Wikipedia:Today's featured list/August 2015
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August 3
Eighty-one known tropical cyclones and their remnants have impacted the inland U.S. state of New Mexico. There have been 68 known tropical cyclones from the Eastern Pacific that affected the state, compared to only 13 such Atlantic hurricanes. The biggest threat from such storms in the state is their associated rainfall and flooding. The wettest storm was from the remnants of an Atlantic storm in 1941 that produced 11.33 in (288 mm) of precipitation. Since 1950, the highest rainfall total recorded was 9.8 in (250 mm) in Canton, also associated with an Atlantic storm in 1954. The rains in 1954 resulted in flooding in six towns that killed at least four people. Other deadly rainfall events from tropical cyclone remnants include Hurricane Dolly in 2008 and Tropical Storm Georgette in 2010. The former swept away a person along the Rio Ruidoso and caused $25 million in damage (2008 USD), which was the most damaging storm event. The floods damaged 500 buildings and destroyed 13 bridges. The latter caused heavy rains that resulted in one death in the Rio Grande. (Full list...)
August 7
Neptune has 14 known moons, which are named for minor water deities in Greek mythology. By far the largest of them is Triton, discovered by William Lassell on October 10, 1846, just 17 days after the discovery of Neptune itself; over a century passed before the discovery of the second natural satellite, Nereid. Triton is unique among moons of planetary mass in that its orbit is retrograde to Neptune's rotation and inclined relative to Neptune's equator, which suggests that it did not form in orbit around Neptune but was instead gravitationally captured by it. The next-largest irregular satellite in the Solar System, Saturn's moon Phoebe, has only 0.03% of Triton's mass. Inward of Triton are seven small regular satellites, all of which have prograde orbits in planes that lie close to Neptune's equatorial plane; some of these orbit among Neptune's rings. The largest of them is Proteus. Neptune also has six more outer irregular satellites other than Triton, including Nereid, whose orbits are much farther from Neptune and at high inclination. (Full list...)
August 10
Thirty-one chief ministers are currently serving in the Republic of India. A chief minister is the head of government of each of twenty-nine states and two union territories (Delhi and Puducherry). According to the Constitution of India, at the state-level, the governor is de jure head, but de facto executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following elections to the state legislative assembly, the governor usually invites the party (or coalition) with a majority of seats to form the government. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the assembly. Given the confidence of the assembly, the chief minister's term is usually for a maximum of five years; there are no limits to the number of terms he/she can serve. Of the thirty-one current incumbents, four are women—Anandiben Patel in Gujarat, Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu, Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, and Vasundhara Raje in Rajasthan. Serving since December 1994 (for 29 years, 325 days), Sikkim's Pawan Kumar Chamling has the longest incumbency. Parkash Singh Badal (b. 1927) of Punjab is the oldest chief minister, while Uttar Pradesh's Akhilesh Yadav (b. 1973) is the youngest. Nine incumbents belong to the Indian National Congress and eight are from the Bharatiya Janata Party; no other party has more than one chief minister in office. (Full list...)
August 14
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Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin has recorded material for ten studio albums and sang songs in Spanish, English, Italian and Portuguese; he has also recorded bilingual tracks. He began his career at age of 12, in 1984, as a lead singer of the band Menudo. Five years later he left the band and pursued a solo career, releasing his debut eponymous studio album in 1991. In 1995, Martin teamed up with former band member, Robi Draco Rosa to work on his third studio album, A Medio Vivir. Martin released "Livin' la Vida Loca", a track co-written by Rosa, Child and Escolar; it became a worldwide success and Martin's best-selling single. It was succeeded by Martin's second eponymous studio album and his first English recording, in 1999. The next year, the singer released his sixth overall and second English album, Sound Loaded. Child, alongside Gary Burr and Victoria Shaw, penned the ballad, "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely", which was later remixed with additional vocals from Christina Aguilera. In 2014 he sang "Vida" in Spanish, Portuguese and Spanglish; the latter version was part of the One Love, One Rhythm compilation. His tenth studio album, A Quien Quiera Escuchar was released in 2015; this Latin pop record also featured such artists as Rayo, Yotuel Romero, and Pedro Capó. (Full list...)
August 17
The 2012 film Argo received awards and nominations in a variety of categories. Argo is a political thriller directed by Ben Affleck, and produced by Affleck, George Clooney, and Grant Heslov. The film stars Affleck as Central Intelligence Agency operative Tony Mendez, who attempts to rescue six United States diplomats from Tehran, Iran, during the 1979–81 Iran hostage crisis by pretending that they are part of a film crew scouting the country for the filming of a fictitious science-fiction film, Argo. At the 85th Academy Awards, the film received seven nominations, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Alan Arkin. It won three awards: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay for Chris Terrio, and Best Film Editing for William Goldenberg. Argo became only the fourth film in Oscar history to win Best Picture without a directing nomination. The film earned five nominations at the 70th Golden Globes, winning for Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Director for Affleck. At the 66th British Academy Film Awards, the film received seven nominations, and won for Best Film and Best Direction. (Full list...)
August 21
Medals were won by 450 individual athletes at the 2010 Winter Olympics, which were held in Vancouver, Canada, from February 12 to February 28, 2010. A total of 2,632 athletes representing 82 National Olympic Committees participated in these Games. Medal winners came from 26 countries; 19 of those countries won at least one gold. Canada won its first gold medal at an Olympic Games it hosted, having failed to do so at both the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. Canada finished first in gold medal wins and became the first host nation since Norway in 1952 to lead the gold medal count, with 14. Norwegian cross-country skier Marit Bjørgen was the most successful athlete, winning three gold, one silver and one bronze medal, and became the ninth Winter Olympian to win five medals at one edition of the Games. Chinese short-track speed skater Wang Meng also won three gold medals. (Full list...)
August 24
In the 1880s, Germany built a series of coastal defense ships to protect its coastline on the North and Baltic Seas. During the 1870s and early 1880s, the Imperial German Navy had built a number of ironclad warships of various designs. In the mid-1880s, however, dissatisfaction with the Sachsen-class ironclads and the rise of the Jeune École doctrine persuaded Leo von Caprivi, then the chief of the Imperial Navy to turn away from capital ship construction in favor of coastal defense ships and torpedo boats. As a result, the next class of large warships, the Siegfried class, was significantly smaller than the earlier ironclads, and armed with a main battery of only three large-caliber guns. These vessels were intended only for defense of German harbors. Six of them were built between 1888 and 1894. Another two ships of the Odin class were built to a modified design between 1892 and 1896. All eight ships were mobilized briefly at the start of World War I in August 1914 as the VI Battle Squadron, though by August 1915, they had all been withdrawn from service and employed in secondary roles. (Full list...)
August 28
The United States Air Force Pilot School (TPS) graduated notable alumni who made significant contributions to the aerospace field. The school's mission is to produce experimental test pilots, flight test engineers, and flight test navigators to lead and conduct test and evaluation of aerospace weapon systems. It was established on September 9, 1944 as the Flight Test Training Unit at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (AFB) in Dayton, Ohio. To take advantage of the uncongested skies and superb flying weather, the school was moved on February 4, 1951 to its present location at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert of Southern California. Between 1962 and 1972, the Test Pilot School expanded its role to include astronaut training for military test pilots. Thirty-seven TPS graduates of this era were selected for the U.S. space program, and twenty-six went on to earn astronaut's wings by flying in the X-15, Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle programs. Although the school no longer trains astronauts, many TPS graduates since 1972 have been selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for duties in space. (Full list...)
August 31
American singer-songwriter and actress Taylor Swift has received 225 awards from 480 nominations. Swift is the recipient of 7 Grammy Awards, 16 American Music Awards, 22 Billboard Music Awards, 11 Country Music Association Awards, 8 Academy of Country Music Awards, 8 People's Choice Awards, and 25 Teen Choice Awards. She is also a six-time winner of the Nashville Songwriters Association International Award for Songwriter/Artist of the Year. As a songwriter, she has been honored by the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Swift holds four records in the Guinness World Records book. She was awarded the American Music Award for Artist of the Year in 2009, and was listed in Time 100—an annual list of the 100 most influential people—the following year. In 2015, the IFPI Global Recording Artist Award presented her the Global Recording Artist award. (Full list...)