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Spectacular animals, Pine Trees screens, and more

Left hand screen of the Pine Trees screens, a pair of newly featured pictures

This Signpost "Featured content" report covers material promoted since June 19. Text may be adapted from the respective articles and lists; see their page histories for attribution.

Fourteen featured articles were promoted this week.

Shown are three Guadeloupe amazons (above), one Guadeloupe macaw (middle) as well as several seabirds and a sea turtle
A red-billed tropicbird with her chick
  • The Inaccessible Island rail (nominated by Sabine's Sunbird) is a small bird of the rail familyRallidae. It is the only species in the genus AtlantisiaEndemic to Inaccessible Island in the Tristan Archipelago in the isolated south Atlantic, it is notable for being the smallest extant flightless bird in the world.
  • "Mother's Day" (Rugrats) (nominated by Aoba47) is the second episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series Rugrats and the show's 67th episode overall. Released as a Mother's Day special, it revolves around the holiday from the perspective of a group of babies as they attempt to find the perfect mother for Chuckie, while sharing their favorite memories about their moms. "Mother's Day" was praised by critics and has been the subject of several retrospective reviews for its treatment of the death of a parent.
  • The Million Second Quiz (nominated by Bcschneider53) is an American game show that was hosted by Ryan Seacrest and broadcast by NBC. The series aired from September 9 to September 19, 2013. For a titular million seconds (11 days, 13 hours, 46 minutes, and 40 seconds), contestants attempted to maintain control of a "money chair" by winning trivia matches against other contestants, earning money for every second they occupied the chair. The quiz was dubbed "The Olympics of quiz." Critics argued that the confusing format of The Million Second Quiz, along with its lack of drama and technical issues with the show's app during the first days of the series, caused viewers to lose interest in watching it on air. Although peaking at 6.52 million viewers for its premiere, ratings steadily dropped during the show's run before rising again near the finale.
  • The Illinois Centennial half dollar (nominated by Wehwalt) is a commemorative fifty-cent piece struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1918. The coins were minted in August 1918, and were sold to the public for $1 each. All sold, though many were held by a bank until 1933. Later writers have generally admired the coin, considering it one of the more handsome American commemoratives. The coin is valued in the hundreds of dollars today, though exceptional specimens may trade for more.
  • Coalhouse Fort (nominated by Prioryman) is an artillery fort built in the 1860s to guard the lower Thames from seaborne attack. It stands at Coalhouse Point in Essex on the north bank of the river, at a location near East Tilbury that was vulnerable to raiders and invaders. Decommissioned in 1949, the fort was used for a time as a storehouse for a shoe factory before it was purchased by the local council. Since 1985 it has been leased to a voluntary preservation group, the Coalhouse Fort Project, which has been working to restore the fort and use it for heritage and educational purposes. Funding for its restoration has been provided in part by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Warner Bros. film studio, which used the fort as a location for the opening scenes of the 2005 film Batman Begins.
  • The Guadeloupe amazon (nominated by FunkMonk) is a hypothetical extinct species of parrot that is thought to have been endemic to the Lesser Antillean island region of Guadeloupe. According to contemporary descriptions, the head, neck and underparts of the Guadeloupe amazon were mainly violet or slate in colour, mixed with green and black, the back was brownish green, and the wings were green, yellow and red. The bird fed on fruits and nuts, and the male and female took turns sitting on the nest. It was eaten by French settlers, who also destroyed its habitat. Rare by 1779, it appears to have become extinct by the end of the 18th century.
  • The red-billed tropicbird (nominated by RileyBugz and Cas Liber) is a tropicbird, one of three closely related species of seabird of tropical oceans. Superficially resembling a tern in appearance, it has mostly white plumage with some black markings on the wings and back, a black mask, and a red bill. This species ranges across the tropical Atlantic, eastern Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Birds of all ages feed on fish and squid, catching them by diving from the air into the water. However, the red-billed tropicbird sometimes follows surface-feeding predators. The predators will drive the prey to the surface, which are then seized by the tropicbird.
  • Leelah Alcorn (nominated by Midnightblueowl) was an American transgender girl whose suicide attracted international attention. Alcorn had posted a suicide note to her Tumblr blog, writing about societal standards affecting transgender people and expressing the hope that her death would create a dialogue about discrimination, abuse and lack of support for transgender people. LGBT rights activists called attention to the incident as evidence of the problems faced by transgender youth, while vigils were held in her memory in the United States and United Kingdom.
  • The 250t-class torpedo boat (nominated by Peacemaker67) were high-seas torpedo boats built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy between 1913 and 1916. A total of 27 boats were built by three shipbuilding companies, with the letter after the boat number indicating the manufacturer. All 27 boats saw service in World War I, undertaking anti-submarine operations in the Adriatic Seashore bombardment missions along its Italian coastline, and convoy, and escort and minesweeping tasks. Although widely used during the war, the class suffered no losses, despite taking hits during surface engagements and damage from accidents. By 1940, thirteen boats of the class had been lost or scrapped
  • The octopus (nominated by Chiswick Chap, Cwmhiraeth and LittleJerry) is a soft-bodied, eight-armed mollusc of the order Octopoda. Around 300 species are recognised and the order is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squidscuttlefish and nautiloids. Octopuses have a complex nervous system and excellent sight, and are among the most intelligent and behaviourally diverse of all invertebrates. The octopus is bilaterally symmetric with two eyes and a beak, with its mouth at the centre point of the arms. Octopuses inhabit various regions of the ocean, including coral reefspelagic waters, and the seabed; some live in the intertidal zone and others at abyssal depths. Most species grow fast, mature early and are short lived.
  • Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (nominated by Czar) is a 1986 side-scrollingplatform video game developed and published by Nintendo as the first sequel to their 1985 bestseller Super Mario Bros.. The title is known for its intense difficulty, which contributes to its reputation as a black sheep in the franchise. Reviewers viewed The Lost Levels as an extension of the original release, especially its difficulty progression. The Lost Levels was the most popular game on the Disk System, for which it sold about 2.5 million copies. It is remembered among the most difficult games by Nintendo and in the video game medium, and among the least important games in the Mario series.
  • Boogeyman 2 (nominated by PanagiotisZois) is a 2007 American supernatural horror film edited and directed by Jeff Betancourt and the sequel to the 2005 film Boogeyman. It received mixed reviews from critics, although many of them considered it to be a general improvement over its predecessor. Attention was especially given to the human-like nature of the Boogeyman in the film, which reviewers felt was preferable to monsters in other contemporary creature features, including the previous film. Despite a mediocre commercial performance, recouping slightly less than its budget, the film received a sequel, Boogeyman 3, the following year.
  • The decisive Battle of Kunersdorf (nominated by auntieruth) occurred on 12 August 1759 near Kunersdorf (Kunowice), immediately east of Frankfurt an der Oder. Part of the Seven Years' War, the battle involved over 100,000 men. An allied army commanded by Pyotr Saltykov and Ernst Gideon von Laudon that included 41,000 Russians and 18,500 Austrians defeated Frederick the Great's army of 50,900 Prussians.
  • Cyclone Ada (nominated by Juliancolton) was a small but intense tropical cyclone that severely impacted the Whitsunday Region of QueenslandAustralia, in January 1970. It has been described as a defining event in the history of the Whitsunday Islands, and was the most damaging storm in the mainland town of Proserpine's history at the time. Ada devastated multiple resort islands in the Whitsundays, in some cases destroying virtually all facilities and guest cabins. Based on the severity of the damage, wind gusts were later estimated at 220 km/h (140 mph). As Ada moved ashore, most homes were damaged or destroyed in communities near the storm's landfall point, including CannonvaleAirlie Beach, and Shute Harbour. Extreme rainfall totals as high as 1.25 m (49 in) caused massive river flooding in coastal waterways between Bowen and Mackay. Ada killed a total of 14 people, and caused A$12 million in damage. The cyclone revealed inadequacies in the warning broadcast system, and served as the impetus for enhanced cyclone awareness programs that have been credited with saving lives in subsequent cyclones.

Six featured lists were promoted this week.

Chelsea celebrate with the tournament cup after winning the 2011 Premier League Asia Trophy.

Nine featured pictures were promoted this week, including the Pine Trees screens (Shōrin-zu byōbu, 松林図 屏風) a pair of six-panel folding screens (byōbu) by the Japanese artist Hasegawa Tōhaku (nominated by Theramin).

Good articles

Apart from this featured content, a total of 133 good articles were promoted in the month of June, starting with The Blair Witch Project, Gus Grissom, and Badmotorfinger, and ending with Carroll Baker, G (New York City Subway service) and Citi Bike.


Right hand screen of the Pine Trees screens, a pair of newly featured pictures
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