Wikipedia:Main Page history/2018 February 27

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

Olivia Manning (1908–1980) was a British novelist, poet, writer and reviewer. Her fiction and non-fiction, frequently detailing journeys and personal odysseys, were principally set in England, Ireland, Europe and the Middle East. Her first serious novel, The Wind Changes, was published in 1937. She lived in Bucharest, Romania, and in Greece, Egypt and Palestine, as Nazi Germany overran Eastern Europe. Her experiences helped form the six novels making up The Balkan Trilogy and The Levant Trilogy, known collectively as Fortunes of War. The overall quality of her output was considered uneven by critics, but this series, published between 1960 and 1980, was described by Anthony Burgess as "the finest fictional record of the war produced by a British writer". Manning returned to London after the war, writing poetry, short stories, novels, non-fiction, reviews, and drama for the British Broadcasting Corporation. As she had feared, real fame only came after her death, when an adaptation of Fortunes of War was televised in 1987. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know...

Fannie Lou Hamer

... that African-American civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer (pictured) was brutally beaten on the orders of police in Mississippi for standing up against racial segregation?
... that the French Constitutional Council triggered a by-election in a constituency where the winning candidate avoided a second round by 16 votes?
... that harpsichordist Pieter-Jan Belder recorded the complete Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, and Telemann's complete Tafelmusik with his ensemble Musica Amphion?
... that the anime series C was inspired by the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers?
... that Henry V. Plummer was a chaplain with the US Army Buffalo Soldiers, while his son H. Vinton Plummer was a leader in Marcus Garvey's secret service and militia?
... that Warming's lantern fish spends the day at depths and ascends at night to feed on mats of diatoms near the sea surface?
... that Kenneth Cairns won four gold medals and one silver in his first Paralympic Games?
... that the jazz club Bop City was the site of the only meeting between Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker?

In the news

Billy Graham

American evangelical preacher Billy Graham (pictured) dies at the age of 99.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri wins five awards, including Best Film, at the British Academy Film Awards.
Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 3704 crashes in the Zagros Mountains, killing all 65 people on board.
South African president Jacob Zuma resigns amid corruption claims, and is succeeded by Cyril Ramaphosa.
A gunman kills 17 people and injures 15 others at a school in Parkland, Florida, United States.

On this day...

February 27

Bayern München logo

380 – Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire as a result of the Edict of Thessalonica.
1776 – American Revolutionary War: A Patriot victory in the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge resulted in the arrests of 850 Loyalists over the following days.
1900 – FC Bayern Munich (logo pictured), Germany's most successful football club, was founded.
1962 – Two dissident Republic of Vietnam Air Force pilots bombed the Independence Palace in Saigon in a failed attempt to assassinate South Vietnam President Ngo Dinh Diem.
1988 – The Armenian community of Sumgait in Azerbaijan was the target of a violent pogrom.

Robert of Melun (d. 1167) · Joaquín Sorolla (b. 1863) · Leah Poulton (b. 1984)

More anniversaries:

Today's featured picture

All Saints, Margaret Street, is a Grade I listed Anglican church in London. Designed by the architect William Butterfield and built between 1850 and 1859, it has been hailed as Butterfield's masterpiece and a pioneering building of the High Victorian Gothic style that characterized British architecture from around 1850 to 1870. The church is particularly celebrated for its interior decoration, seen here. Every surface is richly patterned or decorated: the floor in diaper-patterned tiles; wall surfaces in geometrical patterned brick, tile, and marble, as well as tiles with painted decoration; large friezes executed in painted tiles; a painted ceiling; and painted and gilded timberwork behind the altar.

Photograph: David Iliff

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.