The Wikipedia article of the day for December 11, 2016 is George Mason.
George Mason (December 11, 1725 – October 7, 1792) was a Virginia planter, politician, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, one of three men who refused to sign. He served in the pro-independence Fourth Virginia Convention of 1775 and the Fifth Virginia Convention of 1776, during which he wrote much of the Virginia Declaration of Rights; this later served as a basis for the Bill of Rights, of which he has been deemed the father. Named one of his state’s delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Mason traveled to Philadelphia, his only lengthy trip outside Virginia, and was active in the convention for months before deciding he could not sign the final draft. Although he lost his fight to add a bill of rights there, and again at the Virginia Ratifying Convention of 1788, his efforts led his fellow Virginian James Madison to introduce one during the First Congress in 1789, and it was ratified in 1791, a year before Mason died. Long obscure, Mason is today recognized for his contributions to the founding texts of Virginia and the United States.
Archives for December 2016
Wikipedia article of the day for December 11, 2016
Wikipedia article of the day for December 10, 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for December 10, 2016 is Fantastic Adventures.
Fantastic Adventures was an American pulp fantasy and science fiction magazine, edited by Ray Palmer and published from 1939 to 1953 by Ziff-Davis. It was almost cancelled at the end of 1940, but the October 1940 issue had unexpectedly good sales, helped by a strong cover (pictured) by J. Allen St. John for Robert Moore Williams’ Jongor of Lost Land. Fantastic Adventures soon developed a reputation for light-hearted and whimsical stories. The cover art usually focused on melodramatic action scenes; H.W. McCauley’s covers, featuring glamorous, alluring women, were among the most popular. In 1949 Palmer was replaced by Howard Browne, who was knowledgeable and enthusiastic about fantasy fiction. Browne briefly managed to improve the quality of the fiction in Fantastic Adventures, and the period around 1951 has been described as the magazine’s heyday. Browne lost interest when his plan to take Amazing Stories more upmarket collapsed, however, and the magazine fell back into predictability. In 1952, Ziff-Davis launched another fantasy magazine, titled Fantastic, in a digest format; it was successful, and in March 1953 they ended Fantastic Adventures in favor of Fantastic.
Wikipedia article of the day for December 9, 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for December 9, 2016 is Exsudoporus frostii.
Exsudoporus frostii, Frost’s bolete, is a fungus first described in 1874. The mushrooms it produces have tubes and pores instead of gills on the underside of their caps. E. frostii is distributed in the eastern United States from Maine to Georgia and Arizona, and south to Mexico and Costa Rica. It is typically found associating with hardwood trees, especially oak. Its mushrooms can be recognized by their dark red sticky caps, the red pores, the network-like pattern of the stem, and a variable blue-staining reaction after tissue injury. Another characteristic of young, moist fruit bodies is the amber-colored drops exuded on the pore surface. Although the mushrooms are considered edible, they are generally not recommended for consumption because of the risk of confusion with other poisonous red-pored, blue-bruising boletes. E. frostii may be distinguished from other superficially similar red-capped boletes by differences in distribution, associated tree species, bluing reaction, or morphology.
Wikipedia article of the day for December 8, 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for December 8, 2016 is Ernie Toshack.
Ernie Toshack (8 December 1914 – 11 May 2003) was an Australian cricketer who played in 12 Tests from 1946 to 1948. He made his first-class debut in 1945 as a left-arm medium paced bowler; his accuracy, stamina, changes of pace, and movement in both directions confounded batsmen. After only seven matches in the Sheffield Shield domestic competition, he was selected for Australia’s tour of New Zealand. In Wellington, he opened the bowling in a match that was later classed as an official Test match. He became a regular member of the Australian team, playing in all of its Tests until the 1947–48 series against India; he took a career-best 11 wickets for 31 runs in the First Test but began to suffer recurring knee injuries. As a member of Don Bradman’s Invincibles team, which went undefeated on a tour of England in 1948, Toshack played in the first four Tests before being injured again. After a long convalescence, he attempted a comeback during Australia’s 1949–50 season, but further injury forced him to retire. As a player, he was popular with crowds for his sense of humour.
Wikipedia article of the day for December 7, 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for December 7, 2016 is Pennsylvania-class battleship.
The Pennsylvania class consisted of two super-dreadnought battleships, Pennsylvania and Arizona, named after American states. They were the newest American capital ships when the United States entered the First World War, but saw limited use at the time. During the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, both ships were present. Arizona suffered a massive magazine explosion and sank with the loss of 1,177 officers and crewmen; the remains now lie beneath a memorial site that attracts more than two million visitors annually. Pennsylvania, in dry dock at the time, received only minor damage; she spent most of the war as a shore bombardment ship before participating in the October 1944 Battle of Surigao Strait, the last battle ever between battleships. Pennsylvania was severely damaged by a torpedo on 12 August 1945, the day before the cessation of hostilities. With minimal repairs, she was used in Operation Crossroads, part of the Bikini atomic experiments, before being expended as a target ship in 1948.
Wikipedia article of the day for December 6, 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for December 6, 2016 is Amanita ocreata.
Amanita ocreata, one of the death angels or destroying angels, is a deadly fungus native to California and the North American Pacific Northwest. The large fruiting bodies (mushrooms) generally appear in spring, associating with oak trees. The stalk, ring, gills and volva are white, and the cap may be white or ochre, often developing a brownish centre. It can resemble the edible springtime amanita (A. velosa), coccora (A. lanei) or stubble rosegill (Volvariella speciosa), but is similar in toxicity to the death cap (A. phalloides) and to the destroying angels of Europe (A. virosa) and eastern North America (A. bisporigera). Its principal toxic constituent, α-amanitin, damages the liver and kidneys, and has no known antidote. The initial gastrointestinal symptoms, including abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting, subside after two or three days. Ongoing damage to internal organs can cause jaundice, diarrhea, delirium, seizures, coma, and in many cases, death from liver failure 6 to 16 days after ingestion.
Wikipedia article of the day for December 5, 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for December 5, 2016 is Walt Disney.
Walt Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966) was an American entrepreneur, animator, voice actor and film producer. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he holds the record for the most Academy Awards earned by an individual (22), out of 59 nominations. He set up the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio with his brother Roy in the 1920s, and had his first big success with the character Mickey Mouse. As the studio grew, he introduced synchronized sound, better cameras, and full-color three-strip Technicolor, as seen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Fantasia, Pinocchio (both 1940), Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942). In 1955 he opened the Disneyland theme park and diversified into television programs, including The Mickey Mouse Club. He helped plan the 1959 Moscow Fair, the 1960 Winter Olympics, and the 1964 New York World’s Fair. In 1965 he began work on Disney World and a concept he called the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT). Disney was a shy and self-deprecating man in private, but adopted a warm and outgoing public persona. The company he cofounded exists today as one of the world’s largest and best-known entertainment companies.
Wikipedia article of the day for December 4, 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for December 4, 2016 is Boeing C-17 Globemaster III in Australian service.
In Australian service, Boeing C-17 Globemaster III aircraft are operated by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). To improve the Australian Defence Force’s (ADF’s) ability to operate outside Australia, eight were ordered from 2006 to 2014; the first arrived in Australia on 4 December 2006. Three more entered service by January 2008, two more by November 2012, and the last two by November 2015. All eight Globemasters are assigned to No. 36 Squadron and operate from RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland. The aircraft have supported ADF operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and other locations in the Middle East, as well as training exercises in Australia and the United States. They have also transported supplies and personnel as part of relief efforts following disasters in Australia, Japan, New Zealand and several other countries. Their acquirement process was seen as exemplary of good practice in defence procurement. C-17s are highly regarded throughout the Australian military for their ability to carry large amounts of cargo across long distances.
Wikipedia article of the day for December 3, 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for December 3, 2016 is Union Station (Erie, Pennsylvania).
Union Station is an Amtrak railroad station and commercial building in downtown Erie in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is the only stop in Pennsylvania for the Lake Shore Limited, a passenger rail line serving Chicago, New York City, and Boston. The first railroad station in Erie, established in 1851, was replaced with a Romanesque Revival-style building in 1866. Union Station, the first Art Deco depot in the U.S., was dedicated on December 3, 1927. Passenger rail service dwindled after World War II, as air and highway travel increased. The station was jointly owned and operated by the New York Central and Pennsylvania railroads, which merged to form Penn Central, and passenger rail service was transferred to Amtrak in 1971. From 1972 to 1975, even Amtrak service in Erie was suspended. Union Station was largely neglected and allowed to decay until the freight management company Logistics Plus bought it in 2003. Since then, it has been restored and portions re-purposed as commercial and retail space.
Wikipedia article of the day for December 2, 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for December 2, 2016 is Migration of the Serbs.
Migration of the Serbs is a set of oil paintings by the artist Paja Jovanović that depict the Great Serb Migration of 1690–91. The first was commissioned in 1895 by Georgije I, the Patriarch of Karlovci, intended for the following year’s Budapest Millennium Exhibition. In the view of the Serbian clergy, the painting was to support Serb claims to religious autonomy and partial self-administration in Austria-Hungary. The Patriarch was dissatisfied with Jovanović’s initial rendering and asked the artist to adjust his work to conform with the Church’s view of the migration. Jovanović could not complete the revision in time, and the painting was not shown at the Exhibition. Three of the original four paintings survive, at the patriarchate building of the Serbian Orthodox Church and at Princess Ljubica’s Residence, both in Belgrade, and at the Pančevo Museum. Migration of the Serbs holds iconic status in Serbian popular culture, and several authors consider it one of Jovanović’s finest achievements.
