Wikipedia:Main Page history/2017 September 19

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From today's featured article

The Temple of Isis at Philae

Egyptian temples were built to commemorate the pharaohs and to support the central functions of their religion: giving offerings to the gods, reenacting their mythological interactions through festivals, and warding off the forces of chaos. Rituals, it was believed, invoked the divine presence, sustained the god, and enabled it to continue to uphold the divine order of the universe. Temples were important religious sites for all classes of Egyptians even though most people were forbidden from entering their most sacred areas. They are among the largest and most enduring examples of Egyptian architecture, with their elements arranged and decorated according to complex patterns of religious symbolism. A large temple could own sizable tracts of land and employ thousands of laymen to supply its needs. Some temples, such as Abu Simbel, have become tourist attractions that contribute significantly to the modern Egyptian economy. Egyptologists continue to study the surviving temples for their invaluable sources of information about ancient Egyptian society. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Basket weaver working with kagome pattern

... that learning Japanese bamboo weaving (pictured) involves a lengthy apprenticeship and the skills require at least a decade to fully master?
... that before becoming a state representative and state senator, George Merryman served as a ship's doctor on a commercial steamship traveling between Portland, Oregon and the Far East?
... that N. K. Jemisin's The Stone Sky has been favorably compared to works by famed science fiction authors Ursula K. Le Guin and William Gibson?
... that five churches have stood at the top of Shandon Street since 1624?
... that as a member of the communist student movement, Bihar legislator Umadhar Singh was jailed for eight years with his legs in chains?
... that the clarinetist Jörg Widmann composed Babylon, an opera in seven scenes, on a commission from the Bavarian State Opera to a libretto by Peter Sloterdijk?
... that Una R. Winter reported in 1935 that there was very little interest in women's suffrage in Mexico?
... that after a deal with Shark Tank member Mark Cuban fell through, meal kit delivery service Plated earned a deal with another shark?

In the news

Cassini–Huygens probe

The Cassini–Huygens mission (probe rendering shown) to the Saturn system ends with a controlled fall into the atmosphere of the planet.
Carbon dating of the Bakhshali manuscript reveals the earliest known use of a zero symbol in ancient India.
At least 84 people are killed and 93 others are injured in two attacks targeting Shia pilgrims in southern Iraq.
Halimah Yacob wins the Singaporean presidential election by default after being declared the only eligible candidate.
The IOC awards the 2024 and 2028 Summer Olympics to Paris and Los Angeles, respectively.

On this day...

September 19: International Talk Like a Pirate Day

Statue of Our Lady of La Salette

634 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Rashidun Arabs under Khalid ibn al-Walid captured Damascus from the Byzantine Empire.
1777 – American Revolutionary War: British troops engaged American forces at the first Battle of Saratoga in New York.
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 (statue pictured).
1970 – Greek student Kostas Georgakis set himself on fire in Genoa, Italy, as a protest against the Greek military junta of Georgios Papadopoulos.
1991 – Ötzi, a well-preserved natural mummy of a man from about 3300 BC, was discovered by two German tourists.

Leo VI the Wise (b. 866) · William Kirby (b. 1759) · Masaoka Shiki (d. 1902)

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Today's featured picture

A colour-composite image of the Carina Nebula, revealing details in the stars and dust of the region. Several astronomical objects can be seen in this wide field image, including the binary star Eta Carinae to the bottom left, adjacent to the Keyhole Nebula. Two open star clusters, Trumpler 14 and Collinder 228, can be found above and below Eta Carinae, respectively.

Photograph: ESO

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