Wikipedia:Today's featured list/March 2016
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March 4
Identifying the Alamo defenders began immediately after the 1836 battle. Tejanos (Mexicans born in Texas) and American colonists held off the Mexican army for two weeks before the March 6 siege brought death to all combatants inside. Of the 256 known defenders, one previously escaped and 43 were either out scouting or left several days earlier by taking advantage of General Santa Anna's amnesty offer to Tejanos inside the mission. The bodies, including William B. Travis, James Bowie and Davy Crockett, were cremated on pyres and abandoned. Alamo scout Juan Seguín was on a run that day, and a year later officiated at the collection and burial of those ashes at a site later forgotten. Remains thought to be those of the Alamo defenders were discovered at the Cathedral of San Fernando during the Texas 1936 centennial and re-interred in a marble sarcophagus. (Full list...)
March 7
The Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction is one of the United Kingdom's most prestigious literary prizes, annually awarded to a female author of any nationality for the best original full-length novel written in English, and published in the United Kingdom in the preceding year. The prize was originally due to be launched in 1994 with the support of Mitsubishi but public controversy over the merits of the award caused the sponsorship to be withdrawn. Funding from Orange, a UK mobile network operator and Internet service provider, allowed the prize to be launched in 1996. It was established to recognise the contribution of female writers, whom Honorary Director Kate Mosse believed were often overlooked in other major literary awards, and in reaction to the all-male shortlist for the 1991 Man Booker Prize. The winner of the prize receives £30,000, along with a bronze sculpture called the Bessie created by artist Grizel Niven, the sister of actor and writer David Niven. Typically, a longlist of nominees is announced around March each year, followed by a shortlist in June; within days the winner is announced. The BBC suggests that the prize forms part of the "trinity" of UK literary prizes, along with the Man Booker Prize and the Costa Book Awards; the sales of works by the nominees of these awards are significantly boosted. (Full list...)
March 11
There are 12 named tributaries of Shamokin Creek (pictured), a 32.4-mile (52.1 km) long tributary of the Susquehanna River. Of the 12 tributaries, 11 flow directly into Shamokin Creek. The longest tributaries are Little Shamokin Creek, Carbon Run, North Branch Shamokin Creek, Coal Run, and Millers Run. Many of the upper tributaries of Shamokin Creek are in the Western Middle Anthracite Coalfield and nearly all of the streams in this part of the watershed are impacted by mining, except for Furnace Run. Various mine drainage sites occur in the watersheds of all other streams in the upper Shamokin Creek watershed. None of the tributaries in the lower reaches of the Shamokin Creek watershed are affected by mining. Although the main stem of the creek is designated as a Warmwater Fishery, all of its tributaries are designated as Coldwater Fisheries. Some tributaries, such as North Branch Shamokin Creek and Quaker Run, lack fish life. (Full list...)
March 14
The University of Connecticut (UConn) Huskies women's basketball team has had 29 players selected in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) Draft. Seventeen of those selections were in the first round of the draft; four players—Sue Bird (pictured) in 2002, Diana Taurasi in 2004, Tina Charles in 2010, and Maya Moore in 2011—were picked first overall. A Connecticut women's basketball alumna has been selected in 16 of the last 18 WNBA Drafts. In addition to the 29 draftees, two UConn women's basketball players—Rebecca Lobo in 1997 and Nykesha Sales in 1999—were allocated to specific teams during the initial formation of the WNBA. Connecticut women's basketball alumni have had a significant impact on the WNBA. Two players have been named both Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player (MVP) in their careers—Taurasi was Rookie of the Year in 2004 and MVP in 2009, while Moore was Rookie of the Year in 2011 and MVP in 2014. In addition, Charles was the 2010 Rookie of the Year. (Full list...)
March 18
An off-season Atlantic hurricane is a recorded tropical or subtropical cyclone that existed in the Atlantic basin outside of the official Atlantic hurricane season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration currently defines the season as occurring between June 1 and November 30 each calendar year, which is when 97% of all Atlantic tropical cyclones occur. Peak activity is known to be between August and October. In the off-season, storms are most likely to occur in May, with approximately 60% of such storms occurring during that month. Occasionally, however, storms develop in or persist until December. As of 2016, there have been 77 off-season cyclones in the Atlantic hurricane database, which began in 1851. In addition, there were six storms before 1851, and one hurricane in 1863 that is not part of the official database. Off-season cyclones are most likely to occur in the central to western Atlantic Ocean, and most do not make landfall. Of the storms that did strike land, most affected areas surrounding the Caribbean Sea. (Full list...)
March 21
Audrey Hepburn's film career began with her debut as a flight stewardess in the 1948 Dutch film Dutch in Seven Lessons. Hepburn then performed on the British stage as a chorus girl in the musicals High Button Shoes (1948) and Sauce Tartare (1949). Two years later she made her Broadway debut as the titular character in the play Gigi. Hepburn's Hollywood debut as a runaway princess in William Wyler's Roman Holiday (1953) opposite Gregory Peck made her a star. For her performance she received the Academy Award for Best Actress, the BAFTA Award for Best British Actress, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. Her other film roles included her appearance as café society girl Holly Golightly in the romantic comedy Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) and a part in the suspense thriller Wait Until Dark (1967) which earned her a Best Actress Oscar nomination. Hepburn was ranked as the third greatest screen legend in American cinema by the American Film Institute. (Full list...)
March 25
The tombs of antipopes, unlike papal tombs, have generally not been preserved, with a few notable exceptions. Several tombs of antipopes were desecrated and destroyed, often by their rival claimants, shortly after their creation. For example, Pope Innocent II razed Santa Maria in Trastevere to the ground and was eventually buried over the spot once occupied by the tomb of his rival, Pope Anacletus II. Others are obscure because of the damnatio memoriae surrounding the lives of antipopes, or because they were refused burial due to excommunication. Some of those can be presumed to have been buried unceremoniously in the monasteries to which the antipopes were confined after submitting or losing power. Various antipopes received prominent burials, including one among the papal tombs in Old St. Peter's Basilica. In particular, the conciliar claimants of the Western Schism were entombed in elaborate tombs in important churches by famous sculptors. (Full list...)
March 28
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American singer and songwriter Lady Gaga has recorded material for four studio albums and three extended plays (EP), and has been featured on songs on other artists' respective albums. After signing with Interscope, Gaga began working on her debut album, The Fame, which was released in 2008. The album has influences of the 1980s pop music and discusses Gaga's love of fame while also dealing with subjects, such as love, sexuality, money and drugs. Initially intended to be a re-release of her first album, an EP titled The Fame Monster (2009) included eight newly recorded tracks. The EP explores the darker side of fame, describing the differences between them with the yin and yang concept. Gaga's second full-length album, Born This Way, was released in 2011. Themes include sexuality, religion, freedom, feminism and individualism. Primarily influenced by synthpop and dance-pop, it incorporates musical genres which had not been previously explored by Gaga, such as electronic rock and techno. Gaga's third album, Artpop, released in 2013. Described as "a celebration and a poetic musical journey", the album revolves around her personal views of fame, love, sex, feminism, self-empowerment, overcoming addiction, and reactions to media scrutiny. It also contains references to Greek and Roman mythology. In 2014, Gaga and Tony Bennett released a collaborative album titled Cheek to Cheek, which consists of jazz standards. (Full list...)