Wikipedia:Today's featured list/November 2020
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November 2
Starting in the 1880s, a series of cruisers was built by the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy). The first designs – protected and unprotected – were ordered to replace aging sail and steam-powered frigates and corvettes that were of minimal combat value. After several iterations of each type, these cruisers were developed into armored and light cruisers, respectively, over the following decade. All of these ships were built to fill a variety of roles, including scouts for the main battle fleet and colonial cruisers for Germany's overseas empire. The protected and unprotected cruisers had been withdrawn from active service by the 1910s, though some continued on in secondary roles. Most of the armored and light cruisers saw action in World War I, in all of the major theaters of the conflict. Their service ranged from commerce raiding patrols on the open ocean to the fleet engagements in the North Sea such as the Battle of Jutland. Many of the ships were sunk in the course of the war, and the majority of the remaining vessels were either seized as war prizes by the victorious Allies, scuttled by their crews at Scapa Flow in 1919, or broken up for scrap. (This list is part of a featured topic: Cruisers of Germany.)
November 6
Numerous tournaments have been held for the crossover fighting video game Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Players control one of 58 characters drawn from Nintendo and third-party game franchises, and try to knock their opponents out of an arena. Each player has a percentage meter which rises as they take damage; characters become easier to knock into the air or out of bounds as the percentage increases. While Smash for Wii U tournament rules initially varied, by 2016 they had standardized; the first player to knock their opponent out of the arena twice within a six-minute match timer wins the set. Matches are played as best-of-three sets in early rounds of the tournament and best-of-five sets in later rounds. Tournaments use the double-elimination format. Smash Bros. tournaments are generally seeded so that the best players do not face off against each other until the later stages of an event. (Full list...)
November 9
Over its 17 years of existence, around 150 documented singles reached the number-one position in the Romanian Top 100, the first being "You Are Not Alone" by Michael Jackson in 1995. Founded in 1995, the Romanian Top 100 was the national music chart of Romania. It was compiled by broadcast monitoring services Body M Production A-V (1990s and 2000s) and by Media Forest (2010s), and measured the airplay of songs on radio stations throughout the country. Starting in 2004, the chart was announced during a two-hour radio show which initially emerged from a partnership with teen magazine Bravo. Romanian Top 100 was also featured in Billboard's Music & Media magazine until 2003, and was – apart from a weekly Kiss FM podcast in the 2010s – announced on its own website. The Magician's remix of "I Follow Rivers" (2011) by Lykke Li (pictured) spent 12 weeks at the summit, longer than any other song. The most successful artists were Madonna and Kylie Minogue with six documented number ones each. Multiple artists reached number one with several singles in a calendar year. (Full list...)
November 13
British-born American artist Thomas Cole began painting portraits in 1822. In the ensuing years, he shifted his focus to landscapes. The founder of the Hudson River School art movement, Cole is widely regarded as the first significant American landscape painter. He was known for his romantic landscape and history paintings. One of Cole's first landscapes, Lake with Dead Trees (1825), was among those that first popularized his works in an 1825 exhibition. Most of his early works depict the wilderness, "the truly American forest", typically the Hudson River Valley and the Catskills where he resided. From 1831 to 1832, Cole traversed Italy; some of the classical ruins he visited made appearances in his paintings, such as Aqueduct near Rome (1832), Roman Campagna (1843), and Arch of Nero (1846). While in Rome, Cole formulated the concept for his most ambitious work yet: The Course of Empire, a series of five paintings following the rise and fall of civilization. Completed in 1836, the series reflects nostalgia for pastoralism and Cole's personal opposition to U.S. president Andrew Jackson. (Full list...)
November 16
The National Film Award for Best Direction is an honour presented annually at India's National Film Awards ceremony by the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF), an organisation set up by the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Since 1967, the award is given by a national panel appointed annually by the DFF to a director for their work within Indian cinema. It is presented by the president of India at a ceremony held in New Delhi. The winner is given a "Swarna Kamal" (Golden Lotus) certificate and a cash prize of ₹2.5 lakh (US$3,500). Including ties and repeat winners, the DFF has presented a total of 52 Best Direction awards to 33 different directors. Although Indian cinema produces films in more than twenty languages, the performances of films that have won awards are of nine languages. The first recipient was Satyajit Ray (pictured), who was honoured at the 15th National Film Awards for directing the Bengali film Chiriyakhana (1967). Ray is the also most frequent recipient, with six wins. (Full list...)
November 20
The Archbishop of Quebec is the head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec, responsible for looking after its spiritual and administrative needs. As the archdiocese is the metropolitan see of the ecclesiastical province encompassing the north-central part of the Canadian province of Quebec, the Archbishop of Quebec also administers the bishops who head the suffragan dioceses of Chicoutimi, Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière, and Trois-Rivières. The archdiocese began as the Apostolic Vicariate of New France, which was created on April 11, 1658. François de Laval was appointed its first bishop, and under his reign, the Séminaire de Québec was established. Fifteen men have been Archbishop of Quebec; another ten were heads of its antecedent jurisdictions. Of these, seven were members of institutes of consecrated life or societies of apostolic life. The current archbishop is Cardinal Gérald Lacroix (pictured). (Full list...)
November 23
The Coleman Medal is an Australian rules football award given annually to the Australian Football League (AFL) player who kicks the most goals in the home-and-away season. It was first presented in 1981 to Richmond's Michael Roach. The award is named after John Coleman, an Australian Football Hall of Fame Legend who scored 537 goals for Essendon. In July 2004, leading goalkickers from 1955 – the year after Coleman's last match – to 1980 were named retrospective Coleman Medallists, while winners prior to 1955 were named Leading Goalkicker Medallists. Collingwood is the club most frequently represented by medallists; its players have won on 22 occasions. The majority (13) of these awards have been contributed by Dick Lee and Gordon Coventry. Lee's seven medals are a league record; Coventry sits outright second, on six. Five players have been four-time medallists; another five have won the award three times, while 15 players have been dual medallists. Geelong's Tom Hawkins (pictured) kicked 42 goals in 2020, making him the most recent recipient. (Full list...)
November 27
English singer-songwriter David Bowie recorded over 400 different songs during his over 50-year career. Bowie worked with numerous artists throughout his career, including producers Tony Visconti, Brian Eno and singer Iggy Pop, and was the primary songwriter for many of his songs; he recorded cover versions of songs by artists including the Who, the Pretty Things and the Yardbirds. Following his psychedelic pop-influenced self-titled debut album in 1967, he released his first successful single "Space Oddity", which introduced the fictional astronaut Major Tom. He then released his folk rock-inspired second self-titled album in 1969, which represented an artistic breakthrough for Bowie. Between 1972 and 1974, Bowie was a pioneer of the glam rock genre, as showcased on The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972), which launched Bowie to stardom. Bowie reached his commercial peak with Let's Dance (1983), which featured post-disco and dance songs, as evident on its title track. (Full list...)
November 30
Invasive species in the Everglades are exotic plants and animals that are not native to the area and have aggressively adapted to conditions in wilderness areas in southern Florida. The Everglades are a massive watershed in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida that drains overflow from the vast shallow Lake Okeechobee that is in turn fed by the Kissimmee River. In the 20th century, Florida experienced a population surge unparalleled in the U.S., accompanied by rapid urban expansion made possible by draining portions of the Everglades. The widespread building created new habitats and disturbed established plant and animal communities. Many of the new residents or tourists in Florida were responsible for introducing plant species to the area by accident, or deliberately to improve landscaping. Approximately 26 percent of all fish, reptiles, birds, and mammals in South Florida are exotic—more than in any other part of the United States—and the region hosts one of the highest numbers of exotic plant species in the world. (This list is part of a featured topic: Everglades.)