Wikipedia:Main Page history/2011 July 15

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Today's featured article
Neil Hamilton Fairley (1891–1966) was an Australian physician and soldier who was instrumental in saving the lives of thousands of allied soldiers from malaria and other diseases. A graduate of the University of Melbourne, Fairley joined the Australian Army Medical Corps in 1915. In the inter-war period he became renowned as an expert on tropical medicine. Fairley returned to the Australian Army during the Second World War as director of medicine. He played an important role in the planning for the Battle of Greece, convincing the British Commander-in-Chief, General Sir Archibald Wavell, to alter his campaign plan to reduce the danger from malaria. In the South West Pacific Area, Fairley became responsible for coordinating the activities of all allied forces in the fight against malaria and other tropical diseases. After the war Fairley returned to London where he became a consulting physician to the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and Wellcome Professor of Tropical Medicine at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. A serious illness in 1948 forced him to resign his professorship, but he retained his practice and membership of numerous committees, becoming an "elder statesman" of tropical medicine. (more...) Recently featured: Trade dollar – Somerset – Walter Bache Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that Easwaran's God Makes the Rivers to Flow claims that we are like a sculptor releasing a trapped elephant (pictured) when we seek god- or self-realization by meditating on a sacred text? ... that the writer of Harry Potter, J. K. Rowling, lived as a child at Church Cottage, Tutshill, a Grade II listed building constructed in about 1852 in the Victorian Gothic style? ... that Badi Uzzaman was granted political asylum in the United Kingdom after acting in a film hostile to the government of Pakistani General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq? ... that fish ponds at the Great Budbridge Manor on the Isle of Wight appear to be medieval? ... that females of the jumping spider Portia labiata use silk draglines as territory marks, and use these to avoid females of higher fighting ability and spend more time around less powerful fighters? ... that Frederik Wilhelm Stabell's merits at the Battle of Trangen and other battles of the Dano-Swedish War of 1808-1809 earned him the Order of Dannebrog? ... that despite overseeing the construction of the crematoria and gas chambers at Auschwitz, what specifically shocked SS-Obersturmführer Robert Mulka at the camp was his colleagues' dress sense? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
A triple bombing in Mumbai kills at least 17 people and injures 130 others. Following political pressure amid an ongoing phone hacking controversy, News Corporation abandons its bid for full ownership of BSkyB. Ahmed Wali Karzai (pictured), Afghan politician and half-brother of President Hamid Karzai, is assassinated. Twelve people, including the head of the Cyprus Navy, are killed in an explosion at a naval base, the worst peacetime military accident in the history of Cyprus. The sinking of cruise ship Bulgaria on the Volga River in Tatarstan, Russia, leaves 129 people dead or missing. The World Netball Championships conclude with Australia defeating New Zealand in the final. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
July 15: Festino of Saint Rosalia in Palermo, Italy; Chūgen/Bon Festival in Japan 1410 – The Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeated the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights in the Battle of Grunwald, the decisive engagement of the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. 1799 – French soldiers uncovered the Rosetta Stone (pictured) in the Egyptian port city of Rashid. 1910 – In his book Clinical Psychiatry, Emil Kraepelin gave a name to Alzheimer's disease, naming it after his colleague Alois Alzheimer. 1959 – Five hundred thousand American steelworkers went on strike, closing nearly every steel mill in the country. 1966 – Vietnam War: The United States and South Vietnam began Operation Hastings to push the North Vietnamese out of the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone. 1983 – Armenian militant organization ASALA bombed the Turkish Airlines check-in counter at Orly Airport as part of its campaign for the recognition of and reparations for the Armenian Genocide. More anniversaries: July 14 – July 15 – July 16 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now July 15, 2011 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

A composite satellite image of the continent of North America in orthographic projection. North America occupies the northern portion of the landmass generally known as the Americas, with its southern border at the Darién watershed along the Colombia–Panama border. The vast majority of North America rests on the North American Plate, while small parts of California and western Mexico rest on the Pacific Plate; Central America and the Caribbean islands rest on the Caribbean Plate.

Photo: NASA

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