Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2023-02-20/Featured content
Featured content
Eden, lost.
Expulsion from the Garden of Eden by Thomas Cole, one of our newest featured pictures
This Signpost "Featured content" report covers material promoted from the last half of January (16-31). Quotes are generally from the articles, but may be abridged or simplified for length.
Well, it's been a busy period for me. Finally saw my dad again after three years of COVID, and, while I was there, had my house broken into, but my neighbours looked out for me and nothing was taken. I'm finally starting to relax, get things together, check the Signpost schedule and see we're publishing 9 days after the last issue. ...Sure. Can work with that. Kinda. There are, at least, far fewer featured articles than last issue. I've borrowed two article descriptions from The Bugle to make it a little easier to summarise complex battles. (And then we delayed publication for nearly a week. Well, you get what you get.)
—Adam
Featured articles
Eight featured articles were promoted this period.
- Battle of Lake Trasimene, nominated by Gog the Mild
- Another in Gog's series on the Punic Wars, his succinct description being "Hannibal arrives in Roman Italy and inflicts 100% casualties on a Roman army in a single day. A defeat simply begging for an adjective." It took place when Hannibal's Carthaginians ambushed the Romans under Gaius Flaminius in June 217 BC, on the north shore of Lake Trasimene, during the Second Punic War. With the Carthaginians attacking unexpectedly from the flank and the rear, there was no chance for the Romans to form even a rudimentary fighting line and they were defeated after three hours' hard fighting. The trap failed to close on the 6,000 Romans at the front of the column, who escaped; later that day they were surrounded by pursuing Carthaginians and surrendered. Thus all 25,000 Romans in Flaminius's army were killed or captured. This destruction of an entire army as a result of such an ambush is widely considered a unique occurrence. For good measure, a few days later the Carthaginians wiped out the entire cavalry force of a second Roman army.
- 1937–38 Gillingham F.C. season, nominated by ChrisTheDude
- During the 1937–38 English football season, Gillingham F.C. competed in the Football League Third Division South, the third tier of the English football league system. The team won only three times in nineteen Football League matches between August and December; in November and December they played six league games and lost every one without scoring a goal, leaving them bottom of the division at the end of 1937. Although Gillingham's performances improved in the second half of the season, with seven wins between January and May, they remained in last place at the end of the season, meaning that the club was required to apply for re-election to the League. The application was rejected, and as a result the club lost its place in the Football League and joined the regional Southern League.
- High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, nominated by SatDis
- High School Musical: The Musical: The Series is an American mockumentary musical drama television series created for Disney+ by Tim Federle, inspired by the High School Musical film series. Set at a fictionalized version of East High School, the school at which the original movies were filmed, the first season follows a group of teenage theater enthusiasts who participate in a staging of High School Musical: The Musical as their school production.
- Simonie Michael, nominated by Astrophobe
- Simonie Michael (Inuktitut: ᓴᐃᒨᓂ ᒪᐃᑯᓪ; 1933 – November 15, 2008) was a Canadian politician from the eastern Northwest Territories (later Nunavut) who was the first Inuk elected to a legislature in Canada. Before becoming involved in politics, Michael worked as a carpenter and business owner, and was one of very few translators between Inuktitut and English. He became a prominent member of the Inuit co-operative housing movement and a community activist in Iqaluit, and was appointed to a series of governing bodies, including the precursor to the Iqaluit City Council. After becoming the first elected Inuk member of the Northwest Territories Legislative Council in 1966, Michael worked on infrastructural and public health initiatives. He is credited with bringing public attention to the dehumanizing effects of the disc number system that was used in place of surnames for Inuit, and with prompting the government to authorise Project Surname to replace the numbers with names.
- Constantine (son of Basil I), nominated by Iazyges
- Constantine (‹See Tfd›Greek: Κωνσταντῖνος; born between 855 and c. 865, died 3 September 879) was a junior Byzantine emperor, alongside Basil I as the senior emperor, from January 868 to 3 September 879. Constantine was made co-emperor by Basil in c. January 868. Constantine was the intended heir of Basil and as such received much attention from him and accompanied him on military campaigns, including one in Syria, for which he shared a triumph. In comparison, his younger brother, Leo VI (r. 886–912), was made co-emperor merely to secure the imperial lineage and bolster legitimacy. However, Constantine died of fever on 3 September 879, before his father. After his death, Leo became the primary heir, and another brother, Alexander (r. 912–913), was raised to co-emperor.
- 2022 World Snooker Championship, nominated by HurricaneHiggins and Lee Vilenski
- The 2022 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 16 April to 2 May 2022 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the 46th consecutive year the World Snooker Championship was held at the venue. The 16th and final ranking event of the 2021–22 snooker season, the tournament was organised by the World Snooker Tour and sponsored by sports betting company Betfred.
- When Megan Went Away, nominated by Bobamnertiopsis (a.k.a. Colin)
- When Megan Went Away is a 1979 children's picture book written by Jane Severance and illustrated by Tea Schook. It is the first picture book to include any LGBT characters, and specifically the first to feature lesbian characters, a distinction sometimes erroneously bestowed upon Lesléa Newman's Heather Has Two Mommies (1989). The book, published by the independent press Lollipop Power, depicts a child named Shannon dealing with the separation of her mother and her mother's partner, Megan.
- As a lesbian working in a feminist bookstore in Denver in her early twenties, Severance sought to rectify the lack of picture book content for children with lesbian parents. When Megan Went Away was not widely distributed upon publication although the text of the story was republished by the magazine Ms. in 1986 under the pen name R. Minta Day. The work proved divisive among critics, some praising the story for being an anti-sexist example of lesbian life and others finding its depiction of same-sex separation poorly timed, arriving at a moment when lesbian motherhood was on the rise. Copies of When Megan Went Away were primarily accessible in archives and library special collections as of the 2010s.
- Great Gold Robbery, nominated by SchroCat
- The Great Gold Robbery took place on the night of 15 May 1855, when a routine shipment of three boxes of gold bullion and coins was stolen from the guard's van of the service between London Bridge station and Folkestone while it was being shipped to Paris. The robbers comprised four men, two of whom—William Tester and James Burgess—were employees of the South Eastern Railway (SER), the company that ran the rail service. They were joined by the planners of the crime: Edward Agar, a career criminal, and William Pierce, a former employee of the SER who had been dismissed for being a gambler.
- During transit, the gold was held in "railway safes", which needed two keys to open. The men took wax impressions of the keys and made their own copies. When they knew a shipment was taking place, Tester ensured Burgess was on guard duty, and Agar hid in the guard's van. They emptied the safes of 224 pounds (102 kg) of gold, valued at the time at £12,000 (approximately equivalent to £1,416,000 in 2023), then Pierce and Agar left the train at Dover. The police and railway authorities had no clues as to who had undertaken the theft, and arguments ensued as to whether it had been stolen in England, on the ship crossing the English Channel, or on the French leg of the journey.
- When Agar was arrested for another crime, he asked Pierce to provide Fanny Kay—his former girlfriend—and child with funds. Pierce agreed and then reneged. In need of money, Kay went to the governor of Newgate Prison and told him who had undertaken the theft. Agar was questioned, admitted his guilt and testified as a witness. Pierce, Tester and Burgess were all arrested, tried and found guilty of the theft. Pierce received a sentence of two years' hard labour in England; Tester and Burgess were sentenced to penal transportation for 14 years.
Featured pictures
Twenty-one featured pictures were promoted this period, including the ones at the top and bottom of this article.
Featured lists
Nine featured lists were promoted this period.
- List of awards and nominations received by Zayn Malik, nominated by Harushiga
- English singer Zayn Malik has garnered numerous awards and nominations throughout his career, which began in 2010 through the formation of the boy band One Direction. Malik received two Pop Awards at the BMI London Awards for co-writing the band's songs "Story of My Life" and "Night Changes". He left the group in 2015 and signed a solo record deal with RCA Records. He began his solo career in 2016, which led to many more successes.
- List of lilioid families, nominated by Dank
- The lilioid monocots are a group of 33 interrelated families of flowering plants. They generally have tepals (indistinguishable petals and sepals) similar to those on the true lilies (Lilium). Like other monocots, they usually have a single embryonic leaf (cotyledon) in their seeds, leaves with parallel veins, scattered vascular systems, flower parts in multiples of three, and roots that can develop in more than one place along the stems.
- List of Los Angeles Chargers starting quarterbacks, nominated by Harper J. Cole
- The Los Angeles Chargers are an American football franchise who play in the National Football League (NFL). They began play in Los Angeles in 1960 as charter members of the American Football League (AFL), switched cities to San Diego the following season, and returned to Los Angeles in 2017. The AFL was formed as rivals to the established NFL, though the leagues would later merge, with all AFL teams including the Chargers officially joining the NFL in 1970.
- List of World Heritage Sites in Sri Lanka, nominated by Tone
- We've talked about World Heritage sites a lot, because a lot of work has gone into them, largely thanks to Tone. As of 2022[update], Sri Lanka has eight sites on the list. The first three sites, the Ancient City of Polonnaruwa, the Ancient City of Sigiriya, and the Sacred City of Anuradhapura, were listed in 1982. The most recent site, the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka, was listed in 2010. The Central Highlands and the Sinharaja Forest Reserve are natural sites, the other six are cultural. In addition, Sri Lanka has three sites on its tentative list.
- List of Hot R&B Sides number ones of 1959, nominated by ChrisTheDude
- Another of our series on the Billboard record charts, featuring the most popular music in various genres for each year.
- Paul Rudd on screen and stage, nominated by Lady Lotus
- Paul Rudd is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. His career began in 1992 when he played a recurring role in the television series Sisters until 1995. In 1995, he made his film debut opposite Alicia Silverstone in the cult film Clueless, and starred as Tommy Doyle in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers. Rudd has frequently collaborated with filmmaker Judd Apatow in such comedy films as Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Knocked Up (2007), Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), This Is 40 (2012), and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013). Since 2015, he has played Scott Lang / Ant-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing in Ant-Man (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019). He has also starred in the supernatural comedy film Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021).
- List of lamiid families, nominated by Dank
- The lamiids are a group of about 40 interrelated families of flowering plants. They include about 40,000 species, representing one-seventh of the total diversity of flowering plants, and about half of all asterid species. Like most asterids, they tend to have petals that are fused with each other and with the bases of the stamens, and just one integument (covering) around the embryo sac. In lamiids, the fusion of the petals tends to occur late in their development, and the bases of the petals are usually beneath the ovaries.
- List of bibliographies of works on Catullus, nominated by Umimmak
- Gaius Valerius Catullus (c. 84 – c. 54 BCE) was a Latin poet and a leading figure of the Neoterics. Catullus and his poetry, comprising 113 poems, have been the subjects of many books and papers in classical studies and other fields, including literary criticism, gender studies, and cultural studies; there are many critical editions, commentaries, translations and student guides of his poetry as well. Even in 1890, Max Bonnet wrote that Catullus was "inundated" with academic publications concerning his life and works.
- List of National Football League annual receptions leaders, nominated by Newtothisedit
- In American football, passing, along with running (also referred to as rushing), is one of the two main methods of advancing the ball down the field. Passes are typically attempted by the quarterback, but any offensive player can attempt a pass provided they are behind the line of scrimmage. To qualify as a passing play, the ball must have initially moved forward after leaving the hands of the passer; if the ball initially moved laterally or backwards, the play would instead be considered a running play.
The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple by William Holman Hunt, another of this fortnight-and-a-bit's featured pictures
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