Wikipedia article of the day for December 9, 2020

The Wikipedia article of the day for December 9, 2020 is Alister Murdoch.
Alister Murdoch (9 December 1912 – 29 November 1984) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Joining the Air Force in 1930, Murdoch trained as a seaplane pilot, and went on an Antarctic rescue mission in 1935. During World War II, he commanded No. 221 Squadron RAF in Europe and the Middle East, and later occupied senior positions on the staff of RAAF formations in the South West Pacific. His post-war appointments included Commandant of RAAF College from 1952 to 1953, Air Officer Commanding (AOC) Training Command from 1953 to 1955, Deputy Chief of the Air Staff from 1958 to 1959, AOC Operational Command from 1962 to 1965, and finally Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) from 1965 to 1969, when he retired. His term as CAS coincided with increased Australian participation in the Vietnam War, and he came into conflict with Australian Army commanders over the employment of helicopters in battle.

Wikipedia article of the day for December 8, 2020

The Wikipedia article of the day for December 8, 2020 is Cyclone Chapala.
Cyclone Chapala was a powerful tropical cyclone that hit Yemen and brushed Somalia in November 2015. The third named storm of the 2015 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, it developed as a depression on 28 October off western India, and strengthened a day later into a cyclonic storm. On 30 October, the India Meteorological Department estimated Chapala's peak three-minute sustained winds at 215 km/h (130 mph). The Joint Typhoon Warning Center estimated one-minute sustained winds of 240 km/h (150 mph), making Chapala one of the strongest cyclones on record in the Arabian Sea. Chapala skirted the Yemeni island of Socotra on 1 November, becoming the first hurricane-force storm there since 1922. Upon entering the Gulf of Aden on 2 November, it became the strongest known cyclone in that body of water. After brushing Somalia, the storm made landfall on 3 November, near Mukalla, Yemen, as a very severe cyclonic storm. It was the strongest storm on record to strike Yemen, where eight people died.

Wikipedia article of the day for December 7, 2020

The Wikipedia article of the day for December 7, 2020 is Blank Space.
"Blank Space" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift (pictured) for her fifth studio album, 1989. The song was released to US radio stations as the second single from 1989 on November 10, 2014, by Republic Records in partnership with Swift's label at the time, Big Machine. Swift co-wrote the song with its producers Max Martin and Shellback. "Blank Space" spent seven weeks at the top of the US Billboard Hot 100, and has been certified eight times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Contemporary critics praised the song's production and Swift's songwriting, and some picked it as 1989's highlight. The song earned three nominations at the 58th Grammy Awards, including in two general categories—Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Cover versions of the song in various genres have been performed by I Prevail, Ryan Adams, and other rock musicians.

Wikipedia article of the day for December 6, 2020

The Wikipedia article of the day for December 6, 2020 is 1st Cavalry Division (Kingdom of Yugoslavia).
The 1st Cavalry Division was a horsed cavalry formation of the Royal Yugoslav Army that formed part of the Yugoslav 1st Army Group during the German-led Axis invasion of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in April 1941. Along with the rest of the Yugoslav Army, the 1st Cavalry Division began mobilising on 3 April 1941. Three days later the Germans commenced operations against the Yugoslav frontiers (map of operations pictured). By the end of the following day, the division's cavalry brigade headquarters and all of the division's cavalry regiments had been detached for duty with other formations. The divisional-level units remained in the vicinity of Zagreb until 10 April, when they were ordered to establish a defensive line southeast of Zagreb along the Sava river, with infantry and artillery support. The division had only begun to deploy for this task when the German 14th Panzer Division captured Zagreb. The divisional headquarters and all attached units surrendered.

Wikipedia article of the day for December 5, 2020

The Wikipedia article of the day for December 5, 2020 is Pyramid of Neferirkare.
The Pyramid of Neferirkare was built for the Fifth Dynasty pharaoh Neferirkare Kakai in the 25th century BC. It was the tallest structure on the highest site at the Abusir necropolis and still towers above it today. The Fifth Dynasty marked the end of the great pyramid constructions during the Old Kingdom. Pyramids of the era were smaller and had intricate relief decoration. Neferirkare's pyramid was originally built as a step pyramid, a design antiquated after the Third Dynasty (26th or 27th century BC). Alterations were intended to convert it into a true pyramid, but the pharaoh's death left the project to his successors. Completed in haste, Neferirkare's monument lacked a valley temple and pyramid town. Instead, there was a small settlement of mudbrick houses where cult priests could conduct their daily activities. The Abusir papyri were discovered in the temple of Neferirkare in 1893.

Wikipedia article of the day for December 4, 2020

The Wikipedia article of the day for December 4, 2020 is Battle of Pontvallain.
The Battle of Pontvallain, part of the Hundred Years' War, took place in north-west France on 4 December 1370. A French army under Bertrand du Guesclin heavily defeated an English force which had broken away from an army commanded by Robert Knolles. The French numbered 5,200 men, and the English force was approximately the same size. The English had plundered and burnt their way across northern France from Calais to Paris. With winter coming, the English commanders fell out and divided their army. The battle consisted of two separate engagements: one at Pontvallain where, after a forced march which continued overnight, Guesclin surprised a major part of the English force, and wiped it out. In a coordinated attack, Guesclin's subordinate, Louis de Sancerre, caught a smaller English force the same day, at the nearby town of Vaas, also wiping it out. The French harried the surviving Englishmen into the following year, recapturing much lost territory.

Wikipedia article of the day for December 3, 2020

The Wikipedia article of the day for December 3, 2020 is The Princesse de Broglie.
The Princesse de Broglie is an oil-on-canvas painting by the French Neoclassical artist Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Completed between 1851 and 1853, it shows Pauline de Broglie, who adopted the courtesy title princesse, and married Albert de Broglie, the 28th prime minister of France. She was aged 28 at the time of its completion. Although highly intelligent and widely known for her beauty, Pauline suffered from profound shyness, and the painting captures her melancholia. She contracted tuberculosis and died in 1860 aged 35. The painting is considered one of the artist's finest later-period female portraits, along with those of Comtesse d'Haussonville, of Baronne de Rothschild and of Madame Moitessier. As with many of Ingres's female portraits, details of costume and setting are rendered with a chilly precision while her body seems to lack a solid bone structure. The portrait is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.