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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 1 Jan 2010 01:05
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[Daily article] January 1: Ceres (dwarf planet)

Ceres is the smallest identified dwarf planet in the Solar System and 
the only one in the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 1 January 1801, 
by Giuseppe Piazzi, and for half a century it was classified as the 
eighth planet. It is named after Ceres, the Roman goddess of growing 
plants, the harvest, and motherly love. With a diameter of about 950 km 
(590 miles), Ceres is by far the largest and most massive body in the 
asteroid belt, and contains a third (32%) of the belt's total mass. 
Recent observations have revealed that it is spherical, unlike the 
irregular shapes of smaller bodies with lower gravity. The surface of 
Ceres is probably made of a mixture of water ice and various hydrated 
minerals like carbonates and clays. Ceres appears to be differentiated 
into a rocky core and ice mantle. It may harbour an ocean of liquid 
water underneath its surface. From the Earth, Ceres' apparent magnitude 
ranges from 6.7 to 9.3, and hence at its brightest it is still too dim 
to be seen with the naked eye. On 27 September 2007, NASA launched the 
Dawn space probe to explore Vesta (2011–2012) and Ceres (2015).

Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceres_%28dwarf_planet%29>

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Today's selected anniversaries:

1801:

The Kingdom of Ireland formally merged with the Kingdom of Great 
Britain, adding St. Patrick's saltire to the Union Flag.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_of_Union_1800>

1810:
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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 2 Jan 2010 01:05
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[Daily article] January 2: Asser

Asser was a Welsh monk from St. David's, Dyfed, who became Bishop of 
Sherborne in the 890s. In about 885 he was asked by Alfred the Great to 
leave St. David's and join the circle of learned men which Alfred was 
recruiting for his court. After spending a year at Caerwent due to an 
illness, he accepted. In 893 Asser wrote a biography of Alfred, called 
the Life of King Alfred. The manuscript survived to modern times in 
only one copy, which was part of the Cotton library. That copy was 
destroyed in a fire in 1731, but transcriptions that had been made 
earlier, allied with material from Asser's work that was included by 
other early writers, have enabled the work to be reconstructed. The 
biography is now the main source of information about Alfred's life, 
and provides far more information about Alfred than is known about any 
other early English ruler. Asser also assisted Alfred in his 
translation of Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care, and possibly with 
other works. Asser is sometimes cited as a source for the legend of 
Alfred having founded the University of Oxford, which is now known to 
be false. A short passage making this claim was interpolated by William 
Camden into his 1603 edition of Asser's Life. Doubts have also been 
raised periodically about whether the entire Life is a forgery, written 
by a slightly later writer, but it is now almost universally accepted 
as genuine.

Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asser>

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Today's selected anniversaries:

366:
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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 3 Jan 2010 01:05
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[Daily article] January 3: Jerry Voorhis

Jerry Voorhis (1901–1984) was a Democratic politician from California. 
He served five terms in the United States House of Representatives, 
representing the 12th Congressional district in Los Angeles County from 
1937 to 1947. He was the first political opponent of Richard Nixon, who 
defeated him for reelection in 1946 in a campaign cited as an example 
of red-baiting in Nixon's political rise. Voorhis was born in Kansas, 
and moved around much in his childhood. He graduated from Yale 
University after being elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and secured a 
master's degree from Claremont Graduate School in education. He served 
in varying capacities as a young adult, becoming headmaster of 
newly-founded Voorhis School for Boys in 1928, a post he retained into 
his congressional career. In ten years in Congress, Voorhis compiled a 
liberal voting record and was a loyal supporter of the New Deal. His 
major legislative accomplishment was the Voorhis Act of 1940, requiring 
registration of certain organizations controlled by foreign powers. 
After four comfortable reelections, he faced Nixon in a bitter campaign 
in which Voorhis's supposed endorsement by groups linked to the 
Communist Party was a major issue.

Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Voorhis>

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Today's selected anniversaries:

1521:

Pope Leo X issued the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem, 
excommunicating Martin Luther from the Roman Catholic Church after 
Luther refused to retract 41 of his 95 theses.
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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 4 Jan 2010 01:05
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[Daily article] January 4: 2000 Sugar Bowl

The 2000 Sugar Bowl was the designated Bowl Championship Series (BCS) 
National Championship Game for the 1999 college football season and was 
played on January 4, 2000, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, 
Louisiana. The Florida State Seminoles, led by head coach Bobby Bowden 
(pictured) and representing the Atlantic Coast Conference, defeated the 
Virginia Tech Hokies, then representing the Big East Conference, by a 
score of 46–29. With the win, Florida State clinched the 1999 Division 
I college football championship, the team's second national 
championship. An estimated total of 79,280 people attended the game in 
person, while approximately 18.4 million US viewers watched the game on 
ABC television. The resulting 17.5 television rating was the 
third-largest ever recorded for a BCS college football game. Florida 
State wide receiver Peter Warrick was named the game's most valuable 
player.

Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Sugar_Bowl>

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Today's selected anniversaries:

1698:

Most of London's Palace of Whitehall, the main residence of the English 
monarchs dating from 1530, was destroyed by fire .
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Whitehall>

1854:

Captain William McDonald aboard the Samarang discovered the McDonald
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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 5 Jan 2010 01:05
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[Daily article] January 5: Brazilian battleship Minas Geraes

Minas Geraes was a battleship built for the Brazilian Navy. Named in 
honor of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, the ship was laid down in 
April 1907 as the lead ship of her class, making Brazil the third 
country to have a dreadnought under construction. Two months after her 
commissioning on 5 January 1910, Minas Geraes was featured in an 
edition of Scientific American, which hailed her as "the last word in 
heavy battleship design and the [...] most powerfully armed warship 
afloat". In November 1910, Minas Geraes was the focal point of the 
Revolta de Chibata (English: Revolt of the Whip). When Brazil entered 
the First World War in 1917, Britain's Royal Navy declined Brazil's 
offer to send Minas Geraes to join the Grand Fleet because the ship was 
outdated. In 1921, Minas Geraes was modernized in the United States. In 
the 1930s, after having a role in two mutinies during the previous 
decade, the battleship was modernized again, this time at the Rio de 
Janeiro Naval Yard. She underwent further refitting from 1939 to 1943. 
During the Second World War, Minas Geraes was anchored in Salvador as 
the main defense of the port, as she was too old to play an active part 
in the conflict. For the last nine years of her service life, Minas 
Geraes remained largely inactive, and she was towed to Italy for 
scrapping in March 1954.

Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_battleship_Minas_Geraes>

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Today's selected anniversaries:

1477:

Burgundian Wars: Charles the Bold , the Duke of Burgundy, was killed at
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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 6 Jan 2010 01:05
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[Daily article] January 6: Badnjak

The badnjak is a log brought into the house and placed on the fire on 
the evening of Christmas Eve, a central tradition in Serbian Christmas 
celebrations. The tree from which the badnjak is cut, preferably a 
young and straight oak, is ceremonially felled early on the morning of 
the Eve. The felling, preparation, bringing in, and laying on the fire, 
are surrounded by elaborate rituals, with many regional variations. The 
burning of the log is accompanied by prayers that the coming year 
brings food, happiness, love, luck, and riches. It commemorates the 
fire that—according to folk tradition—the shepherds of Bethlehem built 
in the cave where Jesus Christ was born, to warm him and his mother 
throughout the night. Scholars regard the ceremony as inherited from 
the old Slavic religion. As most Serbs today live in towns and cities, 
the badnjak is often represented by a cluster of oak twigs with which 
the home is decorated on Christmas Eve. Since the early 1990s, the 
Serbian Orthodox Church has, together with local communities, organized 
public celebrations on the Eve in which the badnjak plays a central 
role.

Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badnjak>

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Today's selected anniversaries:

1066:

Harold Godwinson was crowned King of England, widely regarded as the 
last Anglo-Saxon king before the Norman conquest.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Godwinson>
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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 7 Jan 2010 01:05
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[Daily article] January 7: Elwood Haynes

Elwood Haynes (1857–1925) was an American inventor, metallurgist, 
automotive pioneer, entrepreneur and industrialist. He invented the 
metal alloys stellite and martensitic stainless steel and designed one 
of the earliest automobiles in the United States. His design is 
recognized as the first that was acceptable for mass production and, 
with the Apperson brothers, he formed the first company in the United 
States to profitably produce automobiles. Because of his many advances 
in the automotive industry, he is sometimes called the Father of the 
Automobile. His frequent travels drew his interest to the idea of a 
mechanical device that could transport without need of a horse, and he 
began to formulate plans for a motorized vehicle in the early 1890s; he 
successfully road tested his first car, the Pioneer, on July 4, 1894. 
He formed a partnership with Elmer and Edgar Apperson in 1896 to start 
Haynes-Apperson for the commercial production of automobiles, and he 
renamed it Haynes Automobile Company in 1905, following the loss of his 
partners. He formed Haynes Stellite Company to produce one of the new 
alloys he invented and received lucrative contracts during World War I, 
making Haynes a millionaire in 1916. After his death from complications 
arising from influenza, his Kokomo mansion was converted into the 
Elwood Haynes Museum and is open to the public where many of his 
original inventions and automobiles are on display.

Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elwood_Haynes>

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Today's selected anniversaries:

1598:
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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 8 Jan 2010 01:05
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[Daily article] January 8: ToeJam & Earl

ToeJam & Earl is an action video game developed by Johnson Voorsanger 
Productions and published by Sega for the Mega Drive video game 
console. Released in 1991, it centers on the titular ToeJam and 
Earl—alien rappers who have crash-landed on Earth. As they attempt to 
escape the planet players assume the role of either character and 
collect pieces of their wrecked spacecraft. ToeJam & Earl's design was 
heavily influenced by the computer role-playing game Rogue, and took 
from it such features as the random generation of levels and items. It 
references and parodies 1990s urban culture and is set to a funk 
soundtrack. The game was positively received by critics, who praised 
its originality, soundtrack, humor and two-player cooperative mode. It 
attained sleeper hit status despite low initial sales, and its 
protagonists were used as mascots by Sega. ToeJam & Earl was followed 
by two sequels: ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron and ToeJam & Earl 
III: Mission to Earth, released for the Mega Drive and Xbox, 
respectively. The sequels' commercial and critical success was mixed; 
research has suggested that series fans favor the original ToeJam & 
Earl. The game again received positive reviews in 2006 when re-released 
for the Wii's Virtual Console, but certain critics believed that it had 
become dated.

Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ToeJam_%26_Earl>

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Today's selected anniversaries:

1790:

George Washington delivered the first ever State of the Union address
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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 9 Jan 2010 01:05
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[Daily article] January 9: Anna Laetitia Barbauld

Anna Laetitia Barbauld (1743–1825) was a prominent eighteenth-century 
English poet, essayist, and children's author. A "woman of letters" who 
published in multiple genres, Barbauld had a successful writing career 
at a time when female professional writers were rare. She was a noted 
teacher at the celebrated Palgrave Academy and an innovative children's 
writer; her famous primers provided a model for pedagogy for more than 
a century. Her essays demonstrated that it was possible for a woman to 
be publicly engaged in politics, and other women authors emulated her. 
Even more importantly, her poetry was foundational to the development 
of Romanticism in England. Barbauld was also a literary critic, and her 
anthology of eighteenth-century British novels helped establish the 
canon as we know it today. Barbauld's literary career ended abruptly in 
1812 with the publication of her poem Eighteen Hundred and Eleven, 
which criticized Britain's participation in the Napoleonic Wars. The 
vicious reviews shocked Barbauld and she published nothing else within 
her lifetime. Her reputation was further damaged when many of the 
Romantic poets she had inspired in the heyday of the French Revolution 
turned against her in their later, more conservative, years. Barbauld 
was remembered only as a pedantic children's writer during the 
nineteenth century, and largely forgotten during the twentieth century, 
but the rise of feminist literary criticism in the 1980s renewed 
interest in her works and restored her place in literary history.

Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Laetitia_Barbauld>

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Today's selected anniversaries:

1768:
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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 10 Jan 2010 01:05
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[Daily article] January 10: M249 light machine gun

The M249 light machine gun is an American version of the FN Minimi, a 
light machine gun manufactured by the Belgian company FN Herstal. The 
M249 is manufactured in the United States and is widely used by the 
U.S. Armed Forces. The gun was introduced in 1984 after being judged 
the most effective of a number of candidate weapons to address the lack 
of automatic firepower in small units. The gun provides the heavy 
volume of fire of a machine gun with accuracy and portability 
approaching that of a rifle to infantry squads. The M249 is 
gas-operated and air-cooled. It has a quick-change barrel, allowing the 
gunner to rapidly replace an overheated or jammed barrel. A folding 
bipod is attached near the front of the gun, though a M192 LGM tripod 
is also available. It can be fed from both linked ammunition and STANAG 
magazines, like those used in the M16 and M4. This allows the SAW 
gunner to use rifleman's magazines as an emergency source of ammunition 
in the event that he runs out of linked rounds. M249s have seen action 
in every major conflict involving the United States since the 1991 Gulf 
War. Soldiers are generally satisfied with the weapon's performance, 
though there have been many reports of clogging with dirt and sand. Due 
to the weight and age of the weapon, the U.S. Marine Corps is 
considering designs for an infantry automatic rifle, which is planned 
to complement and partially replace the M249 in their service.

Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M249_light_machine_gun>

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Today's selected anniversaries:

1475:
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Gmane