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Today's featured article archive

December 1

Crop from CDC publicity poster

Julio and Marisol was a bilingual public-service advertising campaign that ran from 1989 to 2001 in the New York City Subway promoting condom use to prevent AIDS. The well-known catchphrase was a line from the first installment, in which Marisol sobs, "I love you, but not enough to die for you". The story follows a young Hispanic couple as they explore human sexuality and the effects of the AIDS epidemic on their relationship. Designed to appeal to a Hispanic audience particularly at risk due to cultural attitudes discouraging condom use, it has been described as "one part steamy soap opera, one part language instruction, and two parts AIDS education service". The ads were praised by public health officials for presenting situations which people could relate to, and by AIDS activists for breaking down the social stigma associated with the disease. They drew criticism, however, from family values advocates who objected to the promotion of condoms and the tacit acceptance of homosexuality. (Full article...)

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December 2

SMS Pommern was a Deutschland-class pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial German Navy at the AG Vulcan Stettin yard at Stettin, Germany. Named after the Prussian province of Pomerania, she was laid down on 22 March 1904, launched on 2 December 1905, and commissioned into the navy on 6 August 1907. The ship was armed with four 28 cm (11 in) guns and had a top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph). Pommern was assigned to II Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet. At the start of World War I, she was stationed at the Elbe to support the defenses of the German Bight. She participated in sorties into the North Sea in attempts to destroy portions of the British Grand Fleet. These offensive operations culminated in the Battle of Jutland, where she was hit by torpedoes, which detonated one of her 17-centimeter (6.7 in) gun magazines. The resulting explosion broke the ship in half and killed the entire crew. (This article is part of a featured topic: Battleships of Germany.)

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December 3

Ovalipes catharus, commonly known as the paddle crab, swimming crab, or pāpaka in Māori, is a species of crab found in shallow, sandy-bottomed waters around the coasts of New Zealand, the Chatham Islands, and uncommonly in southern Australia. This species is an opportunistic, aggressive, and versatile feeder active mostly at night, preying predominantly on molluscs and crustaceans. It is also highly prone to cannibalism, which accounts for over a quarter of its diet in some locations. The crab's paddle-shaped rear legs and streamlined carapace allow it to capture prey by swimming rapidly and to escape predation by burrowing in the sand. Its mating season is in winter and spring, after which the female likely moves into deeper waters to incubate and disperse her larvae. Commercial fisheries have harvested paddle crabs since the 1970s, and O. catharus is present in Māori culture as both an artistic motif and as a traditional source of food. (Full article...)

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December 4

The flag of Hong Kong depicts a white stylised five-petal flower of the Hong Kong orchid tree (Bauhinia × blakeana) in the centre of a field of Chinese red, the same red as on the flag of China. The Hong Kong Basic Law prescribes the design, and it is only to be made according to regulation and in approved sizes. Regulations regarding its use are stated in the Regional Flag and Regional Emblem Ordinance; its desecration is unlawful and has been punished. The flag was unveiled on 4 April 1990 and approved on 10 August 1996. It was first officially hoisted on 1 July 1997, during the handover ceremony marking the transfer of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom back to China, and replaced a colonial flag adopted in 1959. The 1959 flag, and a variant known as the Black Bauhinia, have been displayed by protesters in Hong Kong, particularly during the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests. Government supporters often displayed the Chinese and Hong Kong flags together. (Full article...)

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December 5

Raichu is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon media franchise, and the evolved form of the series mascot, Pikachu. Introduced in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue, it was created by Atsuko Nishida at the request of lead designer Ken Sugimori, with the design finalized by Sugimori. It has appeared in multiple games including Pokémon Go and the Pokémon Trading Card Game, and in merchandise. Classified as an Electric-type Pokémon, Raichu is a large orange mouse with a tail shaped like a lightning bolt, and yellow sacs on its cheek that can generate electricity. Designed to be a stronger counterpart to Pikachu, who evolves into Raichu through the use of a "Thunder Stone", Raichu was initially intended to be able to evolve into "Gorochu" before the latter was removed. While early reactions from media outlets regarded it negatively in light of Pikachu's status as the franchise's main mascot, later reception has been more favorable. (Full article...)

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December 6

Jefferson Davis (June 3, 1808 – December 6, 1889) was the president of the Confederate States of America (CSA) from 1861 to 1865. He previously represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and House of Representatives as a Democrat, and was the U.S. secretary of war from 1853 to 1857. A graduate of West Point, Davis served in the U.S. Army, fighting in the Mexican–American War. He was a cotton planter and owned as many as 113 slaves. During the Civil War, Davis served as commander in chief. When the CSA was defeated in 1865, he was captured, accused of involvement in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and of treason, and imprisoned at Fort Monroe. He was released without trial after two years. Immediately after the war, Davis was often blamed for the CSA's defeat but, after his release from prison, the Lost Cause movement deemed him a hero, and he was celebrated in the South. In the 21st century, however, he has been viewed more harshly, and many memorials to him have been removed. (Full article...)

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December 7

Trankov and Volosozhar, the pairs champions

The 2015 Trophée Éric Bompard was a figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), and the fourth event of the 2015–16 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating. Held at the Meriadeck Ice Rink in Bordeaux, France, on 13 November 2015, medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. The competition was cancelled after the first day, following the November 2015 Paris terrorist attacks. The ISU later announced that the short program results would be considered the final results for the competition and any prize money and qualifying points for the Grand Prix Final were distributed. Shoma Uno of Japan won the men's event, Gracie Gold of the United States won the women's event, Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov (both pictured) of Russia won the pairs event, and Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue of the United States won the ice dance event. (Full article...)

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December 8

Part of the Coventry ring road at sunset

The Coventry ring road (A4053) is a 2.25-mile (3.62 km) ring road in Coventry, England, forming a dual-carriageway loop around the city centre. The road encloses Coventry Cathedral, the shopping areas, and much of Coventry University. Except junction 1, all junctions are entirely grade-separated and closely spaced, with weaving sections between them. The road connects with three other A roads: the A4114, the A4600 and the A429. From the 1930s, Coventry City Council began replacing its medieval streets with modern roads, and Donald Gibson, the city architect, began work in 1939 on a plan that was expanded after the Coventry Blitz during the Second World War. The ring road was constructed in six stages from 1959, initially with at-grade junctions, cycle tracks and footpaths, but in the early 1960s the council amended the design to include grade separation and the weaving sections. The road was completed in 1974, with an overall cost of £14.5 million (equivalent to £191 million in 2023). (Full article...)

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December 9

Macrobdella decora, the North American medicinal leech, is a species of freshwater leech found in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. A medium-sized annelid growing up to 8.5 centimeters (3.3 in) long, it has a spotted greenish-brown back and a reddish underbelly. M. decora is commonly encountered by swimmers and lives in ponds, ditches, and wetlands. The leeches are both blood-sucking parasites and aggressive predators. They have three saw-like "jaws" which they use to penetrate their host's skin, and they can remain attached for up to two hours. Their hosts include fish, turtles, wading birds, and mammals, including humans. The leeches are also voracious predators who eat other invertebrates, amphibian eggs and larvae, and sometimes even members of their own species. M. decora was historically used for leeching by European colonists in North America, who found the native leeches "equally efficacious" as those from Europe. (Full article...)

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December 10

Edmund Ætheling (born 1016 or 1017, died before 1057) was a son of Edmund Ironside and his wife Ealdgyth. Edmund Ironside briefly ruled as king of England following the death of his father Æthelred the Unready in April 1016. Edmund Ironside died in late 1016 after a hard-fought war with Danish invader Cnut who became king of all England shortly after. The following year, Cnut sent Edmund Ironside's two infant sons, Edmund Ætheling and Edward the Exile, to Continental Europe, probably to the King of Sweden, to be murdered. Instead, the princes were spared and sent to Hungary, possibly after a sojourn at the court of Yaroslav I, prince of Kiev, in Russia. As Ironside's marriage lasted no more than 15 months, Edmund and Edward were either twins or one was born after their father's death. Edmund may have married a daughter of the Hungarian king, and he died in Hungary on 10 January in an unknown year before 1057. (Full article...)

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December 11

George Mason (December 11, 1725 – October 7, 1792) was a Founding Father of the United States. A delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, he was one of three delegates who refused to sign the Constitution. His writings have exercised a significant influence on American political thought and events. The Virginia Declaration of Rights, which Mason principally authored, served as a basis for the United States Bill of Rights, of which he has been deemed a father. Many clauses in the Constitution were influenced by Mason's input, but he ultimately did not sign, citing the lack of a bill of rights. His prominent fight for a bill of rights led fellow Virginian James Madison to introduce one during the First Congress in 1789; these amendments were ratified in 1791, a year before Mason died. Obscure after his death, Mason later came to be recognized in the 20th and 21st centuries for his contributions to Virginia and the early United States. (Full article...)

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December 12

Coin of Theodosius III

Theodosius III was the Byzantine emperor from around May 715 to 717. Before rising to the throne of the Byzantine Empire, he was a tax collector in Adramyttium. In 715, the Byzantine navy and the troops of the Opsician Theme, one of the Byzantine provinces, revolted against Anastasius II, acclaiming the reluctant Theodosius as emperor. He led his troops to Chrysopolis and then Constantinople, seizing the city in November 715. Anastasius did not surrender until several months later, accepting exile in a monastery in return for safety. Many themes viewed Theodosius to be a puppet of the troops of the Opsician Theme, and his legitimacy was denied by the Anatolics and the Armeniacs under their respective strategoi (generals) Leo the Isaurian and Artabasdos. Leo entered Constantinople and definitively seized power in 717, allowing Theodosius and his son to retire to a monastery. When Theodosius died is uncertain, but it may have been in 754. (Full article...)

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December 13

Scott Zolak (born December 13, 1967) is an American broadcaster and former professional football player. He played quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons, primarily with the New England Patriots. Over the course of his career, he played in 55 games, with 7 starts, for the Patriots and Miami Dolphins, completed 124 of 248 passes for 1,314 yards, threw eight touchdowns and seven interceptions, and finished his career with a passer rating of 64.8. A graduate of the University of Maryland, Zolak was selected 84th in the 1991 NFL draft by the New England Patriots. He did not play in 1991, but started four games in 1992 and had his most productive season statistically. When Drew Bledsoe was drafted in 1993, Zolak became his backup for the next six seasons. He was released at the end of the 1998 season, and signed with the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins in 1999. After his retirement, he became a sportscaster and football analyst in the New England area. (Full article...)

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December 14

Tom Hall, game designer

Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons is a three-part, episodic, side-scrolling, platform video game by Ideas from the Deep and published by Apogee Software in 1990 for MS-DOS. Tom Hall (pictured) designed the game, John Carmack and John Romero programmed it, and artist Adrian Carmack assisted. The game came about when John Carmack found a way to implement smooth side-scrolling on IBM-compatible PCs, and Scott Miller asked the team to develop an original game within three months. The game follows Keen as he runs, jumps, and shoots through various levels, retrieving the stolen parts of his spaceship, preventing an alien ship from destroying landmarks, and hunting down the aliens responsible. Released through shareware, sales were strong and it was lauded by reviewers due to the graphical achievement and humorous style. The team went on as id Software to produce another four episodes of the Commander Keen series, and followed up with Wolfenstein 3D and Doom. It has been re-released several times. (Full article...)

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December 15

Simon Cameron (1799–1889) was an American politician who was elected senator from Pennsylvania four times, and was War Secretary under Lincoln at the start of the Civil War. At first a supporter of James Buchanan, whom he succeeded in the Senate when Buchanan became Secretary of State in 1845, Cameron broke with Buchanan and the Democrats by the 1850s. An opponent of slavery, he briefly joined the Know Nothings before winning another term in the Senate as a Republican in 1857. He helped nominate and elect Lincoln, but rumors of corruption surrounded him; it was with reluctance that Lincoln appointed him to the cabinet. He did not do well in his post, and Lincoln made him minister to Russia in 1862, a post he held briefly. He rebuilt his political machine in Pennsylvania, winning a third term in the Senate in 1867. After ten years he resigned, arranging the election of his son, Don Cameron, in his place. Simon Cameron lived to age 90; his machine dominated local politics until the 1920s. (Full article...)

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December 16

Edith Swan (left) and Rose Gooding (right)

The Littlehampton libels were a series of letters sent to numerous residents of Littlehampton, in southern England, over a three-year period between 1920 and 1923. The letters, which contained obscenities and false accusations, were written by Edith Swan, a thirty-year-old laundress; she tried to incriminate her neighbour, Rose Gooding, a thirty-year-old married woman. Swan and Gooding (both pictured) had once been friends, but after Swan made a false report to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children accusing Gooding of maltreating one of her sister's children, the letters started arriving. Many of them were signed as if from Gooding. Swan brought a private prosecution against Gooding for libel. Gooding was imprisoned twice, but Scotland Yard investigated and cleared her. Swan was prosecuted in December 1921. A similar case of letters being sent over several years was reported in 2024, in the village of Shiptonthorpe, East Yorkshire. (Full article...)

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December 17

Ruins of Fountains Abbey

Around June 1447, John Greenwell was poisoned by a monk, William Downom. The abbot of Fountains Abbey (ruins pictured), Greenwell led the richest abbey in England; his office made him an important figure in Yorkshire. The first half of the century saw the abbey wracked with internal strife, including a disputed election which had violent repercussions as well as, possibly, embezzlement. Greenwell appears to have brought a degree of peace to the abbey upon his election, but he does not seem to have been popular. Downom poisoned a dish of pottage, which he attempted to feed to Greenwell while he was sick. He survived the poisoning, and the case became notorious. Although it took over a year and discussions with Fountains' motherhouse of Cîteaux Abbey, Downom was eventually expelled. Greenwell remained controversial and was both accused and accuser in local lawsuits, and incurred the distrust of King Edward IV for his political leanings. (Full article...)

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December 18

Caesar cipher with a left shift of 3

A Caesar cipher, also known as Caesar's cipher, the shift cipher, Caesar's code, or the Caesar shift, is one of the simplest and most widely known encryption techniques in cryptography. Named after Julius Caesar, who is said to have used it, it is a type of substitution cipher in which each letter in the plaintext is replaced by a letter some fixed number of positions down the alphabet. For example, with a left shift of 3, D would be replaced by A, E would become B, and so on (pictured). Caesar is believed to have used one in his private correspondence, and a similar one was used by his nephew, Augustus. The encryption step performed by a Caesar cipher is often incorporated as part of more complex schemes, such as the Vigenère cipher, and still has modern application in the ROT13 system. As with all single-alphabet substitution ciphers, the Caesar cipher is easily broken and in modern practice offers essentially no communications security. (Full article...)

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December 19

Ali MacGraw

The Getaway is a 1972 American action thriller film based on the 1958 novel by Jim Thompson. The film was directed by Sam Peckinpah, written by Walter Hill, and stars Steve McQueen, Ali MacGraw (pictured), Ben Johnson, Al Lettieri, and Sally Struthers. The plot follows imprisoned mastermind robber Carter "Doc" McCoy, whose wife Carol conspires for his release on the condition they rob a bank in Texas. A double-cross follows the crime, and the McCoys are forced to flee for Mexico with the police and criminals in hot pursuit. The Getaway premiered on December 19, 1972. Despite the negative reviews it received upon release, numerous retrospective critics give the film good reviews. A box-office hit earning more than $36 million, it was the eighth highest-grossing film of 1972, and one of the most financially successful productions of Peckinpah's and McQueen's careers. A film remake starring Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger was released in 1994. (Full article...)

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December 20

Grave of the British soldiers killed at Bronkhorstspruit

The battle of Bronkhorstspruit was the first major engagement of the First Boer War. It took place by the Bronkhorstspruit river near Bronkhorstspruit in Transvaal on 20 December 1880. Threatened by the growing numbers of militant Boers in the Pretoria region, the British recalled the 94th Regiment of Foot, which had several companies garrisoned in towns and villages across the wider area. The regiment's commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Philip Robert Anstruther, led a 34-wagon column on a 188-mile (303 km) journey from Lydenburg to Pretoria. A Boer commando force, led by Francois Gerhardus Joubert, was ordered to stop the British. Anstruther's column was confronted by the Boers, who demanded that the British stop their march. Anstruther refused, and the Boers attacked. The British took heavy casualties and surrendered after about 15 minutes; their surviving men were captured. Anstruther was badly wounded and died of his injuries a few days later. (Full article...)

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December 21

A map showing Rhodesia's location in Africa

The Rhodesian government actively recruited white personnel from other countries from the mid-1970s until 1980 to address manpower shortages in the Rhodesian Security Forces during the Rhodesian Bush War. Between 800 and 2,000 foreign volunteers enlisted. This was controversial as international sanctions banned military assistance for Rhodesia due to its illegal declaration of independence and the white minority's dominance. The volunteers were often labelled as mercenaries by opponents of the Rhodesian regime, though the government did not regard or pay them as such. The volunteers were motivated by opposition to governments led by black people, anti-communism, a desire for adventure, racism, and economic hardship. They were considered unreliable by the Rhodesian government and often treated poorly by their comrades; this contributed to many deserting. Some modern far-right and white supremacist groups celebrate the volunteers. (Full article...)

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December 22

The Algemeyne Entsiklopedye is a Yiddish-language encyclopedia published in twelve volumes from 1934 to 1966. It is divided into two subseries: five volumes of the Normale series, covering general knowledge, and six volumes of the Yidn series (initially planned as a single supplementary volume) covering Jewish history and culture through a series of essays. The encyclopedia's early volumes emphasize leftist history and politics, although the project shifted in tone in response to Nazi persecution, and became increasingly focused on covering Jewish topics. After the destruction of Jewish communities throughout Europe—the encyclopedia's main audience—in the Holocaust, it transformed from a general-purpose resource into an effort to commemorate what was lost. After decades of failed attempts to compile a Yiddish general encyclopedia, the Vilna-based Jewish cultural organization YIVO formed the Dubnov Fund in 1930, which organized and fundraised for the encyclopedia. (Full article...)

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December 23

Joss Whedon, the writer who created Fray

Melaka Fray is a fictional character in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics by Dark Horse Comics. She debuts in the first issue of Fray (2001), a limited series in a shared universe with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Melaka is a professional thief who learns that she is a Slayer destined to fight supernatural foes, while her twin brother Harth inherited their prophetic dreams. She learns that Harth, whom she thought was dead, is a vampire intent on bringing demons back to Earth's dimension. After stopping his plan, she remains a thief, but chooses to protect others as well. In Tales of the Slayers, she connects with her heritage by reading journals about past Slayers. Melaka reappears in the canonical comic book continuation of the television series, meeting the 21st century Slayer Buffy Summers in Season Eight and helping her defeat Harth in Season Twelve. Academics have analyzed Melaka's character arc in Fray as an example of the hero's journey. A fan film with Melaka was released in 2017. (Full article...)

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December 24

The tufted jay also known as the painted jay and Dickey's jay, is a species of bird in the crow family Corvidae. It is endemic to a small area of the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico. A distinctive large jay, it has a prominent dark crest on its head; purplish blue back, wings, and face; a white spot above the eye and on the cheek; white undersides; and a partially white tail. Its typical call is a quick, four note vocalization. The relationship between the tufted jay and other members of the genus Cyanocorax has been a subject of interest since the species was first described in 1935. Because of the visual similarities between the tufted jay and the white-tailed jay, the two were thought by some to be closely related. A 2010 mitochondrial DNA study has shown that the tufted jay is most closely related to a group of South American jays, despite their ranges being separated by over 2,000 km (1,200 mi). They are likely descended from an ancestral jay which ranged throughout Latin America. (Full article...)

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December 25

A Christmas Carol (1843) is a novella by Charles Dickens, illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly miser who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. After their visits, Scrooge is transformed into a kinder, gentler man. Dickens wrote the story during a period when the British were exploring and re-evaluating past Christmas traditions, including carols, and newer customs such as Christmas trees. His Christmas stories (including three before and four after this one) were influenced by those of other authors, including Washington Irving and Douglas William Jerrold. Parts of the novella point out the misery that poor children often endured; Dickens had recently witnessed appalling conditions for children working in the Cornish tin mines. He gave 128 public readings of A Christmas Carol, including his farewell performance in 1870, the year of his death. (Full article...)

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December 26

Elm Park stadium, site of the final Gillingham match of the season

In the 1937–38 English football season, Gillingham F.C. competed in the Football League Third Division South, the third tier of the English football league system. It was the 18th season in which Gillingham competed in the Football League. The team won only three times in nineteen Football League matches between August and December; in November and December they played six league games and lost every one without scoring a goal, leaving them bottom of the division at the end of 1937. Although Gillingham's performances improved in the second half of the season, with seven wins between January and May, they remained in last place at the end of the season, meaning that the club was required to apply for re-election to the League. The application was rejected, and as a result the club lost its place in the Football League and joined the regional Southern League. The team were eliminated in the first round of the FA Cup but reached the second round of the Third Division South Cup. (Full article...)

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December 27

Trichogenes claviger, the Caetés catfish, is a critically endangered species of pencil catfish native to the Atlantic Forest of Brazil. It was discovered early in 2010 and scientifically described later that year. One of three species within the genus Trichogenes, it is restricted to an area of 16 km² (6.2 sq mi) in the Caetés forest, a mountainous area in the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo. When discovered, the rainforest in which it occurs was unprotected and threatened by deforestation. A private nature reserve has since been established, allowing visitors to see the fish in its habitat. A small fish, T. claviger is up to 50.8 mm (2.00 in) in length. A series of black dots runs along the side of the body, distinguishing it from related species. Males have a bony protrusion from the gill area (the opercular process) that is elongated and club-like, a feature that inspired the name of the species (claviger – 'club-bearing'). (Full article...)

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December 28

The Moltke-class battlecruiser was a class of two "all-big-gun" battlecruisers of the Imperial German Navy built between 1909–1911. Named SMS Moltke and SMS Goeben, they were similar to the previous battlecruiser Von der Tann, but the Moltkes were slightly larger, faster, and better armored, and had an additional pair of 28 cm (11 in) guns. Both ships served during World War I. Moltke participated in several major battles with the rest of the High Seas Fleet, including the battles of Dogger Bank and Jutland in the North Sea, and the Battle of the Gulf of Riga and Operation Albion in the Baltic Sea. At the end of the war, Moltke was interned with the majority of the High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow while the ships' fate was being discussed during peace treaty negotiations. The ships were scuttled on 21 June 1919 by the Germans crewing them to prevent seizure of the ships by the Allies. (This article is part of two featured topics: Battlecruisers of the world and Battlecruisers of Germany.)

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December 29

The Hearst Tower is a building at the southwest corner of 57th Street and Eighth Avenue, near Columbus Circle, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. It is the world headquarters of media conglomerate Hearst Communications, housing many of the firm's publications and communications companies. The Hearst Tower consists of two sections, with a total height of 597 feet (182 m) and 46 stories. The six lowest stories form the Hearst Magazine Building (also known as the International Magazine Building), designed by Joseph Urban and George B. Post & Sons, which was completed in 1928. Above it is the Hearst Tower addition, designed by Norman Foster and finished in 2006. The original structure is clad with stone and contains six pylons with sculptural groups. The tower section above has a glass-and-metal facade arranged as a diagrid, or diagonal grid, which doubles as its structural system. (Full article...)

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December 30

William Hopton Anderson (30 December 1891 – 30 December 1975) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He flew with the Australian Flying Corps in World War I, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Belgian Croix de guerre for his combat service with No. 3 Squadron on the Western Front in 1917. At the outbreak of World War II, Anderson was Air Member for Supply. In 1940 he acted as Chief of the Air Staff between the resignation of Air Vice-Marshal Stanley Goble in January and the arrival of Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Burnett, RAF, the next month. He led the newly formed Central and Eastern Area Commands between December 1940 and July 1943, returning to the Air Board as Air Member for Organisation and Equipment from September 1941 to May 1942. Anderson was founding commandant of the RAAF Staff School from July to November 1943, after which he was appointed Air Member for Personnel. Anderson died on his birthday in 1975. (Full article...)

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December 31

Tarrare was a French showman, soldier, and spy noted for his unusual appetite and eating habits. Able to eat vast amounts of meat, he was constantly hungry; his parents could not provide for him and he was turned out of the family home as a teenager. He travelled around France in the company of a band of prostitutes and thieves before becoming the warm-up act for a travelling charlatan. In this act, he swallowed corks, stones, live animals, and a whole basketful of apples. He then took this act to Paris where he worked as a street performer. At the start of the War of the First Coalition, Tarrare joined the French Revolutionary Army, where even quadrupling the standard military ration was unable to satisfy his large appetite. He ate any available food from gutters and rubbish heaps but his condition still deteriorated through hunger. He was hospitalised due to exhaustion and became the subject of a series of medical experiments to test his eating capacity. (Full article...)

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