Wikipedia:Today's featured list/April 2024
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April 1
The binding of books in human skin – anthropodermic bibliopegy – peaked in the 19th century. The practice was most popular among doctors, who had access to cadavers in their profession. It was nonetheless a rare phenomenon even at the peak of its popularity, and fraudulent claims were commonplace; by 2020, the Anthropodermic Book Project had confirmed the existence of 18 books bound in human skin, out of 31 tested cases. The ability to unequivocally identify book bindings as being of human skin dates only to the mid-2010s. The development of peptide mass fingerprinting permitted conclusive testing and became the gold standard method. The first book confirmed as authentic through its use was in 2014; it was a copy of Des destinées de l'ame by the French philosopher Arsène Houssaye. Themes emerge in what purportedly anthropodermic books turn out to be legitimate or illegitimate. Most legitimate anthropodermic books were owned or bound by physicians, and many of them are dedicated to the practice of medicine. (Full list...)
April 5
The Canadian province of Alberta has 438 species of birds. The northern part of the province is largely boreal forest, leading into the Great Plains in the south-east. The south-west portion of the province is generally temperate coniferous forest, bordered by the Rocky Mountains. These different ecosystems, along with the border formed by the Rocky Mountains, contribute to the diversity of birds in the province. Notably, several "eastern" and "western" pairs can be seen in Alberta, such as the eastern bluebird and western bluebird. Of the 438 species, 125 are accidentals, eight were introduced to Alberta, one species is extinct, and another is possibly extinct. (Full list...)
April 8
Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D major has been credited with inspiring a significant number of pop songs since the 1960s. After the mid-Baroque era piece was revived from obscurity in the 1960s, its chord progression, bassline, and melodic structure were reproduced in a number of contemporary pop songs, a phenomenon attributed to the memorability and simplicity of the work as well as renewed interest in it. While Pachelbel's Canon itself is not a staple of pop music, it shares common roots with other, more significant chord progressions that lay the foundations of modern pop music. Its perceived ubiquity is itself an object of cultural discussion. (Full list...)
April 12
There are 46 Sydney Metro stations and 113 kilometres (70 mi) of track open or under construction. The Sydney Metro is a rapid transit rail system in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The system is owned by the Government of New South Wales and is operated under contract by Metro Trains Sydney, a joint venture between MTR Corporation, John Holland Group, and UGL Rail. The first section of the rail system, Sydney Metro Northwest, opened on 26 May 2019 between Tallawong and Chatswood (pictured). This consists of thirteen stations, five of which were existing stations along the Epping to Chatswood rail link converted to metro use, and nine of which were new stations. Sydney Metro City & Southwest is planned to open in two stages: the section between Chatswood and Sydenham via the central business district is planned to open in 2024, and the section between Sydenham and Bankstown is planned to open in 2025. (Full list...)
April 15
The Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award is given annually to a Major League Baseball (MLB) player "whose on-field performance and contributions to his community inspire others to higher levels of achievement." The award was created by the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) and was presented to the inaugural winner – Mark McGwire – in 1997 as the "Man of the Year Award". Three years later, it was renamed in honor of Marvin Miller, the first executive director of the MLBPA. In order to determine the winner, each MLB team nominates one of their players, who is selected by their teammates to appear on the ballot. An online vote is conducted among baseball fans in order to reduce the number of candidates to six. MLB players then choose the award winner from among the six finalists. John Smoltz, Jim Thome, Michael Young, and Curtis Granderson are the only players to win the Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award on multiple occasions. (Full list...)
April 19
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Laos has three sites on the list of World Heritage Sites. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designates World Heritage Sites of outstanding universal value to cultural or natural heritage that have been nominated by countries that are signatories to the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972. Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, ratified the convention on 20 March 1987. The town of Luang Prabang (pictured) was listed in 1995, Vat Phou in 2001, and the Plain of Jars in 2019. All three sites are cultural. In addition, Laos has two sites on UNESCO's tentative list. (Full list...)
April 22
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Seventeen people have held the office of President and Chancellor of New York University (NYU), a private research university in New York City. The president of New York University is its chief executive officer and is elected by the university's board of trustees, of which the president is a member ex officio. From NYU's foundation by Albert Gallatin in 1831 until 1956, the head of NYU was the chancellor. That year, the office became known as "president and chancellor", or "president" for short. The president recommends persons to fill senior offices, including the provost, executive vice president, general counsel, and deans, who are then appointed by the board. The president also presides over the university senate and confers all degrees, with the board's authorization and upon certification of a student by the faculty. The incumbent president, Linda G. Mills (pictured), assumed office on July 1, 2023 and became NYU's first female president. (Full list...)
April 26
Avengers: Infinity War, a 2018 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers, won twenty-two awards from seventy-eight nominations, with particular recognition for its acting (mainly that of Josh Brolin – pictured) and visual effects. It received a nomination for Best Visual Effects at the 91st Academy Awards. The film received a nomination for Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in a Live Action Production at the 46th Annie Awards. At the 72nd British Academy Film Awards, Avengers: Infinity War was nominated for Best Special Visual Effects. It received two nominations at the 24th Critics' Choice Awards. Composer Alan Silvestri received a nomination for Best Instrumental Composition at the Grammy Awards' 61st ceremony. The film won one of two nominations at the 45th Saturn Awards. (Full list...)
April 29
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Arsenal Women Football Club have played 36 domestic league seasons and remained in the English top flight since joining in 1992. Based in London, they are the most successful club in English women's football. They formed in 1987, 100 years after the inception of the Arsenal men's team, and were an amateur side for over a decade until the team became semi-professional in 2002. During the 1990s and 2000s, under the management of Vic Akers and other successive coaches, Arsenal experienced an unprecedented period of success dominating English competitions with no sustained opposition. Domestically, Arsenal have won 15 league titles, 14 FA Cups, 17 league cups and five FA Community Shields; the club holds the most titles of each individual domestic competition. Arsenal are the only English side to have won Europe's continental women's football competition, the UEFA Women's Champions League (formally the UEFA Women's Cup), after the club defeated the Swedish side Umeå in the 2007 final. (Full list...)