Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2023 November 22

= November 22 =

Apophis hitting Nigeria in 2029
If the Apophis Asteroid hit Nigeria, would we be able go there and extract oil, mine minerals and grow food in Nigeria after one year later? Would the neighboring western African countries be affected by the Apophis impact? 216.165.204.244 (talk) 04:58, 22 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Are you talking about 99942 Apophis? In any case, your premise sounds like the title of one of the Dilbert books. [Don't Stand Where the Comet is Assumed to Strike Oil] ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 07:05, 22 November 2023 (UTC)
 * As stated above, we don't answer requests for opinions, predictions or debate. Shantavira|feed me 09:35, 22 November 2023 (UTC)
 * If you have an interest in Shell Nigeria, rest assured that 99942 Apophis will miss the Earth by several Earth radii. --Lambiam 09:52, 22 November 2023 (UTC)
 * What's up with hypothetical asteroid impacts and Nigeria? fiveby(zero) 02:57, 23 November 2023 (UTC)
 * In the article linked by Baseball Bugs, it says that the possible impact energy was equivalent to 1,200 megatons of TNT. For comparison, this is 6 times the energy of the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, so you could look at that article for a rough idea of the potential effects. AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 11:49, 29 November 2023 (UTC)

Looking for a late 19th century or early 20th century artist l
his work is monochromatic, nightmarish, very strange. One of his more famous pieces is of a large clock with human heads protruding from the face; the clock hands are blades that are severing the heads as they move around the clock face. Adambrowne666 (talk) 11:07, 22 November 2023 (UTC)


 * The artist is Alfred Kubin. The piece, named Die Todesstunde (The Hour of Death) can be seen here. --Lambiam 14:12, 22 November 2023 (UTC)

The Romance of David Lloyd George
I have today been made aware of an animated film called The Romance of David Lloyd George, made by Ernest H. Mills, the well-known portrait photographer, for Kine Komedy Kartoons in 1917. Apart from this article I have been unable to find out much more about it. I know it's a very long shot indeed, but some stills or even better the film itself, would be marvellous. It is not the same film as the recently rediscovered The Life Story of David Lloyd George. Thank you, DuncanHill (talk) 16:30, 22 November 2023 (UTC)
 * The full article mentioned from The Bioscope should be available if you have an account or other means. Glad yo emphasized the not. fiveby(zero) 03:22, 23 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Released January 22, 1917, 750 feet. according to Rachael Low's 1914-1918.
 * As in the previous decade, many wartime films are lost, leaving us speculating about their claims to a place in animation history. On the AWOL list are some very intriguing works... Ernest H Mills presented animated portraits of prominent politicians in The Romance of David Lloyd George and The Romance of President Wilson (both 1917).
 * Highly successful according to (wplibrary) with a few mentions and references to more articles from The Bioscope
 * (wplibrary) refers to "sketches" and with "...audiences are enabled to see the various sketches actually being executed in their presence." make me wonder if this was really "animated"?

Nelson, the King, and the Kaiser's yacht
According to a snippet in the Essendon Gazette of 24th October 1912 ""ln the cabin of the Kaiser's new racing yacht Meteor IV is an oak armchair, presented by the late King Edward, made from the bulwarks of Nelson's "Victory"". Do we know what became of the chair? Thank you, DuncanHill (talk) 16:50, 22 November 2023 (UTC)


 * There are plenty of citations for the yacht's dimensions, but nothing about what happened to her after the start of the Great War. The German Wikipedia has an article, de:Meteor I–V, but it leaves us none the wiser. I could find no other mention of the chair either. One imagines that a present from the British king would not be treated with any particular reverence once the guns began to shoot and even less after the Kaiser decamped to the Netherlands. Alansplodge (talk) 11:05, 23 November 2023 (UTC)
 * The Kaiser also had a desk made out of timbers from the Victory, which his granny gave him. DuncanHill (talk) 13:05, 23 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Different ship, but SA Resolute desk. Johnbod (talk) 13:38, 23 November 2023 (UTC)
 * According to, the Meteor IV was sold before 1914 already to the German duke von Arenberg who re-named it Aar (which is a poetic German word for "eagle"). Sold in 1920 to French yachtwoman Virginie Hériot, who in turn sold it to a Spanish yacht club in 1935, who re-named it María Del Carmen Ana. During the Spanish civil war, it was left to rot, and eventually de-commissioned in 1950. Rumor has it that shortly after, the ship burned and sank in Bilbao, but no definite proof of that event has come to light.


 * details "the interior decoration of the imperial yachts" of all of Wilhelm's five Meteor yachts on 49 pages, and while a number of chairs are mentioned, there's no reference being made to any of the chairs on the Meteor IV having been a present from King Edward. However, Edward is mentioned as depicted on a photo dated from 1897 (when he was still the Prince of Wales) that hung in the parlor of the preceding Meteor III.


 * But I think that latter source solves the mystery: Footnote 88 mentions a desk (not a chair!) made from the bulwark of the Victory, and it was given to Wilhelm not by King Edward, but by Queen Victoria herself. According to the source, it was originally placed inside the Berlin Palace before being transferred either to the Meteor III or IV (if to the III already, it was later transferred from there to the IV). However, none of the two volumes say anything about its whereabouts following the sale of Meteor IV prior to 1914. --2003:DA:CF0A:F220:9CC0:F287:59BF:13BE (talk) 03:06, 27 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Wild guess, but it perhaps went back to the palace and was blown to bits by the RAF. Or it went to Doorn, and may still be in the family. Johnbod (talk) 04:23, 27 November 2023 (UTC)
 * The desk went back to the Schloss and the Kaiser signed the mobilisation orders in 1914 on it, see the link to the archived thread. It was still there in 1931 when Rowse visited. DuncanHill (talk) 18:48, 27 November 2023 (UTC)