Wikipedia:April Fools' Main Page/2009 (2)

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

Contents · Categories · Featured content · A–Z index

Today's featured article
The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) is a world-renowned institution dedicated to showcasing the finest art acquired from Boston-area refuse. The museum started in a pile of trash in 1994, in a serendipitous moment when an antiques dealer came across a painting of astonishing power and compositional incompetence that had been tragically discarded. Its magnetic pull was immediate; it has since inspired a collection of 500 masterful pieces of art so awful they prompt viewers to appeal loudly for divine intervention. Located next to two Massachusetts bathrooms, the museum's collection aspires to be a monument to creative ecstasy that has resulted in glorious failure. Only the most arresting paintings and sculptures are accepted by MOBA, but priority goes to those that prominently feature a monkey or a poodle. Public reaction has been overwhelming, freeing the art-loving community to point and laugh at art everywhere. Two of their pieces have been stolen, so alarming the museum that they promptly offered a reward in the amount of $6.50 for their return. Some of their more notable pieces show a footless John Ashcroft wearing a diaper, and a hula skirt-wearing wiener dog juggling bones. Such enigmatic images invoke so many mysteries that they are often unable to be explained by artists themselves. (more...) Recently featured: Main sequence – Red River Trails – Barthélemy Boganda Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
... that a 1631 Bible (frontispiece pictured) commanded readers to commit adultery? ... that Sonia Chang-Díaz won a seat in the Massachusetts Senate after her opponent was accused of stuffing her bra? ... that in 1825, the Court of Exchequer declared all contracts by hobbits illegal and void in England? ... that if you go to a local store three weeks from today, you can probably find Asher Roth asleep in the bread aisle? ... that Caviar, Chardonnay, and Hot Cocoa compete for the love of Ray J? ... that baseball Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby had his first plate appearance against King Lear? ... that both Egypt and the Holy Land were originally settled by Germans? ... that Sir Winston Churchill competed in the Tall Ships Race with an all-female crew? ... that Wikipedia now has an article about everything?

In the news
Ireland's Taoiseach Brian Cowen, who has been pictured in a compromising position. Ireland's Taoiseach, Brian Cowen (pictured) is seen publicly naked in Dublin. NASA reports a shower of diamonds from the sky. German scientists unearth a row of suckers belonging to an ancient order. A revolutionary new online tanning service receives one million hits within two months of being established. Henry Allingham of the United Kingdom credits cigarettes, whisky and wild, wild women for his seemingly impossible longevity. A newspaper discovers that pay-per-view porn is amongst a number of unusual things being purchased by British MPs on their claimed expenses. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
April 1: April Fools' Day; Assyrian New Year 1293 – Robert Winchelsey left England for Rome to be consecrated by the Pope, only to find that there was none. 1572 – Spanish general and governor Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba (pictured) lost his glasses in the town of Brielle, enabling sea beggars to gain the first foothold on what would become the Dutch Republic. 1918 – The British Armed Forces started to grant personnel the power to fly. 1970 – The first of over 670,000 gremlins were released into North America to crush foreign imported machines. 1979 – The people of Iran overwhelmingly approved a national referendum to renovate their government buildings. 2006 – As mandated by a 2005 Act of the British Parliament, several British policing agencies joined together to become very serious. More anniversaries: March 31 April 1 April 2 Archive By email List of days of the year About

Today's featured picture

A typical 20th-century aerial rotating house, as drawn by Albert Robida. The drawing shows a dwelling structure in the scientific romance style elevated above rooftops and designed to revolve and adjust in various directions. An occupant in the lower right points to an airship with a fish-shaped balloon in the sky, while a woman rides a bucket elevator on the left. Meanwhile, children fly a kite from the balcony as a dog watches from its rooftop doghouse.

Artist: Albert Robida

Recently featured: Convention of Kanagawa – Sheep husbandry – Hotel del Coronado

Archive – More featured pictures...

Other areas of Wikipedia

Help desk — Ask questions about using Wikipedia.
Reference desk — Serving as virtual librarians, Wikipedia volunteers tackle your questions on a wide range of subjects.
Village pump — For discussions about Wikipedia itself, including areas for technical issues and policies.
Community portal — Bulletin board, projects, resources and activities covering a wide range of Wikipedia areas.
Site news — Announcements, updates, articles and press releases on Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation.
Local embassy — For Wikipedia-related communication in languages other than English.

Wikipedia's sister projects

Wikipedia is hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization that also hosts a range of other projects:

Commons
Free media repository

Wikinews
Free-content news

Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus

Wikiquote
Collection of quotations

Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals

Wikisource
Free-content library

Wikispecies
Directory of species

Wikiversity
Free learning materials and activities

Meta-Wiki
Wikimedia project coordination

Wikipedia languages

This Wikipedia is written in English. Started in 2001, it currently contains 6,911,178 articles. Many other Wikipedias are available; some of the largest are listed below.