Wikipedia:Today's featured article/June 2005

Today's featured article archive

June 1

Spring Heeled Jack is a legendary figure of the Victorian era and may well be called the patron saint of the urban legend. "Sightings" of Spring Heeled Jack began in 1837 and are recorded all over England, from London up to Sheffield and Liverpool, but they were especially prevalent in suburban London and later in the Midlands, where they peaked between the 1850s and 1880s. Although some unconfirmed reports claim that it could still be active, it is generally believed to have disappeared after 1904, year of the last recorded incident. Many theories have been proposed to ascertain its nature and identity, none of which have been capable of clarifying the subject completely, and the phenomenon still remains unexplained. The story of Spring Heeled Jack gained an immense popularity in its time due to the tales of his bizarre appearance and his capacity to perform extraordinary leaps, to the point that it transcended the role of a mere paranormal phenomenon and attained the status of urban legend. Since the moment the events gained notoriety, it gradually became an integral part of English folklore, exerting a lasting influence on England's popular culture that endures to present date.

Recently featured: Welding – Dawson's Creek – Use of poison gas in World War I

June 2

Technetium is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Tc and atomic number 43. The chemical properties of this silvery gray, radioactive, crystalline transition metal are intermediate between rhenium and manganese. Its short-lived isotope Tc-99m is used in nuclear medicine to diagnose certain cancers, Tc-99 is used as a gamma ray-free source of beta rays, and its pertechnate ion could find use as a corrosion preventer for steel (this possible use is hindered by technetium's radioactivity). Dmitri Mendeleev predicted many of the properties of element 43, which he called ekamanganese, well before its actual discovery. In 1937 its isotope Tc-97 became the first element to be artificially produced, hence its name (from the Greek technètos, meaning "artificial"). Most technetium produced on Earth is a by-product of fission of uranium-235 in nuclear reactors and is extracted from nuclear fuel rods. On Earth, technetium occurs naturally only in uranium ores as a product of spontaneous fission; the quantities are infinitesimal but have been measured.

Recently featured: Spring Heeled Jack – Welding – Dawson's Creek

June 3

Steve Dalkowski is a retired left-handed pitcher in minor league baseball. He is sometimes called the fastest pitcher in baseball history with a fastball that may have exceeded 100 mph (161 km/h). As no radar gun or other device was available to precisely measure the speed of his pitches, the actual top speed of his pitches remains unknown. Regardless of its actual speed, his fastball earned him the nickname "White Lightning". He was also notorious for his unpredictable performance and inability to control his pitches. His alcoholism and violent behavior off the field caused him problems during his career and after his retirement. After he retired from baseball, he spent many years as an alcoholic, making a meager living as a migrant worker. He cleaned up in the 1990s, but his alcoholism has left him with dementia, and he has difficulty remembering his life after the mid-1960s. Screenwriter and film director Ron Shelton played in the minor leagues alongside Dalkowski, and his 1988 film Bull Durham contains a character who is based loosely on his life.

Recently featured: Technetium – Spring Heeled Jack – Welding

June 4

The Papal Tiara is the three-tiered jeweled papal crown of Byzantine and Persian origin that is the symbol of the papacy. Papal Tiaras were worn by all popes from Pope Clement V up to Pope Paul VI, who was the last to be crowned with the tiara, in 1963. Though Pope Paul VI abandoned the use of his own tiara during the Second Vatican Council, symbolically laying it on the altar of St. Peter's Basilica, he did not abolish the tiara's use, explicitly requiring in his 1975 Apostolic Constitution Romano Pontifici Eligendo that his successor be crowned. Though not currently used as part of papal regalia, the papal tiara's continuing symbolism is reflected in its use on the flag and coats of arms of the Holy See and the Vatican City. In a controversial break with tradition, current pope Benedict XVI's personal coat of arms does not show a tiara in the ornaments; it was replaced by the papal mitre, though the mitre does contain three levels reminiscent of the three tiers on the papal tiara.

Recently featured: Steve Dalkowski – Technetium – Spring Heeled Jack

June 5

Windows XP is the latest desktop version of the Microsoft Windows operating system. Released on October 25, 2001, Windows XP has brought to the consumer line of Windows new features not available before, such as stronger stability and efficiency due to its pure 32-bit kernel, instead of the hybrid 16-bit/32-bit in consumer versions of prior Windows versions. It also contains work-arounds to avoid the "DLL hell" that plagued older consumer versions of Windows, which stemmed from inefficient software management. It also contains a graphical user interface (GUI) that Microsoft touts as more user-friendly than the older versions of Windows. Windows XP has had many security issues; as of June 2005, there have been two service packs released to address security problems with Windows XP. Windows XP has also been the first consumer version of Windows to use product activation to combat software piracy, and this restriction did not sit well with some privacy activists, and indeed many home users. Spyware and adware—unwanted programs that can cause system instability, display advertisements, and track a user's activities for marketing purposes—are a continuing problem on Windows XP and other versions of Windows.

Recently featured: Steve Dalkowski – Papal Tiara – Technetium

June 6

Benjamin Mountfort was an English emigrant to New Zealand, where he became one of that country's most prominent 19th-century architects. He was instrumental in shaping the city of Christchurch. He was appointed the first official Provincial Architect of the developing province of Canterbury. Heavily influenced by the Anglo-Catholic philosophy behind early Victorian architecture he is credited with importing the Gothic revival style to New Zealand. His Gothic designs constructed in both wood and stone in the province are considered to be unique to New Zealand. Today he is considered the founding architect of the province of Canterbury.

Recently featured: Windows XP – Steve Dalkowski – Papal Tiara

June 7

The Brothers Karamazov is generally considered the greatest novel by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky and the culmination of his life's work. It has been acclaimed all over the world, from authors as diverse as Sigmund Freud, Andrew R. MacAndrew, and Konstantin Mochulsky, as a masterpiece of literature and one of the greatest novels ever written. The basic structure of the book is arranged in two arcs. On the surface the book relates the story of a patricide in which all of the murdered man's sons share varying degrees of complicity. But on a deeper level this is a spiritual drama chronicling the moral struggles between faith, doubt, reason, and free will. The novel was composed primarily in Staraya Russa, which also served as the main setting for the book. Dostoevsky spent the better part of two years writing The Brothers Karamazov, which was published in serial form in The Russian Messenger, and completed in November of 1880. The author died less than four months after publication.

Recently featured: Benjamin Mountfort – Windows XP – Steve Dalkowski

June 8

The corporation tax is a tax levied in the United Kingdom on the profits made by UK-resident companies and associations. It is also levied on non-UK resident companies and associations which trade in the UK through a permanent establishment. The tax was introduced by the Finance Act 1965, which simultaneously removed companies and associations that became liable to corporation tax from the charge to the income tax. The tax borrowed its basic structure and many of its rules from income tax. Recently the tax has come under pressure from a number of sources. Tax competition between jurisdictions has reduced the headline charge to 30 percent; judgments from the European Court of Justice have found that certain aspects of UK corporate tax law are discriminatory under European Union treaties and are expected to continue to do so; and tax avoidance schemes marketed by the big accountancy and law firms and by banks have threatened the tax base. The British government has responded to the last two by introducing ever more complex legislation to counter the threats.

Recently featured: The Brothers Karamazov – Benjamin Mountfort – Windows XP

June 9

The Gateway of India is the city's most recognisable landmark

Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the most populous Indian city. Mumbai is located on an island off the west coast of India. The city, which has a deep natural harbour, is also the largest port in western India, handling over half of India's passenger traffic. Mumbai is the commercial capital of India, and houses important financial institutions such as the Reserve Bank of India, the Bombay Stock Exchange and the corporate headquarters of many Indian companies. Owing to the immense business opportunities available in Mumbai and relatively high standard of living, it has attracted migrants from all over India and South Asia, making the city a potpourri of various communities and cultures. Within Mumbai is located Bollywood, the epicentre of the country's Hindi film and television industry, producing the world's highest number of films annually. Mumbai is also one of the rare cities to accommodate a National Park within its municipal limits.

Recently featured: United Kingdom corporation tax – The Brothers Karamazov – Benjamin Mountfort

June 10

Sudoku is a number placement puzzle. The aim of the puzzle is to enter a number from 1 through 9 in each cell of a grid, frequently a 9×9 grid made up of 3×3 subgrids (called "regions"), starting with various numbers given in some cells (the "givens"). Each row, column and region must only contain one instance of each number. Completing the puzzle requires only patience and modest logical ability, although some puzzles can be fiendishly difficult. Its classic grid layout is reminiscent of other newspaper puzzles such as crosswords and chess. Sudoku initially became immensely popular in Japan in 1986 and in the UK, Israel, and Canada in 2005, stimulating international interest.

Recently featured: Mumbai – United Kingdom corporation tax – The Brothers Karamazov

June 11

MTR is the metro system of Hong Kong. First opened for service in 1979, the network has since expanded to encompass seven metro lines and 53 stations, with further expansions planned. It is an affordable mode of public transport in Hong Kong, with an average of 2.45 million journeys recorded each day. The system has proven so popular because of its efficiency and affordability. Construction of the MTR was prompted by a government-commissioned study released in 1967. The government of Hong Kong commissioned the study in the 1960s to find solutions to the growing traffic problem caused by expansion of the colony's economy. Construction started soon after release of the study, and the first line was opened in 1979. In 2000, the government-owned MTR Corporation was partially privatised and renamed the MTR Corporation Limited. MTR Corporation has always been reliant on developing properties next to railway stations for its profits (although the rail lines are profitable themselves); many recently built stations are incorporated into large housing estates or shopping complexes.

Recently featured: Sudoku – Mumbai – United Kingdom corporation tax

June 12

During the reign of Charles I, who inherited the throne from his father Philip, Habsburg Spain controlled territory ranging from Argentina to the Netherlands, and was among Europe's greatest powers. For this reason, this period of Spanish history has also been referred to as the "Age of Expansion." Although usually associated with its role in the history of Central Europe, the Habsburg family extended its realm into Spain from 1516 to 1700. Under Habsburg rule, Spain reached the zenith of its influence and power, but also began its slow decline. Spain's maritime supremacy was symbolized by the victory over the Ottomans at Lepanto in 1571, but in the following decades they suffered defeat at sea against England and the Netherlands. On land, Spain became embroiled in the Thirty Years' War, and in the second half of the 17th century they were defeated by the French, led by King Louis XIV. Habsburg rule came to an end in Spain with the death in 1700 of Charles II which resulted in the War of the Spanish Succession. The Habsburg years were also a Spanish Golden Age of cultural efflorescence. Some of the outstanding figures of the period were Diego Velázquez, El Greco, Miguel de Cervantes, and Pedro Calderón de la Barca.

Recently featured: MTR – Sudoku – Mumbai

June 13

James K. Polk was an American politician and the eleventh President of the United States, serving from March 4, 1845 to March 4, 1849. Polk was born in North Carolina, but primarily lived in and represented the state of Tennessee. A Democrat, Polk served as Speaker of the House (1835–1839) and Governor of Tennessee (1839–1841) prior to becoming president. He is the only former Speaker of the House to become President. He is noted for his expansionist beliefs, for his pledge to serve only one term, and for becoming the first "dark horse" (a candidate who unexpectedly gains the party nomination) to win the presidency. His term is remembered for the Mexican-American War, the opening of the U.S. Naval Academy and Washington Monument, and the issuance of the first postage stamps in the United States.

Recently featured: Habsburg Spain – MTR – Sudoku

June 14

In the United States, the screenwriting credit for motion pictures and television programs under its jurisdiction is determined by the Writers Guild of America (WGA). The Guild is the final arbiter of who receives credit for writing the screenplay, the original story, or creating the original characters, a privilege it has possessed since 1941. If a production company is a signatory to the Guild's Basic Agreement, it must comply with the Guild's rules; nearly all films widely distributed in the United States are subject to this jurisdiction. If any of the writers object or if credit is to be assigned to a producer or director of the film who rewrote someone else's screenplay the WGA requires the parties to compile drafts of the screenplays and an account of their work on each. This information is submitted to arbitration by a panel of three members of the Guild, which renders a decision.

Recently featured: James K. Polk – Habsburg Spain – MTR

June 15

The Cat's Eye Nebula is a planetary nebula in the constellation of Draco. Structurally, it is one of the most complex nebulae known, with high resolution Hubble Space Telescope observations revealing remarkable structures such as knots, jets and sinewy arc-like features. It was discovered by William Herschel on February 15, 1786, and was the first planetary nebula whose spectrum was investigated, by the English amateur astronomer William Huggins in 1864. Modern studies reveal several mysteries. The intricacy of the structure may be caused in part by material ejected from a binary central star, but as yet there is no direct evidence that the central star has a companion. Also, measurements of chemical abundances reveal a large discrepancy between two measurement methods, the cause of which is uncertain.

Recently featured: WGA screenwriting credit system – James K. Polk – Habsburg Spain

June 16

The Book of Kells is an ornately illustrated manuscript, produced by Celtic monks around AD 800. It is one of the most lavishly illuminated manuscripts to survive the mediæval period. Because of its technical brilliance and great beauty, it is considered by many scholars to be one of the most important works in the history of mediæval art. It contains the four gospels of the Bible, in Latin, along with prefatory and explanatory matter, all decorated with numerous colourful illustrations and illuminations. Today it is on permanent display at the Trinity College Library in Dublin, Ireland where it is catalogued as MS 58.

Recently featured: Cat's Eye Nebula – WGA screenwriting credit system – James K. Polk

June 17

The Warren County Canal was a branch of the Miami and Erie Canal in southwestern Ohio about 20 miles (30 km) in length that connected the Warren County seat of Lebanon to the main canal at Middletown. Lebanon was at the crossroads of two major roads, the highway from Cincinnati to Columbus (later U.S. Route 42) and the road from Chillicothe to the College Township (Oxford), but Lebanon businessmen and civic leaders wanted better transportation facilities and successfully lobbied for their own canal, part of the canal fever of the first third of the 19th Century. Because of the low volume of traffic, the Warren County Canal was never successful, operating less than a decade before the state abandoned it.

Recently featured: Book of Kells – Cat's Eye Nebula – WGA screenwriting credit system

June 18

Swedish is a North Germanic language spoken predominantly in Sweden, part of Finland, and on the autonomous Åland islands, by a total of over 9 million speakers. Standard Swedish is the national language that evolved from the Central Swedish dialects in the 19th century and was well-established by the first decades of the 20th century. While distinct regional varieties still exist, influenced by the older rural dialects, the spoken and written language is uniform and standardized, with a 99% literacy rate among adults. Some of the genuine dialects differ considerably from the standard language in grammar and vocabulary and are not always mutually intelligible with Standard Swedish. These dialects are confined to rural areas and spoken by a rather limited group of people of low education and social mobility. Swedish is distinguished by its prosody, which differs considerably between varieties. It includes both lexical stress and some tonal qualities. Swedish is also notable for the voiceless dorso-palatal velar fricative, a sound found in many dialects, including the more prestigious forms of the standard language.

Recently featured: Warren County Canal – Book of Kells – Cat's Eye Nebula

June 19

Link is the fictional protagonist from Nintendo's Legend of Zelda video game series. Link was created by Shigeru Miyamoto, and first appeared in the 1987 game The Legend of Zelda, as a generic sword-fighting hero, typical of fantasy adventure games though later games revealed significantly more details about him. The game's success — over 6.5 million copies sold worldwide — and that of its numerous sequels made Link one of Nintendo's most well-known characters. An important peculiarity of the character is that there are several different incarnations of Link throughout the whole Legend of Zelda series, although they share a number of distinctive characteristics. The existence of multiple Links is made obvious on many occasions in the games, where games explicitly mention an ancient, legendary champion, identical in appearance to Link.

Recently featured: Swedish – Warren County Canal – Book of Kells

June 20

Myxobolus cerebralis is a myxosporean parasite of salmonids (salmon, trout, and their allies) that causes whirling disease, an important condition in both salmon and trout farming and wild fish populations. It was first described from rainbow trout in Germany a century ago, but its range has spread, and it has now been reported from most of Europe (including Russia), the United States, South Africa and other countries. In the 1980s, it was discovered that M. cerebralis needs to infect a tubificid oligochaete (a kind of segmented worm) to complete its life-cycle. The parasite infects its hosts by injecting them with some of its cells after piercing them with polar filaments ejected from nematocyst-like capsules. Though not transmissible to humans, it is one of the most economically important myxozoans in fish as well as one of the most pathogenic. It was the first myxosporean whose pathology and symptoms were described scientifically.

Recently featured: Link – Swedish – Warren County Canal

June 21

Anne became Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. Anne's life was marked by many crises relating to succession to the Crown. Her Roman Catholic father, James II, had been forcefully deposed in 1688; her sister and brother-in-law then became Queen and King as Mary II and William III. The failure of Anne and of her sister to produce a child who could survive into adulthood precipitated a succession crisis, which ultimately produced the Act of Union 1707. When, on 1 May 1707, England and Scotland combined into a single Kingdom, Anne became the first Sovereign of Great Britain. Anne was the last British monarch of the House of Stuart; she was succeeded by a distant cousin, George I, of the House of Hanover. Anne's reign was also marked by the development of the two-party system. Anne personally preferred the Tory Party, but endured the Whigs. Her closest friend, and perhaps her most influential advisor, was Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, whose husband, John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, led the English armies in the War of the Spanish Succession.

Recently featured: Myxobolus cerebralis – Link – Swedish

June 22

A Korean name

A Korean name consists of a family name and a given name, both of which are generally composed of Hanja. In Korean, the given name follows the family name. In non-East Asian language contexts, especially when using Western languages, some Koreans keep the original order, while others reverse their names to match the predominant Western naming pattern of given name followed by family name. Korean family names are divided into one or more clans, identified by the city that the clan office is located in. The most populous clan is Gimhae (Kimhae) Kim; that is, the Kim clan based in the city of Gimhae (near Busan). Every 30 years, each clan publishes a comprehensive genealogy.

Recently featured: Anne, Queen of Great Britain – Myxobolus cerebralis – Link

June 23

The Treaty of Devol was an agreement made in 1108 between Bohemund I of Antioch and Byzantine Emperor Alexius I, in the wake of the First Crusade. Although it was not initially enforced, it was intended to make the Principality of Antioch a vassal state of the Byzantine Empire. It is a typical example of the Byzantine tendency to settle disputes through diplomacy rather than warfare, and was both a result of and a cause for the distrust between the Byzantines and their Western European neighbors. The question of the status of Antioch and the adjacent Cilician cities troubled the Empire for many years afterwards. The Treaty of Devol seems to have been considered void after Bohemund's death, but Alexius' son, John, attempted to impose his authority in Antioch. It was not until 1158, during the reign of Manuel I Comnenus, that Antioch truly became a vassal of the empire, after Manuel forced Prince Raynald of Chatillon to swear fealty to him in punishment for Raynald's attack on Byzantine Cyprus.

Recently featured: Korean name – Anne, Queen of Great Britain – Myxobolus cerebralis

June 24

Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals, was a long-lived series of comedy short films about a troupe of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, Our Gang was produced at the Roach studio starting in 1922 as a silent short subject series. Roach changed distributors from Pathé to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1927, went to sound in 1929, and continued production until 1938, when he sold the series to MGM, which continued producing the comedies until 1944. A total of 220 shorts and one feature film, General Spanky, were eventually produced, featuring over forty-one child actors. The series, one of the best-known and most successful in cinema history, is noted for its showcase of natural, convincing child talent, in contrast to a number of previous, contemporary, and future child actors.

Recently featured: Treaty of Devol – Korean name – Anne, Queen of Great Britain

June 25

Libertarianism is a political philosophy that holds that individuals should be allowed complete freedom of action as long as they do not infringe on the freedom of others. This is usually taken by libertarians to mean that no one may initiate coercion, which they define as the use of physical force, the threat of such, or the use of fraud to prevent individuals from having willful use of their person or property. In the economic realm, they generally oppose taxation and government regulation of business activities, and aim to reduce the size and scope of government. To the extent that libertarians advocate any government at all, its functions tend to be limited to protecting civil liberties and economic liberties (by protecting private property and a free market) through a police force, a military (with no conscription), and the courts.

Recently featured: Our Gang – Treaty of Devol – Korean name

June 26

The Palace of Westminster is where the two Houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (the House of Lords and the House of Commons) conduct their sittings. The Palace lies on the west bank of the River Thames in the London borough of the City of Westminster. The oldest extant part of the Palace, Westminster Hall, dates to 1097. The Palace originally served as a royal residence; however, no monarch has lived in it since the sixteenth century. One of the Palace's most famous features is the Clock Tower, a notable London tourist attraction that houses Big Ben and is often erroneously referred to by this name. The Palace includes over one thousand rooms, and is the site of important state ceremonies, most notably the State Opening of Parliament. The Palace is very closely associated with the two Houses, as evidenced by the use of "Westminster" as a metonym for "Parliament."

Recently featured: Libertarianism – Our Gang – Treaty of Devol

June 27

Seabiscuit was a champion thoroughbred race horse. From an inauspicious start, Seabiscuit became an unlikely champion and, during the Great Depression in the United States, was taken up as a symbol of hope by many Americans. At the peak of his fame in 1938, it was suggested that he had generated more newsprint in the U.S. than either Adolf Hitler or Franklin D. Roosevelt, but this is an urban legend. In 2001, Seabiscuit became the subject of a book (Seabiscuit: An American Legend) and later a Universal Studios film (Seabiscuit).

Recently featured: Palace of Westminster – Libertarianism – Our Gang

June 28

A whale song is the collection of sounds made by whales to communicate. The word "song" is used in particular to describe the pattern of predictable and repetitious sounds made by certain species of whales (notably the humpback whale) in a manner that to cetologists is reminiscent of human singing. The biological processes used to produce sound vary from one family of cetaceans to another. However, all whales, dolphins, and porpoises are much more dependent on sound for communication and sensation than their terrestrial cousins because the absorption of light by water makes sight difficult and because the relatively slow movement of water compared to air decreases the effectiveness of the sense of smell. Increased ambient noise in the world's oceans due to shipping gives rise to environmentalists' concerns that humans are destroying this important feature of the marine habitat.

Recently featured: Seabiscuit – Palace of Westminster – Libertarianism

June 29

RMS Titanic was the second of a trio of superliners intended to dominate the transatlantic travel business. Owned by the White Star Line and built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard, Titanic was the largest passenger steamship in the world at the time of its launching. During its maiden voyage, it struck an iceberg at 11:40 (ship's time) on the evening of Sunday, April 14, 1912, and sank two hours and forty minutes later. The sinking resulted in the deaths of more than 1,500 people, ranking it as one of the worst peacetime maritime disasters in history and, by far, the most famous. The Titanic used some of the most advanced technology available at the time and was popularly believed to be "unsinkable": it came as a great shock to many people that despite its advanced technology and experienced crew, the Titanic still sank with a great loss of life. The media frenzy about Titanic's famous victims, the legends about what happened on board the ship, the resulting changes to maritime law, the discovery of the wreck in 1985 by a team led by Robert Ballard, and the international success of James Cameron's Titanic film, have made Titanic persistently famous in the years since.

Recently featured: Whale song – Seabiscuit – Palace of Westminster

June 30

The military history of Puerto Rico dates back to the 16th century when Spanish conquistadors battled against the native Tainos and continues to the present-day. It was ruled by the Spanish Empire for four centuries, during which the Puerto Ricans defended the island against invasions from the British, French and Dutch. The island was seized by the United States during the Spanish-American War, and Spain officially ceded it under the terms of the 1898 Treaty of Paris which ended the War. Now a United States territory, as citizens of the United States, Puerto Ricans have participated in every major conflict in which the United States has been involved from World War I onward.

Recently featured: RMS Titanic – Whale song – Seabiscuit