Wikipedia:Main Page history/2017 June 24

From today's featured article

Beyoncé

4 is the fourth studio album by American singer Beyoncé (pictured), released on June 24, 2011, by Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records. In collaborations with songwriters and producers The-Dream, Tricky Stewart, and Shea Taylor, Beyoncé aimed for a mellower rhythm and blues tone with influences from funk, hip hop, and soul. She severed professional ties with Mathew Knowles, her father and manager, to help her develop an intimate, personal album. The lyrics emphasize monogamy, female empowerment and self-reflection. The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, and some put it on their year-end lists. It was her fourth consecutive album to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200, and it also reached number one in Brazil, France, Ireland, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. It spawned the international singles "Run the World (Girls)", "Best Thing I Never Had", "Party", "Love On Top" and "Countdown". "Love On Top" won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance at the 55th annual ceremony. The album has sold more than 1.5 million copies in the United States. (Full article...)

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Ye Olde Hob Inn

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Mohammad bin Salman

June 24: Armed Forces Day in the United Kingdom (2017)

Manila Cathedral

1571 – Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi established a council to govern the city of Manila (Manila Cathedral pictured), now the capital of the Philippines.
1717 – The first Masonic Grand Lodge, the Premier Grand Lodge of England, was founded in London.
1880 – "O Canada", today the national anthem of Canada, was first performed in Quebec City, during a Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day banquet.
1937 – The United States' first two "fast battleships", the North Carolina class, were ordered from the New York and Philadelphia Naval Shipyards.
2010 – John Isner defeated Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in the longest match in tennis history (11 hours and 5 minutes, spread over three days).

Edward de Vere (d. 1604) · Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui (b. 1694) · Carolyn S. Shoemaker (b. 1929)

More anniversaries:

St. John the Baptist is an oil painting on walnut wood by Leonardo da Vinci. It depicts the Biblical John the Baptist in isolation, using chiaroscuro so the figure appears to emerge from the shadowy background. Probably completed from 1513 to 1516, this High Renaissance work is believed to be the artist's final painting. It is now exhibited at the Louvre in Paris, France.

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