The Wikipedia article of the day for September 22, 2021 is The Triumph of Cleopatra. The Triumph of Cleopatra is an oil painting by the English artist William Etty, depicting a scene from Plutarch’s Life of Antony and Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, in which Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, voyages to Tarsus to cement an alliance with the Roman general Mark Antony. The painting shows a large group of people in various states of nudity, watching her ship’s arrival. First exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 1821, the painting was an immediate success and made the then-obscure Etty famous almost overnight. Although some commentators considered it offensive and indecent, the painting’s success prompted Etty to spend the next decade…
Month: September 2021
Banksia sceptrum
The Wikipedia article of the day for September 21, 2021 is Banksia sceptrum. Banksia sceptrum, the sceptre banksia, is a plant that grows in Western Australia near the central west coast from Geraldton north through Kalbarri to Hamelin Pool, extending inland almost to Mullewa. It is generally a shrub up to 4 m (13 ft) in diameter and 2–4 m (7–13 ft) high, sometimes reaching 5 m (16 ft). First collected and grown by early settler James Drummond in Western Australia, it was described by Swiss botanist Carl Meissner in 1855. In nature, B. sceptrum grows in deep yellow or pale red sand in tall shrubland, commonly on dunes. It is killed in bushfires and regenerates by seed, the woody follicles opening with fire. B. sceptrum is one…
William IV
The Wikipedia article of the day for September 20, 2021 is William IV. William IV (1765–1837) was King of Britain and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death on 20 June 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded his elder brother George IV, becoming the last king and penultimate monarch of Britain’s House of Hanover. William served in the Royal Navy in his youth, and was later nicknamed the “Sailor King”. As his two older brothers died without leaving legitimate issue, he inherited the throne when he was 64 years old. His reign saw several reforms: the poor law was updated, child labour restricted, slavery abolished in nearly all of the British Empire, and the British electoral system refashioned by the…
M-1 (Michigan highway)
The Wikipedia article of the day for September 19, 2021 is M-1 (Michigan highway). M-1 is a north–south state trunkline highway in the Metro Detroit area of the US state of Michigan. The highway runs from Detroit north-northwesterly to Pontiac. The Federal Highway Administration has listed it as the Automotive Heritage Trail, an All-American Road in the National Scenic Byways Program. Created after Detroit’s Great Fire of 1805, the road follows the route of the Saginaw Trail, a Native American trail that linked Detroit with Pontiac, Flint, and Saginaw. M-1 passes through several historic districts in Detroit, and runs next to the Highland Park Ford Plant, home of the original moving assembly line used to produce Model Ts. Commonly known as…