Wikipedia article of the day for September 7, 2020

The Wikipedia article of the day for September 7, 2020 is Flora of Madagascar.
The flora of Madagascar consists of more than 12,000 species of vascular and non-vascular plants. Around 83 per cent of Madagascar's vascular plants are found only on the island. These include five entirely endemic plant families as well as most of the over 900 orchid species, the traveller's tree, the Madagascar periwinkle, six species of baobab (pictured) and around 200 species of palms. The high degree of endemism is due to Madagascar's long isolation following its separation from the African and Indian landmasses in the Mesozoic Era. Today, humid forests, including the lowland forests, are found on the eastern plateau. Much of the central highlands is grassland. In the west are dry forest and succulent woodland. Unique spiny thickets are in the southwest, and mangroves occur on the west coast. While 10 per cent of the land surface is protected, much of the native flora is threatened, especially through dramatic deforestation.

Wikipedia article of the day for September 6, 2020

The Wikipedia article of the day for September 6, 2020 is Tweed Courthouse.
The Tweed Courthouse (officially the Old New York County Courthouse) is a historic courthouse building in Civic Center, Manhattan, New York City. Listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and protected as a New York City designated landmark, it is the second-oldest city-government building in Manhattan, after City Hall. It was built in the Italianate style, with Romanesque Revival interiors, under the leadership of William M. "Boss" Tweed, whose political machine, Tammany Hall, controlled the city and state governments when the courthouse was built. Architect John Kellum designed the original two wings of the building, which was constructed from 1861 to 1872. The project was completed by architect Leopold Eidlitz, who added the rear wing and finished the interior between 1877 and 1881. Modern restoration and historic preservation were completed in 2001.

Parents Got More Time Off. Then the Backlash Started.

By BY DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI AND SHEERA FRENKEL from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/332bQjE

Wikipedia article of the day for September 5, 2020

The Wikipedia article of the day for September 5, 2020 is Battle of the Bagradas River (255 BC).
The Battle of the Bagradas River was a victory by a Carthaginian army led by Xanthippus over a Roman army led by Marcus Atilius Regulus in early 255 BC, nine years into the First Punic War. The previous year Roman forces had advanced on the city of Carthage in North Africa and defeated the Carthaginian army at the Battle of Adys. In despair, the Carthaginians sued for peace, but the proposed terms were so harsh they decided to fight on. They gave charge of their army to the Spartan mercenary general Xanthippus, who led 12,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry and 100 war elephants (statuette pictured) against the Romans' 15,000 infantry and 500 cavalry. The Romans had no effective answer to the elephants, their outnumbered cavalry were chased from the field, and most of their infantry were surrounded and wiped out. The Romans subsequently evacuated Africa. The war ended in 241 BC with a Roman victory; the terms agreed were more generous than those proposed 14 years earlier.

Pentagon Sticks With Microsoft for Cloud Computing Contract

By BY KATE CONGER from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/2QRYCR0

Why Facebook’s Blocking of New Political Ads May Fall Short

By BY DAVEY ALBA AND SHEERA FRENKEL from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/355PSyV

Forget TikTok. China’s Powerhouse App Is WeChat, and Its Power Is Sweeping.

By BY PAUL MOZUR from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/2Z4OybI