Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 January 12

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From today's featured article

Banksia oblongifolia, the fern-leaved banksia, is a many-stemmed shrub up to 3 m (9.8 ft) high, with leathery serrated leaves and rusty-coloured new growth. It is found along the eastern coast of Australia from Wollongong, New South Wales, in the south to Rockhampton, Queensland, in the north, generally growing in sandy soils in heath, open forest or swamp margins and wet areas. The yellow flower spikes commonly appear in autumn and early winter, developing up to 80 seed pods. The pods open and release seed when burnt, and the shrub resprouts from its woody lignotuber after bushfires. Spanish botanist Antonio José Cavanilles described B. oblongifolia in 1800. Two varieties were recognised in 1987, but these have not been generally accepted. A wide array of mammals, birds, and invertebrates visit the flower spikes. Though easily grown as a garden plant, the shrub is not commonly seen in horticulture. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Raymond Arritt

... that after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change shared the Nobel Peace Prize, contributing author Raymond Arritt (pictured) said, "It's kind of neat: I have, like, .002 percent of a Nobel prize now"?
... that HMS London, a London-class battleship, was fitted with a makeshift ramp for experiments with naval aircraft?
... that a popular account of the Indian rope trick by Chicago Tribune journalist John Wilkie may have been inspired by the Chinese short story "Growing Pears"?
... that the final work of artist Monica Ross was completed on the day of her death?
... that Al-Ain Football Club was the first Emirati team to qualify for a Club World Cup final?
... that Jewish community leader Tibor Kováč negotiated with and bribed a former classmate who was organizing the deportation of Jews from Slovakia during the Holocaust?
... that social connectedness may be as important to our well-being as food or water?
... that the Shepherd with a Flute has had his shirt changed, and is now attributed to Titian rather than Giorgione?

In the news

Félix Tshisekedi

Félix Tshisekedi (pictured) is declared the winner of the presidential election in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Eight soldiers are arrested and two are killed after a failed coup attempt to oust Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba.
Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople grants autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in the ongoing schism within Eastern Orthodox Christianity.
The China National Space Administration's Chang'e 4 becomes the first spacecraft to land on the far side of the Moon.

On this day

January 12: Zanzibar Revolution Day in Tanzania (1964)

Comet McNaught

1554 – Bayinnaung, who later assembled the largest empire in the history of mainland Southeast Asia, was crowned king of the Burmese Toungoo dynasty.
1777 – Mission Santa Clara de Asís, a Spanish mission that formed the basis of both the city of Santa Clara, California, and Santa Clara University, was established.
1899 – During a storm, the crew of the Lynmouth Lifeboat Station transported their 10-ton lifeboat 15 mi (24 km) overland in order to rescue a damaged schooner.
1969 – British rock band Led Zeppelin released their eponymous first album in the United States.
2007 – Comet McNaught (pictured) reached perihelion and became the brightest comet in over 40 years with an apparent magnitude of −5.5.

John Singer Sargent (b. 1856) · Hermann Göring (b. 1893) · Daniel Bensaïd (d. 2010)

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Today's featured picture

The Carbajal Valley (Spanish: Valle Carbajal) is located in the Fuegian Andes of southern Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina. It is approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) long, running west to east between the Alvear mountain range to the north and the Vinciguerra range to the south. Andes summits in the region are generally less than 1,250 metres (4,100 ft) above sea level. The U-shaped valley was formed during the Last Glacial Maximum, approximately 20,000 years ago, and its floor is now covered with sphagnum peat bogs and poorly drained mires.

Photograph: Godot13

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