Wikipedia:Today's featured list/February 2017
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February 3
Of the twenty-one listed buildings in the English village of Rivington, two are classified by English Heritage as Grade II*, the rest as Grade II; Rivington has no Grade I Listed buildings. Rivington, in the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, is situated on the edge of the West Pennine Moors, at the foot of Rivington Pike overlooking reservoirs created by Liverpool Corporation water works in the 19th century. Rivington village is a conservation area, designated under section 69 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990; almost half the houses in the village centre have listed status. Rivington's buildings are varied, reflecting its rural and historic nature, and include former hand-loom weavers' cottages, the church, and the chapel. Locally sourced stone for walls and slate for roofs are the predominant building materials. Rivington Hall (pictured), a former manor house with an imposing red brick Georgian frontage, is a short distance from the village centre. Its barn, and the barn at Great House Farm were renovated and converted by the architect Jonathan Simpson for William Lever in 1904. (Full list...)
February 6
The North Carolina Tar Heels American football team has had 215 players drafted into the National Football League (NFL) since the league began holding drafts in 1936. Each NFL franchise seeks to add new players through the annual NFL Draft. The team with the worst record the previous year picks first, the next-worst team second, and so on. The highest that a Tar Heel has ever been drafted is second overall, which has happened on three occasions: Ken Willard in 1965, Lawrence Taylor (pictured) in 1981, and Julius Peppers in 2002. The Buffalo Bills and Washington Redskins have drafted the most Tar Heels with sixteen and fifteen, respectively. Every current NFL franchise has drafted a player from North Carolina. Twenty-three Tar Heels have been drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft. The single first round of the NFL Draft with the most Tar Heels selected was 1998 with three: Greg Ellis, Brian Simmons, and Vonnie Holliday. Of the Tar Heels selected in the NFL Draft, fifteen have been selected to a Pro Bowl, and seventeen have been a member of a Super Bowl winning team; four have achieved both. (Full list...)
February 10
The Templeton Prize is an annual award presented by the Templeton Foundation. Established in 1972, it is awarded to a living person who, in the estimation of the judges, "has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life's spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works". The prize is named after Sir John Templeton, an American-born British entrepreneur and businessman, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1987 for his philanthropic efforts. It has typically been presented by Prince Philip in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. The monetary value of the prize is adjusted so that it exceeds that of the Nobel Prizes, as Templeton felt "spirituality was ignored" in the Nobel Prizes. At £1,200,000, as of 2015, it is the second largest single annual financial prize award (behind the Fundamental Physics Prize) given to an individual by a philanthropic organization. The inaugural winner of the prize, in 1973, was Mother Teresa (pictured), six years before she received the Nobel Peace Prize. (Full list...)
February 13
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for quality instrumental rock performances. The honor was first presented to Paul McCartney and Wings at the 22nd Annual Grammy Awards (1980) for the song "Rockestra Theme". The award was discontinued before the 2012 awards due to a major overhaul of Grammy categories by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; instrumental rock performances became eligible for either the newly formed Best Rock Performance or Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance categories. Jeff Beck (pictured) holds the records for the most wins, with six. (Full list...)
February 17
The Nebula Award for Best Script was given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America for science fiction or fantasy scripts for movies or television episodes released in English in the United States or on the internet during the previous calendar year. It was awarded annually from 1974 through 1978, and from 2000 through 2009. It was presented under several names; in 1974, 1975, and 1977 the award was for Best Dramatic Presentation, while in 1976 the award was for Best Dramatic Writing. The award was discontinued in 2010 and replaced with The Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation; this award, though not a Nebula, is presented at the Nebula Awards Ceremony and follows Nebula rules and procedures. During the 15 nomination years, 14 awards for Best Script have been given, including the special award given to Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope in 1978 but not including 1977, since no nominee was given the award. No winner was declared that year as "no award" received the highest number of votes. With three awards The Lord of the Rings film trilogy earned the most awards or nominations of any franchise. (Full list...)
February 20
The ceremonial county of Somerset, England, is divided into 418 areas known as civil parishes, which are subnational entities forming the lowest unit of local government in England. Parishes arose from Church of England divisions, and were given their current powers and responsibilities by the Local Government Act 1894. Somerset consists of a non-metropolitan county administered by Somerset County Council, divided into five districts and two unitary authorities. The districts of Somerset are West Somerset, South Somerset, Taunton Deane, Mendip and Sedgemoor. The two administratively independent unitary authorities, which were established on 1 April 1996 following the break-up of the county of Avon, are North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset. The city of Bath is the largest centre of population in Bath and North East Somerset. Areas of the city that were formerly within the Bath County Borough are now unparished, but the rest of the authority is divided into 49 parishes (Keynsham pictured). South Somerset is the largest of Somerset's five districts, covering an area of 958 square kilometres (370 sq mi) from the borders with Devon and Dorset to the edge of the Somerset Levels. (Full list...)
February 24
The Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player(s) adjudged the best and fairest at the Melbourne Football Club throughout the Victorian Football League/Australian Football League season. The Melbourne Football Club was established in 1858 and was a foundation member of the Victorian Football Association, playing in the league from 1877 to 1896. After the formation of the Victorian Football League in 1896, Melbourne joined as a foundation club the next year and has competed in the league ever since. The inaugural Melbourne best and fairest winner was Allan La Fontaine (pictured) in 1935, and he retained it the following season. The award was known as the Melbourne best and fairest until it was renamed in 1943 in honour of Keith 'Bluey' Truscott, a former dual premiership player and World War II fighter ace killed in service in 1943. La Fontaine and Jim Stynes have both won the award on four occasions. (Full list...)
February 27
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The 69th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 24, 1997, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 24 categories honoring films released in 1996. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Gil Cates and directed by Louis J. Horvitz. Actor Billy Crystal (pictured) hosted for the fifth time, having last emceed the 65th ceremony held in 1993. The English Patient won nine awards including Best Picture. Other winners included Fargo with two awards including Best Actress for Frances McDormand. The telecast garnered 40 million viewers in the United States. (Full list...)