Wikipedia:Today's featured article/January 15, 2011

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wikipedia is celebrating its tenth anniversary! To mark the occasion, Wikipedia is showcasing a special selection of content not normally featured on the Main Page:

A quadruple transit of the moons of Saturn captured by Hubble Space Telescope

Today's featured list: The moons of Saturn are numerous and diverse, ranging from tiny moonlets less than 1 kilometer (0.62 mi) across to the enormous Titan, which is larger than the planet Mercury. Saturn has sixty-two moons with confirmed orbits, fifty-three of which have names, and only thirteen of which have diameters larger than 50 kilometers (31 mi). Saturn has seven moons that are large enough to become spherical, and dense rings with complex orbital motions of their own.

The American aircraft carrier USS Wasp burns after being struck by Japanese torpedoes.

Today's featured topic: The Guadalcanal Campaign was fought between August 1942 and February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theatre of World War II. Allied forces, predominantly American, landed on the islands of Guadalcanal, Tulagi, and Florida in the southern Solomon Islands, overwhelming the Japanese defenders and capturing an airfield (later named Henderson Field). The Japanese made several attempts to retake Henderson Field. Three major land battles, five large naval battles, and continual, almost daily aerial battles culminated in the decisive Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in early November 1942. The Guadalcanal campaign was a significant strategic combined arms victory by Allied forces over the Japanese in the Pacific theatre.

Listen to
The first movement of Spring, from The Four Seasons

Today's featured sound: The Four Seasons, a set of four violin concertos by Antonio Vivaldi. Composed in 1723, The Four Seasons is Vivaldi's best-known work, and is among the most popular pieces of Baroque music. The texture of each concerto is varied, each resembling its respective season. Performed by John Harrison and the Wichita State University Chamber Players.