Wikipedia:Today's featured article/June 2008

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<<	Today's featured articles for June 2008					>>
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An archive of Wikipedia's featured articles that appeared on the Main Page

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June 1

Ran is a 1985 film written and directed by Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. It is a jidaigeki (Japanese period drama) depicting the fall of Hidetora Ichimonji (Tatsuya Nakadai), an aging Sengoku-era warlord who decides to abdicate as ruler in favor of his three sons. The story is based on legends of the daimyo Mori Motonari, as well as on the Shakespearean tragedy King Lear. Ran was Kurosawa's last great epic. With a budget of $12 million, it was the most expensive Japanese film ever produced up to that time. Kurosawa directed three other films before he died, but none on so large a scale. The film was hailed for its powerful images and use of color – costume designer Emi Wada won an Academy Award for Costume Design for her work on Ran. The distinctive Gustav Mahler-inspired film score, written by Toru Takemitsu, plays in isolation with ambient sound muted. Kurosawa first got the idea that would become Ran in the mid-1970s, when he read a parable about Mori Motonari. Motonari was famous for having three sons, all incredibly loyal and talented in their own right. Kurosawa began imagining what would have happened had they been bad. (more...)

Recently featured: Bratislava – D. B. Cooper – Oil shale

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June 2

Harold Innis was a professor of political economy at the University of Toronto and the author of seminal works on Canadian economic history, media, and communication theory. In spite of his dense and difficult prose, Innis is considered by many scholars to have been one of Canada's most original thinkers. He helped develop the staples thesis, which holds that Canada's culture, political history and economy have been decisively influenced by the exploitation and export of a series of staples such as fur, fish, wood, wheat, mined metals and fossil fuels. Innis's communications writings explore the role of media in shaping the culture and development of civilizations. He warned however that Western civilization is now imperiled by powerful, advertising-driven media obsessed by "present-mindedness" and the "continuous, systematic, ruthless destruction of elements of permanence essential to cultural activity". Innis laid the basis for scholarship that looked at the social sciences from a distinctly Canadian point of view. Innis also tried to defend universities from political and economic pressures. He believed that independent universities, as centres of critical thought, were essential to the survival of Western civilization. (more...)

Recently featured: Ran – Bratislava – D. B. Cooper

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June 3

The Confederate government of Kentucky was a shadow government established for the Commonwealth of Kentucky by a self-constituted group of Southern sympathizers during the American Civil War. The shadow government never replaced the elected government in Frankfort, which had strong Union sympathies. Neither did it gain the support of Kentucky's citizens; its jurisdiction extended only as far as Confederate battle lines in the Commonwealth. Nevertheless, the provisional government was recognized by the Confederate States of America, and Kentucky was admitted to the Confederacy on December 10, 1861. Kentucky was represented by the central star on the Confederate battle flag. Bowling Green was designated the Confederate capital of Kentucky, but due to the military situation in the state, the provisional government was exiled and traveled with the Army of Tennessee for most of its existence. For a short time in the autumn of 1862, the Confederate Army controlled Frankfort, the only time a Union capital was captured by Confederate forces. During this occupation, General Braxton Bragg attempted to install the provisional government as the permanent authority in the Commonwealth. However, Union General Don Carlos Buell ambushed the inauguration ceremony and drove the provisional government from the state for the final time. From that point forward, the government existed primarily on paper, and was dissolved at the end of the war. (more...)

Recently featured: Harold Innis – Ran – Bratislava

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June 4

The Funerary Monument to Sir John Hawkwood is a fresco by Paolo Uccello, commemorating English condottiero John Hawkwood, commissioned in 1436 for the Florence Cathedral. The fresco is an important example of art commemorating a soldier-for-hire in the Italian peninsula and is a seminal work in the development of perspective. The politics of the commissioning and recommissioning of the fresco have been analyzed and debated by historians. The fresco is often cited as a form of "Florentine propaganda" for its appropriation of a foreign soldier of fortune as a Florentine hero and for its implied promise to other condottieri of the potential rewards of serving Florence. The fresco has also been interpreted as a product of internal political competition between the Albizzi and Medici factions in Renaissance Florence, due to the latter's modification of the work's symbolism and iconography during its recommissioning. The fresco is the oldest extant and authenticated work of Uccello, and from a relatively well-known aspect of his career compared to the periods before and after its creation. The fresco has been restored (once by Lorenzo di Credi, who added the frame) and is now detached from the wall; it has been repositioned twice in modern times. (more...)

Recently featured: Confederate government of Kentucky – Harold Innis – Ran

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June 5

Émile Lemoine was a French civil engineer and mathematician, a geometer in particular. He was educated at a variety of institutions, including the Prytanée National Militaire and, most notably, the École Polytechnique. Lemoine taught as a private tutor for a short period after his graduation from the latter school. Lemoine is best known for his proof of the existence of the Lemoine point (or the symmedian point) of a triangle. Other mathematical work includes a system he called Géométrographie and a method which related algebraic expressions to geometric objects. He has been called a co-founder of modern triangle geometry, as many of its characteristics are present in his work. For most of his life, Lemoine was a professor of mathematics at the École Polytechnique. Later, he worked as a civil engineer in Paris, and took an amateur's interest in music. During his tenure at the École Polytechnique and as a civil engineer, Lemoine published several papers on mathematics, most of which are included in a fourteen-page section in Nathan Court's College Geometry. Additionally, he founded a mathematical journal: L'intermédiaire des mathématiciens. (more...)

Recently featured: Funerary Monument to Sir John Hawkwood – Confederate government of Kentucky – Harold Innis

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June 6

Sertraline (known under the trade names Zoloft and Lustral) is an antidepressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor class. It was introduced to the market by Pfizer in 1991. Sertraline is primarily used to treat clinical depression in adult outpatients as well as obsessive-compulsive, panic and social anxiety disorders in both adults and children. In 2007 it was the most prescribed antidepressant on the U.S. retail market. The efficacy of sertraline for depression is similar to that of older tricyclic antidepressants, but its side effects are much less pronounced. Differences with newer antidepressants are subtler and also mostly confined to side effects. Evidence suggests that sertraline may work better than fluoxetine (Prozac) for some subtypes of depression. Sertraline is highly effective for the treatment of panic disorder but is inferior to cognitive behavioral therapy when applied to obsessive-compulsive disorder. Sertraline shares the common side effects and contraindications of other SSRIs, with high rates of nausea, diarrhea, insomnia, and sexual side effects; however, it does not cause weight gain, and its effects on cognition are mild. (more...)

Recently featured: Émile Lemoine – Funerary Monument to Sir John Hawkwood – Confederate government of Kentucky

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June 7

The formation and evolution of the Solar System began 4.6 billion years ago with the gravitational collapse of a small part of a giant molecular cloud. Most of the collapsing mass collected in the centre, forming the Sun, while the rest flattened into a protoplanetary disc out of which the planets, moons, asteroids, and other small Solar System bodies formed. This widely accepted model, known as the nebular hypothesis, was first developed in the 18th century by Emanuel Swedenborg, Immanuel Kant, and Pierre-Simon Laplace. Beginning with the initial formation, the Solar System has evolved considerably. Many moons formed from circling discs of gas and dust around their parent planets, while many other moons are believed to have been captured or (in the case of the Earth's Moon) to have resulted from a giant collision. Collisions between bodies have occurred continuously up to the present day and are central to the evolution of the system. The planets' positions often shifted outward or inward, and planets have switched places. This planetary migration is now believed to be responsible for much of the Solar System's early evolution. Just as the Sun and planets were born, they will eventually die. In roughly 5 billion years, the Sun will cool and bloat outward to many times its current diameter (becoming a red giant) before casting off its outer layers as a planetary nebula and leaving behind a stellar corpse known as a white dwarf. (more...)

Recently featured: Sertraline – Émile Lemoine – Funerary Monument to Sir John Hawkwood

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June 8

Wilco is an American rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1993 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo following singer Jay Farrar's departure from that group. Wilco's lineup has changed frequently, with only singer Jeff Tweedy and bassist John Stirratt remaining from the original incarnation. The other current members are guitarist Nels Cline, multi-instrumentalists Pat Sansone and Mikael Jorgensen, and drummer Glenn Kotche. Wilco has released six studio albums, a live double album, and three collaborations: two with Billy Bragg, and one with The Minus 5. Wilco's music has been inspired by a wide variety of artists and styles, including Bill Fay and Television, and has in turn influenced music by The National and Cherry Ghost. The band continued in the alternative country of Uncle Tupelo on its debut album A.M. (1995), but has since introduced more experimental aspects to their music. Wilco won two Grammy Awards for their fifth studio album, 2004's A Ghost Is Born, including Best Alternative Music Album. (more...)

Recently featured: Formation and evolution of the Solar System – Sertraline – Émile Lemoine

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June 9

Jurassic Park is a 1993 science fiction film directed by Steven Spielberg, based on the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. The film centers on the fictional island of Isla Nublar, where scientists have created an amusement park of cloned dinosaurs. John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) invites a group of scientists, played by Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern, to visit the park. Sabotage sets the dinosaurs on the loose, and technicians and visitors attempt to escape the island. Spielberg acquired the rights to the novel before its publication in 1990, and Crichton was hired to adapt his novel. David Koepp wrote the final draft, which left out much of the novel's exposition and violence, and also made numerous changes to the characters. Spielberg hired Stan Winston Studios to create animatronics to portray the dinosaurs, shots of which were mixed with newly developed computer-generated imagery by Industrial Light and Magic. Jurassic Park is regarded as a landmark in the usage of CGI effects and received positive reviews from critics, who praised the effects (though reaction to other elements of the picture, such as character development, was mixed). Jurassic Park spawned a franchise of films and other media, and was followed by The Lost World: Jurassic Park in 1997 and by Jurassic Park III in 2001, with Jurassic Park IV currently in development. (more...)

Recently featured: Wilco – Formation and evolution of the Solar System – Sertraline

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June 10

The 2006 Atlantic hurricane season was a fairly inactive Atlantic hurricane season compared to the 2005 season. The season officially started on June 1, 2006, and officially ended on November 30, 2006, dates which by convention delimit the period of each year when the majority of tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin. One system, Tropical Storm Zeta from the 2005 season, continued through early January, only the second time on record that had happened. Tropical Storm Alberto was responsible for two indirect deaths when it made landfall in Florida. Hurricane Ernesto caused heavy rainfall in Haiti, and directly killed at least seven in Haiti and the United States. Four more hurricanes formed after Ernesto, including the strongest storms of the season, Hurricanes Helene and Gordon. No tropical cyclones formed during October, for the first time since the 1994 season. While forecasts predicted that the 2006 season would be very active, a rapidly forming El Niño event in 2006, the presence of the Saharan Air Layer over the tropical Atlantic, and the steady presence of a robust secondary high pressure area to the Azores high centered around Bermuda contributed to a slow season. (more...)

Recently featured: Jurassic Park – Wilco – Formation and evolution of the Solar System

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June 11

George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland, from 1 August 1714 until his death. At the age of 54, he ascended the British throne as the first monarch of the House of Hanover. Although many bore closer blood-relationships to the childless Queen Anne, the Act of Settlement 1701, which prohibits Catholics from inheriting the throne, designated her cousin, Sophia of Hanover, as heiress to the throne. Sophia was Anne's closest living Protestant relative but died a matter of weeks before Anne leaving the Protestant succession to her son, George. In reaction, the Jacobites attempted to depose George and replace him with Anne's Catholic half-brother, James Francis Edward Stuart, but their attempts failed. During George's reign in Britain, the powers of the monarchy diminished and the modern system of Cabinet government led by a Prime Minister underwent development. Towards the end of his reign, actual power was held by Sir Robert Walpole. George died on a trip to his native Hanover, where he was buried. (more...)

Recently featured: 2006 Atlantic hurricane season – Jurassic Park – Wilco

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June 12

The durian is the fruit of trees of the genus Durio belonging to the Malvaceae, a large family which includes hibiscus, okra, cotton, mallows and linden trees. Widely known and revered in Southeast Asia as the "King of Fruits," the fruit is distinctive for its large size, unique odour, and formidable thorn-covered husk. The fruit can grow up to 30 centimetres (12 in) long and 15 centimetres (6 in) in diameter, and typically weighs one to three kilograms (2 to 7 lb). Its shape ranges from oblong to round, the colour of its husk green to brown, and its flesh pale-yellow to red, depending on the species. The hard outer husk is covered with sharp, prickly thorns while the edible flesh within emits a distinctive odour, which is regarded as either fragrant or overpowering and offensive. The odour of the ripe fruit is strong and penetrating even when the husk is intact. The flesh can be consumed at various stages of ripeness and is used to flavour a wide variety of savoury and sweet edibles in Southeast Asian cuisines. The seeds can also be eaten when cooked. Many consumers express preferences for specific cultivars, which fetch higher prices in the market. (more...)

Recently featured: George I of Great Britain – 2006 Atlantic hurricane season – Jurassic Park

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June 13

The Priestley Riots took place from 14 July to 17 July 1791 in Birmingham, England; the rioters' main targets were religious Dissenters, most notably the religious and political controversialist, Joseph Priestley. The riots started with an attack on a hotel that was the site of a banquet organized in sympathy with the French Revolution. Then, beginning with Priestley's church and home, the rioters attacked or burned four Dissenting chapels, twenty-seven houses, and several businesses. Many of them became intoxicated by liquor that they found while looting, or with which they were bribed to stop burning homes. A small core could not be bribed, however, and remained sober. They burned not only the homes and chapels of Dissenters, but also the homes of people they associated with Dissenters, such as members of the scientific Lunar Society. While the riots were not initiated by Prime Minister William Pitt's administration, the national government was slow to respond to the Dissenters' pleas for help. Local Birmingham officials seem to have been involved in the planning of the riots, and they were later reluctant to prosecute any ringleaders. Those who had been attacked gradually left, leaving Birmingham a more conservative city than it had been throughout the eighteenth century. (more...)

Recently featured: Durian – George I of Great Britain – 2006 Atlantic hurricane season

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June 14

The Flag of Canada is a red flag with a white square in its centre, featuring a stylized 11-pointed red maple leaf. Its adoption in 1965 marked the first time a national flag had been officially adopted to replace the Union Flag. The Canadian Red Ensign had been unofficially used since the 1890s and was approved by a 1945 Order-in-Council for use "wherever place or occasion may make it desirable to fly a distinctive Canadian flag". In 1964, Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson appointed a committee to resolve the issue, sparking a serious debate about a flag change. Out of three choices, the maple leaf design by George F. G. Stanley was chosen. The flag made its first appearance on February 15, 1965; the date is now celebrated annually as National Flag of Canada Day. Other flags have been created for use by Canadian officials, government bodies, and military forces. Most of these flags contain the maple leaf motif in some fashion, either by having the Canadian flag charged in the canton, or by including maple leaves in the design. The Royal Union Flag is also an official flag in Canada, used as a symbol of Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations, and of its allegiance to the Crown. The flag forms a component of other Canadian flags, notably the provincial flags of Manitoba and Ontario. (more...)

Recently featured: Priestley Riots – Durian – George I of Great Britain

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June 15

The World Without Us is a non-fiction book about what would happen to the natural and built environment if humans suddenly disappeared, written by American journalist Alan Weisman and published by St. Martin's Thomas Dunne Books. It is a book-length expansion of Weisman's own February 2005 Discover article "Earth Without People". Written largely as a thought experiment, it outlines, for example, how cities and houses would deteriorate, how long man-made artifacts would last, and how remaining lifeforms would evolve. Weisman concludes that residential neighborhoods would become forests within 500 years, and that radioactive waste, bronze statues, plastics, and Mount Rushmore will be among the longest lasting evidence of human presence on Earth. The author of four previous books and numerous articles for magazines, Weisman traveled around the world to interview academics, scientists and other authorities. He used quotes from these interviews to explain the effects of the natural environment and to substantiate predictions. The book has been translated and published in France, Germany, Portugal and Spain. It was successful in the U.S., reaching #6 on the New York Times Best Seller list. It ranked #1 on Time and Entertainment Weekly's top 10 non-fiction books of 2007. The book has received largely positive reviews, specifically for Weisman's journalistic and scientific writing style, but some have questioned the relevance of its subject matter. (more...)

Recently featured: Flag of Canada – Priestley Riots – Durian

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June 16

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June 17

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June 18

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June 19

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June 20

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June 21

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June 22

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June 23

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June 24

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June 25

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June 26

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June 27

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June 28

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June 29

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June 30

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