Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 May 16

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From today's featured article

William H. Seward (May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869. A determined opponent of the spread of slavery in the years leading up to the Civil War, he was a dominant figure in the Republican Party in its formative years. While Governor of New York, he signed laws that advanced the rights of black residents. He was elected as a U.S. Senator in 1849, serving two six-year terms. Though he was the favorite for the Republican presidential nomination in 1860, delegates sought a moderate on the slavery question, choosing Abraham Lincoln. As Secretary of State, his firm stance against foreign intervention helped deter the United Kingdom and France from entering the conflict. He was a target of the 1865 assassination plot that killed Lincoln, and was seriously wounded by conspirator Lewis Powell. Seward remained at his post through the presidency of Andrew Johnson, during which he negotiated the Alaska Purchase in 1867. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Hotel International Prague

... that the Hotel International Prague (pictured) was built to strengthen ties with the Soviet Union?
... that the earliest permanent Filipino American residents settled in Louisiana's bayou country?
... that basic economy fares can cause airline passengers to pay more to fly?
... that after Chief Justice Xiao Yang implemented reforms requiring all capital punishment cases to be reviewed by the Supreme Court, death sentences in China dropped by 30% in a year?
... that the journal Minnesota History covers topics ranging from the Dakota War of 1862 and cholera in the state to root beer stands of the Midwest?
... that Australian rules footballer Haneen Zreika is the first Muslim to play in the AFL Women's?
... that the deepwater crinoid Notocrinus virilis broods its young in pouches on its arms?
... that Emil Spiridonov, commander of the Soviet Pacific Fleet, was among the sixteen admirals and generals killed in the 1981 Pushkin Tu-104 crash?
... that Michael Jordan broke one of the unwritten rules of baseball?

In the news

Doris Day in 1957

American actress and singer Doris Day (pictured) dies at the age of 97.
In association football, the English Premier League concludes with Manchester City winning the title.
The United Nations reports that, due to human activity, the Earth's biodiversity has suffered a catastrophic decline unprecedented in human history.
At least 29 people are killed in clashes at the Gaza–Israel border.

On this day

May 16

Theodore Maiman's laser

1811 – Peninsular War: An allied force of British, Spanish, and Portuguese troops clashed with the French at the Battle of Albuera south of Badajoz, Spain.
1929 – The 1st Academy Awards ceremony was held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles.
1960 – American physicist Theodore Maiman operated the first working laser (pictured) at the Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California.
1961 – The Military Revolution Committee, led by Park Chung-hee, carried out a bloodless coup against the government of Yun Bo-seon, ending the Second Republic of South Korea.
1975 – Japanese climber Junko Tabei became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

John Komnenos Vatatzes (d. 1182) · Pierre Gilliard (b. 1879) · Tucker Carlson (b. 1969)

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Today's featured picture

Cerastes cerastes, commonly known as the Saharan horned viper or the horned desert viper, is a venomous viper species native to the deserts of northern Africa and parts of the Middle East. It commonly has a pair of supraocular "horns", although hornless individuals do occur. The colour pattern consists of a yellowish, pale grey, pinkish, reddish or pale brown ground colour, which almost always matches the substrate colour where the animal is found. Dorsally, a series of dark, semi-rectangular blotches runs the length of the body. The belly is white and the tail, which may have a black tip, is usually thin.

Photograph credit: Holger Krisp

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