Category: 2017

The Wikipedia article of the day for September 5, 2017 is Oxygen.
Oxygen is a chemical element with symbol O and atomic number 8. A member of the chalcogen group on the periodic table, it is a highly reactive nonmetal and oxidizing agent that forms oxides with most elements as well as other compounds. By mass, oxygen is the most abundant element in the Earth’s crust and the third-most abundant in the universe, after hydrogen and helium. Two atoms of the element can bind to form dioxygen, a colorless and odorless gas that constitutes 20.8% of the Earth’s atmosphere, produced by photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide. Oxygen is present in water, proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, and fats. Its name was coined in 1777 by Antoine Lavoisier, whose experiments helped to discredit the then-popular phlogiston theory of combustion and corrosion. Common uses of oxygen include residential heating, internal combustion engines, production of steel, plastics and textiles, brazing, welding and cutting of steels and other metals, rocket propellant, oxygen therapy, and life support systems in aircraft, submarines, spaceflight and diving.

Source http://handbookblogger.blogspot.com/2017/09/wikipedia-article-of-day-for-september_4.html

The Wikipedia article of the day for September 4, 2017 is Northern England.
Northern England roughly coincides with the statistical regions of North East England, North West England and Yorkshire and the Humber, which have a combined population of 14.9 million as of the 2011 Census. It contains much of England’s national parkland as well as the conurbations of Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Teesside, Tyneside, Wearside, and South and West Yorkshire. Until the unification of Britain under the Stuarts, the area experienced Anglo-Scottish border fighting. Many of the innovations of the Industrial Revolution began in Northern England, and its cities were the crucibles of many of the political changes that accompanied this social upheaval, from trade unionism to Manchester Capitalism. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the economy of the North was dominated by heavy industry such as weaving, shipbuilding, steelmaking and mining, but deindustrialisation in the late 20th century hit hard. Urban renewal projects and the transition to a service economy have resulted in strong economic growth in some areas, but a North–South divide remains in both the economy and the culture of England.

Source http://handbookblogger.blogspot.com/2017/09/wikipedia-article-of-day-for-september_3.html

The Wikipedia article of the day for September 3, 2017 is Percy Chapman.
Percy Chapman (3 September 1900 – 16 September 1961) captained the England cricket team between 1926 and 1931. Representing the Cambridge cricket team in 1920, he once scored centuries against Oxford and in the Gentlemen v Players match within the space of a week. Chapman made his Test debut in 1924, although he had yet to play County Cricket. A left-handed batsman, he went on to play 26 Test matches for England. After he took over from Arthur Carr as captain in 1926, England defeated Australia for the first time since 1912. He achieved victory in his first nine matches in charge but lost two and drew six of his remaining games. An amateur cricketer, Chapman played first-class cricket for Kent, eventually as captain. He had a respectable batting record, could score runs quickly, and was popular with spectators. Contemporaries rated him highly as a fielder. Although opinions were divided on his tactical ability as a captain, he was seen as an inspirational leader. Chapman’s success gave him access to fashionable society for a time, but in the 1930s, his health and cricketing form declined. For the rest of his life, he suffered from alcoholism.

Source http://handbookblogger.blogspot.com/2017/09/wikipedia-article-of-day-for-september_2.html

The Wikipedia article of the day for September 2, 2017 is Steller’s sea cow.
Steller’s sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) was a sirenian that lived until 1768 around the Commander Islands in the Bering Sea, named for the naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller. He discovered the species in 1741 on Vitus Bering’s Great Northern Expedition, when the crew was shipwrecked on Bering Island, and described it in The Beasts of the Sea, published after his death. The sea cow reached weights of 8–10 metric tons (8.8–11.0 short tons) and lengths of up to 9 metres (30 ft). Its closest living relative, the 3-metre-long (9.8 ft) dugong, is the sole surviving member of its family, Dugongidae. It had a thicker layer of blubber than other sirenians, and its tail was forked like those of whales and other cetaceans. Instead of teeth, the sea cow had an array of white bristles on its upper lip and two keratinous mouth plates for chewing. It fed mainly on kelp, and communicated via sighs and snorting sounds. There is evidence that it was a monogamous and social animal, living in small family groups and raising its young. Twenty-seven years after its discovery, the slow-moving species had been hunted to extinction for its meat, fat, and hide.

Source http://handbookblogger.blogspot.com/2017/09/wikipedia-article-of-day-for-september.html

The Wikipedia article of the day for September 1, 2017 is Ontario Highway 71.
King’s Highway 71 is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. Part of the Trans-Canada Highway, the 194-kilometre (121 mi) route travels west from the Fort Frances-International Falls International Bridge in Fort Frances, concurrently with Highway 11, for 40 kilometres (25 mi). At Chapple, Highway 71 branches from Highway 11, travelling 154 kilometres (96 mi) north to a junction with Highway 17 just east of Kenora. The concurrent portion of the highway follows the Cloverleaf Trail, which was completed by the end of the 1880s and improved over the next several decades. The portion between Highway 11 and Highway 17 follows the Heenan Highway, which connects the Rainy River region with Kenora and the remainder of Ontario’s road network; before its opening the area was accessible only via the United States. Both highways were incorporated into the provincial highway system in 1937 following the merger of the Department of Highways and the Department of Northern Development.

Source http://handbookblogger.blogspot.com/2017/08/wikipedia-article-of-day-for-september.html