This DYK STATS/Archive 2010 page is an archive of the monthly DYKSTATS leaders for each month in 2010, recognizing the DYK entries that have received the most page views while being featured on DYK.
On an important note: Please do not see this list as a competition, but rather a celebration of some of the most effective DYK hooks.
Contents
2010 DYK page view leaders by month (over 5,000 views)
January 2010
Article | Image | DYK views | DYK hook |
---|---|---|---|
Princess Alice of the United Kingdom | ![]() |
24,000 |
|
Thor (film) | 17,100 |
|
|
Al Bernardin | ![]() |
15,300 |
|
Jarkov Mammoth | 14,400 |
|
|
Mary Rose | ![]() |
13,800 |
|
Iain Ciar MacLeod | ![]() |
12,400 |
|
Red Tail Project | ![]() |
10,900 |
|
Alexander Pentland | ![]() |
10,600 |
|
Hydnellum peckii | ![]() |
10,200 |
|
LA X | 9,800 |
|
|
Scyllarides latus | ![]() |
9,600 |
|
Cultivator No. 6 | 9,200 |
|
|
Russian battleship Slava | ![]() |
9,100 |
|
Tracked Hovercraft | ![]() |
8,700 |
|
Nanodragster | 8,300 |
|
|
Ashley Madison | 8,200 |
|
|
Corta Atalaya | 8,100 |
|
|
Arrival of the Hungarians | ![]() |
8,100 |
|
Borodino class battlecruiser | ![]() |
8,000 |
|
Economy of the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture | 7,800 |
|
|
Paradox Valley | ![]() |
7,800 |
|
Panellus stipticus | ![]() |
7,600 |
|
The Last Theorem | ![]() |
7,500 |
|
Great raft spider | 7,400 |
|
|
Dale Nelson | 7,400 |
|
|
Skimmington | 7,100 |
|
|
Gloria Nord | 6,900 |
|
|
HMS Princess | ![]() |
6,900 |
|
Marcus Cornish | ![]() |
6,700 |
|
Anandita Dutta Tamuly | 6,600 | ... that Anandita Dutta Tamuly ate 51 ghost chillis in two minutes and squeezed the seeds of 25 onto her bare eyes in just one minute? | |
Million Dollar Maybe | 6,600 |
|
|
Heinrich Hoffmann (pilot) | 6,400 |
|
|
I. M. Pei | 6,000 |
|
|
HMS Lord Clive (1915) | 6,000 |
|
|
Upper Harz Water Regale | ![]() |
5,900 |
|
Game Change | 5,800 |
|
|
Suvarnadurg | 5,800 |
|
|
List of heaviest bells | ![]() |
5,700 |
|
Amanita regalis | ![]() |
5,500 |
|
Minuscule 545 | 5,500 |
|
|
Zero stroke | 5,400 | ... that during the period of hyperinflation in Germany of 1921–1923, there were reports of people suffering from zero stroke, a disorder where they had the desire to write endless rows of zeros? | |
Split Rock Lighthouse State Park | ![]() |
5,400 |
|
George Eyre | 5,300 | ... that Captain George Eyre narrowly escaped death in 1812, when he was hit in the head by a musket ball and three others passed through his clothes? | |
Agat computer | ![]() |
5,100 |
|
York Imperial | ![]() |
5,100 |
|
Lugares colombinos | ![]() |
5,100 |
|
Hotel Valley Ho | ![]() |
5,000 |
|
Tax on childlessness | 5,000 | ... that Joseph Stalin imposed a tax on childlessness, which forced bachelors and childless families to pay an additional 6% income tax until the collapse of the Soviet Union? | |
Paduka | ![]() |
5,000 | ... that Paduka (pictured), a footwear, is generally worn by mendicants and saints of Hindu and Jain religions, with significance in Hindu mythology linked to the epic Ramayana? |
Schloss Rosenau, Coburg | ![]() |
5,000 | ... that Schloss Rosenau, Coburg (pictured), was the "happy birthplace" of Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert? |
February 2010
Article | Image | DYK views | DYK hook |
---|---|---|---|
Armillaria gallica | ![]() |
18,100 |
|
Hetoimasia | ![]() |
17,600 |
|
Porbeagle | ![]() |
17,500 |
|
SMS Helgoland | ![]() |
14,800 |
|
Elephanta Caves | ![]() |
13,500 | ... that Portuguese soldiers used Elephanta Caves – now a World Heritage Site – sculptures for target practice, sparing only the Trimurti (pictured)? |
Russian battleship Sevastopol (1911) | ![]() |
12,600 |
|
Westgate, Canterbury | ![]() |
11,600 |
|
Nicholas Barbon | 10,900 |
|
|
The South Butt | 10,900 |
|
|
Charles I Insulted by Cromwell's Soldiers | ![]() |
10,400 |
|
Bowmouth guitarfish | ![]() |
9,900 |
|
List of invasive species in the Everglades | ![]() |
9,900 |
|
Montague Druitt | ![]() |
9,400 |
|
Frank Freeman | ![]() |
9,000 |
|
Short track speed skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics – Men's 1500 metres | 8,700 |
|
|
Remington 887 Nitro Mag | 8,600 |
|
|
SM U-118 | 8,600 |
|
|
Europa regina | 8,600 |
|
|
Battle of Kapyong | 8,600 |
|
|
Rimon 20 | 8,300 | ||
Roy Phillipps | ![]() |
8,300 |
|
Edward Loch, 2nd Baron Loch | 8,200 |
|
|
Russian battleship Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya | ![]() |
8,200 |
|
Draughtsboard shark | ![]() |
8,100 |
|
Niño Dios of Mexico | 8,000 |
|
|
Antelope Island State Park | ![]() |
7,900 |
|
Key Largo Woodrat | ![]() |
7,700 |
|
Imperatritsa Mariya class battleship | ![]() |
7,600 |
|
Mutunus Tutunus | 7,300 |
|
|
Carlos IV in his Hunting Clothes | 7,300 |
|
|
Palace of the Marqués del Apartado | 7,200 |
|
|
The Actor (painting) | 6,900 |
|
|
GT200 | 6,600 | ||
Shady Lady Ranch | 6,600 |
|
|
Eastern chipmunk | ![]() |
6,500 |
|
Men in the Philippines courtship in the Philippines |
![]() |
6,400 |
|
Cookham Bridge | 6,300 |
|
|
Ouvrage Rimplas | 6,200 |
|
|
Sally Amis | 6,200 |
|
|
Amy Williams | 6,100 |
|
|
Galerina marginata | ![]() |
6,100 |
|
Coregonus hoyi | 6,100 |
|
|
Burmese–Siamese War (1548–49) | ![]() |
5,900 |
|
Motorway man | 5,900 |
|
|
Tab Clear | 5,900 | ... that the president of Coca-Cola Co. believed that a new-age label would doom Tab Clear, the company's clear cola answer to Crystal Pepsi?" | |
Ngo Dinh Nhu | ![]() |
5,800 |
|
Landsverk L-120 | 5,800 |
|
|
Parma (barque) | ![]() |
5,500 |
|
1997 U2 concert in Sarajevo | 5,400 |
|
|
HMS Princess Royal (1911) | ![]() |
5,400 |
|
Cyril Clowes | ![]() |
5,300 |
|
Plains Garter Snake | ![]() |
5,200 |
|
130 mm/50 B13 Pattern 1936 | 5,100 |
|
|
Eastern harvest mouse | ![]() |
5,100 |
|
March 2010
Article | Image | DYK views | DYK hook |
---|---|---|---|
HMS Vengeance (R71) | ![]() |
18,200 |
|
Afro | ![]() |
17,200 | |
National Leprechaun Museum | ![]() |
15,500 |
|
Green Lantern (film) | 15,200 |
|
|
Battles of Wenden (1577–1578) | ![]() |
14,400 |
|
Kongō class battlecruiser | ![]() |
13,800 |
|
Thomas S. Hammond | ![]() |
12,500 |
|
Chhinnamasta | 12,200 |
|
|
Thistle, Utah | ![]() |
11,500 |
|
Portrait of an Unknown Woman | ![]() |
11,300 |
|
GRB 090423 | 10,900 |
|
|
Minuscule 658 | 10,600 |
|
|
Crossing sweeper | ![]() |
10,100 |
|
NGC 7027 | ![]() |
9,600 |
|
Plate reconstruction | 9,500 |
|
|
The Mars Project | ![]() |
9,500 |
|
Tanbo art | 9,100 |
|
|
French battleship Courbet (1911) | ![]() |
8,800 |
|
1901 Michigan Wolverines football team | ![]() |
8,700 |
|
Anti-Michelle Obama humor | 8,700 |
|
|
Periyachi | ![]() |
8,700 | |
Confederate war finance | ![]() |
8,600 |
|
Lion class battlecruiser | ![]() |
8,500 |
|
New Year's Day Battle of 1968 | ![]() |
8,400 |
|
Romualdas Marcinkus | ![]() |
8,400 |
|
Bacon Deluxe | 8,200 |
|
|
Portrait of a Woman (Rogier van der Weyden) | ![]() |
8,100 |
|
Tom Cruise Purple | 8,100 |
|
|
Nissan Terranaut | 7,900 |
|
|
Arabia (steamboat) | 7,800 |
|
|
John Wright (Gunpowder Plot) | ![]() |
7,700 |
|
Tree of Life (craft) | 7,700 |
|
|
Bikini barista | 7,700 |
|
|
Admiral Apartments | 7,400 |
|
|
HMS E13 | ![]() |
7,400 |
|
Michele S. Jones | ![]() |
7,400 |
|
Norrie May-Welby | 7,300 |
|
|
Flitch of bacon custom | 7,200 |
|
|
Barge Haulers on the Volga | ![]() |
7,200 |
|
Battle of Bathys Ryax | 7,100 |
|
|
Woman with seven sons | ![]() |
7,000 |
|
SMS Wörth | ![]() |
6,800 |
|
Annunciation to the shepherds | ![]() |
6,700 |
|
Avukana Buddha statue | ![]() |
6,600 |
|
Hungargunn Bear It'n Mind | ![]() |
6,600 |
|
Saltford Manor House | 6,500 |
|
|
German submarine U-1065 | 6,400 |
|
|
Messier 100 | ![]() |
6,300 |
|
Giant George | 6,300 |
|
|
Adrian Crowley | ![]() |
6,300 |
|
Tremella mesenterica | 6,200 |
|
|
John FitzAlan, 14th Earl of Arundel | 6,200 |
|
|
Getå Railroad Disaster | ![]() |
6,200 |
|
Beating Heart Cadaver | 6,200 |
|
|
Irving Kane Pond | ![]() |
6,100 |
|
Unfortunate events in the front seats of the ring of Madrid, and the death of the Mayor of Torrejón | ![]() |
6,100 |
|
German submarine U-804 | 6,000 | ||
Hope (painting) | 5,900 |
|
|
Mohini | ![]() |
5,900 |
|
Robert Crichton Wyllie | ![]() |
5,800 |
|
High Desert (Oregon) | ![]() |
5,700 |
|
Temple of Bel | 5,600 |
|
|
Art student scam | 5,600 |
|
|
Sciurini | ![]() |
5,600 |
|
Paro Taktsang | ![]() |
5,500 | ... that the nickname of Paro Taktsang (pictured) in Bhutan, "The Tiger's Nest", derives from the legend which tells that Padmasambhava founded a meditation cave there after travelling on a tigress? |
Danaë (Titian series) | ![]() |
5,400 |
|
Roman theatre of Bosra | ![]() |
5,300 |
|
Exidia glandulosa | ![]() |
5,300 |
|
Siobhan Magnus | 5,300 |
|
|
Cheater plug | 5,200 |
|
|
SS Ragnhild (1941) | 5,200 | ||
Aureole effect | 5,100 |
|
|
Motu Matakohe | ![]() |
5,000 |
|
Japanese lates | 5,000 |
|
|
1968 in the Vietnam War | 5,000 |
|
April 2010
Article | Image | DYK views | DYK hook |
---|---|---|---|
Brad Stevens | ![]() |
46,100 | ... that Butler men's basketball head coach Brad Stevens (pictured) has won 89 games in his first three years, exceeding the previous NCAA record by 8 games? |
West Loch Disaster (Apr. 23, 2010) |
![]() |
29,500 | ... that the hulk of LST-480 (pictured) is the only remaining evidence of the West Loch Disaster, the second tragedy to befall Pearl Harbor during World War II? |
Fata Morgana (mirage) | ![]() |
23,400 | ... that one possible explanation of the origin of the Flying Dutchman legend is a Fata Morgana (illustrated)? |
Segregated prom | 21,800 | ... that despite criticism, some high schools in the United States still hold separate segregated proms for black and white students? | |
Fernie Swastikas | ![]() |
16,000 | ... that in Canadian women's ice hockey history, the Fernie Swastikas (pictured) were the 1923 champions of the Banff Winter Carnival? |
Arizona SB1070 | 14,300 | ... that Arizona SB1070, the state's new immigration enforcement law, has attracted national attention as the broadest and strictest anti-illegal immigration measure in decades within the United States? | |
GCV Infantry Fighting Vehicle | ![]() |
13,900 | ... that the GCV Infantry Fighting Vehicle (pictured) will be a networked tactical fighting vehicle with non-lethal weapons and the ability to export electricity? |
Japanese battleship Tosa | ![]() |
13,400 | ... that the sinking of the Japanese super-dreadnought Tosa (pictured) influenced the design of the Yamato class? |
Brian Eaton | ![]() |
13,000 | ... that RAAF fighter pilot Brian Eaton (pictured) was shot down three times in ten days in 1943, but went on to become his squadron's commanding officer and eventually retire as an Air Vice Marshal? |
Kyaiktiyo Pagoda | 12,700 | ... that the sight of the "gravity defying" Kyaiktiyo Pagoda (pictured) or Golden Rock, in the Mon State of Myanmar, has been described as "enough to inspire a religious conversion"? | |
Extreme 19th | 12,100 | ... that at the Extreme 19th, the world's highest and longest par 3 golf hole, a tee shot takes almost 30 seconds to land? | |
URO VAMTAC | ![]() |
11,500 | ... that the Spanish URO VAMTAC (pictured) is similar to the American HMMWV, since both were developed to meet similar requirements? |
Les Clisby | ![]() |
11,500 | ... that Flying Officer Les Clisby (pictured), Australia's first fighter ace of World War II, once landed beside a German bomber he had forced down and then captured the crew at gunpoint? |
Northwest Airlines Flight 5 | 10,900 | ... that the crew of Northwest Airlines Flight 5 didn't know an engine had fallen off at 35,000 feet and carried on flying for nearly 50 minutes? | |
Macrobrachium ohione | ![]() |
10,600 | ... that until 2001, the Ohio River shrimp (pictured) had not been seen in the Ohio River for 50 years? |
Doggles | 10,400 | ... that Doggles (pictured), a type of sunglasses for dogs, have been sent out to working military dogs in Iraq? | |
Silly Bandz | 9,300 | ... that Silly Bandz, popular silicone bracelets that spring into a shape when taken off, have been banned in classrooms for being too distracting? | |
Liberation of Saint Peter | ![]() |
9,300 | ... that the Liberation of Saint Peter (pictured) has been described as a recapitulation of the resurrection of Jesus? |
Walworth, County Durham Walworth Castle |
![]() |
6,100 + 3,100 = 9,200 | ... that the village of Walworth, County Durham, England, contains a 400-year-old castle (pictured)? |
Good Luck Charlie | 9,000 | ... that producers hope to use Good Luck Charlie "to debunk the myth that Disney never has the mom in the picture"? | |
German submarine U-450 | 8,900 | ... that U-450 went on three war patrols, but did not sink any ships? | |
15 Broad Street | ![]() |
8,400 | ... that in 1931, 15 Broad Street (pictured) in New York City was one of the 20 largest office buildings in the world? |
Ghost stations of the Paris Métro | 8,400 | ... that there are a number of ghost stations along the Paris Métro, including two with no above-ground entrances? | |
Kii class battleship Number 13 class battleship |
3,800 + 4,500 = 8,300 | ... that the Kii class and Number 13 class battleships were to be part of Japan's eight-eight fleet? | |
Hooker Emerald Brooch | ![]() |
8,100 | ... that the Hooker Emerald (pictured) was used for a belt buckle by an Ottoman Sultan? |
SMS Habsburg SMS Babenberg SMS Árpád SMS Prinz Eugen SMS Tegetthoff |
2,200 + 1,300 + 1,400 + 1,800 + 1,300 = 8,000 | ... that the Austro-Hungarian battleships Habsburg, Babenberg, Árpád, Prinz Eugen, Tegetthoff and Viribus Unitis participated in the bombardment of Ancona? | |
Nature fakers controversy | ![]() |
7,900 | ... that naturalist John Burroughs (pictured) began the nature fakers controversy in 1903 after publishing an essay titled "Real and Sham Natural History" which lambasted popular nature writers of the day? |
Marine art | ![]() |
7,700 | ... that marine art (example pictured) features in America's Most Wanted Painting and in its variants for several other countries? |
Kabandha | ![]() |
7,200 | ... that the demon Kabandha (pictured), from the Hindu epic Ramayana, is described to be as big as a mountain, without a head and with eight mile long arms? |
George Lane (commando) | 7,100 | ... that Hungarian-born Commando George Lane was spared execution after taking tea with Rommel? | |
Rhynchonkos | ![]() |
7,000 | ... that the Early Permian microsaur Rhynchonkos (pictured) shares many similarities with Eocaecilia, and may be an ancestor of caecilians? |
Mamba APC | 6,900 | ... that private military companies operating in Iraq use the Mamba armoured personnel carrier because it appears "less aggressive"? | |
Robert Grosvenor, 1st Marquess of Westminster | ![]() |
6,600 | ... that Robert Grosvenor, 1st Marquess of Westminster (pictured) is reputed to have thrown either a Bible or a Prayer Book at the head of King George IV? |
Alebrije | ![]() |
6,600 | ... that the Mexican craft of alebrijes (pictured) is attributed to Pedro Linares, who supposedly dreamed the creatures and the name while sick with a fever? |
Deutschland class battleship | ![]() |
6,500 | ... that SMS Schleswig-Holstein, one of the five Deutschland-class battleships (pictured), fired the first shots of World War II during the Battle of Westerplatte? |
Acra (fortress) | ![]() |
6,400 | ... that a seam (pictured) along the eastern wall of the Temple Mount may be a clue to the location of the Acra, a Seleucid citadel in ancient Jerusalem? |
Naval Aviation Photographic Unit | ![]() |
6,400 | ... that Edward Steichen (pictured) asked Ansel Adams to be in charge of the darkroom of the U.S. Naval Aviation Photographic Unit during World War II? |
Carbon nanocone | 6,300 | ... that the opening angle of hollow carbon nanocones (pictured) is not arbitrary, but has a few preferential values? | |
Dewoitine HD.730 | 6,300 | ... that the Dewoitine HD.730, in order to avoid Axis prohibitions on the development of military aircraft, was described as a commercial liaison type despite having folding wings? | |
Wauconda, Washington | 6,300 | ... that an Australian couple bought the town of Wauconda, Washington, in an online auction for $370,601? | |
Olomana (locomotive) | 6,200 | ... that the steam locomotive Olomana was considered by Walt Disney to have been the closest thing to a "Mickey Mouse engine"? | |
Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt | 6,100 | ... that the Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt drag racing car had a metal tag attached to the inside of the glovebox door warning that the fit and finish were not to up to company standards? | |
Hangleton Manor Inn | ![]() |
6,100 | ... that Hangleton Manor (pictured), the oldest secular building in Hove, England, has a cursed dovecote reputedly haunted by ghost pigeons? |
Arthur Schmidt (soldier) | 6,000 | ... that Arthur Schmidt told Red Army officers after the Battle of Stalingrad that "a German Field Marshal does not commit suicide with a pair of scissors"? | |
SS Empire Cloud | 6,000 | ... that Empire Cloud was torpedoed on both her maiden and final voyages? | |
Malchik | 6,000 | ... that a monument at Mendeleyevskaya station in the Moscow Metro marks the location where stray dog Malchik was stabbed to death by a railway commuter? | |
Braer Storm of January 1993 | ![]() |
6,000 | ... that the Braer Storm of January 1993 (pictured) is the extratropical cyclone with the lowest central pressure ever known to have existed in the northern Atlantic Ocean? |
Double-barreled question | 6,000 | ... that a double-barreled question asks about more than one thing, but allows only one answer? | |
Mausoleum of Saladin | 5,900 | ... that the mausoleum of Saladin was rebuilt in 1898 under the patronage of German Emperor Wilhelm II after he visited Damascus and found the tomb in a state of disrepair? | |
Kaiser Friedrich III class battleship | ![]() |
5,900 | ... that the Kaiser Friedrich III-class battleships (SMS Kaiser Barbarossa pictured) introduced the standard configuration for pre-dreadnought battleships in the German Kaiserliche Marine? |
Heathen hofs | 5,900 | ... that in 2000–04, excavations in Uppåkra, Scania, revealed that a heathen hof was located there for several hundred years? | |
No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando | 5,800 | ... that the British No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando unit included soldiers from different countries including Germany? | |
Copper shark | ![]() |
5,800 | ... that schools of copper sharks (pictured) follow the sardine run off South Africa every winter? |
Rene Farrell | ![]() |
5,700 | ... that cricketer Rene Farrell (pictured) made her debut for Australia after only five matches for her state? |
Louis Didier Jousselin | ![]() |
5,700 | ... that Louis Didier Jousselin built a 3 km long bridge (pictured) in less than 3 months whilst the French occupied Hamburg? |
Blanche Descartes | 5,600 | ... that the mathematician W. T. Tutte refused to admit that Blanche Descartes was a collective pseudonym? | |
Daniel Brottier | 5,600 | ... that Blessed Daniel Brottier, when asked by his mother what he wanted to be when he grew up, responded, "I will be the Pope"? | |
Iceberg Theory | 5,700 | ... that the Iceberg Theory refers to Ernest Hemingway's distinctive writing style? | |
Mottled skate | ![]() |
5,600 | ... that mottled skate (pictured) is commonly served at weddings in South Korea? |
Patuxai | ![]() |
5,500 | ... that American money was redirected from an airport to build the Patuxai monument (pictured) in Vientiane, Laos? |
Ortgies 7.65 mm Semi-Automatic Pistol | 5,500 | ... that the suicide weapon in J.D. Salinger's "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" was an Ortgies 7.65mm Semi-Automatic Pistol? | |
Google Guys | 5,400 | ... that the Google Guys, composed of Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, are among the richest people in the world with a net worth of US$17.5 billion each? | |
Gallifrey Base | 5,400 | ... that Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat warned actor Matt Smith not to visit fan forums such as Gallifrey Base? | |
SMS Deutschland (1904) | ![]() |
5,400 | ... that during the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916, SMS Deutschland (pictured) took part in the last engagement between capital ships in World War I? |
Capilla abierta | ![]() |
5,400 | ... that the capilla abierta (pictured) is considered one of the most unique construction types from Mexico in the world architecture? |
Wonder Pot | 5,300 | ... that the Israeli-invented Wonder Pot bakes cakes, casseroles and roasts on the stovetop rather than in the oven? | |
Rustock botnet | 5,300 | ... that the Rustock botnet was capable of sending 30 billion spam messages every day, utilizing around 150,000 computers infected with a trojan horse? | |
Inventing the AIDS Virus | 5,200 | ... that Inventing the AIDS Virus, written by molecular biologist Peter Duesberg, argues that AIDS is not infectious and that HIV is an unrelated passenger virus? | |
Inimicus Inimicus filamentosus |
![]() |
1,800 + 3,400 = 5,200 | ... that genus Inimicus includes highly venomous benthic stonefishes, such as Inimicus filamentosus (pictured), which use their pectoral fins as legs to walk on the seabed? |
Woodhead Dam | 5,200 | ... ... that Thomas Stewart, who designed the internationally recognized Woodhead Dam (pictured), was called "the father of consulting engineering in South Africa"? | |
Mount Graham Red Squirrel | ![]() |
5,200 | ... that the endangered Mount Graham Red Squirrel (pictured) was believed to be extinct in the 1950s until it was rediscovered in the 1970s? |
St. Mary's Church, Chesham | 5,200 | ... that St. Mary's Church (pictured) in Chesham, England, incorporates a Bronze Age stone circle in its foundations? | |
Black_Virgin_Mountain | 5,200 | ... that during the Vietnam War, the top half of Black Virgin Mountain was held by American forces while the bottom was controlled by the Vietcong? | |
Pyongyang (restaurant chain) | 5,100 | ... that the government of North Korea operates an overseas chain of restaurants from which staff occasionally attempt to escape? | |
Commando Memorial | ![]() |
5,100 | ... that the Commando Memorial (pictured) erected in the remote Scottish Highlands is dedicated to the original World War II British Commandos, who were trained at nearby Achnacarry Castle? |
Clemuel Ricketts Mansion | ![]() |
5,100 | ... that when the stone Clemuel Ricketts Mansion (pictured) was built in 1852 on the shores of Lake Ganoga in Pennsylvania, it was so remote it was nicknamed "Ricketts Folly"? |
Eighty Mile Beach | 5,100 | ... that Eighty Mile Beach in Western Australia is 140 miles (230 km) long? | |
Shtojzovalle | 5,000 | ... that in Albanian mythology, when people go for a walk and step on a shtojzovalle they may get devoured by it? | |
Mason Plumlee | 5,000 | ... that 6' 10" Mason Plumlee plays basketball for the NCAA finalist Duke Blue Devils alongside his 6' 10" brother Miles, and their younger 7' 0" brother Marshall plays in high school? | |
Womb veil | 5,000 | ... that "womb veil" was the most common term for barrier contraception used by women in 19th-century America? | |
Manaslu | ![]() |
5,000 | ... that Manaslu (pictured) is the eighth highest mountain in the world, located in the Mansiri Himal, part of the Nepalese Himalayas, in the west-central part of Nepal? |
SMS Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand | 5,000 | ... that the Austro-Hungarian battleship SMS Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand fought in World War I, a war started by the assassination of her namesake? |
April 1 2010
Article | Image | DYK views | DYK hook |
---|---|---|---|
Termitaradus mitnicki | ![]() |
26,600 | ... that researchers have identified the pictured life form which no longer lives on this planet? |
Prada Marfa | 19,600 | ... that the Prada Store in Marfa, Texas, is never open? | |
Blood rain | 19,400 | ... that a rain of blood in Germany foreshadowed the coming of the Black Death? | |
Buxbaumia | 17,200 | ... that humpbacked elves are rarely seen because their bodies are microscopic? | |
TSS The Queen | 15,500 | ... that The Queen was captured by the Germans in 1916?? | |
James E. Brown III | 14,500 | ... that James Brown flew an F-22 Raptor and survived a fuel leak while traveling at almost the speed of sound? | |
Tachyoryctes rex | 14,300 | ... that T. rex survives underground in Kenya? | |
Buttock mail | 14,200 | ... that buttock mail was a form of punishment for fornication, an alternative to the stool of repentance? | |
Jedward | 13,900 | ... that two Irish musicians described as "tone deaf", and as "not very good" by British prime minister Gordon Brown, have been recently cited as more popular than The Beatles? | |
USS Van Buren (1839) | 13,000 | ... that Martin Van Buren was over twenty feet wide? | |
Máel Brigte of Moray | 12,900 | ... that despite dying in battle and being beheaded, Máel Brigte of Moray still managed to kill his opponent Sigurd the Mighty, a 10th-century Earl of Orkney, as he rode home afterwards? | |
Tickle Cock Bridge | 12,700 | ... that residents of Castleford, England, were incensed when their council tried to eliminate Tickle Cock? | |
Bertiespeak | 11,300 | ... that Bertie Ahern speaks Bertiespeak? | |
Cake (advertisement) | ![]() |
11,300 | ... that the materials used in the production of a Škoda Fabia car (pictured) in 2007 included margarine and orange sugar paste? |
Thomas Cruse | 10,200 | ... that Tom Cruse was awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantly charging hostile Indians? | |
Morchella esculenta Phallus (genus) |
5,700 + 4,400 = 10,100 | ... that the yellow morel was once a Phallus? | |
PRR 460 | 9,600 | ... that Lindbergh raced an airplane from Washington to New York in under three hours, without ever leaving the ground? | |
The Whole Shebang: A State-of-the-Universe(s) Report | 9,500 | ... that Wikipedia covers the whole shebang? | |
Cliffe Castle Museum | ![]() |
9,200 | ... that Cliffe Castle Museum in Keighley, Yorkshire, boasts a wife-soothing cradle (pictured)? |
Elvis Thomas | 8,800 | ... that Elvis is still alive and teaching soccer at Neil McNeil Catholic Secondary School? | |
Ugly Men's Association | 8,700 | ... that Perth, Western Australia, got rid of ugly men in 1948? | |
Ruth Belville | ![]() |
7,400 | ... that Ruth Belville (pictured) and her parents had a business selling people Greenwich Mean Time? |
SS Dumbo | 6,300 | ... that in October 1968, Dumbo was arrested in Las Palmas, Spain? | |
Bradford Industrial Museum | 5,500 | ... that the cod Yorkshire dialect, one on't cross beams gone owt askew on treadle, in Monty Python's "Trouble at Mill" sketch actually means something? | |
Picoazá | 5,400 | ... that the citizens of Picoazá, Ecuador, elected foot powder as their mayor? | |
Guinness Black Lager | 5,300 | ... that Guinness Black Lager is a new black lager which is being test marketed in Malaysia by Diageo for sale in the west under its Guinness brand name? |
May 2010
Article | Image | DYK views | DYK hook |
---|---|---|---|
2010 Moscow Victory Day Parade | ![]() |
53,000 | ... that the 2010 Moscow Victory Day Parade (logo pictured) to be held today (9 May), will be the first Victory Day Parade to include foreign troops marching on Moscow's Red Square? |
Longest recorded sniper kills | ![]() |
44,600 | ... that the longest recorded sniper kill is from 2,475 m (8,120 ft) using a L115A3 Long Range Rifle (pictured)? |
Frilled shark | ![]() |
25,000 | ... that the frilled shark (pictured) may have the longest gestation period of any vertebrate, at three and a half years? |
Colonel Mordaunt's Cock Match | ![]() |
23,800 | ... that cleaning of the painting Colonel Mordaunt's Cock Match (pictured) revealed the arousal of the central figure? |
Goose pulling | ![]() |
19,500 | ... that goose pulling (pictured) was a popular blood sport practiced in Belgium, England, the Netherlands and the United States that involved a man on horseback galloping past a live goose and pulling its head off? |
USS Recruit (1917) | ![]() |
18,900 | ... that the battleship USS Recruit (pictured) was built in New York City's Union Square? |
Bathsheba at Her Bath | ![]() |
15,100 | ... that Bathsheba at Her Bath (pictured), has been called "Rembrandt's greatest painting of the nude"? |
Amanita exitialis | 14,300 | ... that the Guangzhou destroying angel has fatally poisoned almost 30 people since the year 2000? | |
Boobquake | 12,900 | ... that during "Boobquake", thousands of women tested a hypothesis that they could start earthquakes by dressing immodestly? | |
Lake Balkhash | 12,700 | ... that water is fresh in the western part of Lake Balkhash (pictured) and is saline in the eastern part? | |
The Death of Nelson (West painting) | ![]() |
11,800 | ... that Benjamin West's painting The Death of Nelson (pictured) proved so popular that, within about a month, it was seen by 30,000 people in his studio? |
Cyrba | ![]() |
10,600 | ... that Cyrba spiders are said to be primitive because they retain characteristics that other jumping spiders (example pictured) lost? |
Spanish ship Duque de Tetuán (1874) | ![]() |
10,200 | ... that the Spanish floating battery Duque de Tetuán (pictured) was considered a failure as a ship of war? |
Rachel Chiesley, Lady Grange | ![]() |
9,800 | ...that an Edinburgh judge and Member of Parliament had his wife, Lady Grange (pictured) kidnapped and effectively imprisoned for thirteen years in various remote parts of western Scotland? |
Tilottama | ![]() |
9,700 | ...that according to the Hindu epic Mahabharata, the apsara Tilottama (pictured) was so beautiful that the god-king Indra developed a thousand eyes on his body to see her? |
Burnham-on-Sea Round Tower Burnham-on-Sea High Lighthouse Burnham-on-Sea Low lighthouse |
![]() |
2,700 + 2,500 + 4,400 = 9,600 | ... that Burnham-on-Sea has had three lighthouses; the Round Tower, High Lighthouse and Low lighthouse (pictured), but only the last, the smallest, is still operating? |
Abyssal plain | ![]() |
9,500 | ... that despite covering more than 50% of this planet's surface, abyssal plains (pictured) are among the least explored regions on Earth? |
Russian cruiser Gromoboi | ![]() |
9,200 | ... that the crew of Russian cruiser Gromoboi (pictured) suffered heavily during the Battle off Ulsan because their captain ordered his gunners to remain at their guns even when they were out of range? |
French battleship République (1902) French battleship Patrie (1903) |
7,400 + 1,700 = 9,100 | ... that the French battleship République was hit by a torpedo from the Patrie, her sister ship? | |
Bykenhulle | ![]() |
9,100 | ... that the hunting lodge at Bykenhulle (pictured) in East Fishkill, New York, can be entered only by turning a carved liquor bottle on the door to "pour" into a nearby shot glass, revealing a peephole? |
Wem Town Hall | 8,739 | ... that a photograph of Wem Town Hall in Shropshire, England, taken during a fire, appears to show the ghost of a young girl standing amidst the flames? | |
No. 2 Commando | 8,700 | ... that the first men executed under Adolf Hitler's Commando Order were from No. 2 Commando? | |
Cocker Spaniel | ![]() |
8,500 | ... that the two modern breeds of Cocker Spaniel, American (pictured) and English, are thought to have been descended from only two dogs? |
Bickerton Hill | ![]() |
8,400 | ... that Raw Head (pictured), in Cheshire, England, was a Marilyn, but was demoted in 2009 after a re-survey? |
Mycena californiensis | ![]() |
8,200 | ... that the fungus Mycena californiensis (pictured) was "resurrected" in 1999? |
FEMEN | 8,200 | ... that although known for their erotic protests, the Ukrainian women’s movement FEMEN is against legalizing prostitution? | |
Desireé Bassett | 8,200 | ... that seventeen-year-old rock guitarist Desireé Bassett has been called "the future of rock and roll"? | |
Hadley Richardson | ![]() |
8,000 | ... that Ernest Hemingway's wife Hadley Richardson (pictured) lost a suitcase containing his early manuscripts at a Paris train station in 1922? |
Russian battleship Oslyabya | 8,000 | ... that the Russian battleship Oslyabya was the first armored battleship ever sunk by gunfire alone, without any torpedo hits? | |
Young Spartans Exercising | 8,000 | ... that in Edgar Degas' painting Young Spartans Exercising, the four women in the foreground share ten legs? | |
Raghadan Flagpole | 7,800 | ... that while the 126.8-metre (416 ft) Raghadan Flagpole in Amman is both earthquake- and weather-resistant, excessive noise means the flag must be lowered during high winds? | |
Mulga Parrot Scarlet-chested Parrot Elegant Parrot |
![]() |
2,300 + 2,800 + 2,700 = 7,800 | ... that Many-coloured, Splendid (pictured) and Elegant Parrots inhabit Australia's southern hinterlands? |
John Heaphy Fellowes | ![]() |
7,700 | ... that "Happy Jack" Fellows, a prisoner of war for six-and-a-half years during the Vietnam War, was awarded the Silver Star for "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while interned"? |
Boeing Phantom Ray | 7,700 | ... that Boeing's Phantom Ray UCAV was kept a secret even within the company for almost two years? | |
Polydorus (Priam's Son) | ![]() |
7,500 | ... that Polydorus (pictured being killed by Polymestor), son of Priam, features in Euripides' Greek tragedy Hecuba, Virgil's Roman epic The Aeneid and Homer's Iliad? |
List of commanding officers of the USS Oklahoma (BB 37) | 7,500 | ... that the last commander of the USS Oklahoma held that position for only 34 minutes? | |
Curtiss XSB3C | 7,400 | ... that one of the reasons the U.S. Navy cancelled the Curtiss XSB3C dive-bomber project was the aircraft's requirement for the use of 115/145-octane avgas? | |
Douglas XP-48 | 7,400 | ... that the U.S. Army Air Corps cancelled the Douglas XP-48 because its performance figures seemed to be too good to be true? | |
Windsor Swastikas | 7,100 | ... that before Blaine Sexton won Olympic bronze as part of the UK Hockey team he played for the Windsor Swastikas in Canada? | |
Kurtës Ambush | 7,100 | ... that although the 20 mm Breda is an anti-aircraft gun, during the Kurtës Ambush it was used against German trucks? | |
Self Portrait with Two Circles | ![]() |
7,100 | ... that the meaning of the circles in Rembrandt's painting Self Portrait with Two Circles (pictured) has been the subject of much speculation? |
Navajo Nation Zoological and Botanical Park | 7,100 | ... that the Navajo Nation Zoo was facing immediate closure after a visit by the gods in 1999? | |
George Clavering-Cowper, 3rd Earl Cowper | 7,000 | ... that George Clavering-Cowper (pictured) went on a Grand Tour and, despite becoming an earl and an M.P., he stayed in Florence and became a prince? | |
John Komnenos the Fat | 7,000 | ... that when the Byzantine usurper John Komnenos the Fat tried to sit on the imperial throne, it broke under his weight? | |
John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame | 7,000 | ... that millions have visited the John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame, including one who knelt in front of the flame, fell, and burned to death? | |
Tupolev ANT-21 | 7,000 | ... that the Tupolev ANT-21 was rejected by the Soviet Air Force because it was not armed with recoilless rifles? | |
68-pounder | ![]() |
6,900 | ... that the Royal Armouries museum describes the 68-pounder (pictured) as the finest smoothbore gun ever produced? |
Livadia (yacht, 1880) | 6,900 | ... that the hull of the Russian imperial yacht Livadia was compared to a pancake, a turtle, and a pair of soup plates? | |
Courageous class battlecruiser | ![]() |
6,900 | ... that the British Courageous class battlecruiser HMS Courageous (pictured after aircraft carrier conversion) was damaged when her forecastle deck buckled during her sea trials while running at full speed in a rough head sea? |
USS Washington (BB-47) | 6,800 | ... that even after being hit by three one ton bombs, the USS Washington (BB-47) had only a three degree list? | |
Christ Church, Ore | 6,800 | ... that past and present churches in Hastings, East Sussex, include one in the middle of a wood, one on the beach for the fishermen, one on a "crazy site" and one with "a very naughty turret"? (PS. The picture got 6,300 views!) | |
Reflex (magazine) | 6,800 | ... that reading an issue of the magazine Reflex so seriously disturbed the wife of a former Czech Prime Minister that she had to be hospitalized? | |
Caitlin Thomas | 6,710 | ... that when Dylan Thomas' wife, Caitlin Thomas arrived at his death bed, her words were reportedly, "Is the bloody man dead yet?"?" | |
List of Spanish battleships and monitors | ![]() |
6,700 | ... that the battleships of Spain included the smallest dreadnoughts ever built (España pictured)? |
Delamere Forest Forests of Mara and Mondrem |
![]() |
4,229 + 2,425 = 6,654 | ... that Delamere Forest (pictured) is the remnant of the Norman hunting forests of Mara and Mondrem, which once covered over 60 square miles (160 km2) of Cheshire, England? |
Limb infarction | 6,625 | ... that after appropriate treatment for limb infarction, approximately 70 percent of infarcted arms and legs remain alive and vital after six months? | |
RuBot II | 6,600 | ... that RuBot II is the world's fastest Rubik's cube solving robot? | |
Borneo shark | 6,500 | ... that the endangered Borneo shark was rediscovered in 2007, after not having been seen for many decades? | |
HMS Tynedale (L96) | 6,500 | ... that HMS Tynedale, a destroyer of the Royal Navy, attacked and damaged a U-boat in 1942 that would sink her a year later? | |
Monte Carlo (2011 film) | 6,500 | ... that 17-year-old Selena Gomez replaced 42-year-old Nicole Kidman as the lead in the film Monte Carlo? | |
Wooden Leg: A Warrior Who Fought Custer | 6,400 | ... that Wooden Leg didn't have one? | |
SM UB-50 | 6,300 | ... that the U-boat SM UB-50 sank nearly 100,000 gross register tons of shipping? | |
Arlington Ladies | ![]() |
6,200 | ... that members of the Arlington Ladies (pictured) attend the funeral of every servicemember buried at Arlington National Cemetery? |
Benjamin Ogle Tayloe | ![]() |
6,200 | ... that Alabama land- and slave-owner Benjamin Ogle Tayloe (pictured), reputed to be America's richest man in 1860, lost a half million dollars during the American Civil War? |
Bloch MB.480 | 6,200 | ... that the Bloch MB.480, despite proving successful in testing, was cancelled by the French Navy in favour of landplanes? | |
Nigel Cullen | 6,200 | ... that World War II fighter pilot Nigel Cullen, who became an ace with 16 aerial victories, was nicknamed "Ape" for his imposing physique? | |
Ernest Troubridge | 6,100 | ... that Rear-Admiral Ernest Troubridge (pictured) was court-martialled for his failure to successfully engage the German warships SMS Goeben and SMS Breslau? | |
Dubdi Monastery Yuksom Norbugang Chorten Pemayangtse Sanga Choeling Khecheopalri Lake Tashiding (May 24, 2010) |
![]() |
673 + 688 + 663 + 650 + 664 + 609 + 815 + 1,303 = 6,065 | ... that Chogyal established the first monastery (pictured) in Sikkim at Yuksom in 1701, which is part of a Buddhist pilgrimage circuit including Norbugang, Pemayangtse , Rabdentse, Sanga Choeling, Khecheopalri Lake, and Tashiding? |
Asphalt volcano | 6,000 | ... that the asphalt volcano is a rare underwater volcano composed of asphalt and erupting petroleum and methane instead of lava? | |
Galaxy 15 | 6,000 | ... that Galaxy 15, a communications satellite, was originally designed to last 15 years but is currently out of control? | |
Chronic Tacos | 6,000 | ... that avid cyclist Randy Wyner founded Chronic Tacos because he was "tired of biking so far to find a good taco"? | |
Russian cruiser Rossia (1896) | ![]() |
5,800 | ... that the Russian armored cruiser Rossia (pictured) became the first warship to use an aerial device on the high seas during a time of war when she flew an observation balloon in May 1904 during the Russo-Japanese War? |
Crispin Black | ![]() |
5,800 | ... that BBC terrorism consultant Crispin Black survived the bombing of RFA Sir Galahad (pictured) during the Falklands War? |
China Aviation Museum | 5,800 | ... that the China Aviation Museum (pictured) is located in an underground bunker and includes a replica of the Wright Flyer? | |
F+W C-3605 | 5,800 | ... that the nose of the F+W C-3605 had to be stretched by six feet (1.8 m) to balance its center of gravity? | |
Shcherbakov Shche-2 | 5,800 | ... that the Shcherbakov Shche-2 was used by the Soviet Air Force to resupply partisan forces during World War II? | |
Khulda | 5,700 | ... that the Palestinian Arab village of Khulda (pictured), depopulated and destroyed during the 1948 Palestine war, had a history that stretched back to the period of the Crusades? | |
Interstate XBDR | 5,700 | ... that although two prototypes of the Interstate XBDR flying bomb were ordered, only a 1/17-scale model was ever built | |
Biosafety cabinet | ![]() |
5,600 | ... that fume hoods are not biosafety cabinets (pictured), and vice-versa? |
Minuscule 697 | 5,600 | ... that Minuscule 697 was found in a village near Corinth, and bought by C. L. Merlin, British vice-consul in Athens, in 1865? | |
Dance in the Dark | 5,500 | ... that Lady Gaga's song "Dance in the Dark" is about a girl who likes to have sex with the lights off because she is embarrassed about her body? | |
Schwanenwerder | ![]() |
5,400 | ... that the island of Schwanenwerder in Berlin, Germany, houses a column (pictured) from the former Tuileries Palace? |
Lund 1 Runestone | 5,400 | ... that the Lund 1 Runestone depicts two wolves that have a sword and shield strapped to their bodies? | |
Ricardo Blas, Jr. | 5,400 | ... that Ricardo Blas, Jr. surpassed the previous record for the heaviest Olympic competitor by 44 lb (20 kg) when he competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics? | |
Type 1936B destroyer | 5,400 | ... that two ships of the German Type 1936B destroyer class, Z35 and Z36, both sank after hitting "friendly" mines on the same day in the Gulf of Finland? | |
George de Bothezat de Bothezat helicopter |
1,000 + 4,400 = 5,400 | ... that Thomas Edison hailed George de Bothezat's rotorcraft, the "Flying Octopus", as "the first successful helicopter"? | |
Banksia lemanniana Banksia caleyi Banksia elderiana |
2,000 + 1,800 + 1,500 = 5,300 | ... that the flower spikes of Banksia lemanniana, Banksia caleyi (pictured) and Banksia elderiana hang upside down rather than erect like most other Banksia species? | |
IBM 608 | 5,300 | ... that the IBM 608, released in December 1957, was the first commercial completely transistorized computer? | |
Unity Ranger Station | 5,300 | ... that the historic Unity Ranger Station in northeastern Oregon has had a 60-foot high fire lookout tower (pictured) with a built-in water tank located on the compound since 1938? | |
Elena Myers | ![]() |
5,300 | .. that 16 year old Elena Myers (pictured) is the first female motorcyclist to win a race in the 76 year history of AMA Pro Racing? |
Unity Ranger Station | 5,300 | ... that the historic Unity Ranger Station in northeastern Oregon has had a 60-foot high fire lookout tower (pictured) with a built-in water tank located on the compound since 1938? | |
Admiral class battlecruiser | ![]() |
5,200 | ... that the Admiral-class battlecruiser Hood (pictured) escorted British merchantmen into Bilbao in 1937, even though the Nationalist cruiser Almirante Cervera was attempting to blockade the port? |
Morganna | 5,200 | ... that Morganna, the Kissing Bandit, originally wanted to be a nun but ran away from school at the age of 13 to become an exotic dancer and legendary kisser of baseball players? | |
Thomas C. Kinkaid | ![]() |
5,200 | ... that Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid (pictured) received the Navy Distinguished Service Medal on three separate occasions, for his actions during the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, and the Battle of Attu? |
Serpula | ![]() |
5,100 | ... that the blood of Serpula tubeworms (pictured) appears green when deoxygenated, though it is light red when oxygenated? |
Robert Krentz | 5,100 | ... that Arizona passed the toughest illegal immigrant law in the U.S. following the murder of rancher Robert Krentz? | |
French battleship Jauréguiberry | 5,000 | ... that the French battleship Jauréguiberry had a torpedo air chamber accidentally explode between her propellers when she fired her stern torpedo tube in 1905, flooding her steering compartment? | |
Milecastle 8 | 5,000 | ... that Milecastle 8 of Hadrian's Wall lies beneath the A69 dual carriageway? | |
Countdown to Zero | 5,000 | ... that the documentary film Countdown to Zero, which analyzes the likelihood of the use of nuclear weapons, has been privately screened by United States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton? | |
Convair Model 118 | 5,000 | ... that the first prototype ConvAirCar crashed because its pilot read the wrong fuel gauge before takeoff? |
June 2010
Article | Image | DYK views | DYK hook |
---|---|---|---|
HZ-1 Aerocycle | ![]() |
23,300 | ... that the de Lackner Aerocycle (pictured) was intended to be flown by infantrymen after only 20 minutes of flight training? |
Gee Bee Model Z | ![]() |
11,500 | ... that in 1931, frame-by-frame analysis of a movie was used to determine why the Gee Bee Model Z (pictured) crashed? |
Australite | ![]() |
11,500 | ... that for their peculiar shapes australites (pictured) were once thought to be glass meteorites? |
Hans Litten | 11,400 | ... that Hans Litten so rattled Adolf Hitler on the witness stand that, years later, Hitler told Prince Wilhelm of Prussia that even he would be sent to a concentration camp if he supported Litten? | |
Charles Domery | 10,600 | ... that Charles Domery ate 174 cats in a year? | |
Kronan (ship) | ![]() |
10,600 | ... that the warship Kronan was one of the largest ships in the world when she foundered and exploded with the loss of 800 men at the battle of Öland (pictured) in 1676? |
Cryptoprocta spelea | 9,400 | ... that although the giant fossa, formerly one of the top carnivores of Madagascar, is thought to be extinct, there is some anecdotal evidence of very large living fossas? | |
Geography of New Caledonia | ![]() |
9,100 | ... that New Caledonia, an island fragment of the sunken continent Zealandia since the Cretaceous, and home to the Kagu (pictured), has been likened to a "Jurassic Park"? |
Focke-Wulf Fw 42 | 8,600 | ... that despite proving promising in wind tunnel testing, no examples of the Focke-Wulf Fw 42 were ever built? | |
Laguna Madre | ![]() |
8,400 | ...that the Laguna Madre (pictured) in Texas is one of the earth's six hypersaline bays? |
Neuschwanstein (meteorite) | ![]() |
6,700 + 1,700 = 8,400 | ... that the fall of the Neuschwanstein meteorite (computer graphic pictured) in 2002 was observed by the European Fireball Network and outdoor witnesses through most of Central Europe? |
Sol Hachuel | ![]() |
7,700 | ... that in 1834, the 17-year-old Moroccan Jewish girl Sol Hachuel was beheaded (pictured) for alleged apostasy from Islam? |
1492 light sighting | 7,200 | ... that Christopher Columbus received a royal reward for the 1492 sighting of unknown light? | |
Royal Gold Cup | 7,200 | ... that the enamelled Royal Gold Cup (pictured) has a documented history since 1391, in the course of which it has been given away three times, pawned twice, and sold three times? | |
Operation Raviv | ![]() |
6,800 | ... that during Operation Raviv of September 1969, Israeli troops used captured Arab armor (T-55 pictured) to raid Egypt's Red Sea coast? |
Hedwig glass | 6,700 | ... that only fourteen complete examples of Hedwig glass are known? | |
Lofty Large | 6,500 | ... that Lofty Large once floored a donkey with a single punch while fighting rebels in Oman? | |
Holter Dam Hauser Dam |
![]() |
3,300 + 3,200 = 6,500 | ... that construction of Holter Dam ceased in 1910 for six years after the 1908 collapse (pictured) of Hauser Dam almost drove the company constructing Holter into bankruptcy? |
Dornier Do 29 | 6,400 | ... that the propellers of the Dornier Do 29 could be tilted downwards by up to 90 degrees? | |
Donna Simpson (obese) | 6,200 | ... that Donna Simpson maintains a website where male fans pay to watch videos of her eating and measuring her waistline? | |
White Horse Prophecy | 6,100 | ... that the White Horse Prophecy, attributed to Mormon founder Joseph Smith, is "not embraced as Church doctrine" by the Mormon Church? | |
David Tidmarsh | 5946 | Unknown. | |
Bere Ferrers rail accident | 5,700 | ... that ten New Zealand soldiers lost their lives in 1917 in the Bere Ferrers rail accident due to being unaccustomed to the British railway system? | |
Brian Zembic | 5,500 | ... that professional gambler Brian Zembic had size 38C breast implants inserted into his chest to win a $100,000 bet? | |
Moonsault Scramble | 5,500 | ... that Moonsault Scramble (pictured) was the third-tallest shuttle roller coaster ever constructed, and the first roller coaster to stand over 200 feet (61 m) in height? | |
Harpy Tomb | ![]() |
5,500 | ... that the Harpy Tomb (pictured) from ancient Xanthos was originally mounted on a stone pedestal seventeen feet above the ground? |
Clock Tower, Brighton | 5,400 | ... that the Clock Tower in Brighton city centre has been variously described as "delightful", "worthless", "a giant salt-cellar", "charmingly ugly" and "supremely confident"? | |
Rice production in Vietnam | 5,200 | ... that Vietnam is one of world’s richest agricultural regions (pictured) making Vietnam the second-largest exporter worldwide and the seventh-largest consumer of rice? |
July 2010
Article | Image | DYK views | DYK hook |
---|---|---|---|
Paul (octopus) Mani the Parakeet |
~150,000 | ...that Paul the Octopus (pictured) predicts Spain winning the World Cup today, while Mani the Parakeet tips a victory by the Netherlands? | |
Daniel Lambert | ![]() |
31,400 | ... that English gaol keeper and animal breeder Daniel Lambert (pictured) weighed 52 stone 11 lb (739 lb; 335 kg)? |
Toilet paper orientation | ![]() |
22,500 | ... that most people orient their toilet paper with the loose end hanging over the top and away from the wall (pictured)? |
Citadel of Arbil | ![]() |
19,800 | ... that it has been claimed that the Citadel of Arbil (pictured) is the oldest continuously inhabited site in the world? |
Megapenthes lugens | 15,800 | ... that the Queen's executioner lives in Windsor Great Park and feeds on weevils and nectar? | |
Rivadavia-class battleship | ![]() |
15,659 | ... that the Rivadavia-class battleships (pictured) were the subject of a vicious competition between France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States? |
With flying colors | ![]() |
14,200 | ... that the phrase "pass with flying colors" comes from ships sailing into port (pictured)? |
Larissa Riquelme | 13,584 | ... that Larissa Riquelme, who gained international fame as a spectator at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, is Paraguay's highest-paid model? | |
Hill 303 massacre | ![]() |
11,700 | ... that US Army soldiers march to the top of Hill 303 in Korea every year to place flowers commemorating the victims of the Hill 303 massacre of the Korean War (memorial pictured)? |
Moon Museum | 10,900 | ... that a drawing resembling a penis by Andy Warhol may be on the moon? | |
Calakmul | ![]() |
10,200 | ... that Calakmul (pictured) was one of the largest and most powerful Maya cities? |
Codex Boreelianus | 9,800 | ... that only a few manuscripts have fallen into such unworthy hands as Codex Boreelianus (pictured)? | |
Copper Bull | 9,800 | ... that the Copper Bull sculpture found in Iraq in 1923 was over 4,500 years old? | |
Thornbury Hoard | ![]() |
9,300 | ... that the Thornbury Hoard was discovered in a back garden in South Gloucestershire, England, by a man digging a pond, and that it took two people to carry it to the local museum? |
Salmon Creek Dam | ![]() |
9,200 | ... that the Salmon Creek Dam (pictured) in Juneau, the capital of Alaska, was built in 1914 and was the world's first constant-angle arch dam? |
Frome Hoard | ![]() |
8,800 | ... that the Frome Hoard (pictured) was found by a metal detectorist just 35 cm (14 in) below ground in Somerset and contained 52,503 Roman coins? |
Cave of the Negroes incident | 8,297 | ... that a cave in Okinawa is called the Cave of the Negroes because three apparently African American US Marines were killed by villagers and their bodies dumped in the cave? | |
Garima Gospels | ![]() |
~8,000 | ...that the Ethiopian Garima Gospels (pictured) was redated by radiocarbon testing to between 330 and 650, making it one of the oldest illuminated Christian manuscripts in the world? |
Lula 3D | 7,379 | ... that critics found Lula 3D's "Bouncin' Boobs Technology" unrealistic? | |
Arnold Kramish | 7,100 | ... that though critically injured in a 1944 blast that was "perhaps then the largest release in history of radioactive materials", Arnold Kramish credited his survival to his mother's chicken soup? | |
Montfichet's Tower | 7,086 | ... that Montfichet's Tower was a fortress in central London first mentioned around 1136? | |
Nigel Gibbs | 7,049 | ... that in an attempt to "beef him up", Watford manager Graham Taylor placed a then 17-year-old Nigel Gibbs on a steak and Guinness diet? | |
Gulf of Finland | ![]() |
6,237 | ... that the entire 30,000 km2 (12,000 sq mi) area of the Gulf of Finland may freeze (pictured) in winter? |
Sefer ha-Temunah | ![]() |
6,100 | ... ... that using concepts described in Sefer ha-Temunah (pictured) the 13th-century Kabbalist Isaac ben Samuel calculated the age of the Universe, a number relatively close to the one estimated by NASA? |
Fujiyama (roller coaster) | 6,000 | ... that Fujiyama (pictured) was the tallest roller coaster in the world from 1996 until 2000? | |
Sisimiut | ![]() |
6,000 | ... that Sisimiut (pictured) is the second-largest town in Greenland? |
Flight of Refugees Across Wrecked Bridge in Korea | 5,900 | ... that Max Desfor's image Flight of Refugees Across Wrecked Bridge in Korea was taken during the longest retreat in the military history of the United States? | |
Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers | 5,900 | ...that a bus advertisement by the Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers made the Governor of Iowa feel "personally disturbed"? | |
William Herschel Telescope | ![]() |
5,900 | ... that at first light in 1987, the William Herschel Telescope (pictured) was the third largest single optical telescope in the world, and is still the second largest in Europe? |
Bukit Timah Monkey Man | 5,800 | ... that the Bukit Timah Monkey Man is a cryptid said to roam around the city-state of Singapore? | |
Centrifugal Railway | 5,400 | ... that the world's first looping roller coasters were tested with eggs, flowers, glasses of water, and even a monkey before human riders were allowed? | |
Stenotus binotatus | ![]() |
5,300 | ... that the timothy plant bug (pictured) causes "sticky dough"? |
The Level Club | ~5,000 | ... ... that The Level Club has been called "the only true-to-size rendering of King Solomon's Temple that exists in the world today"?" |
August 2010
Article | Image | DYK views | DYK hook |
---|---|---|---|
Swimming Reindeer | ![]() |
30,000 | ... that the Swimming Reindeer (pictured), a 13,000-year-old Ice Age sculpture, was originally thought to be two separate reindeer sculptures until Henri Breuil realised they fitted together? |
Tower Optical | ![]() |
23,000 | ... that Tower Optical coin-operated binoculars (pictured) can hold up to 2,000 US quarters and have kept their same distinctive look since first manufactured in 1932? |
Ma'agan Michael Ship | ![]() |
18,100 | ... that the 5th century BCE Ma'agan Michael Ship (pictured) shows no wear from recurrent use and no shipworm damage, leading its excavators to believe that it sank on its maiden voyage or not long afterward? |
Witch window | ![]() |
15,700 | ... that a Vermont window (pictured) is said to let coffins through, but keep witches out? |
LZ 10 Schwaben | 15,000 | ...that the airship LZ 10 Schwaben (pictured) was the first commercially successful passenger aircraft in history? | |
Gyantse Dzong | ![]() |
14,500 | ... that the Gyantse Dzong (pictured) was badly damaged and plundered during the 1904 British invasion because the primitively armed Tibetans were overwhelmed after holding off the British for two months? |
Ain Sakhri lovers | ![]() |
13,500 | ... that the Ain Sakhri lovers (pictured), the oldest representation of two people making love, was found near Bethlehem? |
Winchester Hoard | ![]() |
12,400 | ... that the Winchester Hoard jewellery (pictured), thought to be a diplomatic gift from the Romans, was so chunky that no "self-respecting" Roman would wear it? |
Rati | ![]() |
12,100 | ... that many sex positions derive their Sanskrit names from that of the Hindu goddess of sexual pleasure – Rati (pictured with her husband, the lovegod Kama)? |
Japanese battleship Kirishima | 11,700 | ... that the Japanese battleship Kirishima was sunk in the middle of the night by an unseen ship?" | |
BMW Mega City Vehicle | 11,200 | ... that the BMW Mega City Vehicle is expected to be the first mass production urban electric car featuring a carbon-fiber reinforced plastic body? | |
Maggie Roswell | ![]() |
10,600 | ... that voice actress Maggie Roswell left The Simpsons in 1999 after a pay dispute with Fox Broadcasting Company, but returned in 2002? |
Mechanical Galleon | ![]() |
10,500 | ... that the Mechanical Galleon (pictured) was not only a model nef and a clock, but also had smoking cannons, bells, trumpets, a drum, and a Holy Roman Emperor? |
Mesopotamian Marshes | ![]() |
10,400 | ... that the Mesopotamian Marshes (pictured) were deliberately drained to 10% of their original size before beginning a recovery after the fall of Saddam Hussein? |
Hang Nga guesthouse | ![]() |
10,400 | ... that the Antoni Gaudí-inspired "Crazy House" (pictured) in Da Lat, Vietnam, has been variously compared to the works of Salvador Dali and Walt Disney? |
Mortal Kombat (2011 video game) | 10,200 | ... that Mortal Kombat has won multiple best fighting game awards at E3 2010 and is already being considered as the most violent video game ever? | |
Welsh League | 1,800 + 1,300 + 1,400 + 1,500 + 1,400 + 1,300 + 1,400 = 10,100 | ... that the Welsh League, consisting of Aberdare, Barry, Ebbw Vale, Merthyr Tydfil, Mid-Rhondda and Treherbert, was the first professional rugby league competition in Wales? | |
Gofraid Donn | 9,800 | ... that Gofraid Donn was blinded and castrated by a follower of his uncle, and later jointly ruled the Kingdom of Man and the Isles with his uncle?" | |
Operation Diamond | 9,700 | ... that Operation Diamond, mounted by the Mossad in 1966, resulted in an Iraqi pilot landing a Soviet-built Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 in Israel? | |
MV Geysir | ![]() |
9,500 | ... that MV Geysir (pictured) was the center of a series of international incidents that involved Antonin Scalia, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Ken Starr, Elizabeth Dole, George Schultz and Ronald Reagan? |
1949 Ambato earthquake | 9,300 | ... that the 1949 Ambato earthquake, which killed 5,050 people, caused an entire town to sink 1,500 feet into the ground? | |
Robert V. Whitlow | ![]() |
9,000 | ... that former fighter pilot Robert V. Whitlow (pictured), although trying to secure an NFL franchise for Phoenix, said the Philadelphia Eagles' plans to relocate to Arizona did not "seem very wise"? |
Myra (painting) | 8,900 | ... that Marcus Harvey's painting Myra was vandalised twice, by two different artists, on the opening day of the Sensation exhibition in 1997? | |
1303 Crete earthquake | ![]() |
8,800 | ... that the 1303 Crete earthquake ruptured the eastern part of the Hellenic arc (pictured), and was one of the most powerful historical earthquakes in Greece? |
The Avengers film project | 8,700 | ... that the planned 2012 Marvel Studios film The Avengers, to be directed by Joss Whedon, was first announced in 2005? | |
Carbuncle Cup | 8,600 | ... that nominations for the 2010 Carbuncle Cup, awarded annually to the worst new building in the UK, include the Strata tower block in London, and the redeveloped Burns Monument Centre in Kilmarnock? | |
Milton Keynes Hoard | 8,400 | ... that the metal detectorists who found the Milton Keynes Hoard were granted a larger share of the reward than usual, because the landowners falsely claimed that they had searched without permission? | |
Kalulu | ![]() |
8,400 | ... that Kalulu (pictured), an African boy who died in 1877, was modelled in Madame Tussauds and attended Dr. Livingstone's funeral in London? |
Walter Ohmsen | ![]() |
8,200 | ... Walter Ohmsen (pictured) had another artillery battery fire on his position, which helped earn him the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross? |
SS Empire Celia | 8,100 | ... that the merchant ship Empire Celia was still armed with a 4-inch gun over three years after the end of the Second World War? | |
Republic of Ostrów | ~7,900 | ... that the Republic of Ostrów was a short-lived autonomous republic created in the aftermath of World War I? | |
Battle of Flores (1591) | ![]() |
7,800 | ... that in the Battle of Flores (illustrated), a naval engagement of the 1585 Anglo-Spanish War, the Spanish fleet of warships outnumbered the English warships, 63 to 22? |
Eliot School rebellion | ~7,800 | ... that the beating of a child in a Boston public school sparked the Eliot School rebellion and motivated the creation of a nationwide system parochial schools?" | |
Henriette d'Angeville | ![]() |
7,700 | ... that in 1838, Henriette d'Angeville (pictured), the first woman to climb Mont Blanc on her own strength, received a calling card from a Polish nobleman on her way to the summit, at 10,000 feet? |
Cratendune | 7,600 | ... that the search for Cratendune continues though evidence that any one site is the lost village remains sparse?"? | |
Daniel-Johnson Dam | ![]() |
~7,500 | ... that the 20th Premier of Quebec, Daniel Johnson Sr., who was instrumental in the construction of the Daniel-Johnson Dam (pictured), died the morning of its scheduled inauguration in 1968? |
Operation Titanic | 7,300 | ... that, on 6 June 1944, half the 12th SS Panzer Division were sent to deal with dummy parachutists from Operation Titanic? | |
Chimi_Lhakhang, Phallus paintings in Bhutan (August 23, 2010) |
![]() |
4600 + 2500 =7100 | ... that that it is customary at Chimi Lhakhang to strike female pilgrims on the head with a 10-inch (25 cm) wooden phallus and that the monastery features phallic paintings on its walls? |
Crown of Bolesław I the Brave | 7,100 | ... that the Crown of Bolesław I the Brave (replica pictured) was melted down in 1794 and recreated in 2003 using some of its original gold? | |
Princess Marie Isabelle of Liechtenstein | 7,000 | ... that the 1989 wedding of Princess Marie Isabelle was denounced by her own grandfather as "treason"? | |
Time Sculpture | 6,700 | ... that Toshiba's 2008 television advertisement Time Sculpture holds the world record for the highest number of moving-image cameras used in a composite shot? | |
Space Hawk | 6,700 | ... that because of a bug in the video game Space Hawk, the developers added black holes to explain why the player would sometimes jump to hyperspace at random? | |
List of non-marine molluscs of Afghanistan | 6,700 | ... that a large number of gastropods remain to be discovered in Afghanistan? | |
Indoplanorbis exustus + Schistosoma spindale | ![]() |
3,800 + 2,900 = 6,700 | ... that the freshwater snail Indoplanorbis exustus (pictured) transfers veterinarily important parasites, including the fluke Schistosoma spindale? |
Prince Ludwig of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg | ~6,600 | ... that Prince Ludwig of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg mysteriously disappeared from London society to the Philippines, where he was killed during a battle of the Philippine–American War? | |
Lee Lockwood + Richard A. Stratton | 2,300 + 4,300 = 6,600 | ... that a 1967 image by photojournalist Lee Lockwood of American prisoner of war Richard A. Stratton bowing to his North Vietnamese captors brought charges from the U.S. that POWs were being brainwashed? | |
Regent and Warwick House + Nantwich Castle | ![]() |
4,000 + 1,700 + 576 + 263 = ~6,539 | ... that the bend in the street occupied by Regent House (pictured) in Nantwich, Cheshire, follows the line of the outer wall of the town's Norman castle? |
Proletarian parties in Japan, 1925–1932 | ~1,200 + ~1,300 + ~1,400 + ~1,100 + ~1,500 = 6,500 | ... that unlike other proletarian parties at the time, such as the Japan Labour-Farmer Party, the Labour-Farmer Party and the Social Democratic Party , the Japan Farmers Party based itself solely amongst the peasantry instead of a worker–peasant class alliance? | |
Web content lifecycle | 6,500 | ... that the web content lifecycle can be so complex that most experts do not agree on descriptions of the number, name, or type of stages to include in the process?" | |
De ludo scachorum | 6,400 | ... that Leonardo da Vinci may have designed the chess pieces for The Boredom Dodger? | |
Crazy Water Park | ~6,400 | ... that women are now allowed to smoke hookahs at the Crazy Water Park in Gaza? | |
Mau Piailug | ![]() |
~6,400 | ... that Micronesian navigator Mau Piailug (pictured) enabled the first Hawaiʻi–Tahiti non-instrument sailing canoe voyage in more than 500 years by mentoring Nainoa Thompson? |
Wonoboyo hoard | ![]() |
6,400 | ... that the Wonoboyo hoard (examples pictured) is a collection of 9th century golden artifacts from the Medang Kingdom that were discovered in a paddy field in Central Java during irrigation work? |
Hasan Tahsini | 6,400 | that when Albanian scholar Hasan Tahsini taught his students about vacuum by killing a pigeon in a bell jar, he was accused of witchcraft? | |
SS Dimitry Laptev | 6,300 | ... that Dimitry Laptev worked for Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union under different names? | |
July 2010 R238 traffic collision | ~6,100 | ... that Ireland recently experienced its highest number of fatalities in a single traffic collision? | |
Motorcycles in the United Kingdom fire services | 6,000 | ... that Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service is to trial two fire bikes fitted with water and foam tanks and a 30-metre hose rig capable of fighting a fire for two minutes? | |
Hiromichi Shinohara | 6,000 | ... that World War II flying ace Hiromichi Shinohara once scored as many as 11 victories on a single day, setting a record in the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service? | |
Princess Lida of Thurn and Taxis | ~5,900 | ... that robbers stole $80,000 worth of jewelry from Lida, Princess Victor of Thurn and Taxis, but neglected to take a necklace valued at $400,000? | |
Michael Batterberry | 3,500 + 2,300 = 5,800 | ... that Michael Batterberry started his first magazine with startup funding from Hugh Hefner and a prototype issue printed in Playboy magazine? | |
African Barrick Gold | 1,700 + 960 + 1,000 + 940 + 1,200 = 5,800 |
... that, in 2009, African Barrick Gold produced 716,000 ounces of gold from the Tulawaka, Bulyanhulu, Buzwagi, and North Mara Gold Mines? | |
Operation Burnt Frost | 5,800 | ... that Operation Burnt Frost was a military operation to intercept and destroy American satellite USA-193? | |
Maxwell's thermodynamic surface | 5,700 | ... that Maxwell's thermodynamic surface was sculpted in 1874 by Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell to visualise the ideas of American scientist Josiah Willard Gibbs? | |
La Masia | 5,700 | ... that more than 440 players have lived at La Masia (pictured), but only 10% have made it into the FC Barcelona first team? | |
Bart's House of Weirdness | 5,600 | ... that the 1992 Simpsons video game Bart's House of Weirdness is mostly unknown today because it was only released for DOS, and therefore has almost no fan base? | |
St Cynhaearn's Church, Ynyscynhaearn | ![]() |
5,600 | ... that St Cynhaearn's Church, Ynyscynhaearn, in Gwynedd, Wales (pictured), is located in an isolated position on a former island in a lake, and is approached by an ancient causeway? |
Light front holography | ![]() |
5,400 + ~200 = 5,600 | ... that light front holographic methods were originally found by mapping the spatial quark distribution in a proton to a higher dimensional warped space (example pictured)? |
Cymbonotus lawsonianus | 5,500 | ... that bear's ears grow on the ground in New South Wales? | |
The New Christy Minstrels | ~4,000 + ~1,500 = 5,500 | ... that The New Christy Minstrels' 1962 debut album won a Grammy Award and sat in the Billboard charts for two years? | |
Silly Billy | 5,500 | ... that, at English fairs, women enjoyed sticking pins into Silly Billy's legs? | |
3D Express Coach | 5,400 | ... that the 3D Express Coach allows cars under two meters high to drive under it since the passengers are in an upper level of the bus elevated four meters above the ground?" | |
Queen's Aid House | ![]() |
5,392 | ... ... that the Queen's Aid House (pictured) has a plaque commemorating Elizabeth I's aid in rebuilding Nantwich after a fire, the only time she is known to have contributed to such a cause? |
Arthur Williams (Elevator Bandit) | 5,300 | ... that after 33 years in jail as the "Elevator Bandit", 63-year-old Arthur Williams went on a final crime spree with a gun in one hand, a cane in the other and an oxygen tank hooked up to his nose? | |
Sogen Kato | 5,300 | ... that the family of Sogen Kato now face an investigation into allegations they claimed 9.5 million yen in pension money when they kept Kato's death a secret for thirty years?" | |
Parrot Corporation | 5,300 | ... that the collapse of the Parrot Corporation, a manufacturer of floppy diskettes, caused a British political controversy?" | |
San Vicente Dam | ~5,200 | ... that the largest ever dam raise in the United States is occurring at the San Vicente Dam in California, which will increase its height by 117 feet (36 m) and more than double its reservoir size? | |
Mariposa botnet | ~5,200 | ... that before it was dismantled, the Mariposa botnet was estimated to consist of 8 to 12 million zombie computers, making it one of the largest botnets in history? | |
Mánička | ~5,200 | ... that long-haired males were persecuted by the Czechoslovak communist regime in the 1960s and '70s? | |
Adolfo Kaminsky | 5,107 | ... that Adolfo Kaminsky made forged IDs for Jewish refugees, South American leftists and North American draft dodgers?" | |
Mausoleum of Struggle and Martyrdom | 5,100 | ... that the Mausoleum of Struggle and Martyrdom in Warsaw, Poland, preserves cells in which Nazis tortured and killed Polish resistance fighters? | |
Prodryas | ![]() |
~5,100 | ... that the fossil butterfly Prodryas persephone (engraving pictured) is so well preserved that individual wing scales can be seen? |
Sphaerotheriida | 100x100px | ~5,000 | ... that millipedes in the order Sphaerotheriida (pictured) roll up into balls the size of a cherry, a golf ball, or even a baseball when disturbed? |
Bungaroosh | ~5,000 | ... that the fragile building material bungaroosh is so prevalent in Brighton that much of the town "could be demolished with a well-aimed hose"? | |
Straw Millionaire | ~5,000 | ... that the Japanese legend of the Straw Millionaire depicts a peasant who becomes rich through a series of trades starting with a piece of straw?" |
September 2010
Article | Image | DYK views | DYK hook |
---|---|---|---|
Andaman Sea Khao Phing Kan |
![]() |
6,100 + 27,900 = 34,000 | ... that there is a James Bond Island (pictured) in the Andaman Sea? |
X-Men: First Class (film) (Sept. 12, 2010) |
15,000 | ... that the planned Marvel Comics superhero film, X-Men: First Class is intended to take place during the 1960s and will parallel the history of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X? | |
Operation Power Flite | ![]() |
14,900 | ... that Operation Power Flite, in which three U.S. Air Force B-52s flew non-stop around the world (route pictured), was made to show that "the United States had the ability to drop a hydrogen bomb anywhere in the world"? |
This Ain't Avatar XXX | 14,700 | ... that This Ain't Avatar XXX, an American pornographic film parody of Avatar, is being shot in 3D and is the most expensive film Hustler Video has ever produced? | |
Veratrum nigrum | ![]() |
11,000 | ... that Black False Hellebore (pictured) is a toilet cleaner which may be a cure for cancer? |
Crosby Garrett Helmet Ribchester Helmet Newstead Helmet |
![]() |
5,100 + 3,500 + 2,400 = 11,000 | ... that the Crosby Garrett Helmet, discovered this year, has a winged griffin on it, whereas the similar Ribchester Helmet (pictured) may have had a sphinx on top, but the Newstead Helmet only had a plume holder? |
Richard Etchberger | 10,600 | ... that Medal of Honor recipient Richard Etchberger's original nomination for the medal was rejected because the mission he was on was classified? | |
Amir Nachumi | ![]() |
10,200 | ... that Israeli ace Amir Nachumi scored seven aerial kills while flying the F-4 Phantom II (pictured) during the Yom Kippur War and seven kills flying the F-16 Fighting Falcon fighting over Lebanon in the early 1980s? |
The Most Unwanted Song | 10,000 | ... that "The Most Unwanted Song" includes bagpipes, a children's choir, and an opera singer who raps about cowboys? | |
Allen County Jail | ![]() |
9,600 | ... that many prisoners escaped from the Allen County Jail (pictured), which was hailed as the best jail in southeastern Kansas upon its completion? |
Hemilepistus reaumuri | ![]() |
8,800 | ... that the woodlouse Hemilepistus reaumuri (pictured) can only survive in the desert because it looks after its young? |
Operation Lucid | 8,600 | ... that Operation Lucid was a plan to "singe Mr Hitler's moustache" in 1940? | |
Batman rapist | 8,200 | ... that the serial sex offender Batman rapist has committed at least 17 attacks in Bath since 1991 and is the subject of Britain's longest-running serial rape investigation? | |
Eastern mole | ![]() |
8,100 | ... that the eastern mole (pictured) is the most widely distributed mole in North America? |
Maslenica Bridge (D8) | 8,100 | ... that the Maslenica Bridge (pictured) carrying the Adriatic Highway was completely destroyed during the Croatian War of Independence and reconstructed 14 years later? | |
11 Provinces in North Vietnam (September 06, 2010) |
![]() |
778 + 686 + 767+634 + 783 + 844 + 720 + 710 + 730 + 718 + 721 = 8,091 | ... that the 11 provinces of Bắc Giang, Bắc Kạn, Cao Bang, Ha Giang, Lang Son, Lao Cai, Phu Tho, Quang Ninh, Thai Nguyen, Tuyen Quang and Yen Bai are part of the 59 administrative provinces and 5 municipalities in Vietnam? |
Operation Musketoon | 7,800 | ...that in 1942, seven commandos captured during Operation Musketoon were executed at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp? | |
Grace Sherwood | 7,600 | ...that every year a mysterious dancing light is said to appear over the spot where Grace Sherwood, "The Witch of Pungo", (pictured) was tested by ducking as part of her trial for witchcraft? | |
Cerithidea decollata | 7,200 | ... that Cerithidea decollata is a sea snail that can foresee the future? | |
Celtic brooch | ![]() |
7,200 | ... that Early Medieval Irish penannular brooches (example pictured) were copied and imitated in the 19th century Celtic Revival? |
Harrisburg, Utah | 7,200 | ... that Harrisburg, now a ghost town in Utah, was named after an early resident named Moses, and most of its residents left by 1895 due to grasshopper plagues and floods? | |
Darwin's bark spider | 7,200 | ... that Darwin's bark spider makes the longest known spider web, spanning distances of up to 25 metres (82 ft), using the toughest known biomaterial, that is ten times as tough as Kevlar | |
Mahiole The Death of Captain James Cook (Zoffany) |
3,300 + 3,800 = 7,100 | ... that the Feathered Helmet that was included in the painting of Captain James Cook's death is said to be the helmet given to Cook when he first landed in Hawaii? | |
Princess Sophie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1888-1913) | 7,100 | ...that suicide-victim Princess Sophie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach is believed to have been the first royal woman cremated? | |
Franjo Tuđman Bridge (Dubrovnik) | ![]() |
7,100 | ... that the opening of the Franjo Tuđman Bridge (pictured) was controversial due to a public naming dispute? |
ADEOS II | ![]() |
7,000 | ... that the ADEOS II satellite (artist's drawing pictured), which cost 70 billion yen (US$570 million) to develop, failed 10 months into the mission after the solar panel malfunctioned? |
Meyrick Helmet | ![]() |
7,000 | ... ... that the Meyrick Helmet (pictured) combines the shape of a Roman auxiliary helmet with Celtic La Tène style decoration? |
Bill McKown | ![]() |
6,900 | ... that Bill McKown (pictured) went from being a youth with 200 model airplanes hanging from his bedroom ceiling to being a Navy E2-C Hawkeye pilot, commander of squadron VAW-114, and Distinguished Eagle Scout? |
Terra sigillata | ![]() |
6,900 | ... that the "big kiln" at La Graufesenque in Roman Gaul could fire up to 40,000 terra sigillata vessels (example pictured) at a time? |
William Trickett Smith II | 6,700 | ... that the missing wife of William Trickett Smith II was discovered in a suitcase that surfaced after the 2007 Peru earthquake? | |
Ages of Three Children puzzle | 6,400 | ... that it is possible to calculate the age of three children from just the sum, product and uniqueness of their ages? | |
Newfoundland 2 dollar coin | ![]() |
6,300 | ... that with its two-dollar coin (reverse pictured), Newfoundland was the only British colony to issue circulating gold coinage? |
Anton von Zach | 6,200 | ... that despite a warning by Field Marshal Michael von Melas that the man had "a soul as black as his countenance", Heinrich von Bellegarde retained Anton von Zach as Chief of Staff? | |
Waterloo Helmet | 6,200 | ... that the Waterloo Helmet, dredged from the River Thames in 1868, is the only Iron Age helmet with horns ever to have been found in Europe? | |
Jersey Circus | 6,100 | ... that Jersey Circus is a webcomic mashup of images from The Family Circus newspaper comic strip and dialogue from MTV's Jersey Shore? | |
West Baden Springs Hotel | 5,900 | ... that the domed atrium of Indiana's West Baden Springs Hotel (inside pictured) was the largest free-spanning dome in the United States for over 50 years and the world from 1902 to 1913? | |
Danish Golden Age | ![]() |
5,900 | ... that the 19th-century Danish Golden Age did not just cover painting (example pictured) but a range of other cultural developments in architecture, sculpture, music and literature? |
St John the Baptist's Church, Stanwick | ![]() |
5,800 | ... that the redundant Church of St John the Baptist, Stanwick, North Yorkshire, (pictured) stands within the earthworks of a settlement originating in the early Iron Age? |
Lynching of Laura and Lawrence Nelson | 5,800 | ... that the father of Oklahoman folk singer Woody Guthrie attended the lynching of Laura Nelson and her son Lawrence in May 1911? | |
Lessing Theater | 1,296 + 1,140 + 1,145 + 1,127 + 1,030 = 5,738 | ... that the family of Oskar Höcker, a German writer and a celebrated actor of the Lessing Theater, included three more writers: his brother Gustav, his son Paul Oskar, and his granddaughter Karla? | |
Ontario Highway 61 (September 22) |
5,500 | ... that the old bridge on Highway 61 at the Ontario–Minnesota border, known as The Outlaw, was built by local citizens without approval from the Canadian or American governments? | |
Lhasa Gonggar Airport (September 29, 2010) |
![]() |
1,100 + 1,300 +883 + 1,200 + 993 = 5,476 | ... that Gonggar County of Shannan Prefecture in Tibet contains the Gonggar Choide Monastery, a dzong, and a regional airport which serves Lhasa, despite being located about 62 kilometres (39 mi) from it? |
Michaela Gigon Christine Schaffner Ksenia Chernykh Adrian Jackson Ruslan Gritsan |
![]() |
1,100 + 1,300 + 1,100 + 915 + 1,000 = 5,415 | ... that among mountain bike orienteers with multiple world championships gold medals are Michaela Gigon, Christine Schaffner (pictured), Ksenia Chernykh, Adrian Jackson and Ruslan Gritsan? |
Little Zab Great Zab |
3,300 + 2,100 = 5,400 | ... that Arab geographers described the Little Zab and the Great Zab as "demoniacally possessed"? | |
Francis Farm Petroglyphs | 5,300 | ... that the Francis Farm Petroglyphs are among Pennsylvania's leading petroglyph sites, even though the culture of their creators is unknown? | |
Craig Roh | 5,300 |
... that Craig "Death" Roh adopted a diet of six meals and more than 4,000 calories a day because he considered himself "tiny" at 230 pounds (104 kg)? |
|
Giora Romm | 5,100 | ... that Giora Romm assumed command of Israeli Air Force 115 Squadron a day before the Yom Kippur War broke out, making his debut flight in the A-4 Skyhawk (pictured) on a combat mission? | |
fifth largest tobacco market | ![]() |
5,100 | ... that Indonesia is the fifth largest tobacco market (tobacco factory pictured) in the world, and that in 2008 over 165 billion cigarettes were sold there? |
911 Is a Joke | 5,100 | ... that due to a copy-editing error, The Washington Post inadvertently suggested that Public Enemy's 1990 song "911 Is a Joke" referred to the September 11, 2001 attacks? | |
Atari 2600 homebrew | 5,000 | ... that over one hundred Atari 2600 homebrew games, including Duck Attack!, have been created since that console was withdrawn from the market in 1992? | |
Vespa luctuosa | 5,000 | ... that the Philippine hornet Vespa luctuosa has the most lethal venom by weight of any known wasp species? | |
Cat House (Riga) | 5,000 | ... that the cat statues atop the Cat House in Riga have their backside with raised tails turned to the house of the Great Guild to seek retribution? |
October 2010
Article | Image | DYK views | DYK hook |
---|---|---|---|
Giovanni de Ventura plague doctor beak doctor costume plague doctor contract |
![]() |
7,600 + 1,600 + 6,400 + 1, 700 + 17,800 + 5,000 + 3,700 + 865 = 44,665 |
... that Giovanni de Ventura, a plague doctor who may have worn a beak doctor costume (pictured), was restricted by a covenant to treat only infectious patients? |
Sea of Japan Kamome Island |
![]() |
5,000 + 25,700 = 30,700 | ... that according to a legend, the Heishi rock (pictured) represents the God of the Sea of Japan? |
Etruscan shrew | ![]() |
30,400 | ... that the Etruscan shrew (pictured on a human thumb) is the smallest known mammal by weight? |
Earth's shadow | ![]() |
19,900 + 6,300 = 26,200 | ... that the Earth's shadow (pictured) can be observed during twilight hours? |
Benson raft | ![]() |
16,000 | ... that the Benson raft (pictured) was a huge sea-going log raft designed to transport millions of board-feet of timber at a time through the open ocean? |
Kurobe Dam | ![]() |
14,600 | ... that the Kurobe Dam (pictured) is the tallest dam in Japan and its construction claimed the lives of 171 people? |
Flame fougasse | ![]() |
14,400 | ... that a flame fougasse (pictured) can shoot a jet of flame 10 feet (3.0 m) wide and 30 yards (27 m) long? |
Throne of Weapons | 13,100 | ... that the Throne of Weapons which has been exhibited in British schools is made from AK-47s? | |
Craquelure | ![]() |
12,700 | ... that the pattern of cracks (example pictured) in a painting can be used to detect forged art? |
Halloween hermit crab | 12,300 | ... that a Halloween hermit crab (pictured) may trick a snail into becoming a treat? | |
Paracas textile | ![]() |
12,200 | ... that the Paracas textiles found wrapped around 2,200 year old mummies (distorted skull shown) show a winged shaman carrying a severed head by its hair? |
Mary and Eliza Chulkhurst | 12,100 | ... that Edward Hasted dismissed the existence of Mary and Eliza Chulkhurst (pictured) of Biddenden, Kent as "vulgar tradition"? | |
Auricularia auricula-judae | 9,700 + 2,400 = 12,100 | ... that the Jew's Ear is an edible reminder of a suicide? | |
World's littlest skyscraper | 11,300 | ... that the world's littlest skyscraper, located in downtown Wichita Falls, Texas, is only 40 ft (12 m) tall, with exterior dimensions of 18 ft (5.5 m) by 10 ft (3.0 m)? | |
Dikerogammarus villosus | 11,100 | ... that killer shrimp have invaded Western Europe and could soon invade North America? | |
John Albert Taylor | 10,700 | ... that John Albert Taylor chose to be executed by firing squad to embarrass the state of Utah? | |
Akan Drum | ![]() |
10,400 | ... that the British Museum's oldest African-American object is the Akan Drum (pictured) that was used to "dance the slaves"? |
Antimonial cup | ![]() |
10,200 | ... that the tainted wine from an antimonial cup (examples pictured) was used to make oneself vomit? |
Auricularia auricula-judae | 9,700 | ... that the Jew's Ear is an edible reminder of a suicide? | |
Nora W. Tyson, Carrier Strike Group Two | 6,000 + 3,200 = 9,200 | ... that Rear Admiral Nora W. Tyson became the first woman to command a United States Navy aircraft carrier task group when she was chosen to command Carrier Strike Group Two? | |
Jökulsárlón | ![]() |
9,000 | ... that live coverage of Jökulsárlón (pictured) in Iceland on the American TV program Good Morning America in 2006 was viewed by an estimated 4 million people? |
Thyreophora cynophila | 8,800 | ... that the bone skipper came back from the dead after 160 years to feed on rotting bones? | |
Sampi | ![]() |
8,400 | ... that the archaic Greek letter Sampi (pictured) has also been called san, enacosin, angma, sincope, charaktir, or even parakyisma, which literally means "spurious pregnancy"? |
Targeted killing | 8,400 | ... that 2.5-inch-long "nano-drones" now being developed for targeted killing will, like little killer bees, be able to follow their target, even entering a room through an open window?" | |
Anatomy of an Epidemic | ![]() |
8,300 |
|
List of Oval Office desks | ![]() |
7,900 | ... that the Resolute Desk (pictured) is one of only five desks ever used in the Oval Office? |
Ottoman–Mamluk War (1516–1517) | ![]() |
7,800 | ... that the Ottoman–Mamluk War of 1516–1517 (map pictured) gave the Ottoman Empire control of Syria, Egypt and most of the Arabian Peninsula? |
Podostroma cornu-damae | 7,400 | ... that Podostroma cornu-damae can shrink your brain, make your skin fall off, cause you to speak and move abnormally and kill you? | |
Mässmogge | ![]() |
7,400 | ... that Mässmogge (pictured), Swiss candies sold in Basel at the autumn fair, are filled with ground hazelnuts? |
Nevenka Urbanova | ![]() |
7,200 | ... that before her death in 2007, Nevenka Urbanova (pictured) was the oldest living Serbian actor? |
Bonfire toffee | 7,100 | ... that bonfire toffee is brittle, dark toffee associated with Halloween and Bonfire Night in the United Kingdom? | |
Jack Kershaw | 6,100 + 1,000 = 7,100 | ... that attorney Jack Kershaw sculpted a monument to Confederate Army general and KKK founder Nathan Bedford Forrest in 1998, arguing that "somebody needs to say a good word for slavery"? | |
Beginning of the End | 7,000 | ... that the Beginning of the End could not begin until 200 grasshoppers had been sexed? | |
30th Battalion (Australia) | ![]() |
7,000 | ... that even though it was disbanded three times, the Australian 30th Battalion (pictured) fought in the First and Second World Wars? |
The Secrets of Scientology | 7,000 | ... that former Scientology official Mike Rinder was called a "whistleblower" for his appearance on the BBC Panorama documentary, The Secrets of Scientology | |
Sikorsky S-97 | 7,000 | ... that the Sikorsky S-97 scout helicopter is intended to be able to fly with one, two, or no pilots? | |
Voorleser | 6,900 | ... that the powerful Voorleser would hold babies' heads under water, stuff children's brains, tie their parents together, dress up the dead, tell tales about them and prepare a place for them in the underworld? | |
City Car (Concept) | 5,800 + 1,100 = 6,900 | ... that prototypes of the CityCar, the ultra-small urban electric cardesigned by MIT Media Lab, are being built in Spain to be field tested by mid 2011 in Boston, Singapore, Taiwan and Florence? | |
Crumstone Irma | 6,900 | ... that World War II search and rescue dog Crumstone Irma barked differently depending on whether those buried by rubble were dead or alive? | |
Barford Court, Hove | 6,800 | ... that eccentric tycoon Ian Stuart Millar's seafront home in Hove, England, was built of specially-commissioned handmade bricks—the leftovers of which were reputedly buried elsewhere in Hove? | |
Demon Cat | 6,800 | ... that a Washington, DC, legend states that a Demon Cat lives in the basement crypts at Capitol Hill? | |
Canadian pipe mine | 6,500 | ... that the explosive charge in some Canadian pipe mines would soon deteriorate into a porridge-like mush? | |
Somerset Space Walk | 6,500 | ... that the Sun and Pluto are only 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) apart on the Somerset Space Walk? | |
Devils Brigade (album) | 6,300 | ... that the "Devils Brigade" was conceived to tell of 19 men who went halfway to hell? | |
Arthur's Quest: Battle for the Kingdom | 6,300 | ... that Arthur's Quest: Battle for the Kingdom was nominated for GameSpot's Worst PC Game of 2002 award? | |
Isabel Lyon | 6,200 | ... that Mark Twain denounced his former secretary as "a liar, a forger, a thief, a hypocrite, a drunkard, a sneak, a humbug, a traitor, a conspirator, a filthy-minded & salacious slut pining for seduction"? | |
Mecklenburg's Garden | 6,200 | ... that Mecklenburg's Garden in Cincinnati used a ship model to inform patrons whether alcohol could be sold safely during Prohibition in the United States? | |
Ramón de Bonifaz | ![]() |
6,200 | ... that Ramón de Bonifaz (illustrated) broke the river defenses of Seville, leading to the city's capture from the Moors? |
Hyalella azteca | ![]() |
6,150 | ... that Hyalella azteca (pictured) is the most abundant amphipod in North American lakes? |
Jaguar C-X75 | 5,200 + 933 = 6,100 | ...that to honour Jaguar Cars' 75th anniversary, the carmaker developed the Jaguar C-X75, a plug-in hybrid two-seat concept car which debuted at the 2010 Paris Motor Show? | |
Princess Marie Adelheid of Lippe-Biesterfeld | 6,100 | ... that Nazi and neo-Nazi sympathizer Princess Marie Adelheid of Lippe-Biesterfeld translated numerous works into German, including Paul Rassinier's Holocaust-denying work The Drama of European Jews? | |
Adelaide leak | 6,100 | ... that the Adelaide leak could have landed the Australian economy in hot water? | |
Bill Andriette | 6,000 | ... that Bill Andriette was 15 years old when he joined the pedophile organization North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA)? | |
Hitler's Reign of Terror | 6,000 | ... that upon the release of the 1934 Pre-Code film Hitler's Reign of Terror, Film Daily scoffed at the film's prediction that Hitler's Germany was a future threat to world peace? | |
Javad Alizadeh | 5,800 | ... that Iranian caricaturist and satirist Javad has created a scientific/philosophical cartoon on the theory of relativity entitled 4D Humor? | |
Miriam Shapira-Luria | 5,800 | ... that Miriam Shapira-Luria, known for her beauty, taught Talmud to elite young men from behind a curtain so that they would not get distracted by her appearance? | |
Round Church, Preslav | ~5,800 |
|
|
Operation Payback | 5,700 | ... that Anonymous hackers redirected GeneSimmons.com to ThePirateBay.org during Operation Payback? | |
Angel Porrino | 5,400 | ... that Holly Madison's personal assistant Angel Porrino will replace her in the lead role of the Las Vegas production Peepshow for nine weeks in 2011? | |
Manchester Courts | ![]() |
5,400 | ... that demolition of Manchester Courts (pictured), a Category I heritage building damaged in the 2010 Canterbury earthquake, starts today? |
Cardiff Kook | 5,200 | ... that the chicken wire statue who once rode behind the Cardiff Kook was retired to a ranch with poinsettias? | |
Jimi Heselden | 5,200 | ... that Jimi Heselden, owner of the company that makes the Segway personal transport system, died after a Segway he was riding fell off a cliff? | |
Javorova Kosa Tunnel | ![]() |
5,200 | ... that Javorova Kosa Tunnel (pictured) caved in during construction, requiring removal of 400 cubic metres (14,000 cubic feet) of rock and soil before the work could resume? |
Helmut de Boor | 5,200 | ... that when Helmut de Boor taught at the University of Bern, his neighbours objected to his many young German visitors, but also to his red and orange car paid for by the German embassy??" | |
Kenneth North | 5,100 | ... that Kenneth North was a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War for almost six years?" | |
Flag of Macha | 5,000 | ... that the Flag of Macha (pictured) is considered to be the first physical flag of Argentina?" | |
Gilgel Gibe II Power Station | 5,000 | ... that shortly after its inauguration, part of the Gilgel Gibe II Power Station's 26 km (16 mi) tunnel, which was "considered one of the most difficult tunnel projects ever undertaken", collapsed? |
November 2010
Article | Image | DYK views | DYK hook |
---|---|---|---|
Contra Dam | 20,800 |
|
|
Adaptive Vehicle Make | 17,400 |
|
|
Berliner Helicopter | 16,900 |
|
|
Mere (weapon) | 14,400 |
|
|
Thomas Barrie Cropping (punishment) |
8,100 + 5,800 = 13,900 | ... that Thomas Barrie, found guilty in 1538 of spreading rumours about Henry VIII of England, had his ears cut off while in the pillory and later died from shock? | |
Heli-Sport CH-7 Augusto Cicaré |
12,300 + 1,400 = 13,700 | ... that the cabin of the Heli-Sport CH-7 (pictured) was designed by the creator of the Lamborghini Countach, while the helicopter's frame is the work of Argentine inventor Augusto Cicaré? | |
Fort de Loncin | 13,600 |
|
|
Hell's Half Acre Lava Field | 12,600 | ... that death can be found living on hell's half acre? | |
1902 Michigan Wolverines football team | 12,200 |
|
|
HIP 13044 b | 11,200 |
|
|
Andriza Mircovich | 10,700 |
|
|
Almirante Latorre-class battleship | 10,300 |
|
|
Judy (dog) | 10,100 |
|
|
Sirocco (parrot) | 6,100 + 3,800 = 9,900 |
|
|
Psilocybe semilanceata | 9,800 |
|
|
Holland Island | 9,300 |
|
|
Jadeite Cabbage | 9,100 |
|
|
Butchers Wheel | 8,800 |
|
|
Bihar legislative assembly election, 2010 | 8.700 |
|
|
Mystic marriage of Saint Catherine | ![]() |
8,700 |
|
Antarctica | ![]() |
8,600 | ... that that NASA scientists have described Lake Untersee (pictured) in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica, as one of the most unusual lakes on Earth with a pH like that of strong Clorox? |
Hippika gymnasia | 8,500 |
|
|
Frankism | 8,400 | ||
All Saints Church, Buncton | 8,300 |
|
|
Guisborough Helmet | 8,200 |
|
|
Armadillo armoured fighting vehicle | 7,800 |
|
|
William Austin Burt, Typographer Solar compass, Equatorial sextant |
1,600 + 1,900 + 2,200 + 1,600 = 7,300 |
|
|
Naval Aircraft Factory TDN | 7,300 | ... that production of the Naval Aircraft Factory TDN (pictured), a World War II assault drone, was subcontracted to a company better known for making bowling balls and billiard tables? | |
Kamadhenu | 7,100 |
|
|
Crusher (robot) | 7,100 |
|
|
Gee Jon, Nevada State Prison |
6,100 + 998 = 7,098 |
|
|
Masa Takayama | 7,000 |
|
|
Fénix capsules | 7,000 |
|
|
Cobb Seamount | 6,900 |
|
|
First and Second Battle of Wonju | 6,800 |
|
|
Action of 28 January 1945 | 6,500 |
|
|
Wallace Wilkerson | 6,400 |
|
|
Saint Anne, Alderney | 6,400 | ... that the Luftwaffe command bunker (pictured) and tower, and the German naval tactical headquarters were located in Saint Anne, Alderney during World War II? | |
Double Arches Pit | 6,400 |
|
|
Interstate TDR | 6,300 | ... that during World War II, the U.S. Navy planned to equip eighteen squadrons of assault drones with a thousand Interstate TDR and TBF Avenger aircraft? | |
Henry M. Senter | 6,300 | ... that Mort Senter (pictured), Michigan's 1896 football captain, became involved in a diplomatic incident after Colombian soldiers seized property from his home in 1902? | |
William Billington John Billington (hangman) |
1,966 + 4,322 = 6,288 | ... that hangmen brothers William and John Billington formed England's primary execution duo until John fell through an open trapdoor on the gallows and died? | |
1950-51 Ashes series | 6,000 | ... that a rainstorm that disrupted the First Test in the 1950–51 Ashes series was blamed on the American atomic bomb experiments carried out on Bikini Atoll? | |
Pop's Props Pinocchio | 6,000 | ... that the Pop's Props Pinocchio, an ultralight aircraft, was designed to resemble the Fokker Eindecker of Fokker Scourge fame? | |
Action of 6 October 1944 | 5,900 |
|
|
Troughman | 5,900 | ||
Montevideo and Parque Batlle | 3,000 + 2,800 = 5,800 | ... that Parque Batlle is considered the "lungs" of the city of Montevideo (pictured) due to the large number of trees planted there? | |
Heppner Flood of 1903 | 5,800 |
|
|
Rans S-6 Coyote II | 5,800 |
|
|
Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand / Sie Liebt Dich | 5,700 |
|
|
Microsoft hoax | 5,700 |
|
|
BBC-Marconi Type A | 5,600 |
|
|
British Engineerium | 5,600 |
|
|
Cheshire, Connecticut, home invasion murders | 5,600 |
|
|
Prince Friedrich Christian of Schaumburg-Lippe | 5,600 | ... that in 1939, three Icelandic Nazi-sympathizers approached Prince Friedrich Christian of Schaumburg-Lippe with the hope of making him king of Iceland?? | |
Nipple adenoma | 5,518 |
|
|
Amulet MS 5236 | 5,500 |
|
|
Devils River (Wisconsin) | 5,300 | ... that two American presidents nearly lost their souls to the Devils River? | |
Military history of Jewish Americans | 5,200 + 100 = 5,300 | ... that more than 500,000 Jewish Americans served in the United States armed services during World War II (one soldier's grave pictured), and roughly 52,000 received military awards? | |
Spodomancy | 5,300 | ... that by riddling your ashes on Halloween, you might determine who in your household will be the next to die? | |
Yale Bulldogs football | 5,300 |
|
|
William Dennison Clark | 5,200 |
|
|
Ernst Werner Techow | 5,100 |
|
|
Douglas Cloudster II | 5,100 | ... that the Douglas Aircraft Corporation's Cloudster II, intended for use as an executive transport, was powered by two engines but only had a single propeller? | |
Fort de Tancrémont | 5,000 |
|
|
Patriarchal Monastery of the Holy Trinity | 5,000 |
|
|
Thomas Henry Scott | 5,000 |
|
December 2010
Article | Image | DYK views | DYK hook |
---|---|---|---|
1907 Tiflis bank robbery | ![]() |
32,200 | ... that a 1907 stagecoach robbery organized by Vladimir Lenin (pictured) and Joseph Stalin killed an estimated 40 people and netted approximately 250,000 rubles (over $3 million in current USD)? |
Spragg Bag | ![]() |
32,200 | ... that a large waterbag (pictured) can bring water to California and, according to its inventor, peace to the Middle East? |
Untitled Spider-Man reboot | ![]() |
~23,000 | ... that Sony plans to develop a Spider-Man reboot starring Andrew Garfield (pictured) as Spider-Man that will be released in 2011 in 3-D? |
Peacekeeper Rail Garrison Car | ![]() |
21,800 | ... that the Peacekeeper Rail Garrison Car (pictured) was designed to not only hide the MGM-118 Peacekeeper ICBM from Soviet attack but also to act as a platform for launching the missile? |
The River (1997 film) | 20,000 | ... that The River was called a "porn movie" by the lead actor's father? | |
Blood Qur'an | ![]() |
18,700 | ... that the Blood Qur'an, formerly displayed in the Mother Of All Battles mosque in Baghdad (pictured), was written in over 20 litres of Saddam Hussein's blood? |
Michael Stroukoff Chase XCG-20 Chase XC-123A |
![]() |
3,021 + 9,200 + 5,853 = 18,074 | ... that Michael Stroukoff, a Russian emigrant from Kiev, designed the largest glider ever built in the United States (pictured), as well as its first jet-powered transport? |
Satyavati | ![]() |
17,800 | ... that in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Satyavati (pictured) – who initially stank of fish – was blessed with the musk fragrance by a sage, with whom she had premarital sex? |
Rip (dog) | ![]() |
16,900 | ... that Second World War search and rescue dog Rip (pictured) is credited with saving over a hundred lives during 1940 and 1941? |
Spoons sex position | 15,300 | ... that a woman's G-Spot can be easily reached in the spoons sex position? | |
Patton Seamount | ![]() |
15,200 | ... that the decomposing skeleton of a right whale was found on the underwater volcano Patton Seamount (pictured)? |
William M. Morrow, Elmer Beach, Frederic L. Smith, Royal T. Farrand, J. De Forest Richards, Edmond H. Barmore, Thomas H. McNeil, Thomas Jesse Drumheller | ![]() |
4,400 + 2,300 + 1,700 + 1,400 + 1,300 + 1,000 + 986 + 863 = 14,000 | ...that the quarterbacks for the Michigan Wolverines football teams of the 19th century included a Brigadier General decorated for valor in World War I, the brother of a famous novelist, one of the founders of General Motors, the physician at a Kimberly-Clark mill, the son of the Governor of Wyoming, a steamboat builder, a Grand Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias (pictured) and a sheep rancher from Walla Walla? |
William Wilson Talcott | ![]() |
13,300 | ...that ice cream manufacturer William Wilson Talcott (pictured) killed himself by jumping from an excursion steamer into Lake Michigan with rocks in his pockets after he was unable to extricate his wife from a "love cult" in 1922? |
Jelling stone ship | 13,300 | ... that remains of the largest known stone ship, either 170 or 354 metres long, have been found under the two royal barrows at Jelling in Denmark? | |
Scott sisters | 13,100 | ... that the Scott sisters of Mississippi are serving life sentences for their alleged involvement in a robbery in which $11 was stolen and no one was injured, although they had no previous criminal records? | |
Yanar Dag | ![]() |
12,400 | ... that Yanar Dag (pictured) is a natural fire that burns "eternally" on a hillside on the Absheron Peninsula in Azerbaijan? |
Laserblast | 12,400 | ... that the science fiction film Laserblast consistently ranks among the Internet Movie Database's bottom 100 films list, and was featured in the last episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 broadcast on Comedy Central? | |
Harry Yount | ![]() |
11,900 | ... that Harry Yount (pictured) killed 70 antelope in one day during a hunting competition, but was ashamed because "it went against his heart to kill so many innocent creatures just for the glory"? |
Walter D. Graham | ![]() |
11,800 | ... that Michigan football player "Octy" Graham (pictured) at age 16 was called a "young Hercules" after "gripping machines did not register high enough to show his strength"? |
23 Minutes in Hell | 11,500 | ... that Bill Wiese claims to have spent 23 Minutes in Hell? | |
Platt-LePage Aircraft Company Platt-LePage XR-1 |
![]() |
3,900 + 6,400 = 10,300 | ... that the Platt-LePage Aircraft Company, formed after one of its founders was impressed by a Nazi rotorcraft, beat Sikorsky for the contract to supply the first American military helicopter (pictured)? |
Wolffia arrhiza | ![]() |
9,600 | ... that Wolffia arrhiza (pictured) is the smallest vascular plant on earth? |
2010 Sharm el-Sheikh shark attacks | ![]() |
9,400 | ... that while the origin of recent shark attacks in Egypt (species pictured) is unknown, experts cite overfishing and illegal dumping of animal carcasses as possible causes? |
James W. Rodgers | 9,200 | ... that James W. Rodgers requested a bulletproof vest before he was executed by firing squad? | |
Don't touch my junk | 9,000 | ... that John Tyner and Charles Krauthammer don't want you touching their junk, but Michael Kinsley wants you to go ahead and touch his, and Wendy Kaminer thinks Krauthammer just wants you to touch someone else's?" | |
La Salle Hotel | ![]() |
9,000 | ... that Chicago's La Salle Hotel (pictured) became an ex-officio White House during U.S. President William Howard Taft's extended stay in its presidential suite? |
Red Basilica | 8,900 |
|
|
Wank (mountain) | 8,900 | ... that visitors to the Wank mountain in Germany can use a Wankpass to ride the Wankbahn up to the Wank-Haus at the summit? | |
John and Sarah Makin | 5,600 + 3,300 = 8,900 | ... that Australian child murderers John and Sarah Makin were caught after the bodies of two of their many victims were discovered in a blocked drain? | |
Flight deck cruiser | 8,700 | ... that one design for a flight deck cruiser was described as a cross between a Brooklyn-class light cruiser and the aircraft carrier USS Wasp? | |
Rosendale trestle | 8,400 | ... that the Rosendale trestle, once the highest span bridge in the United States, was sold in 1986 for one dollar? | |
Tiger of Pilibhit | 8,300 | ... that the Tiger of Pilibhit was responsible for killing and partially eating eight people before being captured? | |
John Deering | 7,800 | ... that John Deering volunteered to have his heart monitored by an electrocardiogram while he was shot to death? | |
Gia Allemand | 7,700 | ... that Maxim model and reality television contestant Gia Allemand has been selected to play the role of Ava Gardner in an upcoming film about the life of Gianni Russo? | |
MO class small guard ship | 7,500 | ... that the Soviet 50.6 t (49.8 long tons; 55.8 short tons) ship MO-103 sank the German submarine U-250, capturing the commander and five crewmen in July 1944? | |
Rans S-12 Airaile | 7,400 | ... that although the Rans S-12XL Airaile (pictured) was scheduled to go out of production in 2006, customer demand has kept the kitplane in production? | |
History of hotel fires in the United States | ![]() |
7,200 | ... that the 1946 fire at the Winecoff Hotel (pictured) in Atlanta, Georgia was the deadliest hotel fire in U.S. history? |
Sotra Facula | ![]() |
7,200 | ... that Sotra Facula (pictured), a prominent feature on Saturn's giant moon Titan, is thought to be an ice volcano that may have erupted water, methane, polyethylene, paraffin waxes or even asphalt? |
Socks Seybold | ![]() |
7,200 | ... that baseball player Socks Seybold (pictured) held the American League home run record before Babe Ruth broke it in 1919? |
Ole Carlson House | 6,900 | ... that a self-educated Norwegian immigrant farmer built the finest farmhouse (pictured) in Dodge County, Minnesota? | |
Ravens of the Tower of London | 6,700 | ... that the ravens of the Tower of London are enlisted as soldiers of the Kingdom, and can be dismissed for unsatisfactory conduct? | |
Project Isinglass | 6,700 | ... that the second CIA spyplane developed under Project Isinglass was designed to fly at Mach 22? | |
Kingsbridge Armory | ![]() |
6,600 | ... that New York City offered the 5-acre (2.0 ha) Kingsbridge Armory (pictured), in The Bronx, reputedly the largest in the world, to the UN General Assembly as a temporary meeting space? |
Nels Johnson Century tower clocks |
1,200 +5,400 = 6,600 | ... that Nels Johnson built Century tower clocks, designed to last 100 years? | |
Radioplane RP-77D | 6,600 | ... that the Radioplane RP-77D target drone was planned to be capable of launching target drones itself? | |
Time pyramid | 6,500 | ... that the Time pyramid, a public work of art begun in 1993, is scheduled for completion in the year 3183? | |
Rans S-11 Pursuit | 6,400 | ... that the wings of the Rans S-11 Pursuit provide only 20% of the aircraft's lift? | |
John Francis Jackson | ![]() |
6,300 | ... that after RAAF Tomahawk pilots John Jackson (pictured) and Bobby Gibbes shared in destroying a Vichy French fighter plane in 1941, they tossed a coin to see who would take the credit for it? |
Bedsitcom | 6,100 | ... that the reality TV programme Bedsitcom featured actors following the producer's instructions, as well as unaware members of the public, leading to it being labelled "morally reprehensible"? | |
Infinity Blade | 6,100 | ... that the action role-playing game Infinity Blade is the fastest grossing application on Apple's iOS, selling 271,424 copies in merely four days? | |
Wormy hillock henge | 5900 | ... that according to legend, Wormy hillock henge was the burial site of a dragon? | |
Thaddeus P. Mott | ![]() |
5,900 | ... that Thaddeus P. Mott (pictured), a 19th century adventurer and soldier of fortune, recruited ex-Union and Confederate veterans for service in the Egyptian Army?" |
No. 201 Flight RAAF | 5,600 | ... that No. 201 Flight's role was considered so secret by the Royal Australian Air Force that few people outside the unit knew that it even existed? | |
Sperrbrecher | 5,500 | ... that British spies helped sink some German minesweepers of the Sperrbrecher type, through determining how to adjust the fuses on magnetic mines? | |
Johanna Long | 5,400 | ... that 18-year-old NASCAR driver Johanna Long became the second woman to win the Snowball Derby? | |
Bill Naito | ![]() |
5,300 | ... that Bill Naito (pictured), who abruptly left Portland, Oregon, at age 16 to avoid Japanese-American internment during World War II, later became one of the city's most esteemed business and civic leaders? |
Rhys Jones (soldier) | ![]() |
5,300 | ... that New Zealand Army officer Rhys Jones, the next Chief of the Defence Force, was told in 2000 that he would receive no further promotions? |
Magni M-16 Tandem Trainer | 5,200 | ... that the Magni M-16 Tandem Trainer autogyro is used by traffic reporters and farmers as well as sport pilots? | |
Grassy Hill Light | 5,100 | ... that a radar station which was active at Grassy Hill Light during World War II included an imitation lighthouse keeper's cottage for camouflage purposes? |