Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 April 17

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From today's featured article

The English Bread Book
by Eliza Acton, 1857

Eliza Acton (17 April 1799 – 13 February 1859) was an English food writer and poet. In 1845 her cookbook Modern Cookery for Private Families was released. It was one of Britain's first cookbooks aimed at the domestic reader and introduced the now-universal practice of listing ingredients and giving suggested cooking times for each recipe. It included the first recipes in English for Brussels sprouts and for spaghetti, and contains the first printed reference to Christmas pudding. Engagingly written, the book was well received by reviewers. It was reprinted within the year and several editions followed until 1918. In the later years of its publication, Modern Cookery was eclipsed by the success of Isabella Beeton's bestselling Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management (1861), which included several recipes plagiarised from Acton's work. Many English cooks have been influenced by Acton, including Elizabeth David, Jane Grigson, Delia Smith and Rick Stein. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Fritz Pollard

... that Fritz Pollard (pictured) became the NFL's first black quarterback in 1923, but it was not until 2017 that all 32 modern NFL teams had started at least one black quarterback?
... that All India Trinamool Congress MP Uma Saren was the first person to speak in the tribal Santali language at the Inter-Parliamentary Union?
... that the weevil species Sicoderus bautistai, described as resembling "black, shiny ants", is named after professional baseball player José Bautista?
... that Czech chemist Karel Wiesner, unable to study at university under the German occupation, set up a laboratory in the basement of his parents' house to teach himself polarography?
... that the Natal Border Guard, established in 1878, was expected to defend the Colony of Natal armed only with spears and shields?
... that American artist Lydia Purdy Hess, best known for her Portrait of Miss E. H., sketched and painted while floating on the Ohio River during her two-month honeymoon?
... that the Troy Museum, located close to the ancient Greek city of Troy, is clad in rust-colored weathering steel to resemble an excavated artefact?
... that at the Queen Charlotte's Ball, debutantes curtsey to a giant birthday cake?

In the news

Worknesh Degefa

At the Boston Marathon, Lawrence Cherono and Worknesh Degefa (pictured) win the men's and women's foot races, respectively.
A fire heavily damages Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.
The Scaled Composites Stratolaunch, the largest aircraft by wingspan, makes its maiden flight.
Beresheet becomes the first private mission to reach the Moon, but crashes during an attempted landing.

On this day

April 17: Evacuation Day in Syria (1946)

Artist's impression of Kepler-186f

1080 – The death of Harald III allowed his brother Canute IV, who later became the first Dane to be canonized, to become King of Denmark.
1797 – French Revolutionary Wars: British Lieutenant General Ralph Abercromby and a force of 7,000 invaded Spanish-controlled Puerto Rico.
1969 – Sirhan Sirhan was convicted of the assassination of United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
1986 – Having supposedly been at war for 335 years without a single shot having been fired and no casualties incurred, the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly declared peace.
2014 – NASA announced the discovery of Kepler-186f (artist's impression shown), the first exoplanet with a radius similar to Earth's discovered in the habitable zone of another star.

Hannah Webster Foster (d. 1840) · Neville McNamara (b. 1923) · Sean Bean (b. 1959)

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Today's featured picture

The Conversion of Mary Magdalene is an oil painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Paolo Veronese. Dating from around 1545–1548, the painting was commissioned by a noble patron in Verona. The subject of the painting has been debated but the current consensus among scholars is that it depicts the conversion of Mary Magdalene. In the legend that inspired the painting, Mary went to a temple where the teachings of Jesus inspired her to convert to a pious life. She is depicted by Veronese in dress inappropriate for the religious building, which Veronese used to symbolise her prior sinful life. She is shown on her knees and blushing as she listens to Jesus. The painting now hangs in the National Gallery in London.

Painting: Paolo Veronese

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