Hanukkah means "rededication," and it commemorates the rededication of the temple of Jerusalem by the Maccabees, a group of Jews who defeated the Syrian Greeks in a three-year war.
Source: BBC
Stories by FactCheck.org
December 11, 2009
The lowest temperature recorded in the world is -129 degrees Fahrenheit in Vostok, Antarctica, measured on July 21, 1983.
Source: NOAA
December 10, 2009
The National Archives has records dating back to 1775. Its holdings include about 9 billion pages of textual records; 7.2 million maps, charts, and architectural drawings; 20 million photographs; billions of machine-readable data sets; and 365,000 reels of film and 110,000 videotapes.
Source: NARA
December 9, 2009
The National Archives and Records Administration keeps 1 percent to 3 percent of all the documents and materials created by the federal government.
Source: NARA
FactCheck Mailbag, Week of Dec. 1-Dec. 7
This week, readers sent us comments on health care (no way!), Obama’s "gaffe" and the proper stance during the national anthem.
In the FactCheck Mailbag we feature some of the e-mail we receive. Readers can send comments to editor@factcheck.org. Letters may be edited for length.
December 8, 2009
On Dec. 8, 1941, one day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed Congress, saying that Dec. 7 would be "a date which will live in infamy."
Source: National Archives
December 7, 2009
Parts of Washington, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York, Vermont and Maine have a greater than 90 percent probability of having a white Christmas.
Source: NOAA
December 6, 2009
The greatest daily snowfall on record in the U.S. between 1893 and 2006 is 63 inches, which fell in Georgetown, Colo., on Dec. 4, 1913.
Source: NOAA
December 5, 2009
U.S. imports of Christmas tree ornaments from China totaled $470.3 million between January and August this year. China also shipped $28.6 million worth of artificial Christmas trees during that period.
Source: Census Bureau
December 4, 2009
Between Dec. 1 and Christmas day, the U.S. Postal Service will deliver 16.6 billion cards, letters and packages.
Source: USPS