Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 June 1

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From today's featured article

The Berlin Cleopatra, a Roman sculpture of Cleopatra wearing a royal diadem, mid-1st century BC, Altes Museum

Cleopatra (69–30 BC) was the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, though nominally survived as pharaoh by her son Caesarion. As a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, she was a descendant of its founder Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian Greek general and companion of Alexander the Great. After the death of Cleopatra, Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire, marking the end of the Hellenistic period that had lasted since the reign of Alexander (336–323 BC). While her native language was Koine Greek, she was the first Ptolemaic ruler to learn the Egyptian language. Cleopatra's legacy survives in numerous works of art. She has been a pop culture icon of Egyptomania since the Victorian era, appearing in burlesque satire, Hollywood films such as Cleopatra (1963), and commercial brands. (Full article...)

Part of the Cleopatra series, one of Wikipedia's featured topics.

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Did you know...

Astilbe flowers

... that despite a genus name referring to its dull leaves, Astilbe chinensis (pictured) was celebrated as the most important new hardy perennial by the Royal Horticultural Society in 1902?
... that Samra, a male German rapper, performs under a feminine Arabic pseudonym?
... that convenience store chain Wawa successfully forced Philadelphia-area radio station WAWA to stop using its new call letters?
... that Abdulatif Tiyua was first imprisoned for fighting for the Ugandan government, and later imprisoned for fighting against it?
... that Nepalese Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli praised the 2019 sports drama Captain for "delivering patriotism"?
... that no woman was chosen as a major political party's nominee for the United States Senate until Ruth Hanna McCormick won her state's primary in 1930?
... that the Kazachye Cemetery takes its name from the interment of Cossacks killed during the July Days in the Russian Revolution?
... that Lloyd Trefethen and Lloyd Trefethen showed that, when shuffling playing cards, five riffles are enough?

In the news

Brigitte Bierlein

Brigitte Bierlein (pictured) is named interim chancellor of Austria, after a parliamentary motion of no confidence dismisses the government of Sebastian Kurz.
James Marape is elected Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, following the resignation of Peter O'Neill.
A river cruiser collides with another vessel and sinks in Budapest, Hungary, killing at least seven people.
In the European Parliament election, the centre-right and centre-left lose seats, while the liberals, far-right, and greens and regionalists make the largest gains.

On this day

June 1: Night of Decree (Sunni Islam, 2019)

Wreckage of American Airlines Flight 1420

1495 – An entry in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland made the first recorded mention of Scotch whisky.
1794 – The Glorious First of June, the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the French First Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars, was fought.
1942 – World War II: The crews of three Japanese Type A Kō-hyōteki-class submarines scuttled their boats and committed suicide after entering Sydney Harbour and launching a failed attack.
1974 – In an informal article in a medical journal, Henry Heimlich introduced the concept of abdominal thrusts, commonly known as the "Heimlich maneuver", to help choking victims.
1999 – On landing at Little Rock National Airport in the U.S. state of Arkansas, American Airlines Flight 1420 overran the runway and crashed (wreckage pictured), resulting in 11 deaths.

Cornelis Saftleven (d. 1681) · Lady Clementina Hawarden (b. 1822) · Morgan Freeman (b. 1937)

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Today's featured picture

The green hairstreak (Callophrys rubi) is a small butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It has a wingspan reaching about 26–30 millimetres (1.0–1.2 in) in length. The overside of the wings is a uniform dull brown, with two paler patches on the male's forewings made up of scent scales. The underside is bright green, with a thin white line that is often reduced to a faint row of dots or even missing altogether. The iridescent green colour of the underside is a structural colour caused by the diffraction and interference of light by microscopic repeating structures forming a diffraction grating in the wing scales. Green hairstreaks can be found at the end of March, with their flight time usually lasting until the end of June, but they are sometimes seen in July and early August. They never rest with their wings open, to maintain their green camouflage. The males exhibit territorial behaviour.

This picture, taken in 2015, shows a green hairstreak near Aston Upthorpe, Oxfordshire, within the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the United Kingdom.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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