Here the community can nominate articles to be selected as "Today's featured article" (TFA) on the main page. The TFA section aims to highlight the range of articles that have "featured article" status, from Art and architecture through to Warfare, and wherever possible it tries to avoid similar topics appearing too close together without good reason. Requests are not the only factor in scheduling the TFA (see Choosing Today's Featured Article); the final decision rests with the TFA coordinators: Wehwalt, Dank and Gog the Mild, who also select TFAs for dates where no suggestions are put forward. Please confine requests to this page, and remember that community endorsement on this page does not necessarily mean the article will appear on the requested date.
If you have an exceptional request that deviates from these instructions (for example, an article making a second appearance as TFA, or a "double-header"), please discuss the matter with the TFA coordinators beforehand. It can be helpful to add the article to the pending requests template, if the desired date for the article is beyond the 30-day period. This does not guarantee selection, but does help others see what nominations may be forthcoming. Requesters should still nominate the article here during the 30-day time-frame. Purge the cache to refresh this page – Check TFAR nominations for dead links – Alt text |
Featured article candidates (FAC) Today's featured article (TFA):
Featured article tools: | ||||||||
How to post a new nomination:
Scheduling: In the absence of exceptional circumstances, TFAs are scheduled in date order, not according to how long nominations have been open or how many supportive comments they have. So, for example, January 31 will not be scheduled until January 30 has been scheduled (by TFAR nomination or otherwise). |
Currently accepting requests from September 1toOctober 1.
Date | Article | Notes | Supports† | Opposes† |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nonspecific 1 | Addie Viola Smith | 1 | ||
Nonspecific 2 | Qalaherriaq | 1 | ||
Nonspecific 3 | 1894–95 New Brompton F.C. season | 1 | ||
Nonspecific 4 | ||||
Nonspecific 5 | ||||
Nonspecific 6 | ||||
Nonspecific 7 | ||||
September 2 | Falcon's Fury | 10th anniversary of official opening | 1 | 0 |
September 10 | Ken "Snakehips" Johnson | 110th anniversary of birth | 2 | 0 |
September 12 | Tropical Storm Hanna (2002) | 22nd anniversary of formation | 1 | 0 |
September 13 | September 1964 South Vietnamese coup attempt | 60th Annivesary | 1 | 0 |
September 13 | The Notorious B.I.G. | 30th anniversary of the Notorious B.I.G.'s album Ready to Die | 1 | 0 |
September 15 | al-Musta'li | 950th birthday | 1 | 0 |
September 17 | Frederick Browning | 80th anniversary of Operation Market Garden | 1 | 0 |
September 25 | SMS Helgoland (1909) | 115th anniversary of launch | 1 | 0 |
October 1 | The Founding Ceremony of the Nation | 75th anniversary of event depicted | 1 | 0 |
† Tally may not be up to date. The nominator is included in the number of supporters.
Addie Viola Smith (November 14, 1893 – December 13, 1975) was an American attorney who served as the United States trade commissioner to Shanghai from 1928 to 1949, the first female Foreign Service officer in the United States Foreign Service to work under the United States Department of Commerce, and the first woman to serve as trade commissioner. Smith was born and raised in Stockton, California. In 1917, she moved to Washington, D.C. While working for the United States Department of Labor, she attended the Washington College of Law part-time, earning her bachelor of laws in 1920. In October that year she joined the Foreign Service and was assigned to Beijing as a clerk in the trade commissioner's office. Smith was promoted to assistant trade commissioner in Shanghai in 1922, and appointed trade commissioner there in 1928. She later held roles in the U.S. government, international organizations, and the United Nations. Throughout her life, Smith was also a member of several feminist organizations. Smith met her life partner, Eleanor Mary Hinder, in Shanghai in 1926. Both were memorialized by their friends with two stone seats at the E.G. Waterhouse National Camellia GardensinCaringbah. (Full article...)
Qalaherriaq (baptized Erasmus Augustine Kallihirua) was an Inughuit hunter from Cape York in northwestern Greenland. Born around 1834, he was taken aboard the British barque HMS Assistance in 1850 as an interpreter during the search for Franklin's lost expedition. He guided the ship to Wolstenholme Fjord to investigate rumors of a massacre of Franklin's crew, but found the corpses of local Inughuit and crew from an unrelated British vessel. Poor sea conditions prevented the Assistance from returning to his family, and he was instead taken to England and placed in the custody of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. He was enrolled in St Augustine's CollegeatCanterbury and studied English and Christianity. In 1855, he tasked by the Bishop of Newfoundland to join him on a mission to the Labrador Inuit. His health problems, which he had developed during his interpreter service, worsened after his arrival in Newfoundland, and he died at St. John's in 1856, at around 22 years old. (Full article...)
During the 1894–95 English football season, New Brompton F.C. (since 1912 called Gillingham F.C.) competed in the Southern Football League Division Two. The club had been formed a year earlier but in its inaugural season played only friendly matches and games in the qualifying rounds of the FA Cup and FA Amateur Cup. In 1894, New Brompton turned professional and joined the newly-formed Southern League. The team dominated Division Two of the new league, winning all but one of their matches, and gained promotion to Division One by winning an end-of-season "test match" against Swindon Town, who had finished bottom of the higher division. New Brompton also entered the FA Cup, reaching the third qualifying round. The team played 15 competitive matches, winning 13, drawing none, and losing two. Arthur Rule was the team's top goalscorer for the season. The highest attendance recorded at the club's home, the Athletic Ground, was approximately 8,000 for the visit of Chatham in the FA Cup. (Full article...)
Arthur Oswin Austin (December 28, 1879 – June 7, 1964) was an American electrical engineer and inventor. He is best known as the inventor of the Austin transformer, used to supply power for lighting circuits on radio towers. Austin's work included improvements to radio transmission equipment and the effects of lightning on high-voltage transmission lines and aircraft. He was a fellow of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers and of the Institute of Radio Engineers, and was known as an expert in high-voltage insulators and fittings. His work on transmitting antennas included both military and civilian projects. Born in California, Austin graduated from Stanford University with a degree in electrical engineering. He spent most of his adult life in Ohio where he worked for the Ohio Brass Company and founded the Austin Insulator Company. He bought a large estate in Barberton, Ohio, lived in the mansion, and built an extensive outdoor electrical laboratory on the grounds. (Full article...)
Falcon's Fury is a freestanding Sky Jump drop tower attraction at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay amusement park in Tampa, Florida. Manufactured by Intaride, a subsidiary of Intamin, the ride is North America's tallest freestanding drop tower, at a maximum height of 335 feet (102 m). It is also the first drop tower to use 90-degree tilting seats, facing riders straight down through five seconds of free fall. They reach a speed of 60 miles per hour (100 km/h) before rotating back into a vertical position and decelerating at about 3.5 Gs. The ride's name is meant to suggest a falcon's ability to dive steeply at high speed to capture prey. Due to the height of the attraction, approval from the Federal Aviation Administration was required. Construction was delayed until 2013, and the opening date was also delayed by mechanical and technical issues. Falcon's Fury opened to park employees in August before a soft opening on August 16, 2014, and an official opening on September 2, 2014. (Full article...)
Ken "Snakehips" Johnson was a swing band leader and leading figure in black British music of the 1930s and 1940s. Born in British Guiana, he was educated in Britain and travelled to New York to immerse himself in the Harlem jazz scene. He returned to Britain and established the Aristocrats (or Emperors) of Jazz, a mainly black swing band, with Leslie Thompson. In 1937 Johnson took control of the band through a legal loophole, causing the departure of Thompson and several musicians. Johnson filled the vacancies with Caribbean musicians, the band's popularity grew, and it changed its name to the West Indian Dance Orchestra. In 1938 the band broadcast on BBC Radio, recorded their first discs and appeared in an early television broadcast. Johnson was considered a pioneer for black musical leaders in the UK. Employed as the house band at the Café de Paris, a German bombing raid in 1941 hit the facility, killing Johnson. (Full article...)
Tropical Storm Hanna was the ninth tropical cyclone and eighth named storm of the 2002 Atlantic hurricane season. Hanna formed through the complex interaction of a surface trough, a tropical wave, and an upper-level low pressure system. Initially designated a tropical depression, it attained tropical storm status and a peak intensity of 1,001 mbar (29.6 inHg), with winds of 60 miles per hour (100 km/h). Hanna crossed southeastern Louisiana, and made a second landfall along the Alabama–Mississippi border. On Dauphin Island, Alabama, the storm caused coastal flooding which closed roads and forced the evacuation of residents. Florida received high wind gusts, heavy rainfall, and strong surf that resulted in the deaths of three swimmers. 20,000 homes in the state lost electricity. In Georgia, significant flooding occurred. Crop damage was extensive, and about 335 structures were damaged by the flooding. The storm caused a total of about $20 million USD in damage. (Full article...)
Anattempted coup took place on September 13, 1964, in South Vietnam against the ruling military junta, led by Nguyễn Khánh (pictured). In the proceeding month, Khánh tried to improve his leadership by declaring a state of emergency, provoking protests and riots. He made concessions to the protesters and removed military officials linked to former President Ngo Dinh Diem, including Lâm Văn Phát and Dương Văn Đức. They responded with a coup, broadcasting their promise to revive Diem's policies. Khánh evaded capture and rallied allies while the U.S. continued their support for his rule. Khánh forced Phát and Đức to capitulate the next morning and various coup leaders appeared at a media conference where they denied that a coup had taken place. To maintain power, Khánh tried to court support from Buddhist activists, who supported negotiations to end the Vietnam War. As the Americans were strongly opposed to such policies, relations with Khánh became strained. (Full article...)
Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names The Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta rap, he is widely considered to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Wallace became known for his distinctive laid-back lyrical delivery, offsetting the lyrics' often grim content. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, Wallace signed with Sean "Puffy" Combs' label Bad Boy Records as it launched in 1993, and gained exposure through features on several other artists' singles that year. His debut studio album Ready to Die (1994) was met with widespread critical acclaim and supported by his signature songs, "Juicy", "Big Poppa", and "One More Chance". The album made him the central figure in East Coast hip hop, and restored New York's visibility at a time when the West Coast hip hop scene was dominating the genre. "Big Poppa" earned a nomination for Best Solo Rap Performance at the 38th Annual Grammy Awards, while Wallace himself won Rap Artist of the Year at the 1995 Billboard Music Awards. That same year, he introduced and led his protégé group Junior M.A.F.I.A., which included Lil' Kim, to chart success with executive production on their debut album, Conspiracy (1995). During 1995, while recording his second album, Wallace became ensnarled in the escalating East Coast–West Coast hip hop feud. (Full article...)
al-Mustaʿlī biʾllāh was the ninth Fatimid caliph and the nineteenth imamofMusta'li Ismailism. He became caliph through the machinations of his brother-in-law al-Afdal Shahanshah. In response, his oldest brother, Nizar, revolted in Alexandria; his defeat and execution split the Isma'ili movement. al-Musta'li remained subordinate to al-Afdal, who was the de facto ruler of the Fatimid Caliphate. The Caliphate's territory in Egypt experienced a period of good government and prosperity, but the Fatimids suffered setbacks in Syria, where they faced the advance of the Seljuk Turks. Al-Afdal recovered the port city of Tyre and recaptured Jerusalem in the turmoil caused by the arrival of the First Crusade. Despite Fatimid attempts to make common cause with the Crusaders against the Seljuks, the latter advanced south and captured Jerusalem in July 1099 and defeated the Fatimid army at the Battle of Ascalon. Al-Musta'li died in 1101 and was succeeded by his son al-Amir. (Full article...)
Sir Frederick "Boy" Browning (1896–1965) (pictured) was a British Army general who has been called the "father of the British airborne forces". He was also an Olympic bobsleigh competitor, and the husband of author Daphne du Maurier. Educated at Eton College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, he was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards in 1915 and served on the Western Front in the First World War. During the Second World War, he commanded the I Airborne CorpsinOperation Market Garden in September 1944. During the planning for this operation, he was alleged to have said: "I think we might be going a bridge too far." In December 1944 he became Chief of Staff of Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten's South East Asia Command. After the war he was Comptroller and TreasurertoHer Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh. After she ascended to the throne as Queen Elizabeth II in 1952, he became treasurer in the Office of the Duke of Edinburgh. (Full article...)
John Watts Young (September 24, 1930 – January 5, 2018) was an American astronaut, naval officer and aviator, test pilot, and aeronautical engineer. He became the ninth person to walk on the Moon as commander of the Apollo 16 mission in 1972. He flew on four different classes of spacecraft: Gemini, the Apollo command and service module, the Apollo Lunar Module, and the Space Shuttle. Young served joined the US Navy aviator, and graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. He set several world time-to-climb records, and was selected as a member of NASA Astronaut Group 2 in 1962. He flew on the Gemini 3 mission in 1965, and then commanded the 1966 Gemini 10 mission. In 1969, he flew as the command module pilot on Apollo 10. After that, he commanded Apollo 16, and spent three days on the lunar surface exploring the Descartes Highlands with Charles Duke. Young also commanded STS-1 in 1981, the Space Shuttle program's first launch, and STS-9 in 1983. He retired from NASA in 2004. (Full article...)
SMS Helgoland (pictured) was a dreadnought battleship of the German Imperial Navy. Her design improved from the Nassau class, including an increase in the bore diameter of the main guns. Her keel was laid down at the Howaldtswerke shipyards in Kiel, launched on 25 September 1909, and commissioned on 23 August 1911. During World War I the ship participated in several sweeps into the North Sea as the covering force for the battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group. She saw limited duty in the Baltic Sea against the Russian Navy, including serving as part of a support force during the Battle of the Gulf of Riga in August 1915. Helgoland was present at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916, though she was located in the center of the German line of battle and not as heavily engaged as the ships in the lead. She was ceded to Great Britain after the war and broken up for scrap in the early 1920s. Her coat of arms is preserved in the Bundeswehr Military History MuseuminDresden. (Full article...)
The Founding Ceremony of the Nation is a 1953 oil painting by Chinese artist Dong Xiwen. It depicts Mao Zedong and other Communist officials inaugurating the People's Republic of ChinaatTiananmen Square on October 1, 1949. A prominent example of socialist realism, it is one of the most celebrated works of official Chinese art. After the Communists took control of China, they sought to memorialize their success with art. Dong was selected, and completed the painting in three months in a folk art style, drawing on historical Chinese art. The painting's success was assured when Mao viewed it and liked it, and it was widely reproduced for home display. Dong was ordered to remove Gao Gang from the painting in 1954 and Liu Shaoqi in 1967, after government purges. In 1972 a copy was made by other artists to accommodate another deletion. After the purged officials were rehabilitated, the replica was modified in 1979 to include them. Both canvases are in the National Museum of China in Beijing. (Full article...)