Wikipedia:Main Page history/2015 October 22

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From today's featured article

The common blackbird (Turdus merula) is a species of true thrush. It breeds in Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, the Falkland Islands, Chile, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. It has several subspecies across its large range; a few of the Asian subspecies are sometimes considered to be full species. Depending on latitude, the common blackbird may be resident, partially migratory, or fully migratory. The male of the nominate subspecies, which is found throughout most of Europe, is all black except for a yellow eye-ring and bill and has a rich, melodious song; the adult female and juvenile have mainly dark brown plumage. The species breeds in woods and gardens, building a neat, mud-lined, cup-shaped nest. It is omnivorous, eating a wide range of insects, earthworms, berries, and fruits. This common and conspicuous bird has given rise to many literary and cultural references, frequently related to its song. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

John Peirce

... that when the early telephone was being developed, John Peirce (pictured) invented the mouthpiece that was used for the hand-held version?
... that a project to provide employment in the Province of Reggio Calabria failed because the price of steel collapsed?
... that Lee Ee Hoe was conferred the Order of the Rising Sun for his contributions to tourism between Japan and Malaysia?
... that the Brazilian arboreal mouse can be told from the long-tongued arboreal mouse by the absence of spines among its hair?
... that the first female architect from the West Indies was the Jamaican Verma Panton?
... that the construction of the Panama Canal and Mount Rushmore used cranes from American Crane Corporation?
... that Swedish television presenter Karin Frick won a scholarship which allowed her to play tennis at a college in Miami?
... that the South Shore Line station Kemil Road was funded with a personal check?

In the news

Justin Trudeau

The Liberal Party, led by Justin Trudeau (pictured), wins a majority of seats in the Canadian federal election.
The Swiss People's Party, led by Toni Brunner, retains its plurality in the Swiss National Council.
Alpha Condé is re-elected President of Guinea.
AB InBev agrees to purchase SABMiller for £69 billion.
Dell agrees to acquire EMC for US$67 billion in cash and stock.
Angus Deaton is awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

On this day...

October 22: International Stuttering Awareness Day

Train wreck at Gare Montparnasse

1740 – A two-week massacre of ethnic Chinese in Batavia, Dutch East Indies, came to an end with at least 10,000 people killed.
1884 – The Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, was adopted as Universal Time meridian of longitude.
1895 – At Gare Montparnasse station in Paris, an express train derailed after overrunning the buffer stop, crossing the concourse before crashing through a wall and falling to the plaza below (pictured).
1962 – Cold War: U.S. President John F. Kennedy announced that Soviet nuclear weapons had been discovered in Cuba and that he had ordered a naval "quarantine" of the island nation.
2013 – The Marriage Equality (Same Sex) Act 2013 made the Australian Capital Territory the nation's first jurisdiction to legalise same-sex marriage, although the High Court struck the act down two months later.

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Today's featured picture

An Afghan National Army soldier firing an RPG-7 rocket-propelled grenade launcher during a live-fire exercise at Camp Shorabak, Helmand, Afghanistan, on May 20, 2013. Designed by the Soviet Union and first used in 1961, the RPG-7 is now produced in nine countries. Several variants are available, including a paratrooper model and a lighter Chinese version. The RPG-7 has become the most widely used anti-armor weapon in the world.

Photograph: Ezekiel Kitandwe/US Marines

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