Wikipedia:Today's featured article/November 2025

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Today's featured article archive

November 1

The African striped weasel (Poecilogale albinucha) is a small mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa, where its range stretches from as far north as Kenya south to South Africa. It belongs in the family Mustelidae and is the lone member of the genus Poecilogale. It has a long, slender body with short legs and a bushy tail. One of the smallest carnivorans in Africa, it measures 24 to 35 cm (9.4 to 13.8 in) long excluding the tail, with males generally larger than females. It has black fur over most of its body, with distinctive white bands running from the top of its head down its back, with the tail being completely white. The closest living relative of this species is the striped polecat, and it may also be related to the extinct Propoecilogale bolti. The African striped weasel is most commonly seen in savanna and veld grasslands with termite mounds, but has also been recorded in semideserts, rainforests, fynbos and even areas used by humans such as pine plantations and agricultural land. (Full article...)

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November 2

Allan Walters (2 November 1905 – 19 October 1968) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Over the course of World War II, Walters led No. 1 (General Reconnaissance) Squadron in Singapore, No. 1 (Fighter) Wing in Darwin, No. 72 Wing in Dutch New Guinea, and Northern Command in Papua New Guinea. He was decorated with the Air Force Cross in 1941 for his work with No. 1 Squadron, and mentioned in despatches in 1944 for his service with No. 72 Wing. Walters was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1946 for his service with Northern Command. He later became air officer commanding (AOC) Southern Area Command; AOC RAAF Overseas Headquarters in London; Head of the Australian Joint Services Staff in Washington, DC; AOC Home Command; Air Member for Personnel; and AOC Support Command. He was promoted to acting air vice-marshal in 1952 (substantive in 1954), and appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1956 before retiring in 1962. (Full article...)

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November 3

Rolf Theil Endresen, who documented the Nizaa language

Nizaa is an endangered Mambiloid language spoken in the Adamawa Region of northern Cameroon. Most of the language's speakers live in and around the village of Galim in the department of Faro-et-Déo. Nizaa has a complex sound system with 60 consonant phonemes, eleven tones, and a contrast between oral and nasal vowels. In terms of grammar, it is the only Bantoid language that allows multiple verbal suffixes on one verb. It also is neither a head-initial nor head-final language (the head or main element of a clause appears both before and after its modifiers with roughly equal frequency). Nizaa was first extensively documented in the 1980s by Norwegian linguists Rolf Theil Endresen (pictured) and Bjørghild Kjelsvik. The language is endangered, but the exact number of active speakers is unknown, as the last census of speakers took place in 1985, and a 1983 survey reported drastically different figures. (Full article...)

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November 4

Reanne Evans, the first woman in the tournament

The 2019 Champion of Champions was a professional snooker tournament that took place between 4 and 10 November 2019 at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry, England. It was the ninth Champion of Champions event, the first of which was held in 1978. The tournament featured 16 participants who had won World Snooker events throughout the prior snooker season. The reigning Women's World Champion (pictured) competed at the tournament for the first time. As an invitational event, the Champion of Champions tournament carried no world-ranking points. Ronnie O'Sullivan was the defending champion having defeated Kyren Wilson 10–9 in the final of the 2018 event. O'Sullivan lost 5–6 to Neil Robertson in the semi-finals. Robertson defeated reigning world champion Judd Trump 10–9 in the final to win the championship, having required foul shots in the penultimate frame to avoid losing the match. The tournament's total prize fund was £440,000, of which the winner received £150,000. (Full article...)

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November 5

Conspirators of the Gunpowder Plot

The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was a failed assassination attempt against King James I of England and VI of Scotland by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby. The plan was to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament on 5 November, as the prelude to a revolt in the Midlands during which James's nine-year-old daughter, Princess Elizabeth, was to be installed as the Catholic head of state. Catesby may have embarked on the scheme after hopes of securing greater religious tolerance under King James had faded, leaving many English Catholics disappointed. His fellow plotters (pictured) were John and Christopher Wright, Robert and Thomas Wintour, Thomas Percy, Guy Fawkes, Robert Keyes, Thomas Bates, John Grant, Sir Ambrose Rookwood, Sir Everard Digby and Francis Tresham. Fawkes was given charge of the explosives. (This article is part of a featured topic: Gunpowder Plot.)

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November 6

The sieges of Berwick were the Scottish capture of the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed and their subsequent unsuccessful siege of Berwick Castle, and the English siege and recapture of the town. In 1355 the Second War of Scottish Independence had been under way for over 22 years when, encouraged by the French who were fighting the English in the Hundred Years' War, the Scots assembled an army on the border. In September a truce was agreed and much of the English army left to join King Edward III's campaign in France. In October the Scots broke the truce. On 6 November a Scottish force led by the Earls of Angus and March captured the town of Berwick in a pre-dawn escalade, but failed to take the castle, which they besieged. Edward returned from France and gathered a large army at Newcastle. Most of the Scots withdrew. When the English army arrived in January 1356 the remaining Scots negotiated a safe passage and also withdrew. The English army went on to invade and devastate southern Scotland. (Full article...)

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November 7

U2 in 2005

"Slug" is a song by Passengers, a side project of musician Brian Eno and rock band U2 (pictured). It was released on 7 November 1995 on Passengers' sole release, the experimental album Original Soundtracks 1. The song was almost left off the album before it was rediscovered later during the recording sessions. Though Eno made most of the creative decisions during the sessions, "Slug" was one of the few tracks that the members from U2 tried to craft themselves. Lyrically, it portrays a desolate soul with the confusion of romance and faith. U2 and Eno tried to create a visual suggestion from the music that was more important than the story within the lyrics. In "Slug", the instrumentation is intended as visual music representing the lights turning on in a city at night. The group primarily drew inspiration for the song from U2's experiences in Tokyo at the conclusion of their Zoo TV Tour in 1993. "Slug" has been praised as one of the best songs on the album by critics from various publications. (Full article...)

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November 8

Hensley Henson (8 November 1863 – 27 September 1947) was an Anglican cleric who was Bishop of Hereford from 1918 to 1920 and Bishop of Durham from 1920 to 1939. He gained a first-class degree from Oxford in 1884 and was elected as a fellow of All Souls. Ordained in 1888, Henson served in the East End and Barking, becoming chaplain of Ilford Hospital Chapel in 1895. Appointed rector of St Margaret's, Westminster, and canon of Westminster Abbey, in 1900, his tolerance of a wide range of theological views led the Anglo-Catholic wing of the Church of England to try to block his appointment to the Hereford see. Henson was opposed to strikes, trade unions and socialism, which made him unpopular in the diocese, but some of his opinions changed over time. He came to believe politicians should not pass on church matters. He opposed prohibition, and fascist and Nazi aggression. He supported reform of the divorce laws, the controversial 1928 revision of the Book of Common Prayer and ecumenism. (Full article...)

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November 9

The Royal Artillery Memorial is a First World War memorial located on Hyde Park Corner in London; it was unveiled on 18 October 1925. Designed by Charles Sargeant Jagger, with architectural work by Lionel Pearson, the memorial commemorates the 49,076 soldiers from the Royal Artillery killed in the First World War. The Royal Artillery War Commemoration Fund, formed in 1918, approached several eminent architects but its insistence on a visual representation of artillery meant that none was able to produce a satisfactory design. They approached Jagger, himself an ex-soldier who had been wounded in the war. He produced a design which was accepted in 1922. The memorial comprises a cruciform base in Portland stone supporting a sculpture of a howitzer. At the end of each arm of the cross is a sculpture of a soldier—an officer at the front (south side), a shell carrier on the east side, a driver on the west side, and at the rear (north) a dead soldier. The design was controversial when unveiled. (Full article...)

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November 10

Small ivory box showing Merenre's royal titulary

Merenre Nemtyemsaf I (meaning 'Beloved of Ra, Nemty is his protection'; died c. 2272 BC) was an Ancient Egyptian king, fourth king of the Sixth Dynasty. He ruled Egypt for six to eleven years in the early 23rd century BC, toward the end of the Old Kingdom period. He was the son of his predecessor Pepi I Meryre and queen Ankhesenpepi I and was in turn succeeded by Pepi II Neferkare who might have been his son or less probably his brother. Pepi I may have shared power with Merenre in a co-regency at the very end of the former's reign. Merenre is frequently called Merenre I by Egyptologists. Merenre's rule saw profound changes in the administration of the southern provinces of Egypt, with a marked increase in the number of provincial administrators and a concurrent steep decline in the size of the central administration in the capital Memphis. A pyramid complex was built for Merenre in Saqqara, and likely completed prior to the king's death. (Full article...)

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November 11

Gough Whitlam (left) and Malcolm Fraser (right)

The 1975 Australian constitutional crisis culminated on 11 November when Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismissed Gough Whitlam of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) as prime minister and appointed Opposition Leader Malcolm Fraser as caretaker. The Whitlam government had been rocked by scandals and political miscalculations. In October, the Opposition blocked bills in the Senate financing the government, and urged Kerr to dismiss Whitlam unless he agreed to call an election for the House of Representatives. On 11 November, Whitlam intended to call a half-Senate election instead, but when he met with Kerr to seek his approval, Kerr dismissed him as prime minister. Before the ALP parliamentarians knew what had happened, Fraser and his allies secured passage of the appropriation bills and Kerr dissolved Parliament. Fraser and his government were returned with a large majority in the following month's election. Kerr resigned early as governor-general and lived much of his remaining life abroad. (Full article...)

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November 12

Bejeweled is a 2000 match-three video game developed and published by PopCap Games. Bejeweled involves lining up three or more multi-colored gems to clear them from the game board. The game was inspired by a similar browser game, titled Colors Game. Originally released in 2000 under the title Diamond Mine as a browser game on the team's official website, Bejeweled was licensed to be hosted on MSN Games under its current name. PopCap released a retail version titled Bejeweled Deluxe in May 2001. Bejeweled has since been ported to many platforms, particularly mobile devices. The game has been commercially successful, having sold over 10 million copies and been downloaded more than 150 million times. It is credited with popularizing match-three video games and launching the casual games industry, which grew to be worth $3 billion within a decade. The game was followed by a commercially successful series of sequels and spin-offs. (Full article...)

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November 13

270 Park Avenue, also known as the JPMorgan Chase Tower and the Union Carbide Building, was a skyscraper in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Built in 1960 for Union Carbide, it was designed by the architects Gordon Bunshaft and Natalie de Blois of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). The 52-story skyscraper, which later became the global headquarters for JPMorgan Chase, was demolished in 2021 to make way for a taller skyscraper at the same address. At that time, the Union Carbide Building was the tallest voluntarily demolished building in the world. The building occupied a full city block bounded by Madison Avenue, 48th Street, Park Avenue, and 47th Street. It included a 52-story tower facing Park Avenue to the east and a 12-story annex facing Madison Avenue to the west, along with public plazas. About two-thirds of 270 Park Avenue was built atop two levels of underground railroad tracks, which feed into the nearby Grand Central Terminal. (Full article...)

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November 14

Elinor Fettiplace (c.1570 – in or after 1647) was an English cookery book writer. Probably born in Pauntley, Gloucestershire into an upper-class land-owning farming family, she married into the well-connected Fettiplace family and moved to a manor house in the Vale of White Horse, Berkshire. In common with many ladies of the Elizabethan era, Fettiplace wrote a manuscript book with details of recipes for dishes and meals, medical remedies and tips for running the household. She dated the work 1604, but it is possible that she began writing it several years earlier, when she was still living with her mother. The book was passed down through her family, initially to her niece, until it was handed to the husband of the twentieth-century writer Hilary Spurling. Fettiplace's husband died in 1615; she moved back to Gloucestershire and married a local man, Edward Rogers, who died in 1623. She lived until at least 1647. (Full article...)

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November 15

The Aston Martin DB11 is a two-door grand touring car. It was manufactured as both a coupe and a convertible, the latter known as the Volante. The British carmaker Aston Martin produced the DB11 from 2016 to 2023 when it was replaced by the DB12. The DB11 succeeded the DB9, which the company made between 2004 and 2016. Designed by Marek Reichman, who became lead designer in 2005, the DB11 debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2016. The first model of Aston Martin's "second-century plan", the DB11 incorporates aluminium extensively throughout its body. Manufacture of the DB11 began at the Aston Martin facility in Gaydon, Warwickshire, in September 2016. Two engine configurations of the DB11 were available: a 4.0-litre V8-engine model produced by Mercedes-AMG and a 5.2-litre V12-engine model produced by Aston Martin. In 2018, the DB11 V12 with the DB11 V12 AMR, which brought an increased engine output. (Full article...)

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November 16

Scarlett Johansson portrays Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Black Widow is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by editor Stan Lee, scripter Don Rico, and artist Don Heck, the character debuted as an enemy of Iron Man in 1964. She reformed into a hero in The Avengers in 1966. She has been the main character in several comic titles since 1970, receiving her own Black Widow series in 1999. She also frequently appears as a supporting character in The Avengers and Daredevil. Natalia Alianovna "Natasha Romanoff" Romanova was introduced as a spy for the Soviet Union until she defected to the United States. Her stories often explore her struggle to define her own identity as a spy and the trauma she endured from her life of training in the Red Room, a Soviet training facility. She has been adapted into a variety of other media, including film, animated series, and video games. A version of the character was portrayed by Scarlett Johansson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. (Full article...)

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November 17

Alicella gigantea

Alicella gigantea is a giant species of amphipod that lives in the deep sea. It is sometimes referred to as the "supergiant amphipod", with some individuals of this species reaching 34 cm (13 in) in length, making it the world's largest species of amphipod. The large body size is sometimes presented as an example of abyssal gigantism, though the specifics of this trait remain under investigation. Its genome is exceptionally large, which may be linked to the large size of the body. The species lives only at 4,850–7,000 m (15,910–22,970 ft) in depth. Although rarely encountered, A. gigantea is considered cosmopolitan and may inhabit up to 59% of the world’s oceans. It is primarily a scavenger of carrion, although the diet varies with age. It has been inferred that individuals of this species have long life spans and can live for over 10 years. Despite its isolation from the surface, human pollutants such as DDT and chlordane have been detected in specimens. (Full article...)

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November 18

Uncanny Tales was a Canadian science fiction pulp magazine edited by Melvin R. Colby that ran from November 1940 to September 1943. It was created in response to the wartime reduction of imports on British and American science-fiction pulp magazines. Initially it contained stories only from Canadian authors, with much of its contents supplied by Thomas P. Kelley, but within a few issues Colby began to obtain reprint rights to American stories from Donald A. Wollheim and Sam Moskowitz. Moskowitz reported that he found out via an acquaintance of Wollheim's that Colby had been persuaded by Wollheim to stop buying Moskowitz's submissions. The first issue was digest-sized, and was printed in green ink. For the first four issues the format remained unchanged, and almost all the stories were by Kelley or other Canadian writers. Paper shortages forced the magazine to shut down after less than three years. It is now extremely difficult to find printed copies. (Full article...)

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November 19

"Water Under the Bridge" is a song by English singer Adele from her third studio album 25 (2015). Adele wrote the song with its producer, Greg Kurstin. Columbia Records released the track as the album's fourth single on 14 November 2016. A mid-tempo pop, soul and soft rock song, "Water Under the Bridge" incorporates influences of 1980s music, R&B and a gospel choir over guitars and snare drums. Inspired by her relationship with charity founder Simon Konecki, who Adele dated for seven years and married in 2018, the song speaks of forgiveness and details the crucial point in a courtship of determining whether one's partner is willing to put in the work to make it succeed. Music critics praised Adele's vocal performance, though some thought it was too loud and criticised some of the production choices. It reached number one in Israel and the top 10 in Poland, Belgium and Iceland and gained Platinum or higher certifications in Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom. (Full article...)

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November 20

The Nuremberg trials were held jointly by the United States, Soviet Union, France, and the United Kingdom against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany in the aftermath of World War II. Between 20 November 1945 and 1 October 1946, the International Military Tribunal (IMT) tried 22 of the most important surviving Nazi leaders, with the main charge the newly invented and retroactively applied crime of plotting and carrying out invasions, although various German atrocities (especially the Holocaust) were also condemned. The purpose of the trial was not just to convict the defendants but also to assemble irrefutable evidence of Nazi crimes, offer a history lesson to the defeated Germans, and delegitimize the traditional German elite. Although criticized at the time for legal innovation and selective prosecution, the trial has come to be recognized as "the true beginning of international criminal law". (Full article...)

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November 21

The Canoe River train crash occurred November 21, 1950, near Valemount in eastern British Columbia, Canada. A westbound troop train and the eastbound Canadian National Railway Continental Limited collided head-on, and 21 people were killed. Of these, 17 were Canadian soldiers en route to the Korean War. (memorial to them pictured) The investigation found that the order sent to the troop train was missing crucial words, causing the troop train to proceed rather than halt on a siding, which caused the collision. A telegraph operator, John Atherton, was charged with manslaughter; the prosecution alleged he was negligent. His family hired his Member of Parliament, John Diefenbaker, as defence counsel. Diefenbaker obtained Atherton's acquittal, which became an asset during his political rise to become prime minister of Canada. (Full article...)

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November 22

Seminole family in Indian camp, 1916

The indigenous people of the Everglades region arrived in the Florida peninsula 15,000 years ago. The Paleo-Indians found an arid landscape. Climate changes 6,500 years ago brought a wetter landscape, and the Paleo-Indians slowly adapted to the new conditions. Archaeologists call the cultures that resulted Archaic peoples, from whom two major tribes emerged: the Calusa and the Tequesta. Spanish explorers sought to convert and conquer them. Isolated groups may have been assimilated into the Seminole nation, which formed in northern Florida when a band of Creeks consolidated surviving members of pre-Columbian societies in Florida into their own to become a distinct tribe. Seminoles were forced into the Everglades by the U.S. military during the Seminole Wars from 1835 to 1842. Seminoles continue to live in the Everglades region, and support themselves with casino gaming on six reservations located throughout the state. (Full article...)

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November 23

The Yeti are fictional robots from the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. They were originally created by the writers Henry Lincoln and Mervyn Haisman and first appeared in the 1967 serial The Abominable Snowmen. The Yeti resemble the cryptozoological creatures also called the Yeti. In the series' fictional universe, these robot Yeti serve the Great Intelligence, a formless entity with mysterious origins, and are used by the Intelligence to aid in its invasions. Following this debut appearance, the Yeti only had one other major appearance: in the 1968 serial The Web of Fear. The Yeti were a replacement for the Daleks, another popular antagonist that had recently been written out of the series. The concept arose as a result of a discussion between the then-lead actor Patrick Troughton, Lincoln and Haisman. Already popular monsters at the time of their introduction, the Yeti became even more popular with their second appearance. (Full article...)

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November 24

Chagatai Khan (c. 1184 – 1242) was a son of Genghis Khan and a prominent figure in the early Mongol Empire. The second son of Genghis's wife Börte, Chagatai was renowned for his masterful knowledge of Mongol custom and law and his harsh temperament. He was appointed to military commands alongside his brothers during the Mongol conquest of the Jin dynasty in 1211 and the invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire in 1219. After the campaign, Chagatai was granted large tracts of conquered land in Central Asia, which he ruled until his death, often quarrelling with officials like Mahmud Yalavach. Chagatai's inflexibility, most notably never accepting the legitimacy of his elder brother Jochi, excluded him from succession to Genghis's throne. He was nevertheless a key figure in ensuring the stability of the empire during the reign of his younger brother Ögedei Khan, whom he advised. Chagatai died shortly after Ögedei in 1242; his descendants would rule his territories as the eponymous Chagatai Khanate. (Full article...)

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November 25

Aristippus of Cyrene, the first proponent of philosophical hedonism

Hedonism is a family of philosophical views that prioritize pleasure. Psychological hedonism is a theory of motivation stating that the self-interested pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of pain drive all human conduct. Axiological hedonism is the view that pleasure is the sole source of intrinsic value. It asserts that other things, like knowledge and money, only have value insofar as they produce pleasure and reduce pain. Ethical hedonism applies this view to morality, arguing that people have a moral duty to pursue pleasure. Utilitarian versions aim to increase overall happiness for everyone, whereas egoistic versions state that each person should only look out for their own happiness. The paradox of hedonism and the hedonic treadmill are proposed psychological barriers to the hedonist goal of long-term happiness. As one of the oldest philosophical theories, hedonism was already discussed in ancient Greek, Indian, and Chinese philosophy. (Full article...)

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November 26

Terry Griffiths (1947–2024) was a Welsh professional snooker player, coach and pundit. After winning several amateur titles, he turned professional in June 1978 at the age of 30. In his second professional tournament, he qualified for the 1979 World Snooker Championship. He reached the final of the event where he defeated Dennis Taylor. In the 1988 championship, Griffiths again reached the final of the competition but lost to Steve Davis. Griffiths reached at least the quarter-finals of the World Championship for nine consecutive years, from 1984 to 1992. He also won the Masters in 1980 and the UK Championship in 1982, completing snooker's Triple Crown. He was runner-up at the Masters three times and reached the final of the 1989 European Open, where he lost the deciding frame to John Parrott. Griffiths retired from the professional tour in 1996 to become the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association's director of coaching. (Full article...)

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November 27

Freedom from Want is the third of the Four Freedoms series of four oil paintings by American artist Norman Rockwell. The works were inspired by President Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1941 State of the Union Address, known as Four Freedoms. Until then, freedom from want was not a commonly understood nor accepted. The painting was published in the March 6, 1943, issue of The Saturday Evening Post. It depicts a group of people gathered around a dinner table for a holiday meal, all of whom were friends and family of Rockwell; they were photographed individually and painted into the scene. The painting has become an iconic representation of the Thanksgiving holiday and family gatherings in general and has had a wide array of adaptations and other uses. Popular then and now in the USA, it caused resentment in Europe where the masses were enduring wartime hardship. The work is highly regarded as an example of mastery of the challenges of white-on-white painting and as one of Rockwell's most famous works. (Full article...)

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November 28

The Appaloosa is a horse breed best known for its colorful leopard-spotted coat pattern. It includes a wide range of body types because of the influence of multiple breeds of horses throughout its history. The color pattern of the Appaloosa is of great interest to those who study equine coat color genetics, as it and several other physical characteristics are linked to the leopard complex mutation (LP). Artwork depicting prehistoric horses with leopard spotting existed in cave paintings. The Nez Perce people of the United States Pacific Northwest developed the original American breed. It is best known as a stock horse used in a number of western riding disciplines, but is also a versatile breed with representatives seen in many other types of equestrian activity. The Nez Perce lost most of their horses after the Nez Perce War in 1877. A small number of dedicated breeders preserved the Appaloosa as a distinct breed until the Appaloosa Horse Club (ApHC) was formed as the breed registry in 1938. (Full article...)

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November 29

KEXP-FM (90.3 FM) is a non-commercial radio station in Seattle, Washington, United States, specializing in indie music programmed by its disc jockeys. KEXP's studios are located at the Seattle Center, and the transmitter is in the city's Capitol Hill neighborhood. The station is operated by the non-profit entity Friends of KEXP, an affiliate of the University of Washington. Since March 2024, KEXP-FM's programming has been rebroadcast over Alameda, California–licensed KEXC, which serves the San Francisco Bay Area. As well as daily variety mix shows featuring mostly alternative rock music, KEXP hosts weekly programs dedicated to other musical genres. Founded in 1972 as KCMU, the student-run station of the University of Washington, KEXP gained recognition for its influence on the regional music scene. It was the first station to air grunge bands like Nirvana and Soundgarden in the late 1980s. In 2014, the university transferred the FCC license of KEXP-FM to Friends of KEXP. (Full article...)

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November 30

The Mechanical Turk, also known as the "Automaton Chess Player" or "the Turk", was a chess-playing machine, first displayed in 1770, which appeared to be able to play a strong game of chess autonomously, but whose pieces were in reality moved via levers and magnets by a chess master hidden in the machine's lower cavity. The machine was toured and exhibited for 84 years as an automaton, and continued giving occasional exhibitions until 1854, when it was destroyed in a fire. In 1857, an article published by the owner's son revealed that it was an elaborate hoax; a fact suspected by some but never fully explained while the machine still existed. Constructed by Wolfgang von Kempelen to impress Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, the Turk won most games, including those against statesmen such as Napoleon Bonaparte and Benjamin Franklin. The device would also demonstrate the knight's tour, a puzzle that requires the knight to visit every square of a chessboard once. (Full article...)

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