Thursday, March 25, 2021

Wikipedia article of the day for March 26, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for March 26, 2021 is Hi-5 (Australian group).
Hi-5 were an Australian children's musical group formed in 1998 in association with the children's television series of the same name, which premiered on the Nine Network in 1999. The five performers entertained and educated preschool children through music, movement and play. Kellie Crawford, Kathleen de Leon Jones, Nathan Foley, Tim Harding and Charli Robinson were the founding members. As one of Australia's highest-paid entertainment groups, they were placed in Business Review Weekly's annual list several times. The Australian Recording Industry Association certified their album It's a Party as double platinum. Their albums Jump and Jive with Hi-5, Boom Boom Beat, and It's a Hi-5 Christmas were certified platinum. By 2004, the original line-up had received three Logie Television Awards for Most Outstanding Children's Program and five consecutive ARIA Music Awards for Best Children's Album.

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Wikipedia article of the day for March 25, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for March 25, 2021 is Biblioteca Marciana.
The Marciana Library in Venice is one of the earliest surviving public libraries and repositories for manuscripts in Italy and holds one of the world's most significant collections of classical texts. Named after Saint Mark, the patron saint of Venice, it was founded in 1468 when the humanist scholar Cardinal Bessarion donated his collection of Greek and Latin codices to Venice as a means of preserving the writings of the classical Greek authors and the literature of Byzantium after the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks. It is the only institution established by the Venetian government that continues to function. The original building, now largely a museum, was constructed from 1537 to 1588. It is considered to be the masterpiece of Jacopo Sansovino and is a key work in Venetian Renaissance architecture. Since 1904, the library offices and most of the collection have been housed in the adjoining Zecca, the former Venetian mint.

Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Wikipedia article of the day for March 24, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for March 24, 2021 is Buruli ulcer.
Buruli ulcer is an infectious disease characterized by the development of painless open wounds. The disease largely occurs in sub-Saharan Africa and Australia, generally in rural areas near slow-moving or stagnant water. The first sign of infection is a small painless nodule or area of swelling, typically on the arms or legs. This grows larger over days to weeks, forming an open ulcer (examples pictured). Deep ulcers can cause scarring of muscles and tendons, resulting in permanent disability. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends treating Buruli ulcer with a combination of the antibiotics rifampicin and clarithromycin. Regular cleaning and dressing of wounds aids healing and prevents secondary infections. In 2018, WHO received 2,713 reports of Buruli ulcer globally. In 1998, WHO established the Global Buruli Ulcer Initiative to coordinate global efforts to eliminate Buruli ulcer. WHO considers Buruli ulcer a neglected tropical disease.

Monday, March 22, 2021

Wikipedia article of the day for March 23, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for March 23, 2021 is Lewis (baseball).
Lewis (first name unknown) was briefly a professional baseball player; he played one game for the Buffalo Bisons of the Major League Baseball (MLB) Players' League (PL) on July 12, 1890. Having approached the team for a tryout, Lewis was the starting pitcher for the visiting Bisons against the Brooklyn Ward's Wonders. During the three innings he pitched, Lewis allowed 20 runs, all earned, before being moved to left field, where he played the remainder of the game. The Bisons lost 28–16, with Lewis the losing pitcher; the total of 44 runs set an MLB record that stood until 1922. In the third inning Lewis gave up two home runs to Lou Bierbauer, only the second time a major league batter had hit two home runs in a single inning. The press described Lewis as a "failure", "unfortunate", and a "much disgusted ball tosser" (news clipping pictured). Lewis's earned run average (ERA) of 60.00 and walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) rate of 6.667 were the worst of any pitcher in the one-season history of the PL.

Sunday, March 21, 2021

Wikipedia article of the day for March 22, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for March 22, 2021 is HMS Princess Royal (1911).
HMS Princess Royal was built for the British Royal Navy before the First World War in response to the Moltke-class battlecruisers of the Imperial German Navy and significantly improved on the speed, armament, and armour of earlier battlecruisers. Laid down in 1912 and commissioned in 1913, Princess Royal served in the Battle of Heligoland Bight a month after the war began. During the Battle of Dogger Bank, Princess Royal scored few hits, although one crippled the German armoured cruiser Blücher. Shortly afterward, she became the flagship of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron, under the command of Rear-Admiral Osmond Brock. Princess Royal was moderately damaged during the Battle of Jutland and required a month and a half of repairs. Apart from providing distant support during the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight in 1917, the ship spent the rest of the war on uneventful patrols of the North Sea. She was sold for breaking up as scrap in 1922. (This article is part of a featured topic: Battlecruisers of the world.)

Saturday, March 20, 2021

Wikipedia article of the day for March 21, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for March 21, 2021 is Sirius.
Sirius, designated Alpha Canis Majoris, is the brightest star in the night sky with a visual magnitude of −1.46. It is a close binary star system, consisting of Sirius A, a white main-sequence star, and a faint companion white dwarf, Sirius B, which was originally a massive bluish star that became a red giant before shedding its outer layers and collapsing to a white dwarf. It is one of Earth's near neighbors, at 2.6 parsecs (8.6 light-years). Sirius A is about twice as massive as the Sun and has an absolute magnitude of 1.42. It is 25 times more luminous than the Sun but has a lower luminosity than other bright stars. The system is 200 to 300 million years old. Sirius is known as the "Dog Star", due to its prominence in its constellation, Canis Major. The rising of Sirius marked the flooding of the Nile in Ancient Egypt and the "dog days" of summer for the ancient Greeks, while to the Polynesians it was important for Pacific navigation.

Friday, March 19, 2021

Wikipedia article of the day for March 20, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for March 20, 2021 is Duke and Duchess of Windsor's 1937 tour of Germany.
The Duke and Duchess of Windsor's 1937 tour of Germany was opposed by the British government, which feared that Nazi Germany would use the visit for propaganda. After Edward had abdicated the British throne in December 1936, his brother George VI became king. Given the title Duke of Windsor, Edward married Wallis Simpson in June 1937. He appeared to have been sympathetic to Germany in this period and announced his intention to travel there privately to tour factories. He promised the British government that he would keep a low profile, and the tour went ahead between 12 and 23 October. The Duke and Duchess visited factories, many of which were producing materiel for the war effort, and the Duke inspected German troops (pictured). The Windsors dined with prominent Nazis including Joseph Goebbels, Hermann Göring, Joachim von Ribbentrop, and Albert Speer; they also had tea with Adolf Hitler at his house at Berchtesgaden.