Wikipedia:Main Page history/2018 February 5

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From today's featured article

The white-breasted nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) is a small songbird that breeds in old-growth woodland across much of temperate North America. It is a stocky nuthatch with a large head, short tail, powerful bill, and strong feet. The upperparts are pale blue-gray, and the face and underparts are white. It has a black cap and a chestnut lower belly. The nine subspecies differ mainly in the color of the body plumage. Like other nuthatches, the white-breasted nuthatch forages for insects on trunks and branches and is able to move head-first down trees. Seeds form a substantial part of its winter diet, as do acorns and hickory nuts that were stored by the bird in the fall. The nest is in a hole in a tree, and a breeding pair may smear insects around the entrance as a deterrent to squirrels. Adults and their young may be killed by hawks, owls, and snakes, and forest clearance may lead to local habitat loss, but this is a common species with no major conservation concerns over most of its range. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Humphrey and Isabella's wedding

... that Humphrey IV of Toron married Isabella of Jerusalem (marriage ceremony pictured) in Kerak Castle in 1183, but a siege by Saladin disturbed the wedding?
... that prickly felicia belongs to the daisy family and is found on sand dunes in the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa?
... that Celia M. Burleigh became the first woman pastor ordained into the Unitarian ministry?
... that an archaeological find identified as a 10th-century Viking helmet has been alleged to actually be a World War II Luftwaffe helmet?
... that all of the proposals to honor Michael Jackson at New York City's Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets subway station have been declined?
... that Chinese naval commander Zhang Wendan exchanged information on pirate activity with the Japanese, in a rare occasion of military cooperation between the two countries?
... that the Rahway River Parkway, designed by Olmsted Brothers in the 1920s, was a project of the newly-formed Union County parks commission?
... that Queen Elizabeth II planned to hit Idi Amin with the Pearl Sword if he came to her Silver Jubilee, according to Lord Mountbatten?

In the news

Lunar eclipse of 31 January

Archaeologists announce the discovery using LiDAR of approximately 60,000 Mayan structures in the Maya Biosphere Reserve, Guatemala.
A total lunar eclipse (pictured) occurs, close to perigee and also the second full moon in a month, a coincidence of events not seen for 35 years.
A new genus of lithostrotian sauropod, Mansourasaurus, is discovered in Egypt.
In Yemen, separatists from the Southern Transitional Council seize government buildings in Aden from President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi's forces.
Miloš Zeman is re-elected for a second term in the Czech presidential election.

On this day...

February 5

A tulip from a 1637 Dutch catalog

1637 – The speculative bubble for rare tulip bulbs (catalog pictured) in the Dutch Republic burst, marking the decline of tulip mania.
1869 – Prospectors in Moliagul, Victoria, Australia, discovered the largest alluvial gold nugget ever found, known as the "Welcome Stranger".
1909 – Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland announced the creation of Bakelite, the world's first synthetic plastic.
1958 – A Mark 15 nuclear bomb disappeared off the shores of Tybee Island, Georgia, after it was jettisoned during a practice exercise when the bomber carrying it collided in midair with a fighter plane.
2008 – Eighty-seven tornadoes occurred over the course of the Super Tuesday tornado outbreak across multiple U.S. states, causing 56 deaths and over $1 billion in damage.

Johan Ludvig Runeberg (b. 1804) · Peg Entwistle (b. 1908) · Margaret Oakley Dayhoff (d. 1983)

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From today's featured list

2012 winner Adrian Peterson

The Associated Press NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award is given annually by the Associated Press (AP) to the offensive player in the National Football League (NFL) deemed to have had the most outstanding season. The winner is chosen by votes from a nationwide panel of sportswriters who regularly follow the NFL. Multiple-time awardees include Marshall Faulk and Earl Campbell, both of whom won the award three times, each consecutively. Every winner of the award has been either a running back or a quarterback, with the exception of Jerry Rice, who won twice as a wide receiver. Running backs have been awarded 24 times, followed by quarterbacks, with 19 awards. Of the 45 winners, 27 were also named the AP NFL Most Valuable Player in the same season. Since 2011, both awards have been given out at the annual NFL Honors ceremony along with other AP awards, including the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award and AP NFL Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year Award. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

Kullervo is an ill-fated character in the Finnish national epic Kalevala. In this epic, Kullervo grows up in the aftermath of the massacre of his entire tribe only to realise that those who raised him were those who had butchered his family. As a child, he is sold into slavery. When he finally runs away from his masters, he discovers surviving members of his family, only to lose them again. He seduces a girl, who turns out to be his sister, and who commits suicide upon discovering their blood ties. Kullervo becomes mad with rage, returns to Untamo and his tribe, destroys them using his magical powers, and commits suicide.

Kullervo has been widely represented in Finnish art, including in this 1899 painting by Akseli Gallen-Kallela and an 1892 opera by Jean Sibelius. The character was adapted by J. R. R. Tolkien into Túrin Turambar, a character who appears frequently in Tolkien's legendarium.

Painting: Akseli Gallen-Kallela

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