Wikipedia:Main Page history/2017 December 20

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

The Guilden Morden boar is a sixth- or seventh-century Anglo-Saxon copper alloy figure of a boar that may have once served as the crest of a helmet. It was found around 1864 or 1865 in a grave in the village of Guilden Morden in Cambridgeshire. Herbert George Fordham, whose father discovered the boar, donated it to the British Museum in 1904, where it is now displayed. It is simply designed, with a prominent mane; eyes, eyebrows, nostrils and tusks are only faintly present. A pin and socket design formed by the front and hind legs suggests that the boar was mounted on another object, such as a helmet. Boar-crested helmets are a staple of Anglo-Saxon imagery, evidence of a Germanic tradition in which the boar invoked the protection of the gods. They may have been common, and in the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf, boar-adorned helmets are mentioned five times. The Guilden Morden boar is one of three known to have survived to the present, together with the ones on helmets from Benty Grange and Wollaston. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know...

Smoke rising over Amman in 1970

... that Jordan (capital Amman pictured) fought against Palestinian fighters and Syria in 1970 during Black September?
... that Andrew David Urshan, an ethnic Assyrian from Persia, conducted Pentecostal revivals in the United States Midwest?
... that the milky white mushroom is being grown commercially in its native India?
... that Gambian politician Sirra Wally Ndow-Njie met with North Korean president of the Supreme People's Assembly Kim Yong-nam in 2010?
... that Comhdháil na Múinteoirí le Rincí Gaelacha broke away from the Irish Dancing Commission in 1969 after disputes about dance teachers' representation?
... that after the Embargo Act of 1807 had throttled foreign imports, the state of New York passed a law to expedite the incorporation of new domestic manufacturers?
... that Ellie Miles captained Tunbridge Wells RFC's under-18 girls team after her father had captained and coached the men's team?
... that you can count lines in dinosaur teeth to determine their age?

In the news

Sebastián Piñera

Sebastián Piñera (pictured) is elected President of Chile.
In the United States, an Amtrak Cascades passenger train derails in DuPont, Washington, killing three people and injuring more than seventy others.
Incumbent Juan Orlando Hernández is declared the winner of the Honduran presidential election, with the Organization of American States calling for a new vote amidst widespread irregularities.
The United States Federal Communications Commission votes to repeal Title II net neutrality rules.

On this day...

December 20: Yaldā Night in Iran (2017)

MV Doña Paz in port

1860 – South Carolina became the first of eleven slave states to secede from the United States, leading to the eventual creation of the Confederate States of America and later the American Civil War.
1951 – Experimental Breeder Reactor I near Arco, Idaho, United States, became the world's first electricity-generating nuclear power plant when it produced sufficient electricity to illuminate four 200-watt light bulbs.
1987 – The deadliest peacetime maritime disaster in history occurred when the MV Doña Paz (pictured) sank after colliding with an oil tanker on the Tablas Strait in the Philippines, resulting in an estimated 4,000 deaths.
1995 – As per the Dayton Agreement that ended the Bosnian War, the NATO-led IFOR began peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
2007 – Pablo Picasso's Portrait of Suzanne Bloch was stolen from the São Paulo Museum of Art and recovered about three weeks later.

Richard Boyle, 2nd Viscount Shannon (d. 1740) · Elizabeth Kekaaniau (d. 1928) · Jon Burge (b. 1947)

More anniversaries:

Today's featured picture

Salak (Salacca zalacca) is the fruit of a species of palm tree native to Java and Sumatra in Indonesia. The fruits grow in clusters at the base of the palm, and are also known as snake fruit due to the reddish-brown scaly skin. Individual fruits are about the size and shape of a ripe fig, with a distinct tip that can be pinched to peel the fruit. Inside the fruit are three edible lobes, which resemble and have the consistency of peeled garlic cloves. The taste is usually sweet and acidic, with a strong astringent edge.

Photograph: Chris Woodrich

Recently featured:

Other areas of Wikipedia

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