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May 25 Wikipedia featured article

2017-05-25T00:00:00Z

The Flying Eagle cent is a one-cent piece that was struck by the Mint of the United States as a pattern coin in 1856, and released for circulation on May 25, 1857. The coin was designed by Mint Chief Engraver James B. Longacre, with the eagle in flight based on the work of Longacre's predecessor, Christian Gobrecht. By the early 1850s, the large cent in circulation (about the size of a half dollar) was becoming both unpopular in commerce and expensive to coin. After experimenting with various sizes and compositions, the Mint decided on an alloy of 88% copper and 12% nickel for a new, smaller cent. After the Mint produced patterns with an 1856 date and gave them to legislators and officials, Congress formally authorized the new piece in February 1857. It was issued in exchange for the worn Spanish colonial silver coin that had circulated in the U.S. until then, as well as for its larger predecessor. So many cents were issued that they choked commercial channels, especially as they were not legal tender and no one had to take them. The eagle design did not strike well, and was replaced in 1859 by Longacre's Indian Head cent. (Full article...)

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May 26 Wikipedia featured article

2017-05-26T00:00:00Z

Akodon spegazzinii, Spegazzini's grass mouse, is a rodent in the genus Akodon. It inhabits grassland and forest in northwestern Argentina at 400 to 3,500 m (1,300 to 11,500 ft) above sea level. Compared with other members of the Akodon boliviensis species group, it is medium in size, with a head-and-body length of 93 to 196 mm (3.7 to 7.7 in) and a mass of 13.0 to 38.0 g (0.46 to 1.34 oz). The coloration of its upperparts varies considerably, from light to dark and from yellowish to reddish brown. The underparts are yellow-brown to gray. The eyes are surrounded by a ring of yellow fur. The skull contains an hourglass-shaped interorbital region (between the eyes), and various features of the skull distinguish the species from its close allies. It reproduces year-round. First named in 1897, the species now includes mice that had been given other names from variable populations. Because it is common and widely distributed in its habitat, it is considered a species of least concern. (Full article...)

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May 27 Wikipedia featured article

2017-05-27T00:00:00Z

Naseeruddin Shah and Kalki Koechlin

Waiting is a 2015 Indian comedy-drama film directed by Anu Menon, released in India on 27 May 2016. Produced by Priti Gupta of Ishka Films and Manish Mundra of Drishyam Films, the film was co-written by Menon and James Ruzicka. It stars Naseeruddin Shah and Kalki Koechlin (pictured) in lead roles, supported by Rajat Kapoor, Suhasini Maniratnam, Arjun Mathur, Ratnabali Bhattacharjee and Rajeev Ravindranathan. Waiting focuses on the relationship between two people from different walks of life who befriend each other in a hospital while taking care of their respective comatose spouses. Neha Parti served as the cinematographer, and singer-songwriter Mikey McCleary composed the score. The film had its world premiere at the Dubai International Film Festival in December 2015, and was also screened at the closing gala of the London Asian Film Festival, where Menon won the Best Director Award. Waiting was well-received by critics, with particular praise for the performances of Koechlin and Shah, and for Menon's direction. (Full article...)

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May 28 Wikipedia featured article

2017-05-28T00:00:00Z

The Menacer is a light gun peripheral released by Sega in 1992 for its Sega Genesis and Sega CD video game consoles, its successor to the Master System Light Phaser. Communicating with a television via an infrared sensor, the gun was bundled with a pack-in six-game cartridge of mostly shooting gallery games. Sega also released a Menacer bundle with Terminator 2: The Arcade Game. Mac Senour was responsible for the Menacer project and designed the six-game pack. He originally proposed non-shooting minigames based on existing Sega licenses, but most of the prototypes were abandoned due to high cost in favor of more shooting-type games. Sega did not plan another first-party release for the Menacer apart from the included multi-game cartridge. Compatible games were published through 1995. The Menacer is remembered as a critical and commercial flop. Critics found the six-game pack subpar and repetitive, and criticized the peripheral's lack of games. The ToeJam & Earl spinoff game was held in the highest regard, and reviewers also recommended the Terminator 2 game. A direct-to-TV light gun that includes the six-game Menacer pack was released in 2005. (Full article...)

Part of the Sega Genesis series, one of Wikipedia's featured topics.

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May 29 Wikipedia featured article

2017-05-29T00:00:00Z

Hands Across Hawthorne was a rally held at the Hawthorne Bridge in Portland, Oregon, on May 29, 2011, in response to an attack on a gay male couple one week earlier for holding hands while walking across the bridge. News of the attack spread throughout the Pacific Northwest and the United States. According to the couple and the Portland Police Bureau, a group of five men followed Brad Forkner and Christopher Rosevear along the bridge before they were physically assaulted. The assault was condemned by Portland's gay mayor, Sam Adams, and its police chief, Mike Reese. The attack prompted volunteers from the Q Center, an LGBT community center and non-profit organization, to form street patrols to monitor Portland's downtown area. Several LGBT and human rights organizations sponsored Hands Across Hawthorne in response to the attack, linking hands across the entire span of the Hawthorne Bridge to show solidarity. More than 4,000 people attended the rally. (Full article...)

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May 30 Wikipedia featured article

2017-05-30T00:00:00Z

Harvey Kurtzman's Jungle Book is a 1959 graphic novel by American cartoonist Harvey Kurtzman. The satirical stories are aimed at an adult audience, in contrast to Kurtzman's earlier work for adolescents in periodicals such as Mad. The social satire in the book's four stories targets Peter Gunn-style private-detective shows, Westerns such as Gunsmoke, capitalist greed in the publishing industry, Freudian pop psychology, and lynch-hungry yokels in the Deep South. Kurtzman had created the satirical Mad in 1952, but left its publisher EC Comics in 1956 after a dispute over financial control. He proposed Jungle Book as an all-original cartoon book to Ballantine Books to replace their successful series of Mad collections, which had moved to another publisher. Ballantine accepted his proposal, albeit with reservations about its commercial viability. Jungle Book was the first mass-market paperback of original comics published in the United States. Though it was not a financial success, it attracted fans and critical acclaim for its brushwork, satirical adult-oriented humor, experimental dialogue balloons, and adventurous page and panel designs. (Full article...)

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May 31 Wikipedia featured article

2017-05-31T00:00:00Z

Mutsu was the second of two Nagato-class dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy at the end of World War I. Named after Mutsu Province, the ship was launched on 31 May 1920. In 1923, a year after commissioning, she carried supplies for the survivors of the Great Kantō earthquake. The ship was modernised in the mid 1930s with improvements to her armour and machinery, and a rebuilt superstructure in the pagoda mast style. Other than participating in the battles of Midway and the Eastern Solomons in 1942, where she saw no significant combat, Mutsu spent most of the first year of the Pacific War in training. She returned to Japan in early 1943. That June, one of her aft magazines detonated while she was at anchor, sinking the ship with the loss of 1,121 crew and visitors. The navy conducted a perfunctory investigation into the cause of her loss, concluded that it was the work of a disgruntled crewmember, and dispersed the survivors in an attempt to conceal the sinking within Japan. Much of the wreck was salvaged after the war and many of its artefacts and relics are on display in Japanese museums. (Full article...)

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June 1 Wikipedia featured article

2017-06-01T00:00:00Z

Monnow Bridge (Welsh: Pont Trefynwy) in Monmouth, Wales, is the only remaining fortified river bridge in Great Britain with its gate tower standing on the bridge. It crosses the River Monnow 500 metres (1,600 ft) above its confluence with the River Wye. According to tradition, construction of Monnow Bridge began in 1272 to replace a Norman timber bridge. Through the medieval era, the English Civil War, and the Chartist uprising, the bridge played a significant role in defending Monmouth. It also served as a toll gate, a gaol, a munitions store, a lodge, an advertising hoarding, and a focus for celebrations. Built predominantly of Old Red Sandstone, the bridge was significantly reconstructed in the 18th and 19th centuries. It then also became a popular subject for artists such as Turner. In the 20th century, it suffered damage from accidents and heavy traffic. After a new road bridge was built downstream in 2004, use of the Monnow Bridge was restricted to pedestrians. Its historical and architectural importance are reflected in its status as a Scheduled Monument and a Grade I listed building. (Full article...)

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June 2 Wikipedia featured article

2017-06-02T00:00:00Z

R. V. C. Bodley (1892–1970) was a British Army officer, author and journalist. After studying at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Bodley was commissioned into the King's Royal Rifle Corps. He served with them during the First World War, where he was given the rank of lieutenant colonel and command of a battalion. After witnessing the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, he grew disillusioned with the military and went to live in the Sahara as a nomad for seven years, at the suggestion of T. E. Lawrence. In 1927 he wrote a successful book on his travels, Algeria From Within, the first of his 18 books. After leaving the Sahara he traveled Asia, and was one of few Westerners allowed access to Japan's South Pacific Mandates during the 1930s. Bodley moved to the United States in 1935, where he worked as a screenwriter, and was hired by Charlie Chaplin in 1936. He re-enlisted in the British Army at the outbreak of the Second World War and was sent to Paris to work for the Ministry of Information. He later returned to the United States, where he was an advisor to the Arabic desk of the United States Office of War Information. (Full article...)

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June 3 Wikipedia featured article

2017-06-03T00:00:00Z

The Demi-Virgin is a three-act play written by Avery Hopwood (pictured). Producer Albert H. Woods staged it on Broadway, where it was one of the most successful plays of the 1921–22 season. The play is a bedroom farce about former couple Gloria Graham and Wally Deane, both movie actors, whose marriage was so brief that the press speculated about whether Gloria was still a virgin. Because it contained suggestive dialog and the female cast wore revealing clothes, the production was considered highly risqué at the time. The script alluded to a contemporary scandal involving actor Fatty Arbuckle, and one scene featured actresses stripping as part of a card game. Reviewers generally panned the play as unfunny and vulgar. A magistrate ruled the play was obscene, and obscenity charges were brought against Woods, but a grand jury declined to indict him. Woods promoted the controversy to increase ticket sales. The play had no long-term literary impact and was never published, but it did stimulate arguments over censorship of theatrical performances. (Full article...)

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