MacBook:europe xyz$ ri -T ActiveRecord::Persistence::ClassMethods#create
ActiveRecord::Persistence::ClassMethods#create

(from gem activerecord-3.2.8)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  create(attributes = nil, options = {}, &block)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Creates an object (or multiple objects) and saves it to the database, if
validations pass. The resulting object is returned whether the object was
saved successfully to the database or not.

The attributes parameter can be either be a Hash or an Array of Hashes.
These Hashes describe the attributes on the objects that are to be created.

create respects mass-assignment security and accepts either :as
or :without_protection options in the options parameter.

Examples
  # Create a single new object
  User.create(:first_name => 'Jamie')

  # Create a single new object using the :admin mass-assignment security role
  User.create({ :first_name => 'Jamie', :is_admin => true }, :as => :admin)

  # Create a single new object bypassing mass-assignment security
  User.create({ :first_name => 'Jamie', :is_admin => true }, :without_protection => true)

  # Create an Array of new objects
  User.create([{ :first_name => 'Jamie' }, { :first_name => 'Jeremy' }])

  # Create a single object and pass it into a block to set other attributes.
  User.create(:first_name => 'Jamie') do |u|
    u.is_admin = false
  end

  # Creating an Array of new objects using a block, where the block is executed for each object:
  User.create([{ :first_name => 'Jamie' }, { :first_name => 'Jeremy' }]) do |u|
    u.is_admin = false
  end



MacBook:europe xyz$

MacBook:europe xyz$ rails console
Loading development environment (Rails 3.2.3)
1.9.3p194 :001 > Country
 => Country(id: integer, name: string, population: integer, created_at: datetime, updated_at: datetime) 
1.9.3p194 :002 > Country.create(:name => 'Deutschland', :population => 81831000) 
   (0.1ms)  begin transaction
  SQL (39.9ms)  INSERT INTO "countries" ("created_at", "name", "population", "updated_at") VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?)  [["created_at", Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:26:38 UTC +00:00], ["name", "Deutschland"], ["population", 81831000], ["updated_at", Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:26:38 UTC +00:00]]
   (1.5ms)  commit transaction
 => #<Country id: 1, name: "Deutschland", population: 81831000, created_at: "2012-04-26 10:26:38", updated_at: "2012-04-26 10:26:38"> 
1.9.3p194 :003 > exit
MacBook:europe xyz$

MacBook:europe xyz$ sqlite3 db/development.sqlite3 
SQLite version 3.7.7 2011-06-25 16:35:41
Enter ".help" for instructions
Enter SQL statements terminated with a ";"
sqlite> SELECT * FROM countries;
1|Deutschland|81831000|2012-04-26 10:26:38.533290|2012-04-26 10:26:38.533290
sqlite> .exit
MacBook:europe xyz$

MacBook:europe xyz$ rails console
Loading development environment (Rails 3.2.3)
1.9.3p194 :001 > frankreich = Country.new
 => #<Country id: nil, name: nil, population: nil, created_at: nil, updated_at: nil> 
1.9.3p194 :002 > frankreich.name = 'Frankreich'
 => "Frankreich" 
1.9.3p194 :003 > frankreich.population = 65447374
 => 65447374 
1.9.3p194 :004 > frankreich.save
   (0.1ms)  begin transaction
  SQL (5.6ms)  INSERT INTO "countries" ("created_at", "name", "population", "updated_at") VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?)  [["created_at", Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:41:54 UTC +00:00], ["name", "Frankreich"], ["population", 65447374], ["updated_at", Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:41:54 UTC +00:00]]
   (4.5ms)  commit transaction
 => true 
1.9.3p194 :005 > frankreich
 => #<Country id: 2, name: "Frankreich", population: 65447374, created_at: "2012-04-26 10:41:54", updated_at: "2012-04-26 10:41:54"> 
1.9.3p194 :006 > exit
MacBook:europe xyz$

MacBook:europe xyz$ rails console
Loading development environment (Rails 3.2.3)
1.9.3p194 :001 > belgien = Country.new(:name => 'Belgien', :population => 10839905)
 => #<Country id: nil, name: "Belgien", population: 10839905, created_at: nil, updated_at: nil> 
1.9.3p194 :002 > belgien.save
   (0.2ms)  begin transaction
  SQL (34.8ms)  INSERT INTO "countries" ("created_at", "name", "population", "updated_at") VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?)  [["created_at", Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:44:49 UTC +00:00], ["name", "Belgien"], ["population", 10839905], ["updated_at", Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:44:49 UTC +00:00]]
   (2.5ms)  commit transaction
 => true 
1.9.3p194 :003 > exit
MacBook:europe xyz$ 

MacBook:europe xyz$ rails console
Loading development environment (Rails 3.2.3)
1.9.3p194 :001 > niederlande = Country.new(:name => 'Niederlande', :population => 16680000)
 => #<Country id: nil, name: "Niederlande", population: 16680000, created_at: nil, updated_at: nil> 
1.9.3p194 :002 > niederlande.new_record?
 => true 
1.9.3p194 :003 > niederlande.save
   (0.2ms)  begin transaction
  SQL (34.9ms)  INSERT INTO "countries" ("created_at", "name", "population", "updated_at") VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?)  [["created_at", Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:47:23 UTC +00:00], ["name", "Niederlande"], ["population", 16680000], ["updated_at", Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:47:23 UTC +00:00]]
   (3.8ms)  commit transaction
 => true 
1.9.3p194 :004 > niederlande.new_record?
 => false 
1.9.3p194 :005 > exit
MacBook:europe xyz$