Wikipedia:Today's featured article/November 2011

Today's featured article archive

November 1

The 1991 Perfect Storm was a powerful storm that lashed the East Coast of the United States for several days with 30 ft (9 m) waves. The initial area of low pressure developed off Atlantic Canada on October 28 and moved westward toward New England. It absorbed Hurricane Grace to its south and intensified significantly. The center remained offshore, although the high waves caused over $200 million in damage (1991 USD) and 13 deaths. More than 38,000 people were left without power, and along the coast high waves inundated roads and buildings. In portions of New England, damage was worse than Hurricane Bob had caused two months prior. Aside from tidal flooding along rivers, the storm's effects were primarily concentrated along the coast. In the middle of the storm, the Andrea Gail sank, killing its crew of six and inspiring a book and later a movie. It later received the name "the Perfect Storm" after a conversation between Boston National Weather Service forecaster Robert Case and author Sebastian Junger. After moving over the Gulf Stream, the system evolved into a small hurricane that dissipated after striking Nova Scotia. (more...)

Recently featured: The Human Centipede (First Sequence) – Manchester United F.C. – Lester Brain

November 2

Deinosuchus is an extinct relative of the alligator that lived 80 to 73 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period. The name is derived from the Greek δεινός/deinos ("terrible") and σουχος/soukhos ("crocodile"). Although Deinosuchus was far larger than any modern crocodile or alligator—measuring up to 12 m (40 ft) and weighing up to 8.5 metric tons (9.4 short tons)—its overall appearance was fairly similar to its smaller relatives. It had large, robust teeth that were built for crushing, and its back was covered with thick semispherical osteoderms. One study indicates that Deinosuchus may have lived for up to 50 years, growing at a similar rate to that of modern crocodilians, but maintaining this growth over a much longer period of time. Deinosuchus fossils have been found in ten U.S. states, as well as northern Mexico. It lived on both sides of the Western Interior Seaway, and was an opportunistic apex predator in the coastal regions of eastern North America. Deinosuchus reached its largest size in its western habitat, but the eastern populations were far more abundant. Deinosuchus was probably capable of killing and eating large dinosaurs. It may have also fed upon sea turtles, fish, and other aquatic and terrestrial prey. (more...)

Recently featured: 1991 Perfect Storm – The Human Centipede (First Sequence) – Manchester United F.C.

November 3

L'ange de Nisida (The Angel of Nisida) is an opera semiseria in four acts by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti (pictured), from a libretto by Alphonse Royer and Gustave Vaëz. Parts of the libretto are considered analogous with the libretto for Giovanni Pacini's Adelaide e Comingio, and the final scene is based on the François-Thomas-Marie de Baculard d'Arnaud play Les Amants malheureux, ou le comte de Comminges. Donizetti worked on the opera in the autumn of 1839—its final page is dated 27 December 1839. Because the subject matter involved the mistress of a Neapolitan king, and may thus have caused difficulties with the Italian censors, Donizetti decided that the opera should be presented in France. However, the theater company Donizetti contracted went bankrupt. L'ange was never performed and was reworked as La favorite in September 1840. (more...)

Recently featured: Deinosuchus – 1991 Perfect Storm – The Human Centipede (First Sequence)

November 4

The Battle of Lipantitlán was fought along the Nueces River on November 4, 1835, between the Mexican Army and Texian insurgents, as part of the Texas Revolution. After the Texian victory at the Battle of Goliad, only two Mexican garrisons remained in Texas, Fort Lipantitlán near San Patricio and the Alamo Mission at San Antonio de Béxar. The commander of Fort Lipantitlán, Nicolás Rodríguez, had been ordered to harass the Texian troops at Goliad. Rodríguez took the bulk of his men on an expedition; while they were gone, Texian Captain Ira Westover's force arrived in San Patricio. On November 3, a local man persuaded the Mexican garrison to surrender, and the following day the Texians dismantled the fort. Rodríguez returned as the Texians were crossing the swollen Nueces River to return to Goliad. The Mexican soldiers attacked, but the longer range of the Texians' rifles soon forced them to retreat. The Texians now had full control of the Texas Gulf Coast, which meant that the troops stationed at San Antonio de Béxar could receive reinforcements and supplies only overland. Historian Bill Groneman believes that this contributed to the eventual Mexican defeat at the siege of Béxar, which expelled all Mexican troops from Texas. (more...)

Recently featured: L'ange de Nisida – Deinosuchus – 1991 Perfect Storm

November 5

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a 2007 first-person shooter video game, developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii. A separate handheld game was made separately for the Nintendo DS. The game was released in North America, Australia, and Europe in November 2007 for video game consoles and Windows. It was released for the Mac in September 2008, then released for the Wii in November 2009, given the name Reflex Edition. It is the fourth installment in the Call of Duty video game series, excluding expansion packs, and is the first in the Modern Warfare line of the franchise, followed by a direct sequel, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 as well as the first game in the series to have a Mature rating. The game breaks away from the World War II setting of previous games in the series and is instead set in modern times. Call of Duty 4 was in development for two years, and it uses a proprietary game engine. On September 10, 2009, it was re-released in Japan by Square-Enix. (more...)

Recently featured: Battle of Lipantitlán – L'ange de Nisida – Deinosuchus

November 6

The Rova of Antananarivo is a royal palace complex in the central highlands of Madagascar. It served as the residence of the sovereigns of the Kingdom of Imerina from the 17th to the 19th century. The Rova occupies the peak of Analamanga hill in the capital city of Antananarivo. Merina king Andrianjaka (ruled 1610 to 1630) is believed to have captured the hill from a Vazimba king and erected the site's first fortified royal structure. Successive Merina sovereigns continued to rule from the Rova until the fall of the monarchy in 1896. The largest palace within the complex, called Manjakamiadana, was built from 1839 to 1841 for Queen Ranavalona I. A fire on the night of 6 November 1995 destroyed or damaged all the structures within the Rova complex shortly before it was due to be inscribed on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Reconstruction of the Manjakamiadana exterior is scheduled for completion in 2011. (more...)

Recently featured: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare – Battle of Lipantitlán – L'ange de Nisida

November 7

The Battle of Tippecanoe was fought on November 7, 1811, between U.S. forces led by Governor William Henry Harrison and warriors of a Native American confederation led by Shawnee brothers Tenskwatawa (pictured) and Tecumseh. While Tecumseh was away recruiting allies, Harrison marched with about 1,000 men to disperse the confederation's headquarters at Prophetstown, near the confluence of the Tippecanoe and Wabash Rivers in what is now the U.S. state of Indiana. The outnumbered warriors from Prophetstown launched a surprise attack, but Harrison's army prevailed. Public opinion in the United States blamed the conflict on British interference, a suspicion that served as a catalyst to the War of 1812. When the U.S. declared war on Great Britain in June 1812, Tecumseh's confederacy, now allied with the British, initiated its own war against the United States. (more...)

Recently featured: Rova of Antananarivo – Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare – Battle of Lipantitlán

November 8

The Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of the executive branch of government in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The Kentucky Constitution empowers the governor to grant pardons, veto legislation, and call the legislature into session. He or she serves as commander-in-chief of the Kentucky National Guard and is charged with enforcing the state's laws. The officeholder is given broad authority to make appointments to the cabinets and departments of the executive branch, limited somewhat by the adoption of a merit system in 1960. Fifty-six men and one woman have held the office. The governor's term is four years in length, and since 1992, incumbents have been able to seek re-election once before becoming ineligible for four years. Kentucky is one of five U.S. states that hold gubernatorial elections in odd-numbered years; the others are Louisiana, Mississippi, Virginia, and New Jersey. The incumbent governor, Democrat Steve Beshear, is seeking re-election on November 8, 2011. His opponent is Republican David L. Williams, who is currently president of the state senate. (more...)

Recently featured: Battle of Tippecanoe – Rova of Antananarivo – Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

November 9

Edward VII (1841–1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 1901 until his death. Before his accession to the throne, he held the title of Prince of Wales for longer than anyone else in British history. During the long reign of his mother, Queen Victoria, he was largely excluded from political power and came to personify the fashionable, leisured elite. The Edwardian era, which covered Edward's reign and was named after him, coincided with the start of a new century and heralded significant changes in technology and society, including powered flight and the rise of socialism. Edward played a role in the modernisation of the British Home Fleet, the reform of the Army Medical Services, and the reorganisation of the British army after the Second Boer War. He fostered good relations between Britain and other European countries, but his relationship with his nephew, Wilhelm II of Germany, was poor. Edward presciently suspected that Wilhelm would precipitate a war, and four years after Edward's death, World War I brought an end to the Edwardian way of life. (more...)

Recently featured: Governor of Kentucky – Battle of Tippecanoe – Rova of Antananarivo

November 10

The SS Edmund Fitzgerald was a 729-foot (222 m) Great Lakes freighter that made headlines after sinking in Lake Superior in a massive storm on November 10, 1975, with near hurricane-force winds and 35-foot (11 m) waves. The Fitzgerald suddenly sank approximately 17 miles (27 km) from the entrance to Whitefish Bay, at a depth of 530 feet (160 m). Her crew of 29 perished without sending any distress signals, and no bodies were recovered; she is the largest boat to have sunk in the Great Lakes. The Fitzgerald carried taconite from mines near Duluth, Minnesota, to iron works in Detroit, Toledo and other ports. Many theories, books, studies and expeditions have examined the cause of the sinking. Her sinking is one of the most well-known disasters in the history of Great Lakes shipping and is the subject of Gordon Lightfoot's 1976 hit song, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald". (more...)

Recently featured: Edward VII – Governor of Kentucky – Battle of Tippecanoe

November 11

Harry Cobby (1894–1955) was the leading fighter ace of the Australian Flying Corps during World War I. A bank clerk when war broke out, he was prevented by his employer from enlisting in the military until 1916. After flying training, he was posted to the Western Front with No. 4 Squadron AFC. In less than a year of combat he achieved 29 victories, all flying the Sopwith Camel. Acclaimed a national hero, Cobby transferred to the newly formed Royal Australian Air Force in 1921. He commanded No. 1 Squadron and RAAF Station Richmond, before leaving to join the Civil Aviation Board in 1936. Re-joining the RAAF at the outbreak of World War II, Cobby was awarded the George Medal in 1943 for rescuing fellow survivors of an aircraft crash. The following year he was appointed Air Officer Commanding No. 10 Operational Group, but was relieved of his post in the wake of the "Morotai Mutiny" of April 1945. Retiring from the RAAF in 1946, Cobby served with the Department of Civil Aviation until his death on Armistice Day in 1955. (more...)

Recently featured: SS Edmund Fitzgerald – Edward VII – Governor of Kentucky

November 12

Tumbler Ridge is a small town in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in northeastern British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Peace River Regional District. The municipality, with its population of 2,454 people, incorporates a townsite and a large area of mostly Crown Land. The housing and municipal infrastructure were built simultaneously in 1981 by the provincial government to service the coal industry. In 1981, a consortium of Japanese steel mills agreed to purchase 100 million tonnes of coal from two mining companies that were to operate the Quintette mine and the Bullmoose mine. Declining global coal prices after 1981, and weakening Asian markets in the late 1990s, made the town's future uncertain. When price reductions were forced onto the mines, the Quintette mine was closed in 2000 and the town lost about half its population. Since 2000 rising coal prices have led to the opening of new mines. After dinosaur footprints, fossils, and bones were discovered in the municipality, the Peace Region Paleontology Research Centre opened in 2003. Economic diversification has also occurred with oil and gas exploration, forestry, and recreational tourism. Nearby recreational destinations include numerous trails, mountains, waterfalls, snowmobiling areas and provincial parks. (more...)

Recently featured: Harry Cobby – SS Edmund Fitzgerald – Edward VII

November 13

Astonishing Stories was an American pulp science fiction magazine, published by Popular Publications between 1940 and 1943. The magazine's first editor was Frederik Pohl, who also edited a companion publication, Super Science Stories. The budget for Astonishing Stories was very low, which made it difficult to acquire good fiction, but through his membership of the Futurians, a group of young science fiction fans and aspiring writers, Pohl was able to find material to fill the early issues. The magazine was successful, and Pohl was able to increase his pay rates slightly within a year. He managed to obtain stories by writers who subsequently became very well known, such as Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein. After Pohl entered the army in early 1943, wartime paper shortages led Popular to cease publication of Astonishing Stories. The final issue was dated April of that year. The magazine was never regarded as one of the leading titles of the genre, but despite the low budget it published some well-received material. Science fiction critic Peter Nicholls commented that "its stories were surprisingly good considering how little was paid for them", and this view has been echoed by other historians of the field. (more...)

Recently featured: Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia – Harry Cobby – SS Edmund Fitzgerald

November 14

George Koval (1913–2006) was a Soviet intelligence officer. According to Russian sources, Koval's infiltration of the Manhattan Project as a Soviet Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) agent "drastically reduced the amount of time it took for Russia to develop nuclear weapons". Koval was born to Jewish immigrants in Sioux City, Iowa. Shortly after reaching adulthood he traveled with his parents to the Soviet Union to settle in the Jewish Autonomous Region near the Chinese border. Koval was recruited by the GRU, trained, and assigned the code name DELMAR. He returned to the United States in 1940 and was drafted into the US Army in early 1943. Koval worked at atomic research laboratories and, according to the Russian government, relayed back to the Soviet Union information about the production processes and volumes of the polonium, plutonium, and uranium used in American atomic weaponry, in addition to descriptions of the weapon production sites. After the war, Koval left on a European vacation but never returned to the United States. In 2007 Russian President Vladimir Putin posthumously awarded Koval the Hero of the Russian Federation decoration for "his courage and heroism while carrying out special missions". (more...)

Recently featured: Astonishing Stories – Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia – Harry Cobby

November 15

The Lord of the Rings is a 1978 American fantasy film directed by Ralph Bakshi. It combines animation and live action footage which is rotoscoped to give it a look more consistent with the rest of the movie. It is an adaptation of the first half of The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the film follows a group of hobbits, elves, men, dwarves and wizards who form a fellowship. They embark on a quest to destroy the One Ring made by the Dark Lord Sauron, and ensure his destruction. The film features the voices of William Squire, John Hurt, Michael Graham Cox and Anthony Daniels of Star Wars fame. The screenplay was written by Peter S. Beagle, based on an earlier draft by Chris Conkling. Director Ralph Bakshi encountered Tolkien's writing early in his career, and had made several attempts to produce The Lord of the Rings as an animated film before being given funding by producer Saul Zaentz and distributor United Artists. Although the film was a financial success, it received a mixed reaction from critics, and the original distributors refused to fund a sequel to cover the remainder of the story. However, the film sparked new interest in Tolkien's writing, inspiring the production of several further adaptations of the story. (more...)

Recently featured: George Koval – Astonishing Stories – Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia

November 16

The Ming Dynasty was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644. The Ming was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic Han Chinese. Ming rule saw the construction of a vast navy and a standing army of one million troops. There were enormous construction projects, including the restoration of the Grand Canal and the Great Wall (pictured) and the establishment of the Forbidden City in Beijing. Emperor Hongwu's rebuilding of China's agricultural base and strengthening of communication routes through the militarized courier system had the unintended effect of creating a vast agricultural surplus that could be sold at burgeoning markets located along courier routes. By the 16th century, China became involved in a new global trade of goods, plants, animals, and food crops known as the Columbian Exchange. Trade with European powers and the Japanese brought in massive amounts of silver, which then replaced copper and paper banknotes as the common medium of exchange in China. During the last decades of the Ming the flow of silver into China was greatly diminished, thereby undermining the entire Ming economy. The ensuing breakdown of authority and people's livelihoods allowed rebel leaders such as Li Zicheng to challenge Ming authority. (more...)

Recently featured: The Lord of the Rings – George Koval – Astonishing Stories

November 17

William de St-Calais was a medieval Norman monk, abbot of the abbey of St. Vincent in Le Mans in Maine, who was nominated as Bishop of Durham in 1080 by King William I of England. During his term as bishop, St-Calais replaced the canons of his cathedral chapter with monks, and began the construction of Durham Cathedral. In addition to his ecclesiastical duties, he served as a commissioner for the Domesday Book. He was also a councillor and advisor to both King William I and his son, King William II, known as William Rufus. Following William Rufus' accession to the throne in 1087, St-Calais was considered by scholars to be the new king's chief advisor. However, when the king's uncle, Odo of Bayeux, raised a rebellion against the king in 1088, St-Calais was implicated in the revolt. Imprisoned briefly, St-Calais was allowed to go into exile in Normandy, where he became a leading advisor to Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy. By 1091, St-Calais had returned to England and regained royal favour. In England, St-Calais once more became a leading advisor to the king. In 1093 he negotiated with Anselm, Abbot of Bec, concerning Anselm's becoming Archbishop of Canterbury; in 1095 it was St-Calais who prosecuted the royal case against Anselm after he had become archbishop. Before his death in 1096, he had made his peace with Anselm, who blessed and consoled St-Calais on his deathbed. (more...)

Recently featured: Ming Dynasty – The Lord of the Rings – George Koval

November 18

The Battle of Vukovar was an 87-day siege of the Croatian town of Vukovar by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and paramilitaries from Serbia, between August and November 1991. In 1990, Croatian Serb separatists launched an armed uprising, supported by Serbian President Slobodan Milošević, and seized control of Serb-populated areas of Croatia. The JNA intervened in favour of the Croatian Serbs and launched an offensive in August 1991 against Croatian government-held territory. Vukovar was defended by around 1,800 lightly armed Croatian soldiers and civilian volunteers, against 36,000 JNA soldiers and Serbian paramilitaries equipped with heavy armour and artillery. When the town fell on 18 November 1991 after prolonged fighting, hundreds were massacred by Serb forces and the town's non-Serb population was expelled. Vukovar was peacefully reintegrated into Croatia in 1998 after the end of the Croatian War of Independence and has since been rebuilt, but deep ethnic divisions remain. Several Serb military and political officials, including Milošević, were later indicted and in some cases jailed for war crimes committed during and after the battle. (more...)

Recently featured: William de St-Calais – Ming Dynasty – The Lord of the Rings

November 19

Achtung Baby is the seventh studio album by rock band U2. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and was released on 19 November 1991. Stung by the criticism of their 1988 release Rattle and Hum, U2 shifted their musical direction to incorporate influences from alternative rock, industrial music, and electronic dance music into their sound. Thematically, the album is darker, more introspective, and more flippant than their previous work. Recording began at Berlin's Hansa Studios in October 1990, but the sessions were fraught with conflict, as the band argued over the direction and quality of their music. After nearly breaking up, they made a breakthrough with the improvisation of the song "One". Morale improved during the subsequent recording sessions in Dublin in 1991. Achtung Baby received favourable reviews and went to number one in several countries. It spawned five hit singles, including "One", "Mysterious Ways", and "The Fly". The album has sold 18 million copies, and in 1993, it won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. The record and the multimedia-intensive Zoo TV Tour were central to U2's 1990s reinvention. Achtung Baby has regularly appeared on critics' lists of the greatest albums of all time. (more...)

Recently featured: Battle of Vukovar – William de St-Calais – Ming Dynasty

November 20

M-6 is a 19.7-mile (31.7 km) freeway in Michigan that serves portions of southern Kent and eastern Ottawa counties south of Grand Rapids. Initially opened to traffic on November 20, 2001, the roadway connects Interstate 196 on the west with Interstate 96 on the east while running through several townships on the south side of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area. Each end is in a rural area while the central section has suburban development along the highway. The freeway was originally conceived in the 1960s, and it took 32 years to approve, plan, finance, and build M-6 from the time that the state first authorized funding in 1972 to the time the full highway opened to traffic in 2004. Initial construction started in November 1997, with the first phase opened in 2001 and the remainder in November 2004. The project was built with two firsts: the first single-point urban interchange in the state, and a new technique to apply the pavement markings, embedding them into the concrete to reduce the chance of a snowplow scraping them off. (more...)

Recently featured: Achtung Baby – Battle of Vukovar – William de St-Calais

November 21

The Canoe River train crash occurred on November 21, 1950, near Valemount in eastern British Columbia, Canada, when a westbound troop train and the eastbound Canadian National Railway (CNR) Continental Limited collided head-on. Twenty-one people were killed: seventeen Canadian soldiers being deployed in the Korean War (memorial to them pictured) and the two-man locomotive crew of each train. The post-crash investigation found that the order given to the troop train differed from the intended message. Crucial words were missing, causing the troop train to proceed on its way rather than halt on a siding, which caused the collision. A telegraph operator, Alfred John "Jack" Atherton, was charged with manslaughter; the prosecution alleged he was negligent in passing an incomplete message. His family hired his Member of Parliament, John Diefenbaker, as defence counsel. Diefenbaker joined the British Columbia bar to take the case, and obtained Atherton's acquittal. (more...)

Recently featured: M-6 – Achtung Baby – Battle of Vukovar

November 22

Edward Teach (c. 1680 – 1718), better known as Blackbeard, was a notorious English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of the American colonies. He was probably born in Bristol, but little is known about his early life. He may have served on privateer ships during Queen Anne's War before he joined the crew of Benjamin Hornigold, a pirate who operated from the Caribbean island of New Providence, and with whom he engaged in numerous acts of piracy. Teach renamed a captured merchant vessel as Queen Anne's Revenge and became a renowned pirate, his nickname derived from his thick black beard and fearsome appearance; he was reported to have tied lit fuses under his hat to frighten his enemies. A shrewd and calculating leader, he avoided the use of force, relying instead on his fearsome image, and commanding his vessels with the permission of their crews. There are no known accounts of his ever having harmed or murdered those he held captive. Following his death on 22 November 1718, his image was romanticised, becoming the inspiration for a number of pirate-themed works of fiction across a range of genres. (more...)

Recently featured: Canoe River train crash – M-6 – Achtung Baby

November 23

Nathaniel Parker Willis (1806–1867) was an American author, poet and editor who worked with several notable writers including Edgar Allan Poe and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He became the highest-paid magazine writer of his day. For a time, he was the employer of former slave and future writer Harriet Jacobs. Born in Portland, Maine, Willis came from a family of publishers. He developed an interest in literature while attending Yale College and began publishing poetry. After graduation, he worked as an overseas correspondent for the New York Mirror. He eventually moved to New York and began to build his literary reputation. In 1846, he started his own publication, the Home Journal, which was eventually renamed Town & Country. Shortly after, Willis moved to a home on the Hudson River where he lived a semi-retired life until his death in 1867. Willis embedded his own personality into his writing and addressed his readers personally, specifically in his travel writings, so that his reputation was built in part because of his character. Critics, including his sister in her novel Ruth Hall, occasionally described him as being effeminate and Europeanized. Despite his intense popularity for a time, at his death Willis was nearly forgotten. (more...)

Recently featured: Blackbeard – Canoe River train crash – M-6

November 24

Hod Stuart (1879–1907) was a Canadian professional ice hockey cover-point (now known as a defenceman) who played nine seasons for several teams in different leagues. He also played briefly for the Ottawa Rough Riders football team. With his brother Bruce, Stuart played in the first professional ice hockey league, the American-based International Professional Hockey League (IPHL), and was highly regarded. Frustrated with the violence associated with the IPHL, he left the league late in 1906 and returned to Canada, where in 1907 he helped the Montreal Wanderers win the Stanley Cup, the championship trophy for hockey. Two months later, he died in a diving accident. To raise money for his widow and children, the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association hosted an all-star game, the first of its kind to be played in any sport. Stuart became known for his ability to score goals while playing a defensive role and for remaining calm during matches that often turned violent. His efforts were acknowledged in 1945, when he became one of the first twelve players to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. (more...)

Recently featured: Nathaniel Parker Willis – Blackbeard – Canoe River train crash

November 25

RNA interference (RNAi) is a system within living cells that takes part in controlling which genes are active and how active they are. Two types of small RNA molecules – microRNA (miRNA) and small interfering RNA (siRNA) – are central to RNA interference. RNAs are the direct products of genes, and these small RNAs can bind to other specific RNAs (mRNA) and either increase or decrease their activity, for example by preventing a messenger RNA from producing a protein. RNA interference has an important role in defending cells against parasitic genes – viruses and transposons as well as gene expression in general. The RNAi pathway is found in many eukaryotes and is initiated by the enzyme Dicer (pictured), which cleaves long double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) molecules into short fragments of ~20 nucleotides that are called siRNAs. Each siRNA is unwound into two single-stranded (ss) ssRNAs, namely the passenger strand and the guide strand. The passenger strand is degraded, and the guide strand is incorporated into the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC). The selective and robust effect of RNAi on gene expression makes it a valuable research tool, both in cell culture and in living organisms because synthetic dsRNA introduced into cells can induce suppression of specific genes of interest. (more...)

Recently featured: Hod Stuart – Nathaniel Parker Willis – Blackbeard

November 26

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is an action-adventure game and the tenth installment in The Legend of Zelda series. It was released for the Nintendo GameCube in Japan on December 13, 2002, and released in North America, Europe, and Australia over the following five months. The player controls Link, the protagonist of the Zelda series, as he struggles against his nemesis, Ganondorf, for control of a sacred relic known as the Triforce. Link spends a large portion of the game sailing, traveling between islands, and traversing through dungeons and temples to gain the power necessary to defeat Ganondorf. A heavy emphasis is placed on using and controlling wind with a baton called the Wind Waker, which aids sailing and floating in air. The Wind Waker follows in the footsteps of two of its predecessors, Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, retaining the basic gameplay and control system from the two Nintendo 64 titles. Though controversial during development for its use of cel shading graphics and the younger Link character, The Wind Waker was still one of the Nintendo GameCube's most successful games. (more...)

Recently featured: RNA interference – Hod Stuart – Nathaniel Parker Willis

November 27

The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division was an infantry division of the First Canadian Army, mobilized on 1 September 1939 at the onset of the Second World War. Initially composed of volunteers within brigades established along regional lines, a halt in recruitment in the early months of the war caused a delay in the formation of brigade and divisional headquarters. With questions concerning overseas deployment resolved, the division's respective commands were formed in May and June 1940, and the division was deployed to the United Kingdom between 1 August and 25 December 1940. Elements of the 2nd Division were selected as the main force for Operation Jubilee, a large-scale amphibious raid on the port of Dieppe in German-occupied France (casualties pictured). Following a period of reconstruction and retraining from 1942 to 1944, the division joined II Canadian Corps as part of the Second British Army for the Allied Invasion of Normandy. Joining the newly activated headquarters of the First Canadian Army in the assault on northwestern Europe, the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division played a significant role in the retaking of the Channel ports, the Battle of the Scheldt, and the liberation of the Netherlands. (more...)

Recently featured: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker – RNA interference – Hod Stuart

November 28

Montague Druitt (1857–1888) was a suspect in the Jack the Ripper murders that took place in London between August and November 1888. He came from an upper-middle class English background, and studied at Winchester College and the University of Oxford. After graduating, he took a position at a boarding school and pursued a parallel career in the law; he qualified as a barrister in 1885. His main interest outside work was cricket, which he played with many leading players of the time, including Lord Harris and Francis Lacey. In November 1888, he lost his post at the school for reasons that remain unclear. One month later his body was found drowned in the River Thames. His death, which was found to be a suicide, roughly coincided with the end of the murders that were attributed to Jack the Ripper. Private suggestions in the 1890s that he could have committed the crimes became public knowledge in the 1960s, and led to the publication of books that proposed him as the murderer. The evidence against him was entirely circumstantial, and many writers from the 1970s onwards have rejected him as a likely suspect. (more...)

Recently featured: 2nd Canadian Infantry Division – The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker – RNA interference

November 29

Bix Beiderbecke (1903–1931) was an American jazz cornetist, jazz pianist, and composer. He was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s. He helped to invent the jazz ballad style and hinted at what, in the 1950s, would become cool jazz. Beiderbecke taught himself to play cornet largely by ear, leading him to adopt a non-standard fingering that some critics have connected to his original sound. He first recorded with a Midwestern jazz ensemble The Wolverines in 1924, after which he played briefly for the Jean Goldkette Orchestra before joining Frankie Trumbauer for an extended gig at the Arcadia Ballroom in St. Louis, Missouri. Beiderbecke and Trumbauer both joined Goldkette in 1926. The band toured widely and famously played a set opposite Fletcher Henderson at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City in October 1926. The following year, Trumbauer and Beiderbecke left Detroit to join the best-known and most prestigious dance orchestra in the country: the New York-based Paul Whiteman Orchestra. Beiderbecke's most influential recordings date from his time with Goldkette and Whiteman, although they were generally recorded under his own name or Trumbauer's. Beiderbecke left the Whiteman band in 1930 and the following summer died in his Queens apartment at the age of twenty-eight. (more...)

Recently featured: Montague Druitt – 2nd Canadian Infantry Division – The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

November 30

Thomas the Slav (c. 760 – 823 AD) was a 9th-century Byzantine military commander, most notable for leading a wide-scale revolt against Emperor Michael II the Amorian in 820–823. An army officer of Slavic origin from the Pontus region, Thomas rose to prominence under the protection of general Bardanes Tourkos. After Bardanes's failed rebellion in 803, Thomas fell into obscurity until Leo V's rise to the throne, when Thomas was raised to a senior military command. After the murder of Leo and usurpation of the throne by Michael the Amorian, Thomas revolted, claiming the throne for himself. Thomas quickly secured support from most of the themes (provinces) and troops in Asia Minor, and concluded an alliance with the Abbasid Caliphate. He sailed with his army to besiege Constantinople. Michael II called for help from the Bulgar ruler Omurtag, whose troops attacked Thomas's army. Although repelled, the Bulgars inflicted heavy casualties on Thomas's men, who broke and fled when Michael took to the field a few months later. Thomas sought refuge in Arcadiopolis, where he was soon seized by Michael's troops and executed. (more...)

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