Wikipedia:Today's featured article/November 2026

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November 1

Slab and counterslab of the Europejara holotype

Europejara is a genus of tapejarid pterosaur that lived during the Barremian age of the Early Cretaceous epoch in what is now Spain. The only known specimen was found at the La Huérguina Formation of Cuenca, a location noted for its exceptional Konservat-Lagerstätte preservation. In 2012, the new genus and species Europejara olcadesorum was named based on it. The holotype specimen consists of an incomplete, crushed skull (pictured); the bones of the postorbital region are displaced while the mandible is almost complete. The first tapejarid known from Europe, Europejara was also the oldest known member of that group and the oldest known toothless pterosaur at the time of its naming. Researchers have found Europejara to be related to Brazilian tapejarids and, given its age, have used this relationship as evidence for the group's origin on the northern palaeocontinent of Laurasia. Due to the shape of their jaws and skulls, they are believed to have been fruit or seed eaters. (Full article...)

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November 2

German reconnaissance picture of Sovetsky Soyuz

The Sovetsky Soyuz class was a class of battleships begun by the Soviet Union but never brought into service. They were designed in response to the German Bismarck-class battleships, and would have rivaled the Imperial Japanese Yamato class and America's planned Montana class in size, although with significantly weaker firepower. Up to fifteen ships were planned, but the first four were plagued with construction difficulties as the Soviet shipbuilding and related industries were not prepared to build such large vessels. One, Sovetskaya Belorussiya, was cancelled after serious construction flaws were found. Construction of the other three ships was suspended shortly after Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941. All three of the surviving hulls were scrapped in the late 1940s. (Full article...)

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November 3

Title page of the manuscript score

Ich geh und suche mit Verlangen (I go forth and seek with longing), BWV 49, is a church cantata composed by J. S. Bach in 1726, his fourth year in Leipzig. Intended for the twentieth Sunday after Trinity, he first performed it on 3 November that year. The librettist, Christoph Birkmann, based his text on the Sunday's Gospel, the Parable of the Great Banquet. He focused on the wedding feast, taking imagery from the love poetry of the Song of Songs, seen as a dialogue between Jesus and the Soul as his bride. The cantata, in six movements, begins with a sinfonia. Jesus (bass) and the Soul (soprano) perform alternating arias and dialogue recitatives. In the last dialogue, the bride sings a stanza from Nicolai's "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern". The voices are accompanied by oboe d'amore, violoncello piccolo, strings, organ and basso continuo, which Klaus Hofmann summarises: "Bach has clothed his music in the 'wedding garments' of exquisite scoring." (Full article...)

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November 4

Exterior of Eunos MRT station

Eunos MRT station is a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the East–West Line (EWL) in Geylang, Singapore. Operated by SMRT Trains, the station is connected to the Eunos Bus Interchange and provides access to nearby landmarks such as the Masjid Darul Aman and the Mangala Vihara Buddhist Temple. Eunos appeared in plans for the initial MRT system in May 1982, and construction of the station began in January 1986 under a joint venture between Oh Teck Thye and Okumura Corporation. Oh Teck Thye was placed under receivership in December 1986, terminating the joint venture, with Okumura continuing the project alone. Eunos, along with nine other stations from Marina Bay to Tanah Merah, opened on 4 November 1989. Platform screen doors were installed at Eunos in 2011. Unlike adjacent EWL elevated stations, which have domed roofs, Eunos has a traditional Malay roof. The station also has two murals as part of SMRT's heritage-themed Comic Connect public art display. (Full article...)

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November 5

Nikolai Kulikovsky with his wife Olga

Nikolai Kulikovsky (5 November 1881 – 11 August 1958) was the second husband of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia, the sister of Tsar Nicholas II and daughter of Tsar Alexander III. He was born into a military landowning family from the south of the Russian Empire, and followed the family tradition by entering the army. In 1903, he was noticed by Grand Duchess Olga during a military review, and they became close friends. Olga wanted to divorce her first husband, Duke Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg, and marry Kulikovsky, but neither her husband nor her brother, the Tsar, would allow it. Kulikovsky and Olga eventually married and had two sons. Olga's brother was deposed in the Russian Revolution and Kulikovsky was dismissed from the army by the revolutionary government. The Kulikovskys were then forced into exile in Denmark, where they lived until after World War II. The family emigrated to Canada in 1948. Kulikovsky died in 1958, aged 76, and was buried at York Cemetery, Toronto. (Full article...)

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November 6

Bill Madden (14 February 1924 – 6 November 1951) was an Australian Army soldier who was posthumously awarded the George Cross, the highest award for extraordinary acts of gallantry away from the field of battle that could be awarded to a member of the Australian armed forces at the time. The citation for his award highlighted his "undaunted" resistance and "outstanding heroism" while a prisoner of war during the Korean War, which was "an inspiration to all his fellow prisoners". Madden served in the New Guinea and Bougainville campaigns in the latter stages of World War II. He reenlisted during the Korean War in 1950 and joined the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, in November that year as a private. Madden participated with his unit in the constant offensives and counter-offensives – between the United Nations forces on one side and the North Korean and Chinese forces on the other – during early 1951, before being concussed and captured during the Battle of Kapyong in April. (Full article...)

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November 7

Premises are true or false statements that act as the starting points of arguments by presenting reasons to substantiate or refute assertions. For example, the premises "all men are mortal" and "Socrates is a man" guarantee the conclusion "Socrates is mortal". Explicit premises are overtly stated, whereas implicit premises are tacitly assumed without appearing in the text. Independent premises give distinct reasons, whereas dependent premises only work in combination. The role of premises in arguments is typically either to preserve truth or to transfer justification to a conclusion. To succeed, premises must be true or justified and must be relevant to the conclusion. In deductively valid arguments, true premises guarantee a true conclusion. In non-deductive arguments, the premises aim to make the conclusion more reasonable or increase its probability. Defective arguments, called fallacies, can often arise from faulty premises. Premises are central to many fields, including logic, argumentation theory, mathematics, philosophy, science, and law. (Full article...)

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November 8

Romeo Santos

Fórmula, Vol. 1 is the debut studio album of Romeo Santos (pictured), released on November 8, 2011. It experiments with bachata, R&B and flamenco music genres. In the U.S., the album peaked at number one on the Billboard Top Latin and Tropical Albums charts, and was the best-selling Latin album of 2012. It was certified three times platinum (Latin field) by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipping 300,000 copies; it had sold 328,000 copies in the U.S. by February 2014. It ranked at number 13, 26, and 77 on the Argentine, Mexican, and Spanish album charts, respectively. The album was generally well received by critics, though some duets were criticized as attempts to appeal outside the bachata audience. The album earned Santos accolades including a Grammy Award nomination, three Billboard Latin Music Awards, a Billboard Music Award, and a Soberano Award. Four of the record's singles reached number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart in the U.S. (Full article...)

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November 9

SoHo Weekly News stock certificate

The SoHo Weekly News was a weekly alternative newspaper published in New York City from 1973 to 1982, competing with The Village Voice. The paper struggled financially, was sold in 1979, and ceased publication three years later. It was known for its coverage of the Manhattan neighborhood of SoHo as the area was becoming gentrified, and for its highlighting of emerging music acts (especially punk bands) in local venues. Although the official editorial stance was anti-gentrification, one retrospective argued that its coverage of local culture and business contributed to the upward trend in property values. Many of the staff went on to have distinguished careers after the paper shut down: Bill Cunningham spent decades at The New York Times as a photojournalist, Allan Tannenbaum became known for his coverage of rock musicians, and Bruce Weber got his start photographing male fashion models with an influential photo story showing an underwear-clad male model in erotic poses. (Full article...)

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November 10

Regulus is an 1828 painting by the English artist J. M. W. Turner. He significantly overpainted it in 1829 to repair damage, and in 1837 to increase the Sun's brightness. The painting depicts the mythological tale of the Roman general Marcus Atilius Regulus, who was captured by the Carthaginian Empire and tortured to death after refusing to be part of a prisoner exchange. Whether the painting depicts Regulus's torture of being blinded by looking at the Sun, his departure from Rome or Carthage, or some other setting has been debated by scholars. Regulus's location in the painting is also uncertain. Regulus was controversial in its time, receiving both praise and critique from Turner's contemporaries. In 1863, it was stabbed by a man during viewing hours, who expressed contempt towards the painting's artistic technique and Turner himself. Several derivative works have been created from the painting, including two engravings and two depictions of its 1837 repainting. (Full article...)

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November 11

Historic US 101 in California

U.S. Route 101 is a major north–south highway on the West Coast of the United States that runs along the Pacific Ocean through California, Oregon, and Washington. It was established on November 11, 1926, as part of the United States Numbered Highway System and spans 1,500 miles (2,400 km). Several sections were later rebuilt to eliminate curves and address traffic congestion. The highway's southern terminus is at a major interchange in Los Angeles. US 101 follows the historic El Camino Real from Los Angeles to San Francisco, where it reaches the Golden Gate Bridge. The highway then runs through coastal towns and around the west, north, and east sides of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington to its northern terminus near Olympia. The highway does not serve the largest cities in Oregon and Washington; that role is instead filled by Interstate 5. Several portions of US 101 are designated as scenic byways, and it serves three national parks: Pinnacles, Redwood, and Olympic. (Full article...)

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November 12

The Royal Gloucestershire Hussars was a regiment of British volunteer Yeomanry Cavalry that traced its origins to a troop of yeomanry raised in Gloucestershire in 1795. It was officered by nobility and gentry, and its ranks were recruited largely from among landholders and tenant farmers. During the 19th century, it was deployed in ceremonial duties and as mounted police during times of civil unrest. It won its first battle honour for service in South Africa during the Second Boer War. In 1908, it became part of the Territorial Force, and during the First World War the regiment saw action as infantry at Gallipoli and as cavalry in the Sinai and Palestine campaign. It converted to armour just before the Second World War and fought in the North African Campaign. After several post-war reorganisations, the regiment was reduced to a squadron, and its lineage is maintained by C (Royal Gloucestershire Hussars) Squadron of the Royal Wessex Yeomanry. (Full article...)

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November 13

Luke Williams was Notts County's head coach

In their 2022–23 season, Notts County competed in the National League. The team was involved in an intense race with Wrexham for the league title and the solitary automatic promotion place. They finished second with 107 points and qualified for the play-offs, beating Chesterfield on penalties in the final to be promoted to the English Football League. Led by head coach Luke Williams (pictured), Notts County played 51 competitive matches, winning 34, drawing 13, losing four, and breaking numerous club records. Macaulay Langstaff scored 42 goals during the campaign, setting new club and league records for the most goals scored by a player in a single season. The necessity of a team with such a high points tally having to win promotion via the play-offs prompted discussion about increasing the number of promotion and relegation places between the National League and EFL. The team's rivalry with Wrexham featured in season two of the television programme Welcome to Wrexham. (Full article...)

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November 14

Aucanquilcha is a large compound volcano in Chile. It has the form of a ridge reaching an altitude of 6176 m above sea level and formed between 1.04 and 0.23 million years ago. During the ice ages, Aucanquilcha was covered in an ice cap that left moraines and cirques. It has generated lava in a dacite composition. Systematic variations in temperature, crystal and biotite content have been recorded during the evolution of the cluster. They reflect the change of the magma supply conduits in the crust from dispersed magma chambers to a centralized volcanic system. One mine at an altitude of 5950 m was opened in 1913; it remained in use from 1950 to 1992, constituting at that time the world's highest mine, and mined the sulfur deposits of the volcano in its summit area. As part of this mining activity, a road and an aerial cableway were built on Aucanquilcha. In 1986, four men were reported to be living at an altitude of 5900 m, making them the highest permanent residents on Earth.(Full article...)

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November 15

"Can't Let Go" is a song recorded by Mariah Carey (pictured) for her second album Emotions. Columbia Records released it as the album's second single in November 1991. Featuring synthesizers and drum programming, "Can't Let Go" is an R&B and pop slow jam that describes post-breakup sadness. Carey's vocal range spans more than three octaves; her delivery is predominantly breathy and in a low register, with whistle notes in the song's introduction and ending. Critics considered "Can't Let Go" a vocal showcase for Carey but gave the composition mixed reviews. It peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and ended her streak of five consecutive number one songs. It was her lowest-charting single in Australia, New Zealand, and the Netherlands at the time, but peaked within the top ten on sales and airplay charts in Canada and at number twenty in the United Kingdom. Jim Sonzero directed the music video, which depicts Carey singing alone in an empty house. (Full article...)

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November 16

Mark Satin (born November 16, 1946) is an American political theorist and writer. He contributed to the development of neopacifism in the 1960s, New Age politics in the 1970s and 1980s, and radical centrism in the 1990s and 2000s. After emigrating to Canada to avoid serving in the Vietnam War, he wrote the Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada, which sold nearly 100,000 copies. Then came New Age Politics (1978), which identifies an emergent third force pursuing such goals as simple living, decentralism, and global responsibility. Satin spread his ideas by co-founding the New World Alliance and publishing New Options newsletter. He also co-draftied the foundational statement of the U.S. Green Party, "Ten Key Values". Following a period of political disillusion Satin wrote Radical Middle (2004) which criticizes political partisanship and promotes mutual learning and innovative policy syntheses. In 2023 Satin wrote Up From Socialism: My 60-Year Search for a Healing New Radical Politics. (Full article...)

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November 17

Dividing the Light was one of the installation artworks that inspired the game.

Islands: Non-Places is an abstract art game developed and published by Carl Burton. It was released on November 17, 2016, and consists of a series of anonymous, liminal environments, each rendered in a stylized manner. The gameplay is minimal and consists mainly of clicking on the environment and observing what unfolds. In developing Islands, Burton drew inspiration from diverse sources, including the work of anthropologist Marc Augé, the installation art of James Turrell (example pictured) and the field recordings of Chris Watson. Critical response was generally positive, and the game was nominated for the Nuovo Award at the 2016 Independent Games Festival. The positive reception focused on the abstract visuals and sound design, while some critics were disappointed with the limited scope of the gameplay. Although divided on the game's precise message, many critics described Islands as leaving them with a feeling of renewed wonder at mundane things in the real world. (Full article...)

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November 18

W. S. Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with Arthur Sullivan. Their Savoy operas, including H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado, are still performed by opera companies, repertory companies, schools and community theatre groups. Lines from these works have entered the English language. Gilbert also wrote the Bab Ballads, a collection of light verse accompanied by his comical drawings, in which he first developed his unique absurdist, inverted "topsy-turvy" style. His creative output included over 75 plays and libretti, numerous stories, poems, lyrics, theatre reviews, illustration and various other comic and serious pieces. His plays and realistic style of stage direction inspired other dramatists, including Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw, and his comic operas with Sullivan inspired the development of modern musical theatre. (Full article...)

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November 19

Rockstar North is a British video game developer known for the Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto series, including Grand Theft Auto V (2013), the second-best-selling game of all time. Founded by David Jones in 1988 as DMA Design, it had its first major success with the original Lemmings (1991), which sold 20 million copies across more than 20 platforms. After parting with Psygnosis and facing several unfulfilled projects from other publishers, Jones sold the financially stricken studio to Gremlin Interactive in 1997. The commercially successful release of Grand Theft Auto (1997) made Take-Two Interactive buy the game's intellectual property and form Rockstar Games in 1998, acquiring DMA Design in 1999. Grand Theft Auto III (2001), the first Grand Theft Auto game wholly in 3D, was considered genre-defining and sold 6 million copies in one year. After DMA Design became Rockstar North in 2002, it developed Manhunt (2003) and further Grand Theft Auto entries, most recently Grand Theft Auto VI (2026). (Full article...)

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November 20

Tôn Thất Đính (November 20, 1926 – November 21, 2013) was an officer who served in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). He is best known as one of the key figures in the November 1963 coup that led to the arrest and assassination of Ngô Đình Diệm, the first president of the Republic of Vietnam. After the coup, Đính became one of the 12 members of the Military Revolutionary Council, but this lasted only three months before a coup by General Nguyễn Khánh. Đính and his colleagues were put under house arrest by Khánh. Following Khánh's exile, Đính was appointed to command the I Corps in 1966 and ordered to put down the Buddhist Uprising, but Prime Minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ disapproved of his conciliatory policies. Kỳ launched a successful surprise attack against Đính, who fled, but was later captured and briefly imprisoned by Kỳ. After his release, Đính was elected to the Senate in 1967. He served in the upper house until the fall of Saigon in April 1975, when he fled Vietnam. (Full article...)

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November 21

Carly Rae Jepsen

"Talking to Yourself" is a song by Canadian singer Carly Rae Jepsen (pictured) from her sixth studio album, The Loneliest Time (2022). A dance-pop and synth-pop song with 1980s influences and a guitar solo, "Talking to Yourself" features Jepsen recalling a relationship with an ex-lover and wondering if he still has feelings for her. Jepsen wrote it with songwriter Simon Wilcox and its producers, Benjamin Berger and Ryan Rabin, from the production team Captain Cuts. School Boy and Interscope Records released it as the album's third single on September 16, 2022, alongside a music video. Music critics were generally positive about "Talking to Yourself", praising the catchy production and comparing its lyrical themes to Jepsen's other music. The track reached number eight on the Billboard Japan Hot Overseas Songs chart. Jepsen included the song on the set list of her 2022–2023 concert tour, the So Nice Tour, and performed it at the Glastonbury Festival 2023. (Full article...)

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November 22

Mairzy Doates (April 1, 1976 – May 25, 1998) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and multiple graded stakes winner, most remembered for her victory at the inaugural Japan Cup in 1981. Owned by art dealer Arno D. Schefler and trained by future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Horatio Luro, she competed successfully across the United States from 1978 to 1981, including winning the Yerba Buena Handicap twice. In her final race, she traveled to Tokyo for the first Japan Cup, an international invitational established by the Japan Racing Association to assess Japanese horses against international competition. Mairzy Doates won in course-record time, shocking Japan's racing industry and highlighting the disparity between Japanese and international horse-racing standards. Her victory is widely credited as a catalyst for the JRA's long-term efforts to improve Japanese breeding and racing, and made her the world's highest-earning mare of 1981. She retired to become a broodmare in Midway, Kentucky. (Full article...)

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November 23

Mars, home of the Ice Warriors in-universe

The Ice Warriors are a fictional extraterrestrial race of reptilian humanoids in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Natives of Mars (pictured), the Ice Warriors wear bio-mechanical armour to protect themselves from attack and temperature fluctuations. In their debut, the 1967 serial The Ice Warriors, they fought the Second Doctor. Two years later, they reappeared in The Seeds of Death. In 1972's The Curse of Peladon, they were allied with the Doctor, reverting to antagonists in The Monster of Peladon two years later. The Ice Warriors did not appear again on-screen until the show's 2005 revival series in the episode "Cold War" (2013), followed by the 2017 episode "Empress of Mars". They have also appeared in spin-off media for the series. Writer Brian Hayles created the Ice Warriors out of his interest in life on Mars at a time when the production team was looking for new recurring antagonists. The Ice Warriors were conceived as something akin to cyborg Vikings. (Full article...)

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November 24

The great white shark is a large shark species. It is robustly built with a grayish upperside and a white underside. They inhabit tropical and temperate ocean waters and can be found near coasts and in the open ocean. Populations are most concentrated in the Pacific and Atlantic of North America and the waters of southern Africa and Oceania. They are migratory, traveling between the coast, the open ocean, and continents. The white shark is an apex predator that preys mainly on marine mammals, fish and squid. White sharks are generally solitary, but may gather in aggregations, particularly at feeding sites. They reproduce with pups hatching from eggs inside the female before being born live. The white shark is inaccurately portrayed as a man-eater in the novel Jaws and its film adaptation. Attempts have been made to keep the species in captivity, but specimens either died or were released. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the white shark as a vulnerable species. (Full article...)

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November 25

Young Jesus (right) bringing clay birds to life

The Infancy Gospel of Thomas (or Childhood of Jesus) is an apocryphal gospel about the childhood of Jesus. It is not included in the Christian New Testament canon, and its creation is generally dated to the late second century (c. 150–200). It was later incorporated into other works, including the Latin Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, a popular work during the Middle Ages. The Infancy Gospel of Thomas depicts a young Jesus in full possession of divine power and already dispensing wisdom with authority. It includes several miracles that spread into other literature, such as Jesus's transforming clay sparrows into live sparrows. Its depiction of Jesus sometimes wields power in a capricious way, such as when he curses and kills those who cross him. Although the Jesus depicted in this gospel can be an "enfant terrible", he balances this with miracles and healing. The Infancy Gospel of Thomas ends with an account of Jesus in the temple at age 12, a story originally from the Gospel of Luke. (Full article...)

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November 26

Map of the Tabancale language at the time of contact

Tabancale is an extinct language formerly spoken in the village of Aconipa, located along the Chinchipe River in the Department of Cajamarca, Peru, as well as in neighboring Ecuador, by the Tabancale people. The surviving information about the Tabancale people and their language comes from an anonymous document titled Relación de la tierra de Jaén ('Account of the Land of Jaén'). This document was written around 1570 and published by Marcos Jiménez de la Espada as part of the Relaciones geográficas de Indias ('Geographical Accounts of the Indies') of Peru in 1887. Only five words were collected in the 16th century and they are not demonstrably related to those in other languages. As a result, it has been categorized as a language isolate by some and left unclassified by others; a connection has been proposed with the Chicham languages, spoken in Peru and Ecuador. The Tabancale people are thought to have switched to Quechua after they were conquered in 1549. (Full article...)

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November 27

Elections were held in 21 of Qing China's 22 provinces (outlined in blue).

The Qing dynasty held its first set of provincial assembly elections from February to June 1909. In 1907, the Qing Government approved the creation of provincial assemblies. An indirect election system was used to fill these assemblies in 21 of the country's 22 provinces; Xinjiang elections were postponed due to low Chinese literacy rates. Suffrage and candidacy was limited to a small population of wealthy men, most of whom were members of the scholar-gentry. Public attitudes towards the elections were generally apathetic; corruption, fraud, and vote buying were common, and turnout was low. The elected provincial assemblies were composed largely of constitutionalists, often divided between progressive and conservative wings. They agitated for economic and political reforms, which brought them into conflict with provincial governors who held veto power over the bodies. The assemblies participated in parliamentary elections, electing half of the members of the National Assembly. (Full article...)

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November 28

USS Indiana – the lead ship of the class

The Indiana class was a class of three pre-dreadnought battleships built by the United States Navy. The ships were named Indiana, Massachusetts, and Oregon and all three served in the Spanish–American War. After the war, Oregon returned to the Pacific and participated in the Philippine–American War and Boxer Rebellion. During World War I the Indiana and Massachusetts served as training ships, while Oregon was a transport escort for the Siberian Intervention. In 1919, all three ships were decommissioned. Indiana was sunk in shallow water and sold for scrap. Massachusetts was scuttled off the coast of Pensacola, Florida in 1920 and used as an artillery target. The wreck was never scrapped and is now a Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserve. Oregon was initially preserved as a museum, but was sold for scrap during World War II. The scrapping was later halted and the stripped hulk was used as an ammunition barge during the battle of Guam. The hulk was sold for scrap in 1956. (Full article...)

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November 29

Joe Davis the tournament's champion

The 1927 World Snooker Championship was a snooker tournament held at several venues from 29 November 1926 to 12 May 1927. At the time, it was titled the Professional Championship of Snooker, but it is now recognised as the inaugural edition of the World Snooker Championship. The impetus for the championship came from professional English billiards player Joe Davis (pictured) and billiard hall manager Bill Camkin, who had both observed the growing popularity of snooker and proposed the event to the Billiards Association and Control Council. Ten players entered the competition, including most of the leading English billiards players. The two matches in the preliminary round were held at Thurston's Hall in London, and the semi-finals and final took place at Camkin's Hall in Birmingham. The players involved determined the venues for the quarter-finals, resulting in matches in London, Birmingham, Nottingham and Liverpool. (Full article...)

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November 30

Fremantle Prison was built in Fremantle, Australia, between 1851 and 1859 using penal labour. Royal commissions in 1898 and 1911 instigated prison reforms; after World War II, reforms lagged behind those occurring elsewhere in Australia and the world. Improvements in the late 1960s and early 1970s included an officer training school, social workers, welfare officers, and work release and community service programs. Punishments varied over the years, with flogging and leg irons replaced by lengthening of sentences and restriction from visitors or entertainment. More than 40 hangings were carried out at Fremantle Prison, which was Western Australia's only lawful place of execution between 1888 and 1984. There were major riots in 1968 and 1988; in the second one, guards were taken hostage, and fire damage totalled $1.8 million (in 1988 Australian dollars). The prison closed in 1991, replaced by Casuarina Prison. Fremantle Prison has since become a tourist attraction and World Heritage Site. (Full article...)

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