Wikipedia:Today's featured list/December 2025
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December 1
Peru has 258 protected natural areas covering terrestrial and marine environments: 78 managed nationally by the National Service of Natural Protected Areas (SERNANP), 35 by regional governments, and 145 under private administration. Peru is recognized as one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries, due to its high concentration of species and diverse ecosystems. Its protected areas are continental and marine regions formally designated by the State to conserve the country’s biological diversity and associated cultural, scenic and scientific values, while contributing to sustainable development. The protected areas cover 21.67% of the country’s terrestrial territory and 7.89% of its marine territory. The system includes 15 national parks, 18 national reserves, 9 national sanctuaries, 4 historic sanctuaries, 2 landscape reserves, 3 wildlife refuges, 11 communal reserves, 6 protected forests, 2 game reserves, and 8 reserved zones. (Full list...)
December 5
Record charts in the UK began life in 1952 when Percy Dickins from New Musical Express (NME) imitated an idea started in American Billboard magazine and began compiling a hit parade. Prior to this, a song's popularity was measured by the sales of sheet music. Initially, Dickins telephoned a sample of around 20 shops asking for a list of the 10 best-selling songs. These results were then aggregated to give a Top 12 chart published in NME on 14 November 1952. In terms of number-one singles, Frankie Laine, Guy Mitchell and Elvis Presley (pictured) were the most successful artists of the 1950s, having four singles reach the top spot. The longest duration of a single at number one was eighteen weeks, achieved by Frankie Laine's "I Believe", which still holds the record for the most non-consecutive weeks at the top of the UK Singles Chart. (Full list...)
December 8
There are fifty-five stations on the Great Northern route, a suburban rail route in London and the East of England. The route consists of services on the southern end of the East Coast Main Line, which is the main railway link between the cities of London and Edinburgh, as well as its associated branches, including the Cambridge line, the Fen Line, the Hertford Loop line, and the Northern City Line. The route is currently operated by Great Northern, which is one brand under the umbrella of Govia Thameslink Railway. Services originating at London King's Cross (pictured) operate to Peterborough, Letchworth Garden City, Cambridge, Ely, and King's Lynn, whereas services originating at Moorgate operate to Welwyn Garden City, Hertford North, Gordon Hill, and Stevenage. (Full list...)
December 12
Hat-tricks have been achieved 72 times at the Rugby League World Cup, 70 times with tries and twice with field goals. The first player to do this was Alex Watson, who achieved the feat for Australia against New Zealand in the inaugural tournament. Players for Australia have scored the most hat-tricks at the Rugby League World Cup, with 30, while Papua New Guinean players have conceded the most, with 11. Of the 72 hat-tricks scored, seven players have achieved the feat twice, these being Ian Schubert, Billy Slater, Akuila Uate, Manu Vatuvei, Jarryd Hayne, Suliasi Vunivalu, Valentine Holmes (pictured) and Josh Addo-Carr. Fifteen players have scored an additional try on top of the hat-trick. Holmes and Addo-Carr have each scored five tries in a single game, while Holmes is the only player to score six tries in a single game. (Full list...)
December 15
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The City of Gold Coast is a local government area (LGA) in the Australian state of Queensland, that is divided into 81 suburbs and localities. With a population of 681,389 people, it is the second largest LGA by population in Australia, behind the City of Brisbane. Established in 1948, it encompasses the Gold Coast and the nearby hinterland. The LGA is bordered by the Scenic Rim Region to the west, the Queensland state border to the south, the Albert and Logan Rivers to the north and the Coral Sea to the east. The largest division by population is the suburb of Southport (36,786 people) and the smallest division is the Southern Moreton Bay Islands locality, which has no registered residents. (Full list...)
December 19
American actress Natalie Wood started her career as a child by appearing in films directed by Irving Pichel. Wood's first credited role was as an Austrian war refugee in the Pichel-directed Tomorrow Is Forever (1946) with Claudette Colbert and Orson Welles. The following year, she played a child who does not believe in Santa Claus in the Christmas comedy-drama Miracle on 34th Street (1947). In 1955, she starred as a recalcitrant teenager in Rebel Without a Cause with James Dean, for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and received the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Female. In 1961, Wood starred as a teenager struggling with sexual repression in the period drama Splendor in the Grass with Warren Beatty, and as Maria in the highly successful musical film West Side Story. She followed West Side Story with another musical film, Gypsy (1962), in which she played the title role of the burlesque entertainer Gypsy Rose Lee. (Full list...)
December 22
There are 43 restaurants in Thailand with a Michelin-star rating in the 2026 Michelin Guide. The Michelin Guides have been published by the French tire company Michelin since 1900. They were designed as a guide to tell drivers about which eateries they should visit and to subtly sponsor their tires. Before a star is given, multiple anonymous Michelin inspectors visit the restaurants several times. They rate the restaurants on five criteria. The 2018 edition was the inaugural edition of the Michelin Guide in Thailand, initially only covering Bangkok. It was the seventh Asian city or region to have a dedicated Guide. Michelin expanded its Thailand coverage over several years: Phuket and Phang-Nga in 2019, Chiang Mai in 2020, Ayutthaya in 2022, four northeastern provinces in 2023, and Chonburi in the 2025 edition. (Full list...)
December 26
The Archbishop of New York is the head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, who is responsible for looking after its spiritual and administrative needs. As the archdiocese is the metropolitan see of the ecclesiastical province encompassing nearly all of the state of New York, the Archbishop of New York also administers the bishops who head the suffragan dioceses of Albany, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Ogdensburg, Rochester, Rockville Centre and Syracuse. Ten men have been Archbishop of New York; another three were bishop of its predecessor diocese. Eight archbishops were elevated to the College of Cardinals. John McCloskey, the fifth ordinary of the archdiocese, was the first archbishop to be born in the United States, as well as the first born in what is now New York City. The current archbishop is Timothy M. Dolan. (Full list...)
December 29
American musician Jimi Hendrix recorded over 170 different songs during his career from 1966 to 1970. Often considered one of the most accomplished and influential electric guitarists, Hendrix wrote most of his own material in a variety of styles. Some show his blues and R&B roots and others incorporate jazz and early funk influences. Some songs, such as "Purple Haze", "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)", and "Machine Gun", feature his guitar-dominated hard and psychedelic rock sound, while others including "The Wind Cries Mary" and "Little Wing" take a slower, more melodic approach. Two of his best-known single releases were written by others: "Hey Joe" by Billy Roberts and "All Along the Watchtower" by Bob Dylan. Hendrix supplied his own interpretations, however, which gave them a much different character than the originals. (Full list...)