Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in 1962 and received his own title in 1968. Shortly after his creation, Iron Man became a founding member of the superhero team the Avengers, with Thor, Ant-Man, the Wasp and the Hulk. Iron Man stories have been published consistently since the character's creation. Iron Man is the superhero persona of Tony Stark, a businessman and engineer who runs the weapons manufacturing company Stark Industries. When Stark was captured in a war zone and sustained a severe heart wound, he built his Iron Man armor and escaped his captors. Iron Man's suits grant him superhuman strength, flight, energy projection and other abilities. Robert Downey Jr. (pictured) portrayed Tony Stark from 2008 to 2019. His portrayal popularized the character, making Iron Man one of Marvel's most recognizable superheroes. (Full article...)
Recently featured:Takin' It Back is the fifth major-label studio album by American singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor. Epic Records released it on October 21, 2022. Trainor worked with producers including Federico Vindver and Gian Stone and featured artists like Teddy Swims and Natti Natasha. Inspired by the sound of her album Title (2015) after its title track went viral on TikTok, Takin' It Back is a doo-wop and bubblegum-pop album about motherhood and self-acceptance. Trainor promoted the latter with televised performances and two singles, "Bad for Me" and "Made You Look". The latter peaked at number 11 in the US and reached the top 10 in several other countries. Reviewers thought Takin' It Back showcased Trainor's maturity, growth, and musicality, but they were divided on whether it was a progression from her earlier work. The album debuted at number 16 on the US Billboard 200. Its deluxe edition was supported by the single "Mother". (This article is part of two featured topics: Takin' It Back and Meghan Trainor albums.)
Recently featured:The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes is an interactive drama and survival horror video game, developed by Supermassive Games and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It is the third game of the first season of The Dark Pictures Anthology and was released on 22 October 2021. Ashley Tisdale (pictured) was marketed as the game's lead. Set during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the plot follows four Americans working for the US Armed Forces and one Iraqi Republican Guard who fall into a subterranean Akkadian temple where they must work together to survive the vampiric creatures that infest the area. The game features two single-player gameplay modes and two that are multiplayer, with one played online, while the other can be played locally. House of Ashes received mixed reviews from critics upon release. The fourth game in the series, The Devil in Me, was revealed in a teaser trailer at the end of House of Ashes, and released on 18 November 2022. (Full article...)
Recently featured:Wells Cathedral is an Anglican place of worship in Wells, Somerset, dedicated to Andrew the Apostle. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, whose cathedra it holds as mother church of the Diocese of Bath and Wells. Built as a Roman Catholic cathedral from around 1175 to replace an earlier church on the site since 705, it became an Anglican cathedral when Henry VIII split from Rome. Its Gothic architecture is mostly inspired from Early English style of the late 12th to early 13th centuries. The stonework of its pointed arcades and fluted piers bears pronounced mouldings and carved capitals in a foliate, "stiff-leaf" style. The east end retains much ancient stained glass. Unlike many cathedrals of monastic foundation, Wells has many surviving secular buildings linked to its chapter of secular canons, including the Bishop's Palace and the 15th-century residential Vicars' Close. It is a Grade I listed building. (Full article...)
Recently featured:Umbriel is the third-largest moon of Uranus. It was discovered on October 24, 1851, by William Lassell. Named after a character in the 1712 poem The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope, Umbriel is composed mainly of ice with a substantial fraction of rock. It may be differentiated into a rocky core and an icy mantle. Its surface, the darkest among Uranian moons, appears to have been shaped mostly by impacts, but the presence of canyons suggests early endogenic processes. This shows Umbriel may have undergone an early endogenically driven resurfacing event that erased its older surface. Covered by numerous impact craters reaching 210 km (130 mi) in diameter, Umbriel is the second-most heavily cratered satellite of Uranus after Oberon. Like all moons of Uranus, Umbriel likely formed from an accretion disk that surrounded the planet just after its formation. The only close study of Umbriel was conducted in January 1986 by Voyager 2, which captured images of about 40 percent of its surface during the spacecraft's flyby of Uranus. (Full article...)
Recently featured:The Fusō-class battleships were a pair of dreadnoughts built for the Imperial Japanese Navy before and during World War I: Fusō was launched in 1914, and Yamashiro (pictured) in 1915. During the 1930s, both ships underwent a series of modernizations and reconstructions. This increased their armor, replaced and upgraded their machinery, and rebuilt their superstructures into a distinctive pagoda-mast style. Despite the expensive reconstructions, both vessels were considered obsolescent by the eve of World War II, and neither saw significant action in the early years of the war. In 1944 both underwent upgrades to their anti-aircraft suite before transferring to Singapore. Fusō and Yamashiro were the only two Japanese battleships at the Battle of Surigao Strait, the southernmost action of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and both were lost in the early hours of 25 October 1944 to torpedoes and naval gunfire. Only ten crewmembers from each ship survived. (This article is part of a featured topic: Battleships of Japan.)
Recently featured:Katy Perry (born October 25, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. She released her debut album in 2001, then signed to Capitol Records in 2007. Perry rose to fame in 2008 with the release of the single "I Kissed a Girl". She has released seven studio albums, most recently 143 in September 2024. Perry has the second-most US diamond certified singles for any female artist (six). She has received various accolades, including a Billboard Spotlight Award, four Guinness World Records, five Billboard Music Awards, five American Music Awards, a Brit Award, and a Juno Award. Perry is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 143 million units worldwide. She made her film debut voicing Smurfette in The Smurfs in 2011, released a documentary film in 2012, and launched her own shoe line, Katy Perry Collections, in 2017. Perry served as a judge on American Idol between 2018 and 2024. (Full article...)
Recently featured:Hadji Ali (c. 1888–1892 – 1937) was a vaudeville performance artist, thought to be of Egyptian descent, who was famous for acts of controlled regurgitation. His feats included water spouting, smoke swallowing and nut and handkerchief swallowing followed by disgorgement in an order chosen by the audience. The mainstay of Ali's act was water spouting (poster pictured). After swallowing 60 to 100 glasses of water at a time, he spouted it in a continuous stream sometimes for up to one minute. Ali's most famous stunt, and the highlight of his act, was drinking water followed by kerosene, and then acting by turns as a human flamethrower and fire extinguisher as he expelled the two liquids onto a theatrical prop. Ali had a dedicated following on the vaudeville circuit in the United States and performed for heads of state, including Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. After he died in England, his body was offered to Johns Hopkins University for study, though the offer was declined. (Full article...)
Recently featured:Cucurbita (Latin for gourd) is a genus of vines in the gourd family, native to the Andes and Mesoamerica. Five species are grown worldwide, variously known as squash, pumpkin, or gourd depending on species, variety, and local parlance. The fruits have played a role in human culture for at least 2,000 years. First cultivated in the Americas before being brought to Europe by returning explorers, the plants remain an important food source. Most Cucurbita species are herbaceous vines that grow several meters in length and have tendrils, but bush cultivars of C. pepo and C. maxima have also been developed. Many North and Central American species are visited by honey bees, as well as specialist bees that pollinate only a single species. Most of the domesticated species can be considered winter squash, since the full-grown fruits can be stored for months. Their extracts have many uses, including in cosmetics. The fruits are also good sources of vitamins and minerals. (Full article...)
Recently featured:The 1921 Centre vs. Harvard football game was a regular-season collegiate American football game played on October 29, 1921, at Harvard Stadium in Boston, Massachusetts. The contest featured the undefeated Centre Praying Colonels, representing Centre College, and the undefeated Harvard Crimson, representing Harvard University. Centre entered the game as heavy underdogs, as Harvard had received 3-to-1 odds to win prior to kickoff. The only score of the game came less than two minutes into the third quarter when Centre quarterback Bo McMillin rushed for a touchdown. The conversion failed but the Colonels' defense held for the remainder of the game, and Centre won the game 6–0. The game is widely viewed as one of the largest upsets in college football history. It is often referred to by the shorthand "C6H0"; this originated shortly after the game when a Centre professor remarked that Harvard had been poisoned by this "impossible" chemical formula. (Full article...)
Recently featured:October 23: Shemini Atzeret begins at sunset (Judaism); Mole Day
Paulina Wright DavisOctober 24: Simchat Torah begins at sunset (Jewish diaspora)
Bust of QutuzOctober 29: Republic Day in Turkey (1923)
Marmaray trainThe house sparrow (Passer domesticus) is a passerine bird of the sparrow family Passeridae. Originally native to Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and a large part of Asia, it is now found in most parts of the world and is the most widely distributed wild bird. It is closely associated with human habitation and resides in both urban and rural areas. The house sparrow is a small bird with a typical length of 16 cm (6.3 in) and a mass of 24–39.5 g (0.85–1.39 oz). Females and young birds are coloured pale brown and grey, and males have brighter black, white, and brown markings. It is sometimes considered a pest but is also sometimes kept as a pet or used as a food item. This male house sparrow was photographed in Prospect Park, New York City, United States.
Photograph credit: Rhododendrites
Recently featured:X-rays are a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation, with wavelengths shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays – roughly in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometres. X-rays were discovered by German scientist Wilhelm Röntgen in 1895, who named them X-radiation to signify an unknown type of radiation. X-rays can penetrate many solid substances such as construction materials and living tissue, and X-ray radiography is widely used in medical diagnostics. This medical significance was noticed by Röntgen shortly after he discovered X-rays; this print, titled Hand mit Ringen (Hand with Rings), is a print of his first medical X-ray, taken of his wife Anna Bertha Ludwig's hand in December 1895.
Print credit: Wilhelm Röntgen; restored by Yann Forget
Recently featured:Archibald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso (22 October 1890 – 15 June 1970) was a Scottish politician and leader of the Liberal Party. After an education at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Sinclair served on the Western Front during the First World War, rising to the rank of Major and working under J. E. B. Seely and Winston Churchill. After the war he worked with Churchill again when the latter was Secretary of State for War and Secretary of State for the Colonies. Sinclair entered the House of Commons as a Liberal MP in 1922, rising to become the party's Chief Whip by 1930. When the Liberal Party joined the National Government of Ramsay MacDonald in 1931, Sinclair was appointed Secretary of State for Scotland, holding the post until his party resigned from the government in 1932. He took over as Liberal Party leader in 1935 after incumbent Herbert Samuel lost his seat in the election. Sinclair returned to government as Secretary of State for Air in 1940, under Churchill's all-party Second World War coalition government. In this role he worked with the Royal Air Force (RAF) to plan the Battle of Britain. Sinclair remained a minister until the end of the coalition in 1945, but then lost his seat in the 1945 general election. He was elevated to the House of Lords in 1952. This portrait of Sinclair was taken by the RAF official photographer during the Second World War.
Photograph credit: Royal Air Force official photographer
Recently featured:The hairy dragonfly (Brachytron pratense) is a species of European dragonfly in the hawker family, Aeshnidae. It is found in Europe and Asia Minor, as far east as the Caspian Sea, and resides close to water bodies containing plants with a flight season running from May to July. The hairy dragonfly is named for its hairy thorax, distinguishing it from other hawkers. With a typical length of around 5.5 centimetres (2.2 in), it has a long, narrow pterostigma and features coupled, oval-shaped markings on its abdomen, blue on males and yellow on females. This male hairy dragonfly on a fern was photographed in Burren National Park, County Clare, Ireland.
Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
Recently featured:The mortuary temple of Hatshepsut is a mortuary temple built during the reign of Hatshepsut, a pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, around the 15th century BC. Located opposite the city of Luxor, the temple's three terraces rise above the desert floor and into the cliffs of Deir el-Bahari. Hatshepsut's tomb lies inside the same massif, capped by El Qurn, a pyramid for her mortuary complex. At the edge of the desert, one kilometre (0.6 miles) east, connected to the complex by a causeway lies the accompanying valley temple. Across the river Nile, the whole structure points towards the monumental Eighth Pylon, Hatshepsut's most recognizable addition to the temple of Karnak. The temple's twin functions are identified by its axes: its main east–west axis served to receive the barque of Amun-Re at the climax of the festival, while its north–south axis represented the life cycle of the pharaoh from coronation to rebirth. This aerial photograph shows the reconstructed mortuary temple of Hatshepsut, viewed from the southeast.
Photograph credit: Diego Delso
Recently featured:USS Johnston was a Fletcher-class destroyer built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was named after Lieutenant John V. Johnston, a navy officer during the American Civil War. The ship was laid down in May 1942 and was launched in March 1943, entering active duty later that year as part of the US Pacific Fleet. Johnston provided naval gunfire support for American ground forces during the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign in 1944 and again, after three months of patrol and escort duty in the Solomon Islands, during the recapture of Guam in July. Thereafter, Johnston was tasked with escorting escort carriers during the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign and the liberation of the Philippines. On 25 October 1944, Johnston and various other ships were engaged by a large Imperial Japanese Navy flotilla, in what became known as the Battle off Samar. After engaging several Japanese capital ships and a destroyer squadron, Johnston was sunk with 187 dead. Johnston's wreck was discovered in 2019, and at a depth of more than 20,000 feet (6,100 m) below the surface, is one of the deepest shipwrecks ever surveyed. This photograph shows Johnston in Seattle in October 1943.
Photograph credit: unidentified US Navy photographer; restored by Adam Cuerden and Cobatfor
Recently featured:The greater white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons) is a species of goose in the family Anatidae. It is closely related to the lesser white-fronted goose, which is smaller. The greater white-fronted goose is migratory, breeding in northern Canada, Alaska, Greenland and Russia, and winters farther south in North America, Europe and Asia. The greater white-fronted goose has a length of 64 to 81 cm (25 to 32 in), a wingspan of 130 to 165 cm (51 to 65 in), and a mass of 1.93 to 3.31 kg (4 lb 4 oz to 7 lb 5 oz). Males are typically larger in size, and both sexes are similar in appearance – greyish brown with light grey breasts dappled with dark brown to black blotches and bars. Both males and females also have a pinkish bill, and orange legs and feet. This greater white-fronted goose was photographed in flight in the Central Valley of the US state of California.
Photograph credit: Frank Schulenburg
Recently featured:Acer negundo, also known as the box elder, is a species of maple in the family Sapindaceae, native to North America. It is a fast-growing, short-lived tree with opposite, ash-like compound leaves. It is sometimes considered a weedy or invasive species, and has been naturalized throughout much of the world. It grows up to 10 to 25 metres (35 to 80 feet) tall, with a trunk diameter of 30 to 50 centimetres (12 to 20 inches). Male and female flowers appear on separate plants, with flowers on male plants generally appearing in clusters of four and flowers on female plants appearing as a raceme. These flowers of a female A. negundo plant were photographed in Keila, Estonia.
Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus
Recently featured:Le roi d'Ys is an opera in three acts by the French composer Édouard Lalo, to a libretto by Édouard Blau. It is based on the old Breton legend of the drowned city of Ys, which was according to the legend the capital of the kingdom of Cornouaille. The opera includes a noteworthy aubade for tenor in act 3, titled "Vainement, ma bien-aimée" (In vain, my beloved). Le roi d'Ys premiered on 7 May 1888 at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris, in a production by the Opéra-Comique. Within France, the opera was regarded as Lalo's most recognized work. This poster was produced by Auguste François-Marie Gorguet for the 1888 premiere of Le roi d'Ys, and depicts the final scene of the opera.
Poster credit: Auguste François-Marie Gorguet; restored by Adam Cuerden
Recently featured:The yak (Bos grunniens) is a species of long-haired domesticated cattle in the family Bovidae. It is found throughout the Himalayas in Pakistan, India, the Tibetan Plateau of China, Tajikistan, and as far north as Mongolia and Siberia, Russia. Yak physiology is well adapted to high altitudes and cold weather, featuring larger lungs and heart than other cattle, a greater capacity for transporting oxygen through their blood and a thick layer of subcutaneous fat. Yaks have been domesticated in areas such as Mongolia and Tibet, primarily for their fibre, milk and meat, and as beasts of burden. Yaks' milk is often processed to a cheese called chhurpi in the Tibetan and Nepali languages, and byaslag in Mongolia, while butter made from yaks' milk is an ingredient of Tibetan butter tea. This yak was photographed near the river Chuya in the Altai Republic, a region in southern Siberia.
Photograph credit: Alexandr Frolov
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