Wikipedia:Today's featured list/June 2021


June 4

Raymond Chandler
Raymond Chandler

Raymond Chandler, an American-British novelist and screenwriter, published 25 short stories, five novels, and a number of poems and scripts. These include the 22 short stories he wrote between 1933 and 1941. In the mid-1940s, some of the first 22 began appearing in inexpensive paperback and hardcover collections published by Avon Books and World Publishing Company. Previously he had worked as a journalist and writer—mostly for The Westminster Gazette and The Academy. In 1950, Houghton Mifflin published the hardcover collection The Simple Art of Murder, containing a dozen stories selected by Chandler and an essay on mystery stories. Eight stories that he had "cannibalized" (his term) while writing his novels were omitted at his request. After Chandler's death, these eight were published in Killer in the Rain (1964). In 1939, at the behest of the publisher Alfred A. Knopf Sr., Chandler wrote his first novel, The Big Sleep, for which he used parts of his short stories "Killer in the Rain" (1935) and "The Curtain" (1936). In 1944 Chandler was asked by Paramount Pictures to write the script for the film Double Indemnity with Billy Wilder; the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. It was the first of seven scripts Chandler wrote, although two of them were unused. (Full list...)


June 7

Latvia has submitted a variety of films for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, an annual award presented at the Academy Awards by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to a primarily non-English feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States. Latvia's first submission was The Child of Man in 1992, following the disestablishment of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic. Submissions by the country are decided by a jury panel of experts on behalf of the National Film Center of Latvia, and the country has sent a film each year since 2012. After the submission deadline, the Academy selection committee reviews all entries and determines the five nominees for the award. The most recent Latvian submission is Blizzard of Souls (2020). Latvia has entered twelve films for the category, but none have been nominated. (Full list...)


June 11

Topographical map of Borneo
Topographical map of Borneo

Endemic birds on the island of Borneo include one endemic bird family, three endemic bird genera and fifty-six endemic bird species. All but one of the latter are forest dwellers, with most restricted to the spine of hills and mountains running down the middle of the island. Borneo's avian endemism has been shaped by its geological history. The island sits on a continental shelf; during glacial periods, when water levels were lower, Borneo was linked with other islands on the shelf and with the Malay Peninsula in a large landmass known as Sundaland. This allowed bird species to move freely throughout the region until the waters rose again as the glaciers melted. Separated from their relatives by the sea, some of these species evolved over millennia into the endemics now found on the island. (Full list...)


June 14

English singer, songwriter, and actor Harry Styles is the recipient of numerous awards and nominations. Formerly a member of the boy band One Direction, Styles has won three BMI London Awards for co-writing songs for the band. Following the group's indefinite hiatus, Styles debuted as a solo artist with the single "Sign of the Times" (2017). It won the Brit Award for British Video of the Year and the iHeartRadio Music Award for Best Music Video. The same year, he released his eponymous debut studio album, which earned him the ARIA Award for Best International Artist. In 2019, Styles's second studio album, Fine Line, was preceded by the release of two singles, "Lights Up" and "Adore You". The former won Best Song at the 2020 Global Awards, while the latter garnered three nominations at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards. Fine Line won the American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Album and the Juno Award for International Album of the Year, and received a nomination for British Album of the Year at the 2020 Brit Awards. (Full list...)


June 18

Georgetown University seal
Georgetown University seal

Forty-one individuals have held the office of President of Georgetown University, a private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C. The president of Georgetown University is its chief executive officer, and from its establishment until the 1960s was also the rector of the university's Jesuit community. The president is elected by and may be removed by the university's board of directors, and is ex officio a member of the board. The president is also one of five members of the university's legal corporation, known as the President and Directors of Georgetown College, which was first chartered by the United States Congress in 1815. Of the 41 presidents, nearly all have been Jesuits. Only one has been a member of another religious order while president: Louis William Valentine DuBourg, who was a Sulpician. Three presidents have gone on to become bishops: DuBourg, Leonard Neale, and Benedict Joseph Fenwick. The current officeholder, John J. DeGioia, is the university's first lay president. (Full list...)


June 21

Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille O'Neal

The 50 Greatest Players in NBA History were chosen in 1996 to honor the 50th anniversary of the founding of the National Basketball Association (NBA). These 50 players were selected through a vote by a panel of media members, former players and coaches, and current and former general managers. In addition, the top ten head coaches and top ten single-season teams in NBA history were selected by media members as part of the celebration. The list was announced by NBA commissioner David Stern on October 29, 1996, at the hotel Grand Hyatt New York, the former site of the Commodore Hotel, where the original NBA charter was signed on June 6, 1946. Forty-seven of the fifty players were later assembled in Cleveland, during the halftime ceremony of the 1997 All-Star Game. At the time of the announcement, 11 players were active; all have subsequently retired. Shaquille O'Neal (pictured) was the last to be active in the NBA, retiring at the end of the 2010–11 season. (Full list...)


June 25

Daniel Chester French
Daniel Chester French

American sculptor Daniel Chester French created 92 public sculptures from 1871 until his death in 1931. In 1876, he accepted a contract to produce a set of statues for the United States Post Office Department. He created statues for the Post Office throughout the 1880s. In 1883, French was commissioned to create John Harvard. For the rest of his career, French produced commissions for state, federal, and private groups as well as private individuals. His sculptures are mostly in the eastern and midwestern United States, but one, Thomas Starr King, is in San Francisco, and two, General George Washington and the Marseillaise Memorial, are in France. The majority of the sculptures are bronze castings or made of stone, but Progress of the State is gilded copper, and Alma Mater and The Republic are gilded bronze. (Full list...)


June 28

The Australian animated television series Bluey has broadcast 104 episodes since its debut on ABC Kids on 1 October 2018. The series was created by Joe Brumm with the Queensland production group Ludo Studio. The show follows Bluey, an anthropomorphic six-year-old Blue Heeler puppy who is characterised by her abundance of energy, imagination and curiosity about the world. The program was created and produced in Queensland; its capital city, Brisbane, inspires the show's setting. The series was co-commissioned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the British Broadcasting Corporation. Its second series premiered on 17 March 2020. On 1 October 2020, the show was renewed for its third series. Two Christmas-themed episodes have aired, as part of both the first ("Verandah Santa") and second series ("Christmas Swim"). An Easter-themed episode ("Easter") aired as part of the second series. (Full list...)