The Wikipedia article of the day for April 20, 2016 is 1994 Atlantic hurricane season.
The 1994 Atlantic hurricane season produced only seven named tropical cyclones and three hurricanes, and was the only Atlantic hurricane season of the 1990s with no major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale). Tropical activity lasted from Alberto’s formation on June 30 to Gordon’s weakening on November 21. Tropical Storm Alberto produced significant rainfall and flooding in the Southeastern United States, damaging or destroying over 18,000 homes. In August, Tropical Storm Beryl produced its heaviest rainfall in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Along with a tornado it spawned, Beryl caused numerous injuries. Tropical Storm Debby killed nine people in the Caribbean in September. Florence was the most intense hurricane, at Category 2, but never made landfall. Extreme flooding and mudslides from Hurricane Gordon caused around 1,122 fatalities in Haiti and other deaths over the course of six landfalls from Costa Rica to North Carolina. A nor’easter in December may have had tropical characteristics, but was not classified as a tropical system.
Archives for April 2016
Wikipedia article of the day for April 20 2016
Wikipedia article of the day for April 19, 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for April 19, 2016 is Mantis.
The mantises are an order of insects containing over 2,400 species and about 430 genera in 15 families. The largest family is the Mantidae. Distributed worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats, mantids have triangular heads with bulging eyes supported on flexible necks, and elongated bodies with or without wings. All mantises have greatly enlarged forelegs adapted for catching and gripping prey; their stationary upright posture, with forearms folded, has led to the common name “praying mantis”. They are mostly ambush predators, but a few ground-dwelling species actively seek prey. They live for about a year; in cooler climates, the adults lay eggs in autumn, and die. Protected by their hard capsule, the eggs hatch in the spring. Mantises are sometimes confused with stick insects (Phasmatodea), other elongated insects such as grasshoppers (Orthoptera), or other insects with raptorial forelegs such as mantisflies (Mantispidae). Mantises were considered to have supernatural powers by early civilizations, including Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt, and Assyria. They are among the insects most commonly kept as pets.
Wikipedia article of the day for April 18, 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for April 18, 2016 is William O’Connell Bradley.
William O’Connell Bradley (1847–1914) was the 32nd Governor of Kentucky and a U.S. senator. The first Republican to serve as governor of the state, he became known as the father of the Republican Party in Kentucky. After a well-received speech seconding the presidential nomination of Ulysses S. Grant at the 1880 Republican National Convention, he was nominated for governor in 1887. He lost the general election that year, but won in 1895, capitalizing on divisions in the Democratic Party over the issue of free silver. His term was marked by political struggles and violence. He advanced the status of black citizens, but was unable to enact much of his reform agenda over a hostile Democratic majority. He was elected by the state legislature to the U.S. Senate in 1907, when voting was deadlocked and the Democratic candidate, outgoing Governor J. C. W. Beckham, refused to withdraw in favor of a compromise candidate. Bradley’s opposition to Prohibition made him palatable to some Democratic legislators, and after two months of balloting, four of them crossed party lines to elect him. His career in the Senate was largely undistinguished.
Wikipedia article of the day for April 17, 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for April 17, 2016 is Daisy Jugadai Napaltjarri.
Daisy Jugadai Napaltjarri (c. 1955 – 2008) was a Pintupi-Luritja-speaking artist of the contemporary Indigenous Australian art movement that originated in the Western Desert region. The sister of artist Molly Jugadai Napaltjarri, she lived and painted at Haasts Bluff, Northern Territory, playing a significant role in the establishment of the Ikuntji Women’s Centre, where many artists of the region have painted. Influenced by the Hermannsburg School, Jugadai’s paintings reflect her Tjuukurrpa, the complex spiritual knowledge and relationships between her and her landscape. Her paintings also reflect fine observation of the complex structures of the vegetation and environment. Jugadai’s works were selected for exhibition at the National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards five times between 1993 and 2001, and she was a section winner in 2000. Her paintings are held in major collections including the National Gallery of Victoria, the National Gallery of Australia and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.
Wikipedia article of the day for April 16, 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for April 16, 2016 is John the bookmaker controversy.
John the bookmaker was an Indian bookmaker who gave money to Australian cricketers Mark Waugh and Shane Warne in 1994–95 for pitch and weather information. One of the most publicised betting controversies in cricket in the 1990s, the matter was initially covered up by the Australian Cricket Board (ACB), which reported it to the International Cricket Council and quietly fined the players. The players and the ACB were later widely condemned by the media and public, but not generally by the sports community. The ACB requested an independent inquiry and appointed Rob O’Regan QC, who wrote that a suspension for a “significant time” would have been a more appropriate penalty. He strongly condemned the players’ behaviour and recommended that cricketers be educated about the dangers of gambling and unauthorised bookmakers. The controversy prompted Pakistan to ask the two Australian players to appear in front of their own judicial inquiry into corruption; the hearings were held in Australia. Both Waugh and Warne denied the suggestion that they played with any less determination than usual in the matches.
Wikipedia article of the day for April 15, 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for April 15, 2016 is Comet (magazine).
Cosmic Stories and Stirring Science Stories were two pulp science fiction magazines that published a total of seven issues in 1941 and 1942. Both were edited by Donald A. Wollheim and launched by Albing Publications, appearing in alternate months. Wollheim had no budget at all for fiction, so he solicited stories from his friends among the Futurians, a group of young science fiction fans including James Blish and C.M. Kornbluth. Isaac Asimov contributed a story, but later insisted on payment after hearing that F. Orlin Tremaine, the editor of Comet—a competing science fiction magazine—was irate at the idea of a magazine that might “siphon readership from magazines that paid”, and thought that authors who contributed should be blacklisted. Kornbluth was the most prolific contributor, under several pseudonyms; one of his stories, “Thirteen O’Clock”, was very successful, and helped to make his reputation in the field. The magazines ceased publication in late 1941, but Wollheim was able to find a publisher for one further issue of Stirring Science Stories in March 1942 before war restrictions forced it to close again.
Wikipedia article of the day for April 13, 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for April 13, 2016 is William Sterndale Bennett.
Sterndale Bennett (13 April 1816 – 1 February 1875) was an English composer, pianist, and conductor who became a leading force in musical education. As a student at the London Royal Academy of Music (RAM), he was admired by Felix Mendelssohn, who invited him to come to Germany. In three long visits there between 1836 and 1842 he performed as a pianist and composed, befriending Robert Schumann. In 1837 he began teaching at the RAM, with which he was associated for most of his life. His pupils included Arthur Sullivan, Hubert Parry, and Tobias Matthay. He performed throughout the 1840s and 1850s, returning to composition in 1858; by this time his works were considered old-fashioned, though they were still popular. He was Professor of Music at the University of Cambridge from 1856 to 1866, then became Principal of the RAM, rescuing it from closure. He was knighted in 1871. He died in London and was buried in Westminster Abbey. In recent years, appreciation of Bennett’s compositions has been rekindled and many of his works have been recorded. Several concerts of his music are planned for his bicentenary year of 2016.
Wikipedia article of the day for April 12, 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for April 12, 2016 is Aliso Creek (Orange County).
Aliso Creek is a 19-mile (31 km) urban stream that runs through Orange County in the U.S. state of California from the Santa Ana Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, collecting seven main tributaries. It flows generally south-southwest through a narrow coastal watershed at the southern extreme of the arid Los Angeles Basin in a fairly straight course. Owing to the submersion of Southern California in the Pacific Ocean until 10 million years ago, the creek flows over marine sedimentary rock that dates from the late Eocene to the Pliocene. The watershed’s broad sediment-filled valleys and deeply eroded side canyons were shaped by climate change during the last Ice Age. Historically, the creek served as the boundary between the Juaneño (Acjachemem) and Gabrieleno (Tongva) Indians. Although attempts to use the creek and its watershed as a municipal water source date to the early 20th century, the water it provided was erratic and of poor quality. The creek has become little more than an open wastewater drain, but the watershed supports some biodiversity, and remains a popular recreational area.
Wikipedia article of the day for April 11, 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for April 11, 2016 is Hungarian occupation of Yugoslav territories.
Hungary occupied and annexed territories during World War II that it had lost to Yugoslavia in the Treaty of Trianon after World War I. On 11 April 1941, 80,000 Hungarian troops crossed the Yugoslav border to join the German-led Axis invasion. Despite only sporadic resistance, Hungarian troops killed many civilians during the invasion. The Hungarian authorities deported tens of thousands of Serbs from the territories, re-settling Hungarians from other parts of Hungary. Resistance to the occupation began in the latter half of 1941, and in January 1942 the Hungarian military conducted retaliatory raids that killed over 3,300 people, mostly Serbs and Jews. In March 1944, when Hungary began to negotiate with the Allies, Germany invaded and took control of Hungary, including the annexed territories. The remaining Jews were collected and transported to extermination camps, where 85 per cent of those from the occupied territories died. The territories were restored to Yugoslav control as the Germans were pushed out of the region in late 1944 and 1945.
