Wikipedia:Today's featured article/September 2022

Today's featured article archive

September 1

Benedict Joseph Fenwick (1782–1846) was an American Catholic bishop and educator who served as Bishop of Boston from 1825 until his death. Born in Maryland, he entered the Society of Jesus and began his ministry in the Diocese of New York, where he eventually became the vicar general and administrator. In 1817, he became the president of Georgetown College in Washington, D.C. Months later, Ambrose Maréchal, Archbishop of Baltimore, sent him to St. Mary's Church in Charleston, South Carolina, to resolve a longstanding schism. In 1825, Fenwick became the bishop of Boston, during a period of rapid growth of the city's Catholic population due to Irish immigration. Intense nativism and anti-Catholicism culminated with the burning of the Ursuline Convent in 1834, threats against Fenwick's life, and the formation of the Montgomery Guards. He established numerous churches, charitable institutions, newspapers, and schools, including The Pilot in 1829 and the College of the Holy Cross in 1843. (Full article...)

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September 2

Beach on Caroline Island

Caroline Island is the easternmost of the uninhabited coral atolls which comprise the southern Line Islands in the central Pacific Ocean. First sighted by Europeans in 1606 and claimed by the United Kingdom in 1868, it has been part of the Republic of Kiribati since the island nation's independence in 1979. Despite guano mining, copra (coconut meat) harvesting, and human habitation in the 19th and 20th centuries, Caroline Island has remained relatively unspoiled compared to other tropical islands. It is home to one of the world's largest populations of the coconut crab and is an important breeding site for seabirds, most notably the sooty tern. The atoll is known for its role in celebrations surrounding the arrival of the year 2000. A 1995 realignment of the International Date Line made Caroline Island the easternmost land west of the Date Line and therefore one of the first points of land on Earth to see sunrise in the year 2000. (Full article...)

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September 3

Corry Tendeloo (3 September 1897 – 18 October 1956) was a Dutch lawyer, feminist and politician who sat in the House of Representatives for the Free-thinking Democratic League (VDB) from 1945 until 1946, and then for the Labour Party until her death in 1956. Born in the Dutch East Indies, Tendeloo studied law at Utrecht University, during which time she made contact with people within the women's rights movement. In 1945, Tendeloo was appointed a member of the House of Representatives for the VDB in the national emergency parliament, formed to rebuild the country after World War II and organise elections. In 1948, she helped secure universal suffrage for the Dutch colonies of Suriname and Curaçao. In 1955, she put forward a motion to abolish the ban on state employment for married women. The next year she was instrumental in introducing legislation that would start to end couverture, a 19th-century law that labelled married women as incompetent to act on their own behalf. (Full article...)

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September 4

Carrie off the coast of Massachusetts

Tropical Storm Carrie was a tropical storm that affected the East Coast of the United States in early September 1972. The third tropical cyclone of the 1972 Atlantic hurricane season, it formed on August 29 from a complex sequence of meteorological events starting with the emergence of a tropical wave into the Atlantic in the middle of August. Tracking generally northward, Carrie reached an initial peak intensity as a moderate tropical storm before nearly weakening back into tropical depression status. The storm began to reintensify in a baroclinic environment after turning toward the northwest; its winds of 70 mph (110 km/h) as it was transitioning into an extratropical system eclipsed the cyclone's previous maximum strength. The extratropical remnants of Carrie skirted eastern New England before making landfall in Maine on September 4 and dissipating over the Gulf of St. Lawrence over the next two days. Overall damage was light, with total losses valued at $1,780,000, and four deaths. (Full article...)

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September 5

Cedar Hill Yard, c. 1977

Cedar Hill Yard is a railroad classification yard in New Haven, North Haven, and Hamden, Connecticut, in the United States. It was built by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in the early 1890s in and around New Haven's Cedar Hill neighborhood, which gave the yard its name. Following an expansion begun in 1917, and further improvements in the 1920s, Cedar Hill Yard became one of the largest rail yards in the United States, routinely handling more than 4,000 railroad cars each day on 880 acres (360 ha) of land. After the rise of trucks and highways, and rerouting of rail traffic to newly built Selkirk Yard in the state of New York, Cedar Hill Yard significantly declined in importance and much of it was abandoned, as ownership was transferred to Penn Central in 1969, and subsequently Conrail in 1976. Since 1999, the yard has been owned and operated by CSX Transportation, and also hosts operations by Amtrak, the Connecticut Southern Railroad, and the Providence and Worcester Railroad. (Full article...)

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September 6

Avery Brundage (1887–1975) was the fifth president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the only American to hold that office. In 1912, he competed in the Summer Olympics, contesting the pentathlon and decathlon; both events were won by Jim Thorpe. Brundage became a sports administrator, rising rapidly through the ranks in U.S. sports groups. He fought zealously against a boycott of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Nazi Germany. Although Brundage was successful, the U.S. participation was controversial, and has remained so. Brundage was elected to the IOC that year, and quickly became a major figure in the Olympic movement. Elected IOC president in 1952, Brundage fought strongly for amateurism. On September 6, 1972, at the Munich Olympics, his final as president, when addressing the memorial service following the murder of eleven Israelis by terrorists, Brundage refused to cancel the remainder of the Olympics, declaring that "the Games must go on". (Full article...)

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September 7

"Daisy" is a controversial political advertisement that aired on television as part of Lyndon B. Johnson's 1964 presidential campaign against Republican Barry Goldwater. Though officially aired only once, on September 7, 1964, it is considered a turning point in political and advertising history. It was designed to broadcast Johnson's anti-nuclear positions, contrary to Goldwater's stance. The commercial begins with Monique Corzilius picking petals of a daisy, while counting from one to ten incorrectly. After she reaches "nine", a booming male voice is heard counting the numbers backward from "ten", similar to the start of a missile launch countdown. The scene is replaced by a nuclear explosion, with Johnson's voice-over stating: "We must either love each other, or we must die." Although the Johnson campaign was criticized for frightening the voters by implying that Goldwater would wage a nuclear war, various other campaigns since have adopted and used the "Daisy" advertisement. (Full article...)

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September 8

Steve Pemberton, co-writer and actor, with a BAFTA award won by Inside No. 9

"Sardines" is the first episode of Inside No. 9, a British dark comedy anthology series. Written by Steve Pemberton (pictured) and Reece Shearsmith, it premiered on BBC Two on 5 February 2014. In the episode, a group of adults play sardines at an engagement party. Rebecca, the bride-to-be, finds a player in a wardrobe, and they are subsequently joined by other guests. As more people enter, dark secrets are revealed, with various allusions to incest, child abuse and adultery. The humour is dark and British, with polite but awkward interactions. The story takes place entirely in the bedroom of a country house, with much of it inside the wardrobe to evoke a feeling of claustrophobia. The cast included Katherine Parkinson, Tim Key, Luke Pasqualino, Ophelia Lovibond, Anne Reid, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Anna Chancellor, Marc Wootton, Ben Willbond, Timothy West and the two writers. The cast and writing were praised by critics, and the episode was watched by 1.1 million viewers on its first showing. (Full article...)

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September 9

William depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry

William the Conqueror (c. 1028 – 1087) was the first Norman king of England. He became Duke of Normandy in 1035, although his illegitimate status and youth caused him difficulties until he secured the duchy in about 1060. In the 1050s and early 1060s, William was a contender for the English throne, then held by Edward the Confessor. Another claimant was Harold Godwinson, whom Edward named as the next king on his deathbed in January 1066. William invaded England in September 1066, defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings, and was crowned on Christmas Day 1066. Unsuccessful rebellions followed, but by 1075 William's hold on England was mostly secure. William's final years were marked by difficulties in his continental domains, troubles with his eldest son, and threatened invasions of England by the Danes. In 1085 he ordered the compilation of the Domesday Book, listing all landholders in England and their holdings. He died in September 1087 on a campaign in northern France. (Full article...)

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September 10

Artist's conception of C. spelea

Cryptoprocta spelea, the giant fossa, is an extinct species from Madagascar in the family Eupleridae. Most closely related to the mongooses, the family includes all of Madagascar's carnivorans. The giant fossa was first described in 1902, and in 1935 was recognized as a separate species from its closest relative, the living fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox). Apart from its size, C. spelea was similar to the fossa. When and how C. spelea became extinct is unknown, and there is some anecdotal evidence of more than one surviving species. The species is known from subfossil bones found in a variety of caves in northern, western, southern, and central Madagascar. In some sites, it occurs with remains of C. ferox, but there is no evidence that the two lived in the same places at the same time. C. spelea would have been able to prey on larger animals than its smaller relative could have, including the recently extinct giant lemurs. (Full article...)

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September 11

55 Wall Street is a building and U.S. National Historic Landmark on Wall Street between William Street and Hanover Street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The building's facade contains two stacked colonnades, while its interior includes a cruciform banking hall. The building was completed by 1842 as the four-story Merchants' Exchange, designed by Isaiah Rogers in the Greek Revival style. The United States Custom House used the building from 1862 to 1907, before a new Custom House building was built on Bowling Green. Between 1907 and 1910, McKim, Mead & White removed the original fourth story and added five floors. It was the headquarters of Citibank's predecessor National City Bank from 1908 to 1961. The upper stories were converted to condominiums in 2006, and the banking room became a ballroom. The facade and part of the interior are New York City designated landmarks, and the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. (Full article...)

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September 12

The Magnavox Odyssey is the first commercial home video game console. It consists of a white, black, and brown box that connects to a television set, and two controllers attached by wires. It can display three square dots and one line on the screen in monochrome black and white; players place plastic overlays on the screen to display additional visual elements. Ralph H. Baer conceived the console in August 1966 and his team at Sanders Associates developed it. Magnavox agreed to produce it in January 1971 and released it in September 1972, selling 69,000 units in its first calendar year and 350,000 by its discontinuation in 1975. A series of lawsuits spanning 20 years, based on patents for the system and its games by Baer and the other developers, earned Sanders and Magnavox over US$100 million. Its release marked the beginning of the first generation of video game consoles and spawned the Odyssey series, which includes a set of dedicated consoles and the 1978 Magnavox Odyssey 2. (Full article...)

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September 13

Tessa Sanderson (born 1956) is a retired British javelin thrower. She appeared in every Summer Olympics from 1976 to 1996, winning the gold medal in the javelin at the 1984 Olympics. She was the first Black British woman to win an Olympic gold medal, and the second track and field athlete to compete at six Olympics. Sanderson won gold medals at three Commonwealth Games and at the 1992 IAAF World Cup. She set five Commonwealth records and ten British national records in the javelin, as well as records at junior and masters levels. Sanderson had a rivalry with fellow Briton Fatima Whitbread, who took the bronze in the 1984 Olympics. Sanderson was a sports reporter for Sky News when it began broadcasting in 1989. She was vice-chair of Sport England from 1999 to 2005, and later established the Tessa Sanderson Foundation and Academy, which aims to encourage young people and people with disabilities to take up sport. She became a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2004. (Full article...)

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September 14

The Macintosh Classic is a personal computer sold by Apple Computer from October 15, 1990, to September 14, 1992. The Classic was similar to its predecessors: due to limited technological advances, it had the same 9-inch (23 cm) monochrome CRT display, 512 × 342 pixel resolution, and 4 megabyte (MB) memory limit of older Macintosh computers. Nevertheless, the Classic featured several improvements over the Macintosh Plus, which it replaced as Apple's low-end Mac computer. It was up to 25 percent faster than the Plus and included an Apple SuperDrive 3.5-inch (9 cm) floppy disk drive as standard. Apple released two versions that ranged in price from US$1,000 to $1,500. Reviewers' reactions were mixed; most focused on the slow processor performance and lack of expansion slots. They also noted that the Classic was powerful enough for word processing, spreadsheets, and databases. The price and availability of education software led to the computer's popularity in education. (Full article...)

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September 15

The Uskok class was a class of two motor torpedo boats, Uskok and Četnik, built for the Royal Yugoslav Navy. Laid down on 15 September 1926 and launched in May 1927, they were lightly built using mahogany and powered by two petrol engines. Their main armament was two British-designed 456 mm (18 in) torpedoes. They were also fitted with hydrophones and could carry depth charges instead of torpedoes if used in an anti-submarine role. When the Axis invaded Yugoslavia in April 1941, Italian forces captured both boats. Commissioned in the Royal Italian Navy, the boats operated out of the Dalmatian port of Šibenik, their pre-war base. Their aged condition meant they were only used for patrolling and second-line duties. Uskok sank near the Dalmatian island of Mljet in July 1942 when its hull failed. Četnik was no longer fully operational by September 1943. Soon after Italy capitulated, its crew escaped and sailed it to Taranto in Allied-held southern Italy. Četnik survived the war but sources differ on its fate. (This article is part of a featured topic: Ships of the Royal Yugoslav Navy.)

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September 16

Affected interest rates (and a target range) between 2014 and 2019

In September 2019, there was a sudden and unexpected spike in interest rates on overnight repurchase agreements (or "repos") – short-term loans between financial institutions. The interest rate on overnight repos in the United States increased from 2.43 percent on September 16 to 5.25 percent (graph shown). During the trading day, interest rates reached 10 percent. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York injected $75 billion into the repo market on September 17 and every morning for the rest of the week. On September 19, the Federal Reserve lowered the interest paid on bank reserves. These actions calmed the markets and, by September 20, rates had returned to a stable level. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York continued to regularly provide liquidity to the repo market until June 2020. Economists identified the main cause of the spike as a temporary shortage of cash available in the financial system, caused by the deadline for the payment of quarterly corporate taxes and the issuing of new Treasury securities. (Full article...)

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September 17

NASA Astronaut Group 2 was the second group of astronauts selected by NASA; their names were announced on September 17, 1962. President Kennedy had announced Project Apollo, with the goal of putting a man on the Moon by the end of the decade, and more astronauts were required to fly the two-person Gemini spacecraft and three-person Apollo spacecraft then under development. The Mercury Seven had been selected for the simpler task of orbital flight, but the challenges of space rendezvous and lunar landing led to the selection of candidates with advanced engineering degrees (for four of the nine) as well as test pilot experience. The nine were Neil Armstrong, Frank Borman, Pete Conrad, Jim Lovell, James McDivitt, Elliot See, Tom Stafford, Ed White and John Young. Six of the nine flew to the Moon (Lovell and Young twice), and Armstrong, Conrad and Young walked on it as well. Seven of the nine were awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. (This article is part of a featured topic: NASA Astronaut Group 2.)

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September 18

Reconstruction of a rotavirus

Rotavirus is a genus of double-stranded RNA virus and the leading cause of severe diarrhoea among infants and young children, nearly all of whom have an infection by age five. Rotavirus A, the most common species, causes more than 90 per cent of human infections. Rotavirus is transmitted by the faecal–oral route. It infects cells that line the small intestine and produces an enterotoxin, which induces gastroenteritis, leading to severe diarrhoea and sometimes death through dehydration. Campaigns to combat rotaviruses focus on oral rehydration therapy for infected children and vaccination. Vaccines introduced in the 2000s have reduced the severity of infections in children and lowered hospitalisation rates. Although rotavirus was discovered in 1973 by Ruth Bishop and her colleagues, its importance has historically been underestimated within the public health community, particularly in developing countries. Rotavirus also infects animals and is a pathogen of livestock. (Full article...)

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September 19

Elizabeth in 2007

Elizabeth II (1926–2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death. The first child of the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth), she became heir presumptive when the duke became king in 1936 upon the abdication of Edward VIII. During the Second World War, she served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. She married Philip Mountbatten in 1947; they were wed for 73 years until his death in 2021. She became queen on her father's death in 1952, and reigned for seven decades through dramatic changes in her realms, attaining the oldest age of any British monarch (96), and having the longest reign. She faced media criticism of her family over the breakups of her children's marriages, and after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997. However, support for the monarchy in Britain remained high, as did her popularity. Elizabeth died at Balmoral Castle and was succeeded by her eldest son, Charles III. (Full article...)

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September 20

Monza's first lineup, 1912

A.C. Monza is a professional football club that is based in Monza, Lombardy, Italy. The team plays in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football, following promotion in the 2021–22 Serie B season. The club was founded in 1912 (first lineup pictured), with its first recorded win on 20 September 1912. On multiple occasions in the 1970s, the club came close to promotion to the Serie A, but were twice declared bankrupt, in 2004 and 2015. Following Silvio Berlusconi's 2018 takeover of the club, Monza was promoted to the Serie B in 2020 after a 19-year absence; no Italian team had played more Serie B seasons (40) without playing in the Serie A. Monza have won the Coppa Italia Serie C a record four times, the Serie C championship four times, and an Anglo-Italian Cup. Monza's colours were initially blue and white but were changed to red and white in 1932; as a result, they are nicknamed i biancorossi ('the white and reds'). They have played home matches at the Stadio Brianteo since 1988. (Full article...)

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September 21

Alexander Cameron Rutherford (1857–1941) was the first premier of Alberta. Born in Ormond, Canada West, he became a lawyer in Ottawa before moving to the North-West Territories in 1895. He won a seat in the North-West Legislative Assembly, and in 1905 he was asked to form the new province's first government. As premier, with a majority in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, he created the apparatus of government and supported the controversial selection of Edmonton as capital. Faced with labour unrest in the coal mining industry, the government established a commission to examine the problem. A project to develop new railways led to the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway scandal; Rutherford eventually resigned but kept his legislative seat. He was defeated in the 1913 election by Herbert Crawford, a Conservative, but was made King's Counsel afterwards. After leaving politics, he continued his law practice and became chancellor of the University of Alberta until his death by a heart attack. (Full article...)

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September 22

Portland Streetcar vehicle on the Broadway Bridge

The A and B Loop is a streetcar circle route of the Portland Streetcar system in Portland, Oregon, United States. Operated by Portland Streetcar, Inc. and TriMet, it consists of two services within the Central City that travel a loop between the east and west sides of the Willamette River by crossing the Broadway Bridge (pictured) in the north and Tilikum Crossing in the south. The services connect Portland's downtown, Pearl District, Lloyd District, Central Eastside, and South Waterfront. Portland city officials considered an eastside streetcar extension upon authorizing the Central City Streetcar project in 1997. After several years of planning, the Portland Streetcar Loop Project was approved and held its groundbreaking in 2009. It opened between the Broadway Bridge and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry on September 22, 2012. The opening of Tilikum Crossing in 2015 further extended its tracks from the museum to the South Waterfront and completed the loop. (Full article...)

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September 23

Jason Sendwe (1917–1964) was a Congolese politician and a leader of the Katanga-based BALUBAKAT party. He became involved in several cultural organisations before founding BALUBAKAT to represent the Baluba, and believed that the Congo should remain a united country. Before Congo's independence, he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies and sought to obtain control over Katanga Province, but lost to Moïse Tshombe. Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba nominated Sendwe for State Commissioner for Katanga, but in early July 1960 Tshombe announced Katanga's secession. Sendwe was appointed Deputy Prime Minister of the Congo in 1961, and later was made Commissioner-General of Katanga Province, nominally giving him complete authority over the area. His prospects were damaged in 1962 when the Senate censured him and he resigned. In 1963, Katanga acceded to central authority and Tshombe fled into exile. Sendwe became President of North Katanga Province in September. In January 1964 he lost the presidency of BALUBAKAT. Simba rebels overthrew his government and, in June, killed him. (Full article...)

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September 24

Extent of the Sawmill Fire

The Sawmill Fire was a wildfire that burned almost 47,000 acres (19,000 ha) of the U.S. state of Arizona. It began on April 23, 2017, at a gender reveal party held in the Coronado National Forest with the detonation by gunshot of a target packed with blue powder and tannerite. Because of hot and arid conditions in the area, the fire spread rapidly and forced the closure of Arizona State Route 83 and Interstate 10 and the evacuation of 100 people. By April 30, the fire was fully contained and evacuation orders were lifted. No injuries or fatalities resulted from the fire, which cost $8,200,000 and required the deployment of over 800 first responders to contain and suppress. No buildings were destroyed by the fire, though the flames were as little as 50 feet (15 m) from the historic Empire Ranch at times. When the source of the fire became public knowledge, it resulted in widespread ridicule of gender reveal parties in concept and practice. (Full article...)

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September 25

The red warbler (Cardellina rubra) is a small bird of the New World warbler family, Parulidae. Endemic to the highlands of Mexico north of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, it is closely related to the pink-headed warbler of southern Mexico and Guatemala. There are three subspecies, which differ primarily in the shading of their ear patch and in the brightness and tone of their red body plumage. Young birds are pinkish-brown, with a whitish ear patch and two pale wingbars. Breeding typically occurs between February and May. The female lays three or four eggs in a domed nest, which she builds on the ground. Though she alone incubates the eggs, both sexes feed the young and remove fecal sacs from the nest. The young fledge within eleven days of hatching. The red warbler is an insectivore, gleaning primarily in understory shrubs. The species is not threatened, but its numbers are thought to be declining due to habitat destruction. (Full article...)

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September 26

Ticket for the match

The 1940 Mandatory Palestine v Lebanon football match took place on 27 April 1940 at the Maccabiah Stadium in Tel Aviv. Officiated by John Blackwell of the British Army, the game was watched by around 10,000 spectators. It ended in a 5–1 victory for Mandatory Palestine, who scored in the second minute, doubled their lead nine minutes later with a penalty kick, and led the match 4–0 at halftime. This was Lebanon's first official international match, and in the second half, forward Camille Cordahi scored the team's first goal in official international play. Werner Kaspi answered with his second goal of the game, and the match ended 5–1. Six Lebanese players appeared again in an international match, but of the Mandatory Palestine squad, only Shalom Shalomzon made another international appearance. Lebanon's squad did not play again until 1942, in a friendly against Syria, whereas the victors did not play again until 1949, against Cyprus, and were by then the Israel national football team. (Full article...)

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September 27

Bergen County's 70 municipalities

Boroughitis was the creation in the 1890s, usually by referendum, of many small boroughs in the U.S. state of New Jersey, particularly in Bergen County (map shown). A previously little-used law that allowed parts of existing townships to vote by referendum to form independent boroughs was amended in 1894 to allow boroughs formed from parts of two or more townships to elect a representative to the county Board of Chosen Freeholders. This 1894 act, in combination with another to consolidate school districts, made it easy and attractive for dissatisfied communities to break away and become boroughs, in order to gain a seat on the county board or to keep control of the local school. Forty new boroughs were formed in 1894 and 1895, with the bulk in Bergen County, where townships were broken up or greatly reduced in size; there are few of them there today. The state legislature scuttled the right to elect a freeholder in 1895, and ended the formation of boroughs by referendum in 1896. (Full article...)

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September 28

Philip VI of France

The Truce of Calais was agreed by King Edward III of England and King Philip VI of France (depicted) on 28 September 1347. After ten years of war both countries were financially and militarily exhausted and Pope Clement VI brokered a truce, to run until 7 July 1348. The Black Death caused the truce to be renewed in 1348, 1349 and 1350. The truce effectively restricted fighting, but did not stop repeated naval clashes nor much fighting on a smaller scale. In 1351 the truce was renewed for one year but in January 1352 full-scale fighting broke out again. On 6 April 1354 a new truce and an outline of a permanent peace treaty were agreed as the Treaty of Guînes. However, King John II of France then decided on an ambitious series of offensives for the 1355 campaigning season and repudiated the treaty. Yet another extension to the Truce of Calais was agreed, until 24 June, when it finally expired. The war resumed in force in October 1355. (This article is part of a featured topic: Hundred Years' War, 1345–1347.)

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September 29

Super Mario 64 is a 1996 platform game for the Nintendo 64. Developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development and published by Nintendo, it is the first Super Mario game to feature 3D gameplay, combining traditional Super Mario gameplay, visual style, and characters in a large open world. Bowser, one of the main antagonists of the franchise, invades Princess Peach's castle and hides the castle's sources of protection, Power Stars, in many different worlds behind magical paintings. Super Mario 64 was highly anticipated by video game journalists and audiences and appeared in many critics' lists of the best video games. Reviewers praised its ambition, visuals, and gameplay while some criticized its virtual camera system. It is the best-selling Nintendo 64 game, with nearly twelve million copies sold by 2015. The game has attracted a cult following, spawning many fangames, a large speedrunning presence, and enduring rumors surrounding game features. (Full article...)

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September 30

Flag of the 6th Kansas Cavalry, showing a Newtonia battle honor

The First Battle of Newtonia was fought on September 30, 1862, near Newtonia, Missouri, during the American Civil War. Confederate colonel Douglas H. Cooper's soldiers clashed with Union brigadier general Frederick C. Salomon's column. Cooper's force consisted mostly of cavalry including a brigade of Native Americans. Union colonel Edward Lynde's force was driven out of Newtonia during the morning. Both sides brought up reinforcements, and seesaw fighting took place during the afternoon. Shortly before nightfall, the Confederates made an all-out attack, causing Salomon to withdraw. Union militia covered the retreat, although Confederate artillery fire turned it into a disorderly rout. Union casualties were approximately 245, against Confederate losses of 78. Union brigadier general James G. Blunt's whole division advanced towards Newtonia in early October, and Cooper abandoned Missouri. A portion of the battlefield was listed in 2004 as the First Battle of Newtonia Historic District. (Full article...)

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