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February 1
In the 1860s and 1870s, the Ottoman Navy ordered or acquired a series of ironclad warships, built almost entirely in foreign shipyards. The first class, the four Osmaniye-class ironclads, were ordered from British shipyards in the early 1860s, and a fifth ship, Fatih (pictured), was ordered in 1864; this vessel was purchased by the Prussian Navy in 1867. That year the Ottomans ordered the ironclad Feth-i Bülend and the two-ship Avnillah class, all from Britain. In the meantime, the Eyalet of Egypt, a province of the Ottoman Empire, placed orders for several ironclads from French shipyards. Most of the Ottoman ironclads saw action during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. The rest of the ships served in the Black Sea, where they supported Ottoman forces in the Caucasus and in the eastern Balkans. One vessel, Lüft-ü Celil, was sunk by Russian artillery while patrolling the Danube. (Full list...)
February 4
Six players have had their uniform numbers officially retired by the Green Bay Packers, a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Since their founding in 1919, over 1,600 players, including 30 Pro Football Hall of Famers, have played for the team. Professional sports franchises, including the Packers, retire uniform numbers to recognize the contributions that a player has made towards the team. It is customary that after the uniform number is retired, it is no longer worn by future players with that team. These uniform numbers are usually prominently displayed within the team's arena or stadium. In the case of the Green Bay Packers, the retired numbers are displayed above the box seats in the north end zone of Lambeau Field (pictured). (Full list...)
February 8
Astronomical symbols are abstract pictorial symbols used to represent astronomical objects, theoretical constructs and observational events in European astronomy. The earliest forms of these symbols appear in Greek papyrus texts of late antiquity. The Byzantine codices in which many Greek papyrus texts were preserved continued and extended the inventory of astronomical symbols. Further new symbols were invented to represent many newly discovered planets and minor planets discovered in the 18th to 20th centuries. These symbols were once commonly used by professional astronomers, amateur astronomers, alchemists, and astrologers. While they are still commonly used in almanacs and astrological publications, their occurrence in published research and texts on astronomy is relatively infrequent, with some exceptions such as the Sun and Earth symbols appearing in astronomical constants, and certain zodiacal signs used to represent the solstices and equinoxes. (Full list...)
February 11
The Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for quality heavy metal music performances. The Grammy Awards is an annual ceremony, where honors in several categories are presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position". The honor was first presented to Metallica (pictured) at the 32nd Annual Grammy Awards (1990) for the song "One". Metallica holds the records for the most wins, with six. The bands Black Sabbath, Nine Inch Nails, Slayer, and Tool have each received the award twice. Ministry holds the record for the most nominations without a win, with six. (Full list...)
February 15
Herd Management Areas (HMA) are lands under the supervision of the United States Bureau of Land Management that are managed for the primary but not exclusive benefit of free-roaming "wild" horses and burros. While these animals are technically feral equines descended from foundation stock that was originally domesticated, the phrase "wild horse" (and wild burro) has a specific meaning in United States law, giving special legal status to the descendants of equines that were "unmarked and unclaimed" on public lands at the time the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 was passed. There are approximately 270 HMAs across 10 states, comprising 31,600,000 acres (12,800,000 ha). Equine population estimates in each HMA can vary significantly from year to year, depending on habitat condition in a given area, fecundity of the animals, or if a gather has occurred. The original feral horse herds in the Americas were of Spanish horse ancestry. Additional stock brought by eastern settlers moving west, ranging from draft horses to Arabians and Thoroughbreds, added a variety of other horse types. (Full list...)
February 18
The Pritzker Architecture Prize is awarded annually "to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture". Founded in 1979 by Jay A. Pritzker and his wife Cindy, the award is funded by the Pritzker family and sponsored by the Hyatt Foundation. It is considered to be one of the world's premier architecture prizes. The prize is said to be awarded "irrespective of nationality, race, creed, or ideology". The designs on the medal are inspired by the work of architect Louis Sullivan, while the Latin inspired inscription on the reverse of the medallion is from Ancient Roman architect Vitruvius. A jury, each year consisting of five to nine "experts ... recognized professionals in their own fields of architecture, business, education, publishing, and culture", deliberate early the following year before announcing the winner in the spring. The prize chair is 2002 winner Glenn Murcutt (pictured). (Full list...)
February 22
The American video game developer Firaxis Games has worked on 22 games since 1996, 12 of which are part of the Civilization series. Firaxis Games was founded in May 1996 by Sid Meier, Jeff Briggs and Brian Reynolds as Firaxis Software, following their departure from MicroProse, which Meier had co-founded. The company was renamed to Firaxis Games in July 1997 prior to releasing any titles. It produced seven games primarily for Microsoft Windows personal computers over the next nine years through multiple publishers; these games include wargames such as their first title, Sid Meier's Gettysburg! (1997), and 4X turn-based strategy games. Three of the games were part of the company's flagship Civilization series of 4X games, which was originally begun by Meier at MicroProse. Since being acquired by Take-Two Interactive in 2005, Firaxis has released nine further titles related to the Civilization series, primarily 4X games. Firaxis's most recent title is Civilization VI (2016). (Full list...)
February 25
The 71st Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 21, 1999, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 24 categories honoring films released in 1998. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Gilbert Cates and directed by Louis J. Horvitz. Actress Whoopi Goldberg hosted for the third time. She first hosted the 66th ceremony held in 1994 and had last hosted the 68th ceremony in 1996. Shakespeare in Love won seven awards including Best Picture and Best Actress for Gwyneth Paltrow (pictured). Other winners included Saving Private Ryan with five awards and Life Is Beautiful with three. The telecast garnered nearly 46 million viewers in the United States. (Full list...)