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Featured content

The best ... from the past two weeks

John Legend and Common received the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Glory", the theme song of Selma.

This Signpost "Featured content" report covers material promoted from 17 to 30 April.
Text may be adapted from the respective articles and lists; see their page histories for attribution.

Featured articles

The Literary Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
Critics named Knight Lore among the best games for the ZX Spectrum.
Lady Gaga during a solo performance on the Cheek to Cheek Tour

Seven featured articles were promoted these weeks.

  • The 7th Army (nominated by Peacemaker67) was a Royal Yugoslav Army formation raised prior to the German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, during World War II. It consisted of two divisions, two brigade-strength mountain detachments, and a brigade-strength infantry detachment. It formed part of the 1st Army Group, and was responsible for the defence of Yugoslavia's north-western frontier with Italy and the Third Reich.
  • Literary Hall (nominated by West Virginian) is a mid-19th-century brick library building and museum in Romney, West Virginia. Located at the intersection of North High Street and West Main Street, the hall was constructed between 1869 and 1870 by the Romney Literary Society. Its basic design incorporates Federal and Greek Revival styles along with Victorian details. Architectural historian Michael J. Pauley described Literary Hall as "one of Romney's and Hampshire County's most notable landmarks, and one in which this community is justifiably proud".
  • The Phantom Tollbooth (nominated by Wehwalt) is a 1961 children's adventure novel by Norton Juster with illustrations by Jules Feiffer. It tells the story of a bored young boy named Milo who unexpectedly receives a magic tollbooth one afternoon and, having nothing better to do, drives through it in his toy car. The tollbooth transports him to the Kingdom of Wisdom, once prosperous, now troubled. There, he acquires two faithful companions and goes on a quest to restore to the kingdom its exiled princesses—named Rhyme and Reason—from the Castle in the Air. Milo accomplishes his quest, and in so doing realizes the world around him is filled with interesting things. The text is full of puns and wordplay, and many events, such as when Milo unintentionally jumps to Conclusions (an island in Wisdom), explore the literal meanings of idioms. It has been adapted into a film, opera, and play, and translated into many languages.
  • Djedkare Isesi (nominated by Iry-Hor) was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the eighth and penultimate ruler of the Fifth Dynasty in the late 25th to mid 24th century BCE, during the Old Kingdom period. Djedkare likely enjoyed a long reign of over 40 years, which heralded a new period in the history of the Old Kingdom. He effected comprehensive reforms of the Egyptian state administration, reorganised the funerary cults of his forebears buried in the necropolis of Abusir and reformed the corresponding priesthood.
  • The Gudovac massacre (nominated by 23 editor) was the mass killing of around 190 Bjelovar Serbs by the Croatian nationalist Ustaše movement in 1941. The massacre occurred shortly after the German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia and the establishment of the Ustaše-led Axis puppet state known as the Independent State of Croatia. It was the first act of mass murder committed by the Ustaše upon coming to power.
  • Maxinquaye (nominated by Dan56) is the debut album by English rapper and producer Tricky, who recorded the album primarily at his home studio in London in 1994 with his then-girlfriend, singer Martina Topley-Bird, who shared vocals on most of the tracks with him. The songs explore themes of dysfunctional sexual relationships, fear of intimacy, recreational drug use, and cultural decline. His songwriting style and use of female vocalists such as Topley-Bird were influenced by his mother, Maxine Quaye, after whom the album was titled. It reached number three on the United Kingdom's albums chart and sold over 500,000 copies worldwide.
  • Knight Lore (nominated by Czar) is a 1984 action-adventure game known for popularising isometric graphics in video games. The game was developed and published by Ultimate Play the Game and written by company founders Chris and Tim Stamper. In Knight Lore, the player-character Sabreman has forty days to collect objects throughout a castle and brew a cure to his werewolf curse. Each castle room is depicted in monochrome on its own screen and consists of blocks to climb, obstacles to avoid, and puzzles to solve. It is regarded as a seminal work in British gaming history. Critics considered its technical solutions and isometric 3D style a harbinger of future game design. They praised the game's controls and atmosphere of mystery, but noted its difficult gameplay and criticised its sound and occasional graphical slowdown.

Featured lists

Six featured lists were promoted these weeks.

  • Selma is a 2014 American historical drama film directed by Ava DuVernay. The screenplay was written by Paul Webb. The film follows the events leading up to and during the Selma to Montgomery marches, and the resulting establishment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which prohibited racial discrimination in voting in the United States. The film garnered awards and nominations (nominated by Cowlibob) in a variety of categories with particular praise for its direction, David Oyelowo's portrayal of Martin Luther King Jr., and the song "Glory" by John Legend and Common. It grossed a worldwide total of over $66 million on a production budget of $20 million.
  • Roald Dahl (1916–1990) was a British author and scriptwriter. His bibliography (nominated by SchroCat) includes nineteen novels, thirteen short story collections, twelve scripts, three poem collections and nine non-fiction works. He also selected the stories for the 1983 short story collection Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories. As of 2015, Dahl's works have been translated into 59 languages and have sold more than 200 million books worldwide. His awards for contribution to literature include the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, and the British Book Awards' Children's Author of the Year.
  • Lady Gaga (born 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her live performances (nominated by FrB.TG and GagaNutella) include five concert tours (with 499 shows), one residency show at Roseland Ballroom and a promotional concert. Additionally she also performed live at various award ceremonies and television shows, including the MTV Video Music Awards (three times), the Grammy Awards (four times) and the Academy Awards (twice). She also performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" before Super Bowl 50.
  • F.C. United of Manchester is an English semi-professional association football club based in Moston, Manchester. The club was formed in June 2005 by supporters of Manchester United opposed to American businessman Malcolm Glazer's takeover of that club. The club played their first two seasons (nominated by Odder and Delusion23) in the North West Counties League, becoming the champions in the league's both divisions, and advanced to the Northern Premier League. They finished second in the Division One North, and advanced to the Premier Division through play-offs. In the 2015–16 season, the club competed in the National League North, at level six of English football, following promotion after the previous season.
  • The Green Park Stadium is a cricket ground in Kanpur, India. It is the home ground of the Uttar Pradesh cricket team and has played host to Ranji Trophy matches, as well as being a Test and One Day International venue. As of 2016, there have been 41 international cricket centuries (nominated by Vensatry) at the venue, with the most recent being made by Rohit Sharma during a One Day International match between India and South Africa.
  • Olly Murs (born 1984) is an English singer-songwriter, television presenter and actor. As of 2016, Murs has recorded 80 songs (nominated by Calvin999 and Tomica), including seven-teen singles.

Featured pictures

Four featured pictures were promoted these weeks.