Category: 2017

The Wikipedia article of the day for October 21, 2017 is Kragujevac massacre.
The Kragujevac massacre (21 October 1941) was the mass murder of almost 2,800 men and boys in the city of Kragujevac in the German-occupied territory of Serbia by German soldiers during World War II. Coming in reprisal for insurgent attacks that killed 10 German soldiers in the Gornji Milanovac district, it followed a punitive German operation in which 492 males were shot and four villages were burned down. The victims included Serbs, Jews, Romani people, Muslims, Macedonians, and Slovenes. The massacre exacerbated tensions between the two guerrilla movements, the communist-led Partisans and the royalist, Serbian nationalist Chetniks, and convinced Chetnik leader Draža Mihailović that further attacks against the Germans would only result in more Serb civilian deaths. Several senior German military officials were tried and convicted during and after the Nuremberg Trials for their involvement in the reprisal shootings. The massacre has been the subject of several poems and feature films. Commemorated annually in Serbia, it is memorialised at the October in Kragujevac Memorial Park and its 21st October Museum.

Source http://handbookblogger.blogspot.com/2017/10/wikipedia-article-of-day-for-october-21.html

The Wikipedia article of the day for October 19, 2017 is Henry III of England.
Henry III (1207–1272) was King of England from 1216 until his death. The son of King John and Isabella of Angoulême, Henry assumed the throne when he was only nine in the middle of the First Barons’ War. He was known for his piety, holding lavish religious ceremonies, giving generously to charities, and adopting Edward the Confessor as his patron saint. In 1230 he attempted to reconquer the provinces of France that had once belonged to his father, but the invasion was a debacle, and a revolt broke out in 1232. He invaded Poitou in 1242, leading to the disastrous Battle of Taillebourg. In 1258 a coalition of his barons seized power in a coup. Henry and the baronial government enacted a peace treaty with King Louis IX of France in 1259, under which Henry gave up his other lands in France in return for recognition as the rightful ruler of Gascony. In 1263 one of the more radical barons, Simon de Montfort, seized power, resulting in the Second Barons’ War. At the Battle of Lewes in 1264, Henry was taken prisoner. His eldest son, Edward, defeated de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham the following year and freed his father.

Source http://handbookblogger.blogspot.com/2017/10/wikipedia-article-of-day-for-october-19.html

The Wikipedia article of the day for October 18, 2017 is Ice core.
An ice core is a core sample that is typically removed from an ice sheet or a high mountain glacier. Cores are drilled with hand augers (for shallow holes) or powered drills; they can reach depths of over two miles, and contain ice up to 800,000 years old. The physical properties of the ice and of material trapped in it can be used to reconstruct the climate over the age range of the core. The ratio of oxygen and hydrogen isotopes provides information about ancient temperatures, and the air trapped in tiny bubbles can indicate the level of atmospheric gases such as carbon dioxide. Greenland ice cores contain layers of wind-blown dust that correlate with cold, dry periods in the past. Radioactive elements, either of natural origin or created by nuclear testing, can be used to date the layers of ice. Some volcanic events that were sufficiently powerful to send material around the globe have left a signature in many different cores that can be used to synchronize their time scales. Climate models can be constructed by piecing together all the available data.

Source http://handbookblogger.blogspot.com/2017/10/wikipedia-article-of-day-for-october-18.html

The Wikipedia article of the day for October 17, 2017 is Roland TR-808.
The Roland TR-808 is a drum machine introduced by the Roland Corporation in 1980. Discontinued in 1983, it remains in use around the world. Launched at a time when electronic music had yet to become mainstream, the 808 was a commercial failure, but attracted a cult following for its affordability, ease of use, and idiosyncratic sounds, particularly its deep, booming bass drum. It became a cornerstone of the emerging electronic, dance, and hip hop genres, popularized by early hits such as Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing” (1982) and Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force’s “Planet Rock” (1982). The 808 is completely analog, meaning its sounds are generated by hardware rather than prerecorded. Only around 12,000 units were built, but the 808 was eventually used on more hit records than any other drum machine. Its popularity with hip hop artists in particular has made it one of the most influential inventions in popular music, comparable to the Fender Stratocaster and its influence on rock.

Source http://handbookblogger.blogspot.com/2017/10/wikipedia-article-of-day-for-october-17.html

The Wikipedia article of the day for October 16, 2017 is Long-tailed ground roller.
The long-tailed ground roller is a bird species found in arid spiny forests near the coast of southwestern Madagascar. Requiring shade and a deep layer of leaves on the ground, it has low population densities throughout its habitat. This species of ground roller primarily relies on its strong legs, as its wings are relatively weak. It is a medium-sized bird with a plump silhouette, dark brown upperparts with black streaks, light gray underparts, a white throat framed by black malar stripes, a black breastband, and sky-blue feathers at the edge of its wings and long tail. Calls are rarely made outside of the breeding season. It feeds primarily on invertebrates, including ants, beetles, butterflies, and worms, which it finds by searching through deep leaf litter or by remaining still and watching attentively. It is classified as a vulnerable species; the forests where it lives are not protected, and it is losing habitat to slash-and-burn agriculture, charcoal collection, and logging.

Source http://handbookblogger.blogspot.com/2017/10/wikipedia-article-of-day-for-october-16.html