Wikipedia:Today's featured list/January 2023

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January 2

Andriy Shevchenko
Andriy Shevchenko

Ukrainian former professional footballer Andriy Shevchenko scored 48 goals in 111 appearances for the Ukraine national football team. He is the team's all-time top goalscorer, and the third most-capped Ukrainian international. He made his debut for his country in a 4–0 loss to Croatia in a UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying match in March 1995. He did not score his first goal until May 1996, however, when he scored in a friendly against Turkey. During the UEFA section of the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Shevchenko scored nine goals in the qualifying group and captained the side to a second-place finish behind Poland. In the group stage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Ukraine's first as an independent nation, he scored one goal against Saudi Arabia in a 4–0 victory, and another goal against Tunisia in a 1–0 victory. He scored his final international goal in the 55th minute of a UEFA Euro 2012 group stage match against Sweden, which ended as a 2–1 victory for Ukraine. (Full list...)


January 6

There are fifteen interrelated families of alismatid monocots, a group of flowering plants named after their largest order, Alismatales. Like other monocots, they have a single embryonic leaf (cotyledon) in most of their seeds, and are generally characterized by leaves with parallel veins, scattered vascular systems, flowers with parts in groups of three or multiples of three, and roots that can develop in more than one place along the stems. The alismatids were the first species to diverge from the other monocots, occurring during the Cretaceous period. Like the earliest monocots, many of them are aquatic, and some grow completely submerged. Apart from the sweet-flag family of wetland plants, which form the order Acorales (species pictured), all alismatid families are in Alismatales. (Full list...)


January 9

Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney

English musician Paul McCartney has recorded hundreds of songs over his career of more than sixty years. As a member of the Beatles, he formed a songwriting partnership with bandmate John Lennon that became one of the most celebrated in music history. Some of McCartney's famous Beatles compositions include "Hey Jude", "Penny Lane", "Let It Be" and "Yesterday", the last of which being one of the most covered songs of all time. After the band's break-up, he recorded his 1970 lo-fi album McCartney, which he composed and performed alone, containing songs including "Maybe I'm Amazed". For the remainder of the 1970s, McCartney released music with the rock band Wings, recording many of his well-known songs, including "Live and Let Die", "Jet" and "Band on the Run". McCartney collaborated with Michael Jackson on "The Girl Is Mine" from Jackson's 1982 album Thriller and again a year later on "Say Say Say" and "The Man" on McCartney's album Pipes of Peace. In addition to writing his own songs, McCartney has recorded cover versions of songs throughout his career. (Full list...)


January 13

Xevious is a franchise of shoot 'em up video games published by Bandai Namco Entertainment, formerly Namco. Xevious, the first title in the franchise, was released for arcades in January 1983 in Japan and a month later in North America by Atari. It was created by Masanobu Endō, who also designed The Tower of Druaga. The game received multiple sequels, spin-offs, and re-imaginings, the most recent being Xevious Resurrection in 2009. Xevious games have been ported to many platforms and compiled into several Namco compilations. The franchise contains twelve games – seven mainline entries and five spin-offs – soundtrack albums, pachinko machines, and an animated feature film. Gameplay in the series consists of controlling a spaceship named the Solvalou throughout a series of levels, shooting at enemies and avoiding their projectiles. Xevious is credited as among the the first vertical-scrolling shooters and the first video games to implement bosses and pre-rendered visuals. (Full list...)


January 16

Ava DuVernay
Ava DuVernay

Selma, a 2014 American historical drama film, received awards and nominations in a variety of categories, with particular praise for its direction by Ava DuVernay (pictured), David Oyelowo's portrayal of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., and the song "Glory" by John Legend and Common. The film follows the events leading up to and during the Selma to Montgomery marches, and the resulting establishment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibited racial discrimination in voting in the United States. At the 87th Academy Awards, Selma won for Best Original Song for "Glory" and also received a nomination for Best Picture, becoming the first film directed by a black female director to achieve this feat. The film received four nominations at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards, winning the Best Original Song award for "Glory". At the 46th NAACP Image Awards, it won Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture for Oyelowo, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for Common, and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for Carmen Ejogo. (Full list...)


January 20

Current prime minister Anthony Albanese
Current prime minister Anthony Albanese

The prime minister of Australia is the leader of the Government of Australia and the Cabinet of Australia, with the support of the majority of the House of Representatives. The role of prime minister is not mentioned in the Constitution of Australia, but the prime minister is still appointed by the governor-general who under Section 64 of the constitution has the executive power to appoint ministers of state. The governor-general is appointed by the monarch of Australia based on the advice of the incumbent prime minister. Governors-general do not have fixed terms, but usually serve for five years. Federal elections must be held every three years, although prime ministers may call elections early. Prime ministers do not have fixed terms, and generally serve the full length of their term unless they lose the majority of the House or are replaced as the leader of their party. (Full list...)


January 23

Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters

The recording career of Muddy Waters, an American blues artist, lasted from 1941 to 1981. Muddy Waters, widely considered to be one of the most important figures in post–World War II Chicago blues, popularized several early Delta blues songs, such as "Rollin' and Tumblin'", Walkin' Blues", and "Baby, Please Don't Go", and recorded songs that went on to become blues standards. He recorded primarily for two record companies, Aristocrat/Chess and Blue Sky; they issued 62 singles and 13 studio albums. While he was living in Mississippi, Waters was recorded by Alan Lomax in 1941 for a U.S. Library of Congress folk music project. After moving to Chicago, he recorded for Leonard Chess and Aristocrat issued Waters's first single in 1947. In 1950, Chess bought out his label partners and formed Chess Records. From 1950 to 1958, Chess issued 15 singles that reached the top ten of Billboard's R&B chart. After Chess went out of business in 1975, Waters recorded several successful albums for Blue Sky. (Full list...)


January 27

Hassan Maatouk
Hassan Maatouk

Hassan Maatouk, a Lebanese footballer, has scored 21 international goals in 100 appearances for the Lebanon national football team as of 19 November 2022, making him the country's all-time top goalscorer and most-capped player. He plays as a forward for the Lebanon national football team, debuting in a match against Saudi Arabia on 27 January 2006. His first international goal came five years later, in his twentieth appearance for his country, scoring against Bangladesh. Maatouk has scored two braces for his national team, scoring twice against Kuwait in a 2–2 draw in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier, and again against Thailand in a 5–2 win in a 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualifier. He has scored more than half of his goals at home, with ten at the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, two at the Saida Municipal Stadium and one at the Tripoli International Olympic Stadium. (Full list...)


January 30

Stanley Tucci, Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series winner
Stanley Tucci, Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series winner

The 59th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards honored the best in artistic and technical achievement in American prime time television programming from June 1, 2006, until May 31, 2007, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The awards were presented on September 8, 2007, in a ceremony hosted by Carlos Mencia at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee received five wins from 11 nominations, leading all programs in both wins and nominations. Planet Earth and Tony Bennett: An American Classic tied for the second-most awards with four each, followed by Jane Eyre, Rome, and When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts with three each. HBO was the most-recognized network, receiving 15 awards from 53 nominations. (Full list...)