Wikipedia:Main Page history/2018 February 16

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From today's featured article

"Space Seed" is an episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. First broadcast by NBC on February 16, 1967, it was written by Gene L. Coon and Carey Wilber and directed by Marc Daniels. Set in the 23rd century, the series follows the adventures of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and his crew aboard the starship USS Enterprise. In the episode, they encounter a sleeper ship holding selectively bred superhumans from Earth's past. Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalbán) attempts to take control of Enterprise with the help of Marla McGivers (Madlyn Rhue). Montalbán, the casting director's first choice, described the role as "wonderful". The script changed many times during preproduction, in part to reduce costs, but the special sets and shots using starship miniatures took the show over budget. Although the episode did not win its time slot on its first run, it has been named one of the best of the series by Cinefantastique, IGN, and other publications. The 1982 film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan serves as a sequel to "Space Seed", and plot elements from both were used in the 2013 film Star Trek Into Darkness. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Vadstena Town Hall

... that Vadstena Town Hall (pictured) once contained a jail, and the town executioner lived next door?
... that the 2017 Finnish film The Unknown Soldier set the Guinness World Record for most high explosives detonated in a single film take?
... that Green Bay Packers cornerback Kevin King played most of his first season with an injury to his shoulder which dislocated several times and left him unable to lift his arm over his head?
... that Aplerbeck, now part of Dortmund, is associated with two legendary martyrs and a regional psychiatric clinic founded in 1890?
... that the Japanese names of the fireflies Luciola cruciata and Aquatica lateralis may derive from two early Japanese novels or the two clans that fought the Genpei War?
... that a housewife, Bhogeswari Phukanani, played a part in the Quit India Movement and lost her life in doing so?
... that the Typhon surface-to-air missile was developed as part of a system to replace the United States Navy's "3T"s?
... that many modern Bible scholars consider the story of the prophet Jonah a work of satire?

In the news

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School

A shooting at a school (pictured) in Parkland, Florida, United States, kills 17 people and injures at least 14 others.
Cyclone Gita strikes Tonga, becoming the strongest storm to hit the nation in over 60 years, and causes widespread property damage.
Saratov Airlines Flight 703 crashes in Russia, killing all 71 people on board.
A bus accident kills 19 people in Hong Kong.
The Winter Olympics open in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
The SpaceX launch vehicle Falcon Heavy makes its maiden flight, carrying Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster as a dummy payload.

On this day...

February 16: Day of the Shining Star in North Korea

The original hand-written Act of Independence of Lithuania

1249 – Louis IX of France dispatched André de Longjumeau as his ambassador to the Mongol Empire.
1804 – United States Navy Lieutenant Stephen Decatur led a raid to destroy the captured USS Philadelphia in Tripoli, denying her use to the Barbary States in the First Barbary War.
1918 – The Council of Lithuania signed the Act of Independence (pictured), proclaiming the restoration of an independent Lithuania.
1943 – World War II: Norwegian commandos destroyed a factory to prevent the German nuclear weapon project from acquiring heavy water.
1996 – Two trains collided in Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S., killing 11 people and leading to the creation of comprehensive federal rules for passenger car design.

Coluccio Salutati (b. 1331) · Thomas Bracken (d. 1898) · Mary Amdur (d. 1998)

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From today's featured list

Phil and Kaja Foglio

The Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story is given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories told in graphic form and published in English or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories. The Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story has been awarded annually since 2009. Hugo Award nominees and winners are chosen by supporting or attending members of the annual World Science Fiction Convention, or Worldcon, and the presentation evening constitutes its central event. In the 10 nomination years, 52 works from 35 series have been nominated, including one round of Retro Hugos for 1941. Works from 8 different series have won the award. Girl Genius, written by Kaja and Phil Foglio (pictured), drawn by Phil Foglio, and colored by Cheyenne Wright, won the first three awards. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

Borgund Stave Church, a triple-nave stave church of the Sogn type, is the best preserved of 28 stave churches extant in Norway. Located in the village of Borgund in Sogn og Fjordane, the church is part of the Borgund parish in the Indre Sogn deanery in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. No longer regularly used for church functions, it is now a museum run by the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments.

Photograph: Simo Räsänen

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