Emesa helmet.

Emesa helmet.
The Emesa helmet is an iron Roman cavalry helmet from the early first century AD. Its face mask, covered in a thin sheet of silver, presents the individualised portrait of a face, likely that of its owner. Decorations, some gilded, adorn the head piece. Ornately designed yet highly functional, the helmet was probably intended for both parades and battle. Its delicate covering is too fragile to have been put to use during cavalry tournaments, but the thick iron core would have defended against blows and arrows. It bears acanthus scroll ornamentation, indicating that the helmet may have come from the luxury workshops of Antioch. Confiscated by Syrian police in 1936 soon after looters discovered it amidst a complex of tombs in the modern-day city of Homs, the helmet was eventually restored at the British Museum. It has been exhibited internationally, and is now in the collection of the National Museum of Damascus.

Xixiasaurus.

Xixiasaurus.
Xixiasaurus is a genus of troodontid dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous. The only known specimen (a partial skull, jaw with teeth, and forelimb) was discovered in Xixia County, Henan Province, in central China, and was given a species description in 2010. Xixiasaurus is estimated to have been 1.5 metres (5 ft) long and to have weighed 8 kilograms (18 lb). As a troodontid with some similarities to Byronosaurus, the genus would have been bird-like and lightly built, with grasping hands and an enlarged sickle-shaped claw on the second toe. Its skull was long, with a long, low snout that formed a tapering U-shape when seen from below. The frontal bone of the forehead was dome-like in side view, indicating an enlarged braincase. Troodontids had keen senses and were probably agile. The lack of serrated teeth indicates that Xixiasaurus and some other troodontids were herbivorous, as they had lost the ability to slice meat.

Fôrça Bruta.

Fôrça Bruta.
Fôrça Bruta (Brute Force) is the seventh studio album by Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist Jorge Ben, recorded with the Trio Mocotó band (pictured) and released by Philips Records in September 1970. It introduced an acoustic samba-based music that was mellower, moodier, and less ornate than Ben's preceding work. In a largely unrehearsed nighttime recording session, the singer improvised and experimented with unconventional rhythmic arrangements, musical techniques, and elements of soul, funk, and rock. Ben's lyrics explored themes of romantic passion, melancholy, sensuality, and—in a departure from the carefree sensibility of past releases—identity politics and elements of postmodernism. A commercial and critical success, Fôrça Bruta established Ben as a leading artist in Brazil's Tropicália movement and pioneered a sound later known as samba rock. The album's first American release came in 2007, the same year that Rolling Stone Brasil named it the 61st greatest Brazilian music record.

1896 Cedar Keys hurricane.

1896 Cedar Keys hurricane.
The 1896 Cedar Keys hurricane was a powerful tropical cyclone that devastated much of the East Coast of the United States, starting with Florida's Cedar Keys, near the end of September. The storm's rapid movement allowed it to maintain much of its intensity after landfall, becoming one of the costliest United States hurricanes at the time. The fourth tropical cyclone of the 1896 Atlantic hurricane season, it washed out the railroad connecting the Cedar Keys to the mainland with a 10.5 ft (3.2 m) storm surge, and submerged the smaller, outlying islands (mainland flooding pictured). The hurricane killed at least 70 people in mainland Florida, and razed 5,000 sq mi (13,000 km2) of dense pine forests in the northern part of the state. In Savannah, Georgia, fierce winds unroofed thousands of structures. In Washington, D.C., the White House grounds were left in disarray. Monuments at the Gettysburg Battlefield were damaged. Along the storm's path, it caused at least 202 deaths.

Seattle Sounders FC.

Seattle Sounders FC.
Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional soccer club based in Seattle, Washington. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), playing home matches at CenturyLink Field with a reduced capacity. It was established in November 2007 as an MLS expansion team; the first match of the inaugural season was played on March 19, 2009. It is the third team to bear the Sounders name, and the 15th team to join the league. The club set MLS records for average attendance for the first eight seasons. It competes with its local rivals, Portland and Vancouver, for the Cascadia Cup. Brian Schmetzer has been the team's head coach since 2016, replacing Sigi Schmid. Seattle has been among the league's most successful teams, winning the U.S. Open Cup four times, the Supporters' Shield in 2014, and the MLS Cup in 2016. The team has qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs in each of its ten seasons and competed in the CONCACAF Champions League five times, advancing as far as the semifinals.

John C. Calhoun.

John C. Calhoun.
John C. Calhoun (March 18, 1782 – March 31, 1850) was a senator from South Carolina, a Cabinet member, and the seventh Vice President of the United States, from 1825 to 1832, under presidents John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. Calhoun began his political career in the House of Representatives as a prominent leader of the war hawk faction supporting the War of 1812. Early in his career, he was a modernizer and a proponent of a strong national government and protective tariffs. By the late 1820s, his views reversed and he became a leading proponent of states' rights, limited government, and opposition to high tariffs. His support for South Carolina's right to nullify federal tariff legislation put him into conflict with unionists such as Jackson, and in 1832 he resigned as vice president and entered the Senate. As Secretary of State under John Tyler from 1844 to 1845, he supported the annexation of Texas as a means to promote slavery, and helped settle the Oregon boundary dispute with Britain.

Article of the day for March 17, 2019

The Wikipedia article of the day for March 17, 2019 is Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral.
Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral is a Gothic revival cathedral in Cork, Ireland, whose modern building was completed in 1879, and today belongs to the Church of Ireland. The cathedral is dedicated to Finbarr of Cork, patron saint of the city, who may have founded a monastery on the grounds in the seventh century. During the medieval period, the site underwent successive wars and repeated construction and damage. Fin Barre's rebuilding was commissioned in the mid-19th century as the first major project for the Victorian architect William Burges, who designed most of its architecture, interior sculpture, stained glass, mosaics and interior furniture. Many of the external sculptures, including the gargoyles, were modeled by Thomas Nicholls. The exterior is capped by three spires, and is mostly built from local stone. The main entrance contains representations of over a dozen biblical figures, capped by a tympanum showing a Resurrection scene.