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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 1 Mar 2010 01:05
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[Daily article] March 1: Mendip Hills

The Mendip Hills are a range of limestone hills situated to the south 
of Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England. Running east to west between 
Weston-super-Mare and Frome, the Hills overlook the Somerset Levels to 
the south and the Avon valley to the north. The hills give their name 
to the local government district of Mendip, which covers most of the 
area. The hills are largely carboniferous limestone, which is quarried 
at several sites. The higher, western, part of the Hills, has been 
designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) which gives it 
the same level of protection as a national park. The AONB is 
200 km2 (80 sq mi). The Mendip Hills AONB Service and Somerset County 
Council's outdoor education centre is at the Charterhouse Centre near 
Blagdon. Mendip is home to a wide range of outdoor sports and leisure 
activities, many based on the particular geology of the area. It is 
recognised as a national centre for caving and cave diving. In addition 
to climbing and abseiling, the area is popular with hillwalkers and 
those interested in natural history.

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

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Today's selected anniversaries:

1562:

Troops of Francis, Duke of Guise, massacred Huguenots in Wassy, France, 
starting the French Wars of Religion.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Wars_of_Religion>

1565:
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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 2 Mar 2010 01:05
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[Daily article] March 2: Callisto (moon)

Callisto is a moon of the planet Jupiter, discovered in 1610 by Galileo 
Galilei. It is the third-largest moon in the Solar System and the 
second largest in the Jovian system, after Ganymede. It does not form 
part of the orbital resonance that affects three inner Galilean 
satellites—Io, Europa and Ganymede—and thus does not experience 
appreciable tidal heating. Callisto rotates synchronously with its 
orbital period, so the same face is always turned toward Jupiter. 
Callisto is composed of approximately equal amounts of rock and ices, 
with a mean density of about 1.83 g/cm3. Compounds detected spectrally 
on the surface include water ice, carbon dioxide, silicates, and 
organic compounds. Investigation by the Galileo spacecraft revealed 
that Callisto may have a small silicate core and possibly a subsurface 
ocean of liquid water at depths greater than 100 km. Prominent surface 
features include multi-ring structures, variously shaped impact 
craters, and chains of craters and associated scarps, ridges and 
deposits. Callisto is surrounded by an extremely thin atmosphere 
composed of carbon dioxide and probably molecular oxygen, as well as by 
a rather intense ionosphere.

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

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Today's selected anniversaries:

1791:

French inventor Claude Chappe and his brothers first demonstrated the 
semaphore line, a signaling system of conveying information by means of 
visual signals, using towers with pivoting shutters, also known as
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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 3 Mar 2010 01:05
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[Daily article] March 3: Sholes and Glidden typewriter

The Sholes and Glidden typewriter was the first commercially successful 
typewriter. Principally designed by Christopher Latham Sholes, it was 
developed with the assistance of fellow printer Samuel W. Soule and 
amateur mechanic Carlos S. Glidden. After several short-lived attempts 
to manufacture the device, the machine was acquired by E. Remington and 
Sons in early 1873. An arms manufacturer seeking to diversify, 
Remington further refined the typewriter before finally placing it on 
the market on July 1, 1874. During its development, the typewriter 
evolved from a crude curiosity into a practical device, the basic form 
of which became the industry standard. The machine incorporated 
elements which became fundamental to typewriter design, including a 
cylindrical platen and a four-rowed QWERTY keyboard. Several design 
deficiencies remained, however. The Sholes and Glidden could print only 
upper-case letters—an issue remedied in its successor, the Remington 
No. 2—and was a "blind writer", meaning the typist could not see what 
was being written as it was entered. Initially, the typewriter received 
an unenthusiastic reception from the public. Lack of an established 
market, high cost, and the need for trained operators slowed its 
adoption. Additionally, recipients of typewritten messages found the 
mechanical, all upper-case writing to be impersonal and even insulting. 
The new communication technologies and expanding businesses of the late 
19th century, however, had created a need for expedient, legible 
correspondence, and so the Sholes and Glidden and its contemporaries 
soon became ubiquitous office fixtures.

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

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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 4 Mar 2010 01:05
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[Daily article] March 4: Suffolk Punch

The Suffolk Punch is an English breed of draught horse. The breed takes 
the first part of its name from the county of Suffolk in East Anglia, 
and the name "Punch" from its solid appearance and strength. It is a 
heavy draught horse which is always chestnut in colour, although the 
colour is traditionally spelled "chesnut" by the breed registries. 
Suffolk Punches are known as good doers, and tend to have energetic 
gaits. The breed was developed in the early 16th century, and remains 
similar in phenotype to its founding stock. The Suffolk Punch was 
developed for farm work, and gained popularity during the early 20th 
century. However, as agriculture became increasingly mechanised, the 
breed fell out of favour, particularly from the middle part of the 
century, and almost disappeared completely. Although the breed's status 
is listed as critical by the UK Rare Breeds Survival Trust and the 
American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, there has been a resurgence in 
interest, and population numbers are increasing. As well as being used 
for farm work, the breed pulled artillery and non-motorised commercial 
vans and buses. It was also exported to other countries to upgrade 
local equine stock.

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

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Today's selected anniversaries:

1461:

Wars of the Roses in England: Lancastrian King Henry VI was deposed by 
his Yorkist cousin, who then became King Edward IV.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_IV_of_England>
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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 5 Mar 2010 01:05
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[Daily article] March 5: Kinzua Bridge

The Kinzua Bridge was a railroad trestle that had spanned Kinzua Creek 
in McKean County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The bridge was 
301 feet (92 m) tall and 2,052 feet (625 m) long prior to its collapse. 
The bridge was originally built from iron in 1882 and was billed as the 
"Eighth Wonder of the World", holding the record as the tallest 
railroad bridge in the world for two years. In 1900 the bridge was 
dismantled and simultaneously rebuilt out of steel to allow it to 
accommodate heavier trains. It stayed in commercial service until 1959 
and was sold to the state government of Pennsylvania in 1963, becoming 
the centerpiece of a state park. Restoration of the bridge began in 
2002, but before it was finished, a tornado struck the bridge in 2003 
causing a large portion of the bridge to collapse. Contributing to the 
collapse was the failure, caused by corrosion, of the anchor bolts 
holding the bridge towers to their foundations. Before its collapse, 
the Kinzua Bridge was ranked as the fourth tallest railway bridge in 
the United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic 
Places in 1977 and as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 
1982. The Kinzua Bridge is in Kinzua Bridge State Park off U.S. Route 6 
near the borough of Mount Jewett, Pennsylvania.

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

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Today's selected anniversaries:

1770:

British soldiers fired into a threatening crowd in Boston, 
Massachusetts, killing five civilians.
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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 6 Mar 2010 01:06
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[Daily article] March 6: Battle of the Alamo

The Battle of the Alamo, a part of the Texas Revolution, ended on March 
6, 1836, when Mexican troops under General Antonio López de Santa Anna 
regained the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar (modern-day San 
Antonio, Texas). Several months previously, rebellious Texians had 
driven all Mexican troops out of Mexican Texas. Up to 260 Texians were 
garrisoned in the Alamo at various times. On February 23, 1836, Santa 
Anna and 1,500 Mexican troops laid siege to the Alamo as the first step 
in a campaign to re-take Texas. In the final battle, all but two of the 
Texian defenders were killed, and 400–600 Mexican troops were killed or 
wounded. The battle has been the subject of numerous myths, spread by 
movie and television adaptations, including John Wayne's 1960 film The 
Alamo.

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

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Today's selected anniversaries:

1834:

York, Upper Canada, was incorporated as Toronto.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto>

1853:

Giuseppe Verdi's La traviata premiered at Venice's La Fenice, but the 
performance was so bad that it caused the Italian composer to revise 
portions of the opera.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_traviata>
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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 7 Mar 2010 01:05
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[Daily article] March 7: We Are the World

"We Are the World" is a song and charity single recorded by USA for 
Africa in 1985. It was recently re-recorded and updated in 2010 by a 
different set of artists as "We Are the World 25 for Haiti", to benefit 
survivors (pictured) of this year's devastating earthquake in Haiti. 
The song was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, and 
originally co-produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian for the 
album We Are the World. The recording sessions for both versions of the 
song have brought together some of the biggest artists in the music 
industry. The original anthem was released on March 7, 1985, as the 
only single from We Are the World. The single was a worldwide 
commercial success and was promoted in several ways. The promotion 
aided the success of "We Are the World", which was eventually named the 
biggest selling single of all time. The USA for Africa single has sold 
over 20 million units and raised over US$63 million for humanitarian 
aid in Africa and the US. "We Are the World" has demonstrated that 
diverse musicians can productively work together, and has further 
influenced the movement within pop music to create songs that address 
humane concerns.

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

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Today's selected anniversaries:

161:

Following the death of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius 
and Lucius Verus agreed to become co-Emperors in an unprecedented 
arrangement in the Roman Empire.
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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 8 Mar 2010 01:05
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[Daily article] March 8: Ceawlin of Wessex

Ceawlin was a King of Wessex. He may have been the son of Cynric of 
Wessex and the grandson of Cerdic of Wessex, whom the Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle represents as the leader of the first group of Saxons to come 
to the land which later became Wessex. Ceawlin was active at a time 
when the Anglo-Saxon invasion was being completed; by the time he died, 
little of southern England remained in the control of the native 
Britons. The chronology of Ceawlin's life is highly uncertain: his 
reign is variously listed as lasting seven, seventeen, or thirty-two 
years, and the historical accuracy and dating of many of the events in 
the later Anglo-Saxon Chronicle have been called into 
question.<ref>Stenton, p. 29, accepts the date given for Ceawlin's 
accession in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of 560, but Barbara Yorke in her 
online DNB article on Ceawlin states that that his reign seems to have 
been deliberately lengthened.</ref> The Chronicle records several 
battles of Ceawlin's between the years 556 and 592, including the first 
record of a battle between different groups of Anglo-Saxons, and 
indicates that under Ceawlin Wessex acquired significant territory, 
some of which was later to be lost to other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. 
Ceawlin is also named as one of the eight "bretwaldas": this was a 
title given in the Chronicle to eight rulers who had overlordship over 
southern Britain, although the actual extent of Ceawlin’s control is 
not known. Ceawlin died in 593, having been deposed the year before, 
possibly by his successor, Ceol. He is recorded in various sources as 
having two sons, Cutha and Cuthwine, but the genealogies in which this 
information is found are known to be unreliable.

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

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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 9 Mar 2010 01:05
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[Daily article] March 9: Flower (video game)

Flower is a PlayStation 3 video game. It was developed by 
thatgamecompany, designed by Jenova Chen (pictured), and announced at 
the 2007 Tokyo Game Show. Flower was released on February 12, 2009, via 
the PlayStation Network. The game was intended as a spiritual successor 
to flOw, a previous title by Chen and thatgamecompany. In it, the 
player controls the wind, blowing a flower petal through the air using 
the movement of the game controller. Flying close to flowers results in 
the player's petal being followed by other flower petals. Approaching 
flowers may also have side-effects on the game world, such as bringing 
vibrant color to previously dead fields or activating stationary 
windmills. The game features no text or dialogue, forming a narrative 
arc primarily through visual representation and emotional cues. Flower 
was primarily intended to provoke positive emotions in the player, 
rather than to be a challenging and "fun" game. The team viewed their 
efforts as creating a work of art, removing gameplay elements and 
mechanics that were not provoking the desired response in the players. 
Flower was a critical success, to the surprise of the developers. 
Reviewers praised the game's music, visuals, and gameplay, calling it a 
unique and compelling emotional experience. It was named the best 
independent game of 2009 at the Spike Video Game Awards and by Playboy, 
and won the "Casual Game of the Year" award by the Academy of 
Interactive Arts and Sciences.

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

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Today's selected anniversaries:

1276:
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English Wikipedia Article of the Day | 10 Mar 2010 01:05
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[Daily article] March 10: Superb Fairywren

The Superb Fairywren is a common and familiar passerine bird of the 
Maluridae family. Sedentary and territorial, it is found across 
south-eastern Australia. The species exhibits a high degree of sexual 
dimorphism; the male in breeding plumage has a striking bright blue 
forehead, ear coverts, mantle, and tail, with a black mask and black or 
dark blue throat. Non-breeding males, females and juveniles are 
predominantly grey-brown in colour; this gave the early impression that 
males were polygamous as all dull-coloured birds were taken for 
females. Two subspecies are recognised: the larger and darker Tasmanian 
form cyaneus and the smaller and paler mainland form cyanochlamys. Like 
other fairywrens, the Superb Fairywren is notable for several peculiar 
behavioural characteristics; the birds are socially monogamous and 
sexually promiscuous, meaning that although they form pairs between one 
male and one female, each partner will mate with other individuals and 
even assist in raising the young from such pairings. Male wrens pluck 
yellow petals and display them to females as part of a courtship 
display.

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

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Today's selected anniversaries:

241 BC:

The Roman Republic defeated Carthage in a naval battle off the coast of 
the Aegadian Islands near the western coast of the island of Sicily, 
ending the First Punic War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Aegates_Islands>
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