Wikipedia:Today's featured list/March 2015
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March 2
Approximately 57 people have been head of the Russian government since its establishment in 1726. The chairman of government was a member of the Supreme Privy Council, which was created on 8 (19) February 1726 by Empress Catherine, and from 8 (20) September 1802 ministerial duties were allocated by the Committee of Ministers. Beginning with Count Aleksandr Romanovich Vorontsov, the eldest of the officers was de facto chairman of the committee. Eight years after the inauguration of the manifest, the first de jure office holder was Count Nikolay Rumyantsev. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Boris Yeltsin, as the President of the Russian Federation, was automatically appointed as the Head of Government of the Russian Federation in the first two years of his mandate. The latter body took the name "Council of Ministers", the chairman of which became Viktor Chernomyrdin from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. According to the new constitution ratified on 25 December 1993, those two entities were separated. Since then, the head of that office takes the formal title "Chairmen of the Government" or colloquially "Prime Minister". Dmitry Medvedev (pictured) has been the Chairman of the Government since 8 May 2012. (Full list...)
March 6
There are 26 named tributaries of Catawissa Creek (pictured), a 41.8-mile (67.3 km) long creek flowing into the Susquehanna River. Of the 26 tributaries, 19 are direct. The creek flows through Luzerne, Schuylkill, and Columbia counties in Pennsylvania. The two shortest tributaries are approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) long, while the longest is about 10.8 miles (17.4 km) in length. By length, the five largest tributaries of Catawissa Creek are Little Catawissa Creek, Tomhicken Creek, Scotch Run, Beaver Run, and Messers Run. By watershed area, the five largest tributaries are Tomhicken Creek, Little Catawissa Creek, Beaver Run, Scotch Run, and Messers Run. Various species of fish inhabit most of the tributaries of Catawissa Creek. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection considers eleven tributaries of the creek to be Coldwater Fisheries, an official designation that means that a stream supports fish from the family Salmonidae and other coldwater fauna and flora. (Full list...)
March 9
The position of Laudian Professor of Arabic at the University of Oxford was established in 1636 by William Laud (pictured), Chancellor of the University of Oxford and Archbishop of Canterbury. The first professor was Edward Pococke, who was working as a chaplain in what is now Syria when Laud asked him to return to Oxford. Laud's university regulations provided that the professor's lectures were to be attended by all medical students and bachelors of arts at the university, although this seems not to have happened since Pococke had few students. In 1881, a university statute provided that the professor was to lecture in "the Arabic, Syriac, and Chaldee Languages", and attached the professorship to St John's College. The number of students studying Arabic increased after the Second World War because of the reputation of Sir Hamilton Gibb and because some had became interested in Arabic culture while serving in the Middle East during the war. The current holder, Julia Bray, is the first woman to hold the position. (Full list...)
March 13
The 2011 IIHF World Championship rosters consisted of 397 players from 16 national ice hockey teams. Organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the 2011 IIHF World Championship, held in Bratislava and Košice, Slovakia, was the 75th edition of the tournament. Finland won the tournament for the second time, defeating Sweden 6–1 in the final. Before the start of the tournament, each participating nation had to submit a list of players for its roster. A minimum of 15 skaters and two goaltenders and a maximum of 20 skaters and three goaltenders had to be selected. After the start of the tournament, each team was allowed to add additional players to their roster, for a maximum of 25. Once players were registered to the team, they could not be removed from the roster. Viktor Fasth (pictured) of Sweden was named the tournament's most valuable player and top goaltender by the IIHF directorate. Canadian Alex Pietrangelo was named the top defenceman and Jaromír Jágr of the Czech Republic was selected as the top forward. (Full list...)
March 16
Terry-Thomas's career on radio, film, television and record lasted from 1933 until his retirement in the late 1970s. Terry-Thomas made his debut as an uncredited extra in the 1933 film The Private Life of Henry VIII, and continued to work as an extra and in smaller roles until wartime service with Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) and Stars in Battledress helped to sharpen his stage and cabaret routine. After the war he appeared on the popular London stage revue Piccadilly Hayride, before he became the star of the first comedy series on British television, How Do You View? (1949). He continued broadcasting on British television and radio and successfully moved into film work, being most creative in the 1950s with appearances in a series of popular comedies. In the 1960s he moved into American films, before he began appearing in European films from the mid-1960s. In 1971 he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, which slowly brought his career to a conclusion. (Full list...)
March 20
The Hugo Award for Best Novel is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published in English or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The novel award is available for works of fiction of 40,000 words or more. The Hugo Award for Best Novel has been awarded annually by the World Science Fiction Society since 1953, except in 1954 and 1957. In addition to the regular Hugo Awards, beginning in 1996 Retrospective Hugo Awards, or "Retro Hugos", have been available to be awarded for 50, 75, or 100 years prior. Hugo Award nominees and winners are chosen by supporting or attending members of the annual Worldcon, and the presentation evening constitutes its central event. The selection process is defined in the World Science Fiction Society Constitution as instant-runoff voting with five nominees, except in the case of a tie. During the 63 nomination years, 132 authors have had works nominated; 45 of these have won, including co-authors, ties, and Retro Hugos. Robert A. Heinlein has received the most Hugos for Best Novel as well as the most nominations, with five wins (including one Retro Hugo) and eleven nominations. (This list is part of a featured topic: Hugo Awards.)
March 23
The CPJ International Press Freedom Awards honor journalists or their publications around the world who show courage in defending press freedom despite facing attacks, threats, or imprisonment. Established in 1991, the awards are administered by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an independent, non-governmental organization based in New York City. In addition to recognizing individuals, the organization seeks to focus local and international media coverage on countries where violations of press freedom are particularly serious. Every November four to seven individuals or publications are honored at a banquet in New York City and given an award. The ceremony also honors the winner of the Burton Benjamin Memorial Award for "lifelong work to advance press freedom". The first awards were given in 1991 to American photojournalist Bill Foley and his wife, journalist Cary Vaughan; Cameroonian reporter Pius Njawé; Chinese dissidents Wang Juntao and Chen Ziming; Russian television news anchor Tatyana Mitkova (pictured); and Guatemalan reporter Byron Barrera. (Full list...)
March 27
Yukon's eight municipalities (map pictured) cover only 0.2% of the territory's land mass but are home to 80.2% of its population. Yukon is the second-most populous of Canada's three territories, with 33,897 residents as of 2011. At approximately 475,000 km2 (183,000 sq mi), it is the smallest territory in land area. Municipal governments are created by the Government of Yukon in accordance with the Municipal Act of 2001. Classifications of municipalities under the Municipal Act include cities and towns. Whitehorse is the capital of Yukon and its only city. The remaining seven municipalities are towns, of which four were villages that were continued as towns upon adoption of the 2001 Municipal Act. Over two-thirds of the population of Yukon (23,276 residents; 68.7%) reside in Whitehorse. It is also the largest municipality by land area at 416.54 km2 (160.83 sq mi). The smallest municipality by population is Teslin, with 122 residents, while the smallest by land area is Mayo at 1.06 km2 (0.41 sq mi). (Full list...)
March 30
The number of receiving yards each player has recorded in each season is a recorded stat in American football games. In the sport, passing is one of the two main methods of advancing the ball down the field. Passes are typically attempted by the quarterback, but any offensive player can attempt a pass provided they are behind the line of scrimmage; a player who catches a forward pass is a receiver. The National Football League did not begin keeping official records until the 1932 season. The average number of receiving yards the leader has gained has increased over time – since the 1961 season, all but one year saw the receiving leader record over 1,000 yards. No player has ever finished with over 2,000 receiving yards in a season; the current record is 1,964 yards, set by Calvin Johnson during the 2012 season. Don Hutson (pictured) led the league in receiving yards seven times, the most of any player; Jerry Rice is second with six. (Full list...)