Wikipedia:Today's featured article/November 2020

Today's featured article archive

November 1

Cyclone at landfall in India

Typhoon Gay was a small but powerful tropical cyclone that caused more than 800 fatalities in and around the Gulf of Thailand in November 1989. The worst typhoon to affect the Malay Peninsula in 35 years, Gay rapidly intensified from a monsoon trough, and on 3 November became the first typhoon since 1891 to make landfall in Thailand. It re-emerged into the Bay of Bengal and reorganized as it approached southeastern India. The typhoon moved ashore near Kavali, Andhra Pradesh, and dissipated over Maharashtra early on 10 November. The typhoon's rapid development took seafarers by surprise, leading to 275 offshore fatalities. Across the Malay Peninsula, 588 people died from various storm-related incidents and several towns were destroyed. Losses throughout Thailand totaled ฿11 billion (US$497 million). In India, Gay damaged or destroyed about 20,000 homes in Andhra Pradesh. It left 100,000 people homeless, caused 69 deaths, and was responsible for ₹410 million (US$25.3 million) in damage. (Full article...)

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November 2

Procession depicted on the Trialeti Chalice, possibly in honor of Dali

Dali is a hunting goddess from the mythology of the Georgian people. The patron of hoofed wild mountain animals, she was said to reward hunters who obeyed her taboos and to punish violators. She was usually described as a beautiful nude woman with golden hair and glowing skin, although she sometimes took on the form of her favored animals. Stories depict her taking human lovers and jealously killing them, and later clashing with her rival Saint George. After the rise of Christianity in Georgia, the stories told about Dali changed; Saint George was presented as having the power to overrule her, and she began to be conflated with a malicious nature spirit called the ali. As a patron of the hunt, she has been compared with Artemis of Greek mythology, a hag in Scottish mythology called the glaistig, and a maiden from folklore who tames a unicorn. Her associations with gold, seduction, and the morning star have led scholars to draw connections with goddesses such as Aphrodite and Ishtar. (Full article...)

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November 3

Modern rendition of "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too"

William Henry Harrison's 1840 presidential campaign elevated Harrison, who had served as a general and in the U.S. Congress, to the presidency after at least four years of seeking the office. In the election, Harrison defeated the incumbent Democrat, President Martin Van Buren, in a campaign that broke new ground in American politics. Among other firsts, Harrison's victory was the first time the Whig Party won the presidency. Harrison gained the nomination over Henry Clay and Winfield Scott. Many of his rallies took on a carnival atmosphere, growing to unprecedented size. He made speeches to some of them, breaking the custom that presidential hopefuls not campaign. Harrison's death in April 1841 marked the first time an American president failed to complete his term; he was succeeded by Vice President John Tyler. The unofficial campaign motto, "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too", has been called the most famous presidential campaign slogan in U.S. history. (Full article...)

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November 4

Kevin Shields

Loveless is the second studio album by Irish rock band My Bloody Valentine. It was released on 4 November 1991 in the United Kingdom by Creation Records and in the United States by Sire Records. The album was recorded between February 1989 and September 1991. The band cycled through 19 different studios and several engineers during the album's recording; one magazine estimated the production costs at close to £250,000. Loveless peaked at number 24 on the UK Albums Chart, and was widely praised by critics for its sonic innovations and the guitar work of Kevin Shields (pictured). After the album's release, Creation owner Alan McGee found Shields too difficult to work with and dropped the band from the label. My Bloody Valentine struggled to record a follow-up to the album and broke up in 1997. Loveless has been widely cited by critics as one of the greatest albums of all time. In 2013, the album was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry. (Full article...)

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November 5

Clifford's coat of arms

Henry Clifford, 10th Baron Clifford (c. 1454 – 23 April 1523), was an English nobleman. Henry's father died fighting for the House of Lancaster, and when Henry Tudor came to the throne in 1485, he relied on Clifford as a loyal Tudor servant to control the north of England. Clifford was not always successful in this, and his actions were not always popular, but his royal service was extremely profitable. He frequently quarrelled with his neighbours, occasionally resulting in violent feuds. He married a cousin of the King and his infidelity became notorious. Clifford's relations with his eldest son and heir were also turbulent; he complained that his son lived above his station, consorted with men of bad influence and was excessively violent. Clifford outlived the King and attended the coronation of Henry VIII in 1509. Continuing to serve as the King's man in the north, he took part in the decisive English victory over the Scots at Flodden in 1513. (Full article...)

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November 6

Portman Road

The 1981 UEFA Cup Final was an association football match played over two legs between AZ '67 of the Netherlands and Ipswich Town of England. It was the final of the 1980–81 season of European cup competition, the UEFA Cup. Both Ipswich and AZ '67 were appearing in their first European cup final. Watched by a crowd of 27,532 on 6 May at Ipswich's home ground, Portman Road (pictured), Ipswich won the first leg 3–0; John Wark, Frans Thijssen and Paul Mariner scored. In the second leg at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam on 20 May, a crowd of 28,500 watched Ipswich take an early lead courtesy of a Thijssen goal. AZ '67 quickly equalised through Kurt Welzl before taking the lead after a goal from Johnny Metgod. Wark scored again for Ipswich to equalise the leg, but AZ '67 struck back through Pier Tol and Jos Jonker. Ipswich won the final 5–4 on aggregate to win their first and, as of 2020, only European trophy. (Full article...)

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November 7

Clive Barker

Hellraiser: Judgment is a 2018 American horror film starring Damon Carney, Randy Wayne, Alexandra Harris, Heather Langenkamp, and Paul T. Taylor. The tenth installment in the Hellraiser film series created by Clive Barker (pictured), it was written and directed by the series' longtime special effects make-up artist Gary J. Tunnicliffe. It was produced by Michael Leahy and filmed in Oklahoma. The plot centers on three police detectives who, investigating a series of murders, are confronted by the denizens of hell: the Cenobites and the Stygian Inquisition. Judgment is the second Hellraiser film in which the Pinhead role was not played by Doug Bradley. Mike Jay Regan reprised his role as the Chatterer, Pinhead's servant in several of the earlier sequels. Judgment was distributed by Lionsgate Films in video on demand and home media. Although critics compared the film favorably to its predecessors, its low budget and police procedural aspects were criticized. (Full article...)

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November 8

The king brown snake (Pseudechis australis) is a species of highly venomous snake of the family Elapidae, native to northern, western, and Central Australia. Despite its common name, it is a member of the genus Pseudechis (black snakes) and only distantly related to true brown snakes. First described by the English zoologist John Edward Gray in 1842, it is a robust snake up to 3.3 m (11 ft) long. It is variable in appearance, with individuals from northern Australia having tan upperparts, while those from southern Australia are dark brown to blackish. The dorsal scales are two-toned, sometimes giving the snake a patterned appearance. Its underside is cream or white, often with orange splotches. The snake is considered to be a least-concern species. Its venomous bites often produce extensive pain and swelling, and deaths have been recorded, most recently in 1969. Its victims are treated with black-snake (not brown-snake) antivenom. (Full article...)

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November 9

Japanese battleship Yashima

Yashima was a Fuji-class pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the 1890s. Yashima (a classical name for Japan) was designed and built in the United Kingdom, as Japan lacked the necessary industrial capacity. Her main battery consisted of four 12-inch (305 mm) guns. Commanded by Captain Hajime Sakamoto at the start of the Russo-Japanese War, the ship participated in the Battle of Port Arthur on 9 February 1904 when Vice-Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō led his battleships and cruisers in an attack on Russia's Pacific Squadron. Yashima was involved in war operations until May, when she struck two mines off Port Arthur. She did not sink immediately, but capsized while under tow later that day. The Japanese were able to keep her loss a secret from the Russians for over a year; as part of the deception, surviving crewmen who were guarding Port Arthur addressed their letters as if they were still aboard the battleship. (Full article...)

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November 10

Ray Wise

"Episode 14" is the seventh episode of the second season of the American mystery television series Twin Peaks. Featuring Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Ray Wise (pictured) and Richard Beymer, it centers on an investigation into the murder of Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) in a rural town in Washington state. In this episode, FBI special agent Dale Cooper (MacLachlan) and Sheriff Truman (Ontkean) continue to search for Laura's killer. Cooper and Truman arrest Benjamin Horne (Beymer), believing him to be possessed by a demon, but later that night the demon's real host, Leland Palmer (Wise), murders Madeline Ferguson (Lee). "Episode 14" was first broadcast on November 10, 1990, by the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) and was watched by an audience of 17.2 million households. The episode was well-received. Academic readings of the entry have highlighted the theme of duality and the cinematography in the revelation scene. (Full article...)

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November 11

Ware with Queen Mary at the cemetery at Terlincthun

Sir Fabian Ware (1869–1949) was a British journalist and the founder of the Imperial War Graves Commission (IWGC), now the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. He travelled to the Transvaal Colony where he became Director of Education in 1903. Two years later he became editor of The Morning Post. He expanded the paper but was forced to retire in 1911. When the First World War started, Ware was appointed commander of a mobile ambulance unit and began marking and recording the graves of those killed. In 1916 the Department of Graves Registration and Enquiries was created with Ware at its head. On 21 May 1917 the IWGC was founded; Ware served as its vice-chairman. He ended the war as a major-general, having been mentioned in despatches twice. Post-war, Ware was heavily involved in the IWGC's function. When the Second World War broke out, he continued to serve as vice-chairman of the IWGC and was re-appointed director-general of Graves Registration and Enquiries. (Full article...)

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November 12

Left tibiotarsus in two views

The St. Croix macaw (Ara autocthones) is an extinct species of macaw whose remains have been found on the Caribbean islands of St. Croix and Puerto Rico. It was a medium-sized macaw of unknown coloration, slightly larger than the extinct Cuban macaw. It was described in 1937 based on a tibiotarsus leg bone (pictured) unearthed from a kitchen midden at a pre-Columbian site on St. Croix. A second specimen consisting of various bones from a similar site on Puerto Rico was described in 2008, and a coracoid from Montserrat may belong to this or another extinct species of macaw. The St. Croix macaw is one of 13 extinct macaw species that have been proposed to have lived on the Caribbean islands. Macaws were frequently transported for long distances by humans in both prehistoric and historic times, so it is impossible to know whether species only known from bones or written accounts were native or imported species. (Full article...)

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November 13

Edward Thomas Daniell was an English artist known for etchings and Middle Eastern landscape paintings. Taught by John Crome and Joseph Stannard, he is associated with the Norwich School of painters, who were mainly inspired by the Norfolk countryside. After graduating in classics at Balliol College, Oxford, in 1828, he was ordained as a curate in 1832 and appointed to a curacy in London in 1834. He became a patron of the arts, and a friend of the artist John Linnell. In 1840, after resigning his curacy and leaving for the Middle East, he encountered the archaeological expedition of Charles Fellows in Lycia, and joined as their illustrator. He contracted malaria and died from a second attack of the disease. He normally used a small number of colours for his watercolour paintings; his distinctive style was influenced in part by Crome, J. M. W. Turner and John Sell Cotman. As an etcher he anticipated the modern revival of etching that began in the 1850s. (Full article...)

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November 14

First X-ray laser

Project Excalibur was an American Cold War–era research program to develop nuclear-device-powered, space-based X-ray lasers as a ballistic missile defense. X-ray lasers were conceived in the 1970s by George Chapline Jr. (pictured with George Maenchen) and further developed by Peter L. Hagelstein, both working at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Edward Teller. After a promising test, Teller discussed the proposal in 1981 with US president Ronald Reagan, who in 1983 incorporated it in his Strategic Defense Initiative. Further underground nuclear tests suggested progress was being made. Reagan refused to abandon the technology at the 1986 Reykjavík Summit arms-control talks, even after a critical test demonstrated it was not working as expected. Researchers at Livermore and Los Alamos began to raise concerns about test results, and the infighting became public. In 1988 the program budget was cut dramatically, after additional problems were revealed. (Full article...)

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November 15

Ronnie O'Sullivan

The 2019 Tour Championship was a professional snooker ranking tournament, held from 19 to 24 March 2019 in Llandudno, Wales. Organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, it was the 18th ranking event of the 2018–19 season. The top eight players based on the single-year ranking list took part in a single elimination tournament. Each match was played over a minimum of two sessions, the final as a best-of-25-frames match over two days. In a repeat of the Players Championship final two weeks prior, Ronnie O'Sullivan (pictured) met Neil Robertson in the final. O'Sullivan won the match 13–11 to claim his 36th ranking title, equalling Stephen Hendry's record of ranking event wins. This was O'Sullivan's third ranking title win of the season. On winning the tournament, O'Sullivan returned to the world number one position for the first time since May 2010, and became the oldest world number one since Ray Reardon in 1983. (Full article...)

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November 16

Jane Grigson (13 March 1928 – 12 March 1990) was an English cookery writer. In the latter part of the 20th century she was the author of the food column for The Observer and wrote numerous books about European cuisines and traditional British dishes. In 1966 she was awarded the John Florio Prize for Italian translation. Her 1967 book Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery was well received and, after a recommendation by the food writer Elizabeth David, Grigson gained her position at The Observer. Her books English Food (1974), Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book (1978) and Jane Grigson's Fruit Book (1982) won Glenfiddich Food and Drink Awards. She was a political lobbyist, campaigning against battery farming and for animal welfare, food provenance and smallholders. Her writing put food into its social and historical context, drawing on poetry, novels and the cookery writers of the Industrial Revolution era, including Hannah Glasse, Elizabeth Raffald, Maria Rundell and Eliza Acton. Through her writing she changed the eating habits of the British, making many forgotten dishes popular once again. (Full article...)

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November 17

Reverse of a 1959 sovereign

The sovereign is a legal-tender gold coin of the United Kingdom with a nominal value of one pound sterling. Struck from 1817 until the present time, it was originally a circulating coin accepted in Britain and elsewhere in the world; it is now a bullion coin and is sometimes mounted in jewellery. In most recent years, it has borne the well-known design of Saint George and the Dragon on the reverse (pictured), created by Benedetto Pistrucci. Issued as part of the Great Recoinage of 1816, it not only became a popular circulating coin, but was used internationally, trusted as a coin containing a known quantity of gold. From the 1850s until 1932, the sovereign was also struck at colonial mints. With the start of the First World War in 1914, the sovereign vanished from circulation in Britain, replaced by paper money, and it did not return afterwards. Minted for bullion use from 1957, it has been struck since 1979 for collectors. (Full article...)

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November 18

Thomas White (1888–1957) was an Australian politician and First World War pilot. In 1915, he was among the first Australian Flying Corps members to see action when he was deployed to the Middle East with the Mesopotamian Half Flight. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and twice mentioned in despatches for his war service. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1929. He served as Minister for Trade and Customs in Joseph Lyons's United Australia Party government from 1933 to 1938, but resigned when he was excluded from Lyons's inner cabinet. After service in the Royal Australian Air Force during the Second World War, he returned to parliament in 1945 as a member of the newly formed Liberal Party. From 1949 to 1951, he was Minister for Air and Minister for Civil Aviation in Robert Menzies's government. He was Australia's high commissioner to the United Kingdom from 1951 to 1956, and was knighted in 1952. (Full article...)

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November 19

2019 Women's Boat Race trophy

The Boat Race 2019 took place on 7 April 2019. Held annually, The Boat Race is a side-by-side rowing race between crews from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge along a 4.2-mile (6.8 km) tidal stretch of the River Thames in south-west London. For the fourth time in the history of the event, the men's, the women's and both reserves' races were all held on the Tideway on the same day. Cambridge won the women's and men's races, increasing their lead in the overall record to 44–30 for the women and 84–80 for the men. In the women's reserve race, Cambridge's Blondie defeated Oxford's Osiris, their fourth consecutive victory. The men's reserve race was won by Cambridge's Goldie, who defeated Oxford's Isis. The races were watched by thousands of spectators lining the banks of the Thames, and broadcast live in the United Kingdom on the BBC. They were also live-streamed on YouTube, and by media organisations in Germany, South Africa and China, and around the world. (Full article...)

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November 20

Sahure was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the second ruler of the Fifth Dynasty, who reigned for about 12 years in the early 25th century BC during the Old Kingdom Period. He was probably the son of his predecessor Userkaf with Queen Neferhetepes II, and was in turn succeeded by his son Neferirkare Kakai. Sahure's reign marked the political and cultural high point of the Fifth Dynasty. He launched naval expeditions to modern-day Lebanon to procure cedar trees, slaves and exotic items. His expedition to the land of Punt brought back large quantities of myrrh, malachite and electrum. A relief in his mortuary temple shows him celebrating the success of this venture by tending a myrrh tree. Sahure sent expeditions to the turquoise and copper mines in Sinai and ordered military campaigns that captured livestock from Libyan chieftains in the Western Desert. His pyramid in Abusir is smaller than those of the preceding Fourth Dynasty, but his mortuary temple is more elaborate. (Full article...)

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November 21

Shigeru Miyamoto

Super Mario World is a 1990 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The story follows Mario's quest to save Princess Toadstool from the series antagonist Bowser and his minions. The gameplay is similar to that of earlier Super Mario games: players control Mario or his brother Luigi through a series of levels in which the goal is to reach the flagpole at the end. Super Mario World introduced Yoshi, a dinosaur character. Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development developed the game, led by director Takashi Tezuka and producer and series creator Shigeru Miyamoto (pictured). It is the first Mario game for the SNES and was designed to make the most of the console's technical features. Super Mario World is often considered one of the greatest video games of all time. It sold over 20 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling SNES game. It also led to a highly acclaimed prequel, Yoshi's Island, released in 1995. (Full article...)

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November 22

Walker's Court, Soho

James Humphreys (1930–2003) was an English businessman and criminal who owned a chain of adult book shops and strip clubs in London in the 1960s and 1970s. In March 1958 he was sentenced to six years' imprisonment after using explosives to open a safe and steal £8,260 in money and postal orders. On his release he opened a strip club in Soho (pictured in 2008), the centre of London's sex industry. When Humphreys expanded his business and opened sex shops and book shops selling obscene material, he could only operate by paying large bribes to policemen, particularly those from the Obscene Publications Branch of the Metropolitan Police. In the late 1970s his diaries detailing his meetings with police officers and the bribes he paid were used as evidence against twelve policemen imprisoned for corruption. The character Benny Barrett, played by Malcolm McDowell in the 1996 BBC television series Our Friends in the North, was based on Humphreys. (Full article...)

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November 23

Iéna was a pre-dreadnought battleship built for the French Navy (Marine Nationale). Laid down at Brest in January 1898, the vessel was launched on 1 September and completed on 14 April 1902. The ship was assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron and remained there for the duration of her career. Iéna frequently served as a flagship, participated in the annual fleet manoeuvres and made many visits to French ports in the Mediterranean. On 4 March 1907, while docked for repairs in Toulon, the battleship was badly damaged and 120 people were killed by a magazine explosion that was probably caused by the decomposition of old propellant, known as Poudre B. Multiple investigations were launched and the ensuing scandal forced the naval minister to resign. While repairs were possible, Iéna was not considered worth the expense. The salvaged hulk was used as a gunnery target in 1909 before it was sold for scrap in 1912. (Full article...)

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November 24

Victoria Beckham

"A Nice Day for a Posh Wedding" is the seventh episode of the second season of the American television comedy-drama Ugly Betty and the series's 30th episode overall. It was written by Silvio Horta and Marco Pennette, and directed by James Hayman. The episode was originally broadcast on ABC in the United States on November 8, 2007. Ugly Betty centers on Betty Suarez's job at the fashion magazine MODE, and in this episode MODE's creative director Wilhelmina Slater attempts to marry the magazine's publisher Bradford Meade. Victoria Beckham (pictured) guest-stars as herself in the episode, appearing as Wilhelmina's maid of honor who steals attention from the wedding. Vanessa Williams's ex-husband Rick Fox appears as Wilhelmina's bodyguard and lover. Vera Wang makes a cameo appearance, and designed Wilhelmina's wedding dress and Beckham's bridesmaid dress. The episode received nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and an NAACP Image Award. (Full article...)

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November 25

Territorial control in the caliphate c. 686, during the Second Fitna

Marwan I (c. 625 – 685) was the fourth Umayyad caliph, ruling for less than a year in 684–685. He was the secretary of his cousin Caliph Uthman (r. 644–656). During the rebel siege of Uthman's house, Marwan was wounded and the caliph was slain. Marwan considered Talha ibn Ubayd Allah, a companion of the prophet Muhammad, culpable in the death of Uthman, and killed him in the Battle of the Camel in 656. Marwan later served as governor of Medina under his distant kinsman Caliph Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680), founder of the Umayyad Caliphate. After the reigns of Yazid I (r. 680–683) and Mu'awiya II (r. 683–684), the tribal nobility of Syria, led by Ibn Bahdal of the Banu Kalb, elected Marwan caliph. He reasserted Umayyad rule over Egypt, Palestine and northern Syria, and dispatched an expedition to reconquer Iraq, but died while it was underway. His son Abd al-Malik was his designated successor, and the Umayyads continued to rule until 750. (Full article...)

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November 26

The western yellow robin (Eopsaltria griseogularis) is a species of bird in the Australasian robin family Petroicidae. Described by John Gould in 1838, the western yellow robin and its Australian relatives are not closely related to either the European or American robins, but appear to be an early offshoot of the Passerida group of songbirds. Ranging between 13.5 and 15.5 cm (5+1⁄4 and 6 in) long, both sexes have grey upperparts and a grey breast and head, broken by whitish streaks near the bill and below the eye, with a conspicuous yellow belly. The species inhabits open eucalypt forest, woodland and scrub, generally favouring habitats with significant understory. Its range comprises the Southwest of Western Australia, the state's southern coastline, and the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. Predominantly insectivorous, the western yellow robin pounces on prey from a low branch, or forages on the ground. The species has declined in parts of its range, but is not threatened. (Full article...)

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November 27

Jason Scott Lee

Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story is a 1993 American biographical drama film directed and co-written by Rob Cohen, and starring Jason Scott Lee (pictured), Lauren Holly, Nancy Kwan and Robert Wagner. The film follows the life of Bruce Lee (Jason) from his relocation to the United States from Hong Kong to his career as a martial arts teacher, and then television and film actor. It also focuses on the relationship between Bruce and his wife Linda Lee (Holly), and the racism to which Bruce was subjected. Rather than making a traditional biographical film, Cohen decided to include elements of mysticism and to dramatise fight scenes to give it the same tone as the films in which Bruce starred. Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story received positive reviews, with Jason widely praised for his performance. The film's commercial success, exceeding box office averages for biographical films, was attributed to its romantic themes and its appeal to people outside the traditional kung fu film audience. (Full article...)

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November 28

Lane at peak intensity southeast of Hawaii

Hurricane Lane was a tropical cyclone that brought torrential rainfall and strong winds to Hawaii during late August 2018. The storm was the wettest on record in Hawaii, with peak rainfall accumulations of 58 inches (1,473 mm) along the eastern slopes of Mauna Loa. Lane was the first of three Category 5 hurricanes of the record-breaking 2018 Pacific hurricane season, and the season's twelfth named storm, sixth hurricane, and fourth major hurricane. It became a Category 4 hurricane on August 18 and reached Category 5 status on August 22 to the south of Hawaii with sustained winds of 160 mph (260 km/h) and a barometric pressure of 926 mbar (hPa; 27.34 inHg). The hurricane then turned north and slowed, battering the Hawaiian Islands from August 22 to 26 with heavy rain that caused flash flooding and mudslides. Across the Big Island, 159 structures were damaged or destroyed. One person died on Kauai. (This article is part of a featured topic: Category 5 Pacific hurricanes.)

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November 29

Okęcie Airport

The Okęcie Airport incident was a dispute between the players and staff of the Poland national football team on 29 November 1980, climaxing at Okęcie Airport (pictured). It occurred at a time when civil resistance was intensifying in communist Poland and led to the suspension of several prominent players and the resignation of the team manager, Ryszard Kulesza. Kulesza had initially angered the team by deciding to prevent a hung-over player, Józef Młynarczyk, from flying with the team, but eventually relented. Polish media attacked the rebellious players over the following days. Another player, Stanisław Terlecki, defied the communist authorities by arranging for the players to meet Pope John Paul II. The Polish Football Association sent Terlecki and others home and imposed various bans. Kulesza resigned in protest over the harshness of the sanctions imposed on the players. Most of the banned players were reinstated within a year, but Terlecki never played for Poland again. (Full article...)

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November 30

Napoleon cannon, similar to those used by the battery

Landis's Missouri Battery was an artillery battery that served in the Confederate States Army during the early stages of the American Civil War. The battery was formed in late 1861 and early 1862, and was crewed by a maximum of 62 men. It fielded two 12-pounder Napoleon cannons (example pictured) and two 24-pounder howitzers. The battery saw limited action at the Battle of Iuka before providing artillery support at the Second Battle of Corinth, both in 1862. It formed part of Confederate defenses at the battles of Port Gibson and Champion Hill in May 1863. The unit may have suffered the capture of two cannons during the Battle of Big Black River Bridge. Landis's Battery next saw action during the Siege of Vicksburg, but was captured when the Confederate garrison there surrendered on July 4. Although the surviving men of the battery were exchanged, the battery was not reorganized; instead, it was absorbed into Guibor's Missouri Battery along with Wade's Missouri Battery. (Full article...)

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