Wikipedia:Today's featured list/June 2023
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June 2
There have been many private and public sculptures of the German composer Ludwig van Beethoven, including busts, reliefs, and statues. The first, a bust (pictured) by Franz Klein, was commissioned by Johann Andreas Streicher and created in 1812, while the composer was still alive. After Beethoven's death in 1827, his hometown, Bonn, immediately began planning a monument. A design competition was eventually held, in which a submission by Ernst Julius Hähnel beat ones from Friedrich von Amerling, Gustav Bläser and Friedrich Drake. Hähnel's monument was erected in 1845. The Beethoven monuments that followed, while retaining a high pedestal, began to portray the composer in a less simplistic and increasingly heroic light. In the early 20th century, the glorified portrayals of Beethoven reached their peak, with god-like representations such as Max Klinger's monument (1902), unveiled at the Vienna Secession and Fidus's unexecuted design for a "Beethoven temple" (1903). (Full list...)
June 5
Warren G. Harding was the 29th president of the United States from March 4, 1921, to August 2, 1923. During Harding's presidency, he organized international disarmament agreements, addressed major labor disputes, enacted legislation and regulations pertaining to veterans' rights, and traveled west to visit Alaska. He inherited the aftermath of World War I after taking office in 1921 (inauguration pictured), requiring him to formally end American involvement and participate in the polarized discussion of veterans' affairs, including the debate surrounding the Bonus Bill. His administration was beset by scandal in March 1922 after the president dismissed officials at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and the events of the larger Teapot Dome scandal began the following month when the Department of the Interior leased the Teapot Dome oil reserves to Harry Ford Sinclair. (Full list...)
June 9
The Laureus Spirit of Sport Award is an award honouring "those individual athletes or teams who, through their remarkable success, their refusal to accept defeat or their unquestionable contribution to the enjoyment of the game". It was first awarded in 2005 as one of the discretionary awards presented during the Laureus World Sports Awards. Although the Laureus Awards ceremony is held annually, the Spirit of Sport Award is not necessarily presented each year; it is one of a number of discretionary awards that can be given by the Laureus World Sports Academy. The inaugural winner of the Laureus Spirit of Sport Award, in 2005, was the Boston Red Sox, an American baseball team that won their first World Series for 86 years in the 2004 Major League Baseball season. Five teams and five individuals have received the award. The most recent recipient of the Laureus Spirit of Sport Award was the American alpine skier Lindsey Vonn (pictured) in 2019. (Full list...)
June 12
Sixty-two species of birds have been recorded in Wallis and Futuna, a French overseas collectivity in Polynesia in the Pacific Ocean. It consists of three main islands, Wallis (Uvea), Futuna, and Alofi Island, along with several islets. Of the sixty-two bird species of the territory, five were introduced by humans. No species are endemic to the islands, but there are endemic subspecies of the collared kingfisher, the Polynesian triller (example pictured), the Fiji shrikebill, and the Polynesian starling. The shy ground dove has been extirpated from the islands, while the blue-crowned lorikeet is locally extinct on Uvea. Ducula david, an extinct species of imperial pigeon, was described from subfossil remains on the islands and is thought to have been widespread before the arrival of humans. (Full list...)
June 16
The American band the Microphones has released 5 studio albums, 13 miscellaneous albums, 3 extended plays, and 8 singles. Phil Elverum (pictured) began the Microphones initially as a solo project, releasing cassette demos of tests and experiments. The band's first studio album, Don't Wake Me Up, was released on K Records in August 1999 and gave the band a small following. The extended play Window: was released in February 2000. In September 2000, the studio album It Was Hot, We Stayed in the Water was released on K, solidifying Don't Wake Me Up's sound. The Glow Pt. 2 was released on K in September 2001; it went on to become a cult classic and Elverum's most critically acclaimed album. In 2003, the studio album Mount Eerie was released, along with two extended plays consisting of stems from the album. After the release of Mount Eerie, Elverum retired the Microphones pseudonym and opted to release his music under Mount Eerie instead, as the themes of his music had changed. Elverum returned to the name in 2020 with the autobiographical concept album Microphones in 2020. Elverum implied it would be the final studio album released under the Microphones. (Full list...)
June 19
The 2015 American computer-animated film Inside Out won 63 awards from 124 nominations. It was directed by Pete Docter (pictured) and stars the voices of Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Richard Kind, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, Kaitlyn Dias, Diane Lane, and Kyle MacLachlan. The film follows the inner workings inside the mind of a young girl named Riley, who adapts to her family's relocation, as five personified emotions administer her thoughts and actions. It won Best Animated Feature Film at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards. The film won ten of fourteen nominations at the 43rd Annie Awards. At the 88th Academy Awards, it received two Oscar nominations, including Best Original Screenplay, and won for Best Animated Feature. Inside Out was named one of the ten best films of 2015 by the National Board of Review (where it also won Best Animated Film) and the American Film Institute. Various critic circles have also picked it as the best animated feature film of the year. (Full list...)
June 23
One hundred and fifteen cardinal electors participated in the papal conclave of 2005, which was convened to elect a pope (the leader of the Catholic Church) to succeed Pope John Paul II following his death on 2 April 2005. In accordance with the apostolic constitution Universi Dominici gregis, which governed the vacancy of the Holy See, only cardinals who had not passed their 80th birthday on the day on which the Holy See became vacant (in this case, cardinals who were born on or after 2 April 1925) were eligible to participate in the conclave. Of the 115 attending cardinal electors, 5 were cardinal bishops, 93 were cardinal priests, and 17 were cardinal deacons; 2 had been created cardinals by Pope Paul VI and 113 by Pope John Paul II. On 19 April, after four ballots over two days, they elected Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (pictured), Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, who took the papal name Benedict XVI. (Full list...)
June 26
Snooker world rankings were first published by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, the governing body for professional snooker, for players on the main tour for the 1976–77 season. Before this, the defending champion was seeded first, and the previous year's runner-up second, for each tournament. For the 1976–77 snooker season, players' performances in the previous three World Snooker Championships (1974, 1975, and 1976) contributed to their points total. Ray Reardon, having won the championship in each of the three years considered, was ranked first, with the maximum possible 15 points, followed by Alex Higgins (pictured), the 1976 runner-up, on nine points. (Full list...)
June 30
The Torrens Trophy is awarded to an individual or organisation for demonstrating "Outstanding Contribution to the Cause or Technical Excellence of Safe and Skilful Motorcycling in the UK". It is named in honour of The Motor Cycle editor and Royal Automobile Club vice-president Arthur Bourne, who wrote a column under the pen name Torrens. The trophy, an eight-pint silver tankard, has been awarded infrequently since 1979 by the Torrens Trophy Nominations Committee. The inaugural recipient was Frederick Lovegrove in 1979. As of 2022, the accolade has been won sixteen times: Superbike riders have won it four times, with road motorbike racers recognised twice, and Grand Prix motorcycle riders and motorcycle speedway competitors each honoured once. The 2022 winner was Mike Trimby, who was honoured for his work in representing teams and riders in MotoGP for four decades. (Full list...)