Wikipedia article of the day for August 15, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for August 15, 2021 is Shaw and Crompton.
Shaw and Crompton is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, containing the town of Shaw. Formerly known as Crompton, the parish lies at the edge of the South Pennines, 9 miles (14 km) northeast of Manchester. There is evidence of ancient British and Anglian activity in the area, and by the Middle Ages it was a small township, although lacking a lord's manor. Farming was the main industry with some hand-loom woollen weaving until textile manufacture during the British Industrial Revolution initiated rapid urbanisation. By the late 19th century Crompton had emerged as a densely populated mill town. Imports of foreign cotton led to a decline in textiles in the mid–20th century and the last mill closed in 1989. The borough is mainly suburban, with a population of 21,065 as of 2011. Of the 48 cotton mills, some very large, that have existed in the area, six now serve as home to large distribution companies, among them Yodel's Shaw National Distribution Centre.

Wikipedia article of the day for August 14, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for August 14, 2021 is Ring ouzel.
The ring ouzel (Turdus torquatus) is a medium-sized thrush, breeding mainly in Europe. Males are mostly black with a white crescent across the breast, females are browner and duller than males, and young birds may lack chest markings. A high-altitude bird, it breeds in open mountain areas with some trees or shrubs, often including heather or juniper. It is migratory, wintering in southern Europe, northern Africa and Turkey, often in mountains with juniper. A typical clutch of three to six brown-flecked pale blue or greenish eggs is incubated by the female and hatches after 13 days. The downy chicks fledge in another 14 days. The thrush is omnivorous, eating invertebrates, particularly insects and earthworms, some small vertebrates, and a wide range of fruit. Most animal prey is caught on the ground. With an extensive range and a large population, the ring ouzel is evaluated as a least-concern species by the IUCN. There are declines in several countries, perhaps due to climate change or human disturbance.

Wikipedia article of the day for August 13, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for August 13, 2021 is Battle of Blenheim.
The Battle of Blenheim was fought on 13 August 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession. The French were seeking to knock Austria out of the war by seizing its capital, Vienna. An army of the reconstituted Grand Alliance, led by the Duke of Marlborough, marched south from the Dutch Republic to the Danube. There he defeated the Bavarians at the Battle of Donauwörth and joined an Austrian army under Prince Eugene. A French army under Marshall Tallard bolstered the Elector of Bavaria's forces. The opposing armies met on the banks of the Danube near the village of Blindheim. Marlborough unexpectedly attacked the slightly larger Franco-Bavarian army and after a hard day's fighting inflicted a crushing defeat. France suffered around 30,000 casualties, Tallard was taken prisoner and Bavaria was knocked out of the war. Before the campaign ended, the Allies had taken several important towns and were preparing to invade France in 1705.

Wikipedia article of the day for August 12, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for August 12, 2021 is Star Trek Generations.
Star Trek Generations is a 1994 American science fiction film, the seventh in the Star Trek film series. Malcolm McDowell (pictured) joined cast members from the 1960s television show Star Trek and the 1987 spin-off The Next Generation, including William Shatner and Patrick Stewart. In the film, Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise-D joins with Captain James T. Kirk to stop the villain Tolian Soran from destroying a planetary system. David Carson directed with photography by franchise newcomer John A. Alonzo. The distributor, Paramount, marketed the film with merchandising tie-ins, including toys, books, games, and the first website to ever promote a major motion picture. The film opened at the top of the United States box office its first week of release and grossed a total of $118 million worldwide. Critical reception was lukewarm, with critics divided on the film's characters and comprehensibility to a casual viewer.

Wikipedia article of the day for August 11, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for August 11, 2021 is Arthur Sullivan (Australian soldier).
Arthur Sullivan (1896–1937) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross. Born in South Australia, Sullivan enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force during World War I. Sent to the United Kingdom, he completed training after the Armistice came into effect. Wanting to see active service, he sought his discharge and enlisted in the British Army with the North Russia Relief Force, part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. In the early morning of 11 August 1919 he was a member of a rearguard withdrawing across the Sheika River in North Russia. As his platoon crossed the river on a one-plank bridge, it came under intense fire from Bolshevik troops, and four men fell into the river. Sullivan jumped in and rescued all four, one by one; he was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions. He was part of the Australian Coronation Contingent in London for the coronation of King George VI in 1937 when he died of head injuries received in a fall.

Wikipedia article of the day for August 10, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for August 10, 2021 is Hurricane Olivia (2018).
Hurricane Olivia was a Category 4 hurricane that hit Hawaii as a weakening tropical storm in September 2018, causing severe flooding and wind damage. Olivia was the first tropical cyclone to make landfall on either Maui or Lanai since modern weather records began. It was the fifteenth named storm, ninth hurricane, and sixth major hurricane of the 2018 Pacific hurricane season. A tropical depression formed southwest of Mexico on September 1 and strengthened into a tropical storm a day later. Olivia peaked as a Category 4 hurricane on September 7, with winds of 130 mph (210 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 951 mbar (28.08 inHg). On September 12 the storm weakened and made brief landfalls on Maui and Lanai, with winds of 45 mph (70 km/h). Torrential rainfall occurred on both Maui and Oahu, peaking at 12.93 in (328 mm) in West Wailuaiki, Maui. Olivia felled trees on Maui, and some homes and vehicles were swept away by floodwaters. (This article is part of a featured topic: 2018 Pacific hurricane season.)

Wikipedia article of the day for August 9, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for August 9, 2021 is 2008 UAW-Dodge 400.
The 2008 UAW-Dodge 400 was the third stock car race of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. It was held on March 2 before a crowd of 153,000 in Las Vegas, Nevada, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The 267-lap race was won by Carl Edwards of the Roush Fenway Racing team, for his ninth career win in the series. Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second and Edwards's teammate Greg Biffle came in third. The race was stopped when Jeff Gordon crashed on lap 262, strewing car parts into the path of other drivers; after the restart, Edwards maintained the lead. There were eleven cautions and 19 lead changes by nine different drivers during the race. Ford took over the lead of the Manufacturers' Championship, five points ahead of Dodge. The race attracted 12.1 million television viewers. Edwards was later issued with a 100-point penalty after his car was found to violate NASCAR regulations, dropping him from first to seventh in the Drivers' Championship.