Lardon Chase, a Site of Special Scientific Interest in Berkshire
This Signpost "Featured content" report covers material promoted approximately from May 26 through June 20. For nominations and nominators, see the featured contents' talk pages.
The 2001 UEFA Cup Final(nominated by NapHit) was a football match between Liverpool of England and Alavés of Spain on 16 May 2001 at the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund, Germany. The showpiece event was the final match of the 2000–01 edition of Europe's secondary cup competition, the UEFA Cup. Watched by a crowd of 48,050, Liverpool won on the golden goal rule, defeating Alavés 5–4. The victory meant Liverpool completed a treble consisting of the Football League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup.
The alpine newt(nominated by Tylototriton) (Ichthyosaura alpestris) is a species of newt native to continental Europe and introduced to Great Britain and New Zealand. Adults measure 7–12 cm (2.8–4.7 in) and are usually dark grey to blue on the back and sides, with an orange belly and throat. Males are more conspicuously coloured than the drab females, especially during breeding season.
The 1981 UEFA Cup Final(nominated by The Rambling Man) was an association football match played over two legs between AZ '67 of the Netherlands and Ipswich Town of England. The first leg was played at Portman Road, Ipswich, on 6 May 1981 and the second leg was played on 20 May 1981 at the Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam. It was the final of the 1980–81 season of European cup competition, the UEFA Cup. Both Ipswich and AZ '67 were appearing in their first European cup final. Watched by a crowd of 27,532 at Portman Road, Ipswich defeated AZ '67 5–4 on aggregate, winning their first and, as of 2020, only European trophy.
Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB)(nominated by SandyGeorgia and Colin) is a type of dementia accompanied by changes in sleep, behavior, cognition, movement, and automatic bodily functions. Memory loss is not always an early symptom. The disease worsens over time and is usually diagnosed when cognitive decline interferes with normal daily functioning. Together with Parkinson's disease dementia, DLB is one of the two Lewy body dementias. It is a common form of dementia, but the number of people affected is not known accurately and many diagnoses are missed. The disease was first described by Kenji Kosaka in 1976. Most people with DLB do not have affected family members, although occasionally DLB runs in a family. The exact cause is unknown, and it typically begins after the age of fifty and people with the disease live about eight years after diagnosis. There is no cure or medication to stop the disease from progressing, and people in the latter stages of DLB may be unable to care for themselves.
The Silesian Wars(nominated by Bryanrutherford0) were three wars fought in the mid-18th century between Prussia (under King Frederick the Great) and Austria (under Archduchess Maria Theresa) for control of the Central European region of Silesia (now in south-western Poland). The First (1740–1742) and Second (1744–1745) Silesian Wars formed parts of the wider War of the Austrian Succession, in which Prussia acted as one member of a coalition seeking territorial gain at Austria's expense. The Third Silesian War (1756–1763) was one theatre of the global Seven Years' War, in which Austria in turn led a coalition of powers aiming to seize Prussian territory. All three wars are generally considered to have ended in Prussian victories, and Prussia emerged from the Silesian Wars as a new European great power and the leading state of Protestant Germany, while Catholic Austria's defeat by a lesser German power significantly damaged the House of Habsburg's prestige.
James Thompson(nominated by John M Wolfson) was an American surveyor who created the first plat of Chicago. His plat (completed in 1830) fixed the location associated with the word "Chicago", which had previously been used for various places around the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, and allowed the residents of the area to obtain legal title to their property. Chicago incorporated as a town in 1833 and as a city in 1837 as growth continued, and by 1890 had more than a million inhabitants and was the second-most-populous city in the United States. Thompson has been commemorated several times in Chicago's history; his grave, which was originally unmarked, was given a monument by the city in 1917.
The MAUD Committee(nominated by Jmcc150 and Hawkeye7) was a British scientific working group formed during the Second World War. It was established to perform the research required to determine if an atomic bomb was feasible. The chairman of the MAUD Committee was George Thomson. Research was split among four different universities. Various aspects of nuclear warfare were considered. After fifteen months of work, the research culminated in two reports, "Use of Uranium for a Bomb" and "Use of Uranium as a Source of Power", known collectively as the MAUD Report. In response, the British created a nuclear weapons project officially named Tube Alloys. The MAUD Report was made available to the United States, where it energised the American effort, which eventually became the Manhattan Project. The report was handed over to the Soviet Union by its atomic spies, and helped start the Soviet atomic bomb project.
Super-Science Fiction(nominated by Mike Christie) was an American digest science fiction magazine published from 1956 to 1959, edited by W.W. Scott and published by Feature Publications. Robert Silverberg and Harlan Ellison, who were at the start of their careers at the time, quickly started bringing Scott science fiction stories. Scott bought scores of stories from the pair during the magazine's short life; much of the remainder was sent in by literary agents, and generally comprised material rejected by other magazines first, though Scott did obtain two stories from Isaac Asimov. After a couple of years Feature decided to switch the focus of the magazine to monster stories. Four more issues appeared, all the stories featuring a monster in some way, but Feature brought the axe down in 1959. The last issue was dated October that year. The magazine is not highly regarded by critics, though Silverberg considers the material he wrote for Scott and other action-adventure magazine publishers to have helped him learn his trade as a writer.
The Boat Race 2020(nominated by The Rambling Man) was a side-by-side rowing race scheduled to take place on 29 March 2020. Held annually, The Boat Race is contested between crews from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge along a 4.2-mile (6.8 km) tidal stretch of the River Thames in south-west London. This would have been the 75th women's race and the 166th men's race, and for the fifth time in the history of the event, the men's, women's and both reserves' races would have been held on the Tideway on the same day. Cambridge led the longstanding rivalry 84–80 and 44–30 in the men's and women's races, respectively. The races were cancelled on 16 March 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic in the United Kingdom. Other than as a result of war, it was the first time the men's race had been cancelled since it has taken place annually from 1845. It was also the first cancellation of the women's race since its 1964 revival. It would have been the first time in the history of the event that both senior races had been umpired by women. The members of each crew were announced on the date that the race would have been conducted.
The Grand Budapest Hotel(nominated by DAP389) is a 2014 comedy-drama film written and directed by Wes Anderson, which explores tragedy, war, fascism, nostalgia, friendship, and loyalty. Ralph Fiennes leads a seventeen-actor ensemble cast as Monsieur Gustave H., famed concierge of a mountainside resort in the Republic of Zubrowka. When Gustave is framed for the murder of a wealthy dowager (Tilda Swinton), he and his recently befriended protégé Zero (Tony Revolori) embark on a quest for fortune and a priceless Renaissance painting against the backdrop of encroaching pandemonium. Anderson's American Empirical Pictures produced the film in association with Studio Babelsberg and Indian Paintbrush's Scott Rudin and Steven Rales, and Fox Searchlight Pictures handled its commercial distribution. The Grand Budapest Hotel was financed by Indian Paintbrush and a German government-funded rebate program. It was well received by critics, though the film's approach to the subject matter, fragmented storytelling, and characterization drew occasional disapproval. The BBC chose The Grand Budapest Hotel as one of the greatest films of the twenty-first century. The film grossed US$172.9 million on a budget of US$25 million.
Chicago is divided into 77 community areas(nominated by John M Wolfson) for statistical and planning purposes. Census data and other statistics are tied to the areas, which serve as the basis for a variety of urban planning initiatives on both the local and regional levels. The areas' boundaries do not generally change, allowing comparisons of statistics across time. The areas are distinct from but related to the more numerous neighborhoods of Chicago; an area often corresponds to a neighborhood or encompasses several neighborhoods, but the areas do not always correspond to popular conceptions of the neighborhoods due to a number of factors including historical evolution and choices made by the creators of the areas. As of 2017, Lake View is the most populous of the areas with over 100,000 residents, while Burnside is the least populous with just over 2,000. Other geographical divisions of Chicago exist, such as the "sides" created by the branches of the Chicago River, the wards of the Chicago City Council, and the parishes of the Roman Catholic Church.
Procyonidae is a family of mammals in the orderCarnivora, which includes raccoons, coatis, olingos, kinkajous, ring-tailed cats, and cacomistles, and many other extant and extinct mammals. A member of this family is called a procyonid. No procyonid species have been domesticated, though raccoons are sometimes kept as pets. The 14 species of Procyonidae(nominated by PresN) are split into 6 genera, which are not currently grouped into named clades. Procyonidae is believed to have diverged as a separate family within Carnivora around 22.6 million years ago. In addition to the extant species, as of 2020 Procyonidae includes 40 extinct species placed in both extant and 19 extinct genera, though due to ongoing research and discoveries the exact number and categorization is not fixed.
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