Article of the day for February 27, 2019

The Wikipedia article of the day for February 27, 2019 is Battle of San Patricio.
The Battle of San Patricio was fought on February 27, 1836, between Mexican troops and Texians, rebellious settlers in the Mexican province of Texas. The battle marked the start of the Goliad Campaign, the Mexican offensive to retake the Texas Gulf Coast. By the end of 1835, all Mexican troops had been driven from Texas. Frank W. Johnson, the commander of the volunteer army in Texas, gathered volunteers for a planned invasion of the Mexican port town of Matamoros. After spending several weeks gathering horses, in late February Johnson and about 40 men led the herd to San Patricio. He assigned some of his troops to a ranch outside town to guard the horses. Unbeknownst to the Texians, on February 18 Mexican General José de Urrea (pictured) had led a large contingent of troops from Matamoros into Texas. Urrea's men easily followed the trail left by the horses, and surprised the sleeping Texians in San Patricio. After a fifteen-minute battle, all but six Texians had been killed or imprisoned.

Article of the day for February 26, 2019

The Wikipedia article of the day for February 26, 2019 is Waisale Serevi.
Waisale Serevi (born 1968) is a former Fijian rugby union footballer and coach. A member of the World Rugby Hall of Fame, he is widely considered to be the greatest rugby sevens player in the history of the game. In the 15-man game, he played for Fiji 39 times between 1989 and 2003, scoring 376 points and representing his country in the 1991, 1999, and 2003 Rugby World Cups. He also played professionally for the Mitsubishi, Leicester, Stade Montois, Stade Bordelais and Staines rugby teams. His representative sevens career started in 1989 when he played for Fiji at the Hong Kong tournament. Serevi also played in the 1993, 1997, 2001, and 2005 Rugby World Cup Sevens, winning the World Cup with Fiji in 1997 and 2005. He won silver at the Commonwealth Games in 1998 and 2002, and captured bronze in 2006. After winning the 2005 Rugby World Cup Sevens, Serevi was appointed player-coach of the Fiji Sevens national team, and led them to a 2005–06 World Sevens Series victory.

Article of the day for February 25, 2019

The Wikipedia article of the day for February 25, 2019 is Halo: Combat Evolved.
The Flood is a fictional parasitic alien life form. Flood-infected creatures, also called Flood, in turn infect other sentient hosts. They were introduced as a second enemy faction in the 2001 video game Halo: Combat Evolved, the first game in Bungie's Halo multimedia franchise. Their design and fiction was spearheaded by Bungie artist Robert McLees, with sound design led by Martin O'Donnell. The ringworld setting of the first Halo game was stripped of many of its large creatures for Halo 2 to make the Flood's surprise appearance more startling. For Halo 3, Bungie environment artist Vic DeLeon spent six months of pre-production time refining their fleshy aesthetic and designing the organic interiors of Flood-infested space ships. Reaction to the Flood has varied; while some reviewers found the creatures too derivative and a cliché element of science fiction, others ranked them among the greatest video game villains of all time.

Article of the day for February 24, 2019

The Wikipedia article of the day for February 24, 2019 is Plesiorycteropus.
Plesiorycteropus was a mammal from Madagascar that became extinct sometime after 200 BCE, as evidenced by radiocarbon dating. Upon its description in 1895 by French naturalist Henri Filhol, Plesiorycteropus was classified with the aardvark, but more recent studies have found little evidence for that linkage. Molecular evidence instead suggests that it is related to the tenrecs, in the order Afrosoricida. Two species are recognized, the larger P. madagascariensis and the smaller P. germainepetterae; subfossil remains of both species have been found in the same site. Only limb and partial pelvis and skull bones have been recovered to date. Plesiorycteropus was probably a digging animal that fed on insects such as termites and ants. It also shows adaptations for climbing and sitting. Estimates of its mass range from 6 to 18 kilograms (13 to 40 lb). Forest destruction by humans may have contributed to its extinction.

Article of the day for February 23, 2019

The Wikipedia article of the day for February 23, 2019 is Istanbul.
Istanbul, Turkey, known before 330 as Byzantium and between 330 and 1930 as Constantinople, is a transcontinental city of Europe and Asia, straddling the Bosporus strait between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. Its commercial and historical center lies on the European side; about a third of its residents live on the Asian side. The population of the city has increased tenfold since the 1950s to around 15 million, making Istanbul one of the world's most populous cities and the fourth-largest city proper. Founded on the Sarayburnu promontory around 660 BCE, the city grew in size and influence. It was an imperial capital for almost 16 centuries, during the Roman and Byzantine (330–1204), Latin (1204–1261), Palaiologos Byzantine (1261–1453) and Ottoman (1453–1922) empires. Although Ankara was chosen as the new capital after the Turkish War of Independence, Istanbul remains Turkey's economic and cultural center.

Article of the day for February 22, 2019

The Wikipedia article of the day for February 22, 2019 is M-28 (Michigan highway).
M-28 is an east–west state trunkline highway that almost completely traverses the Upper Peninsula in the U.S. state of Michigan, from Wakefield to near Sault Ste. Marie. M-28 is the longest state trunkline with the "M-" prefix at 290 miles (467 km). Three sections of the highway are part of the Lake Superior Circle Tour, and two sections carry memorial highway designations. M-28 passes through forested woodlands, bog swamps, and urbanized areas. Sections of roadway cross the Ottawa National Forest and both sections of the Hiawatha National Forest. Other landmarks accessible from the highway include the Seney National Wildlife Refuge and several historic bridges. M-28 dates to the 1919 formation of the state's trunkline system, though the original highway was much shorter. It was expanded eastward to the Sault Ste. Marie area in the late 1920s.

Article of the day for February 21, 2019

The Wikipedia article of the day for February 21, 2019 is SMS Kronprinz.
SMS Kronprinz (Crown Prince) was the last battleship of the four-ship König class of the Imperial German Navy, laid down in 1911 and launched on 21 February 1914. The ship was armed with ten 30.5-centimeter (12.0 in) guns in five twin turrets and could steam at a top speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph). Along with her three sister ships, König, Grosser Kurfürst and Markgraf, Kronprinz took part in most of the World War I fleet actions, including the 1916 Battle of Jutland. She was torpedoed by the British submarine HMS J1 in November 1916 during an operation off the Danish coast. Following repairs, she participated in Operation Albion, an amphibious assault in the Baltic, in October 1917. After Germany's defeat in the war and the signing of the Armistice in November 1918, Kronprinz and most of the capital ships of the High Seas Fleet were interned by the Royal Navy in Scapa Flow, and later scuttled by their German crews.