Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 May 18

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From today's featured article

Ludwigsburg Palace is a 452-room palace complex of 18 buildings in Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the largest palatial estate in the country and has been called the "Versailles of Swabia". Eberhard Louis, Duke of Württemberg, began construction of the palace in 1704. The son of his successor, Charles Eugene, completed it and refurbished parts in the Rococo style, especially its theatre. Charles Eugene abandoned the palace in 1775, and it began a decline until the future Duke, and then King, Frederick moved in in 1795. As King, Frederick, and his Queen, Charlotte, renovated the entirety of the palace in the Neoclassical style. The palace was opened to the public in 1918. It underwent periods of restoration, including for its tricentenary in 2004. It has hosted the Ludwigsburg Festival annually since 1947. The palace is surrounded by gardens named Blooming Baroque (Blühendes Barock), laid out in 1954 as they might have appeared in 1800. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Edwin Clarke

... that Edwin Clarke (pictured) combined research into the structure, functions, and diseases of the human nervous system with "impressive rhythm on the dance floor"?
... that Watford's appearance in today's FA Cup Final is their first since 1984?
... that Kyrgyzstani author Tugelbay Sydykbekov won the Stalin Prize in 1949 for the novel People of our Time, which simultaneously embraced Soviet-style communism and traditional culture including Islam?
... that according to a US Supreme Court decision, the Fourth Amendment does not apply to searches at the border?
... that the 1919 Australian federal election was the first to use preferential voting?
... that sturgeons are ancient fishes, widely sought after for caviar and more critically endangered than any other group of animal species?
... that the Disher Challenge Cup, an annual rowing race, is named after Clive Disher, who rowed for the winning Australian eight in the 1919 Henley Royal Peace Regatta?
... that although measles was declared eradicated from the United States in 2000, more than 500 people there have been diagnosed with the disease so far in 2019?
... that South African Willem Botha adapted the 2008 Latvian Eurovision entry as an Afrikaans song for the Springboks rugby team, and helped to produce the 2013 Belarusian Eurovision entry?

In the news

I. M. Pei

Taiwan becomes the first state in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.
Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei (pictured) dies at the age of 102.
Former Prime Minister of Australia Bob Hawke dies at the age of 89.
American actress and singer Doris Day dies at the age of 97.
In association football, the English Premier League concludes with Manchester City winning the title.

On this day

May 18: Flag and Universities Day in Haiti; Day of Revival, Unity, and the Poetry of Magtymguly in Turkmenistan

Sada Abe

1388 – During the Battle of Buir Lake, General Lan Yu led a Chinese army forward to crush the Mongol hordes of Toghus Temur, the khan of Northern Yuan.
1863 – American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant led his Army of the Tennessee across the Big Black River in preparation for the Siege of Vicksburg.
1936 – In a crime that shocked Japan, Sada Abe (pictured) strangled her lover Kichizo Ishida, cut off his genitals, and carried them around with her for several days until her arrest.
1965 – Eli Cohen, a spy who is credited with gathering significant intelligence for Israel in the Six-Day War against Syria, was publicly hanged after having been captured four months earlier.
2009 – The Sri Lanka Army killed Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader and founder of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, to bring an end to the 26-year Sri Lankan Civil War.

Guido Luca Ferrero (b. 1537) · Elijah Craig (d. 1808) · Jean-François Théodore (d. 2015)

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Today's featured picture

Jack Johnson (born 1975) is an American singer-songwriter, known primarily for his work in the soft rock and acoustic genres. Born on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, Johnson started out as a surfer, making the finals of the Pipeline Masters competition at the age of 17, but his career was cut short by an accident. In 2001, he achieved commercial success after the release of his debut album, Brushfire Fairytales. Johnson has reached number one on the Billboard 200 chart with his albums Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George in 2006, Sleep Through the Static in 2008, To the Sea in 2010 and From Here to Now to You in 2013. His album In Between Dreams peaked at number two on the chart in 2005 and again in 2013. Johnson is also active in environmentalism and sustainability, often with a focus on the world's oceans.

This picture, taken in 2014, shows Johnson in performance at the Waikiki Shell in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Photograph credit: Peter Chiapperino

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