From today's featured article
Flotilla is a 2010 turn-based strategy space-combat video game developed by Brendon Chung (pictured) and his studio, Blendo Games. The game was released in March 2010 on Steam for Microsoft Windows and on Xbox Live Indie Games for the Xbox 360. Flotilla was designed with Microsoft's XNA tools, and its development was influenced by animals as well as board games such as Axis & Allies and Arkham Horror . The game takes the player on an adventure through a randomly generated galaxy. Chung began developing Flotilla after the closure of Pandemic Studios, where he had worked as a designer. The new game used assets imported from Chung's early space combat prototype Space Piñata. Flotilla incorporates pieces of classical music in its score such as Frédéric Chopin's "Raindrop" prelude. It received mixed reviews from video game media outlets, scoring 72 out of 100 on review aggregate website Metacritic, and was included in Mike Rose's book 250 Indie Games You Must Play. ( Full article... )
Did you know ...
- ... that the Grand Husseini Mosque has served as a gathering point for political demonstrations in Amman (example pictured) for nearly a century?
- ... that Indian communist revolutionary S. A. Rawoof was charged with conspiracy to murder two individuals with the same name?
- ... that the FogCam is believed to be the world's longest-running public webcam?
- ... that cowries were increasingly used during the reign of Ehenneden as currency in Igodomigodo's markets?
- ... that the Christchurch Seagull Pit has been described as the "ninth wonder of the world"?
- ... that Herman Martell , who co-founded the alumni association for the Green Bay Packers, only appeared in one NFL game for the team?
- ... that the Mobile Adapter GB was an early, albeit unsuccessful, attempt at handheld online gaming for the Game Boy Color and the Game Boy Advance?
- ... that Genora Johnson Dollinger was known as the Joan of Arc of Labor due to having to be dragged away from the 1936 Flint sit-down strike?
- ... that a train station in Japan appointed a cat as an "honorary assistant"?
In the news
- Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry (pictured) is elected as the first African and the first female president of the International Olympic Committee.
- Anti-government protests break out across Turkey following the arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu by the national police.
- Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud survives an attack on his convoy by al-Shabaab that kills at least 10 people.
- Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip kill more than 500 people, ending the Gaza war ceasefire.
- A nightclub fire in Kočani, North Macedonia, kills at least 59 people and injures more than 155 others.
On this day
March 25 : Feast of the Annunciation (Christianity); Bangladesh Genocide Remembrance Day
- 1458 – Wars of the Roses: A formal reconciliation ceremony between the Lancastrians and Yorkists led to a brief period of peace.
- 1725 – Bach's chorale cantata Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern was first performed on the Feast of the Annunciation, which coincided that year with Palm Sunday.
- 1934 – Enrico Fermi (pictured) published his discovery of neutron-induced radioactivity, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.
- 1949 – The Soviet Union began mass deportations of more than 90,000 "undesirable" people from the Baltic states to Siberia.
- Kō no Moronao (d. 1351)
- Melita Norwood (b. 1912)
- Marie-Alphonsine Danil Ghattas (d. 1927)
- Russell Sherman (b. 1930)
Today's featured picture
 | The Kefermarkt altarpiece is a richly decorated wooden altarpiece in the Late Gothic style in the parish church of Kefermarkt in Upper Austria. Commissioned by the knight Christoph von Zelking, it was completed around 1497. Saints Peter, Wolfgang and Christopher are depicted in the central section. The wing panels depict scenes from the life of Mary, and the altarpiece also has an intricate superstructure and two side figures of Saints George and Florian. The identity of its maker, known by the notname Master of the Kefermarkt Altarpiece, is unknown, but at least two skilled sculptors appear to have created the main statuary. Throughout the centuries, it has been altered and lost its original paint and gilding; a major restoration was undertaken in the 19th century under the direction of Adalbert Stifter. The altarpiece has been described as "one of the greatest achievements in late-medieval sculpture in the German-speaking area". This image shows the upper-right wing panel of the Kefermarkt altarpiece, depicting the Annunciation. Mary is portrayed kneeling in a praying stool inside a half-open structure, supported by unusually carved pillars, crowned above their capitals with figures which are probably intended to be prophets from the Old Testament. The archangel Gabriel is entering the structure, and holds a speech scroll where parts of his greeting, the Ave Maria, is visible. In the upper-left corner is a depiction of God the Father among clouds and flanked by two angels. The panel originally also contained a dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit, but it has been lost. Sculpture credit: Master of the Kefermarkt Altarpiece; photographed by Uoaei1 Recently featured: |