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From the featured article for August 22

Paul Verhoeven, director, in 2016

Total Recall is a 1990 American science-fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven (pictured). Based on a 1966 short story by Philip K. Dick, the film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Sharon Stone, Ronny Cox, and Michael Ironside. It tells the story of Douglas Quaid (Schwarzenegger) and the shadow organization that tries to prevent him from recovering memories of his past as a Martian secret agent. Schwarzenegger convinced Carolco Pictures to develop the film with him as the star, after the project had lingered in development hell at multiple studios over sixteen years. The film was one of the most expensive ever made at the time, and became the fifth-highest-grossing film of the year. Reviewers liked its themes of identity and questioning reality, but criticized content perceived as vulgar and violent. The practical special effects were well received, earning the film an Academy Award, and the score by Jerry Goldsmith has been praised as one of his best works. (Full article...)

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Did you know... (for August 22, 2024)

The hooks below have been approved by an administrator (RoySmith (talk)) and will be automatically added to the DYK template at the appropriate time.

134B Nethergate, Dundee

... that in 1989, Rockstar North opened its first offices above a former fish and chip shop (pictured) in Dundee?
... that the discovery of Laquintasaura challenged the idea that early dinosaurs could not survive in equatorial regions?
... that the Yerevan Children's Art Museum deliberately kept no records from the 1970s to the 1990s?
... that Sam Carling was the first UK member of Parliament to be born in the 21st century?
... that an Idaho TV station lost its network affiliation after less than two years on the air but did not permanently close for another decade?
... that some LGBT people wear shorter nails on their middle and index fingers to allow for easier manual sex and to express a queer identity?
... that the Linda Lindas have recorded a cover of the song they were named after?
... that in 1683 ice floes on the River Trent in England badly damaged the bridges at Nottingham and Newark?
... that a superseded combination is not a synonym for a synonym?

In the news (from August 18)

Paetongtarn Shinawatra

Paetongtarn Shinawatra (pictured) becomes Prime Minister of Thailand after Srettha Thavisin is dismissed by the Constitutional Court.
The World Health Organization declares the African mpox epidemic to be a global health emergency.
Voepass Linhas Aéreas Flight 2283 crashes in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, killing all 62 people on board.
Sheikh Hasina resigns as Prime Minister of Bangladesh following anti-government protests, and Muhammad Yunus is appointed leader of an interim government.

On August 22

August 22: Madras Day in Chennai, India (1639)

Photograph of famine in Calcutta published in The Statesman

1639 – The Vijayanagara Empire leased a small strip of land in present-day Chennai, the capital of the present-day Indian state of Tamil Nadu, to the East India Company.
1642 – King Charles I raised the royal standard at Nottingham, marking the beginning of the First English Civil War.
1914 – First World War: A squadron of the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards attacked a German scout party, the first engagement of British forces on the Western Front.
1943 – Ian Stephens, editor of The Statesman, defied British censorship to publish pictures of death and misery (example pictured) on Calcutta's streets, informing the world of the Bengal famine of 1943.
1984 – The constitution of Singapore was amended to apportion seats to defeated opposition candidates in Parliament, which had hitherto entirely comprised members of the People's Action Party.

Claude Debussy (b. 1862)
George Herriman (b. 1880)
Alexandros Kontoulis (d. 1933)
Birger Nerman (d. 1971)

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Picture of the day

The sailfin snapper (Symphorichthys spilurus) is a species of marine ray-finned fish in the snapper family, Lutjanidae. It is found in the eastern Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean, at depths between 5 and 60 m (16 and 197 ft). It lives in areas of sand near to reefs in lagoons and over outer reefs. The sailfin snapper is targeted in mixed-species fisheries throughout its range, being caught predominantly using handlines and bottom trawling. The juveniles appear in the aquarium trade. This sailfin snapper was photographed in the Wilhelma Zoological-Botanical Garden in Stuttgart, Germany.Photograph credit: H. Zell

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