Wikipedia:Main Page history/2018 January 25

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From today's featured article

Lycoperdon perlatum, the common puffball, is a widespread species of fungus in the family Agaricaceae. It forms an off-white medium-sized puffball tapering to a wide stalk, 1.5 to 6 cm (0.6 to 2.4 in) wide by 3 to 10 cm (1.2 to 3.9 in) tall. Its top is covered in short spiny bumps that are easily rubbed off to leave a net-like pattern on the surface. When mature it becomes brown, and a hole in the top opens to release spores in a burst when the body is compressed by touch or falling raindrops. It is edible when the young internal flesh is completely white, but can be mistaken for an immature fruit body of several poisonous Amanita species. L. perlatum can usually be distinguished from similar puffballs by differences in surface texture. Its chemical compounds include the unusual amino acid lycoperdic acid and volatile sterol derivatives that give the puffball its flavor and odor. Laboratory tests indicate that extracts of the puffball have antimicrobial and antifungal activities. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

1917 cheese press from Somerset

... that following its recent rediscovery, Dora Saker's 1917 book Practical Cheddar Cheese-making has "quickly acquired cult status amongst farmhouse cheese-makers" (cheese press pictured)?
... that public art at University of Washington station includes a mural inspired by symbols on geologic maps?
... that footballer John Robson was forced to retire after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at the age of 28?
... that the first discovery of copper in the state of Victoria, Australia, was made at Coopers Creek in the 1860s?
... that the high Byzantine title of sebastokrator was invented for Isaac Komnenos, who was described by his niece as an "emperor without the purple"?
... that Joint Task Force Empire Shield consists of soldiers and sailors of the New York National Guard and New York Naval Militia, tasked with the defense of New York City?
... that the actress Martina Mayne published an English translation of the work of the German poet Paula Ludwig?
... that the engines of Jagdgeschwader II could not tolerate artificial castor oil?

In the news

The Inter-Continental Hotel in Kabul

The former team doctor for USA Gymnastics, Larry Nassar, is sentenced to more than 40 years in prison for the sexual abuse of more than 150 gymnasts.
Rocket Lab's Electron becomes the first rocket to reach orbit using an electric pump-fed engine.
An attack on a hotel (pictured) in Kabul, Afghanistan, kills at least 18 people and injures more than 20 others.
Turkey begins a military offensive against US-backed Kurdish forces in Syria.
A bus fire in the Aktobe Region, Kazakhstan, kills 52 people.
Russell M. Nelson becomes President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

On this day...

January 25: Feast day of Gregory of Nazianzus (Eastern Orthodox Church); Tatiana Day in Russia

Artist's concept of rover on Mars

1533 – Anne Boleyn, already pregnant with future queen Elizabeth, secretly married Henry VIII of England, the second of his six marriages.
1890 – American journalist Nellie Bly completed a circumnavigation of the globe, inspired by Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days, in a then-record 72 days.
1971 – Idi Amin seized power in a military coup d'état from President Milton Obote, beginning eight years of military rule in Uganda.
1993 – Five people were shot outside the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, Virginia, resulting in two deaths.
2004 – Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity (artist's impression pictured) landed on Mars and rolled into Eagle crater, a small crater on the Meridiani Planum.

J. Marion Sims (b. 1813) · Virginia Woolf (b. 1882) · Mikhail Suslov (d. 1982)

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Today's featured picture

A savanna hawk (Buteogallus meridionalis) from the Brazilian Pantanal. This species of large raptors is found in open savanna and swamp in Central and South America. It feeds on small mammals, lizards, snakes, crabs, and large insects.

Photograph: Charles J. Sharp

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