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Welcome to Wikipedia,the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.2,395,455 articles in EnglishArtsBiographyGeographyHistoryMathematicsScienceSocietyTechnologyAll portalsOverview · Editing · Questions · HelpContents · Categories · Featured content · A–Z indexToday’s featured articleRan is an Oscar-winning 1985 film written and directed by Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. It is a jidaigeki (Japanese period drama) depicting the fall of Hidetora Ichimonji (Tatsuya Nakadai), an aging Sengoku-era warlord who decides to abdicate as ruler in favor of his three sons. The story is based on legends of the daimyo Mori Motonari, as well as on the Shakespearean tragedy King Lear. Ran was Kurosawa’s last great epic. With a budget of $12 million, it was the most expensive Japanese film ever produced up to that time. Kurosawa directed three other films before he died, but none on so large a scale. The film was hailed for its powerful images and use of color – costume designer Emi Wada won an Academy Award for Costume Design for her work on Ran. The distinctive Gustav Mahler-inspired film score, written by Toru Takemitsu, plays in isolation with ambient sound muted. Kurosawa first got the idea that would become Ran in the mid-1970s, when he read a parable about Mori Motonari. Motonari was famous for having three sons, all incredibly loyal and talented in their own right. Kurosawa began imagining what would have happened had they been bad. (more…)Recently featured: Bratislava – D. B. Cooper – Oil shaleArchive – By email – More featured articles…Did you know…From Wikipedia’s newest articles:… that the architects of the Florida Tropical House (pictured), located in Beverly Shores, Indiana designed the house with Florida residents in mind?… that Penelope Boothby was painted by Henry Fuseli and Joshua Reynolds and sculpted by Thomas Banks, as well as being the subject of a book of poetry by her grieving father Sir Brooke Boothby, Bt?… that Doge Andrea Vendramin of the Republic of Venice has what is generally agreed to be “the most lavish funerary monument of Renaissance Venice” in the basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo?… that The Paperboys are an award-winning Canadian folk music band that blends Celtic folk with Bluegrass, Mexican, Eastern European, African, zydeco, soul and country influences?… that India has developed close bilateral relations with Burma with the aim of countering China’s growing influence and to elevate itself as a regional power?… that Murray Jarvik and Jed Rose, who invented the nicotine patch, could not get approval to conduct their research on human subjects and performed the initial tests of the patch on themselves?… that the canine teeth of male baboons—which can be up to four times as long as those of females—are an example of a sexual dimorphism?… that Barbette, a female impersonator aerialist, served as inspiration to such artists as Jean Cocteau, Man Ray and Alfred Hitchcock?Archive – Start a new article…In the newsSpace Shuttle mission STS-124 launches, carrying the main module of the Japanese laboratory Kibō (pictured) for the International Space Station.Former Croatian Army general Mirko Norac is sentenced by a Croatian court to seven years in prison for his role in the 1993 Operation Medak Pocket.In Dublin, over 100 countries adopt the Convention on Cluster Munitions banning cluster bombs.Paleontologists discover Materpiscis, a 380-million-year-old placoderm fish which is the earliest known animal to bear live young.Nepal is declared a republic by its newly elected government, and King Gyanendra ends his reign as the last of a 240-year-old monarchy.In the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake, the People’s Republic of China evacuates 100,000 people from Mianyang as engineers prepare to drain the landslide dam-created Tangjiashan Lake.Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events…On this day…June 1: International Children’s Day; Madaraka Day in Kenya1813 – War of 1812: Mortally wounded during a single-ship action against the Royal Navy frigate HMS Shannon, American naval commander James Lawrence (pictured) of the USS Chesapeake ordered his crew to “Don’t give up the ship!”, today a popular battle cry.1831 – British naval officer and explorer James Clark Ross successfully led the first expedition to reach the North Magnetic Pole.1868 – Long Walk of the Navajo: The United States signed the Treaty of Bosque Redondo allowing the Navajos to return to their lands in Arizona and New Mexico.1943 – Eight German Junkers Ju 88s shot down British Overseas Airways Corporation Flight 777 over the Bay of Biscay off the coast of Spain and France, killing actor Leslie Howard and several other notable passengers.2001 – Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal killed King Birendra and several members of the Shah royal family in a shooting spree at the Narayanhity Royal Palace in Kathmandu.More events: May 31 – June 1 – June 2Archive – By email – More anniversaries…Today’s featured pictureAfter being forced to leave the Philippines after the Japanese victory in 1942, General Douglas MacArthur vowed, “I shall return.” Nineteen months later, he waded ashore at Palo Beach at the outset of the Battle of Leyte, fulfilling his pledge as the United States retook the island.Photo credit: United States ArmyRecently featured: Cusco, Peru – Greater Crested Tern – Human respiratory systemArchive – More featured pictures…