Wikipedia:Main Page history/2016 January 24

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A Weekend in the City is the second studio album by British indie rock band Bloc Party. It was recorded at Grouse Lodge Studios in Westmeath, Ireland, in mid-2006, and was produced by Jacknife Lee. The album was mixed later that year and released on 24 January 2007, with Wichita Recordings as its primary label. The band aimed to create an album that distanced them from conventional guitar band music, incorporating more electronically processed beats and hiring a string sextet for certain tracks. Frontman and chief lyricist Kele Okereke (pictured) themed the lyrics on life in modern cities, including issues such as drug abuse, sexuality and terrorism, as exemplified respectively on the singles "The Prayer", "I Still Remember" and "Hunting for Witches". Critical reception was split on the band's new musical directions and more forthright lyrics. A Weekend in the City, named by The Guardian as one of "1000 Albums To Hear Before You Die", was re-released in November 2007 to coincide with Bloc Party's touring schedule. It peaked at number 2 on the UK Album Chart and Irish Album Chart, and at number 12 on the Billboard 200. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Varanasi, the holy city

... that the nearly 2000-year-old Hindu text Jabala Upanishad discusses what makes Varanasi (pictured) holy?
... that when General Vang Pao begged senior generals for reinforcements to stave off defeat in Campaign 139, they were busy with parade practice?
... that "Zueignung" (Dedication), the first published song by Richard Strauss, was dedicated to Heinrich Vogl, the principal tenor of the Munich Court Opera?
... that fig cake and similar cakes have traditionally been served in the Appalachian Mountains as a part of Old Christmas celebrations?
... that the mining industry of Cyprus is synonymous with copper extraction which began around 4,000 BC?
... that Praška filmska škola is a term applied to the works of several Yugoslav film directors who graduated from the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU)?
... that in the viral ad video Heimkommen, a German grandfather fakes his own death to reunite his family?
... that The Pink Assassin was a flamboyant masked villain from Fire Island, New York?

In the news

U.S. winter storm on January 23

A major winter storm (satellite image pictured) causes at least seventeen deaths and paralyzes travel across the Eastern United States.
Caltech researchers discover evidence of a hypothetical Planet Nine, about ten times the mass of Earth, in the outer Solar System.
Gunmen open fire at Bacha Khan University in Pakistan, killing more than twenty people.
The International Atomic Energy Agency affirms Iran has met its obligations under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, triggering the removal of some sanctions.
Tsai Ing-wen is elected the first female President of Taiwan, and her Democratic Progressive Party wins a majority in the Legislative Yuan.

Ongoing events:
- European migrant crisis
Recent deaths:
- Glenn Frey

On this day...

January 24

University of Calcutta shortly after its founding

1458 – The 14-year-old Matthias Corvinus was unanimously proclaimed King of Hungary, after the Estates were persuaded to do so by his uncle Michael Szilágyi.
1857 – The University of Calcutta (pictured), the first modern university in the Indian subcontinent, was established.
1900 – Second Boer War: Boer forces stopped a British attempt to break the Siege of Ladysmith in the Battle of Spion Kop.
1978 – The Soviet nuclear powered satellite Kosmos 954 burned up during reentry, scattering radioactive debris across Canada's Northwest Territories.
1993 – Turkish journalist and writer Uğur Mumcu was assassinated by a car bomb outside his home in Ankara.

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Today's featured picture

Loligo forbesii is a commercially important species of squid in the family Loliginidae. It can be found in the seas around Europe, its range extending through the Red Sea toward the East African coast. The squid lives at depths of 10 to 500 m (30 to 1,600 ft), feeding on fish, polychaetes, crustaceans, and other cephalopods.

Illustration: Comingio Merculiano

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