The Wikipedia article of the day for May 26, 2016 is Paul Collingwood.
Paul Collingwood (born 26 May 1976) was until 2011 a regular member of the England Test cricket team. He is a batting all-rounder, and a medium-pace bowler. His 206 during the 2006–07 Ashes series was the first double century by an England batsman in Australia for 78 years. Three consecutive match-winning performances at the end of the 2006–07 Commonwealth Bank Series in Australia brought him enthusiastic approval in the British media, helping to secure the trophy for England. In 2010 he led the England team to their first International Cricket Council Trophy, the 2010 World Twenty20. He has made the most One Day International appearances for England and was, until recently passed by Ian Bell, its leading run scorer. He announced his retirement from Test cricket in January 2011, during the 5th Test of the 2010–11 Ashes series. He finished on a high, becoming a three-time Ashes winner as England won a series in Australia for the first time in 24 years, with three innings victories contributing to a 3–1 win. He is regarded as one of the finest fielders of his time.
Wikipedia article of the day for May 26, 2016
Wikipedia article of the day for May 25, 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for May 25, 2016 is Operation Copperhead.
Operation Copperhead was a small military deception operation run by the British during the Second World War. Conceived by Dudley Clarke, it was intended to mislead German intelligence as to the location of General Bernard Montgomery just before the 1944 invasion of Normandy. The German high command expected Montgomery, one of the best-known Allied commanders, to play a key role in any cross-channel bridgehead. Clarke and the other deception planners reasoned that a high-profile appearance outside England would suggest that an Allied invasion was not imminent. An appropriate look-alike was found, M. E. Clifton James, who spent a short time with Montgomery to familiarise himself with the general’s mannerisms. On 26 May, James flew to Gibraltar and then to Algiers, making appearances where the Allies knew German intelligence agents would spot him, but the operation did not appear to have any significant impact on German plans. James later wrote a book about the operation, I Was Monty’s Double, which was adapted into a film, with James in the lead role.
Wikipedia article of the day for May 23, 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for May 23, 2016 is Spanish conquest of Petén.
The Spanish conquest of Petén was the last stage of the conquest of Guatemala, a prolonged conflict during the Spanish colonisation of the Americas. The Itza, the Yalain, the Kowoj, and other Maya populations in Petén were engaged in a complex web of alliances and enmities before the conquest. Petén was first penetrated by Hernán Cortés with a sizeable expedition that crossed the territory from north to south in 1525. In the first half of the 16th century Spain established neighbouring colonies in Yucatán to the north and Guatemala to the south. In 1622 a military expedition from Yucatán led by Captain Francisco de Mirones was massacred by the Itza. In 1628 the Manche Ch’ol of the south were placed under the administration of the colonial governor of Verapaz within the Captaincy General of Guatemala. In 1695 another expedition tried to reach Lake Petén Itzá from Guatemala. Martín de Ursúa y Arizmendi captured Nojpetén, the island capital of the Itza kingdom, in 1697, defeating the last of the independent native kingdoms in the Americas and incorporating them into the Spanish Empire.
Wikipedia article of the day for May 22, 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for May 22, 2016 is Frigatebird.
Frigatebirds are a family—Fregatidae—of seabirds found across all tropical and subtropical oceans. The five living species are classified in a single genus, Fregata. All have predominantly black plumage, long, deeply forked tails and long hooked bills. Their pointed wings can span up to 2.3 metres (7.5 ft), with the largest wing area to body weight ratio of any bird. Females have white bellies and males have a distinctive red gular pouch, which they inflate during the breeding season. Able to soar for days on wind currents, frigatebirds spend most of the day in flight hunting for food. They mainly eat fish and squid that have been chased to the surface by large predators such as tuna. Frigatebirds are kleptoparasites as they occasionally rob other seabirds for food, and are known to snatch seabird chicks from the nest. Three of the five species are widespread, while two are endangered and restrict their breeding habitat to one small island each. The oldest fossils date to the early Eocene, around 50 million years ago; classified in the genus Limnofregata, those birds had shorter less-hooked bills and longer legs, and lived in a freshwater environment.
Wikipedia article of the day for May 21, 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for May 21, 2016 is 1987 Giro d’Italia.
The 1987 Giro d’Italia was the 70th event in the series, one of cycling’s Grand Tour races. It began on 21 May with a 4 km (2.5 mi) prologue in San Remo, and concluded on 13 June with a 32 km (19.9 mi) individual time trial in Saint-Vincent. A total of 180 riders from 20 teams entered the 22-stage, 3,915 km (2,433 mi) race. Defending champion Roberto Visentini of the Carrera Jeans–Vagabond team led the first stage, and Dutchman Erik Breukink led the second. Irishman Stephen Roche, Visentini’s teammate, took the overall lead after his team won the stage three team time trial. Visentini regained the lead for two days, but Roche rode ahead of him in the fifteenth stage, against orders from the team management, and held onto the lead for the win. Second place was taken by British rider Robert Millar, and Breukink took third. It was the second time in the history of the Giro that there were no Italian riders on the winners’ podium. Roche was the second rider ever to win the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France, and the World Championship road race in the same year, a feat commonly called the Triple Crown of Cycling.
Wikipedia article of the day for May 20, 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for May 20, 2016 is Sesame Workshop.
Sesame Workshop, originally the Children’s Television Workshop, is the American non-profit organization behind the production of Sesame Street, now in its 47th consecutive season on the public broadcasting channel PBS. In 1966 Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett began researching a television show to help children, especially those from low-income families, prepare for school. Sesame Street premiered in 1969. Conney credited “educational advisers, researchers, and television producers … as equal partners” in the show’s success. The early 1980s were a challenging period for the Workshop; the end of government funding, difficulty in finding audiences for their other productions, and a series of bad investments hurt the organization until 1985, when licensing agreements had stabilized revenues. The organization expanded into other areas, including books and music, international co-productions, outreach programs to preschools, and interactive media and new technologies. By 2005, income from international co-productions of the show was $96 million, and by 2008, the Sesame Street Muppets accounted for $15–17 million per year in licensing and merchandising fees.
Wikipedia article of the day for May 19, 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for May 19, 2016 is 2003 Pacific hurricane season.
The 2003 Pacific hurricane season produced tropical cyclones that mainly affected Mexico. Hurricane Ignacio killed 2 people in Mexico and Marty killed 12; together they were responsible for damage worth about $1 billion. Two other Pacific hurricanes, one Pacific tropical storm and three Atlantic storms also had a direct impact on Mexico. The only other significant storm of the season was Hurricane Jimena, which passed just to the south of the island of Hawaii, becoming the first storm in several years to directly threaten the island. The season officially started on May 15, 2003, in the eastern Pacific, and on June 1, 2003, in the central Pacific, lasting until November 30, 2003. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. There were 16 named storms, including 7 hurricanes; both totals are comparable with the long-term averages. This was the first Pacific hurricane season since 1977 with no major hurricanes, that is, storms Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.
Wikipedia article of the day for May 18, 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for May 18, 2016 is SECR K and SR K1 classes.
The SECR K class was a type of tank locomotive designed in 1914 by Richard Maunsell for express passenger duties on the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR). The Southern Railway (SR) K1 class was a three-cylinder variant of the K class, designed in 1925 to suit a narrower loading gauge. They were among the first non-Great Western Railway (GWR) types to use and improve upon the basic design principles of power and standardisation established by George Jackson Churchward, the GWR’s Chief Mechanical Engineer. The locomotives were based on the GWR 4300 class, improved by the Midland Railway’s ideals of simplicity and ease of maintenance. The K class was designed to be mechanically similar to the SECR N class mixed-traffic locomotives. The class was the earliest large-scale use of the 2-6-4 wheel arrangement in Britain. Production began towards the end of the First World War, and the prototype rolled out of Ashford Works three years after design work was completed due to wartime production constraints. They continued in service with British Railways until 1966. One K class rebuild (No. 31806) is preserved on the Swanage Railway in Dorset.
Wikipedia article of the day for May 17, 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for May 17, 2016 is William Brill (RAAF officer).
William Brill (17 May 1916 – 12 October 1964) was a senior officer and bomber pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Born in the Riverina district of New South Wales, he was a farmer before joining the RAAF in 1940. Posted to Britain to take part in the air war over Europe, Brill first saw combat with No. 460 Squadron RAAF, flying Vickers Wellingtons. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in 1942 for attacking a target after his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire. In 1944 he became a flight commander in No. 463 Squadron RAAF, flying Avro Lancasters. Brill’s leadership and determination to complete his missions despite damage to his aircraft—on one occasion inflicted by another Lancaster’s bombs—earned him the Distinguished Service Order. Promoted to wing commander, he took over No. 467 Squadron RAAF and was awarded a bar to his DFC for his skill in evading night fighters. Returning to Australia after the war, he led No. 10 Squadron, commanded air bases, and was twice RAAF Director of Personnel Services, gaining promotion to group captain. He was serving at the Department of Air when he died of a heart attack in 1964.
