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Did you know...
31 December 2020
- 00:00, 31 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that black-on-black ware (example pictured) has been created by generations of Puebloan Native American ceramic artists in Northern New Mexico?
- ... that Soetran was nicknamed the "Clove Governor" after he obligated families in Papua to cultivate cloves?
- ... that Great American Bank, based in San Diego, was the first savings and loan association founded in Southern California?
- ... that the diaries of Lady Lacoste, a 19th-century philanthropist from Montreal, give historians a rare look into how emotions impacted the lives of women in her social class?
- ... that the Atlantic dancing shrimp is often associated with sea urchins or sea anemones?
- ... that pioneering lesbian columnist Deb Price's same-sex wedding announcement in The Washington Post was one of the first in a major national newspaper?
- ... that in a pre-game ceremony before the last game of the 1972 ice hockey Summit Series, the Canadian delegation presented a totem pole to the Soviet Union?
- ... that Scottsdale, Arizona, repealed its ban on dancing so that the Safari Hotel could open a nightclub?
30 December 2020
- 00:00, 30 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that British general John Hunter Littler (depicted) had two horses shot from under him during the 29 December 1843 Battle of Maharajpore?
- ... that in the ballet West Side Story Suite, some of the dancers also sing?
- ... that Soedardjat Nataatmadja's instruction for parliamentary observers to wear traditional Sundanese clothing cost him his reelection?
- ... that the social study They Live on the Land was based on interviews with nearly the entire population of a rural Alabama town during the Great Depression?
- ... that Max Crabtree's "Big Daddy" was his brother Shirley?
- ... that the colonial bryozoan Beania magellanica, widely distributed in the Southern Hemisphere, has recently turned up in the Mediterranean Sea?
- ... that during the 1973 oil crisis, material scientist Henry Ehrenreich assessed photovoltaic cells and was an advisor to the U.S. Department of Energy?
- ... that a stereotypical True Pole is a Roman Catholic?
29 December 2020
- 00:00, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that modified mRNA (mRNA translation depicted) is a key technology in the Moderna and BioNTech/Pfizer vaccines against COVID-19?
- ... that Dick Kaegel began working as a full-time sportswriter while he was still in high school?
- ... that 50 years ago today, a military tribunal handed down six controversial death sentences to members of the Basque separatist group ETA?
- ... that William Gates LeDuc led a bison through the streets of New York City as part of the Minnesota exhibition at the 1853 World's Fair?
- ... that trench nephritis caused 35,000 British casualties during the First World War?
- ... that "Filipino Baby", a song about a sailor's love for a Filipino girl, described as "my treasure and my pet", was a top-five hit for three different artists in 1946?
- ... that Canadian modernist architect and urban planner Geoffrey Massey was part of a movement that prevented freeways from being built in Vancouver?
- ... that the first official resolution of the International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology was that they would never meet in a place with anti-sodomy laws?
28 December 2020
- 00:00, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that Shirley Temple said of her relationship with her favorite dance partner Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (both pictured): "It was kind of a magic between us"?
- ... that the Wallace rule of nines to calculate the area of a burn was introduced by A. B. Wallace of Bangour General Hospital?
- ... that Wisconsin was the leading producer of dairy products in the United States from 1915 to 1993?
- ... that New Zealand mountaineer Marmaduke Dixon came within 100 ft (30 m) of the summit in his attempt to make the first ascent of the country's highest mountain, Aoraki / Mount Cook?
- ... that the life cycle of the Neptune-grass bryozoan is synchronized with the growth cycle of the seagrass on which it lives and the availability of the phytoplankton on which it feeds?
- ... that academic and philanthropist Guido Goldman convinced West German chancellor Willy Brandt to set up and endow the German Marshall Fund on the 25th anniversary of the Marshall Plan?
- ... that the Cistercian monastic order created an early competitor to Hindu–Arabic numerals with which they wrote years as a single character?
- ... that American football player Harry Field married a Hawaiian princess and is a 2021 finalist for induction into the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame?
27 December 2020
- 00:00, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that the former member of parliament Robert Stanton took part in a mock election (depicted) while in prison?
- ... that Psalm 148, calling heaven and earth to be glad, inspired the 17th-century Christmas carol "Erfreue dich, Himmel, erfreue dich, Erde", which Maria Luise Thurmair expanded with more details from the psalm in 1963?
- ... that the irrigation intake for which New Zealand farmer Marmaduke Dixon long campaigned is now a historic structure registered by Heritage New Zealand?
- ... that Hespress, the most popular news website in Morocco, initially relied on non-staff bloggers for its articles?
- ... that Sylvia Pengilly used an Amiga computer to integrate graphics with music and herself dancing?
- ... that although the Euclidean distance and the Pythagorean theorem are both ancient concepts, the Pythagorean formula for distance was not published until 1731?
- ... that Udyavara Madhava Acharya is credited with the modernisation of the theatre form Yakshagana?
- ... that while Ebenezer Joshua joined the government after the 1974 Vincentian general election, his wife Ivy became the leader of the opposition?
26 December 2020
- 00:00, 26 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that the Mostaert Amsterdam Adoration (detail pictured) includes three scenes from the Old Testament and one from Christian legend?
- ... that One Voice at Christmas involves Aled Jones duetting Christmas carols with his younger self and the late Terry Wogan?
- ... that Giovanni Garbini's studies helped scholars interpret the biblical narrative in the larger context of the history of the ancient Near East?
- ... that the classic children's Christmas story The Littlest Angel was written in just three days?
- ... that in 1975, Finland's Minister of Education Marjatta Väänänen sent a petition to the Archbishop of Turku with almost 1 million signatures, advocating for the introduction of female priests?
- ... that O magnum mysterium, a motet for double choir by Morten Lauridsen, is a setting of a medieval Latin text for Christmas to music described as "ethereal sounds in imperturbable calmness"?
- ... that when Donald Trump owned the Plaza Hotel, he requested a cameo in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York in exchange for allowing the film crew to shoot in the lobby?
- ... that sending the real animals and personnel in The Twelve Days of Christmas resulted in a letter from G. Creep, solicitor?
25 December 2020
- 00:00, 25 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that after a visit to a ragged school, Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol, in which he uses the ghost of Jacob Marley (illustrated) as a mouthpiece for his own views on social responsibility?
- ... that James W. Nance tested the Douglas A-3 Skywarrior aboard USS Forrestal, which he later commanded?
- ... that St. Michael, a 17th-century chapel on a hill near Kaubenheim, Bavaria, which offers services in summer and for Christmas, received electricity around 1980?
- ... that after Houkje Gerrits Bouma won one of the earliest women's speed skating competitions in 1809, women's competitions were not held anymore because women skating with bare arms was considered obscene?
- ... that a football club in Finland called FC Santa Claus has competed as high as the third tier?
- ... that Friedrich Wilhelm Kritzinger wrote "Süßer die Glocken nie klingen", a popular 19th-century Christmas carol to the melody of an evening song, evoking the sound of bells as a symbol of peace and joy?
- ... that the staff of the Embassy of the Philippines in Tokyo at one point formed the entire Philippine foreign service?
- ... that Fishbait Miller, the doorkeeper of the U.S. House of Representatives, greeted Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom in 1951 by saying, "Howdy, Ma'am"?
24 December 2020
- 00:00, 24 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that when the Osborne Apartments building (pictured) was slated to be torn down and replaced, its residents saved it by jointly raising $500,000?
- ... that Rudolf Steglich, a musicologist who wrote his habilitation thesis on rhythm in 1930, was a co-editor of the Hallische Händel-Ausgabe, the critical edition of Handel's complete works, from 1955?
- ... that the female Agelenopsis aperta spider enters a cataplectic state during mating, which means it loses control of its body and is unconscious?
- ... that cartoonist Trung Le Nguyen's graphic novel The Magic Fish is inspired by his experience as a child of Vietnamese immigrants to the United States?
- ... that scholars have speculated that failure to punish the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide contributed to the Holocaust?
- ... that Cynthia Fierro Harvey is the first Hispanic woman to serve as the president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops?
- ... that the 2021 Somali presidential election was originally scheduled for 2020, but was delayed by concerns of famine, war, pestilence, and civil disorder?
- ... that despite being awarded the military Legion of Merit four times, as well as the civilian Medal of Freedom, Lewis Strauss is often viewed as a villain of American history?
23 December 2020
- 00:00, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that picture books in the Anti-Princess Series by Argentine writer Nadia Fink (pictured) define words like "dictatorship", "surrealism", and "revolution"?
- ... that the London Theatre Studio was the first English drama school to teach theatrical design as well as drama?
- ... that Thomas J. White estimated that he gave more than $75 million to charity after resolving "to die as close to penniless as possible"?
- ... that the Royal Pioneer Corps could build a Twynham hut in four minutes?
- ... that In Praise of Forgetting makes the case against collective memory: "whereas forgetting does an injustice to the past, remembering does an injustice to the present"?
- ... that Charles Green was probably the youngest Australian Army infantry battalion commander during World War II?
- ... that the Arlington Hotel, rebuilt after a devastating fire, was severely damaged in the 1925 Santa Barbara earthquake?
- ... that The European said of George Saxby Penfold's sermons that "they are distinguished by a pleasing mediocrity"?
22 December 2020
- 00:00, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that the Segugio Italiano (example pictured) was highly prized during the Italian Renaissance, being used in elaborate hunts with large numbers of servants and followers mounted on horseback?
- ... that Jenna Ellis was a stern critic of Donald Trump before she became his legal adviser?
- ... that Australian pop band Autumn was one of four artists co-credited with a number-one hit in the Australian charts on 31 October 1970, each with a version of the song "Yellow River"?
- ... that Bernie Sanders won the election to become Mayor of Burlington, Vermont, by ten votes in 1981?
- ... that during the Nazi occupation of Poland, Halina Kwiatkowska acted in an underground theatre alongside a future pope?
- ... that in his book Thematic Origins of Scientific Thought: Kepler to Einstein, Gerald Holton argues that philosophy from Either/Or influenced Niels Bohr's concept of complementarity?
- ... that Robert Hammerstiel wrapped Vienna's Ringturm tower in a painting showing stations of human life in simplified and brightly coloured figures?
- ... that the marine worm Neanthes arenaceodentata is both an environmental monitor and a caring father?
21 December 2020
- 00:00, 21 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that the only thing known about Johannete Ravenelle is that she owned a book of hours now carrying her name (detail pictured)?
- ... that the nearly identical 130 and 140 West 57th Street are among the few remaining artists' studio buildings in New York City constructed with distinct living and working spaces for occupants?
- ... that Yusuf Sayfa, commander of Ottoman forces in Syria against the Kurdish rebel Janbulad, became the latter's subordinate?
- ... that in Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, a cantata in eleven movements for Advent, Georg Böhm set all eight stanzas of Luther's hymn, and all differently?
- ... that shortly after winning a conference tournament championship with Vanderbilt's soccer team, Sarah Fuller became the first woman to play football in a Power Five conference game?
- ... that although nothing remains of Fort La Cloche in La Cloche Provincial Park, it was an economic hub for the area in the 19th century?
- ... that Black Futures, a 544-page collection of Black art and writing, was originally going to be a zine?
- ... that Matthew Cobb, winner of the 2021 JBS Haldane Lecture, started his academic career by getting twins drunk?
20 December 2020
- 00:00, 20 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that Majestic Radios (model pictured) were so highly regarded in 1929 that the Graf Zeppelin's navigator bought one when his airship landed in the U.S. to take back to Germany?
- ... that journalist Bill Fitsell was reportedly scared of driving since he covered accidents?
- ... that the 1921 book The Meaning of Relativity represents Albert Einstein's only attempt to provide an overview of general relativity that was both comprehensive and accessible to non-specialists?
- ... that Claudia Chamorro Barrios married on the birthday of her assassinated father?
- ... that "Mit Ernst, o Menschenkinder", a 1642 Advent hymn, includes a call to penitence that John the Baptist took from the prophet Isaiah?
- ... that future U.S. Navy rear admiral Oral Swigart competed as a wrestler at the 1920 Summer Olympics?
- ... that the Dachau camp trial was one of 489 Dachau trials, the majority of which were held within the confines of the concentration camp itself?
- ... that on occasion, Stewart Friesen runs NASCAR and dirt on the same day?
19 December 2020
- 00:00, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that Nabil Ahmad (pictured) became a comedian after a friend signed him up for a reality show as a prank?
- ... that the Indian wax scale was first described in 1798 by Fabricius, but was wrongly attributed to another author for nearly two hundred years?
- ... that poet Lynda Schraufnagel, little known in her lifetime, was mourned after her death at 40 for her "funkiness" and "manic glee"?
- ... that the 104th (New Brunswick) Regiment of Foot marched 1,100 kilometres (680 mi), some of it in snowshoes, during the Canadian winter to fight in the War of 1812?
- ... that Jimmy Bonner became the first African American to play baseball professionally in Japan in 1936, eleven years before Jackie Robinson's Major League Baseball debut?
- ... that a museum in Sendai was built around a 20,000-year-old campsite?
- ... that when Cotton Queen Frances Lockett was crowned in 1930, souvenir handkerchiefs made from "Queenetta" fabric were sold?
- ... that while the Gateway Generating Station was completed without controversy or setbacks, it was later the subject of a lawsuit over endangered butterflies?
18 December 2020
- 00:00, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that in 825 feet (251 m) of water, the composite-hulled bulk carrier S.R. Kirby (pictured) is one of the deepest shipwrecks ever discovered in the Great Lakes?
- ... that the headlight fish gets its name from the large, bioluminescent patch of skin located between its nostrils?
- ... that Faith Smith, who grew up on the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe reservation in Wisconsin, became the founding president of the first urban institute of higher learning led by and serving Native Americans?
- ... that the world's oldest lacquerware was found at the Kakinoshima Site?
- ... that Earl Dawson established a council to reverse the decline of ice hockey in rural Manitoba?
- ... that having collaborated on the album Folklore months prior, Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, and Aaron Dessner met in person for the first time for the filming of Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions?
- ... that Tropical Storm Merbok flooded 13,000 hectares (32,000 acres) of crops in 2017 and led to an economic loss of CN¥600 million (US$88.3 million) in China?
- ... that essayist Briallen Hopper got her start writing sermons?
17 December 2020
- 00:00, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that the first of many monuments to Ludwig van Beethoven is a bust (pictured) created in 1812 by Franz Klein during the composer's lifetime?
- ... that Gustav Classens, music director in Bonn from 1933, performed Beethoven's Choral Fantasy, Missa solemnis, and Ninth Symphony during his first two seasons, offering the Ninth in both?
- ... that Finland became a member state of the International Labour Organization 100 years ago today?
- ... that Christian Schreiber, a church administrator, philosopher and poet, wrote a German version of the Latin Mass for the publication, alongside the original, of Beethoven's Mass in C major?
- ... that Ruth Williams Cupp, the first woman admitted to the Charleston County Bar Association in 1954, was still barred by law from serving on juries, like all women in South Carolina until 1967?
- ... that the Crushed Rock quarry near Abuja, Nigeria, is now a popular tourist destination?
- ... that when Johannes Chum, a tenor in operatic roles from Nerone to Lohengrin, performed in Harnoncourt's recording of Beethoven's Missa solemnis, a reviewer described his singing as "seraphic"?
- ... that Beethoven's Third Cello Sonata, first performed in 1809, has been described as the first sonata for piano and cello to treat the instruments as equal partners?
16 December 2020
- 00:00, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that the final exhibition of Indian artist Anjum Singh (pictured), titled I am still here, was an autobiographical depiction of her struggles with cancer?
- ... that 200,000 children were evacuated via the Piccadilly line during World War II?
- ... that in positioning theory, positions are defined as a person's rights, duties, and obligations which are fluid in various social contexts, as opposed to fixed and long lasting roles?
- ... that Julian Edelman weighed less than 100 lb (45 kg) when he played American football as a freshman in high school?
- ... that the founder of the Cannabis Museum in Japan developed an interest in the subject after reading stories as a child in which ninjas trained by jumping over cannabis plants?
- ... that several memoirs by first ladies of the United States have outsold books written by their presidential husbands?
- ... that Otto Jochum, the organist and later the director of the Augsburg Conservatory, received a German national composition prize for a sacred oratorio in 1932, but also composed patriotic anthems under the Nazi regime?
- ... that in 1875, streetcars in Santa Barbara, California, were drawn by mules?
15 December 2020
- 00:00, 15 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that King Ludwig Oak (pictured) is a natural monument named after its admirer, Ludwig I of Bavaria?
- ... that plastics researcher David S. Breslow's interest in chemistry began as a child when he used a chemistry set to make stink bombs?
- ... that a bank robbery nearly derailed the Northern Ireland peace process?
- ... that The Personal Memoirs of Julia Dent Grant were the first memoirs to be written by a first lady of the United States?
- ... that Alexander Lindsay served as a general in the East India Company while remaining a half-pay lieutenant in the British Army?
- ... that the right to truth has been recognized by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the European Court of Human Rights, and the United Nations?
- ... that Israeli physicist Shikma Bressler, a researcher at the CERN particle accelerator in Switzerland, is also an initiator of the "Black Flag" protests against Benjamin Netanyahu?
- ... that in Cassandre, an opera by Michael Jarrell based on the novel by Christa Wolf, Cassandra speaks and acts without singing?
14 December 2020
- 12:00, 14 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that the 1957 The Green Pastures (advertisement pictured) was critiqued in the white Southern press for having "bowed to the inverted prejudice which insists that Negroes shall never be portrayed as Negroes"?
- ... that Katie Levick gave up the chance to play cricket for England in order to pursue a full-time job?
- ... that the gall wasp Synergus japonicus is considered to be a kleptoparasite?
- ... that This American Life producer and Boston native Sean Cole spoke with an affected British accent from age 14 to 16?
- ... that The Alcestiad, an opera based on a Greek myth and written collaboratively by Thornton Wilder and composer Louise Talma, was premiered by the Oper Frankfurt in German?
- ... that Arizona Falls is a functioning small hydroelectric plant designed as public art?
- ... that the Banu Muhriz emirs were patrons of the Alawites of Syria?
- ... that the Cousteau Society visited the wreck of the yacht Gunilda in Lake Superior in 1980, calling it "the most beautiful shipwreck in the world"?
- 00:00, 14 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that Detlev Jöcker (pictured) wrote and performed songs with movements first for his little son, and went on to sell 13 million albums?
- ... that The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein exposes policies of racial segregation in nearly all United States presidential administrations dating back to the late 1800s?
- ... that a non-governmental organisation set up by Hekani Jakhalu helps young entrepreneurs from Nagaland?
- ... that Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the second U.S. Supreme Court justice to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol?
- ... that after the Battle of Inverkeithing, Oliver Cromwell deliberately left open a route for the Scottish army to invade England?
- ... that despite Sandpaper Ballet being choreographed to music by Leroy Anderson, his piece of the same name is not used?
- ... that Cyclone Gati in November 2020 was the strongest tropical cyclone on record to make landfall in Somalia?
- ... that Laura Garwin, one of the first female Rhodes Scholars, left a career in science to become a full-time trumpeter?
13 December 2020
- 12:00, 13 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that Claudette Colbert, who won her only Academy Award for Best Actress for It Happened One Night (poster pictured), privately called the film "the worst picture in the world"?
- ... that the 1958 Lebanese presidential election was held during an armed rebellion while 10,000 US troops were deployed in the nation?
- ... that Chinese cosplayer Liyuu is also an anime musician?
- ... that the male sea spider Propallene longiceps carries fertilized eggs in bracelet-like masses wrapped around his legs?
- ... that MLS Cup 2020 will feature Seattle Sounders FC for the fourth time in five years?
- ... that Elsa-Brita Nordlund, Sweden's first child psychiatrist, advocated for the humanization of care in children's hospitals?
- ... that a line of the 1840 song "Kein schöner Land in dieser Zeit", claiming "no country more beautiful" and presented by its author as a Volkslied, is quoted as the title of books and television series?
- ... that upon being named president of Georgetown University, Gerard J. Campbell was described as a "new breed" of "Ivy League Catholic"?
- 00:00, 13 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that the kilns of Medalta Potteries (pictured) were used as overnight accommodation by people travelling the country in search of work during the Great Depression?
- ... that information provided by the Confederate draftsman Anton R. Roessler was used by the Union Army to determine the ordnance potential of Texas?
- ... that a section of Japan National Route 105 is named after a group of hunters?
- ... that the wreck of the freighter SS Russia was discovered in 2019, only 1,200 feet (370 m) from where a different shipwreck hunter ended the search for her years earlier?
- ... that Turkish accordion-playing street musician Madam Anahit also appeared in a number of films as an extra?
- ... that Recollections of Full Years by Helen Taft was the first memoir published by a first lady of the United States?
- ... that the 13th-century foundation St Alban Hall, Oxford, closed in 1882 and was demolished?
- ... that Rachel Sennott stars in two 2020 queer Jewish films about funerals, but is neither queer nor Jewish?
12 December 2020
- 12:00, 12 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that Wikimedian of the Year Sandister Tei (pictured) of Ghana is a former multimedia journalist for Al Jazeera?
- ... that the Advent song "Kündet allen in der Not", an appeal to those in need to take courage, was written by Friedrich Dörr, based on Isaiah's prophecy, in preparation of the 1975 Catholic Gotteslob?
- ... that Pennsylvania Treasurer-elect Stacy Garrity was nicknamed "The Angel of the Desert" in the Iraq War?
- ... that the developers of Serious Sam's Bogus Detour created a free version of the game to entice pirates to buy the original?
- ... that newly founded Exeter Chiefs Women were given a place in the top flight of English women's rugby union ahead of Richmond Women, historically one of the most successful teams in England?
- ... that in Justifying Genocide, Stefan Ihrig argues that many 1920s German nationalists viewed genocide as the "cost of doing political and military business in the twentieth century"?
- ... that the Waikiki Biltmore, which opened in 1955, was the first high-rise hotel built in Waikiki?
- ... that General Charles Barton commanded the 2nd Life Guards in the Peninsular War, and his great-grandson "Banjo" wrote the lyrics of "Waltzing Matilda"?
- 00:00, 12 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that acid secretions produced by the orange gumdrop sea slug (examples pictured) provide defence against predators such as sea anemones, fish, and crustaceans?
- ... that sports photographer Eleni Küreman was Turkey's first professional female photojournalist?
- ... that Avengers: Endgame was untitled until December 2018, as its title was considered a spoiler for the film and its predecessor, Avengers: Infinity War?
- ... that FactCheckArmenia.com falsely claimed that "no Armenians were harmed" during the deportation of Armenian intellectuals on 24 April 1915?
- ... that Ivan Camilleri, the incoming auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Toronto, was an associate director of finance at Bell Canada Enterprises before becoming a priest?
- ... that the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants, and New York Yankees played in a three-way baseball game in 1944?
- ... that Helmut Koch, who conducted Monteverdi's L'Orfeo in 1949, taught at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler", and continued the tradition of the Berliner Singakademie in East Berlin from 1963?
- ... that Lyndon B. Johnson used the same $80 desk as a senator, Vice President, and President of the United States?
11 December 2020
- 12:00, 11 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that The Girls in 3-B (cover pictured) was one of the first pulp-fiction novels to give a lesbian a happy ending?
- ... that Silvio Meier has a street in Berlin and a square in Bologna named after him?
- ... that the release of the 2001 Hindi film Chori Chori Chupke Chupke was delayed for several months due to allegations that it was funded by the Mumbai underworld?
- ... that Condescending Wonka is one of the most popular internet memes?
- ... that Sheriff Paxton, who was called Canada's most beloved ice hockey official, would jokingly order a hanging for every individual who opposed him?
- ... that Tribhuvan and Gyanendra each became King of Nepal twice?
- ... that after U.S. women secured the right to vote in 1920, those from the South fought against paying a poll tax for the next 40 years?
- ... that medieval ceramics expert Jean Le Patourel was also an expert in the archaeology of dog collars?
- 00:00, 11 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that British thespian Vivien Leigh (pictured) won both her Academy Awards for Best Actress for portraying women of the American South?
- ... that cybercriminals using Ryuk malware took in more than $61 million in ransom payments between 2018 and 2019, according to the FBI?
- ... that NCJW activist Florence Lewis was invited by President John F. Kennedy in 1963 to a White House discussion on how women's organizations could help solve civil rights issues?
- ... that in Russian folklore, the Alatyr is considered the "father to all stones"?
- ... that Boom Hall was named after a defensive structure on the River Foyle that was breached during the 1689 Siege of Derry?
- ... that the soprano Nina Dorliak recorded works by Bach with her husband, the pianist Sviatoslav Richter, sung in Russian?
- ... that the Los Angeles Times criticized Disney for contracting their interactive storybooks to independent studios, deeming their series "a mere imitation" of Broderbund's Living Books format?
- ... that John Devonshire was supposed to stop USS President putting to sea but didn't?
10 December 2020
- 12:00, 10 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that the Shuttle-Centaur booster (test article pictured) was once intended to send a space probe to Jupiter?
- ... that the internal shell of the sea slug Berthella stellata is visible through its translucent mantle?
- ... that a video of ballerina Carrie Imler dancing the 32 fouetté turns from Swan Lake went viral?
- ... that comedy group Pomato's creations include a skit about a boyfriend who did not understand the difference between a sports bra and a bra, and an advertisement for the Hong Kong Police Force?
- ... that orientalist Giuseppe Furlani organized the first and only Italian archaeological excavation in Mesopotamia?
- ... that the Rodin Studios has been described as "one of the most elegant studio and apartment buildings in New York", with a facade resembling cascades of Gothic decoration?
- ... that French writer Marie Chaix grew up unaware that her father was the right-hand man of the fascist French Popular Party leader Jacques Doriot, and later wrote a memoir about him?
- ... that Fukushima Industries' corporate mascot was originally called Fukuppy?
- 00:00, 10 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that Marjon Lambriks, who studied voice in the Netherlands with Paula Lindberg (both pictured) and made a career in Vienna, recorded La traviata alongside Pavarotti?
- ... that Hamro Lok Sanskriti (Our Folk Culture) was one of three books to win the first Madan Puraskar, Nepal's highest literary honour?
- ... that Thomas Paxton helped establish a saw mill, flour mill, foundry, and railway as a founding father of Port Perry?
- ... that 18.33 inches (46.6 cm) of rain fell within 24 hours in Guam during Typhoon Alice, a record for the territory that was not surpassed for another 23 years?
- ... that professional footballer Shaun Brisley scored for Peterborough United in the 2014 Football League Trophy Final after initially turning down a move to the club due to homesickness?
- ... that a two-year Native American housing protest group called the Chicago Indian Village started next to the Chicago Cubs home stadium, Wrigley Field?
- ... that medieval murals were discovered in Brönnestad Church in 1935, but not restored until 1980?
- ... that American historian Sarah Wilkerson Freeman curated a photo exhibit depicting the fluidity of race, gender, and sexuality in New Orleans during the McCarthy era?
9 December 2020
- 12:00, 9 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that artwork at Alewife station includes curved benches, neon art, and depictions of the namesake fish (pictured)?
- ... that the far-right "Hannibal" network has been likened to a "shadow army"?
- ... that Katie Lachapelle, head coach of the Holy Cross women's ice hockey team, was selected to be head coach of the 2021 US women's national Under-18 ice hockey team?
- ... that the British Secretary at War Viscount Barrington anticipated the 1766 food riots and pre-positioned troops to deal with them?
- ... that Kansas highway K-23 is known as Main Street in Cimarron, Dighton, and Hoxie?
- ... that countertenor David Cordier performed operatic title roles such as Handel's Giulio Cesare and one of the three sisters in Tri sestry by Péter Eötvös?
- ... that before Daniel Chester French and Henry Bacon designed the Lincoln Memorial, they collaborated on the James Oglethorpe Monument in Savannah, Georgia?
- ... that The Descent of Woman by Welsh author Elaine Morgan contends that front-to-front sexual intercourse evolved from apes that lived in a semi-aquatic environment?
- 00:00, 9 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that a Magnificat was composed for the 1200th anniversary of Salzburg Cathedral in 1974 by Krzysztof Penderecki (pictured) for two choirs of at least 24 voices, and conducted by him in the premiere?
- ... that in 2006, social-justice advocate Ronnie L. Podolefsky represented six female athletes who accused their high-school basketball coach of sexual misconduct?
- ... that following the Common Sense Revolution, the entire route of Ontario Highway 45 was downloaded from provincial oversight and redesignated as County Road 45?
- ... that in 1941, a group of isolationist U.S. senators conducted an investigation into alleged "war propaganda" in Hollywood films?
- ... that when Paulina died, her husband Pammachius received condolence letters from St Jerome and Paulinus of Nola?
- ... that the lighting in a portrait by David Hockney has been described as "icily arrogant"?
- ... that an extract of noodle seagrass inhibits the growth of microalgae, mussels and limpets?
- ... that Douglas Stuart's Booker Prize–winning debut novel, Shuggie Bain, was rejected by 32 publishers before being picked up?
8 December 2020
- 12:00, 8 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that the wreck of the train ferry Pere Marquette 18 (pictured) was discovered in Lake Michigan 109 years after she sank?
- ... that London barrister Imran Mahmood has written two thrillers, using the city's gang culture for one setting and its affluent Mayfair district for the other?
- ... that part of the solution to air pollution in Turkey could be electric ferries across the Bosporus?
- ... that a gun serial number can be any combination of numbers, letters or other symbols?
- ... that conductor and politician Klaus Bernbacher was responsible for 600 Radio Bremen music broadcasts, including of the original version of Schönberg's Gurre-Lieder?
- ... that some members of the United States Congress are assigned secret offices called hideaways whose locations may be unknown even to their own staff?
- ... that the Bundestag apologized in 2016 for Imperial Germany's "inglorious role" in the Armenian Genocide?
- ... that Salma wrote some of her works while sitting on the toilet, on pieces of paper ripped from calendars and notebooks?
- 00:00, 8 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that on the final date of the Ziggy Stardust Tour, David Bowie (pictured) said it was "the last show that we'll ever do"?
- ... that Ben Carter and his brother Tim played basketball for Team USA at the 2013 Maccabiah Games, winning a gold medal?
- ... that an elevated section of the Higashi-Osaka Route lies over the remnants of a palace?
- ... that in painting First Lady Michelle Obama, Amy Sherald was inspired by the way the quilters of Gee's Bend make clothing and fabric scraps into geometric works of art?
- ... that fossils of the extinct plant Concavistylon were first collected in the 1950s, but the genus was not formally described until 2018?
- ... that the Spanish writer Eva Forest was imprisoned for alleged complicity in multiple terror attacks by the separatist group ETA?
- ... that Scary Godmother: Halloween Spooktakular mixes 3D characters with 3D backgrounds black-edged to look 2D to avoid investors comparing it with theatrical CGI films?
- ... that in publishing Laura's Ghost, the author insisted the book cover show a photo of Laura alive?
7 December 2020
- 12:00, 7 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that the 1951 British film Surprise Attack (title card pictured) warned of the danger of not being vaccinated against infectious diseases?
- ... that Representative-elect August Pfluger's great-great-great-great-grandfather founded Pflugerville, Texas?
- ... that in his Requiem, premiered at Lausanne Cathedral in 1973, Frank Martin scored the "Dies irae" for speaking choir and a "battery of percussion"?
- ... that Abraham Pais's 1982 biography of Albert Einstein was the first to focus on Einstein's scientific contributions as opposed to his life as a popular figure?
- ... that Paul Foley, who played one match in his first-class career, went on to co-found the Minor Counties Cricket Championship?
- ... that economists William Darity and Darrick Hamilton proposed the policy of baby bonds in 2010 as a mechanism to reduce the racial wealth gap in the United States?
- ... that the wasp Andricus mukaigawae creates galls on oak trees, and these may become occupied simultaneously by other species of wasp?
- ... that Priscilla Jana, a South African human-rights lawyer of Indian descent, was the first woman to hug Nelson Mandela in 13 years of imprisonment on Robben Island?
- 00:00, 7 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that while its predecessor had 80 stops, Minnesota's Metro A Line (bus pictured) has only 20, and completes the same route six to eight minutes faster?
- ... that computer science professor Ruth Aylett performed with a robot poet in the Edinburgh Free Fringe?
- ... that "Nun singt ein neues Lied dem Herren" is a 1967 paraphrase of Psalm 98 by the Catholic theologian Georg Thurmair set to a 16th-century melody?
- ... that the Belgian-born Peter Verhaegen became a missionary to Missouri and obtained Saint Louis University's state charter?
- ... that Cloudwater Brew Co's name is a translation of the Zen Buddhist term unsui, meaning "cloud, water"?
- ... that a multi-component gas analyzer system can allow for real-time forecasting of volcanic eruptions?
- ... that Galician Jewish scholar Reuven Fahn wrote about the Karaite community of Halicz?
- ... that Donald Trump, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Alex Jones have all been described as Extremely Online?
6 December 2020
- 12:00, 6 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that the themes of violence in The Last of Us Part II were inspired by Neil Druckmann's (pictured) memories of watching footage of the 2000 Ramallah lynching?
- ... that 25 million tourists—more than twice the population of the entire state—visited the Mandakini River in Uttarakhand in 2011?
- ... that Michelle Curran is the only female flying with the United States Air Force Thunderbirds in the 2020 season?
- ... that in its early years, the University of Calcutta held examinations in the Kolkata Town Hall and in tents in the Maidan urban park?
- ... that as the governor of North Sumatra, Ulung Sitepu donated 2,400 bottles of passion fruit drinks for the inaugural Games of the New Emerging Forces?
- ... that 224 West 57th Street was built as two separate automobile showrooms, which were occupied by their original clients for less than a decade after completion?
- ... that Hermann Schey, a Jewish bass-baritone, travelled regularly from Berlin to Amsterdam to perform in Bach's St Matthew Passion, and went into hiding there during World War II?
- ... that despite ample epigraphic evidence mentioning his name, nothing is known about Phoenician king Yatonmilk's reign?
- 00:00, 6 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that Arsenal footballer Vivianne Miedema (pictured) is the all-time leading scorer in the FA Women's Super League and has scored more goals at the international level than any other Dutch player?
- ... that in the 17th-century card game of Penneech, named after its highest card, the seven of diamonds, the trump suit changes with each trick?
- ... that to promote their 2011 concept album David Koresh Superstar, based on the 1993 Waco siege, UK indie rock band the Indelicates created the video game Super David Koresh Attack?
- ... that Maine's Lewiston Daily Sun and its successor, the Sun Journal, were owned by the same family—Louis B. Costello, his son, and grandson—for more than 70 years?
- ... that a petition by Canadian member of parliament Pierre Poilievre to stop the Great Reset amassed 80,000 signatures after a conspiracy theory spread about it?
- ... that Andrew Clyde became involved in politics after being subject to a civil asset forfeiture of nearly $1 million by the Internal Revenue Service?
- ... that the Plessey AR-3D made use of the annoying problem of "squint" to produce a simple 3D radar?
- ... that Chorabari Lake no longer exists?
5 December 2020
- 12:00, 5 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that Christ Church, Marylebone (pictured), is now a sports centre?
- ... that as Master of Pierson College at Yale University during World War II, Arnold Wolfers recruited students for the Office of Strategic Services?
- ... that the statue of Heydar Aliyev in Mexico City was meant to be displayed for 99 years, but was removed after five months?
- ... that Kylie Minogue wore a Hysteric Glamour minidress on the cover of her fourth studio album, Let's Get to It?
- ... that Polish abstract painter Piotr Potworowski influenced the creative thinking of British painters at the Bath Academy of Art?
- ... that a 2017 global women-leaders conference found that the chief barrier to leadership roles for women was a lack of mentoring?
- ... that Verrucosa arenata is one of the few known large orb-weaver spiders that sits facing upwards in its web?
- ... that Eric Kimaiyo won the 2003 Baltimore Marathon in a sprint finish with one of the athletes that he trained?
- 00:00, 5 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that prolific actress Barbara Stanwyck (pictured) received four Best Actress nominations without a win, and was given an honorary Oscar in 1982 for her contributions to the film industry?
- ... that on this day in 1914, W. F. Taylor became the first president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association?
- ... that Nazi officials took advantage of national indifference to sign more people up to the Volksliste?
- ... that 185 Spanish-language radio stations aired the astronomy program Universo produced by KXCR of El Paso, Texas?
- ... that Tarabya I of Pakhan became governor of Pagan despite his subpar performance in the Forty Years' War?
- ... that Oxonmoot is an annual conference and fan convention in Oxford dedicated to the life and works of J. R. R. Tolkien?
- ... that Mary Fowkes's autopsies on COVID-19 victims helped identify long-term debilitating effects of the virus, including its impact on the heart and the brain?
- ... that after Swampy was evicted from Jones Hill Wood, rare barbastelle bats were discovered to be living there?
4 December 2020
- 12:00, 4 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that the primarily glass facade of 510 Fifth Avenue (pictured) was said to have "led the banking profession out of the cellar and onto the street"?
- ... that Arsenal Women's 11–1 win over Bristol City at Meadow Park in 2019 was the widest margin of victory in the history of the FA Women's Super League?
- ... that Pierre Dufault reported on the Munich massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics and claimed to have been the first reporter at the scene?
- ... that the 1985–86 Hormel meatpacking plant strike was the subject of both an Academy Award–winning film and a stage play by the Children's Theatre Company?
- ... that due to the living instrument doctrine, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that "it is no longer considered to be necessary or appropriate" to criminalize homosexuality?
- ... that Golden Age of Radio singer Harriet Lee had her own television show in 1931?
- ... that the bacterium Delftia lacustris could be used in combination with a crust fungus in the bioremediation of petrochemical wastewater?
- ... that folklorist and archaeologist Ethel Rudkin was the first to quantify and categorise sightings of ghostly black dogs?
- 00:00, 4 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that the submarine Sadko (pictured) carries up to 40 tourists and has 22 underwater portholes?
- ... that Rudolf Gerlach-Rusnak was the stage name of a tenor from Ukraine, with the first name chosen for his favourite role in La bohème?
- ... that Coretta Scott King condemned the music video for Public Enemy's "By the Time I Get to Arizona", which depicts violent revenge for her assassinated husband?
- ... that the 1922 electoral platform of the Union of Town and Country Proletariat called for the creation of a World Federation of Socialist Republics?
- ... that NASA engineer William H. Robbins worked on what was the world's largest windmill when it was dedicated in 1979?
- ... that the Canadian Toy Testing Council often had a waiting list of families wanting to test toys and games?
- ... that Dolores Cabrera y Heredia, a Spanish Romantic poet and novelist, was a prominent member of Hermandad Lírica (Lyrical Sisterhood)?
- ... that Leonardo DiCaprio actually set actors on fire with his flamethrower in the 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood?
3 December 2020
- 12:00, 3 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that actress Norma Shearer posed for a glamor photoshoot to convince her producer-husband Irving Thalberg (both pictured) that her sexual allure would translate to film for the lead role in The Divorcee?
- ... that the goldenrod crab spider can change colors between white and yellow depending on the color of the flowers on which it lives?
- ... that Hermann Wiedemann, who sang the role of Beckmesser in Toscanini's recording of Die Meistersinger, appeared as Faninal in Der Rosenkavalier at the Vienna State Opera 196 times?
- ... that the lehenga was the traditional dress of women belonging to the Bettiah Christian ethnoreligious community of India?
- ... that James M. Canty became the first Superintendent of Mechanical Industries at West Virginia State University following a recommendation from Booker T. Washington?
- ... that at least 90 percent of intermarried spouses in Nazi Germany and Austria refused to divorce Jewish partners despite intimidation by the Gestapo?
- ... that Japan National Route 281 served as an evacuation route for the city of Kuji following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami?
- ... that music critic Greg Kot described "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang" as "despicable misogyny", but listed it among his guilty pleasures because the "rawwwk doesn't get much rawer"?
- 00:00, 3 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that during the Napoleonic Wars, Donat Henchy O'Brien (pictured) escaped French captivity at Bitche and rejoined the Royal Navy at Trieste?
- ... that the developers of the video game Serious Sam: Next Encounter kept up morale by sharing their highscores via internal message boards?
- ... that David Bonnar, the incoming bishop of Youngstown, served as chaplain of the Pittsburgh Steelers and editor of The Priest?
- ... that inter-service cooperation was one of the most important lessons of the Bangladesh war for India?
- ... that for a halfpenny fare, children could ride on a small chariot drawn by four muzzled mastiffs to the Farthing Pie House?
- ... that Swiss bass Peter Lagger performed in the world premieres of Louise Talma's Die Alkestiade at the Oper Frankfurt and of Penderecki's "Magnificat" at the Salzburg Festival?
- ... that when news reporters were accused of trying to force the outcome of the 1967 North Sumatra gubernatorial election, one of them said he was prepared to be shot if found guilty?
- ... that Britain's 1977 Coal Queen won her weight in Babycham?
2 December 2020
- 00:00, 2 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that Saint Ninnoc (depicted) is often shown with a stag lying at her feet, said to represent the at-risk women who came under her guardianship?
- ... that Ugandan president Idi Amin reportedly shot dead the leader of the Arube uprising when the latter tried to arrest him?
- ... that a reviewer of The Collapse of Price's Raid stated that the lack of maps in the book would force many reviewers to use an atlas to follow the narrative?
- ... that as a music teacher, Canadian classical pianist Margaret Miller Brown was known as a "tough taskmistress"?
- ... that the Gainsborough Studios, a cooperative apartment for artists, was legally classified as a hotel to circumvent zoning restrictions on residential building heights?
- ... that Bodashtart, King of Sidon, left some 30 dedicatory inscriptions at the Temple of Eshmun?
- ... that the Porcupine Freedom Festival has been described as "the libertarian version of Burning Man"?
- ... that Sydney D. Bailey, an expert on international affairs and author of 17 books, left school by the age of 16 and taught himself political science?
1 December 2020
- 00:00, 1 December 2020 (UTC)
- ... that the architect of the Armenian genocide, Talaat Pasha, is buried under a monument (pictured) dedicated to "heroes of the fatherland"?
- ... that Mauree Turner is the first publicly non-binary individual elected to a U.S. state legislature?
- ... that the annual Indian sports awards ceremony at the Presidential Palace includes awards for adventure, for the top-performing university, and for sports promotion?
- ... that, by choosing the content included in his classic 1953 introductory textbook on the subject, Charles Kittel helped define the field of solid-state physics?
- ... that Kwangchul Youn, a bass from South Korea, appeared as Gurnemanz in Parsifal at the Bayreuth Festival, as Mephisto at the Vienna State Opera, and as King Marke at the Metropolitan Opera?
- ... that the U.S. and Canada engaged in a fishing war in the 1990s?
- ... that a reviewer expressed doubts that the plot of 24 Japan would be accepted by the viewing public since a major terror attack had not occurred in Japan for decades?
- ... that White House correspondent Bryson Rash started in radio at the age of 12 by voicing Buster Brown?