CFdJ - Clusterfucque du jour

[Ming]

Today's Featured Bad Lead:

The Annunciation is an oil painting by the Early Netherlandish painter Hans Memling. It depicts the Annunciation, the archangel Gabriel's announcement to the Virgin Mary that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus, described in the Gospel of Luke.

Dudes, you know, there are these things called "wikilinks", so someone can click on a link and find out what a word means?

[rnu]

OTD ...

1891 – Frances Coles was killed in the last of eleven unsolved murders of women that took place in or near the impoverished Whitechapel district in the East End of London.

So there were exactly eleven unsolved murders of women in Whitechapel and the last one happened in 1891? Of course not. It was the last of eleven unsolved murders of women that are speculated to be connected, i.e. the Whitechapel murders (T-H-L) also known as the "Jack the Ripper" murders.

[rnu]

OTD ...

1961 – Geode prospectors near Olancha, California, discovered what they claimed to be a 500,000-year-old rock with a 1920s-era spark plug encased within (pictured).

Pointing out on the Main Page that the bullshit posted on the Main Page is in fact bullshit would be too much to ask, right?

[Ron Lybonly]

I like to think these CFdJ / DYK gaffes are usually a net positive. They mildly misinform the majority of readers about something dumb and obscure. Meanwhile for more alert readers, they’re prominent examples of Wikipedia’s reliability issues.

Probably more people absorb this lesson through DYK than reading Wikimedia disclaimers buried in boilerplate somewhere on the website.

Call me Dr. Pangloss (T-H-L).

[rnu]

I like to think these CFdJ / DYK gaffes are usually a net positive. They mildly misinform the majority of readers about something dumb and obscure. Meanwhile for more alert readers, they’re prominent examples of Wikipedia’s reliability issues.

Probably more people absorb this lesson through DYK than reading Wikimedia disclaimers buried in boilerplate somewhere on the website.

Call me Dr. Pangloss (T-H-L).

Make

"If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning."
― Catherine Aird

the official Main Page motto.

[ArmasRebane]

Today's Featured Bad Lead:

The Annunciation is an oil painting by the Early Netherlandish painter Hans Memling. It depicts the Annunciation, the archangel Gabriel's announcement to the Virgin Mary that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus, described in the Gospel of Luke.

Dudes, you know, there are these things called "wikilinks", so someone can click on a link and find out what a word means?

An article should probably be comprehensible without linking away; in internet reading if someone clicks away it's possible they won't return. I don't see the issue with actually telling people what the Annunciation is. Not everyone paid attention in religious classes.

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that despite various proposals, a statue of a renowned Dunedin clergyman was not moved from its location adjacent to a brothel and two parking lots?

From the article:

Proposals to move the statue to the grounds of the University of Otago were raised in the late 2010s, to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the university. Supporters cited the statue's relatively inaccessible location adjacent to two car parks and a brothel.[3] The statue was cleaned and restored in 2020, although ultimately not moved.[9]

From the source:

This month, the Stuart Halls Residence Council reignited debate about the statue’s locality. In an appeal for support to the Dunedin City Council, Dr Skinner said it was hoped the statue would be moved to an as-yet-undecided site on the University of Otago campus.
If it was supported, the council would move the statue in a procession to coincide with the university’s 150th anniversary and the 125th anniversary of Dr Stuart’s death in 2019.
The desire to move him to ‘‘a more salubrious location’’ is not so much about moving him away from the brothel as about making it more accessible, she says.
"He is alive and well to us but it is a very difficult site to access; there is no direct footpath and there is a car park in front of it.
"Anyone who has commented to me recently has said ‘where is his statue?’ They just don’t know where it is."

Fortunately a quote from the source perfectly applies to the hook:

Dr Enright says the brothel is a red herring.
"You would have thought that would have been irrelevant to him."

[rnu]

OTD ...

1990 – NASA's Voyager 1 space probe took the iconic Pale Blue Dot (T-H-L) photograph of Earth (pictured) from a record distance of 40.5 au (6.06 billion km; 3.76 billion mi).

Spot the dot:

[lonza leggiera]

OTD ...

1990 – NASA's Voyager 1 space probe took the iconic Pale Blue Dot (T-H-L) photograph of Earth (pictured) from a record distance of 40.5 au (6.06 billion km; 3.76 billion mi).

Spot the dot:

It's not all that difficult to spot it in the larger sized image in the article, although I'd prefer it to be made even easier by increasing the size of the image by about 25%. With a sufficiently large image, it becomes dead easy to spot.

[rnu]

OTD ...

1990 – NASA's Voyager 1 space probe took the iconic Pale Blue Dot (T-H-L) photograph of Earth (pictured) from a record distance of 40.5 au (6.06 billion km; 3.76 billion mi).

Spot the dot:

It's not all that difficult to spot it in the larger sized image in the article, although I'd prefer it to be made even easier by increasing the size of the image by about 25%. With a sufficiently large image, it becomes dead easy to spot.

The photo itself is fine. Putting the thumbnail on the Main Page was not the best idea in my opinion.

[rnu]

OTD

1999 – Abdullah Öcalan (T-H-L), one of the founding members of the militant organization the Kurdistan Workers' Party, was arrested by Turkish security forces in Nairobi, Kenya.

Riiiiiiiiiiiggggghhhhht. "Arrested" by Turkish "security forces" in Kenya. Totally normal thing to happen.

[rnu]

OTD

Gisela of Swabia (T-H-L) (d. 1043)

Lead sentence of the article:

Gisela of Swabia (c. 990 – 15 February 1043),[1] was queen of Germany from 1024 to 1039 and empress of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 to 1039 by her third marriage with Emperor Conrad II.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=13354

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that Pamatan (T-H-L) is an undiscovered city on Lombok that was destroyed by the 1257 Samalas eruption?

Undiscovered city? No-one has ever found it or known where it is? Of course not -- we're not talking about the DYK crowd's intelligence, common sense or general decency -- it is a Lost city (T-H-L).

[rnu]

OTD

February 16: Day of the Shining Star (T-H-L) in North Korea

"Dear Leader, happy birthday from Wikipedia!"
Looking forward to April 20 (T-H-L), can't wait to see what the Main Page has planned for the Führergeburtstag celebrations.

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that Logan Thompson (T-H-L) (pictured) is the first U Sports goaltender to start a National Hockey League game in over 30 years?

First former U Sports goaltender ...

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that Margareth Rago (T-H-L) seeks to establish a methodology for what she calls "feminist science"?

Grnrchst (T-C-L) created the article based on a translation of :pt:Margareth Rago (T-H-L). Unfortunately the Portuguese article is crap. It is obvious crap. It is so obviously crap that you don't have to know Portuguese (I don't) to know that it is crap. A machine translation would be plenty to see that it is crap. All you need is the most basic familiarity with academia that any first-year university student should have. According to the article Rago became full professor the year after she received her master's degree. I don't know the Brazilian education system, so I cannot say with certainty that it is impossible, but it most certainly is extremely unlikely. What is more, according to Wikipedia before she became full professor in 1986:

Between 1982 and 1984, she worked as a professor at the Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU).

So she was a professor before she had a master's degree?
OK, so where does all this nonsense come from? Turns out the CV on her university homepage. I admit it is written in a way that can be misinterpreted. But the misinterpretations are such obvious nonsense that anyone should be able to spot them. Let's see, her stint as "professor" at UFU 1982-1984:

Entre 1982-1984, lecionou no Universidade Federal de Uberlândia.
(Sexist) google translation: Between 1982-1984, he taught at the Federal University of Uberlândia.

Notice that this does not say that she was a professor. Weirdly this is mentioned after stuff from 1984. This strongly suggests that the CV is simply wrong here and she taught at UFU from 1992 to 1994.
OK, so on becoming a full professor a year after her master's:

doutorado em História na UNICAMP (1985-1990; livre-docência em 2000. Desde 2003, é professora titular MS-6 do Depto de História da UNICAMP, onde iniciou em 1985.
google translation: PhD in History at UNICAMP (1985-1990; full professorship in 2000. Since 2003, she has been a full professor MS-6 at the Department of History at UNICAMP, where she started in 1985.

So, full professor in 2000? She started her PhD in 1985 after receiving her master's in 1984. Note that google translates "livre-docência" as full professor. That is a mistranslation :pt:Livre-docência (T-H-L) is an academic title. From the pt article:

A livre-docência (LD) é um título concedido no Brasil por uma instituição de ensino superior, mediante concurso público aberto apenas para portadores do título de doutor (a partir de 11 de setembro de 1976), e que atesta uma qualidade superior na docência e na pesquisa.
google translation: Professorship (LD) is a title granted in Brazil by a higher education institution, through a public competition open only to holders of a doctorate degree (as of September 11, 1976), and which attests to superior quality in teaching. and in research.

So she became a professor at UNICAMP in 2003. That explains why according to Wikipedia she did "Post-doctoral work" after 2000.
I didn't bother to work through the rest of the article to determine how much of it is crap. But let's look at the DYK hook:

... that Margareth Rago (T-H-L) seeks to establish a methodology for what she calls "feminist science"?

You may have noted that she is a professor at a history department. So what's this about "feminist science"? There is no information about this in the body of the text. Because why would there be, right? There is one sentence in the lead:

Influenced by authors such as Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, Jean-François Lyotard and Jacques Derrida, she seeks to establish a specific methodology for what she calls "feminist science".

The sentence is based on a primary source, i.e. an article by Rago: "Epistemologia Feminista, Gênero e História". The title translates to "Feminist Epistemology, Gender and History". Classic science stuff, right? "Feminist science" -- "ciência feminista" -- appears exactly twice in the article. First in a section headline:

2 - o projeto de ciência feminista ou um modo feminista de pensar?
google translation: 2 - the feminist science project or a feminist way of thinking?

The second time in the last sentence of the first paragraph of that section:

Como se de repente os efeitos se desviassem dos objetivos visados no ponto de partida: a
categoria relacional do gênero desinveste a preocupação de fortalecimento da identidade
mulher, ao contrário do que se visava inicialmente com um projeto alternativo de uma
ciência feminista.
google translation: As if suddenly the effects deviated from the objectives aimed at at the starting point: the relational category of gender disinvests the concern of strengthening identity woman, contrary to what was initially intended with an alternative project of a feminist science.

Anyway, I did not read her entire paper, but from the title, the introduction and the final section it is obvious that what Rago is interested in is, as you would expect, feminist historiography.

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that Ireland's 2024 Eurovision entrant Bambie Thug (T-H-L) describes their musical genre as "ouija pop"?

From the article:

They are known to mix numerous genres in their music, coining their own term, "ouija-pop", out of disdain for being put into one genre. Robinson's music has been inspired by various subjects, including breakups, witchcraft, and drug addiction.

Robinson has used the term "ouija-pop" to describe their music. In a 2023 interview, they stated "my stuff is hyperpunk avant electro-pop. We call it grit pop or rot but recently I've been coining the term 'ouija pop'".[9] They stated that they coined the term due to a reluctance of being "put in a box", instead combining numerous genres, with Robinson "never having anything in mind" whenever making music.[29] One of Robinson's major influences musically is a reluctance to be stuck to a style or genre; in an interview with NME, Robinson claimed that they could do "everything" creatively, stating their belief that the heavy metal music community had expanded to include more genres and be more accepting of the LGBTQ+ community. However, they also stated that the heavy metal community was "under attack", with Robinson considering themselves a "rebel".[30]

A pretentious person saying pretentious crap. Let's put it on the Main Page!
On second thought, maybe I'm being unfair. I mean this doesn't look like the kind of person who would say pretentious crap, does it?

[rnu]

OTD

2014 – A series of violent events (pictured) involving protesters, riot police, and unknown shooters began in Kyiv that culminated in the ousting of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych five days later.

I know that hooks are not suitable to convey complex information. But I am impressed that OTD found a rug big enough to sweep the facts about those "unknown shooters" under it.

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that because the Cherokee people were deliberately routed through cholera-stricken areas, their dislocation has been given as an example of Native American genocide in the United States (T-H-L)?

Congratulations to CarmenEsparzaAmoux (T-C-L) and SashiRolls (T-C-L) to sneak an article of actual importance with an informative hook into DYK.


I didn't read the article. Let's quit while we're ahead.

[Elinruby]

OTD

2014 – A series of violent events (pictured) involving protesters, riot police, and unknown shooters began in Kyiv that culminated in the ousting of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych five days later.

I know that hooks are not suitable to convey complex information. But I am impressed that OTD found a rug big enough to sweep the facts about those "unknown shooters" under it.

Wait what? I am looking for where they found that in the article. It's not in the lede (still reading)

[rnu]

OTD

2014 – A series of violent events (pictured) involving protesters, riot police, and unknown shooters began in Kyiv that culminated in the ousting of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych five days later.

I know that hooks are not suitable to convey complex information. But I am impressed that OTD found a rug big enough to sweep the facts about those "unknown shooters" under it.

Wait what? I am looking for where they found that in the article. It's not in the lede (still reading)

Just searching for "sniper" suggests that there is very little about it in the article. There is information about the (discussion about) the identity of the shooters in a different article:
Maidan_casualties#Identity_of_snipers (T-H-L)

[Elinruby]

OTD

2014 – A series of violent events (pictured) involving protesters, riot police, and unknown shooters began in Kyiv that culminated in the ousting of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych five days later.

I know that hooks are not suitable to convey complex information. But I am impressed that OTD found a rug big enough to sweep the facts about those "unknown shooters" under it.

Wait what? I am looking for where they found that in the article. It's not in the lede (still reading)

Just searching for "sniper" suggests that there is very little about it in the article. There is information about the (discussion about) the identity of the shooters in a different article:
Maidan_casualties#Identity_of_snipers (T-H-L)

Ok, that is a decent summary of the situation for a long time. Who submitted this thing though? I perked up my ears because this is precisely what the Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Ivan Katchanovski (3rd nomination) (T-H-L) stuff I was just talking about was all about.

There has been a court ruling that 40 of the 48 deaths were caused by the Berkut.

I am also confused because I thought that these DYK articles were supposed to be new, or recently extensively updated.

Big sigh.

So to recap, the "unknown" in the hook was apparently pulled out of thin air? And the "recently updated" article does not include extremely pertinent new information? Is that what I am hearing? I am re-reading the article; it's been a while.

Maidan casualties#Legal hearings and investigation (T-H-L) does get to the court ruling.

link

But still interested in why Revolution of Dignity (T-H-L) was eligible for a DYK at all, given that it had not been updated. What am I missing? (Later) oh, On This Day, I see. Apparently those are not required to be accurate?

[rnu]

[...]
Just searching for "sniper" suggests that there is very little about it in the article. There is information about the (discussion about) the identity of the shooters in a different article:
Maidan_casualties#Identity_of_snipers (T-H-L)

Ok, that is a decent summary of the situation for a long time. Who submitted this thing though? I perked up my ears because this is precisely what the Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Ivan Katchanovski (3rd nomination) (T-H-L) stuff I was just talking about was all about.

There has been a court ruling that 40 of the 48 deaths were caused by the Berkut.

I am also confused because I thought that these DYK articles were supposed to be new, or recently extensively updated.

Big sigh.

So to recap, the "unknown" in the hook was apparently pulled out of thin air? And the "recently updated" article does not include extremely pertinent new information? Is that what I am hearing? I am re-reading the article; it's been a while.

Maidan casualties#Legal hearings and investigation (T-H-L) does get to the court ruling.

link

But still interested in why Revolution of Dignity (T-H-L) was eligible for a DYK at all, given that it had not been updated. What am I missing? (Later) oh, On This Day, I see. Apparently those are not required to be accurate?

This is on OTD, not DYK. Articles have to be neither new nor good to appear there. Only major issues with an article rule it out for OTD.

Edit: see viewtopic.php?f=8&t=12603&p=336540&hili ... en#p336540

[rnu]

[...]
Ok, that is a decent summary of the situation for a long time. Who submitted this thing though? I perked up my ears because this is precisely what the Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Ivan Katchanovski (3rd nomination) (T-H-L) stuff I was just talking about was all about.
[...]

Nangaf (T-C-L) is heavily involved in this article, too.

[Elinruby]

[...]
Just searching for "sniper" suggests that there is very little about it in the article. There is information about the (discussion about) the identity of the shooters in a different article:
Maidan_casualties#Identity_of_snipers (T-H-L)

Ok, that is a decent summary of the situation for a long time. Who submitted this thing though? I perked up my ears because this is precisely what the Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Ivan Katchanovski (3rd nomination) (T-H-L) stuff I was just talking about was all about.

There has been a court ruling that 40 of the 48 deaths were caused by the Berkut.

I am also confused because I thought that these DYK articles were supposed to be new, or recently extensively updated.

Big sigh.

So to recap, the "unknown" in the hook was apparently pulled out of thin air? And the "recently updated" article does not include extremely pertinent new information? Is that what I am hearing? I am re-reading the article; it's been a while.

Maidan casualties#Legal hearings and investigation (T-H-L) does get to the court ruling.

link

But still interested in why Revolution of Dignity (T-H-L) was eligible for a DYK at all, given that it had not been updated. What am I missing? (Later) oh, On This Day, I see. Apparently those are not required to be accurate?

This is on OTD, not DYK. Articles have to be neither new nor good to appear there. Only major issues with an article rule it out for OTD.

Edit: see https://wikipediocracy.com/forum/ viewtopic.php?f=8&t=12603&p=336540&hilit=refreshingly+open#p336540

Yeah I got there eventually.

And apparently historical revisionism doesn't count as a major problem... although really, they probably just didn't know or care enough to check it, to be fair.

For the record, none of our articles on Ukraine, Poland or the Baltics can safely be assumed to contain no hoaxes, PoV pushing or inaccuracies, and some of the ones rated B or better are among the worst. Oh they'll be spelled correctly, though, and use an approved reference format.

This is probably true of all post-Soviet countries; I only know enough to spot it in a few. I am sure I sound paranoid but these are facts.

[rnu]

And apparently historical revisionism.doesn't count asamajor problem...

Does it ever?

[Elinruby]

And apparently historical revisionism.doesn't count asamajor problem...

Does it ever?

On Wikipedia? Sore subject.

[Elinruby]

[...]
Ok, that is a decent summary of the situation for a long time. Who submitted this thing though? I perked up my ears because this is precisely what the Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Ivan Katchanovski (3rd nomination) (T-H-L) stuff I was just talking about was all about.
[...]

Nangaf (T-C-L) is heavily involved in this article, too.

Probably why it's halfway grounded in reality.

I still found a Kremlin statement in wikivoice just now though. probably an editing error in that particular case.

And I didn't try to verify the sourcing. But My very best wishes (T-H-L) will have caught anything egregious in Russian probably. And I wouldn't have used Euromaidan Press, although I don't recall what period that reference iwas from. Anyway.

(Later) just noticed your followup on OTD quality standards. Geez. Not impressed with their minimum standard as I am sure you gather

[Elinruby]

DYK ...

... that Margareth Rago (T-H-L) seeks to establish a methodology for what she calls "feminist science"?

Grnrchst (T-C-L) created the article based on a translation of :pt:Margareth Rago (T-H-L). Unfortunately the Portuguese article is crap. It is obvious crap. It is so obviously crap that you don't have to know Portuguese (I don't) to know that it is crap. A machine translation would be plenty to see that it is crap. All you need is the most basic familiarity with academia that any first-year university student should have. According to the article Rago became full professor the year after she received her master's degree. I don't know the Brazilian education system, so I cannot say with certainty that it is impossible, but it most certainly is extremely unlikely. What is more, according to Wikipedia before she became full professor in 1986:

Between 1982 and 1984, she worked as a professor at the Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU).

So she was a professor before she had a master's degree?
OK, so where does all this nonsense come from? Turns out the CV on her university homepage. I admit it is written in a way that can be misinterpreted. But the misinterpretations are such obvious nonsense that anyone should be able to spot them. Let's see, her stint as "professor" at UFU 1982-1984:

Entre 1982-1984, lecionou no Universidade Federal de Uberlândia.
(Sexist) google translation: Between 1982-1984, he taught at the Federal University of Uberlândia.

Notice that this does not say that she was a professor. Weirdly this is mentioned after stuff from 1984. This strongly suggests that the CV is simply wrong here and she taught at UFU from 1992 to 1994.
OK, so on becoming a full professor a year after her master's:

doutorado em História na UNICAMP (1985-1990; livre-docência em 2000. Desde 2003, é professora titular MS-6 do Depto de História da UNICAMP, onde iniciou em 1985.
google translation: PhD in History at UNICAMP (1985-1990; full professorship in 2000. Since 2003, she has been a full professor MS-6 at the Department of History at UNICAMP, where she started in 1985.

So, full professor in 2000? She started her PhD in 1985 after receiving her master's in 1984. Note that google translates "livre-docência" as full professor. That is a mistranslation :pt:Livre-docência (T-H-L) is an academic title. From the pt article:

A livre-docência (LD) é um título concedido no Brasil por uma instituição de ensino superior, mediante concurso público aberto apenas para portadores do título de doutor (a partir de 11 de setembro de 1976), e que atesta uma qualidade superior na docência e na pesquisa.
google translation: Professorship (LD) is a title granted in Brazil by a higher education institution, through a public competition open only to holders of a doctorate degree (as of September 11, 1976), and which attests to superior quality in teaching. and in research.

So she became a professor at UNICAMP in 2003. That explains why according to Wikipedia she did "Post-doctoral work" after 2000.
I didn't bother to work through the rest of the article to determine how much of it is crap. But let's look at the DYK hook:

... that Margareth Rago (T-H-L) seeks to establish a methodology for what she calls "feminist science"?

You may have noted that she is a professor at a history department. So what's this about "feminist science"? There is no information about this in the body of the text. Because why would there be, right? There is one sentence in the lead:

Influenced by authors such as Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, Jean-François Lyotard and Jacques Derrida, she seeks to establish a specific methodology for what she calls "feminist science".

The sentence is based on a primary source, i.e. an article by Rago: "Epistemologia Feminista, Gênero e História". The title translates to "Feminist Epistemology, Gender and History". Classic science stuff, right? "Feminist science" -- "ciência feminista" -- appears exactly twice in the article. First in a section headline:

2 - o projeto de ciência feminista ou um modo feminista de pensar?
google translation: 2 - the feminist science project or a feminist way of thinking?

The second time in the last sentence of the first paragraph of that section:

Como se de repente os efeitos se desviassem dos objetivos visados no ponto de partida: a
categoria relacional do gênero desinveste a preocupação de fortalecimento da identidade
mulher, ao contrário do que se visava inicialmente com um projeto alternativo de uma
ciência feminista.
google translation: As if suddenly the effects deviated from the objectives aimed at at the starting point: the relational category of gender disinvests the concern of strengthening identity woman, contrary to what was initially intended with an alternative project of a feminist science.

Anyway, I did not read her entire paper, but from the title, the introduction and the final section it is obvious that what Rago is interested in is, as you would expect, feminist historiography.

Welcome to the perils of machine translation, especially from Portuguese especially from Brazilian Portuguese.

The thing about history = science is a regular feature of machine translation

[Elinruby]

[...]
Ok, that is a decent summary of the situation for a long time. Who submitted this thing though? I perked up my ears because this is precisely what the Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Ivan Katchanovski (3rd nomination) (T-H-L) stuff I was just talking about was all about.
[...]

Nangaf (T-C-L) is heavily involved in this article, too.

Probably why it's halfway grounded in reality.

I still found a Kremlin statement in wikivoice just now though. probably an editing error in that particular case.

And I didn't try to verify the sourcing. But My very best wishes (T-H-L) will have caught anything egregious in Russian probably. And I wouldn't have used Euromaidan Press, although I don't recall what period that reference iwas from. Anyway.

(Later) just noticed your followup on OTD quality standards. Geez. Not impressed with their minimum standard as I am sure you gather

It's actually worse than that though. AI the end of the lede, the paragraph beginning "A large barricaded protest camp" ends in "fired on by police snipers", cited to a UN human rights agency. So it isn't even a matter of. not knowing to check for updates and propaganda, or of not believing anything the Ukrainians say,

Whoever wrote the hook didn't read the lede article all the way through. Never attribute to propaganda what can be explained by laziness I guess

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that for several millennia, some humans buried corpses in their houses?

The article deals with three different practices sharing a name.

[rnu]

Until yesterday the following hook was scheduled for DYK

... that Max Stephan (T-H-L) was sentenced to hang for taking a Nazi pilot to a prostitute and drinks as part of a 22nd birthday tour of Detroit?

Seems a bit excessive, doesn't it.
Fram started a discussion on WP:ERRORS:

"... that Max Stephan was sentenced to hang for taking a Nazi pilot to a prostitute and drinks as part of a 22nd-birthday tour of Detroit?"

Well, yes, and for giving him aid and money so he could flee the US and fight again for Germany against the US. But I guess including the main reason for the conviction wouldn't be clickbaity enough. Fram (talk) 11:01, 19 February 2024 (UTC)

There must be a way to include both, this one seems too clickbaity. Wikitransit (talk) 03:47, 20 February 2024 (UTC)

I agree this is misleading. We could just use a slightly tweaked version of the article lead:

'...sentenced to death for aiding a Nazi pilot who had escaped from a prisoner of war camp?'

Modest Genius talk 11:57, 20 February 2024 (UTC)

Yes, good call. Done. — Amakuru (talk) 12:12, 20 February 2024 (UTC)

Note that the original hook was proposed by 16 year Wikipedia veteran Cbl62 (T-C-L), approved by 8 year veteran Kingoflettuce (T-C-L) and promoted by 2 year veteran Bruxton (T-C-L).

[rnu]

OTD

1965 – American Black nationalist Malcolm X (T-H-L) (pictured) was assassinated while giving a speech in New York City's Audubon Ballroom.

Anyone else feel like they chose the most negative/least positive description of Malcolm X that is available?
Let's see what the lead of his article has to say:

Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Islam (NOI) until 1964, he was a vocal advocate for Black empowerment and the promotion of Islam within the Black community. A posthumous autobiography, on which he collaborated with Alex Haley, was published in 1965.

Hm. Muslim minister, human rights activist, prominent figure during the civil rights movement vocal advocate for Black empowerment. Nope, nothing about black nationalism.
What does the short description say?

American Black rights activist (1925–1965)

OK, so what about this black nationalism? First of all Black nationalism (T-H-L) is a rather lose movement. But was Malcolm X a black nationalist? The article uses "black national*" six times.
Once in the infobox:

Movement: Black nationalism, Pan-Africanism, Islamism

Once in the Antisemitism section

In 1961, Malcolm X spoke at a NOI rally alongside George Lincoln Rockwell, the head of the American Nazi Party. Rockwell claimed that there was overlap between Black nationalism and White supremacy.[127]

Once in the section Departure from Nation of Islam

[Malcolm X] said he was planning to organize a Black nationalist organization to "heighten the political consciousness" of African Americans.

Twice in the section Independent views

Although he no longer called for the separation of Black people from White people, Malcolm X continued to advocate Black nationalism, which he defined as self-determination for the African-American community.[302] In the last months of his life, however, Malcolm X began to reconsider his support for Black nationalism after meeting northern African revolutionaries who, to all appearances, were White.[303]
After his Hajj, Malcolm X articulated a view of White people and racism that represented a deep change from the philosophy he had supported as a minister of the Nation of Islam. In a famous letter from Mecca, he wrote that his experiences with White people during his pilgrimage convinced him to "rearrange" his thinking about race and "toss aside some of [his] previous conclusions".[304]

And once in the title of a reference

Bush, Roderick (1999). We Are Not What We Seem: Black Nationalism and Class Struggle in the American Century. New York: New York University Press. p. 179. ISBN 978-0-8147-1317-4.

Honi soit qui mal y pense.

[Dan of La Mancha]

I couldn't sleep so I had a look through today's DYK set. It's not a good one.

Did you know...

*****

... that Maruxa and Coralia Fandiño Ricart (T-H-L) (statues pictured) became famous in Galicia because their bright, colourful outfits contrasted with the social repression of Francoist Spain?

Let's put aside the fact that the hook isn't supported by the source; there are bigger problems here. This article is a translation of es:Las Dos Marías (T-H-L), which is absolutely riddled with copyvio. The translator, Grnrchst (T-C-L) has substantially rewritten the raw translation, but large chunks of close paraphrasing remain.

Just one example, from this source:

During the years of the Second Spanish Republic, there was a climate of animation and hope in Santiago. Maruxa, Coralia, and Sarita frequently went on walks together, strolling through the streets of Santiago dressed in home-made clothes of brightly coloured fabrics. The Galician nationalist and republican students called them "Liberty, Equality and Fraternity", while right-wing students of the Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Rights (CEDA) called them "Faith, Hope and Charity".

With the Spanish coup of July 1936, repression followed the swift occupation of Galicia by the Nationalists. The brothers managed to escape. At first they had better luck than many other Republicans, who in the first days of the Spanish Civil War were found murdered in ditches.

And also that their youth was nourished by the climate of animation and hope that was lived in Santiago: when the Fandiño sisters went out for a walk dressed in home-made clothes, with colorful fabrics, cheerful and alive like them, the Galician students and republicans called them "liberty, equality and fraternity" and the right-wing students, from CEDA, "faith, hope and charity".

However, this revolutionary dream was drowned in blood on July 18, 1936. […] The brothers managed to escape; at first they had better luck than Ángel Casal, Camilo Díaz Baliño, Recachanta, Narciso Fraga, the Pasín brothers and a long list of others who still need to be recovered and who were thrown, killed in the ditches.

This problem would have been immediately apparent to anyone who had done a spot check of the sources, but of course it went unnoticed by the DYK reviewer and the two promoters. "Excellent translation work," says Bogger (T-C-L).

*****

... that the growth of Christianity in 20th-century Africa has been termed the "fourth great age of Christian expansion"?

This went to the Main Page with an "under construction" tag on it.

And indeed, the article is very much under construction. One particular concern raised at ERRORS is that its coverage of non-Western Christianity is incomplete – in fact, the section "Christianity in the Global South and East" is only twelve sentences long. So I hope none of the readers of this article happen to be looking for information on the fourth great age of Christian expansion.

*****

... that Augustus Belknap (T-H-L) led the first mule-drawn car from Alamo Plaza to San Pedro Springs Park, which developed into the first streetcar line in San Antonio?

Was that the first ever mule-drawn streetcar? Evidently not; a quick search turns up multiple earlier examples (eg. 1861, 1866, 1872). The first in San Antonio? Possibly. Or maybe just the first mule-drawn car to travel between Alamo Plaza and San Pedro Springs Park. That's about as much as can be ascertained from the source.

On June 22, 1878, Colonel Augustus Belknap, who had bought all the stock of the San Antonio Street Railway System, led the first mule-drawn car from Alamo Plaza to San Pedro Springs Park. This was the first line developed in the city.

Compare that second sentence to the hook, and you'll see the inevitable consequence of the "It's not copyvio if I move the words around" mentality. Belknap's route didn't develop into the first tramline in the city; it was the first tramline in the city.

*****

... that despite knowing of Geno's popularity, Super Mario RPG's co-director wasn't sure why the character was popular?

Did you know that despite knowing this is on the Main Page, I don't know why this is on the Main Page?

*****

... that Nicki Minaj's song "Big Foot" is a diss track about Megan Thee Stallion?

I wasn't even looking for copyvio in this one; I just checked the source that was cited in support of the hook fact. If the DYK reviewers had read this source, and had read the article, they would surely have noticed:

Minaj goes on to claim Megan lied about getting shot, alludes to Megan's late mother, and insults Megan's rap flow. The song ends with a minute-long spoken word section in which Minaj warns that she has "a lot of tea" and a "second installment" still to come.

She goes on to claim Megan lied about getting shot, alludes to Megan’s late mother, and insults her rap flow. The song ends with a minute-long spoken word section in which Minaj warns that she has "a lot of tea" and a "second installment" still to come.

I didn't check any of the other sources because articles like this make me feel old.

Minaj reportedly continued to throw subliminal disses Megan's way.

Is this considered encyclopedic language now? Welcome to the modern world, I guess.

There's an interesting discussion at WT:DYK about whether it's okay to call this a diss track in wikivoice, given that Minaj has so angrily denied it. I think there's an argument to be made that when the artist is repeatedly insisting that this is not a diss track, putting "Did you know this is a diss track" on the Main Page might seem like kind of a slap in the face.

*****

... that Dr. Disaster's office collapsed in an earthquake on this day in 2011?

Carol Mutch acquired the nickname "Dr. Disaster" for her work in disaster management. There was a determined effort at the DYK nom to make it sound like she got the nickname because her office building collapsed. This was shot down, and instead we have a hook which is factually correct (almost – she wasn't called Dr. Disaster at the time of the earthquake), but says absolutely nothing about Carol Mutch or her work. It is, in fact, a hook about a non-notable office building.

Did you know that on this day in 2011, the Christchurch earthquake killed 185 people and caused $40 billion in damage – but also, someone's office collapsed?

[rnu]

[...]

... that Maruxa and Coralia Fandiño Ricart (T-H-L) (statues pictured) became famous in Galicia because their bright, colourful outfits contrasted with the social repression of Francoist Spain?

Let's put aside the fact that the hook isn't supported by the source; there are bigger problems here. This article is a translation of es:Las Dos Marías (T-H-L), which is absolutely riddled with copyvio. The translator, Grnrchst (T-C-L) has substantially rewritten the raw translation, but large chunks of close paraphrasing remain.
[...]

Ah, the same editor who gave us our professor without master's degree.

Did you know ...
... that translating is not trivial?

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that land for a library built for African Americans in Virginia was donated by Pope Pius XII?

Ah, good old venerable (T-H-L) Pope Pius XII (T-H-L). So he didn't just give the Nazi regime international legitimacy and keep his mouth shut in face of the Holocaust.
He also donated land for a library for African Americans. Did he though? Let's see what the article says:

Lee was aware that the $20,000 allocated for Gainsboro's new branch would not be enough for both construction of a building and the purchasing of land.[11] Lee asked for help from St. Andrew's Catholic Church, which owned a potential site across the street from the original library.[11] The priest there said that he did not have that authority, but assisted Lee in writing a letter to Pope Pius XII in Rome.[9][11] The pope responded by donating use of the land to the library for a period of 99 years.[9][12]

It runs out in 2040. Let's talk again then.

[The Blue Newt]

Today’s Do You Kare has a piece on August Belknap (T-H-L)’s horsecar…well, mulecar… line. The linked article is written in peculiarly stilted English, suggesting a foreigner working from antiquated references, but the writer, Aquabluetesla (T-C-L) appears to be Texas Aggie. (Or am I repeating myself?)

[rnu]

Today’s Do You Kare has a piece on August Belknap (T-H-L)’s horsecar…well, mulecar… line. The linked article is written in peculiarly stilted English, suggesting a foreigner working from antiquated references, but the writer, Aquabluetesla (T-C-L) appears to be Texas Aggie. (Or am I repeating myself?)

The first search result on duckduckgo for Belknap is unsurprisingly the Wikipedia article. The second is one of the sources for the article, an entry in the Handbook of Texas (T-H-L) published by the Texas State Historical Association (T-H-L). That article is significantly better. But I'm sure that Wikipedia needs the traffic and the donations more than the "community-supported, non-profit organization" TSHA.

[rnu]

OTD

1886 – American inventor Charles Martin Hall (T-H-L) discovered an inexpensive method of producing aluminium (sample pictured).

Given that aluminum is an element, producing it would require nuclear transmutation. The Hall–Héroult process (T-H-L) is an extraction process.

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that a Rhode Island TV station broadcast for 14 months and then was off the air for 26 years before returning?

No.
There was a channel called WNET that broadcast in 1954/1955 and was owned by Channel 16 Rhode Island. For several years they considered to restart broadcasting. So they kept a construction permit for a channel. In 1980 they sold the permit to Channel 64 of New England.
From 1981 on Channel 64 of New England broadcast a new channel called WSTG as a test.
In 1984 WSTG was bought by Providence Television.
And in 1986 it was renamed to WNAC-TV.
(The article for WNAC-TV (T-H-L) gives a different timeline and a different buyer, so once again Wikipedia happily contradicts itself.)

[The Blue Newt]

Today’s Do You Kare has a piece on Augustus Belknap (T-H-L)’s horsecar…well, mulecar… line. The linked article is written in peculiarly stilted English, suggesting a foreigner working from antiquated references, but the writer, Aquabluetesla (T-C-L) appears to be Texas Aggie. (Or am I repeating myself?)

Fixed name and link. Augustus, it should be.

[Giraffe Stapler]

Not an actual CFDJ, but the kind of thing that fits in this thread. I came across this in Esperanto symbols (T-H-L):

Influence

One hypothesis about the red star as a symbol of socialism relates to an alleged encounter between Leon Trotsky and Nikolai Krylenko. Krylenko, an Esperantist, was wearing a green-star lapel badge; Trotsky enquired as to its meaning and received an explanation that each arm of the star represented one of the five traditional continents. On hearing this, he specified that a similar red star should be worn by soldiers of the Red Army.[8]

The source is someone's page on Angelfire* in Esperanto. The relevant section is translated by Google as:

For those who still deny the risk of mixing the Esperanto star with the communist one, here is an interesting anecdote, even if it may not be true:

Is this truth or legend? I don't know. I am passing on what a Ukrainian Esperantist wrote to me. Nikolao Grishin (03.03.1999):
"During the first years of the Soviet republic, the head of the RMK (Revolutionary Military Council) was LDT Trotsky. During one of the RMK meetings he drew attention to the badge on the chest of council member NVKrylenko. Krylenko was the same sailor , who shot from "Aurora" at the Winter Palace and later worked in the Commissariat of Justice. After the meeting, Trotsky approached NV Krylenko and asked him about the badge, which was an Esperantist star. Nikolai Krylenko was a member of the Petrograd circle "Espero" and always wore its badge. He told LDT Trotsky about the symbol of Esperantists. The president of RMK liked the shape (5-pointed star - five continents), but not the color (green - the color of hope). He said that Soviet soldiers from now on will have a similar sign - a 5-pointed star, only of... red color (the color of spilled blood).
This is how the Esperantist green star gave birth to the red star - a symbol of communism."

So some guy says on his weird ranty page about the star symbol associated with Esperanto that someone was told him this story which he doesn't know is true. That section was added to "Esperanto symbols" in 2015. The same story (with the same source) has been in Red star since 2006.

*Yes, Angelfire apparently still exists. I was surprised, too.

[rnu]

[...]
So some guy says on his weird ranty page about the star symbol associated with Esperanto that someone was told him this story which he doesn't know is true. That section was added to "Esperanto symbols" in 2015. The same story (with the same source) has been in Red star since 2006.

*Yes, Angelfire apparently still exists. I was surprised, too.

No mention of that here:
eurasiareview: The Red Star, One Of Most Mythologized Soviet Symbols, Marks Centenary – OpEd
The reason for the use seems to be not entirely clear. But the five pointed star was "introduced into the tsarist military in 1827 by Nicholas I".

The actual history of the appearance of the red star is still clouded in much mystery and dispute, Lyskov says; but it appears that it originated with Red military commanders who viewed the star as a sign of the army and acceptable as long as it was red, the color of the revolution, and featuring a hammer and sickle.

[eppur si muove]

Given that red was already associated with left-wing politics, I am very sceptical of Trotsky picking that colour for the star because it was the colour of blood.

[rnu]

Given that red was already associated with left-wing politics, I am very sceptical of Trotsky picking that colour for the star because it was the colour of blood.

I agree. The most likely explanation seems to be that the five-point star was associated with the military and red with socialism/communism so they just combined them.

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that 35.6 percent of counties in the United States are classified as maternity care deserts?

DYK is really slipping. This is the second time in short order that an article on a topic of actual importance with a hook providing information of actual relevance made it onto the Main Page.
The article was written by Kristudent194 (T-C-L) for the WikiEdu course Poverty, Justice, and Human Capabilities at Rice University taught by Diana Strassmann (T-H-L). Unfortunately Kristudent194 hasn't edited since 19 December 2023. Mary Mark Ockerbloom (T-C-L) took care of some issues so it could be accepted at DYK.


Again, I decided to quit while we're ahead. So I haven't read the article.

[The Blue Newt]

Do You Kare that art installations like Cloaca (art installation) (T-H-L) are in direct competition with Wikipedia?

[rnu]

Do You Kare that art installations like Cloaca (art installation) (T-H-L) are in direct competition with Wikipedia?

[Elinruby]

Do You Kare that art installations like Cloaca (art installation) (T-H-L) are in direct competition with Wikipedia?

Well done. You made me look, lol.

[rnu]

DYK ...

... that Franz Jakob Späth (T-H-L)'s fortepianos were favorites of Mozart, but Beethoven refused to play them?

From the article:

Carl Ludwig Junker [fr] reported that Beethoven refused to play on an instrument made by Späth. Junker postulated that Beethoven, who played Stein's pianos in Bonn, was not accustomed to playing Späth's pianos.[16]: 162–163 

Come on people, learn to read.
Note that the claim in the hook is significantly stronger than the claim in the text. Next, note that Junker died in 1797 a whopping thirty years before Beethoven who died in 1827. So no claim by Junker could possibly support the hook.
Next, let's look at the source. First of all it is an account from 1791, when Beethoven was not quite 21 years old. From the source:

True, he did not perform in public, probably the instrument was not to his mind. It was a Flügel by Späth and in Bonn he is accustomed only to play upon one by Stein. Yet, to my far greater pleasure, I heard him extemporize, I was even invited to give a theme for him to vary.

So no, Beethoven did not refuse to play the instrument by Späth. He merely did not perform in public on it. Why? The source doesn't say. But the instrument by Späth has just a different instrument: it had a different mechanism, a different sound, etc. than the instruments he was used to. Who wants to perform publicly on an instrument he has never played before? And as the source attests, Beethoven did play on the instrument.