Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2022-11-28/Featured content

Hey again! So, this month was one of the worst months for featured pictures in a while: We just did not have the participants to reach quorum on most of our images. It was, however, a great month for featured articles.

Still kind of burnt out from September's Signpost – it's not that there's anything wrong with featured lists as such, but, because they're often on very specific topics, the way the leads are written can make it hard to write summaries that aren't either trivial (often to the point of restating the title of the article) or way too long. Not really sure what to do about that. I guess I could make a joke about it, like that old internet joke which summarised The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders, &c. Who was Born in Newgate, and during a Life of continu'd Variety for threescore Years, besides her Childhood, was Twelve Year a Whore, five times a Wife (whereof once to her own Brother) Twelve Year a Thief, Eight Year a Transported Felon in Virginia, at last grew Rich, liv'd Honest, and died a Penitent by simply repeating its full title.

Also, I've been doing this for a bit, but it often gets copyedited out just before publication because I don't think people realise User:MaranoFan signs his name NØ (I believe after the Megan Trainor song he brought to featured article), so I'm just going to say this explicitly: Images have a credit line on them where you can state exactly how you want credited. For everything else, if the user's signature uses a different name than their username (presuming it's not something trivial, like "User:Thejohndoe" vs. "John Doe"), I give the username then the name they sign with in parentheses. So if you see "MaranoFan (NØ)", that's why. Speaking of MaranoFan, he was named Editor of the Week for the week of 6 November due to the quality of his work and for being a great team player, so, go him!

Ceres (dwarf planet), nominated by Serendipodous

Ceres is a dwarf planet in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. It was the first asteroid discovered, on 1 January 1801, by Giuseppe Piazzi at Palermo Astronomical Observatory in Sicily, and announced as a new planet. Ceres was later classified as an asteroid and then as a dwarf planet – the only one always inside Neptune's orbit. Its surface features are barely visible even with the most powerful telescopes, and little was known of them until the robotic NASA spacecraft Dawn approached Ceres for its orbital mission in 2015. Although Ceres likely lacks an internal ocean of liquid water, brines still flow through the outer mantle and reach the surface, allowing cryovolcanoes such as Ahuna Mons to form roughly every fifty million years. This makes Ceres the closest known cryovolcanic body to the Sun, and the brines provide a potential habitat for microbial life.

American services and supply in the Siegfried Line campaign, nominated by Hawkeye7

American services and supply played a crucial part in the World War II Siegfried Line campaign, which ran from the end of the pursuit of the German armies from Normandy in mid-September 1944 until December 1944, when the American forces were engulfed by the German Ardennes offensive.

Ray Reardon, nominated by BennyOnTheLoose and Rodney Baggins

Raymond Reardon (born 8 October 1932) is a Welsh retired professional snooker player. He turned professional in 1967 aged 35 and dominated the sport in the 1970s, winning the World Snooker Championship six times and more than a dozen other tournaments. Reardon was World Champion in 1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1978, and runner-up in 1982.

Fallout (video game), nominated by Lazman321

Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game is a 1997 role-playing video game developed and published by Interplay Productions. In a mid-22nd century post-apocalyptic and retro-futuristic world, decades after a global nuclear war, Fallout's protagonist, the Vault Dweller, inhabits the underground nuclear shelter Vault 13.

1899 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, nominated by Wehwalt

An election for the United States Senate was held by the Pennsylvania General Assembly beginning on January 17, 1899, to fill the seat then held by Matthew Quay for a six year term beginning March 4, 1899. Quay was a candidate for re-election, but was damaged by a pending indictment for involvement in financial irregularities with state money; his trial took place during the three months that the legislature attempted to resolve the Senate deadlock, and he was acquitted the day it adjourned, having failed to elect a senator. Quay was appointed to the Senate seat by the governor, but the Senate refused to seat him on the grounds that the governor lacked the constitutional authority to make the selection, and the seat remained vacant until the next meeting of the legislature, in 1901, when Quay was elected.

4th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, nominated by Kges1901

The 4th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the Union Army in the American Civil War. Formed mostly from a militia unit in Norristown in southeastern Pennsylvania, the regiment enlisted at the beginning of the American Civil War in April 1861 for a three-month period of service under the command of Colonel John F. Hartranft. Logistical difficulties bedeviled the regiment, which served as part of the garrison of Washington, D.C. until late June, when it was sent into northern Virginia to join the army of Brigadier General Irvin McDowell. The regiment suffered its only combat casualties in a picket action on June 30 and was sent back to be mustered out on the eve of the First Battle of Bull Run owing to disagreement among the men over remaining with the army after the expiration of their term of service. Its men were denounced as cowards for being members of the only regiment to refuse to fight at the July 21 battle.

Phosphatodraco, nominated by FunkMonk

Phosphatodraco is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous of what is now Morocco. In 2000, a pterosaur specimen consisting of five cervical (neck) vertebrae was discovered in the Ouled Abdoun Phosphatic Basin. The specimen was made the holotype of the new genus and species Phosphatodraco mauritanicus in 2003. It is one of the only known azhdarchids preserving a relatively complete neck, and was one of the last known pterosaurs.

Discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, nominated by A. Parrot

The tomb of Tutankhamun was discovered in the Valley of the Kings in 1922 by excavators led by the Egyptologist Howard Carter. Whereas the tombs of most pharaohs were plundered in ancient times, Tutankhamun's tomb was hidden by debris for most of its existence and not extensively robbed. It thus became the first known largely intact royal burial from ancient Egypt.

Shefali Shah, nominated by Shshshsh (Shahid)

Shefali Shah (born Shefali Shetty on 22 May 1972) is an Indian actress of film, television and theatre. Respected for her acting prowess, she works primarily in independent Hindi films and has received local and foreign accolades for her performances.

"Deja Vu" (Olivia Rodrigo song), nominated by MaranoFan (NØ)

"Deja Vu" is a song by American singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo. It was released on April 1, 2021, as the second single from her debut studio album Sour (2021). Rodrigo wrote the song with its producer Dan Nigro, with Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, and St. Vincent receiving writing credits for its interpolation of Swift's 2019 song "Cruel Summer". An incorporation of various pop sub-genres, "Deja Vu" is about heartbreak and explores Rodrigo's anguish about her ex-partner repeating things they did in his new relationship.

John Raymond science fiction magazines, nominated by Mike Christie

Between 1952 and 1954, John Raymond published four digest-size science fiction magazines. Raymond was an American publisher of men's magazines who knew little about science fiction, but the field's rapid growth and a distributor's recommendation prompted him to pursue the genre. Raymond consulted and then hired Lester del Rey to edit the first magazine, Space Science Fiction, which appeared in May 1952. Following a second distributor's suggestion that year, Raymond launched Science Fiction Adventures, which del Rey again edited, but under an alias. In 1953, Raymond gave del Rey two more magazines to edit: Rocket Stories, which targeted a younger audience, and Fantasy Magazine, which published fantasy rather than science fiction.

Electric eel, nominated by Chiswick Chap

The electric eels are a genus, Electrophorus, of neotropical freshwater fish from South America in the family Gymnotidae. They are known for their ability to stun their prey by generating electricity, delivering shocks at up to 860 volts. Their electrical capabilities were first studied in 1775, contributing to the invention in 1800 of the electric battery.

Low Memorial Library, nominated by Epicgenius

The Low Memorial Library is a building at the center of Columbia University's Morningside Heights campus in Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building, located near 116th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, was designed by Charles Follen McKim of the firm McKim, Mead & White. The library was built as part of Columbia University's Morningside Heights campus, which was developed in the 1890s according to a master plan by McKim. When Low Library was completed, it was poorly suited for library use, becoming overcrowded from the early 20th century. Low's central location, however, made it a focal point of the university's campus. Following the completion of the much larger Butler Library in 1934, the Low Memorial Library was converted to administrative offices.

"Village Green" (song), nominated by Tkbrett

"Village Green" is a song by the English rock band the Kinks from their sixth studio album, The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (1968). Written and sung by the band's principal songwriter, Ray Davies, the song was first recorded in November 1966 during the sessions for Something Else by the Kinks (1967) but was re-recorded in February 1967. Both the composition and instrumentation of "Village Green" evoke Baroque music, especially its prominently featured harpsichord played by session keyboardist Nicky Hopkins. Unlike most of the band's late 1960s recordings, it employs real orchestral instruments, including oboe, cello, viola and piccolo, as arranged by English composer David Whitaker.

Yuzuru Hanyu Olympic seasons, nominated by ErnestKrause, Henni147, and Yolo4A4Lo

Yuzuru Hanyu, a former competitive figure skater from Japan, has participated at the Winter Olympic Games three times, winning two gold medals (in 2014 and 2018) and placing fourth in 2022. In 2014, he became the first Asian men's singles skater to win the Olympics. At nineteen years old, he was also the youngest male skater to win the Olympic title since American Dick Button in 1948. In 2018, Hanyu became the first male single skater in 66 years to win two consecutive Olympic gold medals since Button in 1952.

Prince Octavius of Great Britain, nominated by Unlimitedlead

Prince Octavius of Great Britain (23 February 1779 – 3 May 1783) was the thirteenth child and eighth son of King George III and his queen consort, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Six months after the death of his younger brother Prince Alfred, Octavius was inoculated against the smallpox virus. Several days later, he became ill. His subsequent death at the age of four devastated his parents, and in particular his father. King George III had been very fond of his two youngest sons, Alfred and Octavius, and his later bouts of madness involved hallucinations of his two dead sons.

Osbert Parsley, nominated by Amitchell125

Osbert Parsley was an English Renaissance composer and chorister. His career spanned the reigns of Henry VIII and all three of his children. Parsley wrote mainly church music for both the Latin and English rites, as well as instrumental music. His Latin settings are considered to be more fluent and attractive-sounding than those he wrote to be sung in English. His longest composition, Conserva me, domine, was in an elegant polyphonic style. Parsley's other liturgical works include two Morning Services, an Evening Service, and the five-part Lamentations (notable for the difficulty in singing the top notes of the highest part). His instrumental music, nearly all for viols, including six consort pieces, was written in a style that combines both his Latin and English vocal styles. Some of his incomplete instrumental music has survived. Parsley died in Norwich in 1585 and was buried in Norwich Cathedral.

Fort Southerland, nominated by Hog Farm

Fort Southerland is a redoubt built during the American Civil War to protect Camden, Arkansas. Confederate forces built it along with four other redoubts in early 1864 after a Union victory in the Little Rock campaign the previous year.

Securitas depot robbery, nominated by Mujinga

The Securitas depot robbery was a 2006 heist in Tonbridge, Kent, which was the UK's largest cash robbery. It began with a kidnapping on the evening of 21 February and ended in the early hours of 22 February, when seven criminals stole almost £53 million. The gang left behind another £154 million because they did not have the means to transport it.

After doing surveillance and putting an inside man to work at the depot, the gang abducted the manager and his family. The same night, they tricked their way inside the depot and tied up fourteen workers at gunpoint. The criminals stole £52,996,760 in used and unused Bank of England sterling banknotes. Most of the getaway vehicles were found in the following week, one containing £1.3 million in stolen notes. In raids by Kent Police, £9 million was recovered in Welling and £8 million in Southborough; by 2007, 36 people had been arrested in relation to the crime. However, a decade later, £32 million had not been recovered, and several suspects were still on the run.

The Random Years, nominated by Aoba47

The Random Years is an American sitcom created by Michael Lisbe and Nate Reger that aired for four episodes on the United Paramount Network (UPN) in March 2002. The Random Years was created alongside As If as mid-season replacements for the show Roswell, but both received the lowest ratings of any original program aired that season on network television, and UPN canceled the series after four of its seven filmed episodes aired.

1973–74 Gillingham F.C. season, nominated by ChrisTheDude

During the 1973–74 English football season, Gillingham F.C. competed in the Football League Fourth Division, the fourth tier of the English football league system. It was the 42nd season in which Gillingham competed in the Football League, and the 24th since the club was voted back into the league in 1950. In their final game of the season on 1 May, first-placed Gillingham lost to second-placed Peterborough United, who overtook them to win the championship of the division, they nonetheless advanced to the Third Division for the season after.

Katana Zero, nominated by TheJoebro64

Katana Zero is a 2019 platform game created by the indie developer Justin Stander. Set in a dystopian metropolis, the neo-noir storyline follows Subject Zero, a katana-wielding assassin with amnesia who can slow down time and predict the future. Zero unravels his past while completing assassination contracts.

2022 Masters (snooker), nominated by HurricaneHiggins and Lee Vilenski

The 2022 Masters (officially the 2022 Cazoo Masters') was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 9 and 16 January 2022 at Alexandra Palace in London, England. It was won by Neil Robertson.

2021 British Open, nominated by Lee Vilenski

The 2021 British Open (officially the 2021 Matchroom.live British Open) was a professional snooker event played from 16 to 22 August 2021 at the Morningside Arena, Leicester, England. It was won by Mark Williams.

Farseer trilogy, nominated by Olivaw-Daneel and Vanamonde93

The Farseer trilogy is a series of fantasy novels by American author Robin Hobb, published from 1995 to 1997. Set in and around the fictional realm of the Six Duchies, it tells the story of FitzChivalry Farseer (known as Fitz), an illegitimate son of a prince who is trained as an assassin. Political machinations within the royal family threaten his life, and the kingdom is beset by naval raids. Fitz possesses two forms of magic: the telepathic Skill that runs in the royal line, and the socially despised Wit that enables bonding with animals. The series follows his life as he seeks to restore stability to the kingdom.

Al-Muti, nominated by Cplakidas (Constantine)

Abū ʾl-Qāsim al-Faḍl ibn al-Muqtadir better known by his regnal name of al-Mutīʿ li-ʾllāh, was the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 946 to 974, ruling under the tutelage of the Buyid emirs. His reign represented the nadir of the Abbasid caliphate's power and authority. In previous decades, the secular authority of the caliphs had shrunk to Iraq, and even there had been curtailed by powerful warlords; with the Buyid conquest of Baghdad, it was now abolished entirely. The very fact of his subordination and powerlessness helped restore some stability to the caliphal institution: in stark contrast to his short-lived and violently deposed predecessors, al-Muti enjoyed a long and relatively unchallenged tenure. During his reign, the rise of Shi'a regimes across the Middle East directly challenged Sunni and Abbasid predominance, with the expanding Fatimid Caliphate posing an ideological and political challenge to the Abbasids. During al-Muti's reign, the Fatimids conquered Egypt and started to expand into the Levant, threatening Baghdad itself.

Galton Bridge, nominated by HJ Mitchell

The Galton Bridge is a cast-iron bridge in Smethwick, near Birmingham, England, built by Thomas Telford to carry a road across the new main line of the Birmingham Canal, which was built in a deep cutting. The bridge is 70 ft (21 m) above the canal, making it reputedly the highest single-span arch bridge in the world when it was built, 26 ft (7.9 m) wide, and 150 ft (46 m) long. The Galton Bridge is in cast iron, forged at the nearby Horseley Ironworks, with masonry abutments. The design includes decorative lamp-posts and X-shaped bracing in the spandrels.

Eunice Newton Foote, nominated by SusunW

Eunice Newton Foote (July 17, 1819 – September 30, 1888) was an American scientist, inventor, and women's rights campaigner. She was the first scientist to conclude that certain gases warmed when exposed to sunlight, and that rising carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels would change atmospheric temperature and could impact climate. Born in Connecticut, Foote was raised in New York at the center of social and political movements of her day, such as the abolition of slavery, anti-alcohol activism, and women's rights. Foote died in 1888 and for almost a hundred years her contributions were unknown, before being rediscovered by women academics in the twentieth century. In the twenty-first century, new interest in Foote arose when it was realized that her work predated discoveries made by John Tyndall, who had been recognized by scientists as the first person to experimentally show the mechanism of the greenhouse effect involving infrared radiation. Detailed examination of her work by modern scientists has confirmed that three years before Tyndall published his paper in 1859, Foote discovered that water vapor and CO₂ absorb heat from sunlight. Furthermore, her view that variances in the atmospheric levels of water vapor and CO₂ would result in climate change, preceded Tyndall's 1861 publication by five years.

Duckport Canal nominated by Hog Farm

An unsuccessful military venture by Union forces during the Vicksburg campaign of the American Civil War, the Duckport Canal was ordered built in late March 1863 by Major General Ulysses S. Grant. It stretched from the Mississippi River near Duckport, Louisiana, to New Carthage, Louisiana, and utilized a series of swampy bayous for much of its path. It was intended to provide a water-based supply route for a southward movement against the Confederate-held city of Vicksburg, Mississippi, as high water levels made overland travel difficult. The day after it was completed on April 12, the levee separating the canal and the Mississippi was breached, and water flowed into the canal but trees in the bayous and falling water levels hampered its use and the project was abandoned on May 4. Grant instead moved men and supplies through the overland route, which had been made more accessible by the same falling water levels that doomed the canal. After a lengthy siege, Vicksburg surrendered on July 4, marking a turning point in the war.

HMS Aigle (1801) nominated by Ykraps

HMS Aigle was a 36-gun, fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Ordered on 15 September 1799 and built at Bucklers Hard shipyard, she was launched 23 September 1801. Much of Aigle's career as a frigate was spent trying to keep the English Channel free of enemy warships and merchant vessels, but notable events included: her crew's involvement in the Easton Massacre when she visited Portland in April 1803 to press recruits, which resulted in a murder trial; action at the Battle of Basque Roads and in the Walcheren Campaign in 1809; and providing naval support during the invasion and occupation of the city of Genoa in 1811. After two refits, In 1852, she became a coal hulk and receiving ship before being used as a target for torpedoes and sold for breaking in 1870.

Aliens (film), nominated by Darkwarriorblake

Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film written and directed by James Cameron. It is the sequel to the 1979 science fiction horror film Alien, and the second film in the Alien franchise. The film is set in the far future; Sigourney Weaver stars as Ellen Ripley, the sole survivor of an alien attack on her ship. When communications are lost with a human colony on the moon where her crew first saw the alien creatures, Ripley agrees to return to the site with a unit of Colonial Marines to investigate. Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen, and Carrie Henn feature in supporting roles.

One featured topic, by PresN was promoted in October.

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Lagomorphs

3 articles

Species in Leporidae

Species in Ochotonidae

Ten featured lists were promoted in October.

List of World Heritage Sites in Cambodia and List of World Heritage Sites in Thailand, nominated by Tone

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designates World Heritage Sites of outstanding universal value to cultural or natural heritage which have been nominated by signatories to the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention. The lists for them are always full of beautiful images, and the summaries on here are always basically what I just said.

List of Bullfrog Productions games, nominated by PresN

Bullfrog Productions was a British video game developer located in Guildford, England. It was founded in 1987 by Peter Molyneux and Les Edgar as a successor to their software company Taurus Impact Systems, with Molyneux as the studio's chief game designer. They are perhaps best known for the Populous and Dungeon Keeper series of video games.

Coldplay videography, nominated by GustavoCza

British rock band Coldplay have released 65 music videos, four video albums and six films, appearing on multiple television shows throughout their career as well. They were formed in London by Chris Martin (lead vocals, piano), Jonny Buckland (guitar), Guy Berryman (bass guitar), Will Champion (drums, percussion) and Phil Harvey (creative direction).

List of accolades received by Star Wars: The Force Awakens, nominated by Chompy Ace

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a 2015 American epic space opera film produced, co-written, and directed by J. J. Abrams. It received five nominations at the 88th Academy Awards, where John Williams received the Academy Award for Best Original Score.

Member states of the International Labour Organization, nominated by Goldsztajn

The International Labour Organization (ILO), a tripartite specialized agency of the United Nations that sets international standards related to work, has 187 member states, as of August 2022^[update].

List of Billboard number-one R&B songs of 1955 and List of Billboard number-one R&B songs of 1956, nominated by ChrisTheDude

List of Billboard Latin Pop Airplay number ones of 1998, nominated by Magiciandude (Erick)

List of Philippine submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, nominated by Pseud 14

And here's why I kind of hate writing about featured lists. These four lists are the kind that are impossible to summarise well, as the interesting facts are in the details. One can talk about, for example, how rock and roll pioneer Chuck Berry had a lengthy run at number one on all three rhythm and blues charts with "Maybellene" in 1955, but that hardly summarises the whole year, let alone dealing with every Phillipine film submitted for consisderation at any Academy Award ceremony. And you can't really just define them as the titles kind of define themselves. By all means read (or, at least, skim) them, though. They're interesting, just hard to summarise.