Wikipedia:Main Page history/2015 September 19

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From today's featured article

Laevistrombus canarium, commonly known as the dog conch, is a species of edible sea snail, a marine gastropod in the true conch family, found from India and Sri Lanka to Melanesia, Australia and southern Japan. The animal has an elongated snout, thin eyestalks with well-developed eyes and sensory tentacles, and a narrow, strong foot. The burrowing behaviours and leaping form of locomotion are common among true conchs. Living on muddy and sandy bottoms, it grazes on algae and detritus. The easily distinguishable sexes depend on internal fertilization for spawning. The maximum life span is 2 to 2.5 years. Predators of this snail include carnivorous gastropods such as cone snails and volutes. It is also a prey species for vertebrates, including humans, who consume the soft parts in a wide variety of dishes. The heavy shell is valued as an ornament, and used as a sinker for fishing nets. Several studies indicate that populations in some areas may be suffering from overexploitation. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou

... that Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou (pictured) is the first female Prime Minister of Greece, though never elected to parliament?
... that the Gol Talab pond is an official heritage site, designated by the city administration of Dhaka?
... that Azerbaijani human rights activist Rasim Aliyev was beaten and later died after criticizing a football player for an improper gesture during a game?
... that MC Kinky's "Get Over It" charted on the UK Singles Chart after being featured on an episode of The Word?
... that six days after the 2013 Tiananmen Square attack, General Peng Yong was removed from the Communist Party governing body in Xinjiang and replaced by Liu Lei?
... that Plum Creek has suffered a degree of impairment due to grazing?
... that the male grey pileated finch and red pileated finch both have red crests and black crowns?
... that the author Colin Thompson originally intended only to be a book illustrator?

In the news

Malcolm Turnbull

A magnitude-8.3 earthquake strikes in the Pacific off the coast of Chile, killing at least ten people and prompting the evacuation of at least one million others.
Burkina Faso's Regiment of Presidential Security dissolves the nation's government in a coup d'état.
Malcolm Turnbull (pictured) becomes Prime Minister of Australia after replacing Tony Abbott as the Liberal Party leader.
An explosion in Petlawad, Madhya Pradesh, India, kills more than one hundred people and injures many more.
The ruling People's Action Party, led by Lee Hsien Loong, retains its majority in the Singaporean general election.

Ongoing events:
- European migrant crisis
Recent deaths:
- Moses Malone
- Adrian Frutiger

On this day...

September 19: International Talk Like a Pirate Day; Independence Day in Saint Kitts and Nevis (1983)

Witold Pilecki

1356 – Hundred Years' War: English forces led by Edward the Black Prince decisively won the Battle of Poitiers and captured King Jean II of France.
1846 – Two French shepherd children, Mélanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud, reported experiencing a Marian apparition on a mountaintop near La Salette, France, now known as Our Lady of La Salette.
1940 – Polish resistance member Witold Pilecki (pictured) allowed himself to be captured by German forces and sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp in order to gather intelligence.
1985 – An 8.1 M_L earthquake struck Mexico City, killing at least 9,000 people and leaving up to 100,000 homeless.
1995 – The manifesto of "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski was published in The Washington Post and The New York Times, almost three months after it was submitted.

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Today's featured picture

A feeding Bembicinae specimen. This large subfamily of crabronid wasps includes over 80 genera and over 1800 species. The subgroups of Bembicinae are quite distinctive in behavior and morphology.

Photograph: Fir0002

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