Wikipedia:Today's featured article/November 2012

Today's featured article archive

November 1

Folding@home is a distributed computing project for disease research that simulates protein folding, computational drug design, and other types of molecular dynamics. The project is powered by the idle processing resources of thousands of personal computers owned by volunteers who have installed the software on their systems. Its primary purpose is to determine the mechanisms of protein folding, which is the process by which proteins reach their final three-dimensional structure, and to examine the causes of protein misfolding. This is of significant academic interest with major implications for medical research into Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, and many forms of cancer, among other diseases. Folding@home is developed and operated by the Pande laboratory at Stanford University, under the direction of Vijay Pande, and is shared by various scientific institutions and research laboratories across the world. The project has pioneered the use of GPUs, PlayStation 3s, and Message Passing Interface for distributed computing and scientific research. Folding@home is one of the world's fastest computing systems. Since its launch in 2000, it has assisted over 100 scientific research papers. (Read the full article...)

Recently featured: Bride of Frankenstein – Charles Villiers Stanford – "Give Peace a Chance"

November 2

HMS Repulse leads her sister ship HMS Renown and other Royal Navy capital ships during manoeuvres in the 1920s.

The Singapore strategy of the British Empire was a military defence policy that evolved in a series of war plans from 1919 to 1941. It aimed to deter or defeat aggression by the Empire of Japan by basing a fleet of the Royal Navy in the Far East. Ideally, this fleet would be able to intercept and defeat a Japanese force heading south towards India or Australia, but to be effective, it required a well-equipped base. Singapore was chosen as the most suitable location in 1919. Work continued on a naval base and its defences over the next two decades.The Singapore strategy was the cornerstone of British Imperial defence policy in the Far East during the 1920s and 1930s. A combination of financial, political and practical difficulties ensured that it could not be implemented. The strategy ultimately led to the despatch of Force Z to Singapore and the sinking of the Prince of Wales and Repulse by Japanese air attack on 10 December 1941. The subsequent ignominious fall of Singapore was described by Winston Churchill as "the worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history". (Read the full article...)

Recently featured: Folding@home – Bride of Frankenstein – Charles Villiers Stanford

November 3

The Kingdom of Mysore (1399–1947) was a kingdom of southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. The kingdom, which was ruled by the Wodeyar family, initially served as a vassal state of the Vijayanagara Empire. Around 1565, the kingdom became independent. The 17th century saw a steady expansion of its territory and, under Narasaraja Wodeyar I (pictured) and Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar, the kingdom annexed large expanses of what is now southern Karnataka and parts of Tamil Nadu to become a powerful state in the southern Deccan. It reached the height of its military power and dominion in the latter half of the 18th century under the de facto ruler Haider Ali and his son Tipu Sultan. During this time, it came into conflict with the Marathas, the British and the Nizam of Hyderabad which culminated in the four Anglo-Mysore wars. The British restored a subsidiary alliance, and a diminished Mysore was now transformed into a Princely state until Indian independence in 1947. The Mysore kings were not only accomplished exponents of the fine arts and men of letters; they were enthusiastic patrons as well, and their legacies continue to influence music and art even today. (Full article...)

Recently featured: Singapore strategy – Folding@home – Bride of Frankenstein

November 4

Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924) was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers. His music has been described as linking the end of Romanticism with the modernism of the second quarter of the 20th century. He trained as an organist and choirmaster in Paris, where his teachers included Camille Saint-Saëns, who became a lifelong friend. In later life, when he was organist of the Église de la Madeleine and director of the Paris Conservatoire, he retreated to the countryside in his summer holidays to concentrate on composing. By his last years, Fauré was recognised in France as the leading French composer of his day. Outside France, his music took decades to become widely accepted, except in Britain, where he had many admirers during his lifetime. His best-known works include Pavane, Requiem, nocturnes for piano, and the songs "Après un rêve" and "Clair de lune". Although his best-known and most accessible compositions are generally his earlier ones, Fauré composed many of his greatest works in his later years, in a harmonically and melodically much more complex style. (Full article...)

Recently featured: Kingdom of Mysore – Singapore strategy – Folding@home

November 5

Thomas Percy (c. 1560–1605) was a member of the group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Little is known of his life before 1596 when a distant relation, Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland, appointed him constable of Alnwick Castle. Percy acted as the earl's intermediary in a series of confidential communications with King James VI of Scotland. After James acceded to the English throne in 1603, Percy became disenchanted with him, supposing that the new king had reneged on promises of toleration for English Catholics. He met Robert Catesby in 1603, and the following year joined his conspiracy to kill James and his ministers by blowing up the House of Lords with gunpowder. Percy provided the group with funding and secured the leases to certain properties in London, including the undercroft directly beneath the House of Lords, into which the gunpowder was placed. When the plot was exposed on 5 November 1605, Percy fled to the Midlands. He and Catesby were killed on 8 November, during a siege of Holbeche House in Staffordshire, by the Sheriff of Worcester and his men. (Full article...)

Recently featured: Gabriel Fauré – Kingdom of Mysore – Singapore strategy

November 6

Carlson's patrol was an operation by the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion of the U.S. Marine Corps under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Evans Carlson. It took place from 6 November to 4 December 1942 during the Guadalcanal Campaign, which aimed to deny the Imperial Japanese Army use of the Solomon Islands as bases for threatening the supply routes between the U.S. and Australia, and to assist the offensives against Japan. In the operation, the 2nd Raiders attacked forces under the command of Toshinari Shōji, which were escaping from an attempted encirclement in the Koli Point area on Guadalcanal and attempting to rejoin other Japanese army units on the opposite side of the U.S. Lunga perimeter. In a series of small unit engagements over 29 days, the 2nd Raiders (who had been trained to operate as a guerrilla force) killed almost 500 Japanese soldiers while suffering only 16 killed. The raiders also captured a Japanese artillery cannon (pictured) that was delivering harassing gunfire on Henderson Field, the Allied airfield at Lunga Point on Guadalcanal. Seventeen raiders were wounded, and many others developed malaria, dysentery, or other illnesses; one lieutenant said that the living conditions were worse than the combat. (Full article...)

Recently featured: Thomas Percy – Gabriel Fauré – Kingdom of Mysore

November 7

Banksia ilicifolia, commonly known as holly-leaved banksia, is a tree in the family Proteaceae. Endemic to southwest Western Australia, it belongs to Banksia subg. Isostylis, a subgenus of three closely related Banksia species with inflorescences that are dome-shaped heads rather than characteristic Banksia flower spikes. It is generally a tree up to 10 metres (33 ft) tall with a columnar or irregular habit. Both the scientific and common names arise from the similarity of its foliage to that of the English holly Ilex aquifolium; the glossy green leaves generally have very prickly serrated margins, although some plants lack toothed leaves. The inflorescences are initially yellow but become red-tinged with maturity; this acts as a signal to alert birds that the flowers have opened and nectar is available. Robert Brown described Banksia ilicifolia in 1810. Although the tree is variable in growth form, with low coastal shrubby forms on the south coast near Albany, there are no recognised varieties as such. Distributed broadly, the species is restricted to sandy soils. Unlike its close relatives which are killed by fire and repopulate from seed, Banksia ilicifolia regenerates after bushfire by regrowing from epicormic buds under its bark. (Full article...)

Recently featured: Carlson's patrol – Thomas Percy – Gabriel Fauré

November 8

Abuwtiyuw is one of the earliest domestic animals whose name is known. A lightly built Egyptian hunting dog similar to a greyhound, with erect ears and a curly tail, he is believed to have been a royal guard dog of the Sixth Dynasty (2345–2181 BC). He received an elaborate ceremonial burial in the Giza Necropolis at the behest of a pharaoh whose name is not known. An inscribed stone listing the gifts donated by the pharaoh for Abuwtiyuw's funeral was discovered by Egyptologist George A. Reisner in October 1935. It was apparently part of the spoil material incorporated into the structure of a Sixth-Dynasty mastaba (pharaonic-era tomb) in Cemetery G 2100 in Giza West Field, close to the western side of the Great Pyramid of Giza. The inscription on the white limestone tablet, which measures 54.2×28.2×23.2 cm (21.3×11.1×9.1 in), is composed of ten vertical rows of hieroglyphs, separated by vertical lines. The stone was probably originally installed in the demolished funerary chapel of Abuwtiyuw's owner. (Full article...)

Recently featured: Banksia ilicifolia – Carlson's patrol – Thomas Percy

November 9

William Warelwast (died 1137) was a medieval Norman cleric and Bishop of Exeter in England. Warelwast was a native of Normandy, but little is known about his background before 1087, when he appears as a royal clerk for King William II of England. Most of his royal service to William was as a diplomatic envoy, as he was heavily involved in the king's dispute with Anselm, the Archbishop of Canterbury, which was the beginning of the Investiture Controversy in England. He went several times to Rome as an emissary to the papacy on business related to Anselm, one of whose supporters, the medieval chronicler Eadmer, alleged that Warelwast bribed the pope and the papal officials to secure favourable outcomes for King William. Possibly present at King William's death in a hunting accident, Warelwast served as a diplomat to the king's successor, Henry I. After the resolution of the Investiture Controversy Warelwast was rewarded with the bishopric of Exeter in Devon, but he continued to serve Henry as a diplomat and royal judge. He began the construction of a new cathedral at Exeter, and he probably divided the diocese into archdeaconries. Warelwast went blind after 1120, and following his death in 1137 was succeeded by his nephew, Robert Warelwast. (Full article...)

Recently featured: Abuwtiyuw – Banksia ilicifolia – Carlson's patrol

November 10

The history of Sesame Street began with its conception in 1966 during discussions between television producer Joan Ganz Cooney and Carnegie Corporation vice president Lloyd Morrisett. Their goal was to create a children's television show that would "master the addictive qualities of television and do something good with them", such as helping young children prepare for school. After two years of research, the newly formed Children's Television Workshop (CTW) received a combined grant of $8 million from the Carnegie Corporation, the Ford Foundation, and the U.S. federal government to create and produce a new children's television show. Sesame Street premiered on November 10, 1969. Featuring animation, live shorts, humor, celebrity appearances, and Jim Henson's Muppets such as Big Bird (star pictured), it was the first television program of its kind to base its contents and production values on laboratory and formative research, and the first to include a curriculum "detailed or stated in terms of measurable outcomes". Initial responses to the show included adulatory reviews, some controversy, and high ratings. By its 40th anniversary in 2009, Sesame Street was broadcast in over 120 countries, and 20 independent international versions had been produced. (Full article...)

Recently featured: William Warelwast – Abuwtiyuw – Banksia ilicifolia

November 11

In 1896, William Jennings Bryan ran for President of the United States. The former Democratic congressman from Nebraska, who gained his party's presidential nomination in July of that year after electrifying the Democratic National Convention with his Cross of Gold speech, was defeated in the general election by the Republican candidate, former Ohio governor William McKinley. Born in 1860, Bryan grew up in rural Illinois and in 1887 moved to Nebraska, where he practiced law and entered politics. He won election to the House of Representatives in 1890, and was re-elected in 1892, before mounting an unsuccessful Senate campaign. Despite the loss, he set his sights on higher office, believing he could be elected president in 1896 even though he remained a relatively minor figure in the Democratic Party. In anticipation of a presidential run, he spent much of 1895 and early 1896 making speeches across the United States; his compelling oratory increased his popularity in his party. After gaining the nomination, he undertook an extensive tour by rail to bring his campaign to the people, speaking some 600 times, to an estimated 5,000,000 listeners. His campaign focused on prosperity through bimetallism (or free silver), an issue which failed to appeal to the urban voter. (Full article...)

Recently featured: History of Sesame Street – William Warelwast – Abuwtiyuw

November 12

Edmund Sharpe (1809–77) was an English architect, architectural historian, railway engineer, and sanitary reformer. Sharpe's main focus was on churches, and he was a pioneer in the use of terracotta as a structural material in church building, designing what were known as "pot" churches. He also designed secular buildings, including domestic properties and schools, and worked on the development of railways in Northwest England, designing bridges and planning new lines. In 1851 he resigned from his architectural practice, and in 1856 he moved from Lancaster, spending the remainder of his career mainly as a railway engineer. Sharpe was involved in Lancaster's civic affairs. He was an elected town councillor and served as mayor in 1848–49. Concerned about the town's poor water supply and sanitation, he championed the construction of new sewers and a waterworks. Sharpe achieved national recognition as an architectural historian. He published books of detailed architectural drawings, wrote a number of articles on architecture, devised a scheme for the classification of English Gothic architectural styles, and in 1875 was awarded the Royal Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects. (Full article...)

Recently featured: William Jennings Bryan presidential campaign, 1896 – History of Sesame Street – William Warelwast

November 13

Horseshoe Curve is a 3,485-foot (1,062 m), triple-tracked railroad curve on the Norfolk Southern Railway's Pittsburgh Line in Logan Township, Blair County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is close to 1,300 feet (400 m) in diameter and has a grade of almost two percent. As a train travels west from Altoona, it ascends almost 60 feet (20 m) in the 0.66-mile (1.06 km) segment that makes up the curve and rotates 220 degrees. The curve was completed in 1854 by the Pennsylvania Railroad as a means of lessening the grade to the summit of the Allegheny Mountains by increasing the distance. It was built as alternative to the time-consuming Allegheny Portage Railroad, the only other method of traversing the mountains. It has formed an important part of the region's transportation infrastructure since its opening, and during World War II was targeted by Nazi Germany in 1942 as a part of Operation Pastorius. Horseshoe Curve was added to the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966. It was also designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 2004. (Full article...)

Recently featured: Edmund Sharpe – William Jennings Bryan presidential campaign, 1896 – History of Sesame Street

November 14

Thomas Baker (1897–1918) was an Australian soldier, aviator and flying ace of the First World War. He was employed as a clerk with the Bank of New South Wales before he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in July 1915, for service in the First World War. Posted to an artillery unit on the Western Front, he was awarded the Military Medal for carrying out numerous repairs on a communications line while subject to severe artillery fire. In June 1917, Baker was awarded a bar to his decoration, for his part in quelling a fire in one of the artillery gun pits that was endangering approximately 300 rounds of shrapnel and high explosive. In September 1917, Baker applied for a position as a mechanic in the Australian Flying Corps. He was instead selected for flight training, and was posted to courses in the United Kingdom. He graduated as a pilot and was commissioned a second lieutenant in March 1918. Posted for active duty in France that June, Baker joined the ranks of No. 4 Squadron AFC. Over the next four months, he rose to the rank of captain and was credited with bringing down twelve German aircraft. He was shot down and killed on 4 November 1918. In February 1919, he was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. (Full article...)

Recently featured: Horseshoe Curve – Edmund Sharpe – William Jennings Bryan presidential campaign, 1896

November 15

David Suzuki: The Autobiography is the 2006 autobiography of Canadian science writer and broadcaster David Suzuki (pictured). The book focuses mostly on his life since the 1987 publication of his first autobiography, Metamorphosis: Stages in a Life. It begins with a chronological account of his childhood, academic years, and broadcasting career. In later chapters, Suzuki adopts a memoir style, writing about themes such as his relationship with Australia, his experiences in Brazil and Papua New Guinea, the founding of the David Suzuki Foundation, and his thoughts on climate change, celebrity status, technology, and death. Throughout, Suzuki highlights the continuing impact of events from his childhood. Critics have called the book candid, sincere, and charming, with insightful commentary if occasionally flat stories. Suzuki's scientific background is reflected in the writing's rational and analytic style. Suzuki's autobiography spent four weeks atop the Maclean's list of non-fiction best-sellers and six weeks at number 6 on the Globe and Mail's list. The book won two awards in 2007: the Canadian Booksellers' Association's Libris Award for Non-Fiction Book of the Year and the British Columbia Booksellers' Choice Award. (Full article...)

Recently featured: Thomas Baker – Horseshoe Curve – Edmund Sharpe

November 16

Hoodwinked! is a 2005 computer-animated film that retells the folktale Little Red Riding Hood as a police investigation, using flashbacks to show multiple characters' points of view. It was directed and written by Cory Edwards, Todd Edwards, and Tony Leech and was among the earliest computer-animated films to be completely independently funded. Due to its small budget, the animation was produced in the Philippines with a less realistic design inspired by stop motion films. Its structure was inspired by the Japanese film Rashomon and it is part of the fairy tale parody genre. Released shortly after the first two installments in the successful Shrek series, Hoodwinked! intentionally deviated from that series in its style of humor and in certain plot elements. The Weinstein Company signed on as the distributor near the end of production, and while the company recast many roles, it otherwise made few changes. Critical reception to the film was varied; although its script and cast were praised by many reviews, its animation quality was heavily criticized. It was a commercial success, earning over ten times its budget. A sequel, Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil, was released in 2011. (Full article...)

Recently featured: David Suzuki: The Autobiography – Thomas Baker – Horseshoe Curve

November 17

Metroid Prime is a video game developed by Retro Studios and Nintendo for the Nintendo GameCube, released in North America in 2002 and in Japan and Europe the following year. It is the first 3D game in the Metroid series, the fifth main installment, and is classified by Nintendo as a first-person adventure rather than a first-person shooter, due to the large exploration component of the game and its precedence over combat. Like previous games in the series, Metroid Prime has a science fiction setting, in which players control the bounty hunter Samus Aran. The story follows Samus as she battles the Space Pirates and their biological experiments on the planet Tallon IV. The game was a collaborative effort between Retro's staff in Austin, Texas, and Japanese Nintendo employees, including producer Shigeru Miyamoto, who was the one who suggested the project after visiting Retro's headquarters in 2000. Despite initial backlash from fans due to the first-person perspective, the game was released to both universal acclaim and commercial success, selling more than a million units in North America alone. (Full article...)

Recently featured: Hoodwinked! – David Suzuki: The Autobiography – Thomas Baker

November 18

Luke P. Blackburn (1816–1887) was a physician, philanthropist and politician from Kentucky. Early in his career, he gained national fame for effecting the first successful quarantine against yellow fever in the Mississippi River valley and was regarded as an expert on the disease. During the Civil War, he aided Confederate blockade runners in Canada and traveled to Bermuda to combat a yellow fever outbreak threatening Confederate blockade-running operations. A Confederate double agent accused him of collecting linens and garments used by the yellow fever patients and smuggling them into the North to start a yellow fever epidemic to hamper the Union war effort. (It was not yet known that yellow fever is spread by mosquitos.) He was acquitted, and historians disagree regarding the evidence against him. In 1868, Blackburn returned to the U.S. and rehabilitated his public image by rendering aid in yellow fever outbreaks in Tennessee, Florida, and Kentucky, propelling him to the governorship of Kentucky in 1879. His signature accomplishments were in penal reform, and he is known as "the father of prison reform in Kentucky". (Full article...)

Recently featured: Metroid Prime – Hoodwinked! – David Suzuki: The Autobiography

November 19

HMS New Zealand was one of three Indefatigable-class battlecruisers built for the defence of the British Empire. The ship was funded by the government of New Zealand as a gift to Britain, and she was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1912. She had been intended for the China Station, but was released by the New Zealand government at the request of the Admiralty for service in British waters. After a tour of the British Dominions, with an emphasis on a visit to her namesake nation, she was back in British waters at the start of World War I, and operated as part of the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet, in opposition to the German High Seas Fleet. During the war, the battlecruiser participated in all three of the major North Sea battles—Heligoland Bight, Dogger Bank, and Jutland. New Zealand contributed to the destruction of two cruisers during her wartime service, but was hit by enemy fire only once and sustained no casualties; her status as a "lucky ship" was attributed by the crew to a Māori piupiu (warrior's skirt) and hei-tiki pendant worn by the ship's captain during battle. After the war, New Zealand was broken up for scrap in 1922 in compliance with Britain's tonnage limit in the disarmament provisions of the Washington Naval Treaty. (Full article...)

Recently featured: Luke P. Blackburn – Metroid Prime – Hoodwinked!

November 20

Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and for its architecture. The original motte-and-bailey castle, built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror, was designed to protect Norman dominance around the outskirts of London and to oversee a strategically important part of the River Thames. The castle's lavish early 19th-century State Apartments are architecturally significant, and the 15th-century St George's Chapel is an outstanding example of English Perpendicular Gothic design. Since the time of Henry I it has been used by a succession of monarchs and is the longest-occupied palace in Europe. A popular tourist attraction, it is used as a venue for hosting state visits, and is the Queen's preferred weekend home. It was used as a refuge for the royal family during the Second World War and survived a fire on 20 November 1992. More than five hundred people live and work in Windsor, making it the largest inhabited castle in the world. (Full article...)

Recently featured: HMS New Zealand – Luke P. Blackburn – Metroid Prime

November 21

The conservation of slow lorises, nocturnal primates in the rain forests of South and Southeast Asia, faces threats from deforestation, the exotic pet trade, traditional medicine, and the bushmeat trade. Five species of slow loris are listed as either "Vulnerable" or "Endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Their conservation status was originally listed as "Least Concern" in 2000 because of imprecise population surveys and the frequency in which these primates were found in animal markets. Because of their rapidly declining populations and local extinctions, their status was updated and in 2007 the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) elevated them to Appendix I, which prohibits international commercial trade. Local laws also protect slow lorises, but enforcement is lacking in most areas. Slow lorises are regularly smuggled and sold as exotic pets in Japan, the United States, and Europe. Their popularity is largely due to their "cute" appearance and highly viewed pet videos on YouTube. (Full article...)

Recently featured: Windsor Castle – HMS New Zealand – Luke P. Blackburn

November 22

Illinois is a 2005 concept album by American indie folk songwriter Sufjan Stevens (pictured). His fifth studio album, Illinois is Stevens' second based on a U.S. state—part of a planned series of fifty that began with the 2003 album Michigan and that Stevens has since acknowledged was a gag. Stevens recorded and produced the album at multiple venues in New York City using low-fidelity studio equipment and a variety of instruments between late 2004 and early 2005. The artwork and lyrics explore the history, culture, art, and geography of the state; Stevens developed them after analyzing criminal, literary, and historical documents. This release also continued a trend in Stevens' career of referencing his Christian faith in his lyrics. Following a July 4, 2005, release date, Stevens promoted Illinois with a world tour. Critics praised the album for its well-written lyrics and complex orchestrations. Illinois was named the best-reviewed album of 2005 by review aggregator Metacritic and was included on several reviewers' "best of the decade" lists—including those of Paste, NPR, and Rolling Stone. The album was Stevens' first to place on the Billboard 200. (Full article...)

Recently featured: Conservation of slow lorises – Windsor Castle – HMS New Zealand

November 23

Microsoft Security Essentials is an antivirus software product that provides protection against different types of malware such as computer viruses, spyware, rootkits and Trojan horses. It runs on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7, but not on Windows 8, which has a built-in AV component. The license agreement allows home users and small businesses to install and use the product free of charge. It replaces Windows Live OneCare, a discontinued commercial subscription-based AV service, and the free Windows Defender, which until Windows 8 only protected users from adware and spyware. Built upon the same virus definitions and scanning engine as other Microsoft antivirus products, MSE provides real-time protection, constantly monitoring activities on the computer and scanning new files as they are downloaded or created and disabling detected threats. The product received generally positive reviews praising its user interface, low resource usage and freeware license. It passed secured AV-TEST.org certification, having demonstrated its ability to eliminate all widely encountered malware. According to a March 2012 report by anti-malware specialist OPSWAT, MSE was the most popular AV product in North America and the second most popular in the world. (Full article...)

Recently featured: Illinois – Conservation of slow lorises – Windsor Castle

November 24

RAF Northolt is a Royal Air Force station in South Ruislip, 2 NM (3.7 km; 2.3 mi) east by northeast of Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, West London. Approximately 10 km (6.2 mi) north of London Heathrow Airport, the station also handles a large number of private civil flights; its location near the A40 road link with central London and close proximity to Ruislip Gardens tube station has also made it popular with business people and politicians. Northolt has one runway in operation, spanning 1,684 m × 46 m (5,525 ft × 151 ft), with a grooved asphalt surface. Originally established for the Royal Flying Corps, it has the longest history of continuous use of any RAF airfield. Before the outbreak of the Second World War, the station was the first to take delivery of the Hawker Hurricane. The station played a key role during the Battle of Britain, when fighters from several of its units, including No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron, engaged enemy aircraft as part of the defence of London. More recently the station has become the hub of British military flying operations in the London area. RAF squadrons, including No. 32 (The Royal) Squadron are based at RAF Northolt. (Full article...)

Recently featured: Microsoft Security Essentials – Illinois – Conservation of slow lorises

November 25

The Grey Cup is the name of both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is contested between the winners of the CFL's East and West Divisional playoffs and is one of Canadian television's largest annual sporting events. It was commissioned by Governor General Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey, to serve as the national championship of Canadian football. The trophy has been broken several times, stolen twice, held for ransom and survived a fire. The University of Toronto won the inaugural title in 1909. Typically played in late November, inclement weather has periodically impacted the Grey Cup game, notably the 1962 "Fog Bowl" when the contest was postponed due to a lack of visibility. The Toronto Argonauts have the most Grey Cup victories with 15, while the Edmonton Eskimos formed the longest dynasty with five consecutive titles between 1978 and 1982. Competition for the Grey Cup has been limited exclusively to Canadian teams, except for a brief period in the 1990s which saw the Baltimore Stallions become the only American Grey Cup champion in 1995. The 100th Grey Cup is being held in Toronto in 2012. (Full article...)

Recently featured: RAF Northolt – Microsoft Security Essentials – Illinois

November 26

Betelgeuse photographed with the Hubble space telescope

Betelgeuse is the eighth-brightest star in the night sky and second-brightest in the constellation of Orion, only rarely outshining Rigel. It is a distinctly reddish, semiregular variable star whose apparent magnitude varies between 0.2 and 1.2, the widest range of any first-magnitude star. Betelgeuse's name is thought to be derived from the Arabic يد الجوزاء Yad al-Jauzā' meaning "the Hand of al-Jauzā'", i.e., Orion. It is classified as a red supergiant of spectral type M2Iab and is one of the largest and most luminous known stars. If positioned at the center of the Solar System, its surface would extend past the asteroid belt, possibly beyond the orbit of Jupiter, at least wholly engulfing Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. Less than 10 million years old, Betelgeuse has evolved rapidly due to its high mass. Ejected from its birthplace in the Orion OB1 Association, this crimson runaway has been observed moving through the interstellar medium supersonically at a speed of 30 km/sec, creating a bow shock over 4 light-years wide. Now in a late stage of stellar evolution, the supergiant is expected to proceed through its life cycle before exploding as a type II supernova within the next million years. (Full article...)

Recently featured: Grey Cup – RAF Northolt – Microsoft Security Essentials

November 27

Kappa Kappa Psi is a coeducational fraternity for college and university band members. The fraternity was founded on November 27, 1919, at Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College in Stillwater, Oklahoma, by ten band members led by William A. Scroggs and Professor Bohumil Makovsky, and was incorporated on March 5, 1920. Since its founding, Kappa Kappa Psi has established several programs for the betterment of college bands and band music, including the National Intercollegiate Band, a band that has performed at every national convention of the fraternity since 1947; and the Commissioning Program, which has contributed dozens of works to the band repertoire as a national project and hundreds more from local chapter commissions. The fraternity holds a close relationship with its associated sorority, Tau Beta Sigma. More than 66,000 men and women have been initiated into Kappa Kappa Psi since 1919, including United States President Bill Clinton, John Philip Sousa, Neil Armstrong, and Dizzy Gillespie. (Full article...)

Recently featured: Betelgeuse – Grey Cup – RAF Northolt

November 28

Russula emetica, commonly known as the sickener, emetic Russula, or vomiting Russula, is a basidiomycete mushroom, and the type species of the genus Russula. It has a red, convex to flat cap up to 8.5 cm (3.3 in) in diameter, with a cuticle that can be peeled off almost to the centre. The gills are white to pale cream, and closely spaced. A smooth white stem measures up to 10.5 cm (4.1 in) long and 2.4 cm (0.9 in) thick. First described in 1774, the mushroom has a wide distribution in the Northern Hemisphere, where it grows on the ground in damp woodlands in a mycorrhizal association with conifers, especially pine. The mushroom's common names refer to the gastrointestinal distress they cause when consumed raw. The flesh is extremely peppery, but this offensive taste, along with its toxicity, can be removed by parboiling or pickling. Although it used to be widely eaten in Russia and eastern European countries, it is generally not recommended for consumption. There are many similar Russula species that have a red cap with white stem and gills, some of which can be reliably distinguished from R. emetica only by microscopic characteristics. (Full article...)

Recently featured: Kappa Kappa Psi – Betelgeuse – Grey Cup

November 29

The Cologne War (1583–88) devastated the Electorate of Cologne, a historical ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire, present-day North Rhine-Westphalia, in Germany. The war occurred within the context of the Protestant Reformation in Germany and the subsequent Counter-Reformation, and concurrently with the Dutch Revolt and the French Wars of Religion. The conflict tested the principle of ecclesiastical reservation, which had been included in the religious Peace of Augsburg (1555). This principle excluded, or "reserved", the ecclesiastical territories of the Holy Roman Empire from the application of cuius regio, eius religio, or "who rules, his religion", as the primary means to determine the religion of a territory. The conflict coincided with the Dutch Revolt, 1568–1648, encouraging participation of the rebellious Dutch provinces and the Spanish. The Cologne War caused the consolidation of Wittelsbach authority in northwestern German territories and a Catholic revival on the lower Rhine. Importantly, it also set a precedent for outside intervention in German religious and dynastic conflicts. (Full article...)

Recently featured: Russula emetica – Kappa Kappa Psi – Betelgeuse

November 30

Youngstown, 1910s: Central Square and Viaduct (view looking south)

Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Mahoning County. It also extends into Trumbull County. The municipality is on the Mahoning River, approximately 65 miles (105 km) southeast of Cleveland and 61 miles (100 km) northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Youngstown lies 10 miles (16 km) west of the Pennsylvania state line, midway between New York City and Chicago via Interstate 80. The city was named for John Young, an early settler from Whitestown, New York, who established the community's first sawmill and gristmill. Youngstown is in a region of the United States that is often referred to as the Rust Belt. Traditionally known as a center of steel production, Youngstown was forced to redefine itself when the U.S. steel industry fell into decline in the 1970s, leaving communities throughout the region without a major industry. Youngstown also falls within the Appalachian Ohio region, situated amongst the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. The 2010 census showed that Youngstown had a total population of 66,982, making it Ohio's ninth largest city. (Full article...)

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