Wikipedia:Main Page history/2018 June 1

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From today's featured article

The Pioneer Helmet is a boar-crested Anglo-Saxon helmet dating from the late seventh century. During a March 1997 excavation, it was found in Wollaston, Northamptonshire, in a young man's grave, probably the burial mound of a high-status warrior, along with a hanging bowl and a pattern welded sword. The sparsely decorated helmet is one of only six Anglo-Saxon helmets yet discovered, joined by finds from Benty Grange, Sutton Hoo, York, Shorwell and Staffordshire. Like most of these, it is one of the crested helmets that flourished in England and Scandinavia from the sixth through the eleventh centuries. Boar-crested helmets are a staple of Anglo-Saxon imagery, evidence of a Germanic tradition in which the boar invoked the protection of the gods. In the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf, such helmets are mentioned five times. Unveiled at the New Walk Museum in Leicester, the helmet is on display at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Leptinella filiformis

... that the slender button daisy Leptinella filiformis (pictured), thought by botanists to be extinct, was rediscovered in 1998 growing on a hotel lawn?
... that 23-year-old Japanese voice actress and singer Yurika Endō is retiring for health reasons after her solo concert today?
... that the United States Semiquincentennial will be celebrated in 2026?
... that Ian Meadows discovered both the Anglo-Saxon Pioneer helmet and the first conclusive evidence for viticulture in Roman Britain?
... that Saudi women are organising an anti male-guardianship campaign?
... that according to legend, the governor who ordered the execution of 17th-century Thai poet Si Prat was later executed with the same sword, fulfilling the poet's curse?
... that within a year of its inception, members of Operation Vanguard arrested more than 1,000 illegal miners?
... that after winning the lottery, Jay Sommers used the money to fund a career in NASCAR?

In the news

Gareth Bale in 2015

In association football, the UEFA Champions League concludes with Real Madrid defeating Liverpool in the final (man of the match Gareth Bale pictured) to win their third consecutive title.
In a referendum, Ireland votes to allow the legalisation of abortion.
The European Union's General Data Protection Regulation goes into effect, imposing strict privacy controls for its residents.
A joint investigation team concludes that the Buk missile system used to shoot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 originated from the Russian 53rd Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade.

On this day...

June 1

Scotch whisky

1495 – An entry in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland made the first recorded mention of Scotch whisky (bottle pictured).
1813 – War of 1812: Mortally wounded during a battle against the Royal Navy frigate HMS Shannon, American commander James Lawrence of the USS Chesapeake ordered his crew "Don't give up the ship!", today a popular battle cry.
1916 – Louis Brandeis became the first Jew to be appointed to the United States Supreme Court.
1943 – Eight German Junkers Ju 88s shot down British Overseas Airways Corporation Flight 777 over the Bay of Biscay off the coast of Spain and France, killing actor Leslie Howard and several other notable passengers.

Kitabatake Chikafusa (d. 1354) · Tiedemann Giese (b. 1480) · Helen Keller (d. 1968)

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From today's featured list

Krishna Sobti

The Jnanpith Award is an Indian literary award presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their "outstanding contribution towards literature". Instituted in 1961, the award is bestowed only on Indian writers writing in Indian languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India and English, with no posthumous conferral. From 1965 till 1981, the award consisted of a citation plaque, a cash prize of ₹1 lakh (equivalent to ₹48 lakh or US$73,000 in 2017), and a bronze replica of Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of knowledge and wisdom. The first recipient of the award was the Malayalam writer G. Sankara Kurup who received the award in 1965 for his collection of poems, Odakkuzhal (The Bamboo Flute), published in 1950. The cash prize has been revised to ₹11 lakh (equivalent to ₹12 lakh or US$18,000 in 2017) and out of twenty-three eligible languages the award has been presented for works in fifteen languages. The award has been conferred upon fifty-seven writers including seven women authors. The most recent recipient of the award is Hindi fiction writer and essayist Krishna Sobti (pictured) who was awarded for the year 2017. (Full list...)

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Schwäbisch Hall is a town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg and capital of the district of Schwäbisch Hall. The town is located in the valley of the Kocher river in the north-eastern part of Baden-Württemberg.

Photograph: Petar Milošević

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