Wikipedia:Today's featured article/December 2004
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December 1
The Battle of the Bulge was the last major German offensive on the Western Front in World War II. It was intended that the German forces would split the Allied line in half, capture Antwerp, sweep north and encircle and destroy four Allied armies, thus forcing them to negotiate for peace. Although unsuccessful, it nevertheless tied down huge amounts of Allied resources, and a slow response to the resulting gap in their lines erased months from their timetable. An alternative analysis is that the offensive allowed the Allies to severely deplete the cream of German army outside the defenses of the Siegfried Line and in poor supply state, greatly easing the assault on Germany afterward. In numerical terms, it is the largest battle the United States Army has ever fought. (more...)
Recently featured: Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 – Celtic Tiger – Mozilla Firefox
December 2
Richard Feynman was one of the most influential American physicists of the 20th century, expanding greatly the theory of quantum electrodynamics. As well as being an inspiring lecturer and amateur musician, he helped in the development of the atomic bomb and was later a member of the panel which investigated the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. For his work on quantum electrodynamics, Feynman was one of the recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physics for 1965, along with Julian Schwinger and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga. (more...)
Recently featured: Battle of the Bulge – Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 – Celtic Tiger
December 3
India is a large multicultural country in South Asia, with a population of over one billion. The Indian economy is the fourth largest in the world in terms of purchasing power parity and is the world's second-fastest growing economy. India is also the second most populous country in the world, and the world's largest democracy. India has grown significantly, in terms of both population and strategic importance, in the last 20 years. It has also emerged as an important regional power, with one of the world's largest militaries and a declared nuclear weapons capability. Strategically located in Asia, constituting most of the Indian subcontinent, India straddles many busy trade routes. It shares its borders with Pakistan, the People's Republic of China, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Afghanistan. Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Indonesia are the nearby island nations in the Indian Ocean. Home to some of the most ancient civilizations in the world, India was formally ruled by the British for almost 90 years before gaining independence in 1947. (more...)
Recently featured: Richard Feynman – Battle of the Bulge – Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9
December 4
The Marginated Tortoise is the largest European tortoise, reaching a weight of up to 5 kg (11 pounds) and a length of 35 cm (14 inches). Its shell is oblong and has a notable thickness around the middle of the body. The posterior end of the shell has a saw-like formation, flanged outward like a bell. The carapace of adult specimens is almost completely black, with yellow highlights. The ventral shell is lighter coloured and has pairs of triangular markings with the points facing the rear of the animal. The front sides of the limbs are covered with large scales. In old female specimens, the rear flaps of the underside of the plastron are somewhat moveable. The tail is notable for a lengthwise marking and for an undivided carapace over the tail. Males have a longer tail, which is thicker at the base than the females. Their underside is more strongly indented. Males are also often larger than the females. The females lay their hard-shelled spherical eggs in the soil in May and June. (more...)
Recently featured: India – Richard Feynman – Battle of the Bulge
December 5
The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland. The Eidgenossenschaft of the Swiss, as the confederacy was called, began as an alliance between the communities of the valleys in the central Alps to facilitate the management of common interests such as free trade and to ensure the peace along the important trade routes through the mountains. In the late Middle Ages, this region belonged to the Holy Roman Empire, and because of its strategic importance the Hohenstaufen emperors had granted it reichsfrei status in the early 13th century. As reichsfrei regions, the cantons (or regions) of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden were under the direct authority of the emperor without any intermediate liege lords and thus were relatively autonomous. With the rise of the Habsburg dynasty, the kings and dukes of Habsburg sought to extend their influence over this region and to bring it under their rule, and as a consequence, a conflict ensued between the Habsburgs and these mountain communities who tried to defend their privileged status as reichsfrei regions. The three founding cantons were joined in the early 14th century by the city states of Lucerne, Zürich, and Berne, and they managed to defeat Habsburg armies on several occasions. (more...)
Recently featured: Marginated tortoise – India – Richard Feynman
December 6
The geology of the Zion and Kolob canyons area includes nine known exposed formations, all visible in Zion National Park in Utah, United States, and representing about 150 million years of mostly Mesozoic-aged sedimentation. Part of the Grand Staircase, the formations exposed in the Zion and Kolob area were deposited in several different environments that range from warm shallow seas, streams, and lakes to large deserts and dry near-shore environments. Subsequent uplift of the Colorado Plateaus exposed these sediments to erosion by swifter streams that preferentially cut through weaker rocks and jointed formations. Much later, lava flows and cinder cones covered parts of the Zion area. Zion National Park is situated on an elevated plateau that consists of sedimentary formations that dip very gently to the east. This means that the oldest strata are exposed along the Virgin River in the Zion Canyon part of the park and the youngest are exposed in the Kolob Canyons section. The plateau is bounded on the east by the Sevier Fault Zone, and on the west by the Hurricane Fault Zone. Weathering and erosion along north-trending faults and fractures influence the pattern of landscape features associated with canyons in this stream-incised plateau region. (more...)
Recently featured: Old Swiss Confederacy – Marginated tortoise – India
December 7
Palladian architecture is a European style of architecture originally designed by the Italian architect Andrea Palladio. Today, any building which adheres to the rules of architecture to which Palladio subscribed is described as Palladian. This architectural style can be traced as it spread from the early 16th century in the Veneto, across Europe to buildings designed by Thomas Jefferson in North America in the late 18th century. The built and published works of Palladio follow the rules of the Roman architect Vitruvius and his later disciples, such as Leone Battista Alberti who all adhered to the classical Roman principles of architecture, as opposed to the rich ornamentation of the Renaissance. Buildings which are truly Palladian are rare, and all in Italy. They include Villa Capra and Villa Foscari and many churches in the Veneto. To explain fully the term Palladian as used outside of Italy one must first understand true Palladian as designed by the master architect (more...)
Recently featured: Geology of the Zion and Kolob canyons area – Old Swiss Confederacy – Marginated tortoise
December 8
A bishōjo game or girl game is a type of Japanese video game centered on interactions with attractive anime girls. Although nearly all bishōjo games involve romantic or sex appeal of some kind, they may or may not be pornographic. Bishōjo games are a uniquely Japanese phenomenon: they have virtually no parallel in the American or European video game industries. They form a sizeable fraction of the Japanese market: the most popular have sold over a million copies, and they make up the majority of offline PC games in Japan. Nevertheless, because of real or perceived cultural differences, few have been translated and no major mass-market release has yet been attempted outside of East Asia. Thus bishōjo games remain by far the least known of the major video game genres outside of Japan. Notable subgenres of bishōjo games are ren'ai games (often called "dating sims") and H games (often called "hentai games"). (more...)
Recently featured: Palladian architecture – Geology of the Zion and Kolob canyons area – Old Swiss Confederacy
December 9
Paragraph 175 (known formally as §175 StGB) was a provision of the German Criminal Code from May 15, 1871 to March 10, 1994, which made male homosexual sex a crime. The statute was amended numerous times. Nazi Germany greatly exacerbated its severity in 1935. East Germany reverted to the old version of the law in 1950, limited its effect to sex with youths under 18 in 1968, and abolished it entirely in 1988. West Germany retained the Nazi-era statute until 1969, when it was limited to "qualified cases"; it was further attenuated in 1973 and finally revoked entirely after German reunification in 1994. In some of its forms, the law also addressed zoophilia. (more...)
Recently featured: Bishōjo game – Palladian architecture – Geology of the Zion and Kolob canyons area
December 10
The Saturn V was a multistage liquid-fuel expendable rocket used by NASA's Apollo and Skylab programs. It was the largest production model of the Saturn family of rockets, although larger models were theorised. The rocket was designed under the direction of Wernher von Braun and Arthur Rudolph at the Marshall Space Flight Center, with the lead contractors being The Boeing Company, North American Aviation, Douglas Aircraft Company and IBM. Thirteen Saturn V rockets were launched from 1967 to 1973, with a perfect launch record. (Although Apollo 6 and Apollo 13 did lose engines, the onboard computers were able to compensate.) The main payloads of the rocket were the Apollo spacecraft which carried the NASA astronauts to the Moon. It also launched the Skylab space station. (more...)
Recently featured: Paragraph 175 – Bishōjo game – Palladian architecture
December 11
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Recently featured: Saturn V – Paragraph 175 – Bishōjo game
December 12
Victoria was a Queen of the United Kingdom, reigning from 20 June 1837 until her death. Her reign lasted more than sixty-three years—longer than any other British monarch. As well as being Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, she was also the first monarch to use the title Empress of India. The reign of Victoria was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. The Victorian Era was at the height of the Industrial Revolution, a period of great social, economic, and technological change in the United Kingdom. Victoria was the last monarch of the House of Hanover; her successor belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. (more...)
Recently featured: Flag of the Republic of China – Saturn V – Paragraph 175
December 13
Dr. Noam Chomsky is an Institute Professor of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and creator of the Chomsky hierarchy, a classification of formal languages. His works in generative linguistics contributed significantly to the decline of behaviorism and led to the advancement of the cognitive sciences. Outside of his linguistic work, Chomsky is also widely known for his radical left-wing political views, and his criticism of the foreign policy of the United States government. Chomsky describes himself as a libertarian socialist and a supporter of anarcho-syndicalism. (more...)
Recently featured: Queen Victoria – Flag of the Republic of China – Saturn V
December 14
The Abbey Theatre, also known as the National Theatre of Ireland, is located in Dublin, Ireland. The Abbey first opened its doors to the public on December 27, 1904 and, despite losing its original building to a fire in 1951, it has continued to stage performances more or less continuously to the present day. The Abbey was the first state-subsidised theatre in the English-speaking world; from 1925 onwards it has received an annual subsidy from the Irish Free State. In its early years, the theatre was closely associated with the writers of the Celtic revival, many of whom were involved in its foundation and most of whom had plays staged there. The Abbey served as a nursery for many of the leading Irish playwrights and actors of the 20th century. In addition, through its extensive programme of touring abroad and its high visibility to foreign, particularly North American, audiences, it has become an important part of the Irish tourist industry. (more...)
Recently featured: Noam Chomsky – Queen Victoria – Flag of the Republic of China
December 15
In microeconomic theory, the partial equilibrium supply and demand economic model originally developed by Alfred Marshall attempts to describe, explain, and predict the price and quantity of goods sold in competitive markets. It is one of the most fundamental models, widely used as a basic building block in a wide range of more detailed economic models and theories. The theory of supply and demand is important in the functioning of a market economy in that it explains the mechanism by which many resource allocation decisions are made. In general, the theory claims that where goods are traded in a market at a price where consumers demand more goods than firms are prepared to supply, this shortage will tend to increase the price of the goods. Those consumers that are prepared to pay more will bid up the market price. Conversely, prices will tend to fall when the quantity supplied exceeds the quantity demanded. This price/quantity adjustment mechanism causes the market to approach an equilibrium point, a point at which there is no longer any impetus to change. (more...)
Recently featured: Abbey Theatre – Noam Chomsky – Queen Victoria
December 16
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television series, produced by the BBC and concerning the adventures of a mysterious time travelling adventurer known only as "The Doctor". It is also the title of a 1996 television movie featuring the same character. The programme is a significant part of British popular culture, widely recognised for its creative storytelling, use of innovative music which was produced by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and low-budget special effects. The show has become a cult television favourite on par with Star Trek, and has influenced generations of British genre television writers, many of whom grew up watching the series. In a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes of the 20th century drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, voted for by industry professionals, Doctor Who was placed third. (more...)
Recently featured: Supply and demand – Abbey Theatre – Noam Chomsky
December 17
A soda can stove is a homemade, ultra-light backpacking stove. The simple design is made entirely from soda pop cans and burns denatured alcohol. Countless variations exist. Pepsi cans are often used because they have a bottom shape that lends itself to securing the stove's inner wall. The stove weighs 0.4 oz (10 g) and will boil two cups of water in five minutes with two tablespoons of fuel. Total weight, including a windscreen/stand can be less than one ounce (30 g). Due to the low weight compared to commercial stoves and their fuel canisters, backpackers can save about one pound (450 g) of pack weight with this stove. This advantage may be lost on very long hiking trips, however, because the stove is less efficient and requires more fuel, especially when cooking for more than one person. (more...)
Recently featured: Doctor Who – Supply and demand – Abbey Theatre
December 18
The Cathedral of Magdeburg was the first gothic cathedral in Germany, and is the tallest cathedral in what is now eastern Germany with a height of 104 m. The cathedral is in Magdeburg, the capital city of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, and is also home to the grave of Otto I the Great. The first church built in 937 at the location of the current cathedral was an abbey called St. Maurice, dedicated to Saint Maurice. The current cathedral was constructed over the period of 300 years starting from 1209, and the completion of the steeples took place only in 1520. Despite being repeatedly looted, the Cathedral of Magdeburg is rich in art, ranging from antiques to modern art. (more...)
Recently featured: Soda can stove – Doctor Who – Supply and demand
December 19
Newark is a city located in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is an industrial city ten miles (16 km) west of New York City. Its location on the Atlantic coast, at the mouth of the Passaic River has helped make its port facility, Port Newark, the major container shipping port for New York Harbor. It is the home of Newark Liberty International Airport (formerly Newark Airport), which was the first airport to serve the New York metropolitan area. The City of Newark is presently governed under the Faulkner Act (Mayor-Council) system of municipal government. (more...)
Recently featured: Cathedral of Magdeburg – Soda can stove – Doctor Who
December 20
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is an atypical form of pneumonia. It first appeared in November 2002 in Guangdong Province, China. SARS is now believed to be caused by the SARS virus. Around 10% of infected people die. After the People's Republic of China suppressed news of the outbreak both internally and abroad, the disease spread rapidly, reaching neighboring Hong Kong and Vietnam in late February 2003, and then to other countries via international travellers. The last case in this outbreak occurred in June, 2003. In the outbreak, SARS caused 8,069 cases of disease and 775 deaths. There have also been speculations that SARS is a man-made disease - see SARS conspiracy theory. (more...)
Recently featured: Newark, New Jersey – Cathedral of Magdeburg – Soda can stove
December 21
Free will is the philosophical doctrine that our choices are, ultimately, "up to us." Consequently, an unfree action must be somehow "up to" something else. The phrase "up to us" is vague and, just like free will itself, admits of a variety of interpretations. Determinism holds that each state of affairs is necessitated (determined) by the states of affairs that preceded it. Indeterminism holds that determinism is false, and that there are events which are not entirely determined by previous states of affairs. The idea of determinism is sometimes illustrated by the story of Laplace's demon, who knows all the facts about the past and present and all the natural laws that govern our world, and uses this knowledge to foresee the future, down to every detail. Some philosophers hold that determinism is at odds with free will, a doctrine known as incompatibilism. (more...)
Recently featured: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome – Newark, New Jersey – Cathedral of Magdeburg
December 22
In the Holy Roman Empire, the prince-electors were the members of the electoral college, having the function of electing the king of Germany before his accession as the next emperor. During and after the fifteenth century they often merely made formal what was in fact a dynastic succession. Formally, they elected a King of the Romans, who became Holy Roman Emperor only when crowned by the pope. Charles V was the last to be actually crowned; all of his successors were merely "Emperors-Elect." Electors were among the princes of the Empire, but they had several privileges (in addition to electoral ones) which were disallowed to their non-electoral brethren. (more...)
Recently featured: Free will – Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome – Newark, New Jersey
December 23
Duran Duran is a pop music group, notable for a long series of catchy, synthesizer-driven hit singles and vivid music videos. They were part of the new wave music explosion in the early 1980s, as well as a leading band in the MTV-driven Second British Invasion of the United States. They are still often identified as an Eighties band despite continuous recording and evolution over their twenty-five year history. The band has sold over 70 million records, and has had eighteen singles in the Billboard Hot 100 chart and twenty-nine in the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart. (more...)
Recently featured: Prince-elector – Free will – Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
December 24
Homo floresiensis is a newly described species in the genus Homo, remarkable for its small body, small brain, and recent survival. It is thought to have been contemporaneous with modern humans on the remote Indonesian island of Flores. One sub-fossil skeleton, dated at 18,000 years old, is largely complete except for arm bones which may yet be found. It was discovered in deposits in Liang Bua Cave, Flores, in 2003. Also here, parts of six other individuals, all diminutive, have been recovered as well as similarly small stone tools from horizons ranging from 94,000 to 13,000 years ago. The discoverers have called members of the diminutive species hobbits, after J.R.R. Tolkien's fictional race of roughly the same height. In the island's mythology there were common references to Ebu Gogo, a small furry man, even into the 19th century. (more...)
Recently featured: Duran Duran – Prince-elector – Free will
December 25
The Shroud of Turin is a linen cloth bearing the image of a man who appears to have been physically traumatized in a manner consistent with crucifixion. It is presently kept in the royal chapel of the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, Italy. Some believe it is the cloth that covered Jesus when he was placed in his tomb and that his image was somehow recorded on its fibers. Skeptics contend it is a medieval hoax or forgery. It is the subject of intense debate among some scientists, believers, historians and writers regarding where, when and how the shroud and its image were created. (more...)
Recently featured: Homo floresiensis – Duran Duran – Prince-elector
December 26
The Battle of the Somme was one of the largest battles of World War I, with more than one million casualties. The British and French forces attempted to break through the German lines along a 25 mile (40 km) front north and south of the River Somme in northern France. One purpose of the battle was to draw German forces away from the battle of Verdun; however, by its end the losses on the Somme had exceeded those at Verdun. The battle is best remembered for its first day, July 1, 1916, on which the British suffered 57,470 casualties, making it the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army. As horrific as the battle of the Somme is in British memory, it also had a staggering impact on the German army; one officer famously describing it as "the muddy grave of the German field army." By the end of the battle the British had learnt many lessons in modern warfare while the Germans had suffered irreparable losses. (more...)
Recently featured: Shroud of Turin – Homo floresiensis – Duran Duran
December 27
Niagara Falls is a group of massive waterfalls located on the Niagara River in eastern North America, on the border between the United States and Canada. The Falls comprises three separate waterfalls: Horseshoe Falls (sometimes called Canadian Falls); American Falls; and the smaller, adjacent Bridal Veil Falls. While not exceptionally high, Niagara Falls is very wide, and is by far the most voluminous waterfall in North America. Since its first sighting by European settlers, Niagara Falls has become widely known not just for its beauty, but also as a source of hydroelectric power and as a challenging project for environmental preservation. A popular tourist site for over a century, the Falls are shared between the twin cities of Niagara Falls, New York and Niagara Falls, Ontario. (more...)
Recently featured: Battle of the Somme – Shroud of Turin – Homo floresiensis
December 28
The House of Lords is a component of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also includes the Sovereign and the House of Commons. The House of Lords is an unelected body, consisting of senior clerics of the Church of England (the "Lords Spiritual"), as well as certain members of the Peerage (the "Lords Temporal"). Lords Spiritual serve as long as they continue to occupy their ecclesiastical positions, but Lords Temporal serve for life. Members of the House of Lords are known as "Lords of Parliament". The House of Lords evolved at some point during the fourteenth century and has been in almost continuous existence since. It was abolished in 1649 by the revolutionary government that came to power during the English Civil War, but was restored in 1660. The House of Lords (the "Upper House") was once more powerful than the elected House of Commons (the "Lower House"). Since the nineteenth century, however, the powers of the House of Lords have been steadily declining; now, the Upper House is far weaker than its parliamentary counterpart. Under the Parliament Act 1911, most legislation passed by the House of Commons can be delayed, but cannot be rejected, by the House of Lords. (more...)
Recently featured: Niagara Falls – Battle of the Somme – Shroud of Turin
December 29
Turquoise is an opaque, hydrated, blue-to-green copper aluminium phosphate mineral. It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been enjoyed as a gem and ornamental stone for thousands of years owing to its unique hue. In recent times turquoise—like most other opaque gems—has had its popularity undermined by the introduction of treatments, imitations, and synthetics onto the market, some difficult to detect even by experts. The word "turquoise" is very old and of uncertain origin, derived from the French pierre turquoise, meaning "Turkish stone." This is thought to have arisen from a misconception: turquoise does not occur in Turkey but was traded there, and the gem became associated with the country in the West. (more...)
Recently featured: House of Lords – Niagara Falls – Battle of the Somme
December 30
Max Weber was a German political economist and sociologist who is considered one of the founders of the modern study of sociology and public administration. His major works deal with sociology of religion and government, but he also wrote much in the field of economics. His most recognized work is his essay The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, which began his work in the sociology of religion. Weber argued that religion was one of the primary reasons for the different development paths of the cultures of the Occident and the Orient. In his other famous work, Politics as a Vocation, Weber defined the state as an entity which possesses a monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force, a definition that became pivotal to the study of modern Western political science. (more...)
Recently featured: Turquoise – House of Lords – Niagara Falls
December 31
A planetary nebula is an astronomical object consisting of a roughly spherical glowing shell of gas formed by certain types of stars at the end of their lives. They are in fact unrelated to planets: the name originates from a supposed similarity in appearance to giant planets. They are a short-lived phenomenon, lasting a few thousand years of a typical stellar lifetime of several billion years. About 1,500 are known to exist in our galaxy. Planetary nebulae are important objects in astronomy because they play a crucial role in the chemical evolution of the galaxy, returning material to the interstellar medium which has been enriched in heavy elements by nucleosynthesis. In recent years, Hubble Space Telescope images have revealed many planetary nebulae to have extremely complex and varied morphologies. The mechanisms which produce such a wide variety of shapes and features are not yet well understood. (more...)
Recently featured: Max Weber – Turquoise – House of Lords