SMS Wörth(
nominated by
Parsecboy) SMS Wörth was one of four
Germanpre-dreadnought battleships of the
Brandenburg class, built in the early 1890s. The class also included
Brandenburg,
Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm, and
Weissenburg. The ships were the first ocean-going battleships built by the
Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy). Wörth was laid down in May 1890, launched on 6 August 1892 and commissioned into the fleet on 31 October 1893. She was named for the
Battle of Wörth fought during the
Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71. Wörth served in the German fleet for the first decade of her career, participating in the normal peacetime routine of training cruises and exercises. She took part in the German naval expedition to China in 1900 to suppress the
Boxer Rebellion, though by the time the fleet arrived the siege of Peking had already been lifted, and Wörth saw little direct action in China. She was placed in reserve in 1906 as newer, more powerful vessels had supplanted the Brandenburg class as front-line battleships. Obsolete by the start of World War I, Wörth and Brandenburg served in a limited capacity in the
Imperial German Navy as coastal defense ships for the first two years of the war, though they did not see action. By 1916, Wörth was reduced to a
barracks ship, a role in which she served until the end of hostilities. Despite plans to convert her into a freighter after the war, Wörth was scrapped in the port of
Danzig in 1919.
New York Dolls (album)(
nominated by
Dan56)New York Dolls is the debut
studio album by American
hard rock band the
New York Dolls, released on July 27, 1973, by
Mercury Records. The band formed in 1971 and developed a following while playing regularly in
lower Manhattan. They held little appeal for record companies because of their onstage
cross-dressing and vulgarity, and most
record producers were reluctant to work with them. After signing a two-album deal with Mercury, the New York Dolls recorded their first album at
The Record Plant in
New York City with producer
Todd Rundgren, who was known for his sophisticated
pop sound. The album features carefree
rock and roll and
Brill Building pop influences among its hard rock songs. Their lyrics were written by lead singer
David Johansen and touch on themes such as urban youth, teen alienation, adolescent romance, and authenticity. For shock value, the band was photographed in exaggerated
drag on the album cover. Upon its release, New York Dolls received very positive reviews from
music critics, but sold poorly and only
charted at number 116 on the
Billboard 200. The band toured the US to promote the album, but were difficult to market and developed a reputation for excess. Despite its commercial failure, the album was an influential precursor to the 1970s
punk rock movement and has since received acclaim from critics as one of the greatest debut albums in
rock music.
Vannevar Bush(
nominated by
Hawkeye7) Vannevar Bush (1890–1974) was an American
engineer, inventor and science administrator, whose most important contribution was as head of the U.S.
Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) during World War II, coordinating almost all wartime military R&D, including initiation and early administration of the
Manhattan Project. He is also known in engineering for his work on
analog computers, for founding
Raytheon, and for the
memex, an adjustable
microfilm viewer with a structure analogous to that of the
World Wide Web. In 1945, Bush published As We May Think in which he predicted that "wholly new forms of
encyclopedias will appear, ready made with a
mesh of associative trails running through them, ready to be dropped into the memex and there amplified". The memex influenced generations of computer scientists, who drew inspiration from its vision of the future. Bush joined the Department of Electrical Engineering at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1919, and founded the company now known as Raytheon in 1922. Starting in 1927, Bush constructed a
differential analyzer, an analog computer with some digital components that could solve
differential equations with as many as 18 independent variables. An offshoot of the work at MIT by Bush and others was the beginning of
digital circuit design theory. Bush became Vice President of MIT and Dean of the
MIT School of Engineering in 1932, and president of the
Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1938. He was appointed to the
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in 1938, and soon became its chairman. Bush was a well-known policymaker and public intellectual during World War II, when he was in effect the first presidential
science advisor.
Kelpie(
nominated by
Sagaciousphil and
Eric Corbett) Kelpie (or water kelpie) is the
Lowland Scottish name given to a malevolent water spirit or demon inhabiting the
lochs and pools of Scotland. It has usually been described as appearing as a
horse, but is able to adopt human form. Some accounts state that the kelpie retains its hooves when appearing as a human, leading to its association with the Christian idea of
Satan as alluded to by
Robert Burns in his 1786 poem "
Address to the Deil". Almost every sizeable body of water in Scotland has an associated kelpie story, but the most extensively reported is that of
Loch Ness, first recorded in the 6th century. The kelpie has counterparts across the world, such as the wihwin of South America, the
Scandinavianbäckahästen and the Australian
bunyip. The origin of the belief in malevolent water horses may lie in the human sacrifices once made to appease the gods of water, but it also served a practical purpose in keeping children away from dangerous stretches of water, and warning young women to be wary of handsome strangers.
Flotilla (video game)(
nominated by
Hahc21 )Flotilla is a
turn-based strategy space combat video game developed by Brendon Chung's studio,
Blendo Games. It was released in March 2010 on
Steam for
Microsoft Windows and on
Xbox Live Indie Games for the
Xbox 360. The game was designed with Microsoft's
XNA tools, and its development was influenced by animals as well as board games such as Axis and Allies and Arkham Horror. The game takes the player in an adventure through a randomly generated galaxy. Chung began developing Flotilla immediately after the closure of
Pandemic Studios, where he had worked as a designer. The new game used assets imported from Chung's early space combat prototype, Space Piñata. Flotilla incorporates several pieces of classical music in its score, such as
Chopin's
"Raindrop" prelude. It received mixed reviews from
video game media outlets, scoring 72 out of 100 on review aggregate website
Metacritic, and was included in Mike Rose's book 250 Indie Games You Must Play.
Royal baccarat scandal(
nominated by
SchroCat ) The royal baccarat scandal (also known as the Tranby Croft affair) was a British gambling scandal of the late 19th century involving the
Prince of Wales, the future King
Edward VII. The scandal started during a house party in September 1890, when
Sir William Gordon-Cumming, a decorated
lieutenant colonel in the Scots Guards, was accused of cheating at
baccarat. Edward had been invited to stay at
Tranby Croft,
Yorkshire, the home of
Arthur Wilson and his family. Gordon-Cumming was seen to be acting in a suspicious manner, and was subsequently pressured into signing a document that stated he would never play cards again, in exchange for the silence of the guests. The secret was not kept for long, and Gordon-Cumming demanded a retraction from the Wilson family, who he considered to blame for divulging the news. They refused and he filed a writ for slander in February 1891. Despite the efforts of the prince's courtiers to have the matter dealt with by a
military court, the case was heard in June 1891. The atmosphere at trial was described as being like a theatre, and Edward was called as a witness, the first time the heir to the throne had been compelled to appear in court since 1411. Gordon-Cumming was found guilty, dismissed from the army, and ostracised from society for the rest of his life. Public opinion was on his side, and the prince was at his most unpopular for several years afterwards.
Liberty Head double eagle(
nominated by
Wehwalt ) The Liberty Head double eagle (or Coronet double eagle) is an American twenty-dollar gold piece struck as a
pattern coin in 1849, and for commerce from 1850 to 1907. It was designed by
Mint of the United States Chief Engraver
James B. Longacre. The largest denomination of United States coin authorized by the
Mint Act of 1792 was the
eagle, or ten-dollar piece. The large amount of bullion being brought east after the
discovery of gold in California in the 1840s caused Congress to consider new denominations of gold coinage. The
gold dollar and
double eagle were the result. After considerable infighting at the
Philadelphia Mint, Chief Engraver James B. Longacre designed the double eagle, and it began to be issued for commerce in 1850. Only one 1849 double eagle is known to survive; it rests in the
National Numismatic Collection at the
Smithsonian. The coin was immediately successful; merchants and banks used it in trade. It was struck until replaced by the
Saint-Gaudens double eagle in 1907, and many were melted when President
Franklin D. Roosevelt recalled gold coins from the public in 1933. Millions of double eagles were sent overseas in international transactions throughout its run to be melted or placed in bank vaults. Many of the latter have now been repatriated to feed the demand from collectors and those who desire to hold gold.
Israel the Grammarian(
nominated by
Dudley Miles ) Israel the Grammarian (c. 895 – c. 965) was one of the leading European scholars of the mid-tenth century. Probably a
Breton, he was at the court of King
Æthelstan of England in the 930s. After Æthelstan's death, Israel successfully sought the patronage of Archbishop Rotbert of
Trier and became tutor to
Bruno, later the
Archbishop of Cologne. In the late 940s, he is recorded as a bishop, and at the end of his life he was a monk at the
Benedictine monastery of
Saint-Maximin in Trier. An accomplished poet, Israel was a disciple of the ninth-century Irish philosopher
John Scottus Eriugena and one of the few scholars of his time to understand Greek. He wrote theological and grammatical tracts, and commentaries on the works of other philosophers and theologians.
Kuwait Towers(created by
Richard Bartz,
nominated by
Armbrust) The
Kuwait Towers is a group of three towers of rather unusual design (pictured below) that serve as a mix of water towers, café, and nationally-recognized landmark.
SMS Wörth(
nominated by
Parsecboy) SMS Wörth was one of four
Germanpre-dreadnought battleships of the
Brandenburg class, built in the early 1890s. The class also included
Brandenburg,
Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm, and
Weissenburg. The ships were the first ocean-going battleships built by the
Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy). Wörth was laid down in May 1890, launched on 6 August 1892 and commissioned into the fleet on 31 October 1893. She was named for the
Battle of Wörth fought during the
Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71. Wörth served in the German fleet for the first decade of her career, participating in the normal peacetime routine of training cruises and exercises. She took part in the German naval expedition to China in 1900 to suppress the
Boxer Rebellion, though by the time the fleet arrived the siege of Peking had already been lifted, and Wörth saw little direct action in China. She was placed in reserve in 1906 as newer, more powerful vessels had supplanted the Brandenburg class as front-line battleships. Obsolete by the start of World War I, Wörth and Brandenburg served in a limited capacity in the
Imperial German Navy as coastal defense ships for the first two years of the war, though they did not see action. By 1916, Wörth was reduced to a
barracks ship, a role in which she served until the end of hostilities. Despite plans to convert her into a freighter after the war, Wörth was scrapped in the port of
Danzig in 1919.
New York Dolls (album)(
nominated by
Dan56)New York Dolls is the debut
studio album by American
hard rock band the
New York Dolls, released on July 27, 1973, by
Mercury Records. The band formed in 1971 and developed a following while playing regularly in
lower Manhattan. They held little appeal for record companies because of their onstage
cross-dressing and vulgarity, and most
record producers were reluctant to work with them. After signing a two-album deal with Mercury, the New York Dolls recorded their first album at
The Record Plant in
New York City with producer
Todd Rundgren, who was known for his sophisticated
pop sound. The album features carefree
rock and roll and
Brill Building pop influences among its hard rock songs. Their lyrics were written by lead singer
David Johansen and touch on themes such as urban youth, teen alienation, adolescent romance, and authenticity. For shock value, the band was photographed in exaggerated
drag on the album cover. Upon its release, New York Dolls received very positive reviews from
music critics, but sold poorly and only
charted at number 116 on the
Billboard 200. The band toured the US to promote the album, but were difficult to market and developed a reputation for excess. Despite its commercial failure, the album was an influential precursor to the 1970s
punk rock movement and has since received acclaim from critics as one of the greatest debut albums in
rock music.
Vannevar Bush(
nominated by
Hawkeye7) Vannevar Bush (1890–1974) was an American
engineer, inventor and science administrator, whose most important contribution was as head of the U.S.
Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) during World War II, coordinating almost all wartime military R&D, including initiation and early administration of the
Manhattan Project. He is also known in engineering for his work on
analog computers, for founding
Raytheon, and for the
memex, an adjustable
microfilm viewer with a structure analogous to that of the
World Wide Web. In 1945, Bush published As We May Think in which he predicted that "wholly new forms of
encyclopedias will appear, ready made with a
mesh of associative trails running through them, ready to be dropped into the memex and there amplified". The memex influenced generations of computer scientists, who drew inspiration from its vision of the future. Bush joined the Department of Electrical Engineering at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1919, and founded the company now known as Raytheon in 1922. Starting in 1927, Bush constructed a
differential analyzer, an analog computer with some digital components that could solve
differential equations with as many as 18 independent variables. An offshoot of the work at MIT by Bush and others was the beginning of
digital circuit design theory. Bush became Vice President of MIT and Dean of the
MIT School of Engineering in 1932, and president of the
Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1938. He was appointed to the
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in 1938, and soon became its chairman. Bush was a well-known policymaker and public intellectual during World War II, when he was in effect the first presidential
science advisor.
Kelpie(
nominated by
Sagaciousphil and
Eric Corbett) Kelpie (or water kelpie) is the
Lowland Scottish name given to a malevolent water spirit or demon inhabiting the
lochs and pools of Scotland. It has usually been described as appearing as a
horse, but is able to adopt human form. Some accounts state that the kelpie retains its hooves when appearing as a human, leading to its association with the Christian idea of
Satan as alluded to by
Robert Burns in his 1786 poem "
Address to the Deil". Almost every sizeable body of water in Scotland has an associated kelpie story, but the most extensively reported is that of
Loch Ness, first recorded in the 6th century. The kelpie has counterparts across the world, such as the wihwin of South America, the
Scandinavianbäckahästen and the Australian
bunyip. The origin of the belief in malevolent water horses may lie in the human sacrifices once made to appease the gods of water, but it also served a practical purpose in keeping children away from dangerous stretches of water, and warning young women to be wary of handsome strangers.
Flotilla (video game)(
nominated by
Hahc21 )Flotilla is a
turn-based strategy space combat video game developed by Brendon Chung's studio,
Blendo Games. It was released in March 2010 on
Steam for
Microsoft Windows and on
Xbox Live Indie Games for the
Xbox 360. The game was designed with Microsoft's
XNA tools, and its development was influenced by animals as well as board games such as Axis and Allies and Arkham Horror. The game takes the player in an adventure through a randomly generated galaxy. Chung began developing Flotilla immediately after the closure of
Pandemic Studios, where he had worked as a designer. The new game used assets imported from Chung's early space combat prototype, Space Piñata. Flotilla incorporates several pieces of classical music in its score, such as
Chopin's
"Raindrop" prelude. It received mixed reviews from
video game media outlets, scoring 72 out of 100 on review aggregate website
Metacritic, and was included in Mike Rose's book 250 Indie Games You Must Play.
Royal baccarat scandal(
nominated by
SchroCat ) The royal baccarat scandal (also known as the Tranby Croft affair) was a British gambling scandal of the late 19th century involving the
Prince of Wales, the future King
Edward VII. The scandal started during a house party in September 1890, when
Sir William Gordon-Cumming, a decorated
lieutenant colonel in the Scots Guards, was accused of cheating at
baccarat. Edward had been invited to stay at
Tranby Croft,
Yorkshire, the home of
Arthur Wilson and his family. Gordon-Cumming was seen to be acting in a suspicious manner, and was subsequently pressured into signing a document that stated he would never play cards again, in exchange for the silence of the guests. The secret was not kept for long, and Gordon-Cumming demanded a retraction from the Wilson family, who he considered to blame for divulging the news. They refused and he filed a writ for slander in February 1891. Despite the efforts of the prince's courtiers to have the matter dealt with by a
military court, the case was heard in June 1891. The atmosphere at trial was described as being like a theatre, and Edward was called as a witness, the first time the heir to the throne had been compelled to appear in court since 1411. Gordon-Cumming was found guilty, dismissed from the army, and ostracised from society for the rest of his life. Public opinion was on his side, and the prince was at his most unpopular for several years afterwards.
Liberty Head double eagle(
nominated by
Wehwalt ) The Liberty Head double eagle (or Coronet double eagle) is an American twenty-dollar gold piece struck as a
pattern coin in 1849, and for commerce from 1850 to 1907. It was designed by
Mint of the United States Chief Engraver
James B. Longacre. The largest denomination of United States coin authorized by the
Mint Act of 1792 was the
eagle, or ten-dollar piece. The large amount of bullion being brought east after the
discovery of gold in California in the 1840s caused Congress to consider new denominations of gold coinage. The
gold dollar and
double eagle were the result. After considerable infighting at the
Philadelphia Mint, Chief Engraver James B. Longacre designed the double eagle, and it began to be issued for commerce in 1850. Only one 1849 double eagle is known to survive; it rests in the
National Numismatic Collection at the
Smithsonian. The coin was immediately successful; merchants and banks used it in trade. It was struck until replaced by the
Saint-Gaudens double eagle in 1907, and many were melted when President
Franklin D. Roosevelt recalled gold coins from the public in 1933. Millions of double eagles were sent overseas in international transactions throughout its run to be melted or placed in bank vaults. Many of the latter have now been repatriated to feed the demand from collectors and those who desire to hold gold.
Israel the Grammarian(
nominated by
Dudley Miles ) Israel the Grammarian (c. 895 – c. 965) was one of the leading European scholars of the mid-tenth century. Probably a
Breton, he was at the court of King
Æthelstan of England in the 930s. After Æthelstan's death, Israel successfully sought the patronage of Archbishop Rotbert of
Trier and became tutor to
Bruno, later the
Archbishop of Cologne. In the late 940s, he is recorded as a bishop, and at the end of his life he was a monk at the
Benedictine monastery of
Saint-Maximin in Trier. An accomplished poet, Israel was a disciple of the ninth-century Irish philosopher
John Scottus Eriugena and one of the few scholars of his time to understand Greek. He wrote theological and grammatical tracts, and commentaries on the works of other philosophers and theologians.
Kuwait Towers(created by
Richard Bartz,
nominated by
Armbrust) The
Kuwait Towers is a group of three towers of rather unusual design (pictured below) that serve as a mix of water towers, café, and nationally-recognized landmark.
Discuss this story
Gotta say that this weeks issue was beneficial for Featured Topics. After reading that SMS Wörth became a Featured Article (read it before it was published), I found out that Battleships of Germany reached 50% featured content, turning it from a Good Topic to a Featured Topic. Let it not be said that the newsletter is useless. GamerPro64 04:01, 29 June 2014 (UTC) reply