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Rafał Pocztarski
User rfl: PL EN DE M Commons Wiktionary books quote source
Contributions/rfl: All · Articles · Talk · User talk · Wiki talk · Deletions
How’s My Administrating? Please comment.
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- Tuesday · November 18, 2008 · 18:15 UTC · 2,627,463 articles · Top1000
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Administration
I am proud to announce that I have been nominated by Quadell to become a Wikipedia administrator on December 3, 2004. The voting ended on December 10, 2004 with the result of 12 Support votes by: Quadell, jni, 172, JOHN COLLISON, M7it, Dittaeva, Grunt, Lst27, GeneralPatton,
If you have any opinion, positive or negative, about my administration-related contributions—mostly reverting anonymous vandalism, protecting pages and posting comments to vandals in their IP talk pages—please post a comment on my talk page.
My contributions: all · articles (look for reverts) · user talk (look for IPs) · deletions
In the news
Current events: Tuesday · November 18, 2008 · 18:15 UTC
- War crimes are reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after a ceasefire in the Kivu conflict is broken and fighting resumes, with at least 100 civilians dead.
- Somali pirates capture the oil tanker MV Sirius Star, the largest vessel to date to be hijacked, near the Horn of Africa region.
- G-20 leaders meet at a summit in Washington, D.C. to discuss the current financial crisis.
- Indian spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 successfully lands the Moon Impact Probe on the lunar south pole.
- Three planets orbiting the star HR 8799 and one planet (pictured) orbiting the star Fomalhaut are optically verified, making them the first extrasolar planets whose existences have been confirmed via direct imaging.
- Egypt's antiquities chief, Zahi Hawass, announces the discovery of a 4,300-year-old pyramid belonging to Queen Sesheshet, mother of King Teti.
Selected anniversaries
November 18: Independence Day in Latvia (1918); National Day in Oman (1940)
- 1302 – Pope Boniface VIII issued the Papal bull Unam sanctam, proclaiming "there is one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, outside of which there is neither salvation nor remission of sins".
- 1307 – William Tell, a legendary marksman in Switzerland, is said to have successfully shot an apple on his son's head with a single bolt from his crossbow.
- 1905 – Prince Carl of Denmark became Haakon VII, the first King of Norway after the personal union between Sweden and Norway was dissolved.
- 1978 – Jim Jones led more than 900 members of the Peoples Temple to mass murder/suicide in Jonestown, Guyana, hours after some of its members assassinated U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan (pictured).
- 1991 – Croatian War of Independence: Republic of Serbian Krajina forces captured the Croatian city of Vukovar, ending an 87-day siege.
More events: November 17 – November 18 – November 19
Links
- World: painters · poets · writers · people
- Poland: painters · poets · writers · people · flags
- Jan Brzechwa a.k.a. Jan Lesman (1900–1966)
- Aleksander Fredro (1793–1876)
- Witold Gombrowicz (1904–1969)
- Stanisław Grochowiak (1934–1976)
- Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz a.k.a. “Eleuter” (1894–1980)
- Bruno Jasieński a.k.a. Wiktor Zysman (1901–1938)
- Stanisław Lem (b. 1921)
- Czesław Miłosz (June 30, 1911 – August 14, 2004), Polish poet, Nobel Prize in Literature in 1980
- Cyprian Kamil Norwid (1821–1883)
- Jeremi Przybora (1915–2004)
- Bruno Schulz a.k.a. Bruno Schultz (1892–1942)
- Antoni Słonimski (1895–1976)
- Leopold Staff (1878–1957)
- Wisława Szymborska (b. 1923), Polish poet, Nobel Prize in Literature in 1996
- Kazimierz Tetmajer, a.k.a. Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer (1865–1940)
- Julian Tuwim (1894–1953)
- Stanisław Witkiewicz (1851–1915)
- Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz a.k.a. “Witkacy” (1885–1939)
- Stanisław Wyspiański (1869–1907)
Featured articles
Featured articles · candidates · collaboration of the week
November 18
Congregation Beth Elohim is a Reform congregation located at 274 Garfield Place and Eighth Avenue, in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Founded in 1861 as a more liberal breakaway from Congregation Baith Israel, in its first 65 years it attempted four mergers with other congregations, including three with Baith Israel, all of which failed. The congregation completed its current Classical Revival synagogue building in 1910 and its "Jewish Deco" (Romanesque Revival and Art Deco) Temple House in 1929. The congregation went through difficult times during the Great Depression, and the bank almost foreclosed on its buildings in 1946. Membership dropped significantly in the 1930s because of the Depression, and again in the 1970s as a result of demographic shifts. Programs for young children helped draw Jewish families back into the neighborhood and revitalize the membership. By 2006 Beth Elohim had over 1000 members, and, as of 2008, it was the largest Reform congregation in Brooklyn, the "oldest Brooklyn congregation that continues to function under its corporate name", and its pulpit was the oldest in continuous use in any Brooklyn synagogue. (more...)
Recently featured: Opeth – Phan Xich Long – Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal
April 18
Aramaic is a Semitic language with a 3,000-year history. It has been the language of administration of empires and the language of divine worship. It is the original language of a large section of the biblical books of Daniel and Ezra. It was probably the language of Jesus, it is the main language of the Talmud, and it is still spoken today as a first language by numerous small communities. Aramaic belongs to the Afro-Asiatic language family. Within this diverse family, Aramaic belongs to the Semitic subfamily. Aramaic is a part of the Northwest Semitic group of languages, which also includes the Canaanite languages (including Hebrew).
Recently featured: Galveston Hurricane of 1900 – Colditz Castle – Names of God in Judaism
March 18
Evolution is a change in the genetic makeup of a population within a species. Since the emergence of modern genetics in the 1940s, evolution has been defined more specifically as a change in the frequency of alleles from one generation to the next. The word "evolution" is often used as a shorthand for the modern theory of evolution of species based upon Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection, which states that all modern species are the products of an extensive process that began over three billion years ago with simple single-celled organisms, and Gregor Mendel's theory of genetics. As the theory of evolution by natural selection and genetics has become universally accepted in the scientific community, it has replaced other explanations including creationism and Lamarckism. Skeptics, often creationists, sometimes deride evolution as "just a theory" in an attempt to characterize it as an arbitrary choice and degrade its claims to truth. Such criticism overlooks the scientifically-accepted use of the word "theory" to mean a falsifiable and well-supported hypothesis.
Recently featured: Geography of Ireland – Cannabis rescheduling in the United States – Mordechai Vanunu
February 18
Graffiti is a type of deliberate human markings on property. Graffiti can take the form of art, drawings, or words, and is illegal vandalism when done without the property owner's consent. Its origin can be traced back to ancient civilizations such as the Roman Empire and Ancient Greece. Graffiti originally was the term used for inscriptions, figure drawings, etc., found on the walls of ancient sepulchers or ruins, as in the Catacombs, or at Pompeii. It has evolved to include any decorations inscribed on any surface that are considered to be vandalism or pictures or writing placed on surfaces, usually outside walls and sidewalks, without the permission of the owner. Thus, inscriptions made by the authors of a monument are not considered graffiti.
Recently featured: Mor lam – Commonwealth of Nations – History of Russia
January 18
The First Crusade was a crusade launched in 1095 by Pope Urban II to regain control of the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Christian Holy Land from Muslims. What started as a minor call for aid quickly turned into a wholesale migration and conquest of territory outside of Europe. Both knights and peasants from many different nations of western Europe, with little central leadership, travelled overland and by sea towards Jerusalem and captured the city in July 1099, establishing the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the other Crusader states. Although these gains lasted for fewer than 200 years, the Crusade was a major turning point in the expansion of Western power, and was the only crusade out of the many that followed to achieve its stated goal.
Recently featured: Gender role – "The Long and Winding Road" – Constitution of the United States
December 18
The Cathedral of Magdeburg was the first gothic cathedral in Germany, and is the tallest cathedral in what is now eastern Germany with a height of 104 m. The cathedral is in Magdeburg, the capital city of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, and is also home to the grave of Otto I the Great. The first church built in 937 at the location of the current cathedral was an abbey called St. Maurice, dedicated to Saint Maurice. The current cathedral was constructed over the period of 300 years starting from 1209, and the completion of the steeples took place only in 1520. Despite being repeatedly looted, the Cathedral of Magdeburg is rich in art, ranging from antiques to modern art.
Recently featured: Soda can stove – Doctor Who – Supply and demand
November 18
In mathematics, a regular polytope is a geometric figure with a high degree of symmetry. Examples in two dimensions include the square, the regular pentagon and hexagon, and so on. In three dimensions the regular polytopes include the cube, the dodecahedron, and all Platonic solids. There exist examples in higher dimensions also. Circles and spheres, although highly symmetric, are not considered regular polytopes because they do not have flat faces. The strong symmetry of the regular polytopes gives them an aesthetic quality that interests of non-mathematicians and mathematicians alike.
Recently featured: Battle of Leyte Gulf – Felix the Cat – Linus Pauling
October 18
Cyclone Tracy was a tropical cyclone that devastated Darwin, Australia, on 24 December–25 December 1974. It was recorded by The Age as being a "disaster of the first magnitude... and without parallel in Australia's history". It killed 65 people and destroyed over 70 per cent of Darwin's buildings, leaving over 20,000 people homeless. Most of Darwin's population was evacuated to Adelaide, Whyalla, Alice Springs and Sydney and many never returned to Darwin. The town was subsequently rebuilt with newer materials and techniques. Cyclone Tracy, due to its severity, has entered into Australian popular culture in a way that no other meteorological event had before, or has since.
Recently featured: Roche limit – George III – Humpback Whale
September 18
The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 began with a set of national protests in the China, which occurred between April 15, 1989 and June 4, 1989, centered at Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The protests were part of a conflict between students and antigovernment demonstrators and the Chinese Communist Party. After several weeks, a decision was made to forcibly remove the protesters, and an estimated 2,600 people died in the ensuing conflict.
Recently featured: Glass – Lawrence v. Texas – DNA repair
September 6
The Warsaw Uprising was an armed struggle during the Second World War by the Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa) to liberate Warsaw from German occupation and Nazi rule. It started on August 1, 1944 as a part of a nationwide uprising, Operation Tempest. The Polish troops resisted the German-led forces until October 2. An estimated 85% of the city was destroyed during the urban guerrilla war and after the end of hostilities. The Uprising started at a crucial point in the war as the Soviet army was approaching Warsaw. Although the Soviet army was within a few hundred metres of the city from September 16 onward, the link between the uprising and the advancing army was never made. This failure and the reasons behind it have been a matter of controversy ever since.
Recently featured: Anno Domini – PaX – Behistun Inscription
August 18
Barack Obama is an American politician from Chicago, Illinois. A Democrat and current state senator, Obama was the third African-American to deliver a keynote address at a Democratic National Convention. A former law professor, Obama is currently running for an open seat in the U.S. Senate. If successful, Obama would be only the third black U.S. senator since Reconstruction (the two previous being Edward Brooke and Carol Moseley-Braun).
Recently featured: Governor-General of India – Operation Downfall – Peer review
July 18
Christianity is a monotheistic religion, encompassing many religious traditions that trace their origins to Jesus Christ. Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and the Lord and sole Savior of all humanity as the Jewish Messiah. Over the past two millennia, Christianity has diverged into three main branches: Catholicism, Protestantism, and Eastern Orthodoxy. Collectively, it is the world's largest single religion, with nearly a third of the world's population as its adherents.
Recently featured: Franks – Kashrut – Paradox
June 18
The Beatles are among the most influential popular music artists of modern times, initially affecting the culture of Britain and the U.S., the postwar baby boom generation, and then of the rest of the world, especially during the 1960s and early 1970s. Certainly they are the most successful, with global sales exceeding 1.3 billion albums. Their influences on popular culture extended far beyond their roles as recording artists, as they branched out into film and even semi-willingly became spokesmen for their generation. The members of the group were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr (Richard Starkey), all from Liverpool in England. The effect of the Beatles on Western culture (and by extension on the rest of the world) has been immeasurable.
Recently featured: Leet – Geology of Bryce Canyon – Zeppelin
May 18
A comet is a relatively small object similar to an asteroid but composed largely of ice. In Earth's solar system, the orbits of comets extend past that of Pluto; of the comets which enter the inner solar system, most have relatively highly elliptical orbits. Often described as "dirty snowballs", comets are composed largely of frozen carbon dioxide, methane and water with dust and various mineral aggregates mixed in. Comets are thought of as debris leftover from the condensation of a solar nebula.
Recently featured: Bob Dylan – Sino-Soviet split – Montreal Canadiens
April 18
The Ford Mustang is a popular compact car originally based on the Ford Falcon. It was later introduced to the North American public as a "1964 1/2" model both at the New York World's Fair and later via all three American television networks. It was the most successful product launch in automotive history, setting off near-pandemonium at Ford dealers across the continent.
Recently featured: Asperger's syndrome – Titanium – Labour economics
March 18
A geyser is a special type of hot spring that erupts periodically, ejecting a column of hot water and steam into the air. The name geyser comes from Geysir, the name of the best-known geyser in Iceland; that name, in turn, comes from the word gjósa, "to gush." Geysers are quite rare, requiring a combination of geology and climate that exists in only a few places on Earth. There are only six geyser fields of any size in the world: two in the United States, and one each in Russia, Chile, New Zealand and Iceland.
Recently featured: End times - Prisoner's dilemma - Villain
Featured pictures
Featured pictures · visible · candidates
I just saw the Mandelbrot set above generated by Evercat as Picture of the day for September 2, 2004 (see the archive) which inspired me to uploading three pictures of my own. They will be located below just next to the Picture of the day template so if anyone asks me whether my pictures had ever been Picture of the day, I’ll be able to say: “No, but they were really close.”
| Picture of the day |
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Euhadra peliomphala |
See also: other pictures I have contributed to Wikipedia.
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