Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2016-08-18/Featured content

Featured content

Simply the best ... from the past two weeks

Cast of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., one of the television series placed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

This Signpost "Featured content" report covers material promoted from 30 July to 13 August.
Text may be adapted from the respective articles and lists; see their page histories for attribution.

Portrait of Peter Martyr Vermigli by Hans Asper
The Dawn of Love, an 1828 oil painting by William Etty, was very poorly received when first exhibited
Arsenal celebrate with the trophy after winning the latest edition of the Emirates Cup.
Lake Calhoun is the largest and deepest lake in Minneapolis.
Miroslav Klose scored his last international goal at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Eight featured articles were promoted these weeks.

  • Peter Martyr Vermigli (nominated by Jfhutson) (1499–1562) was an Italian-born Reformed theologian. His early work as a reformer in Catholic Italy and decision to flee for Protestant northern Europe influenced many other Italians to convert and flee as well. In England, he influenced the Edwardian Reformation, including the Eucharistic service of the 1552 Book of Common Prayer. He was considered an authority on the Eucharist among the Reformed churches, and engaged in controversies on the subject by writing treatises. Vermigli's Loci Communes, a compilation of excerpts from his biblical commentaries organized by the topics of systematic theology, became a standard Reformed theological textbook.
  • Interstate 275 in the US state of Michigan (nominated by Imzadi1979) is an Interstate Highway that functions as a western bypass of the Detroit metropolitan area. The Michigan Department of Transportation maintains it as a component of the larger state trunkline highway system. The freeway runs through the western suburbs near Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, and crosses several rivers and rail lines in the area.
  • An Introduction to Animals and Political Theory (nominated by J Milburn) is a 2010 textbook by the British political theorist Alasdair Cochrane. It is the first book in Palgrave Macmillan's Animal Ethics Series. Cochrane's book examines five schools of political theory and their respective relationships with questions concerning animal rights and the political status of (non-human) animals. Cochrane concludes that each tradition has something to offer to these issues, but ultimately presents his own account of interest-based animal rights as preferable to any. The book was reviewed positively in several academic publications.
  • The Dawn of Love (nominated by Iridescent) is an oil painting on canvas by English artist William Etty, first exhibited in 1828 and currently in the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum in Bournemouth. Loosely based on a passage from John Milton's 1634 masque Comus, it shows a nude Venus leaning across to wake the sleeping Love by stroking his wings. While Etty often included nude figures in his work he rarely depicted physical intimacy, and owing to this The Dawn of Love is one of his more unusual paintings. The open sensuality of the work was intended to present a challenge to the viewer mirroring the plot of Comus, in which the heroine is tempted by desire but remains rational and detached.
  • Mr. Dooley (nominated by Wehwalt) is a fictional Irish immigrant bartender created by American journalist Finley Peter Dunne. Dooley was the subject of many Dunne columns between 1893 and 1915, and again in 1924 and 1926. Dunne's essays, which contain the bartender's commentary on various topics, became extremely popular during the 1898 Spanish–American War, and remained so afterwards. The essays are in the form of conversations in Irish dialect between Mr. Dooley, who in the columns owns a tavern in the Bridgeport area of Chicago, and one of the fictional bar's patrons with most of the column a monologue by Dooley. The pieces are not widely remembered, but originated lasting sayings such as "the Supreme Court follows the election returns".
  • "Slug" (nominated by Dream out loud) is a song by Passengers, a side project of rock band U2 and musician Brian Eno. It is the second track on Passengers' only release, the 1995 album Original Soundtracks 1. The track was originally titled "Seibu" and was almost left off the album before it was rediscovered later during the recording sessions. Though Eno made most of the creative decisions during the recording sessions, "Slug" was one of the few tracks that the members from U2 tried to craft themselves. It was praised as one of the best songs on the album by critics from various publications.
  • Heffernan v. City of Paterson (nominated by Wugapodes) was a United States Supreme Court case concerning the First Amendment rights of public employees. By a 6–2 margin, the Court held that a public employee's constitutional rights might be violated when an employer disciplines them for the belief that the employee was engaging in protected speech, even if the employee never actually exercised their constitutional rights.
  • Millipedes (nominated by Cwmhiraeth) are a group of arthropods that are characterised by having two pairs of jointed legs on most body segments; they are known scientifically as the class Diplopoda, the name being derived from this feature. Each double-legged segment is a result of two single segments fused together. Most millipedes have very elongated cylindrical or flattened bodies with more than 20 segments. Although the name "millipede" derives from the Latin for "thousand feet", no known species has 1,000; the record of 750 legs belongs to Illacme plenipes. There are approximately 12,000 named species classified into 16 orders and around 140 families, making Diplopoda the largest class of myriapods.

Eleven featured lists were promoted these weeks.

  • Selena Gomez (born 1992) is an American actress and singer. Her discography (nominated by SennKev) consists of two studio albums, one compilation album, one EP, ten singles, six promotional singles and eight music videos.
  • The Marvel Cinematic Universe television series (nominated by Favre1fan93 and Adamstom.97) are American superhero television shows based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics. The shows have been in production since 2013, and in that time Marvel Television and ABC Studios, along with its production division ABC Signature Studios, have premiered four series, with nine more in various stages of development, across broadcast, streaming, and cable television. The broadcast series that air on ABC have averaged around 7–8 million viewers a season, with all MCU series receiving strong critical responses.
  • The Emirates Cup (nominated by Lemonade51) is a pre-season association football invitational competition hosted by English club Arsenal at their home ground in Holloway, London. The two-day competition was inaugurated in 2007, and is named after Arsenal's main sponsor Emirates. It has been held every summer except 2012 due to the London Olympics, and 2016 because of pitch renovation work.
  • There are sixteen Local Nature Reserves in Buckinghamshire (nominated by Dudley Miles). Four are in Aylesbury Vale, one each in Chiltern and Milton Keynes, three in South Bucks and seven in Wycombe. Two sites are also Sites of Special Scientific Interest and four are in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Local Nature Reserves 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. They can apply local bye-laws to manage and protect these areas.
  • There are 13 lakes within the borders of Minneapolis (nominated by Bobamnertiopsis). Certain other bodies of water are counted on some lists of Minneapolitan lakes, though they may fall outside the city limits or cover fewer than five acres. Many of Minneapolis's lakes formed in the depressions left by large blocks of ice after the retreat of the Laurentide Ice Sheet at the end of the last glacial period.
  • Inside Out is a 2015 American 3D computer-animated comedy-drama adventure film, co-written and directed by Pete Docter. The film is set in the mind of a young girl named Riley Andersen, where five personified emotions try to lead her through life as she moves to a new city and has to adjust to her new life. After premiering it at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures released the film theatrically in the United States. Made on a production budget of $175 million, it grossed a worldwide total of $857 million. The film has received 52 awards from 114 nominations (nominated by FrB.TG); its direction, screenplay, and Amy Poehler's voice performance have received the most recognition from award groups. Inside Out won Best Animated Feature and was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 88th Academy Awards.
  • Fifty-four bowlers have taken a wicket with the very first ball they bowled in one of the three formats of international cricket (nominated by The Rambling Man and Lugnuts). Twenty bowlers have performed this feat in Test cricket, twenty-two in One Day International matches and twelve bowlers in Twenty20 International cricket.
  • Miroslav Klose (born 1978) is a German professional footballer. He is the all-time top scorer for the Germany national football team, with 71 goals in 137 games (nominated by The Almightey Drill) between 2001 and 2014. He is also the top scorer in the history of the FIFA World Cup, with 16 goals in 24 appearances across four editions from 2002 to 2014. In the 13 years Klose played for the national team, Germany never lost a game in which he scored.
  • Uncharted is an adventure media franchise (nominated by PresN) developed by Naughty Dog, composed of video games and associated media. The core of the franchise is an eponymous series of action-adventure third-person shooter games, which follow Nathan Drake, along with Victor Sullivan and Elena Fisher, as he journeys around the world searching for historical treasures and attempting to prevent villains from harnessing the supernatural powers of various relics. In addition to the four games of the main series, the video game series includes a browser game, two handheld games, and a mobile game. The franchise also contains a novel, a behind-the-scenes book, two concept art books, a comic book, a board game, two motion comics, a forthcoming film, and six soundtrack albums or singles.
  • Alexandra Stan (born 1989) is a Romanian singer and songwriter. Her discography (nominated by Cartoon network freak) consists of three studio albums, a reissue album, two video albums and 16 singles.
  • Jennifer Lawrence (born 1990) is an American actress. She has received various awards and nominations (nominated by Krish!), including one Academy Award, one BAFTA Award, three Golden Globe Awards, four Critics' Choice Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, seven MTV Movie Awards, five People's Choice Awards, and five Teen Choice Awards.

One featured topic was promoted these weeks.

  • Lady Gaga (nominated by FrB.TG) (born 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. This featured topic consists of one good article and five featured lists.

Five featured pictures were promoted these weeks.