Wikipedia:Today's featured article/February 2007

Today's featured article archive

February 1

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is a 1999 science fantasy film written and directed by George Lucas. It was the fourth film to be released in the Star Wars saga, and the first in terms of internal chronology. The film begins as two Jedi Knights are assigned as ambassadors to a trade dispute that is threatening the planet Naboo. When the situation turns violent, the Jedi, along with Padmé Amidala, the planet's queen, flee Naboo in an attempt to reach the capital world Coruscant in the hope of finding a peaceful end to the dispute. Along the way, the ship must stop for repairs on the planet Tatooine. It is there that the Jedi encounter Anakin Skywalker, a young slave boy who is unusually strong in the Force. When the group returns to Naboo, they realize that the situation is much worse than they thought—the evil Sith have returned. The release of the film on May 19, 1999 came almost 16 years after the previous film in the series, Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. The release was accompanied by extensive media coverage and great anticipation. Despite mixed reviews by critics, it grossed US$924.3 million worldwide. (more...)

Recently featured: Regulamentul Organic – New Radicals – Hurricane Juan

February 2

Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life in the marine environment. Whilst seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations. The first seabirds evolved in the Cretaceous, and modern seabird families emerged in the Paleogene. Seabirds live longer, breed later and have fewer young than other birds do, but they invest a great deal of time in those young that they do have. Most species nest in colonies, which can vary in size from a few dozen birds to many millions. They are famous for undertaking long annual migrations, crossing the equator or circumnavigating the Earth in some cases. They feed both at the ocean's surface and below it, and even feed on each other. Seabirds can be highly pelagic, coastal, or in some cases spend a part of the year away from the sea entirely. Seabirds and humans have a long history together: they have provided food to hunters, guided fishermen to fishing stocks and led sailors to land. Many species are currently threatened by human activities, and conservation efforts are underway. (more...)

Recently featured: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace – Regulamentul Organic – New Radicals

February 3

Syed Ahmed Khan was an Indian educationalist and politician who pioneered modern education for the Muslim community in India by founding the Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College, which later developed into the Aligarh Muslim University. His work gave rise to a new generation of Muslim intellectuals and politicians who composed the Aligarh movement to secure the political future of Muslims in India. One of the most influential Muslim politicians of his time, Sir Syed was suspicious of the Indian independence movement and called upon Muslims to loyally serve the British Raj. He denounced nationalist organisations such as the Indian National Congress, instead forming organisations to promote Muslim unity and pro-British attitudes and activities. Sir Syed promoted the adoption of Urdu as the lingua franca of all Indian Muslims and mentored a rising generation of Muslim politicians and intellectuals. Although hailed as a great Muslim leader and social reformer, Sir Syed remains the subject of controversy for his views on Hindu-Muslim issues. (more...)

Recently featured: Seabird – Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace – Regulamentul Organic

February 4

Ecclesiastical heraldry is the tradition of heraldry developed by Christian clergy. Initially used to mark documents, ecclesiastical heraldry evolved as a system for identifying people and dioceses. It is most formalized within the Roman Catholic Church, where most bishops, including the Pope, have a personal coat of arms. Similar customs are followed by clergy in the Anglican Church, the Lutheran Church, the Eastern Rite Catholic Churches, and the Orthodox Churches. Institutions such as schools and dioceses bear arms called impersonal or corporate arms. Ecclesiastical heraldry differs notably from other heraldry in the use of special symbols around the shield to indicate rank in a church or denomination. The most prominent of these symbols is the ecclesiastical hat, commonly the Roman galero or Geneva bonnet. The color and ornamentation of this hat carry a precise meaning. Cardinals are famous for the "red hat", but other offices are assigned a distinctive hat color. The hat is ornamented with tassels in a quantity commensurate with the office. Other symbols include the cross, the mitre and the crozier. (more...)

Recently featured: Syed Ahmed Khan – Seabird – Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

February 5

The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank produced from 1940 to 1958. It was widely regarded as the world's best tank when the Soviet Union entered the Second World War, and although its armour and armament were surpassed by later WWII tanks, it is credited as the war's most effective, efficient and influential design. First produced at the KhPZ factory in Kharkov (Kharkiv, Ukraine), it was the mainstay of Soviet armoured forces throughout World War II, and widely exported afterwards. It was the most-produced tank of the war, and the second most-produced tank of all time, after its successor, the T-54/55 series. The T-34 was still in service with twenty-seven countries as late as 1996. (more...)

Recently featured: Ecclesiastical heraldry – Syed Ahmed Khan – Seabird

February 6

Scouting is a worldwide youth movement aiming to develop young people physically, mentally and spiritually, so that they may play constructive roles in society. Scouting began in 1907 when R.S.S. Baden-Powell, Lieutenant General in the British Army, held the first Scouting encampment at Brownsea Island, England. Baden-Powell wrote the principles of Scouting in Scouting for Boys, based on his earlier military books, with influence and support of Seton of the Woodcraft Indians, Smith of the Boys' Brigade, and his publisher Pearson. During the first half of the 20th century, the movement grew to encompass three major age groups for boys (Cub Scout, Boy Scout, Rover Scout) and for girls (Brownie Guide, Girl Guide and Girl Scout, Ranger Guide). The movement employs the Scout method, a program of non-formal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking, and sports. (more...)

Recently featured: T-34 – Ecclesiastical heraldry – Syed Ahmed Khan

February 7

Alison Krauss is an American bluegrass/country singer and fiddle player. Krauss signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album at age sixteen in 1987. Krauss was invited to join the band with which she still performs, Alison Krauss & Union Station, and later released her first album with them as a group in 1989. Since then Krauss' contract has dictated that she rotate between releasing albums solo and with Union Station. She has thus far released more than ten albums, appeared on numerous soundtracks, and has been credited with helping to usher in a new interest in bluegrass music in the United States. Her soundtrack performances have led to further popularity, including the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, an album also credited with raising American interest in bluegrass, and the Cold Mountain soundtrack, which led to her performance at the Academy Awards. During her career she has won 20 Grammy Awards—more than any other female artist and tied for seventh-most of all artists—along with numerous other awards. (more...)

Recently featured: Scouting – T-34 – Ecclesiastical heraldry

February 8

Vancouver is a city in southwestern British Columbia, Canada, named for George Vancouver, an English explorer. It was first settled in the 1860s as a result of immigration caused by the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, and developed rapidly from a small lumber mill town into a metropolitan centre following the arrival of the transcontinental railway in 1887. Its economy has traditionally relied on British Columbia's resource sectors: forestry, mining, fishing and agriculture. The Port of Vancouver became internationally significant after the completion of the Panama Canal and reduced freight rates in the 1920s made it viable to ship export-bound prairie grain west through Vancouver. Vancouver is part of the Greater Vancouver Regional District metropolitan area. With more than 2 million ethnically diverse residents, it is the third most populous city in Canada. Vancouver is often ranked amongst the most livable cities in the world. In 2006, the city was ranked the 56th most expensive city to live in among 144 major cities in the world and the second most expensive in Canada (after Toronto). (more...)

Recently featured: Alison Krauss – Scouting – T-34

February 9

The Scottish Parliament is the national unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of Edinburgh. The Parliament is a democratically elected body comprised of 129 members who are known as Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). Members are elected for four year terms under the proportional representation system. The original Parliament of Scotland was the national legislature of the independent Kingdom of Scotland and existed from the early thirteenth century until the Kingdom of Scotland merged with the Kingdom of England under the Acts of Union 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. Following a referendum in 1997 where the Scottish people gave their consent, the current Parliament was established by the Scotland Act 1998 which sets out its powers as a devolved legislature. The Act delineated the areas in which it can make laws by explicitly specifying powers that are "reserved" to the Parliament of the United Kingdom. All matters that are not explicitly reserved are automatically the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament. The UK Parliament retains the ability to amend the terms of reference of the Scottish Parliament, and can extend or reduce the areas in which it can make laws. The first meeting of the new Parliament took place on 12 May 1999. (more...)

Recently featured: Vancouver – Alison Krauss – Scouting

February 10

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a Bengali political leader in East Pakistan and the founding leader of Bangladesh. Heading the Awami League, he served as the first President and later Prime Minister of Bangladesh. An advocate of socialism, Mujib became popular for his leadership against the ethnic and institutional discrimination of Bengalis. At the heightening of sectional tensions, Mujib outlined a 6-point autonomy plan which was seen as separatism in West Pakistan. After talks broke down with President Yahya Khan and West Pakistani politician Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Mujib was arrested and a guerrilla war erupted between government forces and Bengali nationalists. Indian intervention in 1971 would lead to the establishment of Bangladesh, and after his release Mujib would assume office as provisional president, and later prime minister. Even as a constitution was adopted, proclaiming socialism and a secular democracy, Mujib struggled to address the challenges of intense poverty and unemployment. Amidst rising political turmoil, he banned other political parties and declared himself president in 1975. Mujib was assassinated with his family by a group of army officers. (more...)

Recently featured: Scottish Parliament – Vancouver – Alison Krauss

February 11

Able Archer 83 was a ten-day NATO exercise starting on November 2, 1983 that spanned the continent of Europe and simulated a coordinated nuclear release. It incorporated a new, unique format of coded communication, radio silences, participation by heads of state, and a simulated DEFCON 1 nuclear alert. The realistic nature of the exercise, coupled with deteriorating relations between the United States and the Soviet Union and the anticipated arrival of "super-stealth" Pershing II nuclear missiles in Europe, led some in the USSR to believe that Able Archer 83 was a genuine nuclear strike. In response, the Soviets readied their nuclear forces and placed air units in East Germany and Poland on alert. This relatively obscure incident is considered by many historians to be the closest the world has come to nuclear war since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The immediate threat of nuclear war abruptly ended with the conclusion of the Able Archer 83 exercise on November 11. (more...)

Recently featured: Sheikh Mujibur Rahman – Scottish Parliament – Vancouver

February 12

Make Way for Ducklings is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey. First published in 1941, the book tells the story of a pair of mallard ducks who decide to raise their family on an island in the lagoon in the Boston Public Garden, a park in the center of Boston, Massachusetts. Make Way for Ducklings won the 1942 Caldecott Medal for McCloskey's illustrations, executed in charcoal then lithographed on zinc plates. Although the book was originally criticized for having a loose plot and poor characterization, it remains popular worldwide even sixty years after its first publication primarily for the enhancing illustrations and effective pacing. The book's popularity has led to the sale of over two million copies and the construction of a statue in the Public Garden of the mother duck and her eight ducklings. (more...)

Recently featured: Able Archer 83 – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman – Scottish Parliament

February 13

DNA is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions for the development and function of living organisms. All living things contain DNA, although DNA viruses are usually considered non-living. The main role of DNA in the cell is the long term storage of information. It is often compared to a blueprint, since it contains the instructions to construct other components of the cell, such as proteins and RNA molecules. The DNA segments that carry genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in regulating the expression of genetic information. In eukaryotes such as animals and plants, DNA is stored inside the cell nucleus, while in prokaryotes such as bacteria, the DNA is in the cell's cytoplasm. The major function of DNA is to encode the sequence of amino acid residues in proteins, using the genetic code. To read the genetic code, cells make a copy of a stretch of DNA in the nucleic acid RNA. These RNA copies can then be used to direct protein biosynthesis, but they can also be used directly as parts of ribosomes or spliceosomes. (more...)

Recently featured: Make Way for Ducklings – Able Archer 83 – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

February 14

The California Gold Rush started in January 1848, when gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill. As news of the discovery spread, some 300,000 people came to California from the rest of the United States and abroad. These early gold-seekers, called "Forty-Niners," traveled to California by sailing ship and in covered wagons across the continent, often facing substantial hardship on the trip. Gold worth billions of today's dollars was recovered, leading to great wealth for some; others, however, returned home with little more than they started with. The effects of the Gold Rush were substantial. San Francisco grew from a tiny hamlet of tents to a boomtown, and roads, churches, schools and other towns were built. A system of laws and a government was created, leading to the admission of California as a state in 1850. New methods of transportation developed as steamships came into regular service and railroads were built. The business of agriculture, California's next major growth field, was started on a wide scale throughout the state. However, the Gold Rush also had negative effects: Native Americans were attacked and pushed off traditional lands, and gold mining caused environmental harm. (more...)

Recently featured: DNA – Make Way for Ducklings – Able Archer 83

February 15

Charles Atangana was the paramount chief of the Ewondo and Bane ethnic groups during much of the colonial period in Cameroon. Although from an unremarkable background, Atangana's loyalty and friendship with colonial priests and administrators secured him successively more prominent posts in the colonial government. He proved himself an intelligent and diplomatic administrator, and he was eventually named paramount chief of two Beti-Pahuin subgroups, the Ewondo and Bane peoples. His loyalty to the German Empire was unquestioning, and he even accompanied the Germans on their escape from Africa in World War I. After a brief stay in Europe, Atangana returned to his homeland in Cameroon, now a League of Nations mandate territory under the administration of the French Third Republic. The French doubted his loyalties at first, but Atangana served satisfactorily and regained his post as paramount chief. During the remainder of his life, he oversaw the Westernisation of his subjects and the improvement of his domains despite the erosion of his powers due to French policies and native unrest. He never advocated resistance to the European powers, preferring to embrace European civilisation and technology in the service of African interests. After his death in 1943, Atangana was largely forgotten. However, since Cameroon's independence in 1960, Cameroonian scholars have rediscovered his story. (more...)

Recently featured: California Gold Rush – DNA – Make Way for Ducklings

February 16

The flag of Lithuania is a horizontal tricolor of yellow, green and red. The flag was adopted on March 20, 1989 on the event of Lithuania's break from the Soviet Union. Before its readoption, the flag was used from 1918 until 1940, when Lithuania was occupied in turn by Nazi Germany and by the Soviet Union. From 1945 until 1989, the Soviet Lithuanian flag consisted first of a generic red flag with the name of the republic, then changed to the more familiar red flag with white and green bars at the bottom. The most recent change to the flag occurred in 2004 when the aspect ratio changed from 1:2 to 3:5. (more...)

Recently featured: Charles Atangana – California Gold Rush – DNA

February 17

The polar coordinate system is a two-dimensional coordinate system in which each point on a plane is determined by an angle and a distance. The polar coordinate system is especially useful in situations where the relationship between two points is most easily expressed in terms of angles and distance; in the more familiar Cartesian or rectangular coordinate system, such a relationship can only be found through trigonometric formulae. As the coordinate system is two-dimensional, each point is determined by two polar coordinates: the radial coordinate and the angular coordinate. The radial coordinate (usually denoted as $r$ ) denotes the point's distance from a central point known as the pole (equivalent to the origin in the Cartesian system). The angular coordinate (also known as the polar angle or the azimuth angle, and usually denoted by θ or $t$ ) denotes the anticlockwise (counterclockwise) angle required to reach the point from the 0° ray or polar axis (which is equivalent to the positive x-axis in the Cartesian coordinate plane). (more...)

Recently featured: Flag of Lithuania – Charles Atangana – California Gold Rush

February 18

Sly & the Family Stone was an American rock band from San Francisco, California. Active from 1967 until 1983, the band was pivotal in the development of soul, funk and psychedelia. Headed by singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist Sly Stone, and containing a number of his family members and friends, the band was the first major American rock band to have a multicultural lineup, giving African-Americans, White Americans, males, and females all roles in the band's instrumentation. In the preface of his book on the band, For the Record: Sly and the Family Stone: An Oral History, Joel Selvin sums up the importance of Sly & the Family Stone's influences on African-American music by stating that "there are two types of black music: black music before Sly Stone, and black music after Sly Stone". During the early 1970s, the band switched its sound to a grittier funk sound, which was as influential on the music industry as their earlier work. The band began to fall apart during this period because of drug abuse and ego clashes; as Sly Stone and his bandmates delved deeper into drug abuse, the fortunes and reliability of the band deteriorated, leading to its dissolution in 1975. Sly Stone continued to record albums and tour with a new rotating lineup under the "Sly & the Family Stone" name from 1975 until 1983. (more...)

Recently featured: Polar coordinate system – Flag of Lithuania – Charles Atangana

February 19

The Four Stages of Cruelty is a series of four printed engravings published by William Hogarth in 1751. The prints depict the progression of the fictional Tom Nero, from a cruel child to his ultimate fate: the ignominy of dissection after his execution as a murderer. Beginning with the torture of a dog as a child in the First stage of cruelty, he progresses to beating his horse as a man in the Second stage of cruelty, and then to robbery, seduction, and murder in Cruelty in perfection. Finally, he receives what Hogarth warns is the inevitable fate of those who start down the path Nero has followed: his body is taken from the gallows and mutilated by surgeons in the anatomical theatre in The reward of cruelty. The prints were intended as a form of moral instruction: Hogarth was dismayed by the routine acts of cruelty he witnessed on the streets of London. Issued on cheap paper, the prints were destined for the lower classes. The series shows a roughness of execution and a brutality that is untempered by the humorous touches common in Hogarth's other works, but which he felt was necessary to impress his message on the intended audience. Nevertheless, the pictures still carry the wealth of detail and subtle references that Hogarth had made his trademark. (more...)

Recently featured: Sly & the Family Stone – Polar coordinate system – Flag of Lithuania

February 20

Mary Wollstonecraft was a British writer, philosopher, and early feminist. During her brief career, she wrote novels, treatises, a travel narrative, a history of the French Revolution, a conduct book, and a children's book. Wollstonecraft is best known for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in which she argued that women are not naturally inferior to men, but only appeared to be because they lacked education. She suggested that both men and women should be treated as rational beings and imagined a social order founded on reason. Among both the general public and feminists, Wollstonecraft's life has often received as much, if not more, interest than her writing because of her unconventional, and often tumultuous, relationships. After two unsuccessful affairs with Henry Fuseli and Gilbert Imlay, Wollstonecraft married the philosopher William Godwin, one of the forefathers of the anarchist movement. She was also the mother of Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein. Wollstonecraft died at the age of thirty-eight due to complications from childbirth, leaving behind several unfinished manuscripts. Today, Wollstonecraft is considered a foundational thinker in feminist philosophy. Her early advocacy of women's equality and her attacks on conventional femininity and the degradation of women presaged the later emergence of the feminist political movement. (more...)

Recently featured: The Four Stages of Cruelty – Sly & the Family Stone – Polar coordinate system

February 21

Avatar: The Last Airbender is an American animated television series that currently airs on the Nickelodeon television network. Set in an Asian-influenced world of martial arts and elemental magic, the series follows the adventures of the successor to a long line of Avatars, Aang, and his friends in their quest to save the world from the ruthless Fire Nation. The series is written in the form of a book series, with each episode being a "chapter" and each individual season a "book." Originally slated to begin airing in November 2004, Avatar: The Last Airbender debuted on TV on February 21, 2005. Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko are the creators and executive producers of the series. The show receives high ratings in the Nicktoons line-up, even outside its intended 6-to-11-year-old demographic. The series' success prompted Nickelodeon to order a second season, and a third season has been announced for 2007. Merchandise based on the series includes six DVD sets of episodes, six-inch scale action figures, a video game, stuffed animals distributed by Paramount Parks, and two Lego sets. (more...)

Recently featured: Mary Wollstonecraft – The Four Stages of Cruelty – Sly & the Family Stone

February 22

Shadow of the Colossus is a Japanese-developed action-adventure video game developed and published by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCEI) for the PlayStation 2. Published internationally by Sony, it was released in North America and Japan in October 2005, and was subsequently released in PAL territories in February 2006. The game was created by SCEI's International Production Studio 1, the same development team responsible for the cult-hit Ico. The game focuses on "Wander", a young man who must travel across a vast expanse on horseback and defeat sixteen giant beings called "colossi" to restore the life of a sacrificed girl. The game is unusual among the action-adventure genre in that there are no towns or dungeons to explore, no characters with which to interact, and no enemies to defeat other than the colossi. Shadow of the Colossus has been described as a puzzle game, as each colossus has a weakness which must be identified and exploited to defeat the boss. (more...)

Recently featured: Avatar: The Last Airbender – Mary Wollstonecraft – The Four Stages of Cruelty

February 23

Ahmedabad is the largest city in the state of Gujarat and the seventh largest urban agglomeration in India, with a population of almost 5.1 million. Located on the banks of the River Sabarmati, the city is the administrative centre of Ahmedabad district, and was the capital of Gujarat from 1960 to 1970; the capital was shifted to Gandhinagar thereafter. The city was founded in 1411 to serve as the capital of the Sultanate of Gujarat, by its namesake, Sultan Ahmed Shah. Under British rule, a military cantonment was established and the city infrastructure was modernised and expanded. The city was at the forefront of the Indian independence movement in the first half of the 20th century. It was the epicentre of many campaigns of civil disobedience to promote workers' rights, civil rights and political independence. With the creation of the state of Gujarat in 1960, Ahmedabad gained prominence as the political and commercial capital of the state. Once characterised by dusty roads and bungalows, the city is witnessing a major construction boom and population increase. A rising centre of education, information technology and scientific industries, Ahmedabad remains the cultural and commercial heart of Gujarat, and much of western India. (more...)

Recently featured: Shadow of the Colossus – Avatar: The Last Airbender – Mary Wollstonecraft

February 24

Oriel College is the fifth-oldest of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Oriel has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford, a title formerly claimed by University College, whose claim of being founded by King Alfred is no longer promoted. The original medieval foundation set up by Adam de Brome, under the patronage of Edward II, was called the House of the Blessed Mary at Oxford. The first design allowed for a Provost and ten Fellows, called 'scholars', and the College remained a small body of graduate Fellows until the sixteenth century, when it started to admit undergraduates. During the English Civil War, Oriel played host to high-ranking members of the King's Oxford Parliament. The College has nearly 40 Fellows, about 300 undergraduates and some 160 graduates, the student body having roughly equal numbers of men and women. Oriel's notable alumni include two Nobel laureates; prominent Fellows have included John Keble and John Henry Newman, founders of the Oxford Movement. As of 2003, the college's estimated financial endowment is £63.5m. (more...)

Recently featured: Ahmedabad – Shadow of the Colossus – Avatar: The Last Airbender

February 25

Enta Da Stage is the debut album from East Coast hip hop group Black Moon, released October 19, 1993 on Nervous Records. The album was produced entirely by DJ Evil Dee and Mr. Walt of Da Beatminerz. Enta Da Stage features the debut of popular underground duo Smif-N-Wessun, as well as appearances from Havoc of Mobb Deep and Dru-Ha, the co-founder of Duck Down Records. Though critically acclaimed, the album sold poorly, despite having two Billboard Hot 100 hits ("Who Got Da Props?", "I Got Cha Opin"). Furthermore, the album is often overlooked in the midst of subsequent East Coast albums, such as Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), Illmatic, Ready to Die, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, and The Infamous. Nonetheless, Enta Da Stage preceded the aforementioned releases —serving as a precursor to the resurgence of the New York hip hop scene in the mid-1990s. (more...)

Recently featured: Oriel College – Ahmedabad – Shadow of the Colossus

February 26

Sviatoslav I of Kiev was the warrior prince (or konung) of Kievan Rus'. The son of Igor of Kiev and Olga, Sviatoslav is famous for his incessant campaigns in the east and south, which precipitated the collapse of two great powers of Eastern Europe — Khazaria and the First Bulgarian Empire; he also subdued the Volga Bulgars, the Alans, and numerous East Slavic tribes, and at times was allied with the Pechenegs and Magyars. His decade-long reign over Rus was marked by rapid expansion into the Volga River valley, the Pontic steppe and the Balkans. By the end of his short life, Sviatoslav carved out for himself the largest state in Europe, eventually moving his capital from Kiev to Pereyaslavets on the Danube in 969. In contrast with his mother's conversion to Christianity, Sviatoslav remained a staunch pagan all of his life. Due to his abrupt death in combat, Sviatoslav's conquests, for the most part, were not consolidated into a functioning empire, while his failure to establish a stable succession led to civil war among his successors. (more...)

Recently featured: Enta Da Stage – Oriel College – Ahmedabad

February 27

Banksia integrifolia is a species of tree that grows along the east coast of Australia. One of the most widely-distributed Banksia species, it occurs between Victoria and Central Queensland in a broad range of habitats, from coastal dunes to mountains. It is highly variable in form, but is most often encountered as a tree up to 25 metres (82 ft) in height. Its leaves have dark green upper surfaces and white undersides, a contrast that can be striking on windy days. It is one of the four original Banksia species collected by Sir Joseph Banks in 1770, and one of four species published in 1782 as part of Carolus Linnaeus the Younger's original description of the genus. A hardy and versatile garden plant, B. integrifolia is widely planted in Australian gardens. It is a popular choice for parks and streetscapes, and has been used for bush revegetation and stabilisation of dunes. Its hardiness has prompted research into its suitability for use as a rootstock in the cut flower trade, but has also caused concerns about its potential to become a weed outside its natural habitat. (more...)

Recently featured: Sviatoslav I of Kiev – Enta Da Stage – Oriel College

February 28

Aspasia was a renowned woman of ancient Greece, famous for her romantic involvement with the Athenian statesman Pericles. She was born in the city of Miletus in Asia Minor, but at some point she travelled to Athens, where she spent the rest of her life. After Pericles' death, she was allegedly involved with Lysicles, another Athenian statesman and general. She had a son with Pericles, Pericles the Younger, who was elected general and was executed after the Battle of Arginusae. Aspasia appears in the philosophical writings of Plato and other philosophers and is regarded by modern scholars as an exceptional person who distinguished herself due to her political influence and intellectual charisma. However, almost nothing is certain about her life. While ancient writers report that Aspasia was a brothel keeper and a harlot, many of these were comic poets who intended to ridicule Pericles and the war rather than document anything factual about Aspasia, and their accounts are disputed. Some researchers question even the assessment that she was a hetaera, or courtesan. (more...)

Recently featured: Banksia integrifolia – Sviatoslav I of Kiev – Enta Da Stage