Wikipedia:Today's featured article/June 2006

Today's featured article archive

June 1

The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active Atlantic hurricane season in recorded history, shattering previous records on repeated occasions. The impact of the season was widespread and ruinous with at least 2,280 deaths and record damages of over $100 billion USD. The five major hurricanes that made landfall — Dennis, Emily, Katrina, Rita, and Wilma — were responsible for most of the destruction. The most catastrophic effects of the season were felt on the United States' Gulf Coast, where a 30-foot storm surge from Hurricane Katrina caused devastating flooding, and in Guatemala, where Hurricane Stan caused deadly mudslides. The season officially began on June 1, 2005, and lasted until November 30, 2005, although effectively the season persisted into January 2006 due to continued storm activity. A record twenty-eight tropical and subtropical storms formed, of which a record fifteen became hurricanes. (more...)

Recently featured: Nostradamus – Hopkins School – Pakistan

June 2

Transhumanism is an international intellectual and cultural movement supporting the use of new sciences and technologies to enhance human physical and cognitive abilities and ameliorate what it regards as harsh and unnecessary aspects of the human condition, such as disease and aging. Transhumanist academics study the possibilities and consequences of developing and using human enhancement techniques and other emerging technologies for these purposes. Possible dangers, as well as benefits, of powerful new technologies that might radically change the conditions of human life are also of concern to the transhumanist movement. Transhumanist thinkers postulate that human beings will eventually be transformed into beings with such greatly expanded abilities as to merit the label "posthuman". Transhumanism's vision of a deeply transformed future humanity has attracted many sympathizers, as well as critics from a wide range of perspectives. Transhumanism has been described by a prominent sympathizer as the "movement that epitomizes the most daring, courageous, imaginative, and idealistic aspirations of humanity," while according to a prominent critic, it is the world's most dangerous idea. (more...)

Recently featured: 2005 Atlantic hurricane season – Nostradamus – Hopkins School

June 3

Bob McEwen is a Republican and a former member of the United States House of Representatives from southern Ohio's Sixth District, from January 3, 1981 to January 3, 1993. Tom Deimer of Cleveland's Plain Dealer described him as a "textbook Republican ... opposed to abortion, gun control, high taxes, and costly government programs." McEwen, who had easily won three terms in the Ohio House, was elected to Congress at the age of thirty to replace a retiring representative in 1980 and easily won re-election five times. After a bruising primary battle with another incumbent whose district was combined with his in which McEwen faced charges of bouncing checks on the House bank, he narrowly lost the 1992 general election to Democrat Ted Strickland. Following an unsuccessful run in the adjacent Second District in 1993, McEwen was largely absent from the Ohio political scene for a decade until, in 2005, he unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for Congress in the Second District special election to replace Rob Portman, who beat him in 1993, and finished second to the ultimate winner in the general election, Jean Schmidt. In 2006, he unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination in the Second District. (more...)

Recently featured: Transhumanism – 2005 Atlantic hurricane season – Nostradamus

June 4

Elias Ashmole was an antiquarian, collector, politician, and student of astrology and alchemy. He supported the royalist side during the English Civil War, and at the restoration of Charles II he was rewarded with several lucrative offices. Throughout his life he was an avid collector of curiosities and other artifacts. Many of these he acquired from the traveller, botanist, and collector John Tradescant the elder and his son, and most he donated to Oxford University to create the Ashmolean Museum. He also donated his library and priceless manuscript collection to Oxford. Apart from his collecting activities, Ashmole illustrates the passing of the pre-scientific world view in the seventeenth century: while he immersed himself in alchemical, magical and astrological studies and was consulted on astrological questions by Charles II and his court, these studies were essentially backward-looking. Although he was one of the founding members of the Royal Society, a key institution in the development of experimental science, he never participated actively. (more...)

Recently featured: Bob McEwen – Transhumanism – 2005 Atlantic hurricane season

June 5

The "conical cornea" that is characteristic of keratoconus

Keratoconus is a degenerative, non-inflammatory disorder of the eye in which structural changes within the cornea cause it to thin and change to a more conical shape than its normal, even curve. Keratoconus can cause substantial distortion of the vision, with multiple images, streaking and sensitivity to light all often reported by the patient. Though frequently thought of as a rare condition, keratoconus is the most common dystrophy of the cornea, affecting around one person in a thousand, and seems to occur equally in all ethnic groups worldwide. It is typically diagnosed in the patient's adolescent years and attains its most severe state in the twenties and thirties. Keratoconus is a little-understood disease with an uncertain cause, and the course of its progression following diagnosis is unpredictable. The associated deterioration in vision, if in both eyes, can affect the person's ability, for example, to drive a car legally. It does not, however, lead to blindness, and in most cases, corrective lenses are effective enough to allow the patient to continue to drive and likewise function normally. (more...)

Recently featured: Elias Ashmole – Bob McEwen – Transhumanism

June 6

Krazy Kat is a comic strip created by George Herriman that appeared in weekday and Sunday U.S. newspapers between 1913 and 1944. It was first published in William Randolph Hearst's New York Evening Journal. Set against a dreamlike portrayal of Herriman's vacation home of Coconino County, Arizona, Krazy Kat's mixture of surrealism, innocent playfulness, and poetic language have made it a favorite of comics aficionados and art critics for more than eighty years. The strip focuses on the relationship triangle between its title character, a carefree and innocent cat of indeterminate gender (but often referred to in prose as female), her antagonist Ignatz Mouse, and the protective police-dog Officer Bull Pupp. Krazy nurses an unrequited love for the mouse, but Ignatz despises her and constantly schemes to throw a brick at her head; for unknown reasons, Krazy takes this as a sign of affection. Officer Pupp, as Coconino County's administrator of law and order, makes it his unwavering mission to interfere with Ignatz's brick-tossing plans and lock the mouse in the county jail. (more...)

Recently featured: Keratoconus – Elias Ashmole – Bob McEwen

June 7

Muhammad Ali Jinnah was an Indian Muslim politician and statesman who led the All India Muslim League and founded Pakistan, serving as its first Governor-General. While celebrated as a great leader in Pakistan, Jinnah remains a controversial figure, provoking intense criticism for his role in the partition of India. As a student and young lawyer, Jinnah rose to prominence in the Indian National Congress, expounded Hindu-Muslim unity, shaped the 1916 Lucknow Pact between the Congress and the Muslim League, and was a key leader in the All India Home Rule League. Differences with Mohandas Gandhi led Jinnah to quit the Congress; he then took charge of the Muslim League and proposed a fourteen-point constitutional reform plan to safeguard the political rights of Muslim in a self-governing India. Disillusioned by the failure of his efforts and the League's disunity, Jinnah would live in London for many years. Several Muslim leaders persuaded Jinnah to return to India in 1934 and re-organise the League. Disillusioned by the failure to build coalitions with the Congress, Jinnah embraced the goal of creating a separate state for Muslims as in the Lahore Resolution. The failure of the Congress-League coalition to govern the country prompted both parties and the British to agree to partition. (more...)

Recently featured: Krazy Kat – Keratoconus – Elias Ashmole

June 8

The FIFA World Cup is the most important competition in international football. The world's most representative team sport event, the World Cup is contested by the men's national football teams of member nations of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) (the sport's largest governing body). The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 because of World War II. However, it is more of an ongoing event as the qualifying rounds of the competition take place over the three years preceding the final rounds. In 1991, FIFA added a separate Women's World Cup. The men's final tournament phase involves 32 national teams competing over a four-week period in a previously nominated host nation, with these games making it the most widely-viewed sporting event in the world. In the 17 tournaments held, only seven nations have ever won the World Cup Finals. Brazil is the current holder, as well as the most successful World Cup team, having won the tournament five times, while Germany and Italy follow with three titles each. The next World Cup finals will begin in Germany on June 9, and will continue until July 9, 2006. (more...)

Recently featured: Muhammad Ali Jinnah – Krazy Kat – Keratoconus

June 9

USS Wisconsin is an Iowa-class battleship, and is the second ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. She was built at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and launched on December 7, 1943. During her career Wisconsin served in World War II, where she shelled Japanese fortifications at Ulithi and Leyte Gulf, and screened U.S. aircraft carriers as they conducted air raids against enemy positions. During the Korean War she shelled North Korean targets in support of UN and South Korean ground operations, after which she was decommissioned into the United States Navy reserve fleets, better known as the mothball fleet. She was reactivated and modernized in 1986 as part of the "600-ship Navy" plan, and participated in the 1991 Gulf War. Wisconsin was last decommissioned in September 1991 and currently functions as a museum ship at the Nauticus National Maritime Center in Norfolk, Virginia. Wisconsin was struck from the Naval Vessel Register in 2006 and is currently awaiting donation for use as a museum ship. (more...)

Recently featured: FIFA World Cup – Muhammad Ali Jinnah – Krazy Kat

June 10

Red vs Blue is a science fiction comedy series created by Rooster Teeth Productions. The series is produced primarily by using the machinima technique of synchronizing video footage from computer and video games to pre-recorded dialogue and other audio. Footage is taken mostly from the multiplayer modes of the first-person shooter (FPS) video games Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 on the Xbox video game console. Chronicling the story of two opposing teams of soldiers fighting a civil war in the middle of a desolate box canyon, the series is an absurdist parody of FPS games, military life, and other science fiction films. Begun in 2003 and having concluded its fourth season, Red vs Blue has won four awards from the Academy of Machinima Arts & Sciences. The series is generally praised for its originality, and has been credited with bringing new popularity to machinima, helping it to gain more mainstream exposure, and attracting more people to the art form. (More...)

Recently featured: USS Wisconsin – FIFA World Cup – Muhammad Ali Jinnah

June 11

Søren Kierkegaard was a 19th century Danish philosopher and theologian, generally recognized as the first existentialist philosopher. He bridged the gap that existed between Hegelian philosophy and what was to become Existentialism. Kierkegaard strongly criticized both the Hegelian philosophy of his time, and what he saw as the empty formalities of the Danish church. Much of his work deals with religious problems such as the nature of faith, the institution of the Christian Church, Christian ethics and theology, and the emotions and feelings of individuals when faced with existential choices. Because of this, Kierkegaard's work is sometimes characterized as Christian existentialism and existential psychology. Since he wrote most of his early work under various pseudonyms, and often these pseudo-authors would comment on and critique the works of his other pseudo-authors, it can be exceedingly difficult to distinguish between what Kierkegaard truly believed and what he was merely arguing for as part of a pseudo-author's position. Ludwig Wittgenstein remarked that Kierkegaard was "by far, the most profound thinker of the nineteenth century". (More...)

Recently featured: Red vs Blue – USS Wisconsin – FIFA World Cup

June 12

The tsunami caused by the earthquake strikes Ao Nang, Thailand

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on December 26 2004. The earthquake triggered a series of lethal tsunamis that spread throughout the Indian Ocean, killing large numbers of people and devastating coastal communities across South and South East Asia, including parts of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and elsewhere. Initial estimates put the death toll at over 275,000 with thousands of others missing. However, recent analysis indicates the number of casualties were 186,983 dead and 42,883 missing, for a total of 229,866 affected. The catastrophe was one of the deadliest disasters in modern history. The magnitude of the earthquake was originally recorded as 9.0 on the Richter scale, but has been upgraded to between 9.1 and 9.3. At this magnitude, it is the second largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph. The plight of the many affected people and countries prompted a widespread humanitarian response. In all, the worldwide community donated more than US$7 billion in humanitarian aid to those affected by the earthquake. (More...)

Recently featured: Søren Kierkegaard – Red vs Blue – USS Wisconsin

June 13

Phil Collins is a British rock/pop musician. He is best known as the lead singer and drummer of progressive rock group Genesis and as a Grammy winning artist. In total, Collins sang the lead vocals on eight American chart-toppers between 1984 and 1989, seven as a solo artist and one with Genesis. His singles, often dealing with lost love, ranged from the drum-heavy "In the Air Tonight", the dance pop of "Sussudio", and the political statements of his most successful song, "Another Day in Paradise". His international popularity transformed Genesis from a progressive rock group to a regular on the pop charts and an early MTV mainstay. Although Collins supplied backing vocals for original front man Peter Gabriel, it would not be until 1975 that he became the group’s lead singer. As the decade closed, Genesis' first international hit, "Follow You, Follow Me", demonstrated a drastic change from the band’s early years. His concurrent solo career, heavily influenced by his personal life, brought both him and Genesis commercial success. According to Atlantic Records, Collins' total worldwide sales as a solo artist, as of 2002, were over 100 million. (More...)

Recently featured: 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake – Søren Kierkegaard – Red vs Blue

June 14

The Crab Nebula is a supernova remnant in the constellation of Taurus. The nebula was first observed by John Bevis in 1731, and is the remnant of a supernova that was recorded by Chinese and Arab astronomers in 1054 as being visible during daylight for 23 days. Located at a distance of about 6,300 light years from Earth, it has a diameter of 6 light years and is expanding at a rate of about 1500 kilometres per second. A pulsar in the centre of the nebula rotates 30 times per second, emitting pulses of radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum from radio waves to gamma rays. Its discovery provided the first conclusive evidence that supernova explosions produce the extremely dense neutron stars which are observed as pulsars. The nebula acts as a source of radiation for studying celestial bodies that occult it. The Sun's corona was mapped in the 1950s and 60s from observations of the Crab's radio waves passing through it, and more recently, the thickness of the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan was measured as it blocked out X-rays from the nebula. (More...)

Recently featured: Phil Collins – 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake – Søren Kierkegaard

June 15

Scanning electron micrograph of HIV-1 budding from lymphocyte

AIDS is a collection of symptoms and infections in humans resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the late stage of which leaves individuals prone to opportunistic infections and tumours. Although treatments for AIDS and HIV exist that slow the virus's progression, there is no known cure. HIV is transmitted through direct contact of a mucous membrane or the bloodstream with a bodily fluid containing HIV, such as blood, semen, vaginal fluid, preseminal fluid and breast milk. This transmission can come in the form of: anal or vaginal sex; blood transfusion; contaminated needles; exchange between mother and infant during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding; or other exposure to one of the above bodily fluids. Most researchers believe that HIV originated in sub-Saharan Africa during the twentieth century; it is now a pandemic, with more than 40 million people now living with the disease worldwide. (More...)

Recently featured: Crab Nebula – Phil Collins – 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake

June 16

The Houses of Parliament, seen over Westminster Bridge

The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative institution in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories. At its head is the Sovereign; it is bicameral, including an upper house, called the House of Lords, and a lower house, called the House of Commons. The House of Lords includes two different types of members—the Lords Spiritual (the senior clergy of the Church of England) and the Lords Temporal (members of the peerage); it is a wholly unelected body. The House of Commons, on the other hand, is a democratically-elected chamber. The House of Lords and the House of Commons meet in separate chambers in the Palace of Westminster, in the British capital, London. By constitutional convention, all government ministers, including the Prime Minister are drawn exclusively from the House of Commons or House of Lords. (More...)

Recently featured: AIDS – Crab Nebula – Phil Collins

June 17

Hurricane Floyd was the sixth named storm, fourth hurricane, and third major hurricane in the 1999 Atlantic hurricane season. The Cape Verde-type hurricane formed off the coast of Africa and lasted from September 7 to September 19, peaking in strength as a very strong Category 4 hurricane — just short of the highest possible rating — on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. It was among the largest Atlantic hurricanes of its strength ever recorded. Floyd struck the Bahamas at peak strength, causing heavy damage. It then paralleled the East Coast of the United States, causing massive evacuations and costly preparations. The storm weakened significantly, however, before making landfall in North Carolina as a Category 2 hurricane, and caused further damage as it traveled up the Mid-Atlantic and into New England. The hurricane produced torrential rainfall in eastern North Carolina, adding more rain to an area hit by Hurricane Dennis just weeks earlier. In total, Floyd was responsible for 57 fatalities and $4.5 billion ($5.1 billion in 2005 U.S. dollars) in damage, mostly in North Carolina. (More...)

Recently featured: Parliament of the United Kingdom – AIDS – Crab Nebula

June 18

Che Guevara was an Argentine-born physician, Marxist revolutionary, politician, and leader of Cuban and internationalist guerrillas. As a young man studying medicine, Guevara traveled "rough" throughout Latin America, bringing him into direct contact with the poverty in which many people lived. Through these experiences he became convinced that only revolution could remedy the region's economic inequality, leading him to study Marxism and become involved in Guatemala's social revolution under President Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán. Sometime later, Guevara became a member of Fidel Castro's paramilitary 26th of July Movement that seized power in Cuba in 1959. After serving in various important posts in the new government and writing a number of articles and books on the theory and practice of guerrilla warfare, Guevara left Cuba in 1965 with the intention of fomenting revolutions first in the Congo-Kinshasa and then in Bolivia, where he was captured in a CIA-organized military operation. Guevara died at the hands of the Bolivian Army in La Higuera near Vallegrande on October 9 1967. (More...)

Recently featured: Hurricane Floyd – Parliament of the United Kingdom – AIDS

June 19

For most of World War I, Allied and German Forces were stalled in trench warfare

The western front of World War I opened in 1914, with the German Army invading first Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne. Both sides then dug in along a meandering line of fortified trenches, stretching from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier with France. This line remained essentially unchanged for most of the war. Between 1915 and 1917 a series of major offensives took place along this front. The attacks employed massive artillery bombardments and massed infantry advances. However, a combination of entrenchments, machine gun nests, barbed wire, and other defenses, repeatedly inflicted severe casualties on the attackers. As a result, no significant advances were made during these assaults. In an effort to break the deadlock, this front saw the introduction of new military technology, including poison gas and tanks. But it was only after the adoption of improved tactics that some degree of mobility was restored. In spite of the generally stagnant nature of this front, this theater would prove decisive. The inexorable advance of the Allied armies in 1918 persuaded the German commanders that defeat was unavoidable, and the government was forced to sue for conditions of surrender. (More...)

Recently featured: Che Guevara – Hurricane Floyd – Parliament of the United Kingdom

June 20

Absinthe is a distilled, highly alcoholic, anise-flavored spirit derived from herbs including the flowers and leaves of the medicinal plant Artemisia absinthium, also called wormwood. Although it is sometimes incorrectly called a liqueur, absinthe does not contain added sugar and is therefore classified as a liquor. Absinthe originated in Switzerland as an elixir, but is more well-known for its popularity in late 19th and early 20th century France, particularly among Parisian artists and writers whose romantic associations with the drink still linger in popular culture. In its heyday the most popular brand of absinthe worldwide was Pernod Fils. At the height of this popularity, absinthe was portrayed as a dangerously addictive, psychoactive drug; the chemical thujone was blamed for most of its deleterious effects. By 1915 it was banned in a number of European countries and the United States. Modern evidence shows it to be no more dangerous or psychoactive than ordinary alcohol. A modern-day absinthe revival began in the 1990s, as countries in the European Union began to reauthorize its manufacture and sale. (More...)

Recently featured: Western Front (World War I) – Che Guevara – Hurricane Floyd

June 21

Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's atmosphere and oceans that has been observed in recent decades. The scientific opinion on climate change is that much of the recent change may be attributed to human activities. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released by the burning of fossil fuels, land clearing, agriculture, among other human activities, are the primary sources of the human-induced component of warming. Observational sensitivity studies and climate models referenced by the IPCC predict that global temperatures may increase by between 1.4 and 5.8 °C between 1990 and 2100. An increase in global temperatures can in turn cause other changes, including rises in sea level and changes in the amount and pattern of precipitation. These changes may increase the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as tropical cyclones or floods. There are a few scientists who contest the view about attribution of recent warming to human activity. Uncertainties exist regarding how much climate change should be expected in the future, and there is a hotly contested political and public debate over attempts to reduce or reverse future warming, and how to cope with possible consequences. (More...)

Recently featured: Absinthe – Western Front (World War I) – Che Guevara

June 22

Members of the second Ku Klux Klan at a rally in 1922

"Ku Klux Klan" is the name of a number of past and present fraternal organizations in the United States that have advocated white supremacy and anti-Semitism; and in the past century, anti-Catholicism, and nativism. These organizations have often promoted the use of terror and violence against African Americans and others. Founded by veterans of the Confederate Army, its main purpose was to resist Reconstruction, and it focused as much on intimidating "carpetbaggers" and "scalawags" as on putting down the freed slaves. The founding in 1915 of a second distinct group using the same name was inspired by the newfound power of the modern mass media, via the film The Birth of a Nation and inflammatory and anti-Semitic newspaper accounts surrounding the trial and lynching of accused murderer Leo Frank. The second KKK typically preached Racism, anti-Catholicism, nativism, and anti-Semitism and some local groups took part in lynchings and other violent activities. Its popularity fell during the Great Depression, and membership fell again during World War II, due to scandals resulting from prominent members' crimes and support of the Nazis. Today, the third KKK, with operations in separated small local units, is considered an extreme hate group which has been disowned by all mainstream media and most political and religious leaders. (More...)

Recently featured: Global warming – Absinthe – Western Front (World War I)

June 23

Flag of Canada

Canada is the world's second largest country by area, occupying most of northern North America. Extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, Canada shares land borders with the United States to the south and to the northwest. Inhabited originally by Aboriginal peoples, Canada was founded as a union of British colonies, some of which had earlier been French colonies. Now a federal dominion of ten provinces and three territories, Canada peacefully obtained sovereignty from Britain in a process spanning from 1867 to 1982. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy, and defines itself as a bilingual and multicultural nation; both English and French are official languages. (More...)

Recently featured: Ku Klux Klan – Global warming – Absinthe

June 24

A binary star is a star system consisting of two stars orbiting around their common center of mass. For each star, the other is its companion star. Recent research suggests that a large fraction of stars are part of systems with at least two stars. Binary star systems are very important in astrophysics: the masses of many single stars are determined by extrapolations made from the observation of binaries. Binary stars are not the same as optical double stars, which appear to be close together as seen from Earth, but are in reality not bound by gravity. Binary stars can either be distinguished optically (visual binaries) or by indirect techniques, such as spectroscopy. If binaries happen to orbit in a plane containing our line of sight, it is possible for them to eclipse each other; these are called eclipsing binaries. The components of binary star systems can exchange mass, bringing their evolution to stages that single stars cannot attain. Examples of binaries are Algol (an eclipsing binary), Sirius and Cygnus X-1 (of which one member is probably a black hole). (More...)

Recently featured: Canada – Ku Klux Klan – Global warming

June 25

Uma Thurman is an American model and Oscar-nominated film actress. Thurman began her career as a model and modeled professionally throughout the late 1980s before moving to acting in 1988. Thurman performs predominantly in leading roles in a variety of low-budget and major studio films, ranging from romantic comedies and drama to science fiction and action thrillers. She is best known for her films released in the 1990s and 2000s, specifically those with director Quentin Tarantino. Her most popular films include Dangerous Liaisons (1988), Pulp Fiction (1994), Gattaca (1997), and Kill Bill (2003–04). (More...)

Recently featured: Binary star – Canada – Ku Klux Klan

June 26

Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located in eastern India on the east bank of the River Hooghly. The city has a population of almost 5 million, with an extended metropolitan population of over 13 million, thus making it the third-largest urban agglomeration and the fourth-largest city in India. To the south of the city is the Sundarbans delta, the world's largest mangrove forest. The city served as the capital of British India, until 1911. Once the centre of modern education, science, culture and politics in India, Kolkata witnessed economic stagnation in the years following India's independence in 1947. Since 2000 however, an economic rejuvenation has arrested the morbid decline, leading to a spurt in the city's growth. Like other large cities, Kolkata continues to struggle with urbanisation problems like poverty, pollution and traffic congestion. A vibrant city with a distinct socio-political culture, Kolkata is noted for its revolutionary history, ranging from the Indian struggle for independence to the leftist Naxalite and trade union movements. (More...)

Recently featured: Uma Thurman – Binary star – Canada

June 27

Oroonoko is a short novel by Aphra Behn published in 1688, concerning the tragic love of its hero, an enslaved African in Suriname in the 1660s, and the author's own experiences with the new American colony. It is generally claimed (most famously by Virginia Woolf) that Aphra Behn was the first professional female author in English. While this is not entirely true, it is true that Behn was the first professional female dramatist and novelist, as well as one of the first novelists in English. Although she had written at least one novel previously, Oroonoko is both one of the earliest English novels and one of the earliest by a woman. Behn worked for Charles II as a spy during the outset of the Second Dutch War, working to solicit a double agent. However, Charles either failed to pay her for her services or failed to pay her all that he owed her, and Behn, upon returning to England, needed money. She was widowed and destitute and even spent some time in debtor's prison before scoring a number of successes as an author. In the 1670s, only John Dryden had plays staged more often than Behn. She turned her hand to long prose toward the end of her dramatic career, and Oroonoko was published in the same year as her death at the age of 48. (More...)

Recently featured: Kolkata – Uma Thurman – Binary star

June 28

Daniel Libeskind's Imperial War Museum North in Manchester

Deconstructivism is a development of postmodern architecture beginning in the late 1980s. It is characterized by ideas of fragmentation, non-linear processes of design, an interest in manipulating ideas of a structure's surface or skin, and apparent non-Euclidean geometry, which serve to distort and dislocate some of the elements of architecture, such as structure and envelope. The finished visual appearance of buildings that exhibit the myriad deconstructivist "styles" is characterized by a stimulating unpredictability and a controlled chaos. Some of the architects involved have been influenced by the writings of the French philosopher Jacques Derrida and his ideas on deconstruction; others have been influenced by the idea of reiterating the geometric imbalances of the Russian Constructivist movement. Important events in the history of the deconstructivist movement include the 1982 Parc de la Villette architectural design competition (which included entries by Jacques Derrida and Peter Eisenman and winner Bernard Tschumi), the 1988 Museum of Modern Art’s Deconstructivist Architecture exhibition in New York, organized by Philip Johnson and Mark Wigley, and the 1989 opening of the Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio, designed by Peter Eisenman. (More...)

Recently featured: Oroonoko – Kolkata – Uma Thurman

June 29

An Atlantic Northern Right Whale breaching.

Right whales are baleen whales belonging to the family Balaenidae. There are four species in two genera: Eubalaena (three species) and Balaena (one species, the Bowhead Whale, also called the Greenland Right Whale). Right whales can grow to 18 m (60 ft) long and weigh up to 100 metric tons. Their rotund bodies are mostly black, with distinctive white callosities (skin abrasions) on their heads. They are called "right whales" because whalers thought the whales were the "right" ones to catch, as they float when killed and often swim within sight of the shore. Populations were vastly reduced by intensive harvesting during the active years of the whaling industry. Nowadays, instead of hunting them, people often watch this acrobatic family for pleasure. The three right whale species live in geographically distinct locations. Around 300 Atlantic Northern Right Whales live in the North Atlantic, while the North Pacific has approximately 200 Pacific Northern Right Whales. Finally, about 7,500 Southern Right Whales are spread throughout the southern part of the Southern Hemisphere. (More...)

Recently featured: Deconstructivism – Oroonoko – Kolkata

June 30

Manila Light Rail Transit System station

The Manila Light Rail Transit System is the main metropolitan rail system serving the Metro Manila area in the Philippines. The Manila LRT is the first metro system in Southeast Asia, predating the Singapore MRT by three years. The LRT forms part of Metro Manila's rail transportation infrastructure, known as the Strong Republic Transit System, and overall public transport system. Although one of the original purposes of the system was to reduce traffic congestion in the metropolis, many commuters who ride the LRT also take various forms of road-based public transport, such as buses, to reach the intended destination from an LRT station and vice-versa. While this forms a comprehensive transportation system serving many parts of Metro Manila, the system has only been partially successful in cutting traffic congestion and travel times, which is further aggravated by the rising number of motor vehicles in Metro Manila. The system is operated by the Light Rail Transit Authority, a government-owned and controlled corporation under the authority of the Department of Transportation and Communications as an attached agency. (More...)

Recently featured: Right whale – Deconstructivism – Oroonoko