Wikipedia:Main Page history/2011 March 17

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Today's featured article
The Anthony Roll is a record of ships of the English Tudor navy of the 1540s, named after its creator, Anthony Anthony. It originally consisted of three rolls of vellum, depicting 58 naval vessels along with information on their size, crew, armament, and basic equipment. The rolls were presented to King Henry VIII in 1546, and were kept in the royal library. In 1680 Charles II gave two of the rolls to Samuel Pepys, who had them cut up and made into a single volume, which is now in the Pepys Library at Magdalene College, Cambridge. The third roll remained in the royal collection until it was given by William IV to his daughter, Mary Fox, who sold it to the British Museum in 1858; it is now owned by the British Library. The Anthony Roll is the only known fully illustrated inventory of ships of the English navy in the Tudor period. While the inventories listed in its text have proven to be highly accurate, most of the ship illustrations are rudimentary and made according to a set formula. The only known contemporary depictions of prominent Tudor era vessels like the Henry Grace à Dieu and the Mary Rose are contained in the Anthony Roll. Since the Mary Rose sank by accident in 1545 and was successfully salvaged in 1982, comparison between the information in the Roll and the physical evidence of the Mary Rose has provided new insights into the study of the naval history of the period. (more...) Recently featured: Final Fantasy XII – Grand Coulee Dam – The Fox and the Hound Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest articles: ... that the Church of St Cyriac and St Julitta, Swaffham Prior, (pictured) in Cambridgeshire stands less than 100 feet (30 m) from the Church of St Mary, and shares the same churchyard? ... that tiny spurs on the anthers of the aromatic perennial shrub Olga's mint act as triggers to cause the flower to release pollen when an insect arrives? ... that the 1990 U.S. Supreme Court opinion in Georgia v. South Carolina decided the seaward border between Georgia and South Carolina? ... that former chief music critic of The New York Times Donal Henahan was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism in 1986? ... that the knife-making style of William Scagel influenced the cutlery trade for over 100 years? ... that during the 1995 filming of BBC's Persuasion, the crew often had to compete for props and costumes with fellow BBC and Jane Austen adaptation Pride and Prejudice? ... that Kenyan athletes won every medal at the 2011 African Cross Country Championships held in Cape Town earlier this month, and then they all missed their flight back to Nairobi? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant Following a series of accidents at Japan's Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant (pictured), engineers work to contain radiation. Murder charges in Pakistan against CIA contractor Raymond Allen Davis are dropped after the payment of blood money. Security forces confront protesters in Bahrain, as the Gulf Cooperation Council agrees to send troops to the country. The 14th Dalai Lama submits his resignation as political leader of the Tibetan government in exile. The People's Republic of China adopts a new five-year plan, which includes a goal of increasing GDP by eight percent this year. A tsunami triggered by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake devastates stretches of Japan's coastline, killing thousands and leaving thousands more missing. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
March 17: Saint Patrick's Day 1776 – American Revolutionary War: The British Army garrison in Boston, Massachusetts, withdrew from the city, ending the 11-month Siege of Boston. 1891 – The transatlantic steamship SS Utopia (pictured) accidentally collided with the battleship HMS Anson in the Bay of Gibraltar, sinking in less than twenty minutes and killing 562. 1942 – The Holocaust: The first mass killings of Jews began at Bełżec extermination camp in occupied Poland, the first of the Aktion Reinhard camps to begin operation. 1955 – Six thousand people in Montreal rioted to protest the suspension of ice hockey star Maurice Richard. 1957 – A plane crash on the slope of Mount Manunggal killed Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay and 24 others. 1992 – A car bomb destroyed the Israeli embassy and nearby buildings in Buenos Aires, killing 29 people and wounded 242 others. More anniversaries: March 16 – March 17 – March 18 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now March 17 2011 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

An Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus) in flight. This species of pelican can be found on the inland and coastal waters of Australia and New Guinea, also in Fiji, parts of Indonesia and as a vagrant to New Zealand. At about 1.7 m (5.6 ft) and with a wingspan of about 2.4 m (7.9 ft), it is medium-sized by pelican standards, but has the largest beak of any bird; the largest one on record was 49 cm (19 in) long. Widespread throughout its large range, the Australian Pelican is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Photo: Fir0002

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