Wikipedia:Main Page history/2021 October 15
From today's featured articleKaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji (1892–1988) was an English composer, music critic, pianist and writer whose music, written over a period of seventy years, ranges from sets of miniatures to works lasting several hours. One of the most prolific 20th-century composers, he is best known for his piano pieces, notably nocturnes such as Gulistān, and large-scale, technically intricate works like Sequentia cyclica. He had a lifelong tendency to seclusion and felt alienated from English society by reason of his homosexuality and ancestry; his mother was English and his father a Parsi businessman and industrialist from India. After playing his music publicly between 1920 and 1936, Sorabji imposed restrictions on its performance, which he lifted in 1976. He has been likened to the composer-pianists he admired, including Franz Liszt and Charles-Valentin Alkan, and his harmonic language and complex rhythms anticipated works from the mid-20th century onwards. (Full article...) Did you know ...
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In the news
On this dayOctober 15: Vijayadashami (Hinduism, 2021)
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From today's featured list
American actor and producer Jake Gyllenhaal has received numerous awards and nominations, including a British Academy Film Award for playing Jack Twist in Ang Lee's romance Brokeback Mountain (2005). After receiving his first nominations for the 1999 film October Sky, Gyllenhaal's performance as the title character in the 2001 psychological thriller film Donnie Darko earned him a Young Hollywood Award. He received the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role opposite Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain. In 2014, Gyllenhaal starred in Nightcrawler as a stringer selling footage of violent late-night events; he was awarded Best Actor by several regional film critics associations and nominated for Best Actor at the 68th British Academy Film Awards and the 72nd Golden Globe Awards. For his performance in the Broadway play Sea Wall/A Life, he was nominated for Best Actor in a Play at the 74th Tony Awards. (Full list...)
Today's featured picture
The bee hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae) is endemic to Cuba and is the smallest bird in the world and smallest known dinosaur. This immature male has yet to develop the iridescent blue plumage of the adult. The bee hummingbird feeds mainly on nectar, probing deep into flowers with its bill and moving its tongue rapidly in and out. In the process of feeding, the bird picks up pollen on its bill and head. As it flies from flower to flower, it transfers the pollen, and in this way plays an important role in plant reproduction. In one day, the bee hummingbird may visit 1,500 flowers. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp |
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