O Captain! My Captain!

O Captain! My Captain!.
"O Captain! My Captain!" is an extended-metaphor poem written by Walt Whitman in 1865 about the death of U.S. president Abraham Lincoln. Well received upon publication, the poem was Whitman's most popular during his lifetime. Whitman was employed by the federal government in Washington, D.C., through much of the Civil War, and, though he never met Lincoln, Whitman felt a connection to him and was greatly moved by his assassination. "My Captain" was first published in The Saturday Press on November 4, 1865, and appeared in Sequel to Drum-Taps later that year. He later included it in the collection Leaves of Grass and recited the poem at several lectures on Lincoln's death. Critical opinion has shifted since the mid-20th century, with scholars deriding its conventionality and unoriginality. In popular culture, the poem experienced renewed attention after it was featured in Dead Poets Society (1989), and is frequently associated with the star of that film, Robin Williams.

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Zino's petrel

Zino's petrel.
Zino's petrel (Pterodroma madeira) is a species of small seabird, endemic to Madeira. This gadfly petrel is grey above with a dark "W" across the wings. The wings are mainly blackish below, and the belly is white. It is very similar in appearance to Fea's petrel, both being formerly considered to be subspecies of the soft-plumaged petrel, but Zino's was raised to a species on criteria including morphology and mitochondrial DNA. Its breeding areas are a few ledges high in the mountains of Madeira, where it nests in burrows which are visited only at night. The single white egg is incubated by both adults, one sitting while the other feeds on fish and squid at sea. This species is subject to predation by introduced cats and rats, and in the past by humans. Predator control and the removal of grazing animals has enabled the population to recover although it remains listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List. There was a major setback in 2010 when fires killed three adults and 65 percent of the chicks.

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Battle of Halmyros

Battle of Halmyros.
The Battle of Halmyros was fought on 15 March 1311 between the Frankish Duchy of Athens and the Catalan Company (seal depicted). The Catalans were mercenaries hired by the Byzantine emperor to combat the increasing power of the Turks in Anatolia. After the Byzantines murdered the Catalan leader, Roger de Flor, the company crossed the southern Balkans and arrived in southern Greece in 1309. The new Duke of Athens, Walter of Brienne, hired them to attack Thessaly. The Catalans conquered much of the region, but Walter refused to pay them and prepared to forcibly expel them. The two armies met at Halmyros in southern Thessaly. The Catalans positioned themselves behind marshy terrain, but the Franks, confident in the prowess of their heavy cavalry, charged headlong against the Catalan line. The marsh impeded their attack, and the Frankish army was routed. Walter and almost all of his knights fell in the field, allowing the Catalans to take over the Duchy of Athens and rule it until the 1380s.

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Nasr of Granada

Nasr of Granada.
Nasr (1287–1322) was the son of Muhammad II al-Faqih and the fourth Nasrid ruler of the Emirate of Granada on the Iberian Peninsula. When he ascended the throne on 14 March 1309 after his brother Muhammad III was dethroned in a palace revolution, Granada faced a three-front war against Castile, Aragon and the Marinid Sultanate (map pictured). He made peace with all three over the following year with minimal losses. Despite this, Nasr was unpopular at court due to his excessive concentration on science and astronomy, and his perceived pro-Christian sympathies. A rebellion started by his brother-in-law Abu Said Faraj and nephew Ismail ended in Nasr's abdication in 1314 in favour of Ismail, now Ismail I. He was allowed to rule the eastern province of Guadix, and attempted – fruitlessly – to regain the throne with help from Castile. Nasr died without an heir in 1322.