Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2018-02-05/Featured content

Wars, sieges, disasters and everything black possible

SMS Zähringen engaging in wartime maneuvers, by Fritz Stoltenberg

This Signpost "Featured content" report covers material promoted from January 12 through January 20, 2018. Text may be adapted from the respective articles and lists; see their page histories for attribution.

Featured articles

26 featured articles were promoted.

Aerial photograph of the spoil tips above Aberfan before the disaster

After the disaster

Black-shouldered kite

The Civil Service Rifles War Memorial

Cap badge of the Gloucestershire Regiment

Felix Mendelssohn

Tommy Phillips

A machine gun crew during the Winter War

From the Hours of Mary of Burgundy

Bats

SMS Zähringen in 1902

ZETA reactor

From the Mosaics of Delos

Harry R. Truman of Mount St. Helens

The Aberfan disaster (nominated by SchroCat) was the catastrophic collapse of a National Coal Board (NCB) colliery spoil tip in the Welsh village of Aberfan, near Merthyr Tydfil, on 21 October 1966. The tip slid down the mountain above the village at 9:15 am, killing 116 children and 28 adults as it engulfed the local junior school and other buildings in the town. The collapse was caused by the build-up of water in the accumulated rock and shale tip, which suddenly slid downhill in the form of slurry. There were seven spoil tips on the slopes above Aberfan; tip seven—the one that slipped onto the village—was begun in 1958 and, at the time of the disaster, was 111 feet (34 m) high. In contravention of the NCB's official procedures, the tip was partly based on ground from which water springs emerged. After three weeks of heavy rain the tip was saturated and approximately 140,000 cubic yards (110,000 m³) of spoil slipped down the side of the hill and onto the Pantglas area of the village. The main building hit was Pantglas Junior School, where lessons had just begun; 5 teachers and 109 children were killed in the school. An official inquiry placed the blame squarely on the NCB. The organisation's chairman, Lord Robens, was criticised for making misleading statements and for not providing clarity as to the NCB's knowledge of the presence of water springs on the hillside. The Aberfan Disaster Memorial Fund (ADMF) was set up on the day of the disaster. It received nearly £1.75 million. The remaining tips were removed only after a lengthy fight by Aberfan residents. Many of the village's residents suffered medical problems, and half the surviving children have experienced post-traumatic stress disorder at some time in their lives.
The black-shouldered kite (nominated by Cas liber) is a small raptor found in open habitat throughout Australia. Measuring around 35 cm (14 in) in length with a wingspan of 80–100 cm (31–39 in), the adult black-shouldered kite has predominantly grey-white plumage and prominent black markings above its red eyes. The species forms monogamous pairs, breeding between August and January. The black-shouldered kite hunts in open grasslands, searching for its prey by hovering and systematically scanning the ground. It mainly eats small rodents, particularly the introduced house mouse, and has benefitted from the modification of the Australian landscape by agriculture. It is rated as least concern on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of endangered species.
The Civil Service Rifles War Memorial (nominated by HJ Mitchell) is a First World War memorial located on the riverside terrace at Somerset House in central London, England. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and unveiled in 1924, the memorial commemorates the 1,240 members of the Prince of Wales' Own Civil Service Rifles regiment who were killed in the First World War. They were Territorial Force reservists, drawn largely from the British Civil Service, which at that time had many staff based at Somerset House.
The Gloucestershire Regiment (nominated by Factotem) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 until 1994. It traced its origins to Colonel Gibson's Regiment of Foot raised in 1694, which later became the 28th (North Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot. The regiment was formed by the merger of the 28th Regiment with the 61st (South Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot. It inherited the unique privilege in the British Army of wearing a badge on the back of its headdress as well as the front, an honour won by the 28th Regiment when it fought in two ranks back to back at the Battle of Alexandria in 1801. At its formation the regiment comprised two regular, two militia and two volunteer battalions, and saw its first action during the Second Boer War.
Russian battleship Petropavlovsk (1894) (nominated by Sturmvogel 66) was the lead ship of her class of three pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Russian Navy during the last decade of the 19th century. The ship was sent to the Far East almost immediately after entering service in 1899, where she participated in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion the next year and was the flagship of the First Pacific Squadron. At the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, Petropavlovsk took part in the Battle of Port Arthur, where she was lightly damaged by Japanese shells and failed to score any hits in return. On 13 April 1904, the ship sank after striking one or more mines near Port Arthur, in northeast China. Casualties numbered 27 officers and 652 enlisted men, including Vice Admiral Stepan Makarov, the commander of the squadron, and the war artist Vasily Vereshchagin. The arrival of the competent and aggressive Makarov after the Battle of Port Arthur had boosted Russian morale, which plummeted after his death.
Felix Mendelssohn (nominated by Smerus) was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early romantic period. Mendelssohn wrote symphonies, concertos, oratorios, piano music and chamber music. His best-known works include his Overture and incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Italian Symphony, the Scottish Symphony, the overture The Hebrides, his mature Violin Concerto, and his String Octet. His Songs Without Words are his most famous solo piano compositions. After a long period of relative denigration due to changing musical tastes and antisemitism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, his creative originality has been re-evaluated. He is now among the most popular composers of the romantic era.
Resident Evil: Apocalypse (nominated by Freikorp) is a 2004 science fiction action horror film directed by Alexander Witt and written by Paul W. S. Anderson. It is the second installment in the Resident Evil film series. Resident Evil: Apocalypse is set directly after the events of the first film, where Alice escaped from an underground facility overrun by zombies. She now bands together with other survivors to escape the zombie outbreak which has spread to the fictional Raccoon City. While it received mostly negative reviews from critics who complained about the plot, Resident Evil: Apocalypse did receive praise for its action sequences. It is the lowest rated of the six films in the Resident Evil series on Rotten Tomatoes, with an approval rating of 21%. Earning $129 million worldwide on a $45 million budget, it surpassed the box office gross of the original film. A sequel, Resident Evil: Extinction, was released in 2007.
The Siege of Constantinople (674–678) (nominated by Cplakidas) was a major conflict of the Arab–Byzantine wars, and the first culmination of the Umayyad Caliphate's expansionist strategy towards the Byzantine Empire, led by Caliph Mu'awiya I. Mu'awiya, who had emerged in 661 as the ruler of the Muslim Arab empire following a civil war, renewed aggressive warfare against Byzantium after a lapse of some years and hoped to deliver a lethal blow by capturing the Byzantine capital, Constantinople.
Washington State Route 520 (nominated by SounderBruce) is a state highway and freeway in the Seattle metropolitan area, part of the U.S. state of Washington. It runs 13 miles (21 km) from Seattle in the west to Redmond in the east. The freeway connects Seattle to the Eastside region of King County via the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge on Lake Washington. SR 520 intersects several state highways, including Interstate 5 (I-5) in Seattle, I-405 in Bellevue, and SR 202 in Redmond.
Tommy Phillips (nominated by Kaiser matias) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger. Like other players of his era, Phillips played for several teams and leagues. Most notable for his time with the Kenora Thistles, Phillips also played with the Montreal Hockey Club, the Ottawa Hockey Club, the Toronto Marlboros and the Vancouver Millionaires. Over the course of his career Phillips participated in six challenges for the Stanley Cup, the championship trophy of hockey, winning twice: with the Montreal Hockey Club in 1903 and with the Kenora Thistles, which he captained, in January 1907. Following his playing career, Phillips worked in the lumber industry until his death in 1923. One of the best defensive forwards of his era, Phillips was also known for his all-around skill, particularly his strong shot and endurance, and was considered, alongside Frank McGee, one of the two best players in all of hockey. His younger brother, Russell, also played for the Thistles and was a member of the team when they won the Stanley Cup. When the Hockey Hall of Fame was founded in 1945, Phillips was one of the original nine inductees.
The Shawshank Redemption (nominated by Darkwarriorblake) is a 1994 American drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the 1982 Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. It tells the story of banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), who is sentenced to life in Shawshank State Penitentiary for the murder of his wife and her lover, despite his claims of innocence. Over the following two decades, he befriends a fellow prisoner, contraband smuggler Ellis "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman), and becomes instrumental in a money laundering operation led by the prison warden Samuel Norton (Bob Gunton). William Sadler, Clancy Brown, Gil Bellows, and James Whitmore appear in supporting roles. While The Shawshank Redemption received positive reviews on its release, particularly for its story and the performances of Robbins and Freeman, it was a box office disappointment, earning only $16 million during its initial theatrical run. Even so, it went on to receive multiple award nominations, including seven Academy Award nominations, and a theatrical re-release that, combined with international takings, increased the film's box office gross to $58.3 million. Over 320,000 VHS copies were shipped throughout the United States, and based on its award nominations and word of mouth, it became one of the top rented films of 1995. The film is now considered to be one of the greatest films of the 1990s. As of 2017, the film is still broadcast regularly, and is popular in several countries, with audience members and celebrities citing it as a source of inspiration, and naming the film as a favorite in various surveys. In 2015, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
The Breeders Tour 2014 (nominated by Moisejp) comprised thirteen concerts in the central and western United States in September 2014. Between September 2 and September 17, the Breeders performed in eleven cities, among which were St. Louis, Denver, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and Las Vegas. Support bands the Funs and the Neptunas opened for them at five and six of these shows, respectively. The group then played at the Hollywood Bowl concert, and finished the tour on September 20 at the Goose Island 312 Urban Block Party event in Chicago. As well as their new songs, they performed numerous selections from Last Splash and Pod (1990). The tour received good reviews from critics; appraisal included comments that the performances were rousing, and that the band was as good as—or better than—in its heyday.
The Winter War (nominated by Manelolo) was a military conflict between the Soviet Union (USSR) and Finland lasting three and a half months from 1939 to 1940. The war began with the Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended with the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940. The League of Nations deemed the attack illegal and expelled the Soviet Union from the League.
Withypool Stone Circle (nominated by Midnightblueowl) is a stone circle near the village of Withypool in the south-western English county of Somerset, within the Exmoor moorland. The ring is part of a tradition of stone circle construction that spread throughout much of Britain, Ireland, and Brittany during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, over a period between 3300 and 900 BCE. Archaeologists think that they were likely religious sites; the stones were perhaps regarded as having supernatural associations.
The Hours of Mary of Burgundy (nominated by Ceoil) is a luxury book of hours (a form of devotional book for lay-people) completed in Flanders around 1477. It was probably commissioned for Mary of Burgundy, then the wealthiest woman in Europe. Its production began c. 1470, and includes miniatures by several artists, of which the foremost was the unidentified but influential illuminator known as the Master of Mary of Burgundy, who provides the book with its most meticulously detailed illustrations and borders. Other miniatures, considered of an older tradition, were contributed by Simon Marmion, Willem Vrelant and Lieven van Lathem. The majority of the calligraphy is attributed to Nicolas Spierinc, with whom the Master collaborated on other works and who may also have provided a number of illustrations.
Bats (nominated by LittleJerry & Chiswick Chap & Dunkleosteus77) are mammals of the order Chiroptera; with their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more manoeuvrable than birds, flying with their very long spread-out digits covered with a thin membrane or patagium. The second largest order of mammals, bats comprise about 20% of all classified mammal species worldwide, with about 1,240 species. Many bats are insectivores, and most of the rest are frugivores (fruit-eaters). A few species feed on animals other than insects; for example, the vampire bats feed on blood. Most bats are nocturnal, and many roost in caves or other refuges. Bats are present throughout the world, with the exception of extremely cold regions. They are important in their ecosystems for pollinating flowers and dispersing seeds; many tropical plants depend entirely on bats for these services.
Thorium (nominated by Double sharp & R8R Gtrs) is a weakly radioactive metallic chemical element with symbol Th and atomic number 90. Thorium metal is silvery and tarnishes black when it is exposed to air, forming the dioxide; it is moderately hard, malleable, and has a high melting point. Thorium is an electropositive actinide whose chemistry is dominated by the +4 oxidation state; it is quite reactive and can ignite in air when finely divided.
Connecticut Tercentenary half dollar (nominated by Wehwalt) is a commemorative fifty-cent piece struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1935. The Connecticut Tercentenary Commission wanted a half dollar issued, with proceeds from its sale to further its projects. A bill passed through Congress without dissent and became law on June 21, 1935, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed it, providing for 25,000 half dollars. The Philadelphia Mint initially coined 15,000 pieces, but when they quickly sold, the Connecticut commission ordered the 10,000 remaining in the authorization. These were soon exhausted as well. Kreis's design has generally been praised by numismatic writers. The coins sold for $1, but have gained in value over the years and sell in the hundreds of dollars, depending on condition.
SMS Zähringen (nominated by Parsecboy) was the third Wittelsbach-class pre-dreadnought battleship of the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine). Laid down in 1899 at the Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel, she was launched on 12 June 1901 and commissioned on 25 October 1902. Her sisters were Wittelsbach, Wettin, Schwaben and Mecklenburg; they were the first capital ships built under the Navy Law of 1898, brought about by Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz. The ship, named for the former royal House of Zähringen, was armed with a main battery of four 24 cm (9.4 in) guns and had a top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph). Zähringen saw active duty in the I Squadron of the German fleet for the majority of her career. Zähringen was relegated to a target ship for torpedo training in 1917. In the mid-1920s, Zähringen was heavily reconstructed and equipped for use as a radio-controlled target ship. She served in this capacity until 1944, when she was sunk in Gotenhafen by British bombers. The retreating Germans raised the ship and moved her to the harbor mouth, where they scuttled her to block the port. Zähringen was broken up in situ in 1949–50.
Neferefre (nominated by Iry-Hor) was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, likely the fourth but also possibly the fifth ruler of the Fifth Dynasty during the Old Kingdom period. He was very probably the eldest son of Pharaoh Neferirkare Kakai and Queen Khentkaus II, known as Prince Ranefer before he ascended the throne.
Planet of the Apes (nominated by Cúchullain) is an American science fiction media franchise consisting of films, books, television series, comics, and other media about a world in which humans and intelligent apes clash for control. Based on the novel Planet of the Apes, the 1968 film adaptation, Planet of the Apes, was a critical and commercial hit, initiating a series of sequels, tie-ins, and derivative works. Arthur P. Jacobs produced the first five Apes films through APJAC Productions for distributor 20th Century Fox; since his death in 1973, Fox has controlled the franchise. Four sequels followed the original film from 1970 to 1973. They did not approach the critical acclaim of the original, but were commercially successful, spawning two television series in 1974 and 1975. was released in 2001. A reboot film series commenced in 2011 with Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The films have grossed a total of over $2 billion worldwide, against a combined budget of $567.5 million. Along with further narratives in various media, franchise tie-ins include video games, toys, and planned theme park rides. Planet of the Apes has received particular attention among film critics for its treatment of racial issues. Cinema and cultural analysts have also explored its Cold War and animal rights themes. The series has influenced subsequent films, media, and art, as well as popular culture and political discourse.
ZETA (fusion reactor) (nominated by Maury Markowitz) was a major experiment in the early history of fusion power research. Based on the pinch plasma confinement technique, and built at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment in England, ZETA was larger and more powerful than any fusion machine in the world at that time. Its goal was to produce large numbers of fusion reactions, although it was not large enough to produce net energy. ZETA went into operation in August 1957 and by the end of the month it was giving off bursts of about a million neutrons per pulse. Measurements suggested the fuel was reaching between 1 and 5 million Kelvin, a temperature that would produce nuclear fusion reactions, explaining the quantities of neutrons being seen. Early results were leaked to the press in September 1957, and the following January an extensive review was released. Front-page articles in newspapers around the world announced it as a breakthrough towards unlimited energy, a scientific advance for Britain greater than the recently launched Sputnik had been for the Soviet Union. In spite of ZETA's failure to achieve fusion, the device went on to have a long experimental lifetime and produced numerous important advances in the field. In one line of development, the use of lasers to more accurately measure the temperature was developed on ZETA, and was later used to confirm the results of the Soviet tokamak approach. In another, while examining ZETA test runs it was noticed that the plasma self-stabilised after the power was turned off. This has led to the modern reversed field pinch concept. More generally, studies of the instabilities in ZETA have led to several important theoretical advances that form the basis of modern plasma theory.
Family Trade (nominated by Bcschneider53) is an American reality television series broadcast by Game Show Network (GSN). The show premiered on March 12, 2013, and continued to air new episodes until April 16, 2013. Filmed in Middlebury, Vermont, the series chronicles the daily activities of G. Stone Motors, a GMC and Ford car dealership that employs the barter system in selling its automobiles. The business is operated by its founder, Gardner Stone, his son and daughter, Todd and Darcy, and General Manager Travis Romano. The series features the shop's daily interaction with its customers, who bring in a variety of items that can be resold in order to receive a down payment on the vehicle they are leasing or purchasing. Commentary and narration are also often provided by the Stones during the episodes. Family Trade was a part of GSN's intent to broaden their programming landscape since the network had historically aired traditional game shows in most of its programming. The series was given unfavorable reviews by critics, and its television ratings fell over time; Family Trade lost almost half of its audience between the series premiere and finale.
The Mosaics of Delos (nominated by PericlesofAthens) are a significant body of ancient Greek mosaic art. Most of the surviving mosaics from Delos, Greece, an island in the Cyclades, date to the last half of the 2nd century BC and early 1st century BC, during the Hellenistic period and beginning of the Roman period of Greece. Hellenistic mosaics were no longer produced after roughly 69 BC, due to warfare with the Kingdom of Pontus and subsequently abrupt decline of the island's population and position as a major trading center. Among Hellenistic Greek archaeological sites, Delos contains one of the highest concentrations of surviving mosaic artworks. Approximately half of all surviving tessellated Greek mosaics from the Hellenistic period come from Delos.
Anbe Sivam (nominated by Ssven2) is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language comedy-drama film directed and co-produced by Sundar C. The film tells the story of an unexpected journey from Bhubaneswar to Chennai undertaken by two men of contrasting personalities, Nallasivam and Anbarasu. Produced on a budget of ₹120 million, Anbe Sivam takes on several themes, including communism, atheism, and altruism, and depicts Haasan's views as a humanist. The film was released on 15 January 2003 to positive reviews from critics, but underperformed at the box office. Despite its failure, it gained recognition over the years through re-runs on television channels and is now regarded as a classic and a cult film in Tamil cinema.
Harry R. Truman (nominated by ceranthor) was a resident of the U.S. state of Washington who lived on Mount St. Helens. The owner and caretaker of Mount St. Helens Lodge at Spirit Lake, at the foot of the mountain, he came to brief fame as a folk hero in the months preceding the volcano's 1980 eruption after he stubbornly refused to leave his home despite evacuation orders. Truman was presumed to have been killed by a pyroclastic flow that overtook his lodge and buried the site under 150 feet (46 m) of volcanic debris.