Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 2009

Today's featured article archive

April 1

The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) is a world-renowned institution dedicated to showcasing the finest art acquired from Boston-area refuse. The museum started in a pile of trash in 1994, in a serendipitous moment when an antiques dealer came across a painting of astonishing power and compositional incompetence that had been tragically discarded. Its magnetic pull was immediate; it has since inspired a collection of 500 masterful pieces of art so awful they prompt viewers to appeal loudly for divine intervention. Located next to two Massachusetts bathrooms, the museum's collection aspires to be a monument to creative ecstasy that has resulted in glorious failure. Only the most arresting paintings and sculptures are accepted by MOBA, but priority goes to those that prominently feature a monkey or a poodle. Public reaction has been overwhelming, freeing the art-loving community to point and laugh at art everywhere. Two of their pieces have been stolen, so alarming the museum that they promptly offered a reward in the amount of $6.50 for their return. Some of their more notable pieces show a footless John Ashcroft wearing a diaper, and a hula skirt-wearing wiener dog juggling bones. Such enigmatic images invoke so many mysteries that they are often unable to be explained by artists themselves. (more...)

Recently featured: Main sequence – Red River Trails – Barthélemy Boganda

April 2

Meningitis is a medical condition caused by inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges. The inflammation is caused by infection with viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms, and less commonly by certain drugs or diseases. Meningitis is potentially life-threatening due to the inflammation's proximity to the brain and spinal cord; therefore it is a medical emergency. The most common symptoms of meningitis are headache and neck stiffness associated with fever, confusion or altered consciousness, and an inability to tolerate light (photophobia) or loud noises (phonophobia). If a rash is present, it may indicate a particular cause of meningitis; for instance, meningitis caused by meningococcal bacteria may be accompanied by a characteristic rash. Meningitis is diagnosed by a lumbar puncture, which involves inserting a needle into the spinal canal to extract a sample of cerebrospinal fluid, the fluid that envelops the brain and spinal cord. Meningitis must be treated promptly with antibiotics and sometimes antiviral drugs. Meningitis can lead to serious long-term consequences such as deafness, epilepsy, hydrocephalus and cognitive deficits. Some forms of meningitis may be prevented by immunization. (more...)

Recently featured: Museum of Bad Art – Main sequence – Red River Trails

April 3

Hare coursing is the pursuit of hares with greyhounds and other sighthounds, which chase the hare by sight and not by scent. It is a competitive sport, in which dogs are tested on their ability to run, overtake and turn a hare, rather than a form of hunting aiming at the capture of game. It has a number of variations in its rules around the world. Informal coursing can be a true form of hunting. It is often conducted to kill game or vermin, mainly for food, and occasionally as a form of gambling. Coursing is a long established and almost universal hunting technique, practiced historically with greyhounds, other sighthound breeds, or with lurchers which are crossbred sighthounds, and working breeds. The sport grew in popularity in the UK and Europe during the 19th century, but has since experienced a decline due in part to the introduction of greyhound racing and betting. In recent decades some controversy has developed around hare coursing in the UK and USA, with some viewing it as a cruel bloodsport and others seeing it as a traditional activity that assists in the conservation of hares and tests the ability of sighthounds. Since 2002, hare coursing has been banned in the United Kingdom but continues elsewhere in the world as a regulated and judged, competitive sport, especially in the Republic of Ireland and Spain, as well as in Russia and the Western United States. Elsewhere, in Eurasia for example, coursing continues as a classic form of hunting. (more...)

Recently featured: Meningitis – Museum of Bad Art – Main sequence

April 4

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is the 1969 autobiography about the early years of writer and activist Maya Angelou. The first in a six-volume series, it is a coming-of-age story that illustrates how strength of character and a love of literature can help overcome racism and trauma. In the course of Caged Bird, Maya transforms from a victim of racism with an inferiority complex into a self-possessed, dignified young woman capable of responding to racism. Angelou was challenged by her friend, author James Baldwin, and her editor, Robert Loomis, to write an autobiography that was also a piece of literature. Because Angelou uses thematic development and other techniques common to fiction, reviewers often categorize Caged Bird as autobiographical fiction, but the prevailing critical view characterizes it as an autobiography, a genre she attempts to critique, change and expand. The book covers topics common to autobiographies written by black American women in the years following the civil rights movement: a celebration of black motherhood; a critique of racism; the importance of family; and the quest for independence, personal dignity, and self-definition. Caged Bird was nominated for a National Book Award in 1970 and remained on The New York Times paperback Best Seller list for two years. However, the book's graphic depiction of racism, sexuality and childhood rape have caused it to be challenged or banned in some schools and libraries. (more...)

Recently featured: Hare coursing – Meningitis – Museum of Bad Art

April 5

The decipherment of rongorongo began with the discovery of the rongorongo tablets on Easter Island in the late nineteenth century. As with most undeciphered scripts, many of the proposals have been fanciful. Apart from a portion of one tablet which has been shown to deal with a lunar calendar, none of the texts are understood, and even the calendar cannot actually be read. There are three serious obstacles to decipherment: the small number of remaining texts, comprising only 15,000 legible glyphs; the lack of context in which to interpret the texts, such as illustrations or parallels to texts that can be read; and the fact that the modern Rapanui language is heavily mixed with Tahitian and is unlikely to closely reflect the language of the tablets—especially if they record a specialized register such as incantations—while the few remaining examples of the old language are heavily restricted in genre and may not correspond well to the tablets either. Since a proposal by Butinov and Knorozov in the 1950s, the majority of philologists, linguists, and cultural historians have taken the line that rongorongo was not true writing but proto-writing, that is, an ideographic- and rebus-based mnemonic device. If it is the case that rongorongo is proto-writing, then it is unlikely to ever be deciphered. Oral history suggests that only a small elite were ever literate, and that the tablets were considered sacred. (more...)

Recently featured: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Hare coursing – Meningitis

April 6

Utah State Route 128 approaching Drinks Canyon

State Route 128 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Utah. The road is part of the Utah Scenic Byways program, and also forms part of the Dinosaur Diamond Prehistoric Highway, a National Scenic Byway. Residents of Moab frequently refer to SR-128 as "the river road", after the Colorado River, which the highway follows. The highway was originally constructed to connect rural cities in eastern Utah with Grand Junction, Colorado, the largest city in the region. The highway was partially merged into the Utah state highway system in 1931; the rest was taken over by the state and assigned route number 128 in 1933. Today, the highway is used as a scenic drive for visitors to the area. The highway crosses the Colorado River at the site of the Dewey Bridge, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This bridge was the longest suspension bridge in Utah until April 2008 when it was destroyed by a fire started by a child playing with matches. The future of the bridge is uncertain, with Grand County conducting a study to determine the feasibility of reconstructing it. (more...)

Recently featured: Decipherment of rongorongo – I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Hare coursing

April 7

The Shackleton–Rowett Expedition was the last Antarctic expedition led by Sir Ernest Shackleton (pictured), and the final episode in the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. The venture, lasting from 1921 to 1922, financed by businessman John Quiller Rowett, is sometimes referred to as the Quest Expedition after its ship, a small converted Norwegian whaler. Before the expedition's work could properly begin, Shackleton died aboard ship, just after its arrival at the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia. The major part of the subsequent foreshortened expedition was a three-month cruise to the eastern Antarctic, under the leadership of second-in-command Frank Wild. In these waters the shortcomings of Quest were soon in evidence: slow speed, heavy fuel consumption, a tendency to roll in heavy seas, and a steady leak. The ship was unable to proceed further than longitude 20°E, well short of its easterly target, and its engine's low power was insufficient for it to penetrate far into the Antarctic ice. Following several fruitless attempts to break southwards through the pack ice, Wild returned the ship to South Georgia, after a nostalgic visit to Elephant Island, where he and 21 others had been stranded during Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition six years earlier. Although not greatly regarded in the histories of polar exploration, the Quest voyage is of historical significance, standing at the very end of the Heroic Age and the beginning of the "Mechanical Age" that followed it. (more...)

Recently featured: Utah State Route 128 – Decipherment of rongorongo – I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

April 8

Florida Atlantic University is a public, coeducational, research university located in Boca Raton, Florida, United States. The university has six satellite campuses located in the Florida cities of Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, Port St. Lucie and Fort Pierce at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution. Florida Atlantic serves a seven-county region that has a populace of more than three million people and spans more than 100 miles (160 km) of Florida's eastern coastline. The university opened its doors in 1964 as the first public university in southeast Florida and the first university in the nation to offer only upper-division and graduate level courses. Although initial enrollment was only 867 students, this number increased in 1984 when the university admitted its first undergraduate students. As of 2008, enrollment has grown to approximately 27,000 students representing 139 countries, 48 states and the District of Columbia. In recent years Florida Atlantic has undertaken an effort to increase its academic and research standings while also evolving into a more traditional university. Under the direction of current President Frank T. Brogan, the university has raised admissions standards, increased research funding, built new facilities and established notable partnerships with major research institutions. (more...)

Recently featured: Shackleton–Rowett Expedition – Utah State Route 128 – Decipherment of rongorongo

April 9

Motörhead are a British rock band formed in 1975 by bassist, singer and songwriter Lemmy Kilmister, who has remained the sole constant member. Usually a power trio, Motörhead had particular success in the early 1980s with several successful singles in the UK Top 40 chart. The albums Overkill, Bomber, Ace of Spades, and particularly No Sleep 'til Hammersmith, cemented Motörhead's reputation as one of Britain's foremost rock bands. While Motörhead are typically classified as heavy metal, speed metal or thrash metal (and often regarded as a foundational influence on the later two styles), Lemmy dislikes such labels, preferring to describe the band's music simply as "rock n' roll". Motörhead's approach has remained the same over the band's career, preferring to play what they enjoy and do best; their appreciation of early rock and roll is reflected in some of their occasional cover songs. Motörhead's lyrics typically cover such topics as war, good versus evil, abuse of power, promiscuous sex, substance abuse, and "life on the road." The band's distinctive fanged-face logo, Snaggletooth, with its oversized boars' horns, chains, and spikes, was created by artist Joe Petagno in 1977 for the cover of the Motörhead album and has appeared in many variations on covers of ensuing albums. (more...)

Recently featured: Florida Atlantic University – Shackleton–Rowett Expedition – Utah State Route 128

April 10

The Raft of the Medusa is an oil painting of 1818–19 by the French Romantic painter and lithographer Théodore Géricault (1791–1824). Completed when the artist was just 27, the work has become an icon of French Romanticism. At 491 cm × 716 cm (193.3 in × 282.3 in), The Raft of the Medusa is an over-life-size painting that depicts a moment from the aftermath of the wreck of the French naval frigate Méduse, which ran aground off the coast of today's Mauritania on July 5, 1816. At least 147 people were set adrift on a hurriedly constructed raft; all but 15 of them died in the 13 days before their rescue, and those who survived endured starvation, dehydration, cannibalism and madness. In choosing the tragedy as subject matter for his first major work—an uncommissioned depiction of an event from recent history—Géricault consciously selected a well-known incident that would generate great public interest and help launch his career. The event fascinated the young artist, and before he began work on the final painting, he undertook extensive research and produced many preparatory sketches. He interviewed two of the survivors, and constructed a detailed scale model of the raft. The painting proved highly controversial at its first appearance in the 1819 Paris Salon, attracting passionate praise and condemnation in equal measure. (more...)

Recently featured: Motörhead – Florida Atlantic University – Shackleton–Rowett Expedition

April 11

Riven is the sequel to the highly successful computer game Myst. Developed by Cyan Worlds, it was initially published by Brøderbund. Riven was distributed on five compact discs and released on October 29, 1997, in North America; it was later released on a single DVD-ROM, with improved graphics and a fourteen-minute "making-of" video. In addition to the PC versions, Riven was ported to several other platforms, including the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. The story of Riven is set immediately after the events of Myst. Having been rescued from the machinations of his sons, the explorer Atrus enlists the help of the faceless player character in freeing his wife from his power-hungry father, Gehn. Unlike Myst, which took place on several worlds known as Ages and linked together by special books, Riven is set almost entirely on the eponymous Age of Riven, a world slowly falling apart due to Gehn's rule. Development of Riven began soon after Myst became a success, and spanned more than three years. Riven was praised by professional reviewers, with the magazine Salon proclaiming that the game approaches the level of art. The best-selling game of 1997, Riven sold 1.5 million copies in one year. (more...)

Recently featured: The Raft of the Medusa – Motörhead – Florida Atlantic University

April 12

An ironclad was a steam-propelled warship in the latter part of the 19th century, protected by iron or steel armor plates. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. The first ironclad battleship, La Gloire, was launched by the French Navy in 1859; she prompted the British Royal Navy to start building ironclads. After the first clashes of ironclads took place during the American Civil War, it became clear that the ironclad had replaced the unarmored ship of the line as the most powerful warship afloat. This type of ship would come to be very successful in the American Civil War. Ironclads were designed for several roles, including as high seas battleships, coastal defense ships, and long-range cruisers. The rapid evolution of warship design in the late 19th century transformed the ironclad from a wooden-hulled vessel which carried sails to supplement its steam engines into the steel-built, turreted battleships and cruisers familiar in the 20th century. The rapid pace of change in the ironclad period meant that many ships were obsolete as soon as they were complete, and that naval tactics were in a state of flux. Many ironclads were built to make use of the ram or the torpedo, which a number of naval designers considered the crucial weapons of naval combat. (more...)

Recently featured: Riven – The Raft of the Medusa – Motörhead

April 13

White Deer Hole Creek is a 20.5-mile (33.0 km) tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Clinton, Lycoming and Union counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. A part of the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin, the White Deer Hole Creek watershed drains parts of ten townships. The creek flows east in a valley of the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians, through sandstone, limestone, and shale from the Ordovician, Silurian, and Devonian periods. As of 2006, the creek and its 67.2-square-mile (174 km²) watershed are relatively undeveloped, with 28.4 percent of the watershed given to agriculture and 71.6 percent covered by forest, including part of Tiadaghton State Forest. There are opportunities in the watershed for canoeing, hunting, and camping, and trails for hiking and horseback riding. Historically, two paths of the native indigenous peoples ran along parts of White Deer Hole Creek. Settlers arrived by 1770, but fled in 1778 during the American Revolutionary War. They returned and the creek served as the southern boundary of Lycoming County when it was formed on April 13, 1795. Most development is in the eastern end of the valley, with two unincorporated villages, a hamlet, and most of the farms (many Amish). (more...)

Recently featured: Ironclad – Riven – The Raft of the Medusa

April 14

Agrippina (HWV 6) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel, from a libretto by Cardinal Vincenzo Grimani. Composed for the 1709–10 Venice Carnevale season, the opera tells the story of Agrippina, the mother of Nero, as she plots the downfall of the Roman Emperor Claudius and the installation of her son as emperor. Grimani's libretto, considered one of the best that Handel set, is an "anti-heroic satirical comedy", full of topical political allusions. It premiered in Venice at the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo on 26 December 1709, and was an immediate success. Observers were full of praise for the quality of the music—much of which, in keeping with the contemporary custom, had been borrowed and adapted from other works. Despite the evident public enthusiasm for the work, Handel did not promote further stagings. There were occasional productions in the years following its premiere but, when Handel's operas fell out of fashion in the mid-18th century, it and his other dramatic works were generally forgotten. In recent years performances of the work have become more common, with innovative stagings at the New York State Theater and the London Coliseum in 2007. Modern critical opinion is that Agrippina is Handel's first operatic masterpiece, full of freshness and musical invention which have made it one of the most popular operas of the continuing Handel revival. (more...)

Recently featured: White Deer Hole Creek – Ironclad – Riven

April 15

Emma Watson (born 1990) is a French-born British actress who rose to prominence playing Hermione Granger, one of three starring roles in the Harry Potter film series. Watson was cast as Hermione at the age of nine, having previously only acted in school plays. From 2001 to 2007, she starred in five Harry Potter film installments alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint. She will return for the final two installments: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, due to be released in 2009, and the two parts of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Watson's work in the Harry Potter series has earned her several awards and more than £10 million. In 2007, she announced her involvement in two non-Harry Potter productions: the made-for-television adaptation of the novel Ballet Shoes and an animated film, The Tale of Despereaux. Ballet Shoes was broadcast on 26 December 2007, to an audience of 5.2 million and The Tale of Despereaux, based on the book by Kate DiCamillo, was released in 2008. (more...)

Recently featured: Agrippina – White Deer Hole Creek – Ironclad

April 16

Niobium is a chemical element with symbol Nb and atomic number 41. A rare, soft, grey, ductile transition metal, niobium is found in the minerals pyrochlore (the main source for niobium) and columbite. Niobium has similar physical and chemical properties to another element, tantalum, and the two are therefore difficult to distinguish. The German chemist Heinrich Rose determined in 1846 that tantalum ores contain a second element, which he named niobium, after Niobe from Greek mythology. It was not until the early 20th century that niobium was first used commercially. Brazil is the leading producer of niobium and ferroniobium, an alloy of niobium and iron. Niobium is used mostly in alloys, the largest part in special steel such as that used in gas pipelines. Although alloys contain only a maximum of 0.1%, that small percentage improves the strength of the steel. The temperature stability of niobium-containing superalloys is important for its use in jet engines and rocket engines. Niobium is used in various superconducting materials. These superconducting alloys, also containing titanium and tin, are widely used in MRI scanners. Other applications of niobium include its use in welding, nuclear industries, electronics, optics, numismatics and jewellery. In the last two applications, niobium's low toxicity and ability to be coloured by anodisation are particular advantages. (more...)

Recently featured: Emma Watson – Agrippina – White Deer Hole Creek

April 17

A retiarius was a Roman gladiator who fought with equipment styled on that of a fisherman: a weighted net (rete, hence the name), a three-pointed trident, and a dagger (pugio). The retiarius fought lightly armoured, wearing an arm guard (manica) and a shoulder guard. Typically, his clothing consisted only of a loincloth held in place by a wide belt, or of a short tunic with light padding. He wore no head protection or footwear. The retiarius was routinely pitted against a heavily armed and armoured secutor. The net-fighter made up for his lack of protective gear by using his speed and agility to avoid his opponent's attacks and wait for the opportunity to strike. He first tried to throw his net over his rival. If this succeeded, he attacked with his trident while his adversary was entangled. Another tactic was to ensnare his enemy's weapon in the net and pull it out of his grasp, leaving the opponent defenceless. Should the net miss or the secutor grab hold of it, the retiarius likely discarded the weapon, although he might try to collect it back for a second cast. Usually, the retiarius had to rely on his trident and dagger to finish the fight. Retiarii first appeared in the arena during the 1st century AD and had become standard attractions by the 2nd or 3rd century. The gladiator's lack of armour and his reliance on evasive tactics made the retiarius the lowliest of an already stigmatised class. (more...)

Recently featured: Niobium – Emma Watson – Agrippina

April 18

The Joseph Priestley House was the American home of 18th-century British theologian, dissenting clergyman, natural philosopher, educator, and political theorist Joseph Priestley from 1798 until his death in 1804. Located in Northumberland, Pennsylvania, the house, which was designed by Priestley's wife Mary, is Georgian with Federalist accents. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission has operated it as a museum dedicated to Joseph Priestley since 1970, but may close it by July 2009 due to low visitation and budget cuts. Fleeing religious persecution and political turmoil in Britain, the Priestleys emigrated to the United States in 1794 seeking a peaceful life. Hoping to avoid the political troubles that had plagued them in Britain and the problems of urban life they saw in the United States, the Priestleys built a house in rural Pennsylvania; nevertheless, political disputes and family troubles dogged Priestley during the last ten years of his life. In the 1960s, the house was carefully restored by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and designated a National Historic Landmark. A second renovation was undertaken in the 1990s to return the home to the way it looked during Priestley's time. (more...)

Recently featured: Retiarius – Niobium – Emma Watson

April 19

Gerard K. O'Neill (1927–1992) was an American physicist and space activist. As a faculty member of Princeton University, he invented a device called the particle storage ring for high energy physics experiments. Later he invented a magnetic launcher called the mass driver. In the 1970s he developed a plan to build human settlements in outer space, including a space habitat design known as the O'Neill cylinder. He founded the Space Studies Institute, an organization devoted to funding research into space manufacturing and colonization. In 1965 at Stanford University he performed the first colliding beam physics experiment. While teaching physics at Princeton, O'Neill became interested in the possibility that humans could live in outer space. He researched and proposed a futuristic idea for human settlement in space, the O'Neill cylinder in "The Colonization of Space", his first paper on the subject. He held a conference on space manufacturing at Princeton in 1975. Many who became post-Apollo-era space activists attended. O'Neill built his first mass driver prototype with professor Henry Kolm in 1976. He considered mass drivers critical for extracting the mineral resources of the Moon and asteroids. (more...)

Recently featured: Joseph Priestley House – Retiarius – Niobium

April 20

The Chiffchaff is a common and widespread leaf warbler, named for its distinctive onomatopoeic song, which breeds in open woodlands throughout northern and temperate Europe and Asia. It is a migratory passerine which winters in southern and western Europe, southern Asia and north Africa. Greenish-brown above and off-white below, it is named for its simple chiff-chaff song. It has a number of subspecies, some of which are now treated as full species. The female builds a domed nest on or near the ground, and assumes most of the responsibility for brooding and feeding the chicks, whilst the male has little involvement in nesting, but defends his territory against rivals, and attacks potential predators. A small insectivorous bird, it is subject to predation by mammals, such as cats and mustelids, and birds, particularly hawks of the genus Accipiter. It may also acquire external or internal parasites. Its large range and population mean that its status is secure, although one subspecies is probably extinct. The British naturalist Gilbert White was one of the first people to separate the similar-looking Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Wood Warbler by their songs, as detailed in 1789 in The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne. (more...)

Recently featured: Gerard K. O'Neill – Joseph Priestley House – Retiarius

April 21

Alleyway is a video game developed by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo as a global launch title for the Game Boy. It is a Breakout clone and one of the first four games developed and released for the system. The game was released first in Japan in 1989, in North America later that year, and in Europe in 1990. Alleyway was released with limited advertising, receiving moderate to low scores from reviewers who compared it to games like Arkanoid. The name Alleyway references the in-game gateway that the player's spaceship (represented as a paddle) must pass through. While Alleyway is a portable clone of Breakout, it adds several new features, including alternating stages, bonus rounds, and hazards for the player at later levels. The player's objective in Alleyway is to destroy all breakable bricks in each stage using a ball and paddle while keeping the ball from falling into the pit below, similar to that of Breakout. The paddle's speed can be adjusted by holding either the B or A button on the controller while moving the paddle, which can move only horizontally at a fixed height. At the start of each life, the player can reposition the paddle before releasing the ball and commencing gameplay. (more...)

Recently featured: Chiffchaff – Gerard K. O'Neill – Joseph Priestley House

April 22

William IV (1765–1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death. William, the third son of George III and younger brother and successor to George IV, was the last king and penultimate monarch of the House of Hanover. He served in the Royal Navy in his youth and was, both during his reign and afterwards, nicknamed the Sailor King. He served in North America and the Caribbean, but saw little actual fighting. Since his two older brothers died with no surviving legitimate issue, he inherited the throne when he was sixty-four years old. His reign saw several reforms: the poor law was updated, child labour restricted, slavery abolished throughout the British Empire, and the Reform Act 1832 refashioned the British electoral system. Though William did not engage in politics as much as his brother or his father, he was the last monarch to appoint a Prime Minister contrary to the will of Parliament. At his death William had no surviving legitimate children, though he was survived by eight of the ten illegitimate children he had by the popular actress, Dorothea Bland. He was succeeded in the United Kingdom by his niece, Victoria, and in Hanover by his brother, Ernest Augustus. (more...)

Recently featured: Alleyway – Chiffchaff – Gerard K. O'Neill

April 23

The SkyTrain is a two-line urban mass transit system in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It uses Bombardier's Advanced Rapid Transit technology, with fully automated trains running principally on elevated tracks. There have been no derailments or collisions in its history. It uses the same linear induction motor-driven trains as the Scarborough RT line in Toronto, the Kelana Jaya Line in Kuala Lumpur, the People Mover in Detroit, and the AirTrain JFK in New York City. SkyTrain is operated by British Columbia Rapid Transit Company under contract from TransLink, a regional government transportation agency. It operates on a proof-of-payment fare system and is policed by the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Police Service. SkyTrain Attendants are present to provide first aid, directions, customer service and inspect fares, and they monitor train faults and drive the trains when necessary. SkyTrain's 49.5 km (30.8 mi) of track make it the longest automated light rapid transit system in the world. It also uses the longest mass transit-only bridge, the SkyBridge, to cross the Fraser River. There are 33 stations in the system, which carries more than 210,000 passengers per day on the two lines. (more...)

Recently featured: William IV of the United Kingdom – Alleyway – Chiffchaff

April 24

Learned Hand (1872–1961) was an influential United States judge and judicial philosopher. He served on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and later on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Hand has reportedly been quoted more often than any other lower-court judge by legal scholars and by the Supreme Court of the United States. Born and raised in Albany, New York, Hand majored in philosophy at Harvard College and graduated with honors from Harvard Law School. After a short career as a lawyer in Albany and New York City, he was appointed as a Federal District Judge in Manhattan in 1909 at the age of 37. The profession suited his detached and open-minded temperament, and his decisions soon won him a reputation for craftsmanship and authority. He ran unsuccessfully as the Progressive Party's candidate for Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals in 1913, but withdrew from active politics shortly afterwards. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge promoted Hand to the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which he went on to lead as the Senior Circuit Judge (later retitled Chief Judge) from 1939 until his semi-retirement in 1951. Friends and admirers often lobbied for Hand's promotion to the Supreme Court, but circumstances and his political past conspired against his appointment. Hand possessed a gift for language, and his writings are admired as legal literature. (more...)

Recently featured: SkyTrain – William IV of the United Kingdom – Alleyway

April 25

Hurricane Ismael was a weak Pacific hurricane that killed over one hundred people in northern Mexico in September of the 1995 Pacific hurricane season. It developed from a persistent area of deep convection on September 12, and steadily strengthened as it moved to the north-northwest. Ismael attained hurricane status on September 14 while located 210 miles (340 km) off the coast of Mexico. It continued to the north, and after passing a short distance east of Baja California it made landfall on Topolobampo in the state of Sinaloa with winds of 80 mph (130 km/h). Ismael rapidly weakened over land, and dissipated on September 16 over northwestern Mexico. The remnants entered the United States and extended eastward into the Mid-Atlantic States. Offshore, Ismael produced waves of up to 30 feet (9 m) in height. Hundreds of fishermen were unprepared for the hurricane, which was expected to move more slowly, and as a result 52 ships were wrecked, killing 57 fishermen. The hurricane destroyed thousands of houses, leaving 30,000 people homeless. On land, Ismael caused 59 casualties in mainland Mexico and resulted in $26 million in damage (1995 USD, $34.4 million 2006 USD). Moisture from the storm extended into the United States, causing heavy rainfall and localized moderate damage in southeastern New Mexico. (more...)

Recently featured: Learned Hand – SkyTrain – William IV of the United Kingdom

April 26

Operation Passage to Freedom was the term used by the United States Navy to describe its transportation of 310,000 Vietnamese civilians, soldiers and non-Vietnamese members of the French Army from the communist North Vietnam to South Vietnam. The French military transported a further 500,000. In the wake of the French defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, the Geneva Accords of 1954 decided the fate of French Indochina after eight years of war between French Union forces and the Viet Minh, which sought Vietnamese independence. The accords resulted in the partition of Vietnam at the 17th parallel, with Ho Chi Minh's communist Viet Minh in control of the north and the French-backed State of Vietnam in the south. The agreements allowed a 300-day period of grace, ending on May 18, 1955, in which people could move freely between the two Vietnams before the border was sealed. Between 600,000 and one million northerners fled communist rule, while between 14,000 and 45,000 civilians and approximately 100,000 Viet Minh fighters moved in the opposite direction. The mass emigration of northerners was facilitated primarily by the French Air Force and Navy. American naval vessels supplemented the French in evacuating northerners to Saigon, the southern capital. The operation was accompanied by a large humanitarian relief effort, primarily bankrolled by the United States. (more...)

Recently featured: Hurricane Ismael – Learned Hand – SkyTrain

April 27

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman is a 1791 book of feminist philosophy by Mary Wollstonecraft. In it, Wollstonecraft responds to the educational and political theorists of the eighteenth century who wanted to deny women an education. She argues that women ought to have an education commensurate with their position in society, claiming that women are essential to the nation because they educate its children and because they could be "companions" to their husbands, rather than mere wives. Instead of viewing women as ornaments to society or property to be traded in marriage, Wollstonecraft maintains that they are human beings deserving of the same fundamental rights as men. Wollstonecraft was prompted to write the Rights of Woman by Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord's 1791 report to the French National Assembly which stated that women should only receive a domestic education; she used her commentary on this specific event to launch a broad attack against sexual double standards and to indict men for encouraging women to indulge in excessive emotion. Wollstonecraft wrote the Rights of Woman hurriedly in order to respond directly to ongoing events; she intended to write a more thoughtful second volume, but she died before completing it. (more...)

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April 28

A kit is the standard equipment and attire worn by players in association football. The sport's Laws of the Game specify the minimum kit which a player must use, and also prohibit the use of anything that is dangerous to the player or another participant. Individual competitions may stipulate further restrictions, such as regulating the size of logos displayed on shirts and stating that in the event of a match between teams with identical or similar colours the away team must change to a different kit. Footballers generally wear identifying numbers on the backs of their shirts. Originally a team of players wore numbers from 1 to 11, corresponding roughly to their playing positions, but at the professional level this has generally been superseded by squad numbering, whereby each player in a squad is allocated a fixed number for the duration of a season. Professional clubs also usually display players' surnames and/or nicknames on their shirts, above (or, infrequently, below) their squad numbers. Football kit has evolved significantly since the early days of the sport, when players typically wore thick cotton shirts, knickerbockers and heavy rigid leather boots. In the twentieth century boots became lighter and softer, shorts were worn at a shorter length, and advancements in clothing manufacture and printing allowed for shirts to be made in lighter synthetic fibres with increasingly colourful and complex designs. (more...)

Recently featured: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman – Operation Passage to Freedom – Hurricane Ismael

April 29

Acid2 is a test page published and promoted by the Web Standards Project to expose web page rendering flaws in web browsers and other applications that render HTML. It was developed in the spirit of Acid1, a relatively narrow test of compliance with the Cascading Style Sheets 1.0 (CSS1) standard, and was released on April 13, 2005. Like Acid1, an application passes the test if the way it displays the test page matches a reference image. Acid2 tests aspects of HTML markup, CSS 2.1 styling, PNG images, and data URIs. The Acid2 test page will be displayed correctly in any application that follows the World Wide Web Consortium and Internet Engineering Task Force specifications for these technologies. These specifications are known as web standards because they describe how technologies used on the web are expected to function. While at the time of Acid2's release no web browser passed the test, Acid2 was designed with Microsoft Internet Explorer particularly in mind. The creators of Acid2 were dismayed that Internet Explorer did not follow web standards and, consequently, Internet Explorer was prone to display web pages differently from other browsers. Acid2 represented a challenge to Microsoft to bring Internet Explorer in line with web standards, making it easier to design web pages that work as intended in any web browser. (more...)

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April 30

Ælfheah of Canterbury (954–1012) was an Anglo-Saxon Bishop of Winchester, later Archbishop of Canterbury. He became an anchorite before being elected abbot of Bath Abbey. His piety and sanctity led to his promotion to the episcopate, and eventually to his becoming archbishop. Ælfheah furthered the cult of St Dunstan and also encouraged learning. He was captured by Viking raiders in 1011 and killed by them the following year, after refusing to allow himself to be ransomed. Ælfheah was canonized as a saint in 1078. Saint Thomas Becket, a later Archbishop of Canterbury, prayed to him just before his own slaying in Canterbury Cathedral. Ælfheah became a monk early in life. He first entered the monastery of Deerhurst, but then moved to Bath, where he became an anchorite. He was noted for his piety and austerity, and rose to become abbot of Bath Abbey. Probably due to the influence of Dunstan, the Archbishop of Canterbury (959–988), Ælfheah was elected Bishop of Winchester in 984, and was consecrated on 19 October that year. (more...)

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