Wikipedia:Today's featured article/November 2015
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November 1
Barbara L (1947–1977) was an American Quarter Horse that raced during the early 1950s. A bay daughter of a Thoroughbred stallion named Patriotic and a Quarter Horse broodmare named Big Bess, she often defeated some of the best racehorses of the time. She earned $32,836 (about $290,000 in 2015 dollars) on the race track in 81 starts and 21 wins, including six wins in stakes races, and set two track records during her racing career. After retiring from racing in 1955, she went on to become a broodmare and had 14 foals, including 11 who earned their Race Register of Merit with the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA). Her offspring earned more than $200,000 in race money. A stakes race was named in her honor and run at Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico, in 1956. She earned a Dam of Distinction award from the AQHA in 2006, and was inducted the next year into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame. (Full article...)
November 2
Shah Rukh Khan (born 1965) is an Indian film actor, producer and television personality. Often referred to as the "King of Bollywood", he has appeared in more than 80 Bollywood films. Described by the Los Angeles Times as perhaps "the world's biggest movie star", he has a significant following in Asia and the Indian diaspora. Khan started his career with appearances in several television series in the late 1980s. Early in his film career, he was recognised for his portrayal of villainous roles in Darr (1993), Baazigar (1993) and Anjaam (1994). He rose to prominence after starring in a series of romantic films, including Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Dil To Pagal Hai (1997) and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998). He later earned critical acclaim for his portrayal of more serious roles, including an alcoholic in Devdas (2002) and a man with Asperger syndrome in My Name Is Khan (2010). His work in Bollywood has earned him numerous accolades, including 14 Filmfare Awards. Khan is co-chairman of Red Chillies Entertainment and a co-owner of the Indian Premier League cricket team Kolkata Knight Riders. (Full article...)
November 3
In the United States presidential election of 1880, held on November 2, Republican James A. Garfield (pictured left) defeated Democrat Winfield Scott Hancock (pictured right). Garfield was an Ohio Congressman; Hancock was a Pennsylvania-born career army officer. Both were Civil War generals, as was a third candidate, Iowa Congressman James B. Weaver, nominated by the left-wing Greenback Party in a challenge to the dominance of the two major parties. In a campaign fought mainly over issues of Civil War loyalties, tariffs, and Chinese immigration, Garfield and Hancock each took just over 48 percent of the popular vote. Weaver and two other candidates made up the remainder. The voter turnout percentage was among the highest in the nation's history. In the end, the two main candidates' popular vote totals were separated by fewer than 2,000 votes, the smallest US presidential popular vote margin ever recorded. Garfield's victory was decisive in the electoral college, as he won nearly all the populous Northern states for a 214 to 155 victory. (Full article...)
November 4
Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria (SV 325, The Return of Ulysses to his Homeland) is an opera by Claudio Monteverdi using a libretto by Giacomo Badoaro. The opera, first performed at the Teatro Santi Giovanni e Paolo in Venice during the 1639–40 carnival, is based on the second half of Homer's Odyssey. It tells how Ulisse (Odysseus) returns from the Trojan Wars and recovers his kingdom. The loyal and virtuous characters are ultimately rewarded, while treachery and deception are overcome. After early performances in Venice and Bologna, the opera remained unperformed until the 20th century. Since the 1970s it has become increasingly popular, and has been widely performed and recorded. Monteverdi uses a variety of musical styles to express the feelings and emotions of a great range of characters, divine and human. In a division of critical opinion, Il ritorno has been described as an "ugly duckling", and conversely as the most tender and moving of Monteverdi's surviving operas. (Full article...)
November 5
The four battlecruisers of the Mackensen class were the last to be built by Germany in World War I, although they were never completed, to free up wartime resources for more U-boats. The lead ship was named for Field Marshal August von Mackensen; the others were Graf Spee, Prinz Eitel Friedrich, and Fürst Bismarck. In response to these ships, the British Royal Navy began construction on the Admiral-class battlecruisers, but only one was completed, HMS Hood, after the war. The Mackensen class was an improvement on the preceding Derfflinger class, and was followed by the Ersatz Yorck class. That class was slated for larger guns than the 35 cm (14 in) main-battery guns of Mackensen, after the Battle of Jutland in 1916 demonstrated the need for larger guns, but little progress was made on those ships before they too were cancelled. The four Mackensen-class ships were broken up for scrap metal in the early 1920s. (Full article...)
Part of the Battlecruisers of the world featured topic.
November 6
The Master System is a third-generation home video game console from Sega, released in the late 1980s. The original models took game cartridges as well as credit-card-sized Sega Cards; accessories included a light gun and 3D glasses. The system's hardware was superior to that of the competing Nintendo Entertainment System, and it boasted several well-received game titles, but Nintendo's licensing practices prevented Sega from acquiring many of the more popular titles. Sega failed to gain a significant market share in Japan and North America, but was more successful in Europe and Brazil. Sales of the console reached an estimated 10 to 13 million units before the arrival of its successor, the Sega Genesis, compared to 62 million Nintendo Entertainment System units sold. The Master System has been sold for 26 years, longer than any other game console, due to its continuing popularity in Brazil. (Full article...)
Part of the Sega video game consoles featured topic.
November 7
Perovskia atriplicifolia, commonly called Russian sage, is a flowering herbaceous perennial plant and subshrub. Although not a member of the genus of the common sage, it is closely related. It typically reaches 0.5–1.2 m (1 ft 8 in – 3 ft 11 in) tall, with square stems and gray-green leaves that yield a distinctive odor when crushed, but it is best known for its blue or violet blossoms arranged in showy, branched panicles. Native to the steppes and hills of southwestern and central Asia, it was introduced to cultivation by Vasily Perovsky in the 19th century. Several cultivars have been developed; 'Blue Spire' is the most common. The species has a long history of use in its native range in traditional medicine, for a variety of ailments. Its flowers can be eaten in salads or crushed for dyemaking. P. atriplicifolia was the Perennial Plant Association's 1995 Plant of the Year, and the 'Blue Spire' cultivar received the Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society. (Full article...)
November 8
The St. Johns River, at 310 miles (500 km), is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida. From the headwaters to the mouth, its drop in elevation is less than 30 feet (9 m) as it runs through or alongside twelve counties, creating a very low flow rate. The river's widest point is nearly 3 miles (5 km) across, and its narrowest point is in the headwaters, a marsh in Indian River County. In all, 3.5 million people live within the various watersheds that feed into the river. The entire drainage basin of 8,840 square miles (22,900 km2) includes some of Florida's major wetlands. Residents along or near the St. Johns have included Paleo-Indians, Archaic people, Timucua, Mocama, French and Spanish settlers, Seminoles, Colonial-era pioneer settlers, slaves and freedmen. It has been the subject of William Bartram's journals, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' books, and Harriet Beecher Stowe's letters. In 1998 the Environmental Protection Agency named the river one of 14 American Heritage Rivers. (Full article...)
November 9
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The McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II is a single-engine ground-attack aircraft. A successor to the Harrier Jump Jet, it was designed in the late 1970s at McDonnell Douglas for vertical or short takeoff and landing. Primarily for light attack or multi-role missions, it is deployed by the United States Marine Corps, the Spanish Navy, and the Italian Navy. Development of the AV-8B started in the early 1970s. It made its maiden flight in 1981 and entered service with the US Marines in 1985. The UK rejoined the Harrier project as a partner in 1981; since corporate mergers in the 1990s, Boeing and BAE Systems have jointly supported the program. Around 340 aircraft, all powered by the Rolls-Royce Pegasus engine, were produced over 22 years. Typically operated from small aircraft carriers, large amphibious assault ships or forward operating bases, AV-8Bs have participated in numerous military and humanitarian operations. They have proved themselves versatile assets, although their accident rate during takeoffs and landings has been relatively high. (Full article...)
November 10
The 1975 Australian constitutional crisis culminated on 11 November when Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismissed Gough Whitlam (pictured, left) of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) as prime minister and appointed Opposition Leader Malcolm Fraser (pictured, right) as caretaker. The Whitlam Government had been rocked by scandals and political miscalculations. In October the Opposition blocked bills in the Senate financing the government, and urged Kerr to dismiss Whitlam unless he agreed to call an election for the House of Representatives. On 11 November, Whitlam intended to call a half-Senate election instead, but when he met with Kerr to seek his approval, Kerr dismissed him as prime minister. Before the ALP parliamentarians knew what had happened, Fraser and his allies secured passage of the appropriation bills and Kerr dissolved Parliament. Fraser and his government were returned with a large majority in elections the following month. Widely vilified by ALP supporters for his actions, Kerr resigned early as governor-general and lived much of his remaining life abroad. (Full article...)
November 11
Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence was adopted by the mostly white minority government of Prime Minister Ian Smith on 11 November 1965. It announced that the British colony of Rhodesia, self-governed since 1923, regarded itself as a sovereign state. The culmination of a protracted dispute between the British and Rhodesian governments, it was the first unilateral breakaway by a British colony since the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776. It was largely motivated by the perception among white Rhodesians that they were due independence following four decades of self-government and that Britain was betraying them by insisting on majority rule as a condition; the white minority of about 5% was loath to transfer power to black nationalists because of racial tensions and reservations about the country's stability. Britain, the Commonwealth and the United Nations deemed Rhodesia's declaration illegal, and economic sanctions, the first in the UN's history, were imposed on the breakaway colony. Rhodesia continued as an unrecognised state until the Lancaster House Agreement of 1979, and became Zimbabwe in 1980. (Full article...)
November 12
Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies, published from 1757 to 1795, was an annual directory of prostitutes working in and around Covent Garden, London. It sold for two shillings and sixpence, and in 1791 had an estimated circulation of around 8,000 copies. Each edition contains entries describing the physical appearance and sexual specialities of about 120–190 prostitutes, in sometimes lurid detail. While most entries compliment their subjects, some are critical of bad habits, and a few women are even treated as pariahs, perhaps having fallen out of favour with the lists' authors, who are never revealed. Samuel Derrick is normally credited for originating Harris's List, which may have been named after a Covent Garden pimp, Jack Harris. A Grub Street hack, Derrick may have written the lists from 1757 until his death in 1769; thereafter, the annual's authors are unknown. As the public's opinion began to turn against London's sex trade, and with reformers petitioning the authorities to take action, those involved in the release of Harris's List were in 1795 fined and imprisoned. Modern writers tend to view Harris's List as erotica. (Full article...)
November 13
Typhoon Gay was the strongest and longest-lasting storm of the 1992 Pacific typhoon season. Forming in November near the International Date Line, Gay moved through the Marshall Islands as an intensifying typhoon, severely damaging crops and leaving 5,000 people homeless. The nation's capital of Majuro experienced power and water outages during the storm. There were no fatalities among Marshall Islands citizens, although the typhoon killed an American woman in a yacht. After passing through the country, Gay reached its peak intensity over open waters before weakening rapidly and striking Guam. Most of the weaker structures on that island had been destroyed during Typhoon Omar earlier in the year, and Gay caused little additional structural damage, but strong, salty winds defoliated plants. The typhoon briefly re-intensified before weakening and becoming extratropical south of Japan, where it brought flooding and power outages to Okinawa Prefecture. (Full article...)
November 14
Elias Abraham Rosenberg (c. 1810 – 1887) was an adviser to King Kalākaua of Hawaii. He had lived in San Francisco in the 1880s, working as a peddler and selling illegal lottery tickets. In 1886, he traveled to Hawaii and performed as a fortune-teller. Endearing himself to the king with favorable predictions, he received lavish gifts and was appointed as a kahuna-kilokilo (royal soothsayer), customs appraiser, and guard. Rosenberg and the king enjoyed talking and drinking together, but he was distrusted by other royal advisers and satirized in the Hawaiian press. He encouraged the king to revive the traditional Hawaiian religion, an idea that fascinated Kalākaua but angered political rivals. In 1887 Rosenberg returned to California; a month later, he was admitted to a hospital in San Francisco, where he died. In Hawaii, the 1887 Constitution—which curtailed royal power—was forced on Kalākaua. A Torah scroll presented to the king by Rosenberg was later exhibited with other royal treasures and eventually donated to Temple Emanu-El in Honolulu. (Full article...)
November 15
Boys Don't Cry is a 1999 American independent drama film directed by Kimberly Peirce and written by Peirce and Andy Bienen. Starring Hilary Swank (pictured), it dramatizes the real-life story of Brandon Teena, a trans man who is beaten, raped and murdered by his male acquaintances after they discover he is transgender. The film also stars Chloë Sevigny, Peter Sarsgaard, Brendan Sexton III, and Alicia Goranson. Peirce's interest in the events surrounding Brandon's murder led to a nearly five-year-long writing and casting process. Principal photography in Greenville, Texas, lasted 30 days. Film scholars and reviewers have focused on the film's depiction of romantic relationships and the causes of violence against LGBT people, among other themes. After premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival in October 1999, Boys Don't Cry grossed roughly $12 million in North America. The film was very well received by critics, and Swank won the Academy Award for Best Actress. (Full article...)
November 16
Hiryū ("Flying Dragon") was an aircraft carrier built for the Imperial Japanese Navy during the 1930s. The only ship of her class, she was built to a modified Sōryū design. Her aircraft supported the Japanese invasion of French Indochina in mid-1940. During the first month of the Pacific War, she took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Wake Island. In early 1942, the ship's aircraft supported the conquest of the Dutch East Indies and bombed Darwin, Australia. After a brief refit, Hiryū and three other fleet carriers of the First Air Fleet (Kido Butai) participated in the Battle of Midway in June. After bombarding American forces on the atoll, the carriers were attacked by aircraft from Midway and from the carriers USS Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown. Dive bombers from Yorktown and Enterprise crippled Hiryū and set her afire. She was scuttled the following day after it became clear that she could not be salvaged. The loss of Hiryū and three other carriers at Midway was a crucial strategic defeat for Japan and contributed significantly to the Allies' ultimate victory in the Pacific. (Full article...)
November 17
Tyrone Garland (born 1992) is an American professional basketball player who last played with the National Basketball League of Canada's Mississauga Power, before the team folded in 2015. Garland initially competed at the collegiate level with the Virginia Tech Hokies, but transferred out during his sophomore season after limited playing time. Before his 2012–13 junior season, he joined the La Salle Explorers and instantly assumed a leading role. He lifted them to a second-round win at the 2013 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament with a game-winning shot known as the "Southwest Philly Floater". By the end of his college career, his senior basketball class at La Salle had become the most successful in 22 years. Prior to that, Garland starred for John Bartram High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he finished third on the all-time Philadelphia Public League scoring list in 2010, behind only Maureece Rice and Wilt Chamberlain. (Full article...)
November 18
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The African crake (Crex egregia) is a bird in the rail family that breeds in most of sub-Saharan Africa, except for the arid south and southwest. A partial migrant, it moves away from the equator as soon as the rains provide sufficient grassland or crops for breeding areas. It is commonly found in most of its range, depending on the season. A smallish crake, it has brown-streaked blackish upperparts, bluish-grey underparts and black-and-white barring on the flanks and belly, with a red bill, red eyes, and white facial streak. Its most characteristic call is a series of rapid grating krrr notes. The male has a territorial threat display, and may fight at territory boundaries. The nest is a shallow cup of grass leaves built in a depression under a grass tussock or small bush. The 3–11 eggs start hatching after about 14 days, and the black, downy precocial chicks fledge after four to five weeks. The African crake feeds on a wide range of invertebrates, along with some small frogs and fish, and plant material, especially grass seeds. It may itself be eaten by large birds of prey, snakes, or mammals, including humans. (Full article...)
Part of the Crex featured topic.
November 19
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Romance is the eighth studio album by Mexican singer Luis Miguel (pictured), released by WEA Latina in 1991. At the suggestion of his manager, he recorded classic boleros on the album, after songwriter Juan Carlos Calderón pulled out of a collaboration on pop songs and ballads. Singer-songwriter Armando Manzanero co-produced the album with Miguel, with arrangements by Bebu Silvetti. Miguel promoted the record with a tour of the United States and Latin America. The songs were generally well received by music critics, who praised the singing and production, and Miguel received a Grammy nomination for Best Latin Pop Album. Romance sold over seven million copies worldwide. In the United States, it spent 32 weeks at number one on the Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart, and was the first Spanish-language album by a non-crossover Latin artist to be certified gold; it was also certified gold in Brazil and Taiwan. Romance is the third-bestselling album of all time in Mexico, and the bestselling record in Argentina by a non-native artist. The album revived interest in bolero music, and Miguel released three more bolero records between 1994 and 2001. (Full article...)
November 20
State Route 75 (SR 75) is a 13-mile (21 km) expressway in San Diego County, California. It is a loop route of Interstate 5 that begins near Imperial Beach, heading west on Palm Avenue. The route continues north along the Silver Strand, a thin strip of land bordering San Diego Bay, through Silver Strand State Beach. SR 75 passes through the city of Coronado as Orange Avenue (pictured) and continues onto the San Diego–Coronado Bay Bridge over the bay, before joining back with Interstate 5 near downtown San Diego at a freeway interchange. Orange Avenue dates from the late 19th century, and the Silver Strand Highway was open to the public by 1924. What would become SR 75 was added to the state highway system in 1933 and designated Legislative Route 199 in 1935. SR 75 was not officially designated until the 1964 state highway renumbering. The Coronado Bay Bridge opened in 1969, providing a direct connection between San Diego and Coronado. SR 75 is marked as a scenic route for nearly its entire length. (Full article...)
November 21
The Trout Creek Mountains are a Great Basin range in Oregon and Nevada in the United States. Oriented generally north–south, the mountains consist mostly of fault blocks of basalt, while the southern end has granitic outcrops. Overall, the faulted terrain is dominated by rolling hills cut by canyons. Most of the range is federal land, and there is little human development, apart from cattle ranching. The public land, dominated by big sagebrush and desert grasses, is open to recreation but is rarely visited. Sage grouse and mountain chickadee are two native bird species, and pronghorn and jackrabbit are common mammals. Despite a dry climate, rare Lahontan cutthroat trout persist in a few streams after declining for much of the 20th century. In the 1980s, the effects of grazing on riparian zones and fish led to land-use conflict. The Trout Creek Mountain Working Group was formed in 1988 to resolve disagreements among ranchers, environmentalists, government agencies, and other parties. Stakeholders agreed on changes to land-use practices, and since the early 1990s, riparian zones have begun to recover. (Full article...)
November 22
Very little is known for certain of the ancestry of the Godwins, the family of the last Anglo-Saxon King of England, Harold II. When King Edward the Confessor died in January 1066 the legitimate heir was his great-nephew, Edgar Ætheling, but he was young and lacked powerful supporters. Harold was the head of the most powerful family in England and Edward's brother-in-law, and he became king. In September 1066 Harold defeated and killed King Harald Hardrada of Norway at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, and Harold was himself defeated and killed the following month by William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings. The family is named after Harold's father, Earl Godwin, who had risen to a position of wealth and influence under King Cnut in the 1020s. In 1045 Godwin's daughter, Edith, married King Edward the Confessor, and by the mid-1050s Harold and his brothers had become dominant, almost monopolising the English earldoms. Godwin was probably the son of Wulfnoth Cild, a South Saxon thegn, but Wulfnoth's ancestry is disputed. A few genealogists argue that he was descended from Alfred the Great's elder brother, King Æthelred I, but almost all historians of Anglo-Saxon England reject this theory. (Full article...)
November 23
Burger's Daughter is a political and historical novel by the South African Nobel recipient Nadine Gordimer (pictured), first published in 1979 in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape. Banned in South Africa for three months by the Publications Control Board, the book follows a group of white anti-apartheid activists who seek to overthrow the South African government. Rosa, the title character, comes to terms with her father's legacy as an activist in the South African Communist Party. Gordimer was involved in the anti-apartheid movement and knew many of the activists, including Bram Fischer, the defence lawyer at Nelson Mandela's treason trial; she has described the book as a "coded homage" to him. The novel was generally well received by critics; a review in The New York Review of Books described the style of writing as "elegant" and "fastidious", belonging to a "cultivated upper class". In 1980 it won the Central News Agency Literary Award. When Gordimer won the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature, Burger's Daughter was one of the books cited during the awards ceremony. (Full article...)
November 24
Rhythm Killers is the second studio album by Jamaican musical duo Sly and Robbie (pictured), released in May 1987 on Island Records. First known as a reggae band, the duo experimented in the 1980s with electronic sounds and contemporary recording technology, while branching out into international, cross-genre music. A funk and dance album, Rhythm Killers has a dense sound that incorporates reggae, hip hop, hard rock, worldbeat, and downtown music. Along with their live instruments, Sly and Robbie used electronic recording equipment such as the Fairlight CMI synthesizer and electronic drums. The album has been cited by music writers for its electronic rhythms, its treatment of African-American music elements, and Laswell's densely layered production. It peaked at number 35 on the British Albums Chart, and also charted in the Netherlands, Sweden, and New Zealand. The critic Robert Christgau named it the seventh-best album of 1987. Two promotional singles were issued, including the UK hit "Boops (Here to Go)". Sly and Robbie continued their digital direction on subsequent albums. The album has since been out of print. (Full article...)
November 25
Ron Hamence played for the Australian cricket team in 1948, dubbed the "Invincibles", when they went undefeated for an unprecedented 34 matches on a tour of England. He was not instrumental in the team's success, and his selection was a subject of controversy because many batsmen who had scored more runs in the preceding Australian season had been overlooked. Hamence played in only non-Test tour matches to allow the leading batsmen to conserve energy for the Tests, as play was scheduled for six days a week. Because the team captain Donald Bradman was reluctant to risk the team's unbeaten record, Hamence did not receive many opportunities to bat high in the order, and scored only 582 runs at a batting average of 32.33, with a top-score of 99. He was the only frontline Australian batsman not to score a century. The remaining eight frontline batsmen each scored at least 973 runs and all averaged no less than 47.30. (Full article...)
Part of the Australian cricket team in England in 1948 featured topic.
November 26
Children of Mana is a 2006 action role-playing game for the Nintendo DS handheld console. It was developed by Square Enix and Nex Entertainment, and published by Square Enix and Nintendo. It is the sixth game of the Mana series and the first entry in the World of Mana subseries. Set in a high fantasy universe, Children of Mana follows one of four young heroes as they combat an invasion of monsters and learn about the cataclysmic event that killed their families. Both the main plot and side-quests require the player to fight through dungeons and defeat boss monsters before returning to the central Mana Village. Like many of its predecessors, the game features a local cooperative multiplayer component. Children of Mana was designed by series creator Koichi Ishii, directed by Yoshiki Ito, and produced by Takashi Orikata and Katsuji Aoyama. The game was a moderate commercial success: it sold 100,000 copies in its first week of release, and over 280,000 copies in Japan by the end of 2006. While critics praised the graphics and music as beautiful and unique, they found the combat simplistic and repetitive, and the story insubstantial. (Full article...)
November 27
The Almirante Latorre class consisted of two super-dreadnought battleships designed by the British company Armstrong Whitworth for the Chilean Navy, named for Admirals Juan José Latorre and Thomas Cochrane. Construction began on 27 November 1911, but both were purchased and renamed by the Royal Navy prior to completion for use in the First World War. Almirante Latorre (pictured) was commissioned into British service as HMS Canada in October 1915 and spent its wartime service with the Grand Fleet, seeing action in the Battle of Jutland. The ship was sold back to Chile in 1920, assuming its former name. Almirante Latorre's crew instigated a naval mutiny in 1931. After a major refit in 1937, she patrolled Chile's coast during the Second World War. Almirante Cochrane was converted to an aircraft carrier and commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Eagle in 1924. It served in the Mediterranean Fleet and on the China Station in the inter-war period and operated in the Atlantic and Mediterranean during the Second World War before being sunk in August 1942 during Operation Pedestal. (Full article...)
Part of the South American dreadnought race featured topic.
November 28
The banded sugar ant (Camponotus consobrinus) is a species of ant endemic to Australia. A member of the genus Camponotus in the subfamily Formicinae, it was described by German entomologist Wilhelm Ferdinand Erichson in 1842. Its common name refers to the ant's preference for sweet food, as well as the distinctive orange-brown band around its gaster. The ant is polymorphic and relatively large, with castes called major workers (soldiers) and minor workers. Ants in these groups measure around 5 to 15 millimetres (0.20 to 0.59 inches) in length. Mainly nocturnal, banded sugar ants prefer a mesic habitat, and are commonly found in forests and woodlands; they are also found in urban areas, where they are considered a household pest. The ant's diet includes sweet secretions they obtain from aphids and other insects. Workers prey on some insects, killing them with a spray of formic acid. Banded sugar ants are prey for other ants, echidnas, and birds. The eggs of this species were consumed by Australian Aborigines. (Full article...)
November 29
Israel the Grammarian (c. 895 – c. 965) was one of the leading European scholars of the mid-tenth century. Most likely a Breton, he wrote theological and grammatical tracts, and commentaries on the works of other philosophers and theologians. When Alfred the Great became King of Wessex in 871, learning was at a low level in southern England, and there were no Latin scholars. The king embarked on a programme of revival, bringing in scholars from Continental Europe, Wales and Mercia. His grandson Æthelstan, king from 924 to 939, carried on the work, inviting foreign scholars such as Israel to his court, and appointing Continental clerics as bishops. After Æthelstan's death, Israel successfully sought the patronage of Archbishop Rotbert of Trier and became tutor to Bruno, later the Archbishop of Cologne. In the late 940s Israel is recorded as a bishop, and at the end of his life he was a monk at the Benedictine monastery of Saint-Maximin in Trier. He was an accomplished poet, a disciple of the ninth-century Irish philosopher John Scottus Eriugena, and one of the few scholars of his time who understood Greek. (Full article...)
November 30
"The Post-Modern Prometheus" is the fifth episode of the fifth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files, originally airing on the Fox network on November 30, 1997. It was written and directed by series creator Chris Carter. The story follows FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) as they investigate a creature called "The Great Mutato" that has impregnated a middle-aged woman; it turns out to be the genetic creation of a Frankenstein-like doctor. The creature is first ostracized and then accepted by his community. Carter's story draws heavily on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (subtitled The Modern Prometheus) and particularly on James Whale's 1931 film version of the story. The episode was filmed in black and white, with a sky backdrop imitating the style of old Frankenstein films. Talk-show host Jerry Springer appeared as himself, and Chris Owens played The Great Mutato. Many critics praised the episode; some even called it a "classic". It was nominated for seven awards at the 1998 Emmys, winning one. (Full article...)