featured Wiki of the Day

fWotD Episode 2951: David Evans (RAAF officer) Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Tuesday, 3 June 2025, is David Evans (RAAF officer).Air Marshal Selwyn David Evans (3 June 1925 – 2 September 2020) was a senior commander of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), and a writer and consultant on defence matters. He served as Chief of the Air Staff from 1982 to 1985. After leaving the RAAF, he published two military treatises, A Fatal Rivalry: Australia's Defence at Risk and War: A Matter of Principles, as well as an autobiography.Enlisting in the Air Force in 1943, Evans graduated from flying school as a sergeant pilot, and was converting to Beaufort bombers when World War II ended. He gained his commission as a pilot officer in 1947. From 1948 to 1949, he was a member of the Australian contingent operating C-47 Dakota transports in the Berlin Airlift. He was a flying instructor in the early 1950s, before becoming a VIP captain with the Governor-General's Flight in 1954. His service in the flight earned him the Air Force Cross in 1957. In the 1960s Evans was twice posted to No. 2 Squadron, flying Canberra jet bombers, first as a flight commander when the unit was based in Malaysia from 1960 to 1962, then as its commanding officer during the Vietnam War from 1967 to 1968. The Canberras achieved a high degree of accuracy on their bombing missions under his leadership, and he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order after completing his tour in Vietnam.Evans held senior staff positions in the early 1970s before serving as Officer Commanding RAAF Base Amberley from 1975 to 1977. Promoted to air vice-marshal, he then became Chief of Air Force Operations. In this role, he worked to improve the RAAF's strategy for the defence of Australia, to fully exploit the "air–sea gap" on the northern approaches to the continent. Appointed Officer of the Order of Australia in 1981, he was Chief of Joint Operations and Plans in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) before his promotion to air marshal and Chief of the Air Staff in April 1982. As head of the Air Force, he focussed on morale, air power doctrine, and improving defensive capabilities in northern Australia. He was raised to Companion of the Order of Australia in 1984. Retiring from the RAAF in May 1985, Evans began to write and lecture on defence matters, and also stood for election in federal politics. He was a board member of and defence advisor to British Aerospace Australia from 1990 to 2009, and chairman of the National Capital Authority from 1997 to 2003. In 2001, he was awarded the Centenary Medal for his services to the ADF and the Canberra community.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:30 UTC on Tuesday, 3 June 2025.For the full current version of the article, see David Evans (RAAF officer) on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm long-form Patrick.

fWotD Episode 2950: Zeng Laishun Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Monday, 2 June 2025, is Zeng Laishun.Zeng Laishun (c. 1826 – 2 June 1895) was a Chinese interpreter, businessman, and educator. He was among the first Chinese students to study at a foreign college. Born in Singapore to a Teochew father and a Malay mother, he was orphaned as a young child. He was educated by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, a Christian missionary organization, where he converted to Christianity. He was sent to the United States in 1843 and in 1846 was admitted to Hamilton College, but was unable to graduate due to a lack of funds. Zeng then traveled to China, and following several years of working as a missionary assistant in Guangzhou he left with his family to pursue a trading career in Shanghai.In 1866, Zeng was hired by the imperial government as an English instructor at the newly established Fuzhou Navy Yard School. Seeking to gain experience with Western practices and institutions, the imperial government began the Chinese Educational Mission in 1871, amassing a group of 120 Chinese boys to study in the United States. He worked as an interpreter and English tutor for the mission under bureaucrat Chen Lanbin and Zeng's colleague Yung Wing. He returned to the United States in 1872, where he was frequently and erroneously hailed as the "Chinese Commissioner of Education". Zeng settled with his family in Springfield, Massachusetts, and began giving public lectures on Chinese society alongside his participation in local civic life. He was briefly dispatched to Cuba around the end of 1873 to investigate the poor working conditions of Chinese indentured servants brought to the island as part of the coolie trade. He was abruptly recalled to China in late 1874, likely for diplomatic purposes; during his return, he traveled through Europe to assess universities for future educational missions. He became the Chief Private English Secretary of the statesman Li Hongzhang and served as an interpreter in diplomatic negotiations with the Western powers over the following two decades.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:09 UTC on Monday, 2 June 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Zeng Laishun on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Amy.

fWotD Episode 2949: Namco Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Sunday, 1 June 2025, is Namco.Namco Limited was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company founded in 1955 which operated video arcades and amusement parks globally, produced video games, films, toys, and arcade cabinets. They were one of the most influential figures in the worldwide coin-op and arcade game industry; Namco produced several multi-million-selling game franchises, such as Pac-Man, Galaxian, Tekken, Tales, Ridge Racer, and Ace Combat. In 2006, Namco merged with Bandai to form what is now named Bandai Namco Holdings; the standalone Namco brand continues to be used for video arcade and other entertainment products by the group's Bandai Namco Amusements division.The Namco name comes from Nakamura Manufacturing Company, derived from its founder Masaya Nakamura. In the 1960s, it manufactured electro-mechanical arcade games such as the 1965 hit Periscope. It entered the video game industry after acquiring the struggling Japanese division of Atari in 1974, distributing games such as Breakout in Japan. The company renamed itself Namco in 1977 and published Gee Bee, its first original video game, a year later. Among Namco's first major hits was the fixed shooter Galaxian in 1979. It was followed by Pac-Man in 1980. Namco prospered during the golden age of arcade video games in the early 1980s, releasing popular titles such as Galaga, Xevious, and Pole Position.Namco entered the home market in 1984 with conversions of its arcade games for the MSX and the Nintendo Family Computer, later expanding to competing platforms, such as the Sega Genesis, TurboGrafx-16, and PlayStation. Namco continued to produce hit games in the 1990s, including Ridge Racer, Tekken, and Taiko no Tatsujin, but later endured financial difficulties due to the struggling Japanese economy and diminishing arcade market. This led to the 2005 announcement of a merge with toy maker Bandai, which was completed in 2006 as Namco Bandai Holdings; Namco's former video games division was merged into a subsidiary of the holdings company, Namco Bandai Games, now called Bandai Namco Entertainment. Namco is remembered in retrospect for its unique corporate model, its importance to the industry, and its advancements in technology.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:51 UTC on Sunday, 1 June 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Namco on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Emma.

fWotD Episode 2948: The Boat Race 2018 Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Saturday, 31 May 2025, is The Boat Race 2018.The Boat Race 2018 (also known as The Cancer Research UK Boat Race for the purposes of sponsorship) was a rowing competition that was held on 24 March 2018. Held annually, The Boat Race is a side-by-side rowing race between crews from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge along a 4.2-mile (6.8 km) tidal stretch of the River Thames in south-west London. For the third time in the history of the event, the men's, women's and both reserves' races were all held on the Tideway on the same day.The women's race was the first event of the day, and saw Cambridge lead from the start, eventually winning by a considerable margin to record their second consecutive victory, and taking the overall record in the Women's Boat Race to 43–30 in their favour. The men's race was the final event of the day and completed a whitewash as Cambridge won, their second victory in three years, and taking the overall record to 83–80 in their favour. In the women's reserve race, Cambridge's Blondie defeated Oxford's Osiris by nine lengths, their third consecutive victory. The men's reserve race was won by Cambridge's Goldie who defeated Oxford's Isis by a margin of four lengths.The races were watched by around a quarter of a million spectators live, and were broadcast around the world by a variety of broadcasters. The two main races were also available for the second time as a live stream using YouTube.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:15 UTC on Saturday, 31 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see The Boat Race 2018 on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm long-form Danielle.

fWotD Episode 2947: Radar, Gun Laying, Mk. I and Mk. II Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Friday, 30 May 2025, is Radar, Gun Laying, Mk. I and Mk. II.Radar, Gun Laying, Mark I, or GL Mk. I for short, was a pre-World War II radar system developed by the British Army to provide range information to associated anti-aircraft artillery. There were two upgrades to the same basic system, GL/EF (Elevation Finder) and GL Mk. II, both of which added the ability to accurately determine bearing and elevation. The name refers to the radar's ability to direct the guns onto a target, known as gun laying.The first GL set was an elementary design developed from 1936 onward. Based on the early Chain Home radar's electronics, GL used separate transmitters and receivers located in wooden cabins mounted on gun carriages, each with its own antennas that had to be rotated to point at the target. The transmitted signal was quite wide, in a fan shape about 120 degrees across. This made it useful only for measuring slant range information; target bearing accuracy was approximately 20 degrees, and it could not provide any elevation information. Several were deployed with the British Expeditionary Force and at least one was captured by German forces during the Dunkirk evacuation. The subsequent German evaluation led them to believe that British radar was much less advanced than German radar.Plans to address these shortcomings were underway even as the first Mk. I units were reaching service in 1939, but these Mk. II units would not be available until 1940 at the earliest. An expedient solution was the GL/EF attachment, which provided bearing and elevation measurements accurate to about a degree. With these improvements, the number of rounds needed to destroy an aircraft fell to 4,100, a tenfold improvement over early-war results. About 410 of the Mk. I and slightly modified Mk. I* units had been produced when production moved to the Mk. II, which had enough accuracy to directly guide the guns. Higher accuracy and simpler operation lowered the rounds-per-kill to 2,750 with Mk. II. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, about 200 Mk. II units were supplied to the Soviets who used them under the name SON-2. By the end of the production run, 1,679 Mk. IIs had been produced.The introduction of the cavity magnetron in 1940 led to a new design effort using highly directional parabolic antennas to allow accurate ranging and bearing measurements from much smaller antennas. These GL Mk. III radar units were produced in the UK as the Mk. IIIB and a locally designed model from Canada as the Mk. IIIC. Mk. II remained in service in secondary roles as Mk. III's replaced them at the front. Both of these were replaced by the superior SCR-584 starting in 1944.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:30 UTC on Friday, 30 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Radar, Gun Laying, Mk. I and Mk. II on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Arthur.

fWotD Episode 2946: Andrea Navagero Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Thursday, 29 May 2025, is Andrea Navagero.Andrea Navagero (1483 – 8 May 1529), known as Andreas Naugerius in Latin, was a Venetian diplomat and writer. Born to a wealthy family, he gained entry to the Great Council of Venice at the age of twenty, five years younger than was normal at the time. He dedicated himself to editing classical Latin manuscripts at the Aldine Press printing office, garnering a reputation as a scholar and a skilled writer. In 1515, at the request of the general Bartolomeo d'Alviano, he was appointed the caretaker of a library containing the collection of the scholar Bessarion; this library would later become the Biblioteca Marciana. At the same time, he was designated official historian of the Republic of Venice.As a result of his high standing in Venetian scholarly circles, Navagero was named the Venetian ambassador to Spain in 1523 and navigated the volatile diplomatic climate caused by the conflict between Charles V – the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain – and Francis I of France. During this time, he provided many highly detailed descriptions of Spanish cities and landmarks. He was imprisoned by Charles in December 1526, but released in a prisoner exchange the following April; before returning home to Venice, he traveled to Paris to acquaint himself with the royal court of Francis. By the time Navagero arrived back in Venice in September 1528, he had grown disillusioned with politics and wished to return to editing manuscripts and cultivating his prized gardens. Much to his dismay, he was appointed ambassador to France in January 1529. After traveling through the Alps to meet Francis I in Blois, he fell gravely ill and died on 8 May 1529.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:36 UTC on Thursday, 29 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Andrea Navagero on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm standard Nicole.

fWotD Episode 2945: Nosy Komba Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Wednesday, 28 May 2025, is Nosy Komba.Nosy Komba (Malagasy pronunciation: [nusʲ ˈkuᵐba]; lit. 'island of lemurs'), also known as Nosy Ambariovato, is a small volcanic island in Madagascar, situated between the island of Nosy Be and the northwestern coast of the main island of Madagascar. Roughly circular, it rises sharply towards a plateau and the summit of Antaninaombi at the center of the island. Administered as an arrondissement of the unitary commune and district of Nosy-Be within Diana Region, the island is divided into five fokontany (villages), with Ampangorina as the main village and administrative center. The population is mainly restricted to the northern half of the island. The economy is reliant on tourism and handicrafts, supplemented by a wide range of agricultural products. Hotels and guest houses support tourists to the island, mainly on excursions from Nosy Be.The lowlands of the island are divided between secondary forest and a patchwork of farmland and plantations (notably including shade-grown coffee), while the highlands are mainly scrubland, with a bamboo forest in the northern portions. The island hosts a diverse range of reptiles and amphibians, although this has been reduced by deforestation. The island is known for its black lemurs, causing it to attract significant ecotourism. Heavily deforested during the 19th and 20th centuries, the island has only small pockets of old-growth forest remaining in remote areas. Although the island hosts a traditionally protected forest and an arboretum established in the colonial era, protection for the latter is essentially unenforced, and illegal logging continues.During the early 19th century, the region was heavily settled by Sakalava refugees and their slaves fleeing the hegemony of the Merina Kingdom. France gained control of the island in 1840; it was converted to a logistic center for the import of indentured servants and local slaves, and later a sanatorium retreat for colonists.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:52 UTC on Wednesday, 28 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Nosy Komba on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Danielle.

fWotD Episode 2944: McDonnell Douglas Phantom in UK service Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Tuesday, 27 May 2025, is McDonnell Douglas Phantom in UK service.The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II was one of the principal combat aircraft of the United Kingdom (UK) from 1968 to 1992. The UK was the first export customer for the US-built F-4 Phantom, which was ordered in the context of political and economic difficulties around British designs for similar aircraft. The Phantom was procured to serve in both the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm and the Royal Air Force (RAF) in several roles including air defence, close air support, low-level attack and tactical reconnaissance.Most Phantoms operated by the UK were built as a special batch containing a significant amount of British technology. This was a means of supporting the British aerospace industry in the wake of major project cancellations. Two variants were initially built for the UK: the F-4K variant was designed from the outset as an air-defence interceptor to be operated by the Fleet Air Arm from the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers, and the F-4M version was operated by the RAF in tactical strike and reconnaissance roles. In the mid-1980s, a third Phantom variant was obtained when fifteen second-hand F-4J aircraft were purchased to augment the UK's air defences following the Falklands War.The Phantom entered service with both the Fleet Air Arm and the RAF in 1969. In Fleet Air Arm service, it was primarily intended for fleet air defence, with secondary conventional and nuclear strike roles; in the RAF it was soon replaced in its initial tasks by other aircraft designed specifically for strike, close air support and reconnaissance, and instead was moved to the air-defence mission. By the mid-1970s, the Phantom had become the UK's principal interceptor; it continued in this role until 1992, when it was withdrawn as part of a series of post-Cold War defence cuts.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:56 UTC on Tuesday, 27 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see McDonnell Douglas Phantom in UK service on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Aria.

fWotD Episode 2943: Transportation during the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Monday, 26 May 2025, is Transportation during the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.Transportation played a critical part in the success of the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, hosted in Paris, France. Due to the scale of the event, moving athletes, officials, media and spectators to competition venues constituted a major challenge. As part of Paris's bid for the games, officials stated that 100% of spectators would use public transport, and the compact arrangement of venues would deliver short journey times. Over €500 million was invested in improvements to transportation infrastructure for the games.A mobile app was developed to facilitate spectator travel by offering a route calculator that can adapt to hazards. To assist travellers, 5,000 agents, identifiable by purple vests, were deployed in the stations and at bus stops. Most bus lines were accessible to people with reduced mobility, but with limited capacity in cases of high demand, such as during the Paralympic Games, 1,000 taxis accessible to people in wheelchairs were made available. The vast majority of Paris Métro stations were still not accessible to all, but some 150 wheelchair-accessible shuttles were provided to transport spectators between venues and an accessible station. Security around the transportation system was heavy and coordinated, but on 26 July 2024, the day of the 2024 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, a series of arson attacks disrupted rail services.A stated goal of Paris 2024 was to halve the carbon footprint of the Olympic and Paralympic Games compared with London 2012 and Rio 2016. The organisers estimated that more than a third of the greenhouse gas emissions linked to the games would be from the transport of athletes and spectators. To meet this goal, all venues were made accessible by bicycle and public transport. Public transport was extended and improved, and services increased. Some 415 kilometres (258 mi) of cycle paths were created, linking major venues, with 27,000 temporary bicycle racks installed. The goal of halving carbon emissions was ultimately met, with an estimated 1.59 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, which represented a 54.6% reduction compared to the London and Rio average. Of this, 53% of the carbon footprint (about 833,600 tonnes of CO2 equivalent) was incurred by visitors travelling to the games.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:55 UTC on Monday, 26 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Transportation during the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm standard Kendra.

fWotD Episode 2942: Rhine campaign of 1796 Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Sunday, 25 May 2025, is Rhine campaign of 1796.In the Rhine campaign of 1796 (June 1796 to February 1797), two First Coalition armies under the overall command of Archduke Charles outmaneuvered and defeated two French Republican armies. This was the last campaign of the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars.The French military strategy against Austria called for a three-pronged invasion to surround Vienna, ideally capturing the city and forcing the Holy Roman Emperor to surrender and accept French Revolutionary territorial integrity. The French assembled the Army of Sambre and Meuse commanded by Jean-Baptiste Jourdan against the Austrian Army of the Lower Rhine in the north. The Army of the Rhine and Moselle, led by Jean Victor Marie Moreau, opposed the Austrian Army of the Upper Rhine in the south. A third army, the Army of Italy, commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte, approached Vienna through northern Italy.The early success of the Army of Italy initially forced the Coalition commander, Archduke Charles, to transfer 25,000 men commanded by Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser to northern Italy. This weakened the Coalition force along the 340-kilometre (211 mi) front stretching along the Rhine from Basel to the North Sea. Later, a feint by Jourdan's Army of Sambre and Meuse convinced Charles to shift troops to the north, allowing Moreau to cross the Rhine at the Battle of Kehl on 24 June and defeated the Archduke's Imperial contingents. Both French armies penetrated deep into eastern and southern Germany by late July, forcing the southern states of the Holy Roman Empire into punitive armistices. By August, the French armies had extended their fronts too thinly and rivalry among the French generals complicated cooperation between the two armies. Because the two French armies operated independently, Charles was able to leave Maximilian Anton Karl, Count Baillet de Latour with a weaker army in front of Moreau on the southernmost flank and move many reinforcements to the army of Wilhelm von Wartensleben in the north.At the Battle of Amberg on 24 August and the Battle of Würzburg on 3 September, Charles defeated Jourdan's northern army and compelled the French army to retreat, eventually to the west bank of the Rhine. With Jourdan neutralized and retreating into France, Charles left Franz von Werneck to watch the Army of Sambre and Meuse, making sure it did not try to recover a foothold on the east bank of the Rhine. After securing the Rhine crossings at Bruchsal and Kehl, Charles forced Moreau to retreat south. During the winter the Austrians reduced the French bridgeheads in the sieges of Kehl and the Hüningen, and forced Moreau's army back to France. Despite Charles' success in the Rhineland, Austria lost the war in Italy, which resulted in the Peace of Campo Formio.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:16 UTC on Sunday, 25 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Rhine campaign of 1796 on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Kimberly.

fWotD Episode 2941: Chinese characters Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Saturday, 24 May 2025, is Chinese characters.Chinese characters are logographs used to write the Chinese languages and others from regions historically influenced by Chinese culture. Of the four independently invented writing systems accepted by scholars, they represent the only one that has remained in continuous use. Over a documented history spanning more than three millennia, the function, style, and means of writing characters have changed greatly. Unlike letters in alphabets that reflect the sounds of speech, Chinese characters generally represent morphemes, the units of meaning in a language. Writing all of the frequently used vocabulary in a language requires roughly 2000–3000 characters; as of 2024, nearly 100000 have been identified and included in The Unicode Standard. Characters are created according to several principles, where aspects of shape and pronunciation may be used to indicate the character's meaning.The first attested characters are oracle bone inscriptions made during the 13th century BCE in what is now Anyang, Henan, as part of divinations conducted by the Shang dynasty royal house. Character forms were originally ideographic or pictographic in style, but evolved as writing spread across China. Numerous attempts have been made to reform the script, including the promotion of small seal script by the Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE). Clerical script, which had matured by the early Han dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE), abstracted the forms of characters—obscuring their pictographic origins in favour of making them easier to write. Following the Han, regular script emerged as the result of cursive influence on clerical script, and has been the primary style used for characters since. Informed by a long tradition of lexicography, states using Chinese characters have standardized their forms—broadly, simplified characters are used to write Chinese in mainland China, Singapore, and Malaysia, while traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.Where the use of characters spread beyond China, they were initially used to write Literary Chinese; they were then often adapted to write local languages spoken throughout the Sinosphere. In Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese, Chinese characters are known as kanji, hanja, and chữ Hán respectively. Writing traditions also emerged for some of the other languages of China, like the sawndip script used to write the Zhuang languages of Guangxi. Each of these written vernaculars used existing characters to write the language's native vocabulary, as well as the loanwords it borrowed from Chinese. In addition, each invented characters for local use. In written Korean and Vietnamese, Chinese characters have largely been replaced with alphabets—leaving Japanese as the only major non-Chinese language still written using them, alongside the other elements of the Japanese writing system.At the most basic level, characters are composed of strokes that are written in a fixed order. Historically, methods of writing characters have included inscribing stone, bone, or bronze; brushing ink onto silk, bamboo, or paper; and printing with woodblocks or moveable type. Technologies invented since the 19th century to facilitate the use of characters include telegraph codes and typewriters, as well as input methods and text encodings on computers.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:48 UTC on Saturday, 24 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Chinese characters on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Ayanda.

fWotD Episode 2940: Ezra Pound Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Friday, 23 May 2025, is Ezra Pound.Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a collaborator in Fascist Italy and the Salò Republic during World War II. His works include Ripostes (1912), Hugh Selwyn Mauberley (1920), and his 800-page epic poem The Cantos (c. 1917–1962).Pound's contribution to poetry began in the early 20th century with his role in developing Imagism, a movement stressing precision and economy of language. Working in London as foreign editor of several American literary magazines, he helped discover and shape the work of contemporaries such as H. D., Robert Frost, T. S. Eliot, Ernest Hemingway, and James Joyce. He was responsible for the 1914 serialization of Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, the 1915 publication of Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", and the serialization from 1918 of Joyce's Ulysses. Hemingway wrote in 1932 that, for poets born in the late 19th or early 20th century, not to be influenced by Pound would be "like passing through a great blizzard and not feeling its cold".Angered by the carnage of World War I, Pound blamed the war on finance capitalism, which he called "usury". He moved to Italy in 1924 and through the 1930s and 1940s promoted an economic theory known as social credit, wrote for publications owned by the British fascist Sir Oswald Mosley, embraced Benito Mussolini's fascism, and expressed support for Adolf Hitler. During World War II, Pound recorded hundreds of paid radio propaganda broadcasts for the fascist Italian government and its later incarnation as a German puppet state, in which he attacked the United States federal government, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Great Britain, international finance, munitions makers, arms dealers, Jews, and others, as abettors and prolongers of the war. He also praised both eugenics and the Holocaust in Italy, while urging American GIs to throw down their rifles and surrender. In 1945, Pound was captured by the Italian Resistance and handed over to the U. S. Army's Counterintelligence Corps, who held him pending extradition and prosecution based on an indictment for treason. He spent months in a U. S. military detention camp near Pisa, including three weeks in an outdoor steel cage. Ruled mentally unfit to stand trial, Pound was incarcerated for over 12 years at St. Elizabeths psychiatric hospital in Washington, D. C., whose doctors viewed Pound as a narcissist and a psychopath, but otherwise completely sane.While in custody in Italy, Pound began work on sections of The Cantos, which were published as The Pisan Cantos (1948), for which he was awarded the Bollingen Prize for Poetry in 1949 by the Library of Congress, causing enormous controversy. After a campaign by his fellow writers, he was released from St. Elizabeth's in 1958 and returned to Italy, where he posed for the press giving the Fascist salute and called the United States "an insane asylum". Pound remained in Italy until his death in 1972. His economic and political views have ensured that his life and literary legacy remain highly controversial.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:31 UTC on Friday, 23 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Ezra Pound on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Salli.

fWotD Episode 2939: Dracunculiasis Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Thursday, 22 May 2025, is Dracunculiasis.Dracunculiasis, also called Guinea-worm disease, is a parasitic infection by the Guinea worm, Dracunculus medinensis. A person becomes infected by drinking water contaminated with Guinea-worm larvae that reside inside copepods (a type of small crustacean). Stomach acid digests the copepod and releases the Guinea worm, which penetrates the digestive tract and escapes into the body. Around a year later, the adult female migrates to an exit site – usually the lower leg – and induces an intensely painful blister on the skin. Eventually, the blister bursts, creating a painful wound from which the worm gradually emerges over several weeks. The wound remains painful throughout the worm's emergence, disabling the affected person for the three to ten weeks it takes the worm to emerge.There is no medication to treat or prevent dracunculiasis. Instead, the mainstay of treatment is the careful wrapping of the emerging worm around a small stick or gauze to encourage and speed up its exit. Each day, a few more centimeters of the worm emerge, and the stick is turned to maintain gentle tension. Too much tension can break and kill the worm in the wound, causing severe pain and swelling. Dracunculiasis is a disease of extreme poverty, occurring in places with poor access to clean drinking water. Prevention efforts center on filtering drinking water to remove copepods, as well as public education campaigns to discourage people from soaking affected limbs in sources of drinking water, as this allows the worms to spread their larvae.Accounts consistent with dracunculiasis appear in surviving documents from physicians of Greco-Roman antiquity. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, dracunculiasis was widespread across much of Africa and South Asia, affecting as many as 48 million people per year. The effort to eradicate dracunculiasis began in the 1980s following the successful eradication of smallpox. By 1995, every country with endemic dracunculiasis had established a national eradication program. In the ensuing years, dracunculiasis cases have dropped precipitously, with 14 cases reported worldwide in 2023. Since 1986, 14 previously endemic countries have eradicated dracunculiasis, leaving the disease endemic in six: Angola, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Mali, and South Sudan. If the eradication program succeeds, dracunculiasis will become the second human disease eradicated, after smallpox. D. medinensis can also infect dogs, cats, and baboons, though non-human cases are also falling due to eradication efforts. Other Dracunculus species cause dracunculiasis in reptiles worldwide and in mammals in the Americas.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:02 UTC on Thursday, 22 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Dracunculiasis on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Ruth.

fWotD Episode 2938: Red-capped parrot Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Wednesday, 21 May 2025, is Red-capped parrot.The red-capped parrot (Purpureicephalus spurius) is a species of broad-tailed parrot native to southwestern Australia. It was described by Heinrich Kuhl in 1820, with no subspecies recognised. It has long been classified in its own genus owing to its distinctive elongated beak, though genetic analysis shows that it lies within the lineage of the Psephotellus parrots and that its closest relative is the mulga parrot (Psephotellus varius). Not easily confused with other parrot species, it has a bright crimson crown, green-yellow cheeks, and a distinctive long bill. The wings, back, and long tail are dark green, and the underparts are purple-blue. The adult female is very similar though sometimes slightly duller than the male; her key distinguishing feature is a white stripe on the wing under-surface. Juveniles are predominantly green.Found in woodland and open savanna country, the red-capped parrot is predominantly herbivorous, consuming seeds, particularly of eucalypts, as well as flowers and berries, but insects are occasionally eaten. Nesting takes place in tree hollows, generally of older large trees. Although the red-capped parrot has been shot as a pest and has been affected by land clearing, the population is growing and the species is considered of least-concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It has a reputation of being anxious and difficult to breed in captivity.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:36 UTC on Wednesday, 21 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Red-capped parrot on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Salli.

fWotD Episode 2937: Cher Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Tuesday, 20 May 2025, is Cher.Cher ( SHAIR; born Cheryl Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television star. Dubbed the "Goddess of Pop", she is known for her androgynous contralto voice, bold visual presentation and multifaceted career, while cultivating a screen persona that mirrors her public image by often portraying strong-willed and outspoken women. An influential figure in popular culture, her continual reinvention has fueled multiple comebacks over a career spanning more than six decades.Cher gained fame in 1965 as part of the folk rock duo Sonny & Cher, early exponents of 1960s counterculture, while also scoring solo top-ten singles such as "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)". In the 1970s, she topped the US Billboard Hot 100 with narrative pop songs "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves", "Half-Breed" and "Dark Lady". After focusing on acting, she reemerged in a hair metal style with the albums Cher (1987), Heart of Stone (1989) and Love Hurts (1991), producing international number-one singles "If I Could Turn Back Time" and "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)". At 52, she reached a commercial peak with the dance-pop album Believe (1998), which introduced the "Cher effect"—a stylized use of Auto-Tune to distort vocals. The title track became 1999's number-one song in the US and the UK's best-selling single by a female artist. In the 21st century, she released her highest-charting US Billboard 200 albums, Closer to the Truth (2013) and Dancing Queen (2018), both of which debuted at number three.Cher became a TV star in the 1970s with The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour and her solo show Cher, both on CBS, attracting over 30 million weekly viewers. She gained critical acclaim after debuting on Broadway and starring in the film adaptation of Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982). Transitioning to film, she earned two Academy Award nominations—for Silkwood (1983) and Moonstruck (1987), winning the Oscar for Best Actress for the latter—and received the Cannes Film Festival's Best Actress Award for Mask (1985). Other starring roles include The Witches of Eastwick (1987), Mermaids (1990), If These Walls Could Talk (1996, her directorial debut), Tea with Mussolini (1999), Burlesque (2010) and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018). Her life and career inspired the 2018 jukebox musical The Cher Show.Cher is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated global sales of over 100 million records. She is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and the only solo artist with number-one singles on the US Billboard charts in seven consecutive decades (1960s–2020s). Her accolades include an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes, the Billboard Icon Award and the Kennedy Center Honors. Her 2002–2005 Living Proof: The Farewell Tour was the highest-grossing concert tour by a female artist at the time, earning $250 million—about $402 million in 2025. Beyond music and acting, Cher is known for her progressive politics and advocacy for causes including LGBTQ rights and HIV/AIDS awareness.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:18 UTC on Tuesday, 20 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Cher on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm standard Kendra.

fWotD Episode 2936: Malcolm X Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Monday, 19 May 2025, is Malcolm X.Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an African American revolutionary, Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement until his assassination in 1965. A spokesman for the Nation of Islam (NOI) until 1964 after which he left the movement, he was a vocal advocate for Black empowerment and the promotion of Islam within the African American community. A controversial figure accused of preaching violence, Malcolm X is also a widely celebrated figure within African American and Muslim communities for his pursuit of racial justice.Malcolm spent his adolescence living in a series of foster homes or with relatives after his father's death and his mother's hospitalization. He committed various crimes, being sentenced to eight to ten years in prison in 1946 for larceny and burglary. In prison, he joined the Nation of Islam, adopting the name Malcolm X to symbolize his unknown African ancestral surname while discarding "the white slavemaster name of 'Little'", and after his parole in 1952, he quickly became one of the organization's most influential leaders. He was the public face of the organization for 12 years, advocating Black empowerment and separation of Black and White Americans, and criticizing Martin Luther King Jr. and the mainstream civil rights movement for its emphasis on non-violence and racial integration. Malcolm X also expressed pride in some of the Nation's social welfare achievements, such as its free drug rehabilitation program. From the 1950s onward, Malcolm X was subjected to surveillance by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).In the 1960s, Malcolm X began to grow disillusioned with the Nation of Islam, as well as with its leader, Elijah Muhammad. He subsequently embraced Sunni Islam and the civil rights movement after completing the Hajj to Mecca and became known as "el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz", which roughly translates to "The Pilgrim Malcolm the Patriarch". After a brief period of travel across Africa, he publicly renounced the Nation of Islam and founded the Islamic Muslim Mosque, Inc. (MMI) and the Pan-African Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU). Throughout 1964, his conflict with the Nation of Islam intensified, and he was repeatedly sent death threats. On February 21, 1965, he was assassinated in New York City. Three Nation members were charged with the murder and given indeterminate life sentences. In 2021, two of the convictions were vacated. Speculation about the assassination and whether it was conceived or aided by leading or additional members of the Nation, or with law enforcement agencies, has persisted for decades.He was posthumously honored with Malcolm X Day, on which he is commemorated in various cities across the United States. Hundreds of streets and schools in the U. S. have been renamed in his honor, while the Audubon Ballroom, the site of his assassination, was partly redeveloped in 2005 to accommodate the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center. A posthumous autobiography, on which he collaborated with Alex Haley, was published in 1965.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:55 UTC on Monday, 19 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Malcolm X on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Arthur.

fWotD Episode 2935: Margaret Sanger Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Sunday, 18 May 2025, is Margaret Sanger.Margaret Sanger (née Higgins; September 14, 1879 – September 6, 1966) was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. She opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, founded Planned Parenthood, and was instrumental in the development of the first birth control pill. Sanger is regarded as a founder and leader of the birth control movement.In the early 1900s, contraceptives, abortion, and even birth control literature were illegal in much of the U. S. Working as a nurse in the slums of New York City, Sanger often treated mothers desperate to avoid conceiving additional children, many of whom had resorted to back-alley abortions. Sanger was a first-wave feminist and believed that women should be able to decide if and when to have children, leading her to campaign for the legalization of contraceptives. As an adherent of the eugenics movement, she argued that birth control would reduce the number of unfit people and improve the overall health of the human race. She was also influenced by Malthusian concerns about the detrimental effects of overpopulation.To promote birth control, Sanger gave speeches, wrote books, and published periodicals. Sanger deliberately flouted laws that prohibited distribution of information about contraceptives, and was arrested eight times. Her activism led to court rulings that legalized birth control, including one that enabled physicians to dispense contraceptives; and another – Griswold v. Connecticut – which legalized contraception, without a prescription, for couples nationwide.Sanger established a network of dozens of birth control clinics across the country, which provided reproductive health services to hundreds of thousands of patients. She discouraged abortion, and her clinics never offered abortion services during her lifetime. She founded several organizations dedicated to family planning, including Planned Parenthood and International Planned Parenthood Federation. In the early 1950s, Sanger persuaded philanthropists to provide funding for biologist Gregory Pincus to develop the first birth control pill. She died in Arizona in 1966.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:05 UTC on Sunday, 18 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Margaret Sanger on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm long-form Gregory.

fWotD Episode 2934: TRAPPIST-1 Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Saturday, 17 May 2025, is TRAPPIST-1.TRAPPIST-1 is a cool red dwarf star with seven known exoplanets. It lies in the constellation Aquarius about 40.66 light-years away from Earth, and has a surface temperature of about 2,566 K (2,290 °C; 4,160 °F). Its radius is slightly larger than Jupiter and it has a mass of about 9% of the Sun. It is estimated to be 7.6 billion years old, making it older than the Solar System. The discovery of the star was first published in 2000.Observations in 2016 from the Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope (TRAPPIST) at La Silla Observatory in Chile and other telescopes led to the discovery of two terrestrial planets in orbit around TRAPPIST-1. In 2017, further analysis of the original observations identified five more terrestrial planets. It takes the seven planets between about 1.5 and 19 days to orbit around the star in circular orbits. They are all likely tidally locked to TRAPPIST-1, and as such it is believed that each planet is in permanent day on one side and permanent night on the other. Their masses are comparable to that of Earth and they all lie in the same plane; from Earth they are seen to pass in front of the star. This allowed the planets to be detected; when they pass in front of the star its apparent magnitude dims.Up to four of the planets—designated d, e, f and g—orbit at distances where temperatures are suitable for the existence of liquid water, and are thus potentially hospitable to life. There is no evidence of an atmosphere on any of the planets, and observations of TRAPPIST-1b have ruled out the existence of an atmosphere. It is unclear whether radiation emissions from TRAPPIST-1 would allow for such atmospheres. The planets have low densities; they may consist of large amounts of volatile materials. Due to the possibility of several of the planets being habitable, the system has drawn interest from researchers and has appeared in popular culture.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:39 UTC on Saturday, 17 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see TRAPPIST-1 on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Kevin.

fWotD Episode 2933: IMac G4 Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Friday, 16 May 2025, is IMac G4.The iMac G4 is an all-in-one personal computer designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer from January 2002 to August 2004. The computer is comprised of a hemispheric base that holds the computer components, including the PowerPC G4 processor, with a flatscreen liquid-crystal display (LCD) mounted above. The display is connected to the base via an adjustable arm that allows the monitor to be tilted and swiveled.Apple's previous release, the iMac G3 (1998), was a commercial success for Apple at a time when the company was close to bankruptcy. As component prices fell, Apple began envisioning a replacement based around an LCD instead of the G3's bulky cathode-ray tube. The resulting iMac G4 took two years to develop. The new iMac's shape was inspired by a sunflower, with Apple's design team exploring different ways of attaching the monitor to the base before settling on a single stainless steel arm. The iMac G4 eschewed the colorful translucency of the iMac G3 in favor of opaque white.The iMac G4 was announced at the Macworld San Francisco trade show on January 7, 2002, and began shipping that month. The model was updated over the years with faster internal components and larger LCDs. The iMac G4 was a critical and commercial success for Apple, selling more than 1.3 million units in its first year and roughly 3.1 million units alongside the eMac in its lifetime. It was succeeded by the iMac G5 in 2004, which replaced the G4's bold design language with a more conservative look that would influence later iMac models.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:31 UTC on Friday, 16 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see IMac G4 on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm standard Ivy.

fWotD Episode 2932: Merchant's House Museum Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Thursday, 15 May 2025, is Merchant's House Museum.The Merchant's House Museum, also known as the Old Merchant's House and the Seabury Tredwell House, is a historic house museum at 29 East Fourth Street in the NoHo neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, United States. Built by the hatter Joseph Brewster between 1831 and 1832, the edifice is a four-story building with a Federal-style brick facade and a Greek Revival interior. It was the Tredwell family's residence for almost a century before becoming a museum in 1936. The Merchant's House Museum is the only 19th-century residence in Manhattan with its original exterior and interior intact.Brewster built the house as a speculative development, selling it in 1835 to the merchant Seabury Tredwell, who lived there with his family and servants. The structure remained in the family until the death of the youngest child, Gertrude, in 1933. George Chapman, a distant relative, purchased the building and transformed it into a museum. Over the next three decades, the museum's operators struggled to obtain funds to restore the deteriorating house. The architect Joseph Roberto completely renovated the building from 1970 to 1980, and the museum underwent further restoration in the early 1990s after the demolition of nearby buildings damaged it. During the 2010s and 2020s, museum officials protested the construction of a nearby hotel because of concerns that the project would further damage the house.The Merchant's House Museum has a raised basement, a front doorway accessed by a stoop, a slate roof, and a rear garden. The interior consists of a family room and kitchen in the basement; two parlors on the first floor; and bedrooms on the upper floors. The museum's collection has over 4,500 items owned by the Tredwell family, including pieces of furniture, clothing, household items, and personal items. The museum also hosts various performances and events, and it operates tours and educational programs. Reviewers have praised both the museum's exhibits and the architecture. The building's facade and interior are New York City designated landmarks, and the building is a National Historic Landmark.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:01 UTC on Thursday, 15 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Merchant's House Museum on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Arthur.

fWotD Episode 2931: Marie Sophie Hingst Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Wednesday, 14 May 2025, is Marie Sophie Hingst.Marie Sophie Hingst (20 October 1987 – 17 July 2019) was a German historian and blogger who falsely claimed to be descended from Holocaust survivors. Born in Wittenberg to a Protestant family, she fabricated a Jewish background and sent documentation for 22 misrepresented or non-existent relatives, who she claimed were Holocaust victims, to the official Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem. Hingst maintained the blog Read On, My Dear, Read On, writing about her supposed Jewish background and identity, along with her experiences as a German expatriate in Ireland, where she moved in 2013. The blog received hundreds of thousands of views, and she was awarded "Blogger of the Year" in 2017 by Die Goldenen Blogger (The Golden Bloggers).Throughout her life, Hingst falsified much of her background, connections, and achievements. She claimed a background in sex education, having purportedly founded a hospital in New Delhi and worked in sex education outreach to refugees in Germany. Hingst used her fraudulent credentials to gain awards and recognition; alongside her "Blogger of the Year" recognition, she wrote for the German newspaper Die Zeit, was one of the winners of the 2017 Financial Times Future of Europe project, and held positions of prestige in Jewish communities across Europe. In June 2019, the Der Spiegel journalist Martin Doerry exposed Hingst's claims as false with the assistance of a team of historians and archivists. She was castigated in the German media, leading to the destruction of her reputation.Hingst committed suicide on 17 July 2019 at the age of 31. Her fraud and death attracted attention across Europe. German and Irish coverage of Hingst differed: German coverage focused on the extreme sensitivity of the subject she had lied about and how she should have been stopped earlier; Irish coverage focused on her mental health and accused Doerry of ignoring her vulnerability. She was compared to other women who had been uncovered as misrepresenting their backgrounds, such as Anna Sorokin and Rachel Dolezal. The particular similarity between Hingst and Dolezal, as people who claimed to have faced ethnic discrimination, sparked discussion of the role of identity politics in such claims.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 02:14 UTC on Wednesday, 14 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Marie Sophie Hingst on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Jasmine.

fWotD Episode 2930: Nasutoceratops Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Tuesday, 13 May 2025, is Nasutoceratops.Nasutoceratops is a genus of ceratopsid dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous period, about 76.0–75.5 million years ago. The first known specimens were discovered in Utah in the Kaiparowits Formation of the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument (GSENM) from 2006 onwards, including a subadult skull with a partial postcranial skeleton and rare skin impressions and two other partial skulls. In 2013, the subadult was made the holotype of the new genus and species Nasutoceratops titusi; the generic name means "large-nosed horned face", and the specific name honors the paleontologist Alan L. Titus for his work at the GSENM. The dinosaur was noted for its large nose in news reports, and later featured in Jurassic World films.The holotype skull of Nasutoceratops is approximately 1.5 m (4.9 ft) long, and its body length has been estimated at 4.5 m (14.8 ft), its weight at 1.5 t (1.7 short tons). Nasutoceratops is distinct in features such as the snout region being unusually deep but short from front to back, with the external nostril forming 75% of the skull length in front of the eye sockets. The nasal bones were possibly pneumatized (air-filled), which is unknown in other ceratopsids. Its nasal horn is low and blade-like while the brow horns are notable for pointing forward and being approximately 40% of total skull length; they are up to 457 mm (18.0 in), the longest known of any centrosaurine, and have been likened to those of a Texas Longhorn bull. The neck frill is almost circular with its widest point at the middle. The epiossifications on the margins of the frill are shaped like low crescents, and there is one at the midline at the top of the frill, unlike in other centrosaurines. Nasutoceratops was a basal (early diverging) member of Centrosaurinae, and may have formed a distinct clade within this group, Nasutoceratopsini, with its closest relatives.The function of the deep front of the skull of Nasutoceratops is unknown, but may have been related to mastication. The functions of ceratopsian frills and horns have been debated, and include signalling, combat, and species recognition. The forward oriented brow horns of Nasutoceratops may have enabled interlocking with opponents, as in modern bovids. The Kaiparowits Formation dates to the late Campanian age and was deposited on Laramidia, an island continent, when North America was divided at the center by the Western Interior Seaway. This environment was dominated by wetlands and supported a diverse fauna, including other ceratopsians. Based in part on the relationship between Nasutoceratops and other centrosaurines from around the same time, it has been proposed that Laramidia was divided into dinosaur "provinces" with separate endemic species, but this has been contested.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:11 UTC on Tuesday, 13 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Nasutoceratops on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm standard Nicole.

fWotD Episode 2929: Veiqia Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Monday, 12 May 2025, is Veiqia.Veiqia (Fijian [βɛi̯.ᵑɡi.a]), or Weniqia, is a female tattooing practice in Fiji. The term refers to both the practice and to the tattoos themselves. Women or adolescent girls who have reached puberty may be tattooed in the groin and buttocks area by older female tattooing specialists called dauveiqia or daubati. The practice was common prior to the arrival in the 1830s of Christian missionaries who discouraged it. The practice declined in the late nineteenth century, so that by 1908 to 1910, there was a single remaining tattooist recorded as being active; she was called Rabali. The practice was revived in the twenty-first century, led by the work of a collective of artists known as The Veiqia Project. Museum collections of veiqia artefacts are found in several Western museum collections, as well as the Fiji Museum. In Fijian culture, the tattoos were considered to heighten a women's beauty. Veiqia were seen as attractive and could be an important factor that enabled a woman to marry. If she died without them, they would be painted on her body after death so her spirit could proceed into the afterlife. Receiving veiqia was highly ritualised, with many regional variations. Preparation for the process could include abstinence from food or from sexual relations, or inducing vomiting to purge the body. The process of tattooing was closely associated with the gift of a young woman's first liku (fringed skirt) to wear once their veiqia was complete. Special caves called qara ni veiqia were historically used for the ritual. Traditional medicines given to the young women varied from region to region and some were part of preparation for the ritual. To break the skin, some tools used included stingray spines, lemon thorns or shark teeth. Inks were made from Acacia richii or Kauri pine. Motifs for tattoos included: turtles and wandering tattlers, pottery and basketwork. The tattooists, known as dauveiqia (also daubati) exchanged the service for masi (barkcloth), tabua (polished sperm whale teeth) or liku.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:58 UTC on Monday, 12 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Veiqia on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Emma.

fWotD Episode 2928: Mother (Meghan Trainor song) Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Sunday, 11 May 2025, is Mother (Meghan Trainor song)."Mother" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor from the deluxe edition of her fifth major-label studio album, Takin' It Back (2022). She co-wrote the song with Sean Douglas and its producers, Gian Stone and her brother Justin. Epic Records released it to US hot adult contemporary radio stations as the deluxe edition's lead single on March 27, 2023. A pop song with doo-wop influences, it interpolates the Chordettes' single "Mr. Sandman". Inspired by men who said Trainor's pregnancy would end her career, the song is about women's empowerment; in its lyrics, she asks the male subject to stop mansplaining and to listen to her.Critics were favorable of its musical composition, while others criticized the lyrics. The song reached the top 30 on national record charts in Belgium, Ireland, Suriname, and the United Kingdom. Charm La'Donna directed and choreographed the music video for it, which stars Kris Jenner. The latter dons a platinum blonde bob and appears in a white silk gown in a scene which channels Marilyn Monroe's performance of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" and later with Trainor in matching black gowns. The video received praise for the fashion choices; critics described it as glamorous. Trainor performed "Mother" on The Today Show and Capital's Summertime Ball and included it on the set list of her 2024 concert tour, the Timeless Tour.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 05:30 UTC on Sunday, 11 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Mother (Meghan Trainor song) on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm long-form Patrick.

fWotD Episode 2927: Tesla Model S Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Saturday, 10 May 2025, is Tesla Model S.The Tesla Model S is a battery-electric, four-door full-size car produced by the American automaker Tesla since 2012. The automaker's second vehicle and longest-produced model, critics have called the Model S one of the most significant and influential electric cars in the industry. It is the recipient of numerous accolades, including the Motor Trend Car of the Year Award in 2013.Tesla started developing the Model S around 2007 under the codename WhiteStar. Initially, Henrik Fisker was appointed as the lead designer for the WhiteStar project; after a dispute with Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, Fisker was replaced by Franz von Holzhausen. By 2008, von Holzhausen had designed what would become the production Model S's exterior. Tesla unveiled a prototype of the vehicle in March 2009 in Hawthorne, California. In 2010, Tesla acquired a facility in Fremont, California, to produce the Model S, which was previously owned by General Motors and Toyota. Series manufacture of the car officially began at what is now known as the Tesla Fremont Factory in June 2012. Tesla carried out the final assembly for European markets at its facilities in Tilburg, the Netherlands, between 2013 and 2021. All versions of the Model S come equipped with a single-speed transmission. The car initially used an alternating current induction motor, which was replaced by a permanent magnet synchronous reluctance motor in 2019. Constructed mostly of aluminum, the Model S shares 30 percent of its components with the Model X—a crossover SUV that was introduced in 2015. The Model S has undergone several updates during its production, the most prominent ones occurring in 2016 and 2021. These updates have usually included modifications to the motor, such as changes to power or torque, revised exterior elements, and refreshed interior features. One such change included the introduction of Tesla Autopilot—a partial vehicle automation advanced driver-assistance system—which was released in 2015. To charge the Model S, Tesla operates a network of fast-charging stations.In 2015, the Model S was the world's best-selling plug-in electric vehicle. In 2012, it was included on Time's list of the Best Inventions of the Year, and the magazine later included it on its list of the 10 Best Gadgets of the 2010s in 2019. In 2014, The Daily Telegraph described the Model S as a "car that changed the world". Road & Track argued that, with the introduction of the Model S Plaid—the high-performance version of the vehicle—and features such as the yoke steering wheel, Tesla managed to turn the Model S into "perhaps one of the worst [cars in the world]." Some companies have customized the Model S into limited-edition body styles, including a hearse and a shooting brake.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:30 UTC on Saturday, 10 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Tesla Model S on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Kimberly.

fWotD Episode 2926: Metrosideros bartlettii Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Friday, 9 May 2025, is Metrosideros bartlettii.Metrosideros bartlettii, commonly known as Bartlett's rātā, is a rare species of tree in the family Myrtaceae. It is endemic to the Northland Region in New Zealand's North Island. Bartlett's rātā reaches a height of up to 30 metres (100 feet) with a trunk of 1–1.5 metres (3 ft 3 in – 4 ft 11 in) in diameter. The species is classified in the subgenus Metrosideros and is known for its distinct whitish, paper-like bark and small white-coloured flowers. Bartlett's rātā was first discovered in 1975 by the New Zealand botanist and schoolteacher John Bartlett, who accidentally discovered the species while searching for liverworts near Cape Reinga. It was first described by botanist John Dawson in a 1985 article in the New Zealand Journal of Botany.Bartlett's rātā's range covers the northern tip of the Aupōuri Peninsula, in three dense forest remnants near Piwhane / Spirits Bay. Bartlett's rātā typically begins life as an epiphyte (growing on another plant); it inhabits lowland forests and is usually found growing near wet areas. A 2018 article by the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network documented 13 adult trees in the wild, a significant decrease from another research article in 2000 that documented 31 wild adult trees. The species has a high chance of becoming extinct in the wild unless immediate conservation measures are taken to stop its ongoing decline; which has been attributed to land use changes following human settlement and the introduction of common brushtail possums, which browse its buds, flowers, and shoots. Bartlett's rātā's conservation status was assessed by the IUCN Red List in 2013 as "Critically Endangered", and its population trend was assessed as "Decreasing".This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:37 UTC on Friday, 9 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Metrosideros bartlettii on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Amy.

fWotD Episode 2925: American logistics in the Western Allied invasion of Germany Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Thursday, 8 May 2025, is American logistics in the Western Allied invasion of Germany.American logistics in the Western Allied invasion of Germany supported the American and French operations in Northwest Europe during the Second World War from 26 January 1945 until the end of World War II in Europe on 8 May 1945.By the end of January 1945, the American forces had recovered from the disruption to the supply system and the large losses of materiel inflicted by the German offensives in the Ardennes and Alsace. Sixty-eight ships loaded with replacement ordnance were dispatched from the United States. Casualties were harder to replace, and about 49,000 men were transferred from service units to the infantry branch. The Allied forces had to advance across the Rhineland, which was in the grip of thaws, rains and floods. They were then confronted by the Rhine, the most formidable barrier to the Allied advance since the English Channel. The river was crossed and bridged, and railways and pipelines were run across it. Most supplies were delivered by rail, and five railway bridges over the Rhine supported the final American advance into the heart of Germany.Once across the Rhine, combat losses in terms of tanks, vehicles and equipment, and the expenditure of ammunition declined, while shortages of fuel and spare parts developed, as was to be expected in fast-moving mobile operations. The American logistics system was stretched, but came nowhere near breaking point. The railheads were pushed forward, the rehabilitation of the network keeping pace with the advance. No less than twenty-six engineer general service regiments worked on the railways, and by late April rail had supplanted motor transport and was carrying the bulk of supplies across the Rhine. By 8 May, when the war in Europe ended, railheads had been established at Stendal, Magdeburgy, Leipzig, Regensburg and Stuttgart in Germany. The Motor Transport Service organized XYZ, an express road service that moved supplies from the railheads to the forward units. Air supply also played its part in bringing the campaign to a successful conclusion, with a substantial amount of gasoline delivered by air in the final weeks.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:36 UTC on Thursday, 8 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see American logistics in the Western Allied invasion of Germany on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Matthew.

fWotD Episode 2924: Guandimiao Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Wednesday, 7 May 2025, is Guandimiao.Guandimiao (Chinese: 关帝庙遗址; pinyin: Guāndìmiào yízhǐ; lit. 'Guandi temple ruins') is a Chinese archaeological site 18 km (11 miles) south of the Yellow River in Xingyang, Henan. It is the site of a small Late Shang village that was inhabited from roughly 1250 to 1100 BCE. Located 200 km (120 miles) from the site of the Shang dynasty capital at Yinxu in Anyang, the site was first studied as a part of excavations undertaken between 2006 and 2008 in preparation for the nearby South–North Water Transfer Project. Excavation and study at Guandimiao has significantly broadened scholars' understanding of rural Shang economies and rituals, as well as the layout of rural villages, which had received comparatively little attention compared to urban centers like Yinxu and Huanbei.Calculations derived from the number of graves and pit-houses at Guandimiao suggest a maximum population of around 100 individuals at the site's peak during the early 12th century BCE. The presence of 23 kilns suggests large-scale regional exports of ceramics from the village. Residents used bone tools, including many that were locally produced, as well as sophisticated arrowheads and hairpins likely imported from Anyang, where facilities produced them en masse. Local ritual practice is evidenced by the presence of locally produced oracle bones used in pyromancy and large sacrificial pits where mainly cattle had been buried, alongside a smaller number of pigs and (rarely) humans. Over 200 graves were found at the site. Apart from an almost complete absence of grave goods beyond occasional cowrie shells and sacrificed dogs, they generally resemble shaft tombs found elsewhere in ancient China.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:58 UTC on Wednesday, 7 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Guandimiao on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm standard Geraint.

fWotD Episode 2923: William D. Leahy Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Tuesday, 6 May 2025, is William D. Leahy.William Daniel Leahy (; 6 May 1875 – 20 July 1959) was an American naval officer. The most senior United States military officer on active duty during World War II, he held several titles and exercised considerable influence over foreign and military policy. As a fleet admiral, he was the first flag officer ever to hold a five-star rank in the U. S. Armed Forces.An 1897 graduate of Annapolis, Leahy saw active service in the Spanish–American War, the Philippine Insurrection, the Boxer Rebellion in China, the Banana Wars in Central America, and World War I. He was the first member of his cadet class to reach flag rank, as the Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance from 1927 to 1931. He subsequently served as Chief of the Bureau of Navigation from 1933 to 1936, and commanded the Battle Fleet from 1936 to 1937. As Chief of Naval Operations from 1937 to 1939, he was the senior officer in the United States Navy, overseeing the expansion of the fleet and preparations for war.After retiring from the Navy, Leahy was appointed the governor of Puerto Rico in 1939 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In his most controversial role, he served as the Ambassador to France from 1940 to 1942. American policy was aimed at keeping the government of Vichy France free of German control, but Leahy had limited success. He came to believe that the United States should back Free France instead of Vichy France, and asked to be recalled after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into the war. Leahy was subsequently recalled to active duty as the Chief of Staff to the President in 1942 and served in that position for the rest of the Second World War. As the de facto first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he oversaw all of the American armed forces and was a major decision-maker during the war. He also presided over the American delegation to the Combined Chiefs of Staff. In December 1944, Leahy was promoted to five-star rank of fleet admiral.In the aftermath of World War II, Leahy served Roosevelt's successor Harry S. Truman, helping shape postwar foreign policy until he retired in 1949. Although he did not oppose the use of the nuclear weapons during the war, in the post-war period he rejected war plans that placed too much emphasis on the first use of nuclear weapons.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:30 UTC on Tuesday, 6 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see William D. Leahy on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Kimberly.

fWotD Episode 2922: Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Monday, 5 May 2025, is Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories is a 2004 action role-playing video game that was developed by Square Enix and Jupiter, and published by Square Enix in collaboration with Disney Interactive for the Game Boy Advance. The game, which is an intermediary between the two larger-scale PlayStation 2 games in the Kingdom Hearts series, was one of the first GBA games to incorporate full motion video (FMV).Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories is the second game in the Kingdom Hearts series. It is a direct sequel to Kingdom Hearts whose ending is set about a year before the events of Kingdom Hearts II. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories follows Sora and his friends as they explore the mysterious Castle Oblivion while battling Organization XIII, a new group of antagonists in the series. The game introduces new characters and plot lines that further expand the Kingdom Hearts universe and set up the premise of Kingdom Hearts II. The game uses a new card-based battle system rather than its predecessor's real-time combat system.Though it was not as successful as the other Kingdom Hearts games, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories received positive reviews and sold well. It was praised for its story, graphics, and full-motion videos (FMV) but its card-based battle system was criticized. When it debuted in Japan, the game sold over 100,000 units in 48 hours. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories was remade for the PlayStation 2 as Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, which was packaged with Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix and released in Japan in March 2007. The remake was released in North America on December 2, 2008, and was remastered in high definition (HD) and included in the Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix collection, which was released in 2013 for the PlayStation 3 (PS3), and later for PlayStation 4 (PS4), Xbox One, and personal computer (PC).Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories is a combination of a role-playing video game and a collectible card game. There is an experience point system that can be used to increase the character's maximum health and Card Points, or to learn new skills. The cards are used in the progression of the story and in combat. The game features a world map and a battle screen. The world map is an isometric area where the player traverses rooms. Enemies inhabit the world and track the player to engage in combat, which is initiated when the player and an enemy come into contact. Once in combat, the game switches to the battle screen, which uses the card-based battle system.To advance through the game, the player uses map cards they obtain after winning battles to create rooms through "room synthesis". The map card the player chooses determines the properties of each room―including the quality of items and the strength of enemies. The color of each card has a specific effect: red cards affect the number and type of enemies; green cards affect the power of the player's deck; and blue cards affect the properties of the room, such as the allowance of treasure chests or the appearance of save points.The game has three modes; two are story modes featuring Sora and Riku, and the third is a two-player battle mode. Initially, only Sora's story mode is available; once that story is completed, the "Reverse/Rebirth" mode becomes available. Reverse/Rebirth allows the player to play the second story mode featuring Riku and the battle mode in which two players using a Game Link Cable can battle each other.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:30 UTC on Monday, 5 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Ayanda.

fWotD Episode 2921: Hualca Hualca Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Sunday, 4 May 2025, is Hualca Hualca.Hualca Hualca is a 6,025-metre-high (19,767 ft) extinct volcano in the Andes of southern Peru. It is part of the Peruvian segment of the Central Volcanic Zone, one of several volcanic belts in the Andes. It lies about 70 kilometres (43 mi) northwest of Arequipa and is part of a north–south chain that includes the volcanoes Ampato and Sabancaya, the last of which has been historically active. The mountain is important to the towns of Cabanaconde and Pinchollo, who viewed it as their source of water and used to carry out religious ceremonies to guarantee continuing water supply.Hualca Hualca features a wide amphitheatre-like structure on the northern flank, which was created by a gigantic landslide during the Pleistocene. After the collapse, renewed volcanic activity built a new summit and several lava dome complexes within the collapse scar. After cessation of volcanic activity, glaciers eroded the volcano and formed multiple moraines. The present-day volcano is covered by glaciers, and during the last glacial maximum, glaciers advanced to low altitudes. There are hot springs and geysers north of the mountain, and the magma chambers of Sabancaya are located below Hualca Hualca.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:52 UTC on Sunday, 4 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Hualca Hualca on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm standard Kimberly.

fWotD Episode 2920: 2015 KNVB Cup final Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Saturday, 3 May 2025, is 2015 KNVB Cup final.The 2015 KNVB Cup final was an association football match between PEC Zwolle and FC Groningen on 3 May 2015 at De Kuip, Rotterdam. It was the final match of the 2014–15 KNVB Cup, the 97th edition of the Dutch cup competition, the KNVB Cup.PEC were appearing in their fourth KNVB Cup final and were the defending champions, having won the trophy for the first time the previous year by defeating Ajax 5–1. Groningen had reached the final of the competition once before, losing to PSV Eindhoven in 1989. PEC and Groningen each entered the competition in the second round and progressed through five rounds to reach the final. PEC won after extra time in the quarter-final, proceeding to the semi-final of the KNVB Cup for the third consecutive year, where they were victorious in a penalty shoot-out to reach the final. After defeating amateur clubs in the second and third rounds, Groningen eliminated three professional sides from the competition by a three-goal difference or more. En route to the final, Groningen scored 22 goals, the most of all teams during the cup season.PEC were considered the slight favourites to win the final by the bookmakers; the predictions of experts were mixed. Watched by a crowd of 46,193, the first half was goalless as both sides struggled to create goalscoring chances. In the 64th minute, Albert Rusnák put Groningen 1–0 in front after his shot was deflected off PEC's Joost Broerse into the net. Around ten minutes later, Rusnák netted his second to double Groningen's lead. The assist for the goal came from Jarchinio Antonia, who was substituted on during the second half. Groningen held on to their 2–0 lead to claim the KNVB Cup, the club's first major honour. Maikel Kieftenbeld, the Groningen captain, praised the collective effort from the team. By winning the KNVB Cup, Groningen qualified for the 2015 Johan Cruyff Shield and the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League group stage.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:59 UTC on Saturday, 3 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see 2015 KNVB Cup final on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm long-form Patrick.

fWotD Episode 2919: Margaret Sibella Brown Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Friday, 2 May 2025, is Margaret Sibella Brown.Margaret Sibella Brown (March 2, 1866 – November 16, 1961) was a Canadian amateur bryologist specializing in mosses and liverworts native to Nova Scotia. Early in her career she was involved with gathering supplies of sphagnum moss to be used as surgical dressings during World War I, when cotton was in short supply. After the war, she researched mosses from around the world, collecting specimens in Europe, the Caribbean, and the United States, as well as her native Canada. She published several papers in academic journals, some on materials she had collected herself and some cataloging samples collected by other investigators. Samples she collected are now housed at several major herbaria in North America and Europe.Born into upper-class society, Brown was educated in Halifax, Stuttgart, and London. Although lacking formal scientific training, she has been recognized for her contributions to bryology and as an authority on the mosses and liverworts of Nova Scotia. At the age of 84, Brown was awarded an honorary M. A. degree from Acadia University after declining their offer of a Ph. D. She died at her home in Halifax in 1961 aged 95. In 2010, she was inducted into the Nova Scotia Scientific Hall of Fame.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:49 UTC on Friday, 2 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Margaret Sibella Brown on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm long-form Patrick.

fWotD Episode 2918: Epistemology Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Thursday, 1 May 2025, is Epistemology.Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowledge in the form of skills, and knowledge by acquaintance as a familiarity through experience. Epistemologists study the concepts of belief, truth, and justification to understand the nature of knowledge. To discover how knowledge arises, they investigate sources of justification, such as perception, introspection, memory, reason, and testimony.The school of skepticism questions the human ability to attain knowledge while fallibilism says that knowledge is never certain. Empiricists hold that all knowledge comes from sense experience, whereas rationalists believe that some knowledge does not depend on it. Coherentists argue that a belief is justified if it coheres with other beliefs. Foundationalists, by contrast, maintain that the justification of basic beliefs does not depend on other beliefs. Internalism and externalism debate whether justification is determined solely by mental states or also by external circumstances.Separate branches of epistemology focus on knowledge in specific fields, like scientific, mathematical, moral, and religious knowledge. Naturalized epistemology relies on empirical methods and discoveries, whereas formal epistemology uses formal tools from logic. Social epistemology investigates the communal aspect of knowledge, and historical epistemology examines its historical conditions. Epistemology is closely related to psychology, which describes the beliefs people hold, while epistemology studies the norms governing the evaluation of beliefs. It also intersects with fields such as decision theory, education, and anthropology.Early reflections on the nature, sources, and scope of knowledge are found in ancient Greek, Indian, and Chinese philosophy. The relation between reason and faith was a central topic in the medieval period. The modern era was characterized by the contrasting perspectives of empiricism and rationalism. Epistemologists in the 20th century examined the components, structure, and value of knowledge while integrating insights from the natural sciences and linguistics.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:40 UTC on Thursday, 1 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Epistemology on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm standard Joanna.

fWotD Episode 2917: Initial campaign of the Breton Civil War Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Wednesday, 30 April 2025, is Initial campaign of the Breton Civil War.The initial campaign of the Breton Civil War took place in 1341 when a French royal army intervened in a dynastic dispute between two claimants to the Duchy of Brittany. Brittany was a province of France, but although the dukes of Brittany were vassals of the French kings they governed the duchy as independent rulers. When Duke John III (r. 1312–1341) died on 30 April 1341, title to the duchy was claimed by both his niece, Joan of Penthièvre, and his younger half-brother, John of Montfort. Joan's claim was exercised through her husband, Charles of Blois, a nephew of the king of France, Philip VI (r. 1328–1350). A complicating factor was the ongoing Hundred Years' War between France and England that had broken out in 1337. A truce was in place which was due to expire in June 1341 but was extended to June 1342.It was generally assumed that Joan's claim would prevail and that Charles would become the new duke. But John acted quickly and installed friendly garrisons in most of the towns and castles of Brittany by August. He discussed the possibility of a military treaty with English emissaries but made no move towards effecting one. Rumours of these discussions reached Philip, causing him to turn against John and in September Charles was recognised as the new duke. John refused to give way and Philip sent an army to Brittany to impose Charles.Within a month John had been defeated and was a prisoner. His wife, Joanna of Flanders, sent the ducal treasury west to Brest, took command of her husband's field army, stormed the town of Redon and moved to the small but strongly walled town of Hennebont. She despatched a senior counsellor to encourage English military intervention, set up her two-year-old son, also named John, as the faction's figurehead and heir to his father's claim to the duchy, and waited on events. The war lasted 24 years, frequently as a part of the Hundred Years' War.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:48 UTC on Wednesday, 30 April 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Initial campaign of the Breton Civil War on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Gregory.

fWotD Episode 2916: Portland spy ring Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Tuesday, 29 April 2025, is Portland spy ring.The Portland spy ring was an espionage group active in the UK between 1953 and 1961. It comprised five people who obtained classified research documents from the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment (AUWE) on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, and passed them to the Soviet Union.Two of the group's members, Harry Houghton and Ethel Gee, were British. They worked at the AUWE and had access to the areas where the research was stored. After they obtained the information it was passed to their handler, Konon Molody—who was acting under the name Gordon Lonsdale. He was a KGB agent acting in the UK under a Canadian passport. Lonsdale would pass the documents in microdot format to Lona and Morris Cohen, two American communists who had moved to the UK using New Zealand passports in the names Helen and Peter Kroger. The Krogers would get the information to Moscow, often by using the cover of an antiquarian book dealer.The ring was exposed in 1960 following a tip-off from the Polish spy Michael Goleniewski about a mole in the Admiralty. The information he supplied was enough to identify Houghton. Surveillance by MI5—the UK's domestic counter-intelligence service—established the connection between Houghton and Gee, and then between them and Lonsdale and finally the Krogers. All five were arrested in January 1961 and put on trial that March. Sentences for the group ranged from fifteen years (for Houghton and Gee) to twenty years (for the Krogers) to twenty-five years (for Lonsdale).Lonsdale was released in 1964 in a spy swap for the British businessman Greville Wynne. The Krogers were exchanged in October 1969 as part of a swap with Gerald Brooke, a British national held on largely falsified claims. The last to be freed were Houghton and Gee, who were given early release in May 1970.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:22 UTC on Tuesday, 29 April 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Portland spy ring on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Aria.

fWotD Episode 2915: Lemurs of Madagascar (book) Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Monday, 28 April 2025, is Lemurs of Madagascar (book).Lemurs of Madagascar is a 2010 reference work and field guide for the lemurs of Madagascar, giving descriptions and biogeographic data for the known species. The primary contributor is Russell Mittermeier, president of Conservation International, and the cover art and illustrations are drawn by Stephen D. Nash. Currently in its third edition, the book provides details about all known lemur species, general information about lemurs and their history, and tips for identifying species. Four related pocket field guides have also been released, containing color illustrations of each species, miniature range maps, and species checklists.The first edition was reviewed favorably in the International Journal of Primatology, Conservation Biology, and Lemur News. Reviewers, including Alison Jolly, praised the book for its depth of coverage, illustrations, and discussion of topics including conservation, evolution, and the recently extinct subfossil lemurs. Each agreed that the book was an excellent resource for a wide audience, including ecotourists and lemur researchers. A lengthy review of the second edition was published in the American Journal of Primatology, where it received similar favorable comments. The third edition was reviewed favorably in Lemur News; the reviewer praised the expanded content of the book but was concerned that the edition was not as portable as its predecessors.The first edition identified 50 lemur species and subspecies, compared to 71 in the second edition and 101 in the third. The taxonomy promoted by these books has been questioned by researchers, such as Ian Tattersall, who view these growing numbers of lemur species as insufficiently justified inflation of species numbers.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:37 UTC on Monday, 28 April 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Lemurs of Madagascar (book) on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm standard Geraint.

fWotD Episode 2914: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Sunday, 27 April 2025, is The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask is a 2000 action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was the second The Legend of Zelda game to use 3D graphics, following Ocarina of Time (1998). Designed by a creative team led by Eiji Aonuma, Yoshiaki Koizumi, and Shigeru Miyamoto, Majora's Mask was completed in less than two years. It features enhanced graphics and several gameplay changes, but reuses elements and character models from Ocarina of Time, which the game's creators called a creative decision made necessary by time constraints.The story takes place months after Ocarina of Time. Link arrives in a parallel world, Termina, and becomes embroiled in a quest to prevent the moon from crashing in three days' time. The game introduces gameplay concepts revolving around a perpetually repeating three-day cycle and the use of various masks that transform Link into different forms. As the player progresses through the game, Link learns to play numerous melodies on his ocarina, which allow him to control the flow of time, open hidden passages, or manipulate the environment. Characteristic of the Zelda series, completion of the game involves successfully navigating through several dungeons that contain complex puzzles and enemies. Majora's Mask requires the Expansion Pak add-on for the Nintendo 64, which provides additional memory for more refined graphics and greater capacity in generating on-screen characters.Majora's Mask earned universal acclaim from critics and is widely considered one of the best video games ever made. It received praise for its level design, story, and surrealist art direction, and has been noted for its darker tone and themes compared to other Nintendo titles. While the game only sold about half as many copies as its predecessor, it generated a substantial cult following. The game was rereleased as part of The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition for the GameCube in 2003, via the Virtual Console service for the Wii and Wii U, and the Nintendo Classics service for Nintendo Switch. An enhanced remake for the Nintendo 3DS, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D, was released in 2015.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:48 UTC on Sunday, 27 April 2025.For the full current version of the article, see The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Gregory.

fWotD Episode 2913: Black Slave's Cry to Heaven Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Saturday, 26 April 2025, is Black Slave's Cry to Heaven.Black Slave's Cry to Heaven (traditional Chinese: 黑奴籲天錄; simplified Chinese: 黑奴吁天录; pinyin: Hēinú Yūtiān Lù) was a 1907 stage play performed by the Spring Willow Society, a Chinese student troupe, in Tokyo, Japan. Adapted by Zeng Xiaogu from a translation of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, the play focused on the experiences and eventual escape of two slaves, Eliza and George.Modified to allegorically call attention to the experiences of Chinese migrants in the United States, Black Slave's Cry to Heaven was innovative in its use of spoken dialogue and realistic set designs. Performed twice at the Hongō-za Theatre, the show was well received by critics and audiences. Although its script has been lost, the play has inspired subsequent works. Due to its technical innovations and nationalist themes, Black Slave's Cry to Heaven has been canonized as the first modern, Western-style Chinese drama.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:14 UTC on Saturday, 26 April 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Black Slave's Cry to Heaven on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm generative Matthew.

fWotD Episode 2912: 1925 FA Cup final Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Friday, 25 April 2025, is 1925 FA Cup final.The 1925 FA Cup final was an association football match contested by Sheffield United and Cardiff City on 25 April 1925 at Wembley Stadium in London, England. The final was the showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (FA Cup), organised by the Football Association. Sheffield United won the game with a single goal.Both teams entered the competition in the first round and progressed through five stages to reach the final. Sheffield United conceded only two goals en route to the final, both in a 3–2 victory over their local rivals The Wednesday in the second round. Cardiff also conceded twice before the final, once in the fourth round and once in the semi-final. They struggled to overcome Third Division North side Darlington in the first round, needing two replays to progress. This was the second time a team from outside England had reached an FA Cup final. The first, Scottish side Queens Park, played in the 1885 final. It was also the first time a Welsh team had reached the final of the competition.Nearly 92,000 spectators attended the final. The only goal of the game was scored by Sheffield United's Fred Tunstall after 30 minutes when he dispossessed Harry Wake on the edge of the Cardiff penalty area before shooting past goalkeeper Tom Farquharson. Cardiff were unable to respond and the match finished 1–0, giving Sheffield United their fourth FA Cup triumph. The match remains the last time Sheffield United have won the competition. Cardiff returned to Wembley two years later, in the 1927 final, when they won the trophy for the first time.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:25 UTC on Friday, 25 April 2025.For the full current version of the article, see 1925 FA Cup final on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm standard Aditi.

fWotD Episode 2911: I'm God Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Thursday, 24 April 2025, is I'm God."I'm God" is an instrumental song by the American producer Michael Volpe, known professionally as Clams Casino, and the British singer Imogen Heap. Volpe created "I'm God" in 2009 by sampling Heap's song "Just for Now" (2005), after learning of her through a friend. Volpe sent the track to American rapper Lil B; the instrumental is featured on a song of the same name on Lil B's second mixtape, 6 Kiss (2009), containing his vocals. Volpe self-released "I'm God" in 2011 and, in 2012, it appeared on his Instrumentals 2 mixtape. Following years of unsuccessful attempts to clear the sample usage, it was officially released on streaming on April 24, 2020, appearing on Volpe's Instrumental Relics compilation.A cloud rap song, "I'm God" is noted for its ethereal and dream-like aspects. It received a cult following on the Internet, being unofficially reuploaded by fans to social media, including in the form of a music video that incorporates clips from the French film Perdues dans New York (1989). "I'm God" went on to be influential to the cloud rap genre. It was certified gold in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:30 UTC on Thursday, 24 April 2025.For the full current version of the article, see I'm God on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Aria.

fWotD Episode 2910: Aineta aryballos Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Wednesday, 23 April 2025, is Aineta aryballos.The Aineta aryballos is an ancient Greek aryballos (a small, spherical flask or vase), made between approximately 625 and 570 BCE in the city of Corinth in southern Greece. Approximately 6.35 centimetres (2.50 in) in both height and diameter, it was intended to contain perfumed oil or unguent, and is likely to have been owned by a high-class courtesan (hetaira) by the name of Aineta, who may be portrayed in a drawing on its handle. The vase's illegal sale to the British Museum in 1865 led to the prosecution of its seller, the Athenian professor and art dealer Athanasios Rhousopoulos, and exposed his widespread involvement in antiquities crime. The vase is inscribed with a portrait, generally agreed to be that of a woman and probably that of Aineta, who is named in the inscription on the vase. Below the portrait are the names of nine men, usually taken to be Aineta's admirers or lovers. The Aineta aryballos is likely to have been found in a grave, probably that of Aineta. According to Rhousopoulos, it was discovered in Corinth around 1852. In 1877, Panagiotis Efstratiadis, the Ephor General of Antiquities in charge of the Greek Archaeological Service, had Rhousopoulos fined for selling the vase in contravention of Greek law. Writing in 2012 for the Center for Hellenic Studies, Yannis Galanakis called the case "a milestone in the trafficking of Greek antiquities", in that it represented a relatively rare successful use of state power against the illegal trade in ancient Greek artefacts.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:30 UTC on Wednesday, 23 April 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Aineta aryballos on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Danielle.

fWotD Episode 2909: Terry Fox Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Tuesday, 22 April 2025, is Terry Fox.Terrance Stanley Fox (July 28, 1958 – June 28, 1981) was a Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and cancer research activist. In 1980, having had one leg amputated due to cancer, he embarked on a cross-Canada run to raise money and awareness for cancer research. The annual Terry Fox Run, first held in 1981, has grown to involve millions of participants in over 60 countries and is now the world's largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research; over C$900 million has been raised in his name through the Terry Fox Research Institute as of September 2024.Fox was a distance runner and basketball player for his high school, now named after him, and Simon Fraser University. His right leg was amputated in 1977 after he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, though he continued to run using an artificial leg. He also played wheelchair basketball in Vancouver, winning three national championships.In 1980, he began the Marathon of Hope to raise money for cancer research. He hoped to raise one dollar from each of Canada's 24 million people at the time. He began with little fanfare from St John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, in April that year, and ran the equivalent of a full marathon every day. Fox had become a national star by the time he reached Ontario; he made numerous public appearances with businessmen, athletes, and politicians in his efforts to raise money. He was forced to end his run outside Thunder Bay when the cancer spread to his lungs. His hopes of overcoming the disease and completing his run ended when he died nine months later.Fox was the youngest person named a Companion of the Order of Canada and won the 1980 Lou Marsh Award as the nation's top sportsman. He was named Canada's Newsmaker of the Year in both 1980 and 1981 by The Canadian Press. Considered a national hero, he has had many buildings, statues, roads, and parks named in his honour across the country.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:05 UTC on Tuesday, 22 April 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Terry Fox on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm standard Amy.

fWotD Episode 2908: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1887 play) Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Monday, 21 April 2025, is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1887 play).Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a four-act play written by Thomas Russell Sullivan in collaboration with the actor Richard Mansfield. It is an adaptation of Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, an 1886 novella by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. The story focuses on the respected London doctor Henry Jekyll and his involvement with Edward Hyde, a loathsome criminal. After Hyde murders the father of Jekyll's fiancée, Jekyll's friends discover that Jekyll and Hyde are the same person; Jekyll has developed a potion that allows him to transform himself into Hyde and back again. When he runs out of the potion, he is trapped as Hyde and commits suicide before he can be arrested.After reading the novella, Mansfield was intrigued by the opportunity to play a dual role. He secured the right to adapt the story for the stage in the United States and the United Kingdom, and asked Sullivan to write the adaptation. The play debuted in Boston in May 1887, and a revised version opened on Broadway in September of that year. Critics acclaimed Mansfield's performance as the dual character. The play was popular in New York and on tour, and Mansfield was invited to bring it to London. It opened there in August 1888, just before the first Jack the Ripper murders. Some press reports compared the murderer to the Jekyll–Hyde character, and Mansfield was suggested as a possible suspect. Despite significant press coverage, the London production was a financial failure. Mansfield's company continued to perform the play on tours of the U. S. until shortly before his death in 1907.In writing the stage adaptation, Sullivan made several changes to the story; these included creating a fiancée for Jekyll and a stronger moral contrast between Jekyll and Hyde. The changes have been adopted by many subsequent adaptations, including several film versions of the story which were derived from the play. The films included a 1912 adaptation directed by Lucius Henderson, a 1920 adaptation directed by John S. Robertson, and a 1931 adaptation directed by Rouben Mamoulian, which earned Fredric March an Academy Award for Best Actor. A 1941 adaptation, directed by Victor Fleming, was a remake of the 1931 film.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:50 UTC on Monday, 21 April 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1887 play) on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Ruth.

fWotD Episode 2907: Fantastic Novels Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia’s finest articles.The featured article for Sunday, 20 April 2025 is Fantastic Novels.Fantastic Novels was an American science fiction and fantasy pulp magazine published by the Munsey Company of New York from 1940 to 1941, and again by Popular Publications, also of New York, from 1948 to 1951. It was a companion to Famous Fantastic Mysteries. Like that magazine, it mostly reprinted science fiction and fantasy classics from earlier decades, such as novels by A. Merritt, George Allan England, and Victor Rousseau, though it occasionally published reprints of more recent work, such as Earth's Last Citadel, by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore.The magazine lasted for 5 issues in its first incarnation, and for another 20 in the revived version from Popular Publications. Mary Gnaedinger edited both series; her interest in reprinting Merritt's work helped make him one of the better-known fantasy writers of the era. A Canadian edition from 1948 to 1951 reprinted 17 issues of the second series; two others were reprinted in Great Britain in 1950 and 1951.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:30 UTC on Sunday, 20 April 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Fantastic Novels on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm generative Matthew.

fWotD Episode 2906: Edgar Towner Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia’s finest articles.The featured article for Saturday, 19 April 2025 is Edgar Towner.Edgar Thomas Towner, VC, MC (19 April 1890 – 18 August 1972) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces. A lieutenant in the Australian Imperial Force during the First World War, Towner was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions on 1 September 1918, during an attack on Mont St. Quentin on the Western Front.Born in Queensland to a farming family, Towner enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1915. Posted to the transport section of the 25th Battalion, he served in Egypt until his unit was sent to the Western Front. He then transferred to the 2nd Machine Gun Battalion where he was commissioned as a lieutenant and twice mentioned in despatches for his leadership. During June 1918, Towner led a machine gun section in attack near Morlancourt and assisted the infantry in reaching its objectives under heavy fire, for which he was awarded the Military Cross. In September, again commanding a machine gun section, he was involved in the Allied counteroffensive that broke the German lines at Mont St. Quentin and Péronne. Fighting for thirty hours after being wounded, his "conspicuous bravery, initiative and devotion to duty" earned him the Victoria Cross, which was presented by King George V in April 1919.Discharged in August, Towner returned to Australia. He was appointed a director of the Russleigh Pastoral Company, and briefly re-enlisted during the Second World War, when he was promoted to major. A keen geographer, he was awarded the Dr Thomson Foundation Gold Medal in 1956 for his geographical work. Unmarried, he died in 1972 at the age of 82.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:30 UTC on Saturday, 19 April 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Edgar Towner on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Kajal.

fWotD Episode 2905: Battle of Poison Spring Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia’s finest articles.The featured article for Friday, 18 April 2025 is Battle of Poison Spring.The Battle of Poison Spring, also known as the Poison Spring massacre, was fought in Ouachita County, Arkansas, on April 18, 1864, as part of the Camden Expedition, during the American Civil War. A Union force commanded by Major General Frederick Steele had moved from Little Rock, Arkansas, in support of Major General Nathaniel Banks's movement along the Red River towards Shreveport, Louisiana. Steele's objective was also Shreveport, and his men occupied Camden, Arkansas. After Banks was defeated at the battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill, Steele was isolated in Arkansas. Short on supplies, Steele sent a detachment commanded by Colonel James M. Williams on April 17 to forage for 5,000 bushels of corn that were reported to be in the area.Confederate cavalry commanded by John S. Marmaduke and Samuel B. Maxey attacked the foraging party. Marmaduke's men formed a roadblock east along the way back to Camden, while Maxey's men attacked from south of the road. The first two Confederate attacks were unsuccessful, but the third broke the Union line. Williams's command was routed, losing its wagon train and four cannons. African-American soldiers from the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry Regiment were massacred and mutilated during and after the battle. The defeat at Poison Spring and another defeat at the Battle of Marks' Mills a week later led Steele to retreat to Little Rock. In the April 30 Battle of Jenkins' Ferry, men from the 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry Regiment murdered Confederate soldiers in revenge of the massacre at Poison Spring. Poison Spring has been referred to as the worst massacre in the history of Arkansas. Poison Springs Battleground State Park, which is part of the Camden Expedition Sites National Historic Landmark, preserves a portion of the site of the battle.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:30 UTC on Friday, 18 April 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Battle of Poison Spring on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Joey.

fWotD Episode 2904: Bæddel and bædling Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia’s finest articles.The featured article for Thursday, 17 April 2025 is Bæddel and bædling.Bæddel ([ˈbæd.del]; BAD-dell) and bædling ([ˈbæd.liŋɡ]; BAD-ling) are Old English terms referring to non-normative sexual or gender categories. Occurring in a small number of medieval glossaries and penitentials (guides for religious penance), the exact meaning of the terms (and their distinction, if any) are debated by scholars. Both terms are often connected to effeminacy and adultery. Bæddel is glossed as "hermaphrodite" and a "man of both sexes" in its two extant glosses, both from the same glossary, while bædling is often glossed with terms associated with effeminacy and softness. The Oxford English Dictionary, citing the philologist Julius Zupitza, supports bæddel as the etymological root of the English adjective bad, although various scholars propose alternative origins, including a shared root with both bæddel and bædling.The Old English translation of the medieval penitential Paenitentiale Theodori distinguishes men and bædlings as separate categories of person; it describes men having sex with other men or with bædlings as separate offences, and states that bædlings must atone for having sex with other bædlings. The term may have included people assigned female at birth who took on masculine social roles or referred to intersex people. Gender non-normative burials from the period have been associated with the term, and scholars have suggested that bædlings could represent a third gender outside the gender binary or a form of gender nonconformity in Anglo-Saxon society. The 11th century English Antwerp Glossary associates bæddel with the uniquely attested wæpenwifestre ([ˈwæːpnˌwiː.ves.tre] WAPN-wee-ves-tre), seemingly denoting a woman with a phallus or phallic masculinity.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:15 UTC on Thursday, 17 April 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Bæddel and bædling on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm long-form Danielle.

fWotD Episode 2903: Mind Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia’s finest articles.The featured article for Wednesday, 16 April 2025 is Mind.The mind is that which thinks, feels, perceives, imagines, remembers, and wills. It covers the totality of mental phenomena, including both conscious processes, through which an individual is aware of external and internal circumstances, and unconscious processes, which can influence an individual without intention or awareness. The mind plays a central role in most aspects of human life but its exact nature is disputed. Some characterizations focus on internal aspects, saying that the mind transforms information and is not directly accessible to outside observers. Others stress its relation to outward conduct, understanding mental phenomena as dispositions to engage in observable behavior.The mind–body problem is the challenge of explaining the relation between matter and mind. Traditionally, mind and matter were often thought of as distinct substances that could exist independently from one another. The dominant philosophical position since the 20th century has been physicalism, which says that everything is material, meaning that minds are certain aspects or features of some material objects. The evolutionary history of the mind is tied to the development of nervous systems, which led to the formation of brains. As brains became more complex, the number and capacity of mental functions increased with particular brain areas dedicated to specific mental functions. Individual human minds also develop as they learn from experience and pass through psychological stages in the process of aging. Some people are affected by mental disorders, in which certain mental capacities do not function as they should.It is widely accepted that non-human animals have some form of mind, but it is controversial to which animals this applies. The topic of artificial minds poses similar challenges and theorists discuss the possibility and consequences of creating them using computers.The main fields of inquiry studying the mind include psychology, neuroscience, cognitive science, and philosophy of mind. They tend to focus on different aspects of the mind and employ different methods of investigation, ranging from empirical observation and neuroimaging to conceptual analysis and thought experiments. The mind is relevant to many other fields, including epistemology, anthropology, religion, and education.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:10 UTC on Wednesday, 16 April 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Mind on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Brian.

fWotD Episode 2902: Lady Blue (TV series) Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia’s finest articles.The featured article for Tuesday, 15 April 2025 is Lady Blue (TV series).Lady Blue is an American detective and action-adventure television series. Produced by David Gerber, it originally aired for one season on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) network from September 15, 1985, to January 25, 1986. It was picked up by ABC after its pilot aired as a television film on April 15, 1985. The show revolves around Chicago detective Katy Mahoney (Jamie Rose) and her violent methods of handling cases. The supporting cast includes Danny Aiello, Ron Dean, Diane Dorsey, Bruce A. Young, Nan Woods, and Ricardo Gutierrez. Johnny Depp also guest-starred on the series in one of his earliest roles. With cinematography by Jack Priestley, the episodes were filmed on location in Chicago. Television critics noted Lady Blue's emphasis on violence, calling Mahoney "Dirty Harriet" (after Clint Eastwood's character Dirty Harry). Rose said she joined the project after being drawn to its genre. She prepared for the role by watching Eastwood's films, received advice from Eastwood on how to handle a gun, and practiced at a shooting range.After the pilot aired, Lady Blue was criticized by several watchdog organizations (particularly the National Coalition on Television Violence) as the most violent show on television. ABC moved the series from Thursdays to Saturdays before cancelling it in early 1986, partially due to the complaints about excessive violence. Critical reception to the series was primarily negative during its run, but television studies author Cary O'Dell questions whether that stemmed from contemporary sexism. Lady Blue has not been released on DVD, Blu-ray, or an online streaming service. The series' rights are owned by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer, but there are no plans for future home releases.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:44 UTC on Tuesday, 15 April 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Lady Blue (TV series) on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Danielle.

fWotD Episode 2901: Muhammad IV of Granada Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia’s finest articles.The featured article for Monday, 14 April 2025 is Muhammad IV of Granada.Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ismail (Arabic: أبو عبد الله محمد الرابع), also known as Muhammad IV (14 April 1315 – 25 August 1333), was the ruler of the Emirate of Granada on the Iberian Peninsula from 1325 to 1333. He was the sixth sultan of the Nasrid dynasty, succeeding to the throne at ten years old when his father, Ismail I (r. 1314–1325), was assassinated.The initial years of his reign were marked by conflict among his ministers, who vied for control of the young sultan's government. This escalated into a civil war between the party of the vizier Muhammad ibn al-Mahruq and that of the powerful commander of the Volunteers of the Faith, Uthman ibn Abi al-Ula. Uthman declared Muhammad's uncle, Muhammad ibn Faraj, as a rival sultan and secured support from Alfonso XI of Castile (r. 1312–1350), Granada's Christian neighbour to the north. Muhammad IV requested help from Abu Said Uthman II (r. 1310–1331) of the Marinid Sultanate in Morocco and gave him territories in the Iberian Peninsula, including Ronda, Marbella, and Algeciras, probably in exchange for Marinid troops. The civil war ended in 1328 when Muhammad, who despite his youth had begun taking a more active role in government, reconciled with Uthman ibn Abi al-Ula, and ordered Ibn al-Mahruq assassinated; the pretender Muhammad ibn Faraj was sent to North Africa. In 1329 he appointed his childhood tutor Abu Nuaym Ridwan as the hajib (chamberlain), outranking his other ministers; this was the first time the title appeared in the Emirate of Granada.In 1328 and 1329, Alfonso XI formed an anti-Granada alliance with another Iberian monarch, Alfonso IV of Aragon (r. 1327–1336). Both Christian kingdoms invaded Granada in 1330, with Alfonso XI leading his army to take Teba and pillage the Granadan countryside. Muhammad sought terms, and secured a treaty with Castile on 19 February 1331. Alfonso XI soon broke the treaty by stopping food exports to Granada as had been agreed, while Aragon did not join the treaty and was invaded by Granadan forces. In September 1332, Muhammad sailed to the Marinid court at Fez to request help. The new Marinid Sultan Abu al-Hasan Ali (r. 1331–1348) sent 5,000 troops, led by his son Abu Malik Abd al-Wahid, to Algeciras in early 1333. The troops besieged the Castilians at Gibraltar: the town surrendered in June 1333 but was in turn besieged by Alfonso XI. Muhammad raided Castile in a diversionary attack before marching to relieve Gibraltar. This resulted in a stalemate that ended with a truce on 24 August 1333 that lifted the siege of Gibraltar and restored the 1331 treaty. One day later, Muhammad was assassinated (aged 18) on the orders of the sons of Uthman ibn Abi al-Ula (who had died in 1330), who resented either the sultan's alliance with the Marinids or his friendliness with Castile. He was succeeded by his brother Yusuf I (r. 1333–1354).This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:30 UTC on Monday, 14 April 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Muhammad IV of Granada on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Ruth.