August 31 Wikipedia featured article

Mr. Dooley is a fictional bartender created by American journalist Finley Peter Dunne, appearing in print between 1893 and 1915, and again in 1924 and 1926. The bartender's humorous but pointed commentary on American politics and international affairs first became popular during the 1898 Spanish–American War. Dunne's essays are in the form of conversations in an Irish dialect of English between Mr. Dooley, the owner of a fictional tavern in the...

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On this day: August 31

August 31: Independence Day in Malaysia (1957) and Trinidad and Tobago (1962) Interior view of Kinetoscope with peephole viewer 1888 – Mary Ann Nichols' body was found on the ground in front of a gated stable entrance in Buck's Row, London, allegedly the first victim of the unidentified serial killer known as Jack the Ripper. 1897 – Thomas Edison was granted a patent for the Kinetoscope (pictured), a precursor to the movie projector. 1939 –...

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August 30 Wikipedia featured article

Scots Guards during the siege The Siege of Sidney Street of January 1911 was a gunfight in the East End of London. During an attempted jewellery robbery at Houndsditch by a gang of immigrant Latvians, their leader George Gardstein was mortally wounded. Two weeks later, the last two unapprehended suspects were tracked down at 100 Sidney Street in Stepney. Local residents were evacuated, and a gunfight broke out with the police. After a six-hour...

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On this day: August 30

August 30: Constitution Day in Kazakhstan (1995); St. Rose of Lima's Day in Peru Erwin Rommel 1799 – Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland: A squadron of the navy of the Batavian Republic surrendered to the Royal Navy without a fight near Wieringen. 1813 – Creek War: A force of Creeks belonging to the Red Sticks faction killed hundreds of settlers in Fort Mims in Alabama. 1918 – Fanny Kaplan shot and wounded Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, one...

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On this day: August 29

August 29: Feast day for the Beheading of St. John the Baptist (Gregorian calendar); National Heroes' Day in the Philippines (2016) Michael Faraday 1831 – Michael Faraday (pictured) discovered electromagnetic induction, leading to the formation of his law of induction. 1885 – Gottlieb Daimler patented the world's first internal combustion motorcycle, the Reitwagen. 1916 – The United States Congress passed the Philippine Autonomy Act, the first...

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August 29 Wikipedia featured article

AGM-129 ACM cruise missile In a nuclear weapons incident on 29–30 August 2007, United States Air Force warheads were not protected by mandatory security precautions. Six AGM-129 ACM cruise missiles, each loaded with a W80-1 variable yield nuclear warhead, were mistakenly loaded onto an Air Force B-52H heavy bomber at Minot Air Force Base and transported to Barksdale Air Force Base. The nuclear warheads in the missiles were supposed to have been...

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On this day: August 28

August 28: Feast of the Assumption (Julian calendar) 2015 production of Lohengrin 1850 – German composer Richard Wagner's romantic opera Lohengrin (2015 production pictured), containing the Bridal Chorus, was first performed under the direction of Franz Liszt in Weimar, present-day Germany. 1861 – American Civil War: The Union Army successfully extended its blockage strategy by capturing two Confederate forts on North Carolina's Outer Banks. 1909...

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August 28 Wikipedia featured article

Óengus I was, from 732 until his death in 761, a Pictish king and one of the most powerful rulers in Scotland. Pictland, representing one of four political groups in north Britain in the early 8th century, ran from the River Forth northwards, including Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles. Óengus became its chief king following a period of civil war in the late 720s. During his reign the neighbouring kingdom of Dál Riata was subjugated, and the kingdom of Strathclyde was attacked, with less success. He was also involved in wars in Ireland and...

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August 27 Wikipedia featured article

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is a first-person action-adventure game developed by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. It is the ninth game in the Metroid series, and the final entry in the Metroid Prime trilogy—excluding two spin-off titles. It was released in North America and Europe in 2007, and in Japan the following year. The Wii Remote and Nunchuk devices are featured in a new control scheme that took a year to develop, delaying the game's release. The story of Corruption is set six months after the events...

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On this day: August 27

August 27: Independence Day in Moldova (1991) Edwin Drake 1859 – Edwin Drake (pictured) successfully drilled for oil in Titusville, Pennsylvania, resulting in the Pennsylvania oil rush, the first oil boom in the United States. 1896 – The United Kingdom and Zanzibar went to war, with Zanzibar surrendering less than an hour after the conflict broke out. 1979 – In two separate attacks, IRA bombs killed 18 British soldiers near Warrenpoint, and...

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On this day: August 26

August 26: Heroes' Day/Herero Day in Namibia; Women's Equality Day in the United States Sigmund Jahn 1748 – The first Lutheran denomination in North America, the Pennsylvania Ministerium, was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1810 – Juan José Castelli ordered the execution of Santiago de Liniers, during the Argentine War of Independence. 1966 – The South African Defence Force launched an attack against SWAPO guerrilla fighters at Omugulugwombashe,...

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August 26 Wikipedia featured article

Ridley Scott Prometheus is a 2012 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott (pictured), written by Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof, and starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Logan Marshall-Green, and Charlize Theron. In the late 21st century, the crew of Prometheus follows a star map seeking the origins of humanity; they arrive on a distant world and discover a threat that could cause the extinction of...

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August 25 Wikipedia featured article

Todd Manning is a fictional character from the American daytime drama One Life to Live. Created by writer Michael Malone, the role was originated in 1992 by actor Roger Howarth, recast with Trevor St. John in 2003, and given back to Howarth in 2011. Todd became part of a groundbreaking storyline in which Marty Saybrooke was gang raped. Todd's popularity with the audience and critics, even after the rape, persuaded the writers to retain the character. While keeping aspects of his personality dark and violent, they had Todd exhibit a conscience and...

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On this day: August 25

August 25: Józef Piłsudski 1258 – George Mouzalon, regent of the Empire of Nicaea, was assassinated as part of a conspiracy led by the nobles under future emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos. 1537 – The Honourable Artillery Company, currently the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, was formed by Royal Charter from King Henry VIII. 1920 – Polish forces under Józef Piłsudski (pictured) successfully forced the Russians to withdraw from...

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August 24 Wikipedia featured article

Voalavo is a genus of rodent in the subfamily Nesomyinae, found only in Madagascar. Two species are known, both of which live in mountain forest above 1250 m (4100 ft) altitude; V. gymnocaudus lives in northern Madagascar and V. antsahabensis is restricted to a small area in the central part of the island. The genus was discovered in 1994 and formally described in 1998. Within Nesomyinae, it is most closely related to the genus Eliurus, and DNA sequence data suggest that the current definitions of these two genera need to be changed....

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On this day: August 24

August 24: Independence Day in Ukraine (1991) The White House after having been burned 79 – According to estimates based on the Codex Laurentianus Mediceus, Mount Vesuvius erupted, burying the Italian towns of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae in rock and ash. 1814 – War of 1812: British forces invaded Washington, D.C., setting fire to various US government buildings, including what is now the White House (damage pictured). 1914 – World War...

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August 23 Wikipedia featured article

Of the four operas written by the youthful composer George Frideric Handel (pictured) between 1703 and 1706 when he lived and worked in Hamburg, only the first, Almira, has survived complete. The music for the others is lost apart from a few orchestral fragments. Handel learned the rudiments of opera composition while employed as a violinist at the Oper am Gänsemarkt, Hamburg's famous opera house, and was able to get Almira and a second opera, Nero,...

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On this day: August 23

August 23: Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism/Black Ribbon Day in Canada, the European Union and the United States; Day of the National Flag in Ukraine Cesar Chavez 1514 – Ottoman forces defeated the Safavids at the Battle of Chaldiran, gaining control of eastern Anatolia and northern Iraq. 1896 – Andrés Bonifacio and his Katipunan comrades in modern-day Quezon City rose up in revolt against Spanish rule, marking the beginning...

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On this day: August 22

August 22: Feast day of the Queenship of Mary (Roman Catholic Church); Madras Day in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India Fort Stanwix, New York (reconstructed) 1711 – Queen Anne's War: A British attempt to attack Quebec failed when eight ships wrecked on the Saint Lawrence River. 1777 – American Revolutionary War: Benedict Arnold used a ruse to convince the British that a much larger force was arriving, causing them to abandon the Siege of Fort Stanwix...

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August 22 Wikipedia featured article

James Newland (22 August 1881 – 19 March 1949) was an Australian officer in the First World War. He received the Victoria Cross for successfully leading a company in several assaults on German positions and repulsing counterattacks in April 1917. Newland joined the Australian military in 1899 and saw active service during the Second Boer War. After completing several years' service in the artillery, he transferred to the militia in 1907. He...

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On this day: August 21

August 21: Youth Day and King Mohammed's Birthday in Morocco; Ninoy Aquino Day in the Philippines Lake Nyos, Cameroon 1680 – Several tribes of Pueblo Indians captured the town of Santa Fe in Nuevo México. 1831 – Nat Turner led a slave revolt in Southampton County, Virginia, US; it was suppressed about 48 hours later. 1944 – Second World War: A combined Canadian–Polish force captured the strategically important town of Falaise, France, in the...

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August 21 Wikipedia featured article

Justice Miller United States v. Kagama was a United States Supreme Court case that upheld the constitutionality of the Major Crimes Act of 1885, which gave jurisdiction to the federal courts in certain cases involving Native Americans. Kagama, a Yurok, was accused of murdering another Yurok on an Indian reservation. His case was selected by the Department of Justice as a test case for the Act. The court opinion, authored by Justice Samuel Freeman...

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On this day: August 20

August 20: St. Stephen's Day in Hungary NS Savannah 14 – The adopted son of Roman emperor Augustus Agrippa Postumus, was executed by his guards while in exile under mysterious circumstances. 1710 – War of the Spanish Succession: The Spanish-Bourbon army commanded by the Marquis de Bay was soundly defeated by a multinational army led by the Austrian commander Guido Starhemberg. 1882 – The 1812 Overture by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky...

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August 20 Wikipedia featured article

Old Pine Church is a mid-19th-century church near Purgitsville, West Virginia. It is among the earliest remaining log churches in Hampshire County, along with Capon Chapel and Mount Bethel Church. Constructed in 1838 to serve as a nondenominational church, it may also have been built as a meeting place for Schwarzenau Brethren adherents, known as "Dunkers" or "Dunkards". The church probably hosted German Methodist settlers as well. By 1870, most...

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