Wikipedia:Main Page history/2015 November 30

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From today's featured article

"The Post-Modern Prometheus" is the fifth episode of the fifth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files, originally airing on the Fox network on November 30, 1997. It was written and directed by series creator Chris Carter. The story follows FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) as they investigate a creature called "The Great Mutato" that has impregnated a middle-aged woman; it turns out to be the genetic creation of a Frankenstein-like doctor. The creature is first ostracized and then accepted by his community. Carter's story draws heavily on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (subtitled The Modern Prometheus) and particularly on James Whale's 1931 film version of the story. The episode was filmed in black and white, with a sky backdrop imitating the style of old Frankenstein films. Talk-show host Jerry Springer appeared as himself, and Chris Owens played The Great Mutato. Many critics praised the episode; some even called it a "classic". It was nominated for seven awards at the 1998 Emmys, winning one. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Detail from A Boyar Wedding Feast

... that A Boyar Wedding Feast (detail pictured) by Konstantin Makovsky was once in the art collection of the creator of Ripley's Believe It or Not!?
... that towards the end of her life, biologist Mary Cynthia Dickerson had hallucinations of the Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson?
... that a review of Chieftain's Salute by Graham Waterhouse called the Great Highland Bagpipe the orchestra's "real partner in this virile, rousing piece of music"?
... that the Lenape potato was withdrawn because it was toxic, but it is used to breed other varieties for potato chips?
... that Charles Beetham was a four-time United States champion in the 800-meter run, but fell in the final at the 1936 United States Olympic Trials and failed to qualify for the Olympics?
... that Hanlin, Burma, was inscribed by the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites in October 1996 for its archaeological heritage traced to more than 1,000 years between 200 BC and 900 AD?
... that the quality of the embroidery of the Albanian xhamadan reflected social status?
... that one reviewer liked Shamus: Case II so much that they suggested rushing out and buying it to ensure there would be another sequel?

In the news

Kyle Busch

A bomb attack on a bus kills 14 presidential security guards in Tunis, Tunisia.
A Russian Su-24 warplane is shot down by a Turkish Air Force F-16 near the border between Turkey and Syria.
American Pfizer and Irish Allergan agree to a merger that will create the world's largest pharmaceutical company.
More than 100 people are killed in a landslide at a jade mine in Kachin State, Myanmar.
In motorsport, Kyle Busch (pictured) wins the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

Ongoing events:
- Paris attack aftermath
- European migrant crisis
Recent deaths:
- Kim Young-sam
- Kitanoumi Toshimitsu

On this day...

November 30: Cities for Life Day; Independence Day in Barbados (1966)

King Charles XII of Sweden

1700 – Great Northern War: Swedish forces led by King Charles XII (pictured) defeated the Russian army of Tsar Peter the Great at the Battle of Narva.
1864 – American Civil War: The Confederate States Army suffered its worst disaster of the war as the Army of Tennessee conducted numerous unsuccessful frontal assaults against fortified positions at Franklin, Tennessee.
1934 – The steam locomotive Flying Scotsman became the first to officially exceed 100 miles per hour (161 km/h).
1942 – World War II: Imperial Japanese Navy warships defeated United States Navy forces during a nighttime naval battle near the Tassafaronga area on Guadalcanal.
1982 – Michael Jackson's Thriller, the best-selling album of all time, was released.

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From today's featured list

Morgan horse

Twelve U.S. states have designated a horse breed as the official state horse. The first state horse was designated in Vermont in 1961. The most recent state designations occurred in 2010, when North Carolina and South Carolina both declared state breeds. Some breeds, such as the Morgan horse (pictured) in Vermont and Massachusetts, were named as the state horse because of the close connection between the history of the breed and the state. Others, including the Tennessee Walking Horse and the Missouri Fox Trotter, include the state in the official breed name. Schoolchildren have been persuasive lobbyists for the cause of some state horses, such as the Colonial Spanish Horse being named the state horse of North Carolina due to the presence of Spanish-descended Banker horses in the Outer Banks. Others have been brought to official status through the lobbying efforts of their breed registries. In addition to being state symbols in their own right, horses have appeared in state symbols; for example, a horse's head appears on the Seal of New Jersey. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

A 1902 lithograph showing SMS Gefion, an unprotected cruiser of the Imperial German Navy completed in 1895. Gefion was involved in the Battle of Taku Forts (1900) before being modernized. During World War I, Gefion served as a barracks ship. In 1920 it was sold for service as a freighter, only to be scrapped three years later.

Though Gefion was intended for service in the German colonial empire and as a fleet scout, the design was unsuccessful in both roles and soon replaced by the newer Gazelle class of light cruisers.

Lithograph: Hugo Graf; restoration: Adam Cuerden

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