Wikipedia:Today's featured list/December 2011
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December 5
Volcanoes in Indonesia are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. The geography of Indonesia is dominated by volcanoes that are formed due to subduction zones between the Eurasian Plate and the Indo-Australian Plate. Some of the volcanoes are notable for their eruptions, for instance, Krakatoa for its global effects in 1883, Lake Toba for its supervolcanic eruption estimated to have occurred 74,000 years Before Present which was responsible for six years of volcanic winter, and Mount Tambora for the most violent eruption in recorded history in 1815. The most active volcanoes are Kelud and Merapi on Java island which have been responsible for thousands of deaths in the region. Since AD 1000, Kelud has erupted more than 30 times, of which the largest eruption was at scale 5 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI), while Merapi has erupted more than 80 times. The International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior has named Merapi as a Decade Volcano since 1995 because of its high volcanic activity. (Full list...)
December 12
Valkyrie names are found in the Old Norse poems Völuspá, Grímnismál, Darraðarljóð, and the Nafnaþulur section of the Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál. Other valkyrie names appear solely outside these lists, such as Sigrún, which is attested in the poems Helgakviða Hundingsbana I and Helgakviða Hundingsbana II. In Norse mythology, a valkyrie is one of a host of female figures who choose which warriors will win or die in battle. Valkyrie names commonly emphasize associations with battle and, in many cases, on the spear—a weapon heavily associated with the god Odin. Scholars such as Hilda Ellis Davidson and Rudolf Simek propose that the names of the valkyries themselves contain no individuality, but are rather descriptive of the traits and nature of war-goddesses, and are possibly the descriptive creations of skalds, a type of traditional Scandinavian poet. Some valkyrie names may be descriptive of the roles and abilities of the valkyries. (Full list...)
December 19
The Chicago Bulls are a professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In their 44 seasons, the Bulls have achieved a winning record 20 times, and have appeared in the NBA playoffs 29 times. The franchise was founded in 1966 by Dick Klein. Coached by Johnny Kerr, the team finished its first season with a 33–48 record, the best record achieved by an expansion team in its first year of play. Dick Motta replaced Kerr in 1969, and under his leadership, the Bulls made the playoffs six times out of eight from 1969 to 1976. The team qualified for the playoffs just twice between 1977 and 1984, a period in which the team used eight different head coaches. The Bulls' form improved after selecting Michael Jordan (pictured) with the third overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft. From 1985 to 1998, Jordan led the Bulls to the playoffs every season he was on the team's roster, winning six championships during that span. After he retired in 1998, the Bulls entered a period of rebuilding, failing to reach the playoffs for six years. In 2008, the team drafted Derrick Rose with the first overall pick. In 2011, Rose led the Bulls back to the Conference Finals for the first time since Jordan. (Full list...)
December 26
Records that have been top of the UK Singles Chart at Christmas have included novelty songs, charity songs and songs with a Christmas theme. The Beatles are the only act to have four Christmas number ones in their own name. Paul McCartney has been top seven times with various acts, Cliff Richard four times. "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen is the only record to have reached the top twice, in 1975 and 1991. In recent years, the Christmas charts have been dominated by reality television contests, with the winners often heading straight to number one in the week before Christmas. This trend began in 2002 when Popstars: The Rivals contestants had the top three singles on the Christmas chart. From 2005 to 2010, the winners of The X Factor took the number one spot on five occasions, a run only broken by "Killing in the Name" by Rage Against the Machine (pictured) after a successful Facebook campaign in 2009. The 2011 number one single is "Wherever You Are" by The Military Wives Choir and Gareth Malone. (Full list...)