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From today's featured article

Seven Arches railway viaduct in Cheadle Hulme

Cheadle Hulme is a suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport in Greater Manchester, England. Historically in Cheshire, it lies south-east of Manchester, in the Ladybrook Valley. In 2011, it had a population of 26,479. Evidence of Bronze Age, Roman and Anglo-Saxon activity, including coins, jewellery and axes, has been discovered locally. The area was first mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086; in the early 14th century, it was split into southern and northern parts at about the future locations of Cheadle Hulme and Cheadle respectively. Unlike many English villages, it did not grow around a church; instead it formed from several hamlets. From the late 19th century until 1974, Cheadle Hulme was united with neighbouring places to form the urban district of Cheadle and Gatley. Thereafter, Cheadle Hulme became a distinct place in its own right. Cheadle Hulme has a railway station and is close to Manchester Airport, the M60 and the A34. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Statue of Sir Nigel Gresley

... that the decision not to include a duck with the statue of Sir Nigel Gresley (pictured) led to "possibly the most acrimonious argument in the long, pedantic history of the railway hobbyist"?
... that F. Andrieu was the composer of Armes, amours/O flour des flours, a double ballade lamenting the death of his colleague Guillaume de Machaut?
... that Proton 3, launched on 24 March 1966, was one of the first satellites equipped to look for quarks?
... that Sarran Teelucksingh was the first person of Indian descent elected to the Legislative Council of Trinidad and Tobago?
... that Jerome Robbins's ballet In the Night is set to four nocturnes by Frédéric Chopin?
... that German fighter ace Kurt Wolff decorated his room with machine guns from planes he shot down?
... that it took authorities only one day to repair damage on Japan National Route 116 following the 2007 Chūetsu offshore earthquake?
... that Barbara Danish wrote The Dragon and the Doctor in 20 minutes?

In the news

Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi (pictured), the State Counsellor of Myanmar, is detained by the military in a coup d'état.
A coordinated short squeeze targeting American hedge funds causes GameStop's stock price to spike.
Kaja Kallas becomes the first female Prime Minister of Estonia, following the resignation of Jüri Ratas.
In Russia, protests against the arrest of Alexei Navalny occur in more than 120 towns and cities.

On this day

February 5

Bakelite buttons

AD 62 – Pompeii was severely damaged by a strong earthquake, which may have been a precursor to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that destroyed the town 17 years later.
1869 – Prospectors in Moliagul, Victoria, Australia, discovered the largest alluvial gold nugget ever found, known as the "Welcome Stranger".
1909 – Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland announced his invention of Bakelite (samples pictured), the world's first synthetic plastic.
1958 – A U.S. Mark 15 nuclear bomb disappeared off the shores of Tybee Island, Georgia, after it was jettisoned during a practice exercise when the bomber carrying it collided in midair with a fighter plane.
2004 – The National Revolutionary Front for the Liberation of Haiti captured the city of Gonaïves, starting a coup d'état against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's government.

Philipp Spener (d. 1705)
Koto Matsudaira (b. 1903)
Gheorghe Hagi (b. 1965)

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From today's featured list

Houston toad

Seventy-two amphibian species are found in the American state of Texas, including forty-four species of frog and twenty-eight species of salamander. Four species are categorized as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature: the Barton Springs salamander, the Texas blind salamander, the black-spotted newt, and the Houston toad (example pictured). The varying geography of Texas, the second-largest state, provides a variety of habitats for amphibians. This vast contrast in biomes makes Texas home to a wide variety of herpetofauna. Its central position in the United States means that species found primarily in either the western or eastern reaches of the country often have their ranges meeting in the state. Additionally, its proximity to Mexico is such that many species found there and into Central America also range as far north as Texas. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

Ratna Moetoe Manikam was a film from the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia). The plot was a modernised version of a classic story, adapted from a stage drama entitled Djoela Djoeli Bintang Tiga. According to the director Tan Tjoei Hock, filming was interrupted by the arrival of Japanese forces in the Dutch East Indies in early 1942, and the film was released during the occupation, but is now likely lost. This advertisement for the film was published in the magazine Poestaka Timoer in 1941.

Advertisement credit: Java Industrial Film; restored by Chris Woodrich

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