Wikipedia article of the day for April 5, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for April 5, 2021 is Siegfried Lederer's escape from Auschwitz.
Siegfried Lederer escaped from Auschwitz on the night of 5 April 1944, wearing an SS uniform provided by Viktor Pestek, a guard at the concentration camp (gate pictured). Pestek opposed the Holocaust because of his Catholic faith and infatuation with Renée Neumann, a Jewish prisoner. Lederer, a former Czechoslovak Army officer and a Jewish member of the Czech resistance, tried unsuccessfully to warn the Jews at Theresienstadt Ghetto about the mass murders at Auschwitz. After he and Pestek returned to Auschwitz in an attempt to rescue Neumann and her mother, Pestek was arrested and later executed. Lederer returned to occupied Czechoslovakia, where he rejoined the resistance movement and attempted to smuggle a report on Auschwitz to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Switzerland. After the war he remained in Czechoslovakia. The story of the escape was retold by Lederer, historian Erich Kulka, and other writers.

Wikipedia article of the day for April 4, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for April 4, 2021 is Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4.
Christ lag in Todes Banden (Christ lay in death's bonds), BWV 4, is a chorale cantata for Easter by Johann Sebastian Bach, one of his earliest church cantatas. It is agreed to be an early work, partly for stylistic reasons and partly because there is evidence that it was probably written for a performance in 1707. Text and music are based on Luther's hymn of the same name, derived from medieval models. In each of seven vocal movements, Bach used the unchanged words of a stanza of the chorale and its tune as a cantus firmus. Although all movements are in E minor, Bach intensified the meaning of the text through a variety of musical forms and techniques. He performed the cantata again as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, beginning in 1724 for his first Easter there. Only this second version survived, scored for four vocal parts (soprano part pictured) and a Baroque instrumental ensemble with strings and a choir of cornetto and three trombones. John Eliot Gardiner described the cantata as Bach's "first-known attempt at painting narrative in music" and "a bold, innovative piece of musical drama".

Wikipedia article of the day for April 3, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for April 3, 2021 is Scarlet myzomela.
The scarlet myzomela (Myzomela sanguinolenta) is a small bird of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to Australia. It was described by English ornithologist John Latham in 1801. At 9 to 11 centimetres (3.5 to 4.3 in) long, it is the smallest honeyeater in Australia. It has a short tail and relatively long down-curved bill. The male (example pictured) is a striking bright red with black wings, while the female is entirely brown. It is more vocal than most honeyeaters; its varied calls include a bell-like tinkling. Found along most of the eastern coastline, the scarlet myzomela is migratory in the southern parts of its range. Its natural habitat is forest, where it forages mainly in the upper tree canopy for insects as well as nectar. Up to three broods may be raised over the course of a breeding season. The female lays two or rarely three flecked white eggs in a cup-shaped nest 5 centimetres (2 in) across, high in a tree. The species is not threatened.

Wikipedia article of the day for April 2, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for April 2, 2021 is Honan Chapel.
The Honan Chapel is a small Catholic church built in the Celtic-Romanesque Revival style on the grounds of University College Cork. Designed in 1914, the building was completed in 1916 and fully furnished by 1917. Its architecture and fittings are representative of the Celtic Revival movement. Its construction was initiated by Dublin solicitor John O'Connell, and funded by Isabella Honan, a member of a wealthy Cork family, who made a significant donation towards the works. O'Connell guided the architect James F. McMullen and the builders John Sisk and Sons, and hired the craftsmen and artists involved in its artwork. In 1986, the sculptor Imogen Stuart was commissioned to oversee the installation of a new altar and other furnishings and fittings. The chapel's interior is designed and fitted in a traditional Irish style, but with an appreciation of contemporary trends. Its furnishings include the mosaic flooring, altar plate, metalwork and enamel pieces, liturgical textiles, and nineteen stained-glass windows.

Wikipedia article of the day for April 1, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for April 1, 2021 is Groundhog Day (film).
Groundhog Day is a 1993 American fantasy comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and written by Ramis and Danny Rubin. It stars Bill Murray (pictured), Andie MacDowell, and Chris Elliott. Murray portrays Phil Connors, a cynical television weatherman who becomes trapped in a time loop forcing him to relive the same day over and over. The film is a comedy directed by Harold Ramis and written by Ramis and Danny Rubin. It stars Bill Murray (pictured), Andie MacDowell, and Chris Elliott. Murray portrays Phil Connors, a cynical television weatherman who becomes trapped in a time loop forcing him to relive the same day over and over. The film is a comedy directed by Harold Ramis and written by Ramis and Danny Rubin. It stars Bill Murray (pictured), Andie MacDowell, and Chris Elliott. Murray portrays Phil Connors, a cynical television weatherman who becomes trapped in a time loop forcing him to relive the same day over and over.[April Fools!]

Wikipedia article of the day for March 31, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for March 31, 2021 is Lou Spence.
Lou Spence (1917–1950) was a fighter pilot and squadron commander in the Royal Australian Air Force during World War II and the Korean War. In 1941 he was posted to North Africa with No. 3 Squadron, which operated P-40 Tomahawks and Kittyhawks; he was credited with shooting down two German aircraft and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). He commanded No. 452 Squadron in 1944, flying Supermarine Spitfires in defence of Australia's North-Western Area against the Japanese, and was mentioned in despatches. In February 1950 he took command of No. 77 Squadron, operating P-51 Mustangs as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan. He led his squadron in the opening months of the Korean War, and was awarded a bar to his DFC, as well as the US Legion of Merit and the US Air Medal, for his leadership. Spence was killed during a low-level mission over South Korea in September 1950.

Wikipedia article of the day for March 30, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for March 30, 2021 is Dresden Triptych.
The Dresden Triptych is a very small hinged-triptych altarpiece signed and dated 1437 by the Early Netherlandish painter Jan van Eyck. It consists of five paintings: one central and four on two double-sided wings. It may have been intended as a portable altarpiece, and is his only extant non-portrait painting signed with his personal motto ALC IXH XAN ("I Do as I Can"). The outer wings show the Virgin Mary and the Archangel Gabriel in an Annunciation scene in grisaille. The inner panels are set in an ecclesiastical interior. In the central inner panel Mary holds the Christ Child; in the left-hand outer wing the Archangel Michael presents a kneeling donor; on the right Saint Catherine of Alexandria reads a prayer book (depicted). The triptych's frames are the originals; richly decorated with Latin inscriptions, they indicate that the donor, whose identity is now lost, was highly educated. The coats of arms on the interior borders are associated with the Giustiniani of Genoa – an influential albergo active from 1362.