Wikipedia article of the day for April 8, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for April 8, 2021 is Antiochus XII Dionysus.
Antiochus XII Dionysus (died 82 BC) was a Seleucid ruler who reigned as King of Syria during the Hellenistic period from 87 BC until his death. He was the youngest son of Antiochus VIII, who was assassinated in 96 BC. Antiochus XII's four brothers laid claim to the throne. His brother Philip I defeated his brother Demetrius III in 87 BC and remained in the Syrian capital Antioch. Ignoring the territories of Philip I, Antiochus XII gained control of Damascus and consolidated his territory within inner Syria. He focused his attention on Syria's southern reaches into which the Judaeans and Nabataeans sought to expand, reinforced his southern frontier, and fought two campaigns against Nabataea and Judea. After winning several victories, he was killed by the Nabateans at the Battle of Cana in 82 BC. The Nabatean king Aretas III captured Damascus, and the Syrian throne was claimed by Cleopatra Selene and her son Antiochus XIII.

Wikipedia article of the day for April 7, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for April 7, 2021 is République-class battleship.
The République class consisted of a pair of pre-dreadnought battleships—République and Patrie (pictured)—built for the French Navy in the early 1900s. They were a significant improvement over previous French battleships, with the same four 305 mm (12 in) guns and eighteen 164 mm (6.5 in) guns, but with most of the 164 mm guns mounted in gun turrets rather than in casemates. They also had more effective armored protection. Both ships entered service in January 1907, shortly after the British HMS Dreadnought made all existing battleships obsolescent. During World War I, both ships operated in the Mediterranean. Patrie supported the Gallipoli campaign from May 1915 and République joined her in January 1916. Both ships then became involved in Greece, where they assisted a coup against the neutral but pro-German government that ultimately led to Greece's entry into the war on the side of the Allies. Neither ship saw any further action. République was decommissioned in 1921, and Patrie not until 1937.

Wikipedia article of the day for April 6, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for April 6, 2021 is The Rite of Spring.
The Rite of Spring is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1913 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company, with choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky and stage designs and costumes (pictured) by Nicholas Roerich. The ballet caused a near-riot in the audience when first performed, on 29 May 1913 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, but rapidly achieved success, and later became recognised as one of the most influential musical works of the 20th century. The score has many novel features, including experiments in tonality, metre, rhythm, stress and dissonance. The scenario is the celebration of spring by various primitive rituals, at the end of which a sacrificial victim dances herself to death. After its explosive premiere the ballet was not performed until the 1920s, when Léonide Massine's rechoreographed version was the first of many innovative productions directed by the world's leading choreographers. Providing "endless stimulation for performers and listeners" alike, The Rite is among the most recorded works in the classical repertoire.

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.