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Today's featured article Nick Drake (1948–1974) was an English singer-songwriter and musician, best known for his sombre guitar-based songs. He failed to find a wide audience during his lifetime, but now ranks among the most influential English singer-songwriters of the last 50 years. Drake released his debut album, Five Leaves Left, in 1969. None of his first three albums sold more than 5,000 copies on their initial release. Drake suffered from depression and insomnia throughout his life, and these topics were often reflected in his lyrics. On completion of his third album, 1972's Pink Moon, he withdrew from both live performance and recording, retreating to his parents' home in rural Warwickshire. He died from an overdose of amitriptyline in 1974 (grave pictured). Drake was credited as an influence by numerous artists during the 1980s, including The Dream Academy, who in 1985 reached the UK and US charts with "Life in a Northern Town", a song written for and dedicated to him. By the early 1990s, Drake represented a certain type of "doomed romantic" musician in the UK music press. In 2000, Volkswagen featured the title track from Pink Moon in a television advertisement, and within a month Drake had sold more records than he had in the previous 30 years. (more...) Recently featured: Mauna Kea – Press Gang – Diffuse panbronchiolitis Did you know... From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that Gerp's mouse lemur is a newly discovered mouse lemur species from Madagascar, and is only known from an area smaller than the size of Puerto Rico? ... that production of The X-Files episode "Terma" involved an oil plume 300 feet (91 m) high? ... that some Renaissance caskets decorated with pastiglia work mixed musk perfume into the material, and were believed to have an aphrodisiac effect? ... that in his rookie season, Johnny Gildea led the National Football League in interceptions with 20 while passing for either two or three touchdowns? ... that the granular poromya is a carnivorous, bivalve mollusc? ... that Upper Michigan's Trinity Episcopal Church had to be rescued from floating down a canal?

In the news In the Republic of China (Taiwan), Ma Ying-jeou (pictured) is re-elected as president and the Kuomintang retains its majority in the Legislative Yuan. The cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground and capsizes off the coast of Tuscany, with at least eleven fatalities. Anote Tong is re-elected President of Kiribati. Rauf Denktaş, the founder and the first president of Northern Cyprus, dies at the age of 87. In Burma, government officials and the Karen National Union agree on a ceasefire to end an internal conflict that began in 1948. On this day... January 18: Royal Thai Armed Forces Day (Thailand, 1591); the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins 1126 – Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty of China abdicated the throne in favour of his son Qinzong. 1884 – Welsh physician William Price was arrested for attempting to cremate his deceased infant son; he was acquitted in the subsequent trial, which led to the legalisation of cremation in the United Kingdom. 1919 – World War I: The Paris Peace Conference opened in Versailles, France, to set the peace terms for the Central Powers. 1943 – World War II: As part of Operation Iskra, the Soviet Red Army broke the Siege of Leningrad, opening a narrow land corridor to the city. 1958 – African Canadian Willie O'Ree of the Boston Bruins played his first game in the National Hockey League, breaking the colour barrier in professional ice hockey. 1990 – In a sting operation conducted by the FBI, Mayor of Washington, D.C., Marion Barry (pictured) was arrested for possession of crack cocaine. More anniversaries: January 17 – January 18 – January 19 It is now January 18, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture A photo of an original page from Leonardo da Vinci's journal, showing the world-renowned drawing known as the Vitruvian Man, created around the year 1492. The drawing and text are sometimes called the Canon of Proportions or, less often, Proportions of Man. Leonardo based his drawing on some hints at correlations of ideal human proportions with geometry in Book III of the treatise De architectura by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius, thus its name. The accompanying notes are written in mirror writing and describe the drawing as a study of the proportions of the (male) human body as described by Vitruvius. Photo credit: Luc Viatour Recently featured: Psalm 23 – Molybdenum crystal and cube – Edward Teller

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