Wiki Article of the Day for January 13, 2016

Wikipedia strikes again, interesting article of the day: No. 1 Flying Training School RAAF.
No. 1 Flying Training School (No. 1 FTS) was one of the original units of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), dating back to the service's formation in 1921 at Point Cook, Victoria. It was re-formed several times in the ensuing years, initially as No. 1 Service Flying Training School in 1940, under the wartime Empire Air Training Scheme. After graduating nearly 3,000 pilots, it was disbanded in late 1944, when there was no further need to train Australian aircrews for service in Europe. The school was re-established in 1946 at Uranquinty, New South Wales, and transferred to Point Cook the following year. To cope with the demands of the Korean War and Malayan Emergency, it was re-formed as No. 1 Applied Flying Training School in 1952 and moved to Pearce, Western Australia, in 1958. Another school was meanwhile formed at Uranquinty, No. 1 Basic Flying Training School (No. 1 BFTS), which transferred to Point Cook in 1958. In 1969, No. 1 AFTS was re-formed as No. 2 Flying Training School and No. 1 BFTS was re-formed as No. 1 FTS. Rationalisation of RAAF flying training resulted in the disbandment of No. 1 FTS in 1993.

Wiki Article of the Day for January 12, 2016

Wikipedia strikes again, interesting article of the day: Keen Johnson.
Keen Johnson was the 45th Governor of Kentucky (1939–1943) and the only journalist to have held that office. Born on January 12, 1896, he served in World War I and earned a journalism degree from the University of Kentucky. Johnson served as lieutenant governor under Governor A. B. "Happy" Chandler from 1935 to 1939. He had already secured the Democratic gubernatorial nomination when Chandler resigned and elevated him to governor so that he could appoint Chandler to the U.S. Senate. Johnson went on to win a full gubernatorial term in the general election. He ran a fiscally conservative administration and took the state from a $7 million shortfall to a surplus of $10 million by the end of his term. Afterwards, Johnson joined Reynolds Metals as a special assistant to the president. He took a one-year leave of absence to serve as the first U.S. Undersecretary of Labor in 1946, then continued working for the company until 1961. He unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1960, losing to incumbent Republican John Sherman Cooper. He died in 1970 in Richmond, Kentucky.

Wiki Article of the Day for January 11, 2016

Wikipedia strikes again, interesting article of the day: Dishonored.
Dishonored is a 2012 stealth action-adventure video game developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It was released worldwide in October 2012 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. Set in the plague-ridden industrial city of Dunwall, Dishonored follows the story of Corvo Attano, who is framed for murder and forced to become an assassin, seeking revenge on those who conspired against him. Susan Sarandon, Brad Dourif, Carrie Fisher, Michael Madsen, Lena Headey, and Chloë Grace Moretz did some of the voice work. The game is played from a first-person perspective and emphasizes player choice, including the choice of stealth or combat to accomplish missions. Dishonored received generally positive reviews, focusing on the missions' individual narratives and the wide range of mission choices. Criticism fell on the predictability of the overarching narrative and on problems in controlling the player's character. The game won several awards, including the 2012 Spike Video Game award for Best Action-Adventure Game and the 2013 BAFTA Games award for Best Game.

Wiki Article of the Day for January 10, 2016

Wikipedia strikes again, interesting article of the day: Ursa Minor.
Ursa Minor (Little Bear) is a constellation in the northern sky. It is colloquially known as the Little Dipper because its seven brightest stars appear to form the shape of a ladle (diagram pictured). It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations. Polaris, its brightest star, is currently less than one degree away from the north celestial pole. Because this position stays nearly fixed as the Earth rotates, the star has traditionally been important for navigation, particularly by mariners. Polaris is a yellow-white supergiant and the brightest Cepheid variable star in the night sky, ranging in apparent magnitude from 1.97 to 2.00. Beta Ursae Minoris, also known as Kochab, is an aging star that has swollen and cooled to become an orange giant with an apparent magnitude of 2.08, only slightly fainter than Polaris. The constellation also contains an isolated neutron star—Calvera—and H1504+65, the hottest white dwarf yet discovered, with a surface temperature of 200,000 degrees Kelvin. Planets have been detected orbiting four of the constellation's stars, including Kochab.

Wiki Article of the Day for January 9, 2016

Wikipedia strikes again, interesting article of the day: Falcon's Fury.
Falcon's Fury is a freestanding Sky Jump drop tower attraction at the Busch Gardens Tampa amusement park in Tampa, Florida. Manufactured by Intaride, a subsidiary of Intamin, the ride is North America's tallest freestanding drop tower, at a maximum height of 335 feet (102 m). It is also the first drop tower to use 90-degree tilting seats, facing riders straight down through five seconds of free fall. They reach a speed of 60 miles per hour (100 km/h) before rotating back into a horizontal position and decelerating at about 3.5 Gs. The ride's name is meant to suggest a falcon's ability to dive steeply at high speed to capture prey. Due to the height of the attraction, approval from the Federal Aviation Administration was required. Construction was delayed until 2013, and the opening date was also delayed by mechanical and technical issues. Falcon's Fury opened to park employees in August before a soft opening on August 16, 2014, and an official opening on September 2, 2014.

Wiki Article of the Day for January 8, 2016

Wikipedia strikes again, interesting article of the day: Bruce Kingsbury.
Bruce Kingsbury (1918–1942) was an Australian soldier of the Second World War. After serving in the Middle East, he gained renown for his actions during the Battle of Isurava, one of many battles of the Kokoda Track campaign in New Guinea. His bravery was recognised with the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces. Kingsbury was a member of the 2/14th Infantry Battalion. During the Battle of Isurava, he was one of the few survivors of a platoon that had been overrun by the Japanese. He immediately volunteered to join a different platoon, which had been ordered to counterattack. Rushing forward and firing his Bren gun from the hip, he cleared a path through the enemy and inflicted several casualties. Kingsbury was then seen to fall, shot by a Japanese sniper and killed instantly. His actions, which delayed the Japanese long enough for the Australians to fortify their positions, were instrumental in saving the battalion headquarters. He was the first serviceman to receive the Victoria Cross for actions in Australian territory.

Wiki Article of the Day for January 7, 2016

Wikipedia strikes again, interesting article of the day: Upper and Lower Table Rock.
Upper and Lower Table Rock are two prominent volcanic plateaus just north of the Rogue River in Jackson County, Oregon, US. Created by a medium-grained lava flow around seven million years ago and shaped by erosion, they now stand about 800 feet (240 m) above the surrounding Rogue Valley. They are jointly owned by The Nature Conservancy and the Bureau of Land Management. The Takelma tribe of Native Americans inhabited the Table Rocks for at least 15,000 years prior to European American settlement. Starting in the mid-19th century during a gold rush, settlers forced the Takelma into reservations. A post office was established nearby in 1872, an airstrip was built atop Lower Table Rock in 1948, and an aviation beacon was constructed on Upper Table Rock in the 1960s. These plateaus, which were not protected until the 1970s, are home to over 70 species of animals and 340 species of plants, including the dwarf woolly meadowfoam. They are popular hiking locations in the Rogue Valley, with over 45,000 visitors annually.

Wiki Article of the Day for January 6, 2016

Wikipedia strikes again, interesting article of the day: Freedom of Worship (painting).
Freedom of Worship is the second of the Four Freedoms oil paintings produced by the American artist Norman Rockwell. They represent the freedoms outlined by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his State of the Union Address on January 6, 1941, including the "freedom of every person to worship God in his own way—everywhere in the world." Freedom of Worship shows the profiles of eight people of different faiths in a moment of prayer. Rockwell considered this painting and Freedom of Speech more successful than the other two paintings in the series, Freedom from Want and Freedom from Fear. Freedom of Worship appeared on February 27, 1943, in The Saturday Evening Post alongside an essay on religious freedom by philosopher Will Durant. All four images were widely distributed on posters in support of the War Bond drive. Text supporting the four freedoms was later incorporated into the Allies' World War II policy statement, the Atlantic Charter, and the charter of the United Nations.

Wiki Article of the Day for January 5, 2016

Wikipedia strikes again, interesting article of the day: Stella Gibbons.
Stella Gibbons (1902 – 1989) was an English author, journalist, and poet. She established her reputation with her first novel, Cold Comfort Farm (1932), which won the Prix Femina Étranger award. After an indifferent school career Gibbons trained as a journalist, and worked as a reporter and features writer. Her first book (1930) was a collection of poems, and throughout her life she considered herself primarily a poet rather than a novelist. After Cold Comfort Farm, a satire on the genre of rural-themed novels popular in the late 1920s, most of Gibbons's novels were based in the middle-class suburban world with which she was familiar. Critics have compared her style to Jane Austen's. Although she was active as a writer for half a century, none of her later 22 novels or other literary works achieved the same popular success, nor have they been been accepted into the canon of English literature, perhaps because of her detachment from the literary world and her tendency to mock it. Much of her work was long out of print before a modest revival in the 21st century.

Wiki Article of the Day for January 4, 2016

Wikipedia strikes again, interesting article of the day: James Hogun.
James Hogun (died January 4, 1781) was one of five generals from North Carolina to serve with the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. Initially a major in the 7th North Carolina Regiment, Hogun advanced quickly in rank to command the unit in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown in 1777. After the Continental Congress promoted him to brigadier general, he commanded North Carolina's line brigade during the Siege of Charleston in the spring of 1780, which ended in the surrender of all but one of his regiments of regular infantry. He was the highest-ranking officer from North Carolina to be captured and imprisoned after the surrender of Charleston. Despite being offered the opportunity to leave internment under a parole that was generally extended to other captured Continental officers, he remained in a British prisoner-of-war camp, in part to hinder British efforts to enlist captured Continental soldiers to serve in the British West Indies. Hogan and the other officers in the camp at Haddrel's Point, a peninsula in Charleston's harbor, were subjected to harsh treatment, and he soon became ill and died in prison.

Wiki Article of the Day for January 3, 2016

Wikipedia strikes again, interesting article of the day: Mereka Bilang, Saya Monyet!.
Mereka Bilang, Saya Monyet! (released internationally as They Say I'm a Monkey!) is a 2008 Indonesian film directed by Djenar Maesa Ayu. Starring Titi Rajo Bintang, Henidar Amroe, and Ray Sahetapi, it tells the life story of Adjeng, who was sexually abused as a child by her mother's boyfriend. Filmed over 18 days after several years of development, the film adapted two of Ayu's short stories from her debut anthology of the same name. Owing to its low budget of Rp 620 million, its cast and crew were mostly amateurs and students, although several established actors appeared at reduced rates. Mereka Bilang, Saya Monyet! has been described as "anti-Sjuman" because of the disparity between Ayu's more personal directing style and the social realism of her father, Sjumandjaja. Although commercially unsuccessful, the film was well received by critics. It won five national-level awards and was screened at several international film festivals. Two Indonesian publications, Tempo and The Jakarta Post, selected it as among the best films of 2008.

Wiki Article of the Day for January 2, 2016

Wikipedia strikes again, interesting article of the day: Rufous-crowned sparrow.
The rufous-crowned sparrow (Aimophila ruficeps) is a smallish American sparrow. Isolated populations of this perching bird can be found across the Southwestern United States and much of the interior of Mexico. Twelve subspecies are generally recognized (A. r. boucardi pictured), though up to eighteen have been suggested. The bird has a brown back with darker streaks and gray underparts. The crown is rufous, and the face and supercilium are gray with a brown or rufous streak extending from each eye and a thick black malar streak. The birds are ungraceful fliers, preferring to hop along the ground. They feed primarily on seeds in the winter and insects in the spring and summer. They are often territorial, with males guarding their territory through song and displays. The birds are monogamous and breed during spring, laying two to five eggs in cup-shaped, well-hidden nests. Adult sparrows are preyed upon by house cats and small raptors, while young may be taken by a range of mammals and reptiles. Although classified as a species of least concern, some subspecies are threatened by habitat destruction, and one may be extinct.

Wiki Article of the Day for January 1, 2016

Wikipedia strikes again, interesting article of the day: Falstaff (opera).
Falstaff is an opera in three acts by the Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi. The libretto was adapted by Arrigo Boito from Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor and scenes from Henry IV, parts 1 and 2. The work premiered on 9 February 1893 at La Scala, Milan. Falstaff was the last of Verdi's 28 operas, his second comedy, and his third work based on a Shakespeare play, following Macbeth and Otello. The plot revolves around the thwarted, sometimes farcical, efforts of the fat knight, Sir John Falstaff, to seduce two married women to gain access to their husbands' wealth. The premiere was greeted with enormous enthusiasm, but after the initial performances the work fell into neglect: many operagoers felt that it lacked the full-blooded melodies of the best of Verdi's previous operas. The conductor Arturo Toscanini strongly disagreed, and insisted on its revival at La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera in New York from the late 1890s into the next century. The work is now part of the regular operatic repertory. Singers closely associated with the title role have included Victor Maurel (the first Falstaff), Mariano Stabile, Giuseppe Valdengo, Tito Gobbi, Geraint Evans and Bryn Terfel.

Wiki Article of the Day for December 31, 2015

Wikipedia strikes again, interesting article of the day: Steve Bruce.
Steve Bruce (born 1960) is an English football manager, currently for Hull City, and a former player. A defender, he began his professional career at Gillingham in 1979, and made over 200 appearances before transferring to Norwich City five years later. From 1987 to 1996, he played for Manchester United, winning the Premier League, FA Cup, Football League Cup and European Cup Winner's Cup. He was the first English player of the twentieth century to captain a team to the Double. Bruce began his managerial career with Sheffield United, and briefly managed Huddersfield Town, Wigan Athletic and Crystal Palace. He joined Birmingham City in 2001 and twice led them to promotion to the Premier League during his tenure of nearly six years, but resigned in 2007 to begin a second spell as manager of Wigan. At the end of the 2008–09 season he resigned to take over as manager of Sunderland, a post he held until he was dismissed in November 2011. Seven months later, he was appointed manager of Hull City, and has since led the club to promotion to the Premier League and the 2014 FA Cup Final.

Wiki Article of the Day for December 30, 2015

Wikipedia strikes again, interesting article of the day: Rashtrakuta dynasty.
The Rashtrakuta dynasty ruled large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the sixth and tenth centuries. Early Rashtrakuta inscriptions show their clans ruling from modern-day Manpur in Madhya Pradesh, Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh, and Elichpur in Maharashtra. This third clan overthrew Kirtivarman II and built an empire as the Rashtrakutas of Manyakheta, rising to power in South India in 753. At the same time the Pala dynasty of Bengal (in eastern India) and the Prathihara dynasty of Malwa (in the northwest) were gaining force. Each of these three empires annexed the seat of power at Kannauj for short periods of time while struggling for the resources of the rich Gangetic plains. At their peak the Rashtrakutas of Manyakheta ruled a domain stretching from the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers in the north to Cape Comorin in the south. The early kings of this dynasty were Hindu, while the later kings were strongly influenced by Jainism. The empire was known for its literary and architectural achievements, including the Kailasanath Temple at Ellora (pictured) and the Jain Narayana temple at Pattadakal, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Wiki Article of the Day for December 29, 2015

Wikipedia strikes again, interesting article of the day: HMS Warrior (1860).
HMS Warrior was the name ship of a class of two 40-gun steam-powered armoured frigates built for the Royal Navy in 1859–61. The sister ships Warrior and HMS Black Prince were the first armour-plated, iron-hulled warships, and were built in response to France's launching in 1859 of the first ocean-going ironclad warship, the wooden-hulled Gloire. After a publicity tour of Great Britain in 1863, Warrior had an active career with the Channel Squadron. The frigate became obsolescent following the 1871 launching of the mastless and more capable HMS Devastation, was placed in reserve in 1875, and was paid off in 1883. After serving as a storeship and depot ship, Warrior was assigned in 1904 to the Royal Navy's torpedo training school. The frigate was converted into an oil jetty in 1927 and was donated by the Navy to the Maritime Trust for restoration in 1979. The restoration process took eight years, during which many of the ship's features and fittings were either restored or recreated. When this was finished Warrior returned to Portsmouth as a museum ship. Listed as part of the National Historic Fleet, the ship has been based in Portsmouth since 1987.

Wiki Article of the Day for December 28, 2015

Wikipedia strikes again, interesting article of the day: Kingdom Hearts II.
Kingdom Hearts II is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix in 2005 for the PlayStation 2 video game console. The game is a sequel to the 2002 Disney Interactive and Square collaboration, Kingdom Hearts, and to Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. In this game, the protagonist Sora returns to search for his lost friends, while Organization XIII from Chain of Memories reappears to impede his progress. All three games feature a large cast of characters from Disney films and Final Fantasy games. The game was well-received, earning year-end awards from numerous video gaming websites. In Japan, it shipped more than one million copies within a week of its release. One month after its North American release, it had sold over one million copies. By March 31, 2007, the game had shipped over 4 million copies worldwide. A novel and manga series are based on it, as well as an international version called Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, re-released in high definition as Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix for the PlayStation 3. The game was actor Pat Morita's final voice role before his death in 2005.

Wiki Article of the Day for December 27, 2015

Wikipedia strikes again, interesting article of the day: Kent, Ohio.
Kent is the largest city in Portage County in the U.S. state of Ohio. It is part of the Akron Metropolitan Statistical Area and the larger Cleveland–Akron–Canton Combined Statistical Area. The population was 28,904 in the 2010 Census and slightly higher in the 2014 estimate. Part of the Connecticut Western Reserve, it was settled in 1805 as a mill town along the Cuyahoga River and later named Franklin Mills. In the 1830s and 1840s, the village was on the route of the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal. Franklin Mills was an active stop on the Underground Railroad before the Civil War. The city was renamed in 1864 for Marvin Kent, who secured the maintenance yards of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad (depot pictured) for Franklin Mills. Today Kent is a college town best known as the home of the main campus of Kent State University, founded in 1910, and as the site of the 1970 Kent State shootings. While historically a manufacturing center, the city's largest economic sector is now education. Many Kentites and Kent State alumni have risen to prominence in business, sports, and the arts.

Wiki Article of the Day for December 26, 2015

Wikipedia strikes again, interesting article of the day: Andrew Johnston (singer).
Andrew Johnston (born 1994) is a British singer who rose to fame when he appeared as a boy soprano on the second series of the British television talent show Britain's Got Talent in 2008. He sang "Pie Jesu" from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem in the finals. Although he did not win, he received a contract to record on the SyCo Music label owned by the Britain's Got Talent judge Simon Cowell. Johnston's debut album, One Voice, was released in September of the same year, and reached number four on the UK Albums Chart. Johnston was born in Dumfries, Scotland, and grew up in Carlisle. He became head chorister at Carlisle Cathedral, and was bullied at school for his love of classical music. While some journalists have argued that Britain's Got Talent producers exaggerated Johnston's rough background, others have hailed his story as inspirational. In 2009, he graduated from Trinity School. He sings in the National Youth Choir as a baritone and studies full-time at the Royal Northern College of Music.

Wiki Article of the Day for December 25, 2015

Wikipedia strikes again, interesting article of the day: Sisters at Heart.
"Sisters at Heart" is the 13th episode of the seventh season of Bewitched, an American Broadcasting Company fantasy television sitcom. This Christmas episode aired on December 24, 1970, and again the following December. In one storyline, Darrin Stephens (Dick Sargent) fails to land a million-dollar advertising account after a toy company owner mistakes a black woman for Darrin's wife. The man changes his attitude after Samantha Stephens (Elizabeth Montgomery) uses witchcraft to make him see everyone, including himself, as having black skin. At the invitation of Montgomery and her husband William Asher, who directed the episode, "Sisters at Heart" was initially written by 22 black students from Jefferson High School (pictured), a school in a poor Los Angeles neighborhood. This episode, Montgomery's favorite, received the Governors Award at the 23rd Primetime Emmy Awards. Montgomery's biographer Herbie Pilato wrote that the theme of overcoming prejudice is central to Bewitched and that "no [other] episode of the series more clearly represented this cry against prejudice".