Wikipedia article of the day for January 15, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for January 15, 2021 is Mercenary War.
The Mercenary War, also known as the Truceless War, was a mutiny by troops employed by Carthage at the end of the First Punic War (264 to 241 BC), backed by an uprising of African settlements against Carthaginian control. The war began in 241 BC as a dispute over wages owed to 20,000 foreign soldiers. It erupted into a full-scale mutiny that included 70,000 Africans from Carthage's oppressed dependent territories, bringing supplies and finance. The Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca initially demonstrated leniency to woo the rebels over, but pursued the war with great brutality after they tortured 700 Carthaginian prisoners to death. It ended in late 238 or early 237 BC with a Carthaginian victory. An expedition was then prepared to reoccupy Sardinia, where all Carthaginians had been killed. However, Rome declared that this would be an act of war and occupied both Sardinia and Corsica, in contravention of the recent peace treaty. (This article is part of a featured topic: Punic Wars.)

Wikipedia article of the day for January 14, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for January 14, 2021 is James P. Hagerstrom.
James Hagerstrom (January 14, 1921 – June 25, 1994) was a fighter ace of the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) in World War II and the U.S. Air Force (USAF) in the Korean War. He is one of seven American pilots to have achieved ace status in two different wars. Hagerstrom joined the USAAF in 1941, and fought in the New Guinea campaign of World War II. There he shot down six Japanese aircraft, including four in one morning. After the war, he joined the Texas Air National Guard and participated in several air races. By 1950 he was in command of the 111th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, which was deployed to Korea during the Korean War. He transferred to the USAF and flew an F-86 Sabre jet in "MiG Alley", the area around the northern border of North Korea with China, destroying 8.5 Chinese, Soviet, and North Korean MiG-15s. In 1965, he served in several command roles during the Vietnam War while flying 30 combat missions. Hagerstrom died in Shreveport of stomach cancer in 1994.

Wikipedia article of the day for January 13, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for January 13, 2021 is York City War Memorial.
The York City War Memorial is a First World War memorial designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and located in York, in the north of England. A public meeting in January 1920 to decide how to commemorate York's war dead opted for a monument, over a more utilitarian memorial. Lutyens was engaged, and his first design was approved, but it was perceived to clash with York's existing architecture, and the proposed site was abandoned in favour of one just outside the city walls. Lutyens submitted a new design, of a war cross and stone of remembrance, that was scaled back to the cross alone due to lack of funds. Prince Albert, Duke of York (later King George VI), unveiled the memorial on 25 June 1925. It consists of a stone cross 33 feet (10 metres) high on three stone blocks and a stone base, mounted on two further blocks and two shallow steps. It sits in a memorial garden, with an entrance designed by Lutyens. The memorial itself is a Grade II* listed building.

Wikipedia article of the day for January 12, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for January 12, 2021 is Hurricane Alex (2016).
Hurricane Alex in 2016 was the first Atlantic hurricane in January since Alice in 1955. Alex originated as a non-tropical low near the Bahamas on January 7. It briefly acquired hurricane-force winds on January 10, then weakened slightly before acquiring more tropical weather characteristics. The system transitioned into a subtropical cyclone on January 12 well south of the Azores, becoming the first North Atlantic tropical or subtropical cyclone in January since Tropical Storm Zeta of 2006. Alex transitioned into a fully tropical cyclone on January 14. It peaked in strength as a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale with reported maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (140 km/h) and a central pressure of 981 mbar (hPa; 28.97 inHg). Alex weakened to a high-end tropical storm before making landfall on Terceira Island on January 15. After leaving the Azores, it reverted to a non-tropical cyclone.

Wikipedia article of the day for January 11, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for January 11, 2021 is Peter Badcoe.
Peter Badcoe (11 January 1934 – 7 April 1967) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in battle that could be awarded at that time to a member of the Australian armed forces. Badcoe joined the Australian Army in 1950 and graduated from the Officer Cadet School, Portsea, in 1952. Posted to South Vietnam in 1966, Badcoe displayed conspicuous gallantry and leadership on three occasions between February and April 1967. In the final battle, he was killed by a burst of machine-gun fire. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions, as well as the United States Silver Star and several South Vietnamese medals. Badcoe's medal set is now displayed in the Hall of Valour at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Buildings in South Vietnam and Australia have been named after him, as has a perpetual medal at an Australian Football League match held on Anzac Day.

Wikipedia article of the day for January 10, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for January 10, 2021 is Siamosaurus.
Siamosaurus is a genus of spinosaurid dinosaur from what is now Thailand in the Early Cretaceous period. The first reported spinosaurid from Asia, it is confidently known only from tooth fossils (example pictured). The type species, Siamosaurus suteethorni (named for Thai palaeontologist Varavudh Suteethorn), was formally described in 1986. In 2009, four teeth from China previously attributed to a pliosaur were provisionally identified as possibly those of Siamosaurus. Siamosaurus's body length is uncertain, but has been estimated at 5.1 to 9.1 metres (17 to 30 feet). The teeth, typically 62.5 millimetres (2.46 inches) long, were conical and had longitudinal grooves and wrinkled enamel. It would have had a long, low snout and robust forelimbs, and possibly a sail down its back. Its teeth are similar to those of other spinosaurids, and it may not be a dinosaur at all. Its teeth were suitable for impaling rather than tearing, and it may have eaten fish, pterosaurs and small dinosaurs. It lived in a semi-arid habitat of floodplains and rivers.

Wikipedia article of the day for January 9, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for January 9, 2021 is Ficus macrophylla.
Ficus macrophylla, the Moreton Bay fig, is a large evergreen banyan tree of the family Moraceae native to eastern Australia. A strangler fig, it usually germinates in the canopy of a host tree and lives as an epiphyte until its roots establish contact with the ground; it then enlarges, reaching up to 60 m (200 ft) in height. The large leathery, dark green leaves are 15–30 cm (6–12 in) long. The fruit is small, round and greenish, ripening and turning purple at any time of year. Inverted inflorescences, with flowers lining an internal cavity, are pollinated only by fig wasps. Many bird species, including pigeons, parrots and various passerines, eat the fruit. Old specimens of F. macrophylla can reach tremendous size with imposing buttress roots, and the species is widely used as a feature tree in public parks and gardens in warmer climates. Its aggressive root system renders it unsuitable for all but the largest private gardens.