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.

Wikipedia article of the day for August 8, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for August 8, 2021 is Shoom.
Shoom was a weekly all-nighter dance music event held at nightclubs in London, England, between December 1987 and early 1990. It is widely credited with initiating the acid house movement in the UK. Shoom was founded by Danny Rampling and managed by his wife Jenni. It began at a 300-capacity basement gym on Southwark Street in South London. By May 1988 its growing popularity necessitated a move to the larger Raw venue on Tottenham Court Road, Central London, and a switch from Saturday to Thursday nights. Later relocations were to The Park nightclub in Kensington and Busby's venue on Charing Cross Road. The early nights featured Chicago house and Detroit techno, mixed with contemporary pop and post-punk. Its musical and visual culture evolved around the classical hallucinogenic drug LSD and the psychoactive drug MDMA, the latter commonly known in the UK as ecstasy or "E". Shoom closed shortly after open drug use at the club began to attract police attention. By this time, electronic music had crossed into the mainstream as the heavier sounding rave style became popular.

Wikipedia article of the day for August 7, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for August 7, 2021 is Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor.
Henry IV (11 November 1050 – 7 August 1106) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 to 1105. After his father's death in 1056, Henry was placed under his mother's guardianship. Archbishop Anno II of Cologne kidnapped him in 1062 and administered Germany until he came of age in 1065. Ignoring the ideas of the Gregorian Reform, Henry insisted on the royal prerogative to appoint bishops in his German and Italian realms. The Investiture Controversy culminated when Pope Gregory VII excommunicated Henry in response to Henry's attempt to dethrone him. Henry carried out his penitential Walk to Canossa in 1077 and Gregory absolved him. Henry's German opponents ignored this absolution and elected an anti-king. Most German and northern Italian bishops remained loyal to Henry and elected the antipope, Clement III, who crowned Henry emperor in Rome in 1084. His son, Henry V, forced him to abdicate on 31 December 1105.

Wikipedia article of the day for August 6, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for August 6, 2021 is South Park: The Stick of Truth.
South Park: The Stick of Truth is a 2014 role-playing video game developed by Obsidian Entertainment in collaboration with South Park Digital Studios, and published by Ubisoft for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. Based on the American adult animated television series South Park, the game features whimsical fantasy role-playing. As the New Kid, the player can freely explore the town of South Park with a supporting party of characters, fighting aliens, Nazi zombies, and gnomes. The visuals replicate the aesthetic of the television series. South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone (both pictured) wrote the game's script, consulted on the design and voiced many of the characters, as in the television program. Reviewers praised the comedic script and authentic visual style, but some faulted the game over technical issues and a lack of challenging combat. A sequel, South Park: The Fractured but Whole, was released in 2017.

Wikipedia article of the day for August 5, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for August 5, 2021 is York County, Maine, Tercentenary half dollar.
The York County, Maine, Tercentenary half dollar is a fifty-cent piece minted in 1936 as a commemorative coin to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the founding of York County, the southernmost county in Maine and the first to be organized. The obverse shows Brown's Garrison, a fort around which York County developed, while the reverse depicts the county's arms. A commemorative coin craze in 1936 saw some coins authorized by the United States Congress that were of mainly local significance; the York County issue was one of these, passing Congress without opposition in the first half of 1936. Maine artist Walter H. Rich designed the issue; his work has garnered mixed praise and dislike from numismatic authors. The Philadelphia Mint struck 25,000 for public sale. Less than 19,000 sold by 1937, more than half to Mainers; the rest were sold in the 1950s. As of 2021, the York County half dollar catalogs for around $200, depending on condition.