Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 December 27

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

Gold dinar named for
Salih ibn Mirdas

Salih ibn Mirdas (died 1029) was the founder of the Mirdasid dynasty and emir of Aleppo from 1025 until his death. His sons and grandsons ruled Aleppo for most of the next five decades. In 1008 he seized the Euphrates river fortress of al-Rahba. He was imprisoned and tortured in 1012 by the emir of Aleppo, Mansur ibn Lu'lu', before escaping two years later and capturing Mansur in battle. With his Bedouin warriors, Salih captured a string of fortresses along the Euphrates, including Manbij and Raqqa, by 1022. He later allied with the Banu Kalb and Banu Tayy tribes in their rebellion against the Fatimids of Egypt, who ruled Aleppo. He annexed the central Syrian towns of Homs, Baalbek and Sidon before conquering Aleppo in 1025 and establishing a well-organized administration. He paid formal allegiance to the Fatimids, but his alliance with the Banu Tayy drew him into conflict with the Fatimid general, Anushtakin al-Dizbari, whose forces killed Salih in battle near the Sea of Galilee. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

Drawing of a Bersey electric cab

... that after the withdrawal of Walter Bersey's 1897 design (drawing shown), it took 120 years for fully electric-powered taxis to return to the streets of London?
... that although Half Alive wrote their song "Still Feel" with the intention of making it unattractive for radio stations, it became their breakout hit?
... that when the Thai government ordered her return from the U.S. during World War II, PhD student Poonsapaya Kraiyong joined the Free Thai resistance movement instead?
... that the demise of Sportsvue, which lost $2 million in its 10 months of operation, prompted Jim Fitzgerald to sell the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team?
... that tenor Mirko Ludwig took part in the opening of Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie as a member of a vocal quintet?
... that the sermons of Greek Catholic priest Michal Mašlej inspired the villagers of Oľšavica to hide Jews during the Holocaust even though German soldiers were quartered in the village?
... that it can take Yvonne Walker Keshick up to a year to gather the porcupine quills and other materials she needs for a particular work of art?
... that the British Super League XXV will feature a Canadian rugby league team for the first time?

In the news

Jamal Khashoggi

A court in Saudi Arabia sentences five people to death for the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi (pictured).
In the Netherlands, the supreme court upholds a ruling that the government must meet established emissions reduction milestones, creating the first legal precedent on the impact of climate change on human rights.
United States president Donald Trump is impeached by the House of Representatives on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf is sentenced to death in absentia for treason and subverting the constitution.

On this day

December 27

J. M. Barrie

1657 – Citizens of New Netherland presented the Flushing Remonstrance to Peter Stuyvesant, the director general, requesting an exemption to his ban on Quaker worship.
1845 – John L. O'Sullivan, in his newspaper the New York Morning News, argued that the United States had the right to claim the entire Oregon Country "by the right of our manifest destiny", popularizing the term's use.
1904 – The stage play Peter Pan; or, The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, by Scottish author and dramatist J. M. Barrie (pictured), premiered in London.
1966 – A group of three men made the first descent into the Cave of Swallows, the largest known cave shaft in the world, in Aquismón, Mexico.
2002 – The company Clonaid claimed that a cloned human baby had been born, although it has yet to present any verifiable evidence.

George Whitefield (b. 1714) · George Cayley (b. 1773) · Chyna (b. 1969)

More anniversaries:

From today's featured list

Callum Mills

The 2016 AFL Rising Star was presented to the player adjudged the best young player in the Australian Football League (AFL) for that year. An eligible player was nominated for the award each round during the AFL's regular season, and a panel of experts voted for the winner at the end of the season. The winner was Sydney player Callum Mills (pictured), who polled 49 votes. Mills was the third Sydney recipient to win the award, and the first New South Wales – born winner. The club that garnered the most individual nominations this season was Melbourne with four players nominated for the award, a record for the club. Essendon player Orazio Fantasia, who received a nomination in round 17, was previously nominated for the award in the 2015 season – becoming the tenth player ever to be nominated twice for a Rising Star award. (Full list...)

Recently featured:

Today's featured picture

The chinstrap penguin (Pygoscelis antarcticus) is a species of penguin that inhabits land masses in the Southern Pacific and Antarctic Oceans. The bird's black back and white underparts provide camouflage in the form of countershading when viewed from above or below, helping it to avoid detection by its predators, which include the leopard seal, the southern giant petrel, the brown skua and the south polar skua. The chinstrap penguin grows to a length of 68–76 cm (27–30 in) and a weight of 3.2–5.3 kg (7.1–11.7 lb), with the weight varying with the time of year. Males are greater in weight and height than females.

This picture shows a chinstrap penguin photographed on Deception Island, in the Antarctic archipelago of the South Shetland Islands.

Photograph credit: Andrew Shiva

Recently featured:

Other areas of Wikipedia

Community portal – Bulletin board, projects, resources and activities covering a wide range of Wikipedia areas.
Help desk – Ask questions about using Wikipedia.
Local embassy – For Wikipedia-related communication in languages other than English.
Reference desk – Serving as virtual librarians, Wikipedia volunteers tackle your questions on a wide range of subjects.
Site news – Announcements, updates, articles and press releases on Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation.
Village pump – For discussions about Wikipedia itself, including areas for technical issues and policies.