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This week's Signpost report
Featured content
This Signpost "Featured content" report covers material promoted from 5 to 18 February.
Text may be adapted from the respective articles and lists; see their page histories for attribution.
The dominance of articles continues
Text may be adapted from the respective articles and lists; see their page histories for attribution.
Featured articles
During his world tour, King Kalākaua met with heads of state in Asia, the Mideast and Europe, to encourage an influx of sugar plantation labor.
Fifteen featured articles were promoted, continuing to outnumber lists and pictures.
- Wolfenstein 3D (nominated by PresN) is a first-person shooter video game developed by id Software and published by Apogee Software and FormGen. Originally released in 1992, for MS-DOS, it was inspired by the 1981 Muse Software video game Castle Wolfenstein. In Wolfenstein 3D, the player assumes the role of Allied spy William "B.J." Blazkowicz during World War II as he escapes from the Nazi German prison Castle Wolfenstein and carries out a series of crucial missions against the Nazis. The player traverses through each of the game's levels to find an elevator to the next level or kill a final boss, fighting Nazi soldiers, dogs, and other enemies with knives, pistols, and other guns. It was a critical and commercial success, garnering numerous awards and selling over 200,000 copies by the end of 1993. It is widely regarded as having helped popularize the first-person shooter genre and establishing the standard of fast-paced action and technical prowess for many subsequent games in the genre, as well as showcasing the viability of the shareware publishing model at the time.
- Nelson Mandela (nominated by Midnightblueowl) (1918–2013) was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician, and philanthropist, who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by tackling institutionalised racism and fostering racial reconciliation. Ideologically an African nationalist and socialist, he served as President of the African National Congress party from 1991 to 1997.
- The Virgin and Child Enthroned (nominated by Ceoil) is a small oil-on-oak panel painting dated c. 1433, usually attributed to the Early Netherlandish artist Rogier van der Weyden. It is closely related to his Madonna Standing, completed during the same period. The panel is filled with Christian iconography, including representations of prophets, the Annunciation, Christ's infancy and resurrection, and Mary's Coronation. It is generally accepted as the earliest extant work by van der Weyden, one of three works attributed to him of the Virgin and Child enclosed in a niche on an exterior wall of a Gothic church. The panel is housed in the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, in Madrid.
- Science fiction and fantasy magazines began to be published in the United States (nominated by Mike Christie) in the 1920s. Stories with science fiction themes had been appearing for decades in pulp magazines, but there were no magazines that specialized in a single genre until 1915, when Street & Smith, one of the major pulp publishers, brought out Detective Story Magazine. Fifty science fiction and fantasy magazines were published until 1950.
- The Coinage Act of 1965 (nominated by Wehwalt) eliminated silver from the circulating United States dime (ten-cent piece) and quarter dollar coins. It also reduced the silver content of the half dollar from 90 percent to 40 percent; silver in the half dollar was subsequently eliminated by a 1970 law. There were coin shortages beginning in 1959, and the United States Bureau of the Mint expanded production to try to meet demand. The Bureau of the Mint increased production, helping reduce the coin shortages by May 1965, but government stocks of silver were being rapidly reduced, and threatened to run out by 1968. After extensive study by the United States Department of the Treasury, President Lyndon B. Johnson in June 1965 recommended that Congress pass legislation to allow for silverless dimes and quarters, and debased silver half dollars. Although there was some opposition, mainly from legislators representing Western mining states, the bill progressed rapidly through Congress, and was enacted with Johnson's signature in July 1965.
- The grey jay (nominated by Ivanvector and Casliber) (Perisoreus canadensis) is a passerine bird of the family Corvidae. It is found in boreal forests of North America north to the tree line, and in the Rocky Mountains subalpine zone south to New Mexico and Arizona. A fairly large songbird, the grey jay has pale grey underparts, darker grey upperparts, and a grey-white head with a darker grey nape. It is one of three members of the genus Perisoreus, a small genus more closely related to the Cyanopica genus of magpies than to other birds known as jays. The grey jay itself has nine recognized subspecies.
- Nike-X (nominated by Maury Markowitz) was an anti-ballistic missile system designed in the 1960s by the United States Army to protect major cities in the United States from attacks by the Soviet Union's intercontinental ballistic missile fleet during the Cold War. The X in the name referred to its experimental basis and was supposed to be replaced by a more appropriate name when the system was put into production. This never came to pass; the Nike-X program was canceled and replaced by a much lighter defense system known as Sentinel.
- Gabriel Pleydell (nominated by Curlymanjaro) (fl. 1519 – c.1591) was an English landowner and politician who served as member for the Wootton Bassett and Marlborough constituencies in the Parliament of England. Pleydell's political and personal life is marked by legal controversy. Almost always a defendant in court, known allegations include the forced expulsion of residents from a country manor, forcible entry into and seizure of goods from a private property, unlawfully protecting convicts from justice, forging documents for his own benefit, and illegal hunting. He was alleged to be one of the ringleaders of a plot to exile Queen Mary I of England, and is perhaps best known for his contentious claim of parliamentary privilege after he was found guilty of this offence in 1555, an action which caused serious disagreement between the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
- The Ninety-five Theses (nominated by Jfhutson) are a list of propositions for an academic disputation written in 1517 by Martin Luther, professor of moral theology at the University of Wittenberg, Germany, that started the Protestant Reformation, a schism in the Catholic Church which profoundly changed Europe. They advance Luther's positions against what he saw as abusive practices by preachers selling plenary indulgences, which were certificates believed to reduce the temporal punishment for sins committed by the purchasers themselves or their loved ones in purgatory. In the Theses, Luther claimed that the repentance required by Christ in order for sins to be forgiven involves inner spiritual repentance rather than merely external sacramental confession.
- Zenobia (nominated by Attar-Aram syria) (c.240–c.274) was a third-century queen of the Syria-based Palmyrene Empire. Many legends surround her ancestry; she was certainly born to a noble Palmyrene family and married the ruler of the city, Odaenathus. Her husband became king in 260, elevating Palmyra to supreme power in the Near East by defeating the Sassanians and stabilizing the Roman East. After Odaenathus' assassination, Zenobia became the regent of her son Vaballathus and held de facto power throughout his reign. In 270, Zenobia launched an invasion which brought most of the Roman East under her sway and culminated with the annexation of Egypt. By mid-271 her realm extended from Ankara in the north to southern Egypt, although she remained nominally subordinate to Rome. However, in reaction to Roman emperor Aurelian's campaign in 272, Zenobia declared her son emperor and assumed the title of empress (declaring Palmyra's secession from Rome). The Romans were victorious after heavy fighting; the queen was besieged in her capital and captured by Aurelian, who exiled her to Rome where she spent the remainder of her life.
- House of Music (nominated by Dan56) is the fourth studio album by American R&B group Tony! Toni! Toné! After the success of 1993's Sons of Soul album and a hiatus marked by individual musical projects, the members of Tony! Toni! Toné! regrouped in 1995 and began recording House of Music at studios in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Oakland, and Sacramento. It was released in 1996 by Mercury Records. It charted for 31 weeks on the Billboard 200, peaking at number 32, and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The record also received widespread acclaim from critics, who praised Tony! Toni! Toné!'s musicianship and songwriting. An expected international tour to promote the album did not materialize amid growing tensions within the group stemming from creative differences. House of Music was Tony! Toni! Toné!'s last album, as they disbanded shortly after its release to pursue separate music careers.
- No. 37 Squadron (nominated by Ian Rose) is a Royal Australian Air Force medium tactical airlift squadron. It operates Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules aircraft from RAAF Base Richmond, New South Wales. The squadron has seen active service flying transport aircraft during World War II, the Vietnam War, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the military intervention against ISIL. It has also supported Australian humanitarian and peacekeeping operations around the world, including in Somalia, East Timor, Bali, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines.
- The great spotted woodpecker (nominated by Jimfbleak) (Dendrocopos major) is a medium-sized woodpecker with pied black and white plumage and a red patch on the lower belly. Males and young birds also have red markings on the neck or head. Great spotted woodpeckers chisel into trees to find food or excavate nest holes, and also drum for contact and territorial advertisement; they have anatomical adaptations to manage the physical stresses from the hammering action. It breeds in holes excavated in living or dead trees, unlined apart from wood chips. The typical clutch is four to six glossy white eggs. Both parents incubate the eggs, feed the chicks and keep the nest clean. When the young fledge they are fed by the adults for about ten days, each parent taking responsibility for feeding part of the brood.
- Corvus (nominated by Casliber) is a small constellation in the Southern Celestial Hemisphere. Its name means "raven" in Latin. One of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, it depicts a raven perched on the back of Hydra, the water snake. The four brightest stars, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, and Beta Corvi, form a distinctive quadrilateral in the night sky.
- The 1881 world tour of King Kalākaua (nominated by KAVEBEAR and Maile66) of the Kingdom of Hawaii was his attempt to save the Hawaiian culture and population from extinction through the importation of a labor force from Asia-Pacific nations. His efforts brought the small island nation to the attention of world leaders, but sparked rumors that the kingdom was for sale. In Hawaii there were critics who believed the labor negotiations were just his excuse to see the world. The 281-day trip gave him the distinction of being the first monarch to circumnavigate the globe, just as his 1874 travels had made him the first reigning monarch to visit America and the first honoree of a state dinner at the White House.
Featured lists
Two featured lists were promoted.
- Louisiana is a state located in the Southern United States. According to the 2010 United States Census, Louisiana is the 25th most populous state with 4,533,479 inhabitants and the 33rd largest by land area spanning 43,203.90 sq mi (111,897.6 km2) of land. Louisiana is divided into 64 parishes, and contains 308 incorporated municipalities (nominated by Mattximus) consisting of four consolidated city-parishes, and 304 cities, towns, and villages. According to the 2015 Louisiana Laws Revised Statutes, residents of any unincorporated area may propose to incorporate as a municipality if the area meets prescribed minimum population thresholds. Municipal corporations are divided based on population into three classes: cities, towns, and villages. Those having five thousand inhabitants or more are classified as cities; those having less than five thousand but more than one thousand inhabitants are classified as towns; and those having one thousand or fewer inhabitants are classified as villages.
- Jacques Rivette (1928–2016) was a French film director, screenwriter and film critic. He wrote and directed (nominated by Deoliveirafan) twenty feature films, eight short films and a three-part television documentary. He also acted in small roles and participated in documentaries.
Featured pictures
Six featured pictures were promoted.
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Mount Ararat
(created by Սէրուժ; nominated by EtienneDolet) -
Augusta Victoria Hospital
(created by אורי אלוני; nominated by Tomer T) -
Bee-eaters
(created and nominated by Charlesjsharp) -
Wire-tailed swallow approaching offspring with food
(created by Manojiritty; nominated by Jkadavoor) -
Wire-tailed swallow transferring food to offspring
(created by Manojiritty; nominated by Jkadavoor)
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