today's Featured List/August 2014

August 1

Kevin Feige

There are presently ten films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), an American series of superhero films that has been in production since 2007. Produced by Marvel Studios and based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics, the series has collectively grossed over $6.3 billion at the global box office, making it the second highest-grossing film franchise, behind Harry Potter. Kevin Feige (pictured) has served as a producer for every MCU film, beginning with 2008's Iron Man and continuing through the series' most recent release, Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014. The films are written and directed by a variety of individuals and feature large, often ensemble, casts. Many of the actors, including Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans and Samuel L. Jackson, signed contracts to star in numerous films. Five more films have been announced, including Avengers: Age of Ultron, the next film scheduled for release, with release dates for a further six films announced through 2019. (Full list...)

August 4

Kjell Opseth

The Minister of Transport and Communications is a Councillor of State and Chief of the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications. Since 16 October 2013, the position has been held by Ketil Solvik-Olsen of the Progress Party. The position was created with the ministry on 22 February 1946, when Nils Langhelle was appointed. The ministry and minister position were split out from the Ministry of Labour. Twenty-eight people have held the position, representing six parties. Sixteen people have represented the Labour Party, five the Centre Party, two each the Christian Democratic Party, the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party and one the Progress Party. The longest-sitting minister is Kjell Opseth (pictured) who sat a week short of six years. Trygve Bratteli is the only officeholder to have later become Prime Minister. (Full list...)

August 8

Irène Joliot-Curie

Forty-four women have been recipients of the Nobel Prize, while 803 men and 22 organizations have been recipients of the award. The first woman to win a Nobel Prize was Marie Curie, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 with her husband, Pierre Curie, and Henri Becquerel. Curie is also the only woman to have won multiple Nobel Prizes; in 1911, she won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Curie's daughter, Irène Joliot-Curie (pictured), won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935, making the two the only mother-daughter pair to have won Nobel Prizes. Fifteen women have won the Nobel Peace Prize, thirteen have won the Nobel Prize in Literature, ten have won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, four have won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, two have won the Nobel Prize in Physics and one, Elinor Ostrom, has won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. The most Nobel Prizes awarded to women in a single year was in 2009, when five women became laureates. The most recent woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize was Alice Munro, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 for her work in short stories. (Full list...)

August 11

List of international cricket five-wicket hauls by Shoaib Akhtar

Sixteen five-wicket hauls were taken by Shoaib Akhtar (pictured) during his career in international cricket. Shoaib is a retired Pakistani fast bowler who made his Test debut in 1997 against the West Indies at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. His first Test five-wicket haul came the following year against South Africa in a match which Pakistan won at Kingsmead Cricket Ground, Durban. Starting his One Day International (ODI) career in October 1998 against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club, Shoaib's first ODI five-wicket haul came against New Zealand in February 2001 at the Eden Park, Auckland. In Test cricket, Shoaib's career-best figures for an innings were 6 wickets for 11 runs against New Zealand at the Gaddafi Stadium. His best bowling performance in ODIs was 6 wickets for 16 runs against the same team at the National Stadium, Karachi. As of June 2014, he is sixth in the list of five-wicket haul takers for Pakistan, all formats of the game combined. (Full list...)

August 15

A North American Sega Genesis video game console with 6-button controller

More than 900 games are supported by the Sega Genesis (pictured), a 16-bit video game console that was developed and sold by Sega Enterprises, Ltd. The successor to the Master System, the Genesis can also play the complete library of Master System games when the separately sold Power Base Converter is installed. The initial pack-in title was Altered Beast, which was later replaced with Sonic the Hedgehog. Top sellers included Sonic the Hedgehog, its sequel Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and Disney's Aladdin. During development for the console, Sega of Japan focused on developing action games while Sega of America was tasked with developing sports games. A large part of the appeal of the Genesis library during the console's lifetime was the arcade-based experience of its games. Compared to its competition, Sega advertised to an older audience by hosting more mature games, including the uncensored version of Mortal Kombat. (Full list...)

August 18

Florence Owens Thompson and several of her children

The unofficial beginning and ending dates of recessions in the United States have been defined by the National Bureau of Economic Research, an American private nonprofit research organization. There have been as many as 47 recessions in the United States since 1790, although economists and historians dispute certain 19th-century recessions. Cycles in the country's agriculture, consumption, and business investment, and the health of the banking industry contribute to these declines. U.S. recessions have increasingly affected economies on a worldwide scale, especially as countries' economies become more intertwined. The average duration of the 11 recessions between 1945 and 2001 is 10 months, compared to 18 months for recessions between 1919 and 1945, and 22 months for recessions from 1854 to 1919. No recession of the post-World War II era has come anywhere near the depth of the Great Depression (destitute pea picker pictured), which lasted from 1929 until 1933 and was caused by extensive new tariffs and other factors. (Full list...)

August 22

Rani Mukerji

Rani Mukerji's acting career has been dominated by work in Bollywood films. Mukerji, an Indian actress, made her screen debut with a supporting role in Biyer Phool (1992), and had her first leading role with the drama Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat (1997). In 1998, she achieved success by playing a supporting role in the romance Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. After three years of poorly received films, Mukerji's career prospects improved in 2002 when she played the lead role in Saathiya. For her roles in the 2004 romantic comedy Hum Tum and the drama Yuva, Mukerji became the only actress to win the Filmfare Awards both for Best Actress and for Best Supporting Actress, respectively, in the same year. She subsequently garnered praise for portraying a blind, deaf and mute woman in Black (2005) and an unfaithful wife in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006). Following a series of box office flops, Mukerji starred in two successful thrillers—No One Killed Jessica (2011) and Talaash: The Answer Lies Within (2012). (Full list...)

August 25

Canada's Wonderland

There are currently 65 attractions in Canada's Wonderland, a 330-acre (130 ha) theme park complex located in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. When Canada's Wonderland first opened in 1981, there were 26 attractions. Since then, at least one attraction has been added every year except 2009 and 2013. Canada's Wonderland's newest attraction is Wonder Mountain's Guardian, a 4D interactive dark ride located inside Wonder Mountain, which was added for the 2014 season. For safety, Canada's Wonderland uses a ride rating system that classifies the attractions based on the intensity of the ride. The ratings vary from 1, for rides that are calm and gentle, to 5, for rides that have high speeds, aggressive forces, and rapid elevation changes. A separate set of ride ratings criteria is used for attractions inside Splash Works, a water park that was constructed in the area surrounding the Mighty Canadian Minebuster in 1992. Four years later, Canada's Wonderland expanded the water park by adding a wave pool, an interactive children's playground, and an enclosed water slide. (Full list...)

August 29

A sign outside the entrance of a Copenhagen Metro station

There are 22 stations in the Copenhagen Metro, a driverless rapid transit system serving Copenhagen, Frederiksberg and Tårnby in Denmark. Nine of these metro stations are underground, twelve are elevated, and one is street-level. Christianshavn Station offers transfer between the system's two metro lines (M1 and M2), which share track between Vanløse and Christianshavn stations. From Christianshavn, M1 branches south traveling to Vestamager Station, while M2 heads southeast to Lufthavnen Station, which serves Copenhagen Airport. Flintholm, Nørreport and Vanløse stations offer transfer to the S-train, the city's other rapid transit system which the Copenhagen Metro was built to supplement. Transfer from the Copenhagen Metro to regional trains is possible at Lufthavnen, Nørreport and Ørestad stations. The City Circle Line, which is under construction and scheduled to open in 2018, is planned to have 17 stations, with transfer between the current and new lines at Christianshavn and Kongens Nytorv stations. (Full list...)