning of Cassazione, composed by Jean Sibelius (pictured) in 1904, is similar to the 1962 James Bond Theme?

7 December 2015

• 12:25, 7 December 2015 (UTC)

Estrella de Chile

• ... that when the Estrella de Chile (pictured) ran aground in 1888, the crew climbed into the rigging to escape the rising water?
• ... that the
  Cathedral Basilica of the Holy Family replaced a church that was the first stone building in Nairobi
  ?
• ... that during the
  French rule in Syria, the first rebel band organized by Ibrahim Hananu consisted of seven men from his hometown
  ?
• ... that
  systemic lupus erythematosus
  ?
• ... that the video game Life Is Strange was originally going to be called What If but was retitled due to the film of the same name?
• ... that Zahir al-Umar was the autonomous Arab ruler of northern Palestine in the mid-18th century?
• ... that during the
  European migrant crisis a "race against time" to save the Schengen Agreement
  ?
• ... that writer
  Thomas H. Leforge in Plains Indian Sign Language
  ?
• 00:00, 7 December 2015 (UTC)

Eileen Sharp

• ... that only a year after joining the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company at age 21, Eileen Sharp (pictured) was promoted to be the company's principal mezzo-soprano?
• ... that the Bogd Khan Uul Biosphere Reserve in Mongolia has been a protected area for more than two centuries?
• ... that Jordan Payton recently set the UCLA Bruins football record for career receptions one week after tying the school's single-game record?
• ... that when specimens of Platygyra contorta coral were studied in 1977, they were identified as examples of P. rustica?
• ... that Renard battled against the HMS Swallow?
• ... that Canada's first-ever match between André the Giant and Hulk Hogan took place in Lutte Internationale, preceding their more famous showdown at WrestleMania III by seven years?
• ... that cortiços, large houses divided into very small rooms for rent, originated in São Paulo, Brazil, and were developed by Italian immigrants?
• ... that Ming dynasty official Zhao Wenhua is reviled as a "treacherous minister" in the History of Ming despite having been rewarded for his role against the Jiajing wokou raids?

6 December 2015

• 12:00, 6 December 2015 (UTC)

Cokato Temperance Hall

• ... that the
  Finnish American
  community even though its members had to pledge to abstain from alcohol?
• ... that Portuguese tennis coach Frederico Marques was recently reported to be the youngest coach with a player in the ATP top 100?
• ... that a Cambodian tour bus company takes "hospital tourists" 160 kilometres (100 mi) from Siem Reap to the border crossing at O Smach to see doctors in Thailand?
• ... that Yueh-Lin Loo invented nanotransfer printing, a technique that allows electrical circuits to be printed onto plastic surfaces?
• ... that in a recent United States Supreme Court decision, one Justice suggested the Court may soon become "a veritable Supreme Board of Sign Review"?
• ... that the extinct millipede Parastemmiulus was the first definite genus in the family Stemmiulidae described from a fossil?
• ... that Operation Eikonal delivered data about European defense projects to the National Security Agency?
• ... that tenor Robert White swallowed a bug while singing the best high note of his career?

• 00:00, 6 December 2015 (UTC)

Fossil Messelepone leptogenoides male

• ... that the extinct ant Messelepone was described from two fossils, a male (pictured) and a queen?
• ... that
  transistor-to-transistor logic circuitry (TTL), which led to the development of the integrated circuit
  industry?
• ... that the compound butter Beurre Maître d'Hôtel is named according to how it was commonly prepared by a restaurant's maître d'hôtel at diners' tables?
• ... that the long-tailed dwarf hamster is present in the Ikh Nartiin Chuluu Nature Reserve in Mongolia?
• ... that Dorothea Leighton is one of the founders of the field of medical anthropology?
• ... that even after defeating the
  Mir Mannu
  ?
• ... that German astrophysicist Hanna von Hoerner designed the cosmic dust analyser onboard Rosetta?
• ... that olive baboons tend to mate promiscuously?

5 December 2015

• 12:00, 5 December 2015 (UTC)

National Museum of Vietnamese History

• ... that the
  National Museum of Vietnamese History (pictured), redesigned by architect Ernest Hébrard
  , is a blend of French colonial and Vietnamese architecture, called Indochina architecture?
• ... that
  political asylum
  in the United States?
• ... that Henning Mankell preferred the African storytelling style used in his novel Chronicler of the Winds to European storytelling because of its ability to "jump between realities"?
• ... that Jackie Gleason called his orchestra leader Ray Bloch "the flower of the music world"?
• ... that the Eurasian bittern may visit reedbeds, rice fields, watercress beds, fish farms, gravel pits, sewage works, ditches, flooded areas and marshes?
• ... that Mexican singer-songwriter
  Latin Grammy Awards for her song "Hasta la Raíz
  "?
• ... that former Khmer Rouge official Sar Kheng is currently Minister of the Interior, Deputy Prime Minister, and a Member of the Cambodian Parliament?
• ... that the tower of Föra Church contains what may be one of Sweden's oldest toilets?

• 00:00, 5 December 2015 (UTC)

Qiu Huizuo

• ... that although General Qiu Huizuo (pictured) was persecuted at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, he authorized the torture of 462 people after returning to power, causing eight deaths?
• ... that the
  shooting of Native American woodcarver John T. Williams
  by a police officer was found to be unjustified?
• ... that in the mystery manga series Zodiac P.I., teenage detective Lili Hoshizawa uses astrology to solve cases?
• ... that Patricia Numann founded the Association of Women Surgeons, chaired the American Board of Surgery, and was president of the American College of Surgeons?
• ... that the Narayana Upanishad states that one who worships with the mantra "Om Namo Narayanaya" goes to Vishnu's heaven, and becomes free from birth and saṃsāra?
• ... that the site upon which Saint Stephen's Church, Negombo, was built in 1876 is located near the former Dutch Fort?
• ... that South Branch Tunkhannock Creek in Pennsylvania passes through a 100-foot (30 m) deep gorge?
• ... that the Northern Thai chronicle
  Hariphunchai Kingdom by a Mon
  princess?

4 December 2015

• 12:00, 4 December 2015 (UTC)

Frontispiece of A New System of Domestic Cookery

• ... that A New System of Domestic Cookery (frontispiece pictured) has been called "a publishing sensation" and "the most famous cookery book of its time"?
• ... that the Himalayan field rat is closely related to the brown rat?
• ... that
  ISIS
  ?
• ... that Chinese soprano
  Operalia, The World Opera Competition
  ?
• ... that in the armies of Mycenaean Greece, chariots were initially used as fighting vehicles, but by the 13th century BC their role was probably limited to battlefield transport?
• ... that the
  al-Judeida was a Crusader
  estate called "Gidideh"?
• ... that Archibald Main, who was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1939, was Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History at the University of Glasgow?
• ... that the Yokohama B-Corsairs won the bj league in just their second year of existence?

• 00:00, 4 December 2015 (UTC)

Seoul Lantern Festival 2015

• ... that over three million visitors attended the Seoul Lantern Festival (pictured) in 2014?
• ... that
  shooting of six-year-old Jeremy Mardis
  ?
• ... that Cambodia's Angkor Wat International Half Marathon was introduced in 1996 by the Japanese Olympian Yuko Arimori?
• ... that the gills of mushrooms of the genus Hygrophoropsis are forked?
• ... that the Armitt Library is named for the polyglot Mary Louisa Armitt?
• ... that fractures of the hyoid bone are often caused by strangulation?
• ... that soprano
  Lincoln Center Segal Award
  ?
• ... that Henderson's bookshop was used to shelter fugitive activists for women's suffrage?

3 December 2015

• 12:00, 3 December 2015 (UTC)

The Kensingtons at Laventie

• ... that the artist Eric Kennington claimed to have walked 500 miles (800 km) while painting The Kensingtons at Laventie (pictured)?
• ... that Idelisa Bonnelly pushed for the first humpback whale sanctuary to be established and was inducted into the Global 500 Roll of Honour of UNEP for her defense of the environment?
• ... that UNESCO recently declared an emergency action plan to protect cultural sites in Yemen from destruction?
• ... that
  Bean Boots are still manufactured in Maine
  and are stitched by hand?
• ... that Shakib Al Hasan has the most five-wicket hauls for Bangladesh in international cricket?
• ... that the Circuit des Champs de Bataille, a stage race held across devastated northern France, Belgium and Luxembourg in spring 1919, has been described as the toughest cycle race in history?
• ... that a post in the Arizona Territory was not the first or even second choice of future Arizona Territorial Supreme Court justice Owen Thomas Rouse?

• 00:00, 3 December 2015 (UTC)

A drum of the U.S. Army Herald Trumpets

• ... that the
  U.S. Army Herald Trumpets use drums (pictured) designed by the vaudeville musician Gus Moeller
  ?
• ... that
  forensic pathologist
  , was referred to as the "Sherlock Holmes of Saskatchewan"?
• ... that the Texas Tommy is a common hot dog dish at diners and greasy spoons in Philadelphia, eastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey?
• ... that the
  MV KPS Ayşegül Sultan went to Ghana and the MV KPS Zeynep Sultan to Indonesia the same day, following a farewell ceremony at the Sedef Shipyard in Tuzla, Istanbul
  ?
• ... that
  explosives
  ?
• ... that the Coexist symbol used on bumper stickers started life as a 3 m × 5 m (9.8 ft × 16.4 ft) outdoor poster in a juried art exhibition in Jerusalem?
• ... that a "creepy puzzle" mailed to a Swedish tech blogger was found to contain coded messages implying a threat against the President of the United States?
• ... that voice teacher Beverley Peck Johnson told actor Kevin Kline that he had to choose between her and cigarettes if he wanted to be her pupil?

2 December 2015

• 12:00, 2 December 2015 (UTC)

Simtokha Dzong

• ... that the Simtokha Dzong (pictured), built in 1629 by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, functions as a monastic and administrative centre and is the oldest dzong to survive in its original form?
• ... that
  Fallout Shelter became the most popular free iOS
  application in the US and UK within a day of its release?
• ... that Padma Shri recipient Sharad Moreshwar Hardikar organized medical camps to provide free orthopedic surgery to over 1,500 children?
• ... that the main proponent of the Hamilton Canal, Gavin Hamilton, was found to have embezzled £19,675 from the Colonial Government, following his death in 1803?
• ... that in the past three years, Odyssey Opera has performed the Boston premieres of Korngold's Die tote Stadt and Massenet's Le Cid?
• ... that Tebello Nyokong is helping to pioneer a safer method of cancer detection and therapy that does not have the harmful side effects of chemotherapy?
• ... that police searches during Operation Puttur yielded two bombs and a pistol used by the suspects?
• ... that Hodgson's giant flying squirrel can glide for 100 m (300 ft) from the tree canopy to the bushes below?

• 00:00, 2 December 2015 (UTC)

Deportation of Jews to Treblinka death camp from the ghetto in Siedlce, 1942

• ... that Cypora Zonszajn could not live without her closest family and returned to the Siedlce Ghetto to perish along with them (deportation pictured)?
• ... that
  YouTube Red
  service?
• ... that after Olga Fedchenko's husband died on Mont Blanc in 1873, she was asked to continue their work by Moscow's Society of Natural Scientists?
• ... that Rajah Charles Brooke ordered the firing of cannons to remind the Chinese labourers at Kuching Chinatown to take a bath?
• ... that New Jersey silverpoint artist Leo Dee was known for the "staggering technical perfection" of his work?
• ... that the Flemish-Spanish painter John Baptist Medina came to Scotland in 1693 and became the leading Scottish portrait painter of his generation?
• ... that Ranjit Roy Chaudhury was the first Indian doctor to receive a Rhodes Scholarship?
• ... that the
  Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution's elite Quds Force
  , to Moscow in July 2015?

1 December 2015

• 12:00, 1 December 2015 (UTC)

Gandhak ki Baoli step well

• ... that of the three
  Delhi Sultanate
  who ruled in Delhi?
• ... that
  mollusk shells
  ?
• ... that bat flips are popular in Asian and Latin American baseball leagues?
• ... that Spanish footballer Jorge Alonso studied civil engineering?
• ... that a remix of "We Used to Be Friends" by The Dandy Warhols was used for the third season premiere of Veronica Mars, "Welcome Wagon"?
• ... that bacteriologist Maria von Linden received a patent for her discovery that copper salts could be used as a disinfectant?
• ... that the bark of the laurel geebung was used by aborigines to toughen fishing lines?
• ... that despite being ranked 158th out of 164 in his West Point class, A. Arnim White still managed to reach the rank of major general?

• 00:00, 1 December 2015 (UTC)

DECT

basestation