Wikipedia:Today's featured list/February 2018
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February 2
The Essex Wildlife Trust (EWT) is one of 47 wildlife trusts which cover the United Kingdom. The EWT was founded in 1959, and it describes itself as Essex's leading conservation charity, which aims to protect wildlife for the future and the people of the county. As of January 2017, it has over 34,000 members and runs 87 nature reserves, 2 nature parks and 11 visitor centres. Essex has one of the longest coastlines of any English county, with saltmarshes, lagoons, mudflats, grazing marshes, reedbeds and shingle. Its ancient forests were formerly important to the local economy, with wood being used for fuel, construction and bark in the tanning industry. The EWT's first site was Fingringhoe Wick, which was established in 1961; its visitor centre has views over the Colne Estuary. The largest site is the 400-hectare (990-acre) Hanningfield Reservoir, which has nationally important numbers of gadwalls and a rare moss. The smallest is Horndon Meadow at 0.8 hectares (2.0 acres); it is an unimproved hay meadow which has 80 flower species. (Full list...)
February 5
The Associated Press NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award is given annually by the Associated Press (AP) to the offensive player in the National Football League (NFL) deemed to have had the most outstanding season. The winner is chosen by votes from a nationwide panel of sportswriters who regularly follow the NFL. Multiple-time awardees include Marshall Faulk and Earl Campbell, both of whom won the award three times, each consecutively. Every winner of the award has been either a running back or a quarterback, with the exception of Jerry Rice, who won twice as a wide receiver. Running backs have been awarded 25 times, followed by quarterbacks, with 19 awards. Of the 46 winners, 27 were also named the AP NFL Most Valuable Player in the same season. Since 2011, both awards have been given out at the annual NFL Honors ceremony along with other AP awards, including the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award and AP NFL Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year Award. (Full list...)
February 9
The 1924 Winter Olympics medal table was topped by Norway, which won seventeen medals in total, including four gold, three of which were won by Thorleif Haug in the nordic combined and cross-country skiing events. Finland placed second on the table, collecting four gold medals among a total of eleven. The 1924 Winter Olympics, officially known as the I Olympic Winter Games, and known at the time as Semaine Internationale des Sports d'Hiver ("International Winter Sports Week"), was a winter multi-sport event held in Chamonix, France, from 25 January to 5 February 1924. When it was held, the games were not formally recognised as being the Olympics, but it was acknowledged that they were held under the "high patronage of the International Olympic Committee". Eight of the competing nations achieved at least one gold medal, with only Belgium and the hosts, France, medalling without winning a gold medal. (Full list...)
February 12
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American musical duo She & Him has recorded more than 90 songs. Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward formed the band after working on their rendition of "When I Get to the Border" from the soundtrack of The Go-Getter (2007). Their debut album, Volume One was released under indie label Merge Records in 2008. In 2010, Deschanel penned eleven tracks for their follow-up release Volume Two (2010), where her lyrics touch on themes of romance and self-appreciation. The duo's first Christmas album A Very She & Him Christmas (2011) was recorded over the course of six days. Their fourth studio album, Volume 3 (2013) features more disco elements and string arrangements than their previous work. After signing with Columbia Records, She & Him started working on their major-label debut Classics (2014) with thirteen covers, recorded live and accompanied by a 20-piece orchestra. Their second Christmas release, Christmas Party was released in 2016. (Full list...)
February 16
The Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story is given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories told in graphic form and published in English or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories. The Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story has been awarded annually since 2009. Hugo Award nominees and winners are chosen by supporting or attending members of the annual World Science Fiction Convention, or Worldcon, and the presentation evening constitutes its central event. In the 10 nomination years, 52 works from 35 series have been nominated, including one round of Retro Hugos for 1941. Works from eight different series have won the award. Girl Genius, written by Kaja and Phil Foglio (pictured), drawn by Phil Foglio, and colored by Cheyenne Wright, won the first three awards. (Full list...)
February 19
The Japanese video game company Square Enix is known for its role-playing video game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Kingdom Hearts series. Square Enix formed from the merger of video game publisher Enix absorbing developer Square on April 1, 2003. Since its inception, the company has developed or published hundreds of titles in various video game franchises on numerous gaming systems. Of its properties, the Final Fantasy franchise is the best-selling, with total worldwide sales of over 130 million units. The Dragon Quest series has shipped over 71 million units worldwide and is one of the most popular video game series in Japan. Square Enix has owned Taito, which continues to publish its own video games, since September 2005, and acquired game publisher Eidos Interactive in April 2009, which was merged with Square Enix's European publishing wing and renamed as Square Enix Europe. (Full list...)
February 23
The Okanagan contains five airports, four helipads and three water aerodromes. The Okanagan is a region located in the British Columbia Interior of Canada. Of the five cities based in the Okanagan, three of them contain aviation services. Vernon contains two: the Vernon Regional Airport and Vernon/Wildlife Water Aerodrome, while Kelowna provides the same number: the Kelowna International Airport and Kelowna (General Hospital) Heliport. The Penticton Regional Airport and Penticton Water Aerodrome are situated in Penticton, making a total of two aviation services offered in the city. There are also communities that are not cities in the Okanagan, many of which also maintain aviation services. Two of the airports in the Okanagan provide public commercial flights to other destinations: the Kelowna International Airport which is part of the National Airports System and Penticton Regional Airport. A number of other airports in the Okanagan are generally used for personal events, or skydiving, although some have no facilities. (Full list...)
February 26
Shahid Kapoor's filmography includes starring roles in Hindi films, hosting duties for award ceremonies, and music video appearances. As a dancer in Shiamak Davar's institute, Kapoor made uncredited appearances as a background dancer in the films Dil To Pagal Hai (1997) and Taal (1999). He also appeared in several music videos, including one for the singer Kumar Sanu, before making his acting debut with a lead role in Ken Ghosh's romantic comedy Ishq Vishk (2003). He followed it by playing a prospective groom in Vivah (2006) and an uptight businessman in Jab We Met (2007). In 2009, Kapoor portrayed twin brothers, one with a lisp and the other with a stutter, in Vishal Bhardwaj's acclaimed caper thriller Kaminey. After a series of commercial failures, he starred in the 2013 action-drama R... Rajkumar, and followed it by playing the title character in Bhardwaj's Haider (2014), an adaptation of William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, which won him the Filmfare Award for Best Actor. In 2016, he played a rockstar addicted to drugs in Udta Punjab, for which he won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor. Kapoor has hosted eight award ceremonies, and in 2015 he featured as a talent judge on the dance reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa Reloaded. (Full list...)