Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 April 26

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From today's featured article

The Benty Grange helmet is a boar-crested Anglo-Saxon helmet from the 7th century. It was excavated by Thomas Bateman in 1848 from a burial mound at the Benty Grange farm in Monyash in western Derbyshire. The grave had probably been looted by the time of Bateman's excavation, but still contained other high-status objects suggestive of a richly furnished burial, such as the fragmentary remains of a hanging bowl. The ornate helmet was constructed by covering the outside of an iron framework with plates of horn and the inside with cloth or leather, now decayed. It would have provided some protection against weapons, but may have also been intended for ceremonial use. It was the first Anglo-Saxon helmet to be discovered; others have been found at Sutton Hoo, York, Wollaston, Shorwell, and Staffordshire. The helmet is displayed at Sheffield's Weston Park Museum, which purchased it from Bateman's estate in 1893. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Illustration from The Fox's Frolic

... that Harry B. Neilson's illustrations for The Fox's Frolic (example shown) depict fox hunting in which the foxes do the hunting?
... that Friedrich Achleitner, a concrete poet and architecture critic, wrote over decades about Austrian architecture in the 20th century, visiting each building he described?
... that Venezuela's economy still has not recovered from Black Friday in 1983?
... that Georgina Pazcoguin of the New York City Ballet co-founded an initiative to combat Asian stereotypes in ballet productions such as The Nutcracker?
... that the collapse of Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company led to the murder of a district collector of the British Raj?
... that an original work by artist Virginia Overton was used as a prize at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival?
... that the young of the striking sea star are nourished in a manner described as "cannibalistic ectoparasitism"?
... that Ukrainian helicopter pilot Mykola Melnyk made 46 sorties over the highly radioactive Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, and then continued firefighting flights into his 50s?
... that John Virgo won the 1979 UK Snooker Championship despite being docked two frames for arriving late?

In the news

Volodymyr Zelensky

An earthquake in Luzon, the Philippines, kills at least 16 people.
Volodymyr Zelensky (pictured) wins the Ukrainian presidential election.
At least 250 people are killed and hundreds of others are injured in multiple bombings at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka.
Scientists announce the discovery of naturally occurring helium hydride ions, believed to be the first compound to have formed in the universe, in the planetary nebula NGC 7027.

On this day

April 26: World Intellectual Property Day

Statue of Sybil Ludington

1478 – In a conspiracy to replace the Medici family as rulers of the Republic of Florence, the Pazzi family attacked Lorenzo de' Medici and killed his brother Giuliano during High Mass.
1777 – American Revolutionary War: Sixteen-year-old Sybil Ludington (statue pictured) rode forty miles through the night to warn militiamen under the control of her father that British troops were planning to invade Danbury, Connecticut.
1944 – World War II: U.S. Navy submarines began attacks on Japan's Take Ichi convoy as it sailed in waters between Taiwan and the Philippines, eventually sinking four vessels and killing more than 4,000 troops.
1989 – A tornado struck the Manikganj District of Bangladesh, killing an estimated 1,300 people, making it the deadliest tornado in history.
2002 – An expelled student murdered sixteen people and wounded seven others before committing suicide at the Gutenberg-Gymnasium Erfurt in Erfurt, Germany.

Jean Fernel (d. 1558) · Margaret Gowing (b. 1921) · Morihei Ueshiba (d. 1969)

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From today's featured list

Downtown Jackson, Mississippi

The U.S. state of Mississippi is divided into 82 counties and contains 299 incorporated municipalities, consisting of cities, towns and villages. Mississippi's municipalities cover only 4.3% of the state's land mass, but are home to 50.5% of its population. Municipalities in Mississippi are classified according to population size. At time of incorporation, municipalities with populations of more than 2,000 are classified as cities, municipalities containing between 301 and 2000 persons are considered towns, and municipalities between 100 and 300 persons are called villages. Places may be incorporated to become a city, town or village through a petition signed by two-thirds of the qualified voters who reside in the proposed municipality. As of the 2010 United States Census^[update], the largest municipality by population in Mississippi is Jackson (pictured), with 173,514 residents, and the smallest is Satartia, with 55 residents. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time is an oil-on-wood allegorical painting by the Florentine artist Agnolo Bronzino, created in around 1545. Scholars do not know for certain what the painting depicts, but the two central figures are recognisable as Venus and Cupid. The bearded, bald figure to the upper right of the scene, shown in front of an hourglass, is believed to be Time, and there are several theories regarding the identity of the other characters. The painting is now in the National Gallery in London.

Painting: Agnolo Bronzino

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