Wikipedia:Today's featured list/August 2018
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August 3
The video game developer and publisher Sega produced home video game consoles and handheld consoles. These systems were released from the third console generation to the sixth. The first Sega console was the Japan-only SG-1000, released in 1983. Sega released several variations of this console in Japan, the third of which, the Sega Mark III, was rebranded as the Master System and released worldwide in 1985. They went on to produce the Genesis—known as the Mega Drive outside of North America—and its add-ons beginning in 1988, the Game Gear handheld console in 1990, the Sega Saturn in 1994, and the Dreamcast in 1998. Sega was one of the primary competitors to Nintendo in the video game console industry. A few of Sega's early consoles outsold their competitors in specific markets. Several of the company's later consoles were commercial failures, however, and the financial losses incurred from the Dreamcast console caused the company to restructure itself in 2001. As a result, Sega ceased to manufacture consoles and became a third-party video game developer. (Full list...)
August 6
There are four World Heritage Sites in Slovenia, with five sites on a tentative list. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972. Slovenia, following the declaration of independence from Yugoslavia on 25 June 1991, ratified the convention on 5 November 1992. The first site in Slovenia to be added to the list of World Heritage Sites was the Škocjan Caves (pictured), inscribed at the 10th UNESCO session in 1986. In the 2010s, three more sites were inscribed, all of them transnational entries: pile dwellings at Ig, part of the Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps transnational site, in 2011, Idrija, as part of the transnational site Heritage of Mercury. Almadén and Idrija, in 2012, and two forest reserves, Krokar and Snežnik – Ždrocle Virgin Forests in 2017, as a part of the extension to the site of Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and the Ancient Beech Forests of Germany. (Full list...)
August 10
Only a small fraction of the 3,800 known exoplanets are located in the vicinity of the Solar System. Of the 400 stars known to be located within 10 parsecs (32.6 light-years), just 26 have been confirmed to have planetary systems. Only eight of these planetary systems are located around stars visible with the naked eye. One of the earliest confirmations for an exoplanet, or planet orbiting a star other than our Sun, was in 1998 for a planet orbiting around Gliese 876 just 15 light-years away. Since then, several closer exoplanets have been discovered, including an exoplanet found in 2016 to orbit Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our Solar System just 4.25 light-years away. A system containing six exoplanets has been observed around HD 219134, 22 light-years away. Some of the closest exoplanets have been proposed to have potential for human habitability. (Full list...)
August 13
The Mr. Show-Me Basketball honor recognizes the top male high school basketball player in the state of Missouri. The name of the award differs from other Mr. Basketball awards to reflect Missouri's state nickname, the Show-Me State. The award is presented annually by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association. In order to be considered for the award, nominees must have been nominated by their high school coach, started in 90 percent of all games, must be high school seniors, and must be of "outstanding moral character". The first recipient of the honor was Monroe Douglas in 1985, who is the fourth all-time leading scorer for the Saint Louis Billikens men's basketball team in total points with 1,877 points and was named to their all-century team. Two sets of brothers, JarRon and Kareem Rush along with Tyler and Ben Hansbrough, have received the honor. Nine recipients of the Mr. Show-Me Basketball honor have been drafted into the NBA, the highest draft picks being both Bradley Beal (pictured) in the 2012 NBA draft and Jayson Tatum in the 2017 NBA draft with the third overall pick. (Full list...)
August 17
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American singer Madonna has released thirteen studio albums, three soundtrack albums, five live albums, six compilation albums, and thirty-four other limited releases. Recognized as the world's best-selling female recording artist of all time by the Guinness World Records, Madonna has accumulated a total record sales of more than 300 million units worldwide. In their 2006 press release, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) confirmed that Madonna's albums alone had sold over 200 million copies worldwide. She is ranked by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) as the best-selling female rock artist of the 20th century and second best-selling female artist in the United States, with 64.5 million certified albums. The Immaculate Collection, Like a Virgin, and True Blue are among the top 100 certified albums according to the RIAA. In the United Kingdom, she is the most successful female artist, with a total of 12 number-one albums. (Full list...)
August 20
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Amy Adams is an American actress who has appeared in several films and television shows. She made her film debut in the 1999 black comedy Drop Dead Gorgeous and had her first major role in Steven Spielberg's biographical crime drama Catch Me If You Can (2002). However, the film did not launch her career as Spielberg had hoped. She had her breakthrough in 2005 by playing a joyful pregnant woman in Junebug (2005) and in 2007, Adams starred in the Disney romantic comedy Enchanted. Adams played a naive nun in Doubt (2008) and expanded into dramatic roles by playing a tough barmaid in David O. Russell's sports drama The Fighter (2010). She subsequently starred in Paul Thomas Anderson's drama The Master (2011) and Russell's crime comedy American Hustle (2013), for which she received her fifth Academy Award nomination. In 2016, Adams played intellectual women troubled by their memories in the science fiction film Arrival and the psychological thriller Nocturnal Animals. She went on to gain acclaim for playing a self-harming reporter in the HBO thriller miniseries Sharp Objects (2018). (This list is part of a featured topic: Amy Adams.)
August 24
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Deities in ancient Mesopotamia were almost exclusively anthropomorphic. They were thought to possess extraordinary powers and were often envisioned as being of tremendous physical size. The deities typically wore melam, an ambiguous substance that "covered them in terrifying splendor". The ancient Mesopotamians believed that their deities lived in Heaven, but that a god's statue was a physical embodiment of the god himself. The Mesopotamian pantheon evolved greatly over the course of its history. During the first of the four phases of the history of Mesopotamian religion, starting in the fourth millennium BC, deities' domain mainly focused on basic needs for human survival. During the second phase, which occurred in the third millennium BC, the divine hierarchy became more structured and deified kings began to enter the pantheon. During the third phase, in the second millennium BC, the gods worshipped by an individual person and gods associated with the commoners became more prevalent. During the fourth and final phase, in the first millennium BC, the gods became closely associated with specific human empires and rulers. (Full list...)
August 27
There are 13 municipalities in Sullivan County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Pennsylvania law defines the two kinds of incorporated municipalities in Sullivan County: four boroughs and nine townships. In the 2010 census, the population of Sullivan County was 6,428, making it an "Eighth Class County", defined by Pennsylvania law as "having a population of less than 20,000 inhabitants". Its county seat is Laporte, which was the smallest county seat in Pennsylvania by population as of 2001. Sullivan County (map pictured) is located in north-central Pennsylvania, about 123 miles (198 km) northwest of Philadelphia and 195 miles (314 km) east-northeast of Pittsburgh. Its municipalities range in size from the borough of Dushore with 0.9 square miles (2.3 km2) to Davidson Township with 78.2 square miles (203 km2). Cherry Township has the highest population of any municipality (1,705, or 26.5% of the county total as of 2010). (Full list...)
August 31
The Arthur Ashe Courage Award is presented as part of the ESPY Awards. It is named for the American tennis player Arthur Ashe. Although it is a sports-oriented award, it is not limited to sports-related people or actions, as it is presented annually to individuals whose contributions "transcend sports". According to ESPN, the organization responsible for giving out the award, "recipients reflect the spirit of Arthur Ashe, possessing strength in the face of adversity, courage in the face of peril and the willingness to stand up for their beliefs no matter what the cost". The award has been presented as part of the ESPY Awards ceremony at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles since 2008. The inaugural award, made at the 1993 ESPY Awards, was presented to the American college basketball player, coach, and broadcaster Jim Valvano. Suffering from cancer, Valvano gave an acceptance speech that "brought a howling, teary-eyed Madison Square Garden to its feet". Although the award is usually given to individuals, it has been presented to multiple recipients on seven occasions, including in 2018 to the survivors of the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal. (Full list...)