Wikipedia:Today's featured article/May 2019

Today's featured article archive

May 1

Green Park is a London Underground station on the north side of Green Park, with entrances on both sides of Piccadilly. It is in fare zone 1 and is a busy interchange between the Jubilee, Piccadilly and Victoria lines, used by over 39 million passengers in 2017. The station was opened on 15 December 1906 by the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway and was originally named Dover Street. It was modernised in the 1930s when escalators replaced lifts and new entrances were provided on Piccadilly. The Victoria line platforms opened on 7 March 1969 and the Jubilee line platforms opened on 1 May 1979 with the official opening journeys by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles starting from this station. Improvements in the 2000s made the station wheelchair accessible throughout. The original station building designed by Leslie Green has been demolished. Decorative elements around the station include tiling schemes by Hans Unger and June Fraser and stonework by John Maine. (Full article...)

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May 2

The Pyramid of Unas is a smooth-sided pyramid built in the 24th century BC for the Egyptian pharaoh Unas, the ninth and final king of the Fifth Dynasty. Although Unas reigned for around 30 to 33 years, his pyramid is the smallest from the Old Kingdom. It was built between the complexes of Sekhemket and Djoser in North Saqqara. The pyramid's underground chambers remained unexplored until the Egyptologist Gaston Maspero gained entry in 1881. Inside, Pyramid Texts containing 283 spells for the king's afterlife were found incised into the walls of the subterranean chambers; they constitute the oldest and best-preserved corpus of religious writing from the Old Kingdom. Unas's pyramid is the oldest one in which these funerary texts have been found. Unlike the later Coffin Texts and Book of the Dead, the Pyramid Texts were reserved for pharaohs and were not illustrated. Their function was to guide the ruler into eternal life. (Full article...)

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May 3

Scientific Detective Monthly was a pulp magazine published by Hugo Gernsback, first appearing in January 1930. It was intended to focus on detective and mystery stories with a scientific element, but there were also one or two science fiction stories in every issue. The title was changed to Amazing Detective Tales with the June 1930 issue, perhaps to avoid the word "scientific", which may have given readers the impression of "a sort of scientific periodical", in Gernsback's words, rather than a magazine intended to entertain. At the same time, the editor—Hector Grey—was replaced by David Lasser, who was already editing Gernsback's other science fiction magazines. The title change apparently did not make the magazine a success, and Gernsback closed it down in October after releasing 10 issues. He sold the title to publisher Wallace Bamber, who produced at least five more issues in 1931 under the title Amazing Detective Stories. (Full article...)

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May 4

Tropical Storm Nicole was a short-lived and unusually asymmetric tropical cyclone that caused extensive flooding in Jamaica during the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the last of a record eight tropical storms to form in September. Originating from a broad monsoonal low, Nicole became a tropical depression over the northwestern Caribbean Sea on September 28. As it tracked northeastward, its wind circulation was poorly defined, and most of its strongest thundershowers were well removed from the center. In Jamaica, the storm triggered widespread power outages affecting more than 288,000 residences. Precipitation of up to 37.42 inches (950 mm) caused disastrous flooding in several parishes, severely damaging or destroying 528 houses. The island's farmland suffered from extensive water pollution. Nicole wrought an estimated US$245.4 million in damage throughout Jamaica, and there were sixteen fatalities. (Full article...)

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May 5

Recognition drawing of a König-class battleship

SMS Grosser Kurfürst was the second battleship of the four-ship König class of the German Imperial Navy. Her name refers to Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg. Launched on 5 May 1913, she served during World War I. She was armed with ten 30.5-centimeter (12.0 in) guns in five twin turrets. Along with her three sister ships, König, Markgraf, and Kronprinz, Grosser Kurfürst took part in most of the fleet actions during the war, including the Battle of Jutland on 31 May and 1 June 1916. The ship was subjected to heavy fire at Jutland, but was not seriously damaged. She shelled Russian positions during Operation Albion in September and October 1917. In her service career, she collided with König and Kronprinz, grounded several times, was torpedoed once, and hit a mine. After the war, Grosser Kurfürst and most of the capital ships of the High Seas Fleet were interned by the Royal Navy in Scapa Flow, and later scuttled by their German crews. (Full article...)

Part of the Battleships of Germany featured topic.

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May 6

Bobby Gibbes (6 May 1916 – 11 April 2007) was an Australian fighter ace of World War II, and the longest-serving wartime commander of No. 3 Squadron RAAF. He was officially credited with 10¼ aerial victories, although his score is often reported as 12, including 2 shared; he commanded No. 3 Squadron in North Africa during 1942–43. A jackaroo and salesman before joining the Royal Australian Air Force in 1940, Gibbes flew with No. 3 Squadron in the Middle East, and became commanding officer during the Western Desert Campaign. His leadership and fighting skills earned him the Distinguished Service Order and the Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar. Posted to the South West Pacific in 1944, he served with No. 80 Wing of the Australian First Tactical Air Force, and took part in the "Morotai Mutiny" of April 1945. After the war he spent many years in New Guinea developing local industry, for which he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2004. He continued to fly until he was 85. (Full article...)

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May 7

Harta Berdarah (Bloody Treasure) is a 1940 action film from the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). Directed by the recently hired Rd Ariffien and R Hu for Union Films, the film was written by the journalist Saeroen, who attempted to draw educated Native Indonesian audiences. Starring Zonder and Soelastri, it tells of a young man who convinces a stingy hadji to be more charitable and, in the process, falls in love with the man's daughter. Released during Eid al-Fitr (a Muslim holiday marking the end of Ramadan), Harta Berdarah was advertised as a "magnificent Indonesian action hit". It used Zonder's silat martial arts skills and Soelastri's fame as a traditional keroncong singer to draw audiences. Reviews for the work were positive, with praise focused on its acting and story. Although Harta Berdarah was screened as late as 1944, as with most contemporary productions it is now likely lost. (Full article...)

Part of the Union Films featured topic.

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May 8

Myst III: Exile is the third title in the Myst series of graphic adventure puzzle video games, after Myst and Riven. Exile was developed by Presto Studios and published by Ubi Soft. The game was released on four compact discs for both Mac OS and Microsoft Windows on May 8, 2001; versions for the Xbox and PlayStation 2 were released in late 2002. As in previous games, the player assumes the role of a friend of Atrus, a member of the D'ni race. Atrus can create links to other worlds, called Ages, by writing descriptive books. In Exile, Atrus has created a link for the D'ni to rebuild their civilization. When the book is stolen, the player pursues the thief to reclaim it. Presto Studios sought to develop a diverse and logical approach to puzzles and Ages, and worked to make the villain sympathetically multifaceted. Despite selling more than one million copies in the first year of release, Exile fared worse commercially than Myst and Riven, which had sold more than 10 million copies combined. (Full article...)

Part of the Myst series featured topic.

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May 9

The Maine Centennial half dollar is a commemorative coin struck in 1920 by the United States Bureau of the Mint. It was sculpted by Anthony de Francisci, following sketches by an unknown artist from the U.S. state of Maine. Officials in Maine wanted a commemorative half dollar to circulate as an advertisement for the centennial of the state's admission to the Union, and of the planned celebrations. Congress passed authorizing legislation without opposition. The Commission of Fine Arts urged changes in the design, but Maine officials insisted. The state decided to sell the coins at $1, double face value. Fifty thousand pieces, half the authorized mintage, were struck for release to the public, though they were issued too late to be sold at the centennial celebrations in Portland. The coins sold out, but this took at least until 1929. They list for hundreds to thousands of dollars, depending on condition. (Full article...)

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May 10

Roxann Dawson

"Faces" is an episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager. First broadcast by UPN in May 1995, it was developed from a story by Jonathan Glassner and Kenneth Biller. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet and Maquis crew of the starship USS Voyager after they are stranded in the Delta Quadrant, far from the rest of the Federation. In this episode, a Vidiian scientist named Sulan (Brian Markinson) captures and performs medical experiments on the half-Klingon, half-human B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson). He creates two clones, human Torres and Klingon Torres, to serve as test subjects; these were treated as two separate characters during the development and filming of the episode. The episode was developed as a character study to further explore Torres' internal struggle with her identity. Dawson (pictured) said that it deepened her understanding of the character and strengthened her acting. (Full article...)

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May 11

Hypothetical depiction

Paranthodon was a stegosaurian dinosaur that lived in present-day South Africa between 139 and 131 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous. Discovered in 1845, it was one of the first stegosaurians found. The only remains of the genus, a partial skull, isolated teeth, and fragments of vertebrae, were found in the Kirkwood Formation. British paleontologist Richard Owen initially identified the fragments as those of the pareiasaur Anthodon. After remaining untouched for years in the British Museum of Natural History, the partial skull was identified by South African paleontologist Robert Broom as belonging to a different genus; he named the specimen Palaeoscincus africanus. Several years later, Hungarian paleontologist Franz Nopcsa, unaware of Broom's new name, similarly concluded that it represented a new taxon, and named it Paranthodon owenii. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek para (near) with the genus name Anthodon, to represent the initial referral of the remains. (Full article...)

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May 12

Jules Massenet (12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas. The two most frequently staged are Manon (1884) and Werther (1892). After winning the country's top prize in music, the Prix de Rome, in 1863, he composed prolifically in many genres. He wrote more than 40 stage works in a wide variety of styles, from opéra-comique to grand-scale depictions of classical myths, romantic comedies, and lyric dramas. He also composed oratorios, ballets, cantatas, orchestral works, incidental music, piano pieces, and songs. Massenet had a good sense of the theatre and of what would succeed with the Parisian public, and he became the most popular composer of opera in France in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Although critics do not rank him among operatic geniuses such as Mozart, Verdi and Wagner, his operas are now widely accepted as well-crafted and intelligent products of the Belle Époque. (Full article...)

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May 13

Interstate 94 (I-94) in Michigan is a part of the U.S. Interstate Highway System that runs east from the Indiana state line near Lake Michigan through the southern Lower Peninsula to Detroit, then northeast to Port Huron. I-94 extends west to Billings, Montana. In Michigan, it is a state trunkline highway serving Benton Harbor, St. Joseph, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Jackson, Ann Arbor, and The Thumb, terminating on the Blue Water Bridge at the Canadian border. By 1960, I-94 was completed from New Buffalo to Detroit, and most of the rest of the route was completed in the 1960s. The highway has one auxiliary route in Michigan, I-194 in Battle Creek, and eight business routes. In 1987, a plane crashed on the freeway during take-off from the airport in Detroit. The routing of I-94 contains the first full freeway-to-freeway interchange in the United States, and comprises the first complete border-to-border toll-free freeway in a U.S. state. (Full article...)

Part of the Interstate Highways in Michigan featured topic.

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May 14

Faryl Smith (born 1995) is a British soprano who rose to fame after competing on the second series of the ITV television show Britain's Got Talent in 2008. Although she was a favourite to win after the second round, and received praise throughout the competition, she finished outside the top three in the live final. Smith signed a contract with Universal Classics and Jazz for a £2.3 million advance in December 2008, the largest ever granted to a schoolgirl. Her debut album, Faryl, was released in March 2009 and became the fastest-selling solo classical album in British chart history, selling 29,200 copies in the first week. Thanks to the album's success, Smith was nominated for two Classical BRIT awards, becoming the youngest ever double nominee. Her second album, and last with Universal, was Wonderland, which was released in November 2009. Since the end of her contract with Universal, Smith has continued to perform and record music. (Full article...)

Part of the Faryl Smith featured topic.

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May 15

Tropical Depression Nineteen-E was a weak tropical cyclone that caused flooding in northwestern Mexico and the United States during the 2018 Pacific hurricane season. By September 7, 2018, the storm had entered the northeastern Pacific Ocean, after crossing Central America. Despite disorganization and its close proximity to land, the meandering disturbance developed into a tropical depression in the Gulf of California on September 19, with peak maximum sustained winds reported as 35 mph (55 km/h). Although the storm quickly deteriorated after landfall, thirteen people were killed in Chihuahua, Sinaloa, and Sonora, and recorded agricultural losses exceeded US$40 million. Overall, the storm affected eleven Mexican states, with torrential rainfall and flooding in Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, and Sonora. Remnant moisture from Nineteen-E led to severe flooding in the U.S. states of Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, with damage estimates totalling about $250 million. (Full article...)

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May 16

William H. Seward (May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869. A determined opponent of the spread of slavery in the years leading up to the Civil War, he was a dominant figure in the Republican Party in its formative years. While Governor of New York, he signed laws that advanced the rights of black residents. He was elected as a U.S. Senator in 1849, serving two six-year terms. Though he was the favorite for the Republican presidential nomination in 1860, delegates sought a moderate on the slavery question, choosing Abraham Lincoln. As Secretary of State, his firm stance against foreign intervention helped deter the United Kingdom and France from entering the conflict. He was a target of the 1865 assassination plot that killed Lincoln, and was seriously wounded by conspirator Lewis Powell. Seward remained at his post through the presidency of Andrew Johnson, during which he negotiated the Alaska Purchase in 1867. (Full article...)

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May 17

Effigy in Gloucester Cathedral

Edward II (1284–1327) was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. He married Isabella, the daughter of the powerful King Philip IV of France, in 1308. Edward had a close and controversial relationship with Piers Gaveston, who had joined his household in 1300. Gaveston's arrogance and power as Edward's favourite provoked discontent among both the barons and the French royal family, and Edward was forced to exile him. On Gaveston's return, the barons pressured the king into agreeing to wide-ranging reforms, called the Ordinances of 1311. A group of barons seized and executed Gaveston in 1312, beginning several years of armed confrontation. English forces were pushed back in Scotland, where Edward was decisively defeated by Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. After the exiled Roger Mortimer invaded England with a small army in 1326, Edward's regime collapsed and he relinquished his crown in favour of his 14-year-old son, Edward III. (Full article...)

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May 18

Ludwigsburg Palace is a 452-room palace complex of 18 buildings in Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the largest palatial estate in the country and has been called the "Versailles of Swabia". Eberhard Louis, Duke of Württemberg, began construction of the palace in 1704. The son of his successor, Charles Eugene, completed it and refurbished parts in the Rococo style, especially its theatre. Charles Eugene abandoned the palace in 1775, and it began a decline until the future Duke, and then King, Frederick moved in in 1795. As King, Frederick, and his Queen, Charlotte, renovated the entirety of the palace in the Neoclassical style. The palace was opened to the public in 1918. It underwent periods of restoration, including for its tricentenary in 2004. It has hosted the Ludwigsburg Festival annually since 1947. The palace is surrounded by gardens named Blooming Baroque (Blühendes Barock), laid out in 1954 as they might have appeared in 1800. (Full article...)

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May 19

Joe Sestak

In the United States Senate Democratic primary election in Pennsylvania on May 18, 2010, Congressman Joe Sestak (pictured) defeated incumbent Arlen Specter, who had been in the Senate for five terms as a Republican. Just before the primary campaign, Specter switched to the Democratic Party in anticipation of a difficult primary challenge by Pat Toomey. Sestak was ultimately defeated by Toomey in the general election. Political observers and journalists described the race between Specter and Sestak as one of the bitterest and most watched of all the 2010 primary elections. Specter led Sestak by more than 20 percentage points for most of the race, but this lead narrowed in the final month of the campaign, when Sestak concentrated his funds and efforts on television commercials questioning Specter's Democratic credentials. Political observers said that Sestak's commercials and a national swing in momentum against incumbents harmed Specter's chances. (Full article...)

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May 20

Homer Davenport (1867–1912) was a political cartoonist and writer from the United States. He is known for drawings that satirized figures of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, especially Ohio Senator Mark Hanna. Although Davenport had no formal art training, he became one of the highest paid political cartoonists in the world. He was also one of the first major American breeders of Arabian horses and one of the founders of the Arabian Horse Club of America. In 1893 he studied and drew the Arabian horses exhibited at the World's Columbian Exposition. In 1904 he drew a favorable cartoon of President Theodore Roosevelt that boosted Roosevelt's election campaign. The president in turn helped Davenport in 1906 when the cartoonist required diplomatic permission to travel abroad in his quest to purchase pure desert-bred Arabian horses. The 27 horses Davenport purchased and brought to America had a lasting impact on Arabian horse breeding. (Full article...)

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May 21

Kim Deal

Title TK is the third studio album by American alternative rock band the Breeders, released in May 2002 on 4AD. The album, whose name means "title to come", generated three singles: "Off You", "Huffer", and "Son of Three"; it reached the top 100 in France, Germany, the UK, and Australia. After multiple changes in personnel and aborted recording attempts in the mid-to-late 1990s, singer and songwriter Kim Deal (pictured) began sessions with engineer Steve Albini in 1999. Musicians Mando Lopez, Richard Presley, and Jose Medeles, as well as former member Kelley Deal—Kim’s sister—joined the band, who continued recording with Albini in 2001 in Chicago. Two other songs were recorded with engineers Andrew Alekel and Mark Arnold in Los Angeles. The album has received generally positive reviews from critics, who have noted its inclusion of unexpected sounds, minimal instrumentation, and unconventional, sometimes dark lyrics. (Full article...)

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May 22

Cortinarius violaceus, the violet webcap, is a fungus found predominantly in conifer forests in North America and deciduous forests in Europe. The fruit bodies are dark purple mushrooms with caps up to 15 cm (6 in) across, sporting gills underneath. The stalk measures 6 to 12 centimetres (2+1⁄3 to 4+2⁄3 in) by 1 to 2 centimetres (3⁄8 to 3⁄4 in), sometimes with a thicker base. The dark flesh has a smell reminiscent of cedar wood. Though they are edible, the mushrooms' appearance is more distinctive than their taste. The species forms symbiotic (mycorrhizal) relationships with the roots of various plants. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, and has undergone several name changes. Other populations once identified as C. violaceus or close to that species have now been described as new and separate species, such as C. palatinus, C. neotropicus, C. altissimus, C. kioloensis and C. hallowellensis. (Full article...)

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May 23

James and Margaret Reed,
members of the Donner Party

The Donner Party was a group of American pioneers who set out for California in a wagon train. Delayed by a series of mishaps, they were snowbound in the Sierra Nevada mountain range from November 1846 to February 1847. Some of the emigrants resorted to cannibalism to survive, eating the bodies of those who had succumbed to starvation and sickness. The journey west usually took between four and six months, but the Donner Party had been slowed by following a new route called the Hastings Cutoff across Utah's Wasatch Mountains and the Great Salt Lake Desert. They lost many cattle and wagons in the rugged terrain, and divisions formed within the group. Their food supplies ran low after they became trapped by an early, heavy snowfall high in the mountains. In mid-December some of the group set out on foot and were able to obtain help. Of the 87 members of the party, 48 survived to reach California. Historians have described the episode as one of the most spectacular tragedies in California history. (Full article...)

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May 24

Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, 6.2 miles (10.0 km) east of Manchester. "Ashton", deriving from Old English for "settlement by ash trees", probably dates from the Anglo-Saxon period. In the Middle Ages, Ashton-under-Lyne was a parish and township and Ashton Old Hall was held by the de Asshetons, lords of the manor. Granted a Royal Charter in 1414, the manor spanned a rural area of marshland, moorland, villages and hamlets. By the mid-19th century Ashton had emerged as an important mill town at a convergence of newly constructed canals and railways. The transport network allowed for an economic boom in cotton spinning, weaving, and coal mining, which led to the granting of municipal borough status in 1847. (Full article...)

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May 25

William Crawford

The Crawford expedition was a campaign on the western front of the American Revolutionary War, and one of the final operations of the conflict. Led by Colonel William Crawford (pictured), the campaign began May 25, 1782. Its goal was to destroy American Indian towns along the Sandusky River in the Ohio Country, with the hope of ending attacks on American settlers. The expedition was one in a long series of raids that both sides had conducted against enemy settlements throughout the war. Crawford led about 500 volunteer militiamen, mostly from Pennsylvania. The Indians and their British allies from Detroit gathered a force and surrounded the Americans. Seventy were killed, including Crawford, who was tortured and executed, probably in retaliation for the Gnadenhutten massacre two months earlier. Indian and British losses were minimal, and the rest of the Americans escaped and found their way back to Pennsylvania. (Full article...)

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May 26

The history of Aston Villa Football Club since 1961 includes a European Cup victory in 1982 and a loss in the 2018 English Football League Championship play-off Final. After a change of ownership and management for the club and successive relegations, they returned in the 1971–72 season to the Second Division as champions with a record 70 points. In 1974 Ron Saunders was appointed manager, and by 1975 he had led the club back into the First Division and into European competition. The club won the league in the 1980–81 season, and the European Cup final in the next season. They were one of the founding members of the Premier League in 1992, and finished runners-up to Manchester United in the inaugural season. They reached the FA Cup Final for the first time since 1957 in 2000. The arrival of a new manager and Randy Lerner as owner in 2006 marked the start of sweeping changes throughout the club. After several years of narrowly avoiding the drop, Villa were relegated at the end of the 2015–16 season. (Full article...)

Part of the Aston Villa F.C. featured topic.

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May 27

Arthur Mold (27 May 1863 – 29 April 1921) was an English professional cricketer. He began his cricket career playing for Banbury and Northamptonshire in the mid-1880s, then played first-class cricket for Lancashire as a fast bowler between 1889 and 1901. A Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1892, he was selected for England in three Test matches in 1893. Mold was one of the most effective bowlers in England during the 1890s but his career was overshadowed by controversy over his bowling action; many critics thought he threw rather than bowled the ball. He was penalised in 1900 and 1901 by the umpire Jim Phillips, who had targeted several prominent bowlers with dubious bowling actions. Although Mold took 1,673 wickets in first-class matches, many commentators viewed his achievements as tainted. After his departure from the game, throwing ceased to be a concern in English cricket for 50 years. (Full article...)

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May 28

The black stork (Ciconia nigra) is a large bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae. Measuring on average 95 to 100 cm (37 to 39 in) from beak tip to end of tail with a 145-to-155 cm (57-to-61 in) wingspan, the adult black stork has mainly black plumage, with white underparts, long red legs and a long pointed red beak. A widespread, but uncommon, species, it breeds in scattered locations across Europe (predominantly in Spain, and central and eastern Europe) and Asia. It is a long-distance migrant, with European populations wintering in tropical Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asian populations in the Indian subcontinent. Unlike the closely related white stork, the black stork is a shy and wary species. It is seen singly or in pairs, usually in marshy areas, rivers or inland waters. It feeds on amphibians, small fish and insects, generally wading slowly in shallow water to stalk its prey. (Full article...)

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May 29

New York State Route 74 and Vermont Route 74 (NY 74 and VT 74) are two state highways connected by a cable ferry in the northeastern United States. Together they extend 34 miles (55 km) through Essex County, New York, and Addison County, Vermont. The connecting ferry route, predating both NY 74 and VT 74, began operation in 1759. The ferry operation upgraded to a cable system in 1946. NY 74 begins at exit 28 off Interstate 87 in the hamlet of Severance in the Adirondack Mountains region of northern New York State. It extends 20.44 miles (32.89 km) to the western shore of Lake Champlain in Ticonderoga. There, the seasonal Fort Ticonderoga – Larrabees Point Ferry carries cars across the state border to VT 74, which starts at the lake's eastern shore and terminates 13.26 miles (21.34 km) later at a junction with VT 30 in the town of Cornwall. Segments of NY 74 follow the alignment of the historic Ticonderoga and Schroon Turnpike, a privately owned highway chartered in 1832. (Full article...)

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May 30

Scarlett Johansson (born 1984) is an American actress and singer. Her performance in Lost in Translation (2003) won her a BAFTA Award for Best Actress. She was nominated for Golden Globe Awards for this film and for playing a 17th-century housemaid in Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003), an estranged teenager in the drama A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004), and a seductress in the psychological thriller Match Point (2005). Her albums Anywhere I Lay My Head (2008) and Break Up (2009) charted on the Billboard 200. In 2010, Johansson debuted on Broadway in a revival of A View from the Bridge, which won her a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress. Later that year, she began portraying Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She voiced an intelligent computer operating system in the 2013 comedy-drama Her, played an alien in the 2013 science fiction film Under the Skin and a woman with psychokinetic abilities in the 2014 science fiction action film Lucy. She was the highest-grossing actress of 2016, and is also the highest-grossing actress of all time in North America in nominal dollar terms. (Full article...)

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May 31

Rihanna

Good Girl Gone Bad is the third studio album by Barbadian singer Rihanna, released on May 31, 2007, by Def Jam Recordings and SRP Records. Inspired by Brandy Norwood's album Afrodisiac (2004), Good Girl Gone Bad is a pop, dance-pop and R&B album with 1980s influences. It marks a departure from the Caribbean sound of Rihanna's previous releases. Critics gave it generally positive reviews, praising its composition and Rihanna's new musical direction, though some criticized the lyrics. The album received seven Grammy Award nominations at the 2008 ceremony; the single "Umbrella" won in the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration category, and later came in at number 412 on Rolling Stone's updated 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart, reached number one in Canada, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, and had sold over 9 million copies worldwide as of 2017. It spawned five singles, including "Umbrella" and "Don't Stop the Music". (Full article...)

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