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Drunken birds and treasonous kings

Self-Portrait, Yawning by Joseph Ducreux, c. 1783.
This Signpost featured report covers material promoted from 15 to 21 December 2013.
Portrait of Charles I of England from the studio of Anthony van Dyck, 1636
  • Charles I of England (nom) by DrKiernan. Charles was the monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles believed in the divine right of kings and thought he could govern according to his own conscience. Charles was tried, convicted, and executed for high treason in January 1649.
  • Bohemian Waxwing (nom) by Jimfbleak. A starling-sized passerine bird that breeds in the northern forests of Eurasia and North America, it has mostly buff-grey plumage, black face markings and a pointed crest. They can metabolize alcohol found in fermenting fruit, but can still become intoxicated, sometimes fatally.
  • Nigersaurus (nom) by FunkMonk. A genus of rebbachisaurid sauropod dinosaur that lived during the middle Cretaceous period, about 115 to 105 million years ago. It was discovered in the Elrhaz Formation in an area called Gadoufaoua, in the Republic of Niger.
  • Roxy Ann Peak (nom) by Little Mountain 5. A 3,576-foot (1,090 m) tall mountain in the Western Cascade Range at the eastern edge of Medford, Oregon, the majority of the peak is of volcanic origin and dates to the early Oligocene. The mountain is Medford's most important viewshed, open space reserve, and recreational resource, and is protected by the 1,740-acre (700 ha) Prescott Park.
  • Mughal-e-Azam (nom) by Bollyjeff. A 1960 Indian film directed by K. Asif and produced by Shapoorji Pallonji, the historical epic follows the love affair between Mughal Prince Salim (who went on to become Emperor Jahangir) and Anarkali, a court dancer. The film is widely considered a milestone of its genre, earning praise from critics for its grandeur and attention to detail.
Arsenal F.C. players lining up before a league match against Chelsea in April 2012.
  • List of Welsh Premier League clubs (nom) by ChrisTheDude. The Welsh Premier League is an association football league based in Wales. Formed in 1992 as the League of Wales, a name it retained until 2002, it was the first national football league in the country. In its inaugural season 20 teams played in the league, but it has since been significantly restructured and has 12 member clubs in the 2013–14 season.
  • Arsenal F.C. league record by opponent (nom) by Lemonade51. Arsenal Football Club is an English professional association football club based in North London. The club was formed in Woolwich in 1886 as Royal Arsenal before being renamed as Woolwich Arsenal in 1893. Arsenal have recorded more league victories against Everton than against any other club, having beaten them 90 times out of 185 attempts.
  • Muscles of the face (nom, related article) by Dr. Johannes Sobotta and nominated by CFCF. The muscles of the face play a prominent role in the expression of emotion, and vary among different individuals, giving rise to additional diversity in expression and facial features.
  • Fortress of Guaita (nom, related article) by Max Ryazanov and nominated by Tomer T. The Guaita fortress is the oldest of the three towers constructed on Monte Titano, and the most famous. It was built in the 11th century and served briefly as a prison. It is one of the three towers depicted on both the national flag and coat of arms of San Marino.
  • Jefferson Memorial (nom, related article) by Jovianeye and nominated by Tomer T. The Thomas Jefferson Memorial is a presidential memorial in Washington, D.C. dedicated to Thomas Jefferson, an American Founding Father and the third President of the United States. The neoclassical building was designed by the architect John Russell Pope and built by the Philadelphia contractor John McShain.
  • NGC 4565 (nom, related article) by Ken Crawford and nominated by Planet Herald. NGC 4565 (also known as the Needle Galaxy or Caldwell 38) is an edge-on spiral galaxy about 30 to 50 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. The 10th magnitude galaxy sits perpendicular to our own Milky Way galaxy and is almost directly above the North Galactic Pole (in the same way Polaris is located above the Earth's North Pole).
  • Self-Portrait, Yawning (nom, related article) by Joseph Ducreux and nominated by Crisco 1492. Joseph, Baron Ducreux was a French portrait painter, pastelist, miniaturist, and engraver, who was a successful portraitist at the court of Louis XVI of France, and resumed his career after the French Revolution. Ducreux made several well-known self-portraits in the 1780s and 1790s, including one (now in the collection of the Getty Center in Los Angeles; c. 1783) in which he painted himself in the middle of a large yawn.


The Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC, at sunset.
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