The Wikipedia article of the day for April 26, 2016 is Big Star.
Big Star was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1971 by Alex Chilton, Chris Bell, Jody Stephens, and Andy Hummel. The group broke up in 1974, but reorganized with a new line-up nearly 20 years later. In its first era, the band’s musical style drew on the vocal harmonies of The Beatles, as well as the swaggering rhythms of The Rolling Stones and the jangling guitars of The Byrds. To the resulting power pop, Big Star added dark, existential themes, and produced a style that foreshadowed the alternative rock of the 1980s and 1990s. Their first two albums, #1 Record and Radio City, suffered from ineffective marketing but garnered enthusiastic reviews; Rolling Stone called the band a “quintessential American power pop band” that was “one of the most mythic and influential cult acts in all of rock & roll”. In 1993, Chilton and Stephens re-formed Big Star with Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow. After tours in Europe and Japan, they released a new studio album, In Space, in 2005. Big Star was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2014.
Wikipedia article of the day for April 26, 2016
Wikipedia article of the day for April 25, 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for April 25, 2016 is Battle of Kaiapit.
The Battle of Kaiapit was fought in 1943 between Australian and Japanese forces in New Guinea during the Finisterre Range campaign of World War II. Following landings at Nadzab and at Lae, the Allies attempted to exploit their success with an advance into the upper Markham Valley, starting with Kaiapit (pictured). The Australian 2/6th Independent Company flew in to the valley from Port Moresby in 13 USAAF C-47 Dakotas, making a difficult landing on a rough airstrip. Unaware that a much larger Japanese force was also headed for Kaiapit and Nadzab, the company attacked the village on 19 September to secure the area so that it could be developed into an airfield. They then held it against a strong counterattack. During two days of fighting the larger force, the Australians suffered relatively few losses. Their victory at Kaiapit enabled the Australian 7th Division to be flown in to the upper Markham Valley, stopping the Japanese from threatening Lae or Nadzab, where a major airbase was being developed. The victory also led to the capture of the Ramu Valley, which provided new forward fighter airstrips for the air war.
Wikipedia article of the day for April 24, 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for April 24, 2016 is Nelson’s Pillar.
Nelson’s Pillar was a large granite column capped by a statue of Horatio Nelson, erected in the centre of O’Connell Street, Dublin, Ireland in 1809. It was severely damaged by explosives in March 1966 and demolished a week later. The monument was erected after the euphoria following Nelson’s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. It proved a popular tourist attraction but provoked aesthetic and political controversy, and there were frequent calls for it to be removed, or replaced with a memorial to an Irish hero. Nevertheless it remained, even after Ireland became a republic in 1948. Although influential literary figures defended the Pillar on historical and cultural grounds, its destruction just before the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising was, on the whole, well received by the Irish public. The police could not identify those responsible; when in 2010 a former republican activist admitted planting the explosives, he was not charged. The Pillar was finally replaced in 2003 with the Spire of Dublin. Relics of the Pillar are found in various Dublin locations, and its memory is preserved in numerous works of Irish literature.
Wikipedia article of the day for April 23, 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for April 23, 2016 is Stanley Price Weir.
Stanley Price Weir (23 April 1866 – 14 November 1944) was a public servant and Australian Army officer. He was awarded the Volunteer Officers’ Decoration in 1908, and appointed a justice of the peace in 1914. During World War I, he commanded the 10th Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force during the landing at Anzac Cove and the Gallipoli Campaign against the Ottoman Turks, and during the battles of Pozières and Mouquet Farm in France. Weir returned to Australia at his own request at the age of 50 in late 1916, when he was appointed as the first South Australian Public Service Commissioner. In 1917 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and was mentioned in dispatches for his performance at Pozières and Mouquet Farm. On his retirement from the Australian Military Forces in 1921, he was given an honorary promotion to brigadier general, only the second South Australia-born officer to reach this rank. Before his retirement as Public Service Commissioner in 1931, Weir was the chairman of both the Central Board of Health and the Public Relief Board. He led an active retirement, contributing to several religious, charitable and welfare organisations.
Wikipedia article of the day for April 22 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for April 22, 2016 is Gravity Bone.
Gravity Bone is a freeware first-person adventure video game developed by Brendon Chung through his studio, Blendo Games, and released on August 28, 2008. The game employs a modified version of id Software’s id Tech 2 engine—originally used for Quake 2—and incorporates music originally performed by Xavier Cugat for films by director Wong Kar-wai. Four incarnations of the game were produced during its one-year development; the first featured more first-person shooter elements than the released version. Subsequent versions included more spy-oriented gameplay. Gravity Bone received critical acclaim from video game journalists. It was called “a pleasure to experience” by Charles Onyett from IGN, and was compared to games such as Team Fortress 2 and Portal. The game was praised for its visual style, atmosphere, cohesive story, and ability to quickly catch the player’s interest. It received the “Best Arthouse Game” award in Game Tunnel’s Special Awards of 2008. A sequel released in 2012, Thirty Flights of Loving, was also critically acclaimed, mostly for its novel nonlinear storytelling.
Wikipedia article of the day for April 21 2016
The Wikipedia article of the day for April 21, 2016 is Runaway Scrape.
The Runaway Scrape was the 1836 escape of Texas residents from the encroaching Mexican Army of Operations under the command of Antonio López de Santa Anna during the Texas Revolution. Civilian evacuations began on the Gulf Coast in January after the vanguard of the Mexican army crossed the Rio Grande to quell the insurrection of American colonists and Tejanos (Mexicans born in Texas). Weeks later, news of the Battle of the Alamo and the Goliad massacre created a state of panic. Sam Houston was the Texas commander-in-chief of raw recruits who had little or no combat experience. Fleeing civilians moved in tandem with Houston’s troops for protection, as he sought a safe training camp for his soldiers. The pursuing Mexican army had orders to execute all rebel combatants, and it cut a swath of destruction in its search for them. After a mere three weeks training near the Brazos River, the Texas troops finally parted ways with the civilians, who were given a military escort to safety. Houston turned his army southeast and engaged the Mexican army at the April 21 Battle of San Jacinto that resulted in Santa Anna’s surrender.
Wikipedia article of the day for April 20 2016
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.
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.
