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Ambigram of "ambigram" by Basile Morin, one of December's featured pictures. Basile has created huge numbers of clever and creative ambigrams for the ambigram article, and it's about time we recognised his work. Perhaps I'm childish, but my favourite is this one.
This Signpost "Featured content" report covers material promoted in December 2022. Descriptions are generally summarised from the articles, but may be abridged or simplified for length.
The Signpost is trialling a bi-monthly issue frequency, which is a very good thing: Next issue, we'll have a more reasonable half a month's worth of featured content, which I think is a lot more digestible than the summaries of twenty-one articles and fifteen featured lists we have this issue. In addition, if we keep this up, when I inevitably miss a deadline at some point, instead of having to spike an entire month of featured content, I can just do a full month of coverage next issue. (You can't put two months of content in an issue – it makes the article too long – but we've proven for years you can put one month in them.)
So, Happy New Year, and may the new reign of bimonthly issues reign eternal, as long as "bimonthly" never gets its other meaning of "once every two months".
This month, I've borrowed two descriptions, Robert Nimmo and Thomas Hardy, from the other newsletter I work on, The Bugle. They were written by Ian Rose after Nick-D.
See you in two weeks!
Featured articles
Twenty-one featured articles were promoted this period.
- Corp Naomh, nominated by Ceoil
- The Corp Naomh is an Irish bell shrine made in the 9th or 10th century to enclose a now lost hand-bell, which probably dated to c. 600 to 900 AD and belonged to an early Irish saint. The shrine was rediscovered sometime before 1682 at Tristernagh Abbey, near Templecross, County Westmeath. The shrine is 23 cm (9.1 in) high and 12 cm (4.7 in) wide. It was heavily refurbished and added to during a second phase of embellishment in the 15th century, and now consists of cast and sheet bronze plates mounted on a wooden core decorated with silver, niello and rock crystal. It is severely damaged with extensive losses and wear across almost all of its parts, and when discovered a block of wood had been substituted for the bell itself. The remaining elements are considered of high historical and artistic value by archeologists and art historians.
- SMS Friedrich Carl, nominated by Parsecboy
- SMS Friedrich Carl was a German armored cruiser built in the early 1900s for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy). She was the second and final member of the Prinz Adalbert class, which was built to provide scouts for the German fleet and station ships in Germany's colonial empire.
- Artemy Vedel, nominated by Amitchell125
- Artemy Lukyanovich Vedel 13 April [O.S. 1 April] 1767 – 26 July [O.S. 14 July] 1808) was a Ukrainian-born Russian composer of military and liturgical music. He produced works based on Ukrainian folk melodies, and made an important contribution to the music of Ukraine. Together with Maxim Berezovsky and Dmitry Bortniansky, Vedel is recognised by musicologists as one of the "Golden Three" composers of 18th century Ukrainian classical music, and one of Russia's greatest choral composers.
- "Your Power", nominated by Your Power
- Sometimes, users name themselves after a Billie Eilish song or other media when creating their account. Particularly awesome users then raise that song to featured article. "Your Power" is a folk ballad backed by an acoustic guitar that serves as a plea for people to stop abusing their authority.
- Boring Lava Field, nominated by Ceranthor
- Yawn. The Boring Lava Field (also known as the Boring Volcanic Field) is a Plio-Pleistocene volcanic field with cinder cones, small shield volcanoes, and lava flows in the northern Willamette Valley of the U.S. state of Oregon and the adjacent southwest portion of Washington state. Its last eruptions took place about 57,000 years ago at the Beacon Rock cinder cone volcano; the individual volcanic vents of the field are considered extinct, but the field itself is not.
- Atlantic City–Brigantine Connector, nominated by Dream out loud
- The Atlantic City–Brigantine Connector is a connector freeway in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States. It is a 2.37-mile (3.81 km) extension of the Atlantic City Expressway, connecting it to Route 87, which leads into Brigantine via the Marina district of Atlantic City. Locally, the freeway is known as "the Tunnel", due to the tunnel along its route that passes underneath the Westside neighborhood.
- Northolt siege, nominated by HJ Mitchell
- The Northolt siege was a hostage situation which developed in Northolt, West London, England, on 25 December 1985 and resulted in the shooting of Errol Walker. It was the first shooting by an officer from the Metropolitan Police's specialist Firearms Wing. After a domestic dispute, Walker forced entry into his sister-in-law's flat. He took the woman, her daughter, and his own daughter hostage and shortly afterwards fatally stabbed the woman. Negotiations eventually secured the release of Walker's daughter but he still held the other child hostage with a large kitchen knife. Senior police officers were keen to resolve the situation without use of force and adopted a policy of appeasing Walker, which included withdrawing armed officers from Walker's vision. Almost 30 hours into the siege, Walker ventured onto the communal balcony to pick up an abandoned riot shield. Armed police officers attempted to intercept him but he made it back to the flat before they reached him. The officers threw stun grenades through the windows and climbed through the kitchen window. One officer found Walker lying on a sofa, holding the knife to the child, and fired three shots, hitting Walker twice. Walker was knocked unconscious but both he and the girl survived. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, attempted murder, and other offences.
- Matangi (album), nominated by ChrisTheDude
- Matangi is the fourth studio album by British rapper and singer M.I.A. It was released on 1 November 2013 on her own label, N.E.E.T. Recordings, an imprint of Interscope Records. The album was recorded in various locations around the world and featured uncredited input from WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Its title is a variant of M.I.A.'s real first name and references the Hindu goddess Matangi. The lyrics feature themes related to Hinduism, including reincarnation and karma, and the music blends Western and Eastern styles.
- Ibn al-Ash'ath, nominated by Cplakidas (a.k.a. Constantine)
- Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath (Arabic: عبد الرحمن بن محمد بن الأشعث; died 704), commonly known as Ibn al-Ash'ath after his grandfather, was a prominent Arab nobleman and military commander during the Umayyad Caliphate, most notable for leading a failed rebellion against the Umayyad viceroy of the east, al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, in 700–703.
The crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia in space, before the disaster - Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, nominated by Balon Greyjoy
- The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster was a fatal accident in the United States space program that occurred on February 1, 2003. During the STS-107 mission, Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated as it reentered the atmosphere over Texas, killing all seven astronauts on board. During the STS-107 launch, a piece of the insulative foam broke off from the Space Shuttle external tank and struck the thermal protection system tiles on the orbiter's left wing. Similar foam shedding had occurred during previous Space Shuttle launches, causing damage that ranged from minor to near-catastrophic, but some engineers suspected that the damage to Columbia was more serious. Before reentry, NASA managers had limited the investigation, reasoning that the crew could not have fixed the problem if it had been confirmed. When Columbia reentered the atmosphere of Earth, the damage allowed hot atmospheric gases to penetrate the heat shield and destroy the internal wing structure, which caused the orbiter to become unstable and break apart. The mission was the second that ended in disaster in the Space Shuttle program after the loss of Challenger and all seven crew members during ascent in 1986.
- U.S. Route 34 in Iowa, nominated by Fredddie
- U.S. Highway 34 (US 34) is a United States Highway that runs across the southern third of Iowa. US 34 was one of the original U.S. Highways when the system was created in 1926, though it was preceded by the Blue Grass Route, a 310-mile-long (500 km) auto trail that connected Council Bluffs and Burlington. The Blue Grass Route was assigned Primary Road No. 8 in its entirety in 1920, and six years later, No. 8 was renamed U.S. Highway 34. In 1930, the highway became the first road to be fully paved across the state. By the 1950s, increased traffic and larger automobiles proved the original pavement inadequate. The highway was straightened and widened to accommodate modern vehicles.
- Eric Harrison (RAAF officer), nominated by Ian Rose
- Eric Harrison (10 August 1886 – 5 September 1945) was an Australian aviator who made the country's first military flight, and helped lay the foundations of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Born in Victoria, Harrison was a flying instructor in Britain when, in 1912, he answered the Australian Defence Department's call for pilots to form an aviation school. Along with Henry Petre, he established Australia's first air base at Point Cook, Victoria, and its inaugural training unit, the Central Flying School (CFS), before making his historic flight in March 1914. Following the outbreak of World War I, when Petre went on active service with the Mesopotamian Half Flight, Harrison took charge of instructing student pilots of the Australian Flying Corps at CFS, and maintaining its fleet of obsolescent aircraft. Harrison transferred to the RAAF as one of its founding members in 1921.
- Lake Street Transfer station, nominated by John M Wolfson
- The Lake Street Transfer station was a rapid transit station on the Chicago "L", serving as a transfer station between its Lake Street Elevated Railroad and the Logan Square branch of its Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad. Located where the Logan Square branch crossed over the Lake Street Elevated, it was in service from 1913 to 1951, when it was rendered obsolete by the construction of the Dearborn Street subway.
- Roanoke Island, North Carolina, half dollar, nominated by Wehwalt
- The Roanoke Island, North Carolina, half dollar is a commemorative coin issued by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1937. The coin commemorated the 350th anniversary of the Roanoke Colony, depicting Sir Walter Raleigh on one side, and Eleanor Dare on the other, holding her child, Virginia Dare, the first child of English descent born in an English colony in the Americas.
- "Can I Get It", nominated by MaranoFan (a.k.a. NØ)
- Another in a series of featured articles on pop songs by the prolific User:MaranoFan. This one, "Can I Get It" (to Featured Article?), is a song by English singer Adele from her fourth studio album 30 (2021), written with Swedish producers Max Martin and Shellback. A pop song with pop rock and country pop influences, "Can I Get It" has acoustic guitar, drum, and horn instrumentation and a whistled hook, which describes moving on from a breakup and explores Adele's search for true love and the thrilling and wondrous parts of a new relationship.
- Anna Lee Fisher, nominated by Hawkeye7 and Balon Greyjoy
- Anna Lee Fisher (née Sims; born August 24, 1949) is an American chemist, emergency physician and a former NASA astronaut. Formerly married to fellow astronaut Bill Fisher, and the mother of two children, in 1984, she became the first mother to fly in space. During her career at NASA, she was involved with three major programs: the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station and the Orion spacecraft.
- Rhodesia Information Centre, nominated by Nick-D
- The Rhodesia Information Centre (RIC, also known by various other names) represented the Rhodesian government in Australia from 1966 to 1980. As Australia did not recognise Rhodesia's independence it operated on an unofficial basis. The centre's activities included lobbying politicians, spreading propaganda about white minority rule in Rhodesia and advising Australian businesses on how they could evade the United Nations sanctions that had been imposed on the country. It collaborated with a far-right organisation and a pro-Rhodesia community organisation. These activities, and the centre's presence in Australia, violated United Nations Security Council resolutions, including some that specifically targeted it and the other Rhodesian diplomatic posts. The RIC had little impact, with Australian media coverage of the Rhodesian regime being almost entirely negative and the government's opposition to white minority rule in Rhodesia hardening over time.
- The Black Cat (US magazine), nominated by Mike Christie
- The Black Cat was an American fiction magazine launched in 1895 by Herman Umbstaetter, initially published in Boston, Massachusetts. It published only short stories, and had a reputation for originality and for encouraging new writers. Umbstaetter’s editorial approach was unusual in several ways: the cover price was low, at five cents; he paid on merit, not on story length; and he was willing to buy stories by new authors rather than insisting on well-known names. He frequently ran story contests to attract amateur writers. The magazine was immediately successful, and its circulation was boosted by the appearance in an early issue of “The Mysterious Card”, by Cleveland Moffett, which was so popular that two print runs of the issue it appeared in sold out. It ceased publication in 1923.
- Thomas Hardy (Royal Navy officer, died 1732), nominated by Pickersgill-Cunliffe
- Rear-Admiral Hardy joined the Royal Navy sometime before 1688 and saw action in the Battles of Barfleur and La Hougue in 1692. In 1702 he took command of HMS Pembroke. After fighting in the Battle of Cádiz, he discovered the location of the Franco-Spanish fleet, leading to the Battle of Vigo Bay. In August 1707, while escorting a convoy to Lisbon, Hardy's squadron met that of René Duguay-Trouin, chasing him until dusk and then returning to the convoy. Returning to England, Hardy was court martialled for not fully engaging Duguay-Trouin, but was acquitted and returned to the Mediterranean in 1708 to see further combat. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1711. In 1715 he was second-in-command of the Baltic Fleet during in the Great Northern War. He was dismissed in 1716, possibly because of Jacobite sympathies.
- Robert Nimmo, nominated by Peacemaker67
- Lieutenant General Nimmo was a senior Australian Army officer who served in both world wars and later with the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan, as General Officer Commanding (GOC) Northern Command in Australia, and finally as the chief military observer of the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan from 1950 until his death in 1966. In this last role, he was responsible for monitoring the 800-kilometre (500 mi)-long ceasefire line between the Indian and Pakistani armed forces, and proved so successful that, in 1964, the UN Secretariat described him as "by far the most successful United Nations observer".
- Dish-bearers and butlers in Anglo-Saxon England, nominated by Dudley Miles
- Dish-bearers (often called seneschals by historians) and butlers (or cup-bearers) were thegns who acted as personal attendants of kings in Anglo-Saxon England. Royal feasts played an important role in consolidating community and hierarchy among the elite, and dish-bearers and butlers served the food and drinks at these meals. Thegns were members of the aristocracy, leading landowners who occupied the third lay (non-religious) rank in English society after the king and ealdormen. Dish-bearers and butlers probably also carried out diverse military and administrative duties as required by the king. Some went on to have illustrious careers as ealdormen, but most never rose higher than thegn.
Featured pictures
Twenty-five featured pictures were promoted this period, including the ones at the top and bottom of this article.
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Texas Raiders by Alan Wilson -
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Preparation of the nuclear device for the Cannikin nuclear test by United States Atomic Energy Commission -
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Cliff above Mud village, Spiti by Timothy Gonsalves -
John Henry Turpin by unknown photographer, restored by Adam Cuerden -
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Winding road below Shingo La by Timothy Gonsalves -
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Featured topics
One featured topic, by Parsecboy, was promoted this period.
13 articles
Featured lists
Fifteen featured lists were promoted this period.
- List of World Heritage Sites in Laos, nominated by Tone
- The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designates World Heritage Sites of outstanding universal value to cultural or natural heritage which have been nominated by countries which are signatories to the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972. As of 2023[update], Laos has three sites on the list. The town of Luang Prabang was listed in 1995, Vat Phou in 2001, and the Plain of Jars in 2019. In addition, Laos has two sites on its tentative list.
- List of World Heritage Sites in Bangladesh, nominated by Tone
- Similar to the above. As of 2023[update], there are three World Heritage Sites in Bangladesh, and a further five on the tentative list. The first two sites listed were the Mosque City of Bagerhat and the Ruins of the Buddhist Vihara at Paharpur, in 1985. The most recent site, the Sundarbans, was listed in 1997.
- List of Formula One Grand Prix wins by Fernando Alonso, nominated by Radioactive39
- Fernando Alonso is a Spanish racing driver who has won the Formula One World Championship twice. The World Championship, however, is made up of many races, so, for example, while his five race wins in 2010 weren't enough to win the championship, he still had five wins that year.
- List of Music Bank Chart winners (2016), nominated by EN-Jungwon and Jal11497
- The Music Bank Chart is a record chart established in 1998 on the South Korean KBS television music program Music Bank.
- Snooker world rankings 1978/1979, nominated by BennyOnTheLoose
- The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, the governing body for professional snooker, first published official world rankings for players on the main tour for the 1976–77 season. Before this, the defending champion was seeded first, and the previous year's runner-up second, for each tournament.
- List of municipalities in Quebec, nominated by Hwy43
- Quebec is the second-most populous province in Canada with 8,501,833 residents as of 2021 and is the largest in land area at 1,298,599.75 km2 (501,392.17 sq mi). For statistical purposes, the province is divided into 1,282 census subdivisions, which are municipalities and equivalents.
- List of commelinid family names with etymologies, nominated by Dank
- The commelinids are a group of 29 interrelated families of flowering plants, named for one of the four included orders, Commelinales. They account for most of the global agricultural output; the grass family alone contains the major cereal grains (including rice, wheat, and maize or corn), along with forage grasses, sugar cane, and bamboo. The palm, banana, ginger, pineapple and sedge families are also in the commelinid clade.
- List of international goals scored by Aleksandar Mitrović, nominated by Amanuensis Balkanicus
- Aleksandar Mitrović is a Serbian professional footballer who has represented the Serbia national football team as a forward since his debut on 7 June 2013 in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Belgium On 6 September 2013, he scored his first international goal in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Croatia, in what was his third international appearance. Since then, he has become Serbia's all-time record goalscorer with 52 goals in 79 matches.
- List of prime ministers of Australia, nominated by JML1148
- The prime minister of Australia is the leader of the Government of Australia and the Cabinet of Australia, with the support of the majority of the House of Representatives. Thirty-one people have served in the position since the office was created in 1901. The prime minister is appointed by the governor-general, themselves appointed by the monarch of Australia based on the advice of the incumbent prime minister.
- List of Billboard number-one R&B songs of 1958, nominated by ChrisTheDude
- The magazine Billboard published its first chart, a list of popular sheet music, in 1913. Since then, it's become the American standard for lists of the most popular music, both as a whole and by genre.
- GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film – Limited Release, nominated by PanagiotisZois
- The GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film – Limited Release is an annual award that honors films that received a limited release for excellence in the depiction of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) characters and themes. It is one of several categories of the annual GLAAD Media Awards, which are presented by GLAAD—an American non-governmental media monitoring organization—at ceremonies held primarily in New York City and Los Angeles between March and May.
- List of birds of Tuvalu, nominated by AryKun
- Tuvalu is an island country in Polynesia in the Pacific Ocean. It consists of six atolls and three reef islands (islands made of rocks from coral skeletons), with a total land area of 26 km2 (10 sq mi). Its climate is hot and humid, with annual rainfall varying from 2,500–3,500 mm (98–138 in). The soil is very weakly developed, consisting mostly of coral sand and calcium carbonate-rich regosols. Vegetation on the islands predominantly consists of coconuts, screw palms, Casuarina, creepers, and grass, although some native forest exists. There are 37 species of birds that have been recorded on Tuvalu, one of which has been introduced by humans.
- List of FIFA World Cup winning managers, nominated by NapHit
- The FIFA World Cup is considered the most prestigious association football tournament in the world. The twenty-two World Cup tournaments have been won by eight national teams. The role of the manager is to select the squad for the World Cup and develop the tactics of the team. Pressure is attached to the role due to the significance of winning a World Cup and the lack of day-to-day contact with players during the regular club season aside from international breaks.
- List of international goals scored by Henrikh Mkhitaryan, nominated by Idiosincrático
- Henrikh Mkhitaryan is an Armenian professional footballer who represented the Armenia national football team as a midfielder from his debut in 2007 until his international retirement in 2022. A ten-time Armenian Footballer of the Year, Mkhitaryan scored 32 goals in 95 international appearances, making him the country's all-time top scorer; he surpassed Artur Petrosyan's record of 11 goals on 15 October 2013 when he scored in a 2–2 World Cup qualifier draw with Italy.
- List of winners of Triple Crown of Motorsport races, nominated by EnthusiastWorld37
- The Triple Crown of Motorsport is an unofficial achievement for motor racing drivers that is generally regarded as winning motorsport's three most prestigious races. These annual events are the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race at the Circuit de la Sarthe, the Indianapolis 500 for American open-wheel racing cars at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the Monaco Grand Prix for Formula One cars at the Circuit de Monaco. As the Indianapolis 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix are both traditionally held on the last weekend of May, it is impossible for modern drivers to enter all three Triple Crown events in the same year, and no-one ever has; indeed, only Graham Hill has ever won all three.
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Cyrano de Bergerac, a 1950 film by Michael Gordon and one of our latest featured (moving) pictures. Click to play, if you have about an hour and a half.
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