Wikipedia:Today's featured list/January 2017
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January 2
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The English architect John Douglas designed 40 new churches. His architectural styles were eclectic, but as he worked during the period of the Gothic Revival much of his output incorporates elements of the English Gothic style. He was also influenced by architectural styles from the mainland of Europe, and frequently included elements of French, German, and Netherlandish architecture. Douglas was born in the Cheshire village of Sandiway and was articled to the Lancaster architect E. G. Paley, later becoming his chief assistant. He established an office in Chester in either 1855 or 1860, from where he practised throughout his career. As his office was in Chester, most of his works were in Cheshire and North Wales, although some were further afield, in Lancashire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, and Scotland. From an early stage in his career, Douglas attracted commissions from wealthy and powerful patrons. Most of Douglas' new churches have been recognised as listed buildings. (This list is part of a featured topic: John Douglas.)
January 6
Lecrae is an American Christian hip hop artist whose career began in 2004 when he and Ben Washer co-founded the record label Reach Records. He has received sixteen awards and an additional twenty-nine nominations. In 2011 his fourth album, Rehab (2010), received a nomination for Grammy Award for Best Rock Gospel Album. The following year he garnered two GMA Dove Awards: Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year for Rehab: The Overdose (2011) and Rap/Hip Hop Recorded Song of the Year for "Hallelujah" (2011). In 2013, Lecrae became the first hip hop artist to win the Grammy Award for Best Gospel Album, which was awarded to his sixth album Gravity. The album also won Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year at the GMA Dove Awards, and a Stellar Award for Rap, Hip Hop Gospel CD of the Year. In 2015, he received the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song for "Messengers" (2014), Artist of the Year, Rap/Hip-Hop Song of the Year and Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year at the Dove Awards, a Stellar Award for Rap, Hip Hop Gospel CD of the Year for Anomaly (2014), and became the first rapper to win a BET Award for Best Gospel Artist. (Full list...)
January 9
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Jessica Chastain is an American actress who has appeared in film, television, and stage. As a final-year student at the Juilliard School, she was signed on for a talent holding deal by the television producer John Wells. From 2004 to 2010, she had guest roles in several television shows, including ER, Veronica Mars, and Law & Order: Trial by Jury. In 2008, Chastain made her film debut as the title character in Jolene. Among her six film releases in 2011, she played opposite Brad Pitt in The Tree of Life, an experimental drama from the director Terrence Malick, and portrayed an aspiring socialite in 1960s America in The Help, an adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's novel of the same name. In 2012, she played a CIA analyst in Kathryn Bigelow's thriller Zero Dark Thirty—a partly fictionalized account of the manhunt for Osama bin Laden—which garnered her an Academy Award for Best Actress nomination. Also in 2012, Chastain made her Broadway debut with a revival of The Heiress, playing the role of a naive young girl who transforms into a powerful woman. (Full list...)
January 13
A territorial pick was a type of special draft choice used in the Basketball Association of America (BAA) draft in 1949 and in the National Basketball Association (NBA) draft after the 1950 season, the year in which the BAA was renamed the NBA. In the draft, NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players. Territorial picks were eliminated when the draft system was revamped in 1966. In the first 20 years of the BAA/NBA, the league was still trying to gain the support of fans who lived in or near the teams' home markets. To achieve this, the league introduced the territorial pick rule to help teams acquire popular players from colleges in their area who would presumably have strong local support. Before the draft, a team could forfeit its first-round draft pick and then select any player from within a 50-mile radius of its home arena. Although the territorial picks were selected before the draft, these picks were not factored into the overall selection count of the draft; therefore, the first non-territorial pick of the draft was considered the first overall pick. Of the 23 territorial picks, 11 players have been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. (Full list...)
January 16
The accolades received by Grand Theft Auto V, an open world, action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games, include appearances on year-end lists of the best games of 2013. Grand Theft Auto V received Game of the Year wins from CNET, Edge, the Golden Joystick Awards, Machinima's Inside Gaming, the Spike VGX, Slant Magazine and Time. It was awarded the title of Most Immersive Game at the Inside Gaming Awards, and the Best British Game from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). Rockstar Games and Rockstar North won Best Studio and Best Developer from Edge, and the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award at the 10th British Academy Video Games Awards. Various in-game elements were recognised with awards. Two characters, Trevor Philips and Lamar Davis, received multiple nominations for Best Character. The music received awards from the Spike VGX, Hardcore Gamer and The Daily Telegraph. (Full list...)
January 20
Forty-two Local Nature Reserves (LNRs) in Hertfordshire have been reported to Natural England. Hertfordshire is a county in eastern England. It is bordered by Bedfordshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Buckinghamshire to the west and Greater London to the south. The county town is Hertford. LNRs are designated by local authorities under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. The local authority must have a legal control over the site, by owning or leasing it or having an agreement with the owner. LNRs are sites which have a special local interest either biologically or geologically, and local authorities have a duty to care for them. The largest site in Hertfordshire is Therfield Heath with 147.3 hectares (364 acres). It has some of the richest chalk grassland in England, and it is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The smallest is Oxleys Wood in Hatfield, which has an area of only 1.2 hectares (3.0 acres). This wood often floods, and it provides a habitat for a wide range of insects and birds. (Full list...)
January 23
The works of Peter Martyr Vermigli, a Reformed theologian of the Reformation period, include commentaries on I Corinthians, Romans, Judges, Kings, Genesis, and Lamentations based on his lectures. Born in Florence, he fled Italy to avoid the Roman Inquisition in 1542. He lectured on the Bible in Strasbourg, Zürich and at the University of Oxford. Vermigli was primarily a professor of the Bible, especially the Old Testament. Beginning in 1549, Vermigli became involved in controversy regarding the Eucharist. He published his disputation against Catholics at Oxford University along with a tract on the subject. He later wrote treatises on the Eucharist against Catholic and Lutheran theologians. After Vermigli's death, Robert Masson collected the doctrinal passages scattered throughout his biblical commentaries into a systematic theology called the Loci Communes, which became Vermigli's most well-known work. Several of Vermigli's letters and shorter treatises were also published during and after his life. (Full list...)
January 27
The U.S. state of Indiana has 12 official state emblems, as well as other designated official and unofficial items. The majority of the symbols in the list are officially recognized and created by an act of the Indiana General Assembly and signed into law by the governor. They are listed in Indiana Code Title 1, Article 2, State Emblems, which also regulates the appearance and applicable use of the items. The first symbol was the Seal of Indiana, which was made official in 1801 for the Indiana Territory and again in 1816 by the state of Indiana. It served as the state's only emblem for nearly a century until the adoption of the state song in 1913. For many years, Indiana was the only state without a flag. The official state banner (pictured) was adopted in 1917, and renamed the state flag in 1955. The newest symbol of Indiana is the state rifle, the Grouseland Rifle, assigned in 2012 during the second regular session of the 117th Indiana General Assembly. (Full list...)
January 30
The Citra Award for Best Director is an award given at the Indonesian Film Festival (IFF) to Indonesian film directors in recognition for their achievements. The Citra Awards, described by Screen International as "Indonesia's equivalent to the Oscars", are the country's most prestigious film awards and are intended to recognise Indonesian achievements in film and draw the public's interest to the cinema industry. The Citra Awards, then known as the Indonesian Film Festival Awards, were first given at the IFF in early 1955; that year, Lilik Sudjio won Best Director for his film Tarmina. The festival was then held intermittently, in 1960 and 1967. In 1973 the festival began to be held annually. This continued uninterrupted until after the 1992 IFF, when a sharp decline in film production led the festival to be discontinued. It was reinstated as an annual event in 2004, after receiving funds from the Indonesian government. The most recent winner is Riri Riza (pictured), who won a Citra Award at the 2016 IFF for his direction of Athirah. (Full list...)