Thứ Hai, 7 tháng 11, 2016

Wikipedia article of the day for November 8, 2016

The Wikipedia article of the day for November 8, 2016 is HMS Collingwood (1908).
HMS Collingwood was a St Vincent-class dreadnought battleship built for the British Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. Launched on 7 November 1908 and commissioned in April 1910, the ship was equipped with armour 10 inches (254 mm) thick, and ten 12-inch guns. She served in the Home Fleet and Grand Fleet, at times as the flagship of Rear-Admiral Ernest Gaunt. Prince Albert (later King George VI) spent several years aboard the ship before and during World War I. At the Battle of Jutland in 1916, the largest naval battle of the war, Collingwood was in the middle of the battleline; she did some damage to the German battlecruiser SMS Derfflinger, and shelled the light cruiser SMS Wiesbaden. Apart from that battle and the inconclusive Action of 19 August, her service during the war generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea. The ship was deemed obsolete after the war, reduced to reserve, and used as a training ship before being sold for scrap in 1922.

Chủ Nhật, 6 tháng 11, 2016

Wikipedia article of the day for November 7, 2016

The Wikipedia article of the day for November 7, 2016 is From The Doctor to my son Thomas.
"From The Doctor to my son Thomas" is a viral video recorded by the Scottish actor Peter Capaldi (pictured) and sent to Thomas Goodall, an autistic nine-year-old who was grieving over the death of his grandmother. Thomas's father Ross posted the video to YouTube on 6 November 2014 so that his whole family could see it, but the video had wide appeal, and was viewed more than 200,000 times over the next 48 hours. Less than a week later it had over 900,000 views. In the video Capaldi portrays his character, the Twelfth Doctor, from the BBC science-fiction series Doctor Who. His message had a positive effect on Thomas; the father said the boy smiled for the first time since learning of his grandmother's death, and gained the courage to go to her funeral. The video was praised as a deeply affecting piece in The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Hollywood Life, and various Spanish and Dutch publications, and by CNN and MTV News. It also had a positive impact on many viewers who suffered from autism and other mental health problems.

Thứ Bảy, 5 tháng 11, 2016

Wikipedia article of the day for November 6, 2016

The Wikipedia article of the day for November 6, 2016 is Emma Stone.
Emma Stone (born November 6, 1988) is an American actress. She has won two Screen Actors Guild Awards and has been nominated for an Academy Award, two British Academy Film Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. Born and raised in Scottsdale, Arizona, Stone was drawn to acting as a child, and her first role onstage was in 2000. As a teenager, she relocated to Los Angeles with her mother, and made her film debut in Superbad (2007). The 2010 teen comedy Easy A, Stone's first starring role, earned her nominations for the BAFTA Rising Star Award and for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. This breakthrough role was followed by the commercially successful film Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011), and a supporting part in the critically acclaimed drama The Help (2011). The actress received wider recognition for playing Gwen Stacy in the 2012 superhero film The Amazing Spider-Man, and its sequel in 2014. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the role of a recovering drug addict in the black comedy Birdman (2014). Stone won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress for playing an aspiring actress in the musical La La Land (2016).

Thứ Sáu, 4 tháng 11, 2016

Wikipedia article of the day for November 5, 2016

The Wikipedia article of the day for November 5, 2016 is Robert Catesby.
Robert Catesby (1572?–1605) was the leader of the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605, commemorated in Great Britain every 5 November as Guy Fawkes Night. His family were prominent recusant Catholics. He took part in the Essex Rebellion of 1601 but was captured and assessed a large fine, after which he sold his estate at Chastleton. The Protestant James I became King of England in 1603; after he exiled priests and reimposed fines on recusants, Catesby planned to kill him by blowing up the House of Lords with gunpowder as a prelude to a revolt. Early in 1604 Catesby began to recruit English Catholics to his cause, including Thomas Wintour, John Wright, Thomas Percy, and Guy Fawkes. A letter sent anonymously to William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle, alerted the authorities, and on the eve of the planned explosion, during a search of Parliament, Fawkes was found guarding the barrels of gunpowder, and arrested. Catesby and the remaining plotters made a stand against a 200-strong company of armed men at Holbeche House in Staffordshire, where he was shot and killed. As a warning to others, his body was exhumed and his head exhibited outside Parliament.

Thứ Năm, 3 tháng 11, 2016

Wikipedia article of the day for November 4, 2016

The Wikipedia article of the day for November 4, 2016 is Agharta (album).
Agharta is a live double album by American jazz musician Miles Davis (pictured) and his septet. Titled after the legendary subterranean city, it was recorded at a concert in Japan's Osaka Festival Hall in February 1975. Saxophonist Sonny Fortune, bassist Michael Henderson, and guitarist Pete Cosey improvised against a dense backdrop of riffs, electronic effects, cross-beats, and funk grooves from the rhythm section. Davis had already alienated many in the jazz community while attracting younger rock audiences with his radical electric fusion music. This dark, angry, and somber performance was seen as a reflection of his emotional and spiritual state—he was in physical pain from health issues and a substance abuse problem, and had been touring constantly with his band since 1973. The album was released in Japan in August 1975 by CBS/Sony, and in North America in 1976 by Columbia Records. A highly divisive record, it further challenged Davis' jazz audience and critics. It was reevaluated positively after a generation of younger musicians was influenced by the group's abrasive music and Cosey's effects-laden free improvisations, and is seen as the culmination of Davis' electric period.

Thứ Tư, 2 tháng 11, 2016

Wikipedia article of the day for November 3, 2016

The Wikipedia article of the day for November 3, 2016 is William McKinley presidential campaign, 1896.
William McKinley's campaign for US president was successful, defeating William Jennings Bryan, who was both the Democratic and Populist nominee, on November 3, 1896. McKinley, a former Governor of Ohio, refused to deal with eastern bosses such as Thomas Platt and Matthew Quay, who supported favorite son candidates to run against him for the Republican nomination. The large, efficient McKinley organization, run by his friend and political manager Mark Hanna, swept him to a first ballot victory at the 1896 Republican National Convention, with New Jersey's Garret Hobart as his running mate. McKinley intended to run mainly as a protectionist, but free silver became the issue of the day. After Bryan captured the Democratic nomination as a foe of the gold standard, Hanna raised and spent millions to convince voters that free silver would be harmful. McKinley stayed at home in Canton, Ohio, running a front porch campaign that reached millions through press coverage of his speeches, while Bryan toured the nation by rail. McKinley forged an electoral coalition of the well-to-do, urban dwellers, and prosperous farmers that kept the Republicans in power most of the time until 1932.

Thứ Ba, 1 tháng 11, 2016

Wikipedia article of the day for November 2, 2016

The Wikipedia article of the day for November 2, 2016 is Mayfly.
Mayflies are an order (Ephemeroptera) of over 3,000 species of flying insects, related to dragonflies and damselflies. They are relatively primitive, with ancestral traits that were probably present in the first flying insects, such as long tails, and wings that do not fold flat over the abdomen. Their immature stages (nymphs) live in fresh water. Unique among insect orders, they have a fully winged adult stage that moults into a sexually mature adult. Often, all the mayflies in a population mature at the same time, emerging in the spring, summer or autumn in enormous numbers; some hatchings attract tourists. Mayflies are a favourite food of many fish, and fishing flies are often modelled to resemble them. The brief lives of mayfly adults—less than five minutes for the female Dolania americana, after the final moult—have been noted by naturalists and encyclopaedists since Aristotle and Pliny the Elder. The English poet George Crabbe compared a daily newspaper's lifespan to that of a mayfly in the satirical poem "The Newspaper" (1785).