Wikipedia article of the day for May 22, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for May 22, 2021 is Opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.
The opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&M), often considered the dawn of modern transport, took place on 15 September 1830. Eight trains set out from Liverpool to Manchester carrying dignitaries including the Duke of Wellington, then prime minister. At Parkside the trains stopped to take on water, and former cabinet minister William Huskisson alighted and was struck by a locomotive, suffering fatal injuries. As a large crowd waiting to meet the trains in Manchester was becoming unruly, Wellington decided that the event should continue. On arrival in Manchester a hostile crowd pelted Wellington with vegetables and he ordered the trains return to Liverpool. Faults meant only three of the locomotives were still functional; the party eventually returned six and a half hours late. The accidents led to significant coverage of the opening, raising the profile of the new technology, and within a month schemes were announced to connect the industrial centres of England.

Wikipedia article of the day for May 21, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for May 21, 2021 is George Vincent (painter).
George Vincent (1796 – c. 1832) was an English landscape artist who produced watercolours, etchings and oil paintings. He is considered to be one of the most talented of the Norwich School of painters, a group of artists inspired by the Norfolk countryside. Vincent's work was founded on the Dutch school of landscape painting and the style of John Crome, also of the Norwich School. The son of a weaver, Vincent was apprenticed to Crome. Vincent exhibited at the Royal Academy and the British Institution. From 1811 until 1831 he showed at the Norwich Society of Artists, exhibiting over 100 pictures of Norfolk landscapes and marine works. By 1818 he had relocated to London, yet struggled financially. He was imprisoned for debt from 1824 to 1827. After 1831, Vincent disappeared and was never found. The art historian Herbert Cundall wrote in the 1920s that had Vincent "not given way to intemperate habits he would probably have ranked amongst the foremost of British landscape painters".

Wikipedia article of the day for May 20, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for May 20, 2021 is Battle of Rethymno.
The Battle of Rethymno was part of the Battle of Crete, fought during World War II on the Greek island of Crete between 20 and 29 May 1941. Two Australian battalions, supported by Greek forces, defended an airstrip and the nearby town of Rethymno against a German paratrooper attack (pictured). Due to confusion and delays at the airfields in Greece, the German assault was launched without direct air support, and drops occurred over an extended period rather than simultaneously. German units dropping near Allied positions suffered very high casualties, both in the air and on the ground. More than 500 Germans were captured, including the local commander. The Germans concentrated their resources on the battle for the airfield at Maleme, 50 mi (80 km) to the west, which they won. The Allies ordered an evacuation of Crete on 27 May, but were unable to communicate this to the units at Rethymno. Faced by a superior force of Germans equipped with tanks and artillery the Australians surrendered on 29 May.

Wikipedia article of the day for May 19, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for May 19, 2021 is Angkor Wat.
Angkor Wat is a temple at Angkor, Cambodia, built in the capital city for King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as the state temple. The largest and best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious center—first Hindu, then Buddhist—since its foundation. The temple is the epitome of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and is the country's prime attraction for visitors. Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple mountain and the later galleried temple. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the gods in Hindu mythology. At the center of the temple stands a quincunx of towers. The temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of its architecture and for the extensive bas-reliefs and the numerous devatas adorning its walls. Unusually, Angkor Wat faces the west; scholars are divided as to the significance of this.

Wikipedia article of the day for May 18, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for May 18, 2021 is Burnley F.C..
Burnley Football Club is an English association football club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Founded in 1882, it was one of the first to become professional – in 1883. The club entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1885–86 and was one of the 12 founder members of the Football League in 1888–89. The team currently compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Burnley have been champions of England twice, have won the FA Cup once, and the FA Charity Shield twice. They also reached the quarter-finals of the 1960–61 European Cup. Burnley are one of only five teams to have won all four professional divisions of English football. Burnley have played home games at Turf Moor (pictured) since 1883. The club colours of claret and blue were adopted before the 1910–11 season in tribute to the previous season's champions, Aston Villa. The club is nicknamed "the Clarets", because of the dominant colour of its home shirts.

Wikipedia article of the day for May 17, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for May 17, 2021 is Thomas Erpingham.
Thomas Erpingham (c. 1355 – 27 June 1428) was an English soldier and administrator who served three generations of the House of Lancaster including two English kings. Through his access to royal patronage he acquired great wealth and influence. During the reign of Richard II he served under the King's uncle John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, in Spain and Scotland, and with his son Henry Bolingbroke on crusades in Lithuania, Prussia and the Holy Land. On becoming king, Bolingbroke rewarded Erpingham with senior appointments. Erpingham later helped suppress the Epiphany Rising and was appointed guardian of Henry's second son Thomas. He was a member of the Privy Council, acting at one point as marshal of England. In 1415 Erpingham served as a knight banneret in Henry's campaign in France and commanded the archers at the Battle of Agincourt. He was a benefactor to the city of Norwich, where he had built the main cathedral gate which bears his name.

Wikipedia article of the day for May 16, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for May 16, 2021 is Apollo 7.
Apollo 7 (October 11–22, 1968) was the first crewed flight in NASA's Apollo program. It was commanded by Wally Schirra, with command module pilot Donn F. Eisele and lunar module pilot R. Walter Cunningham, and saw the resumption of human spaceflight by the agency after the fire that killed the three Apollo 1 astronauts in January 1967. Determined to prevent a repetition of the fire, the crew spent long periods of time monitoring the construction of their Apollo command and service module (CSM). After liftoff on October 11, 1968, extensive testing of the CSM took place, along with testing of techniques to be used on lunar missions, and also the first live television broadcast from an American spacecraft. Despite tension between the crew and ground controllers, the mission was a complete technical success, giving NASA the confidence to send Apollo 8 into orbit around the Moon two months later, but in part because of those tensions, no member of the crew flew in space again.