Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 May 8

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From today's featured article

Myst III: Exile is the third title in the Myst series of graphic adventure puzzle video games, after Myst and Riven. Exile was developed by Presto Studios and published by Ubi Soft. The game was released on four compact discs for both Mac OS and Microsoft Windows on May 8, 2001; versions for the Xbox and PlayStation 2 were released in late 2002. As in previous games, the player assumes the role of a friend of Atrus, a member of the D'ni race. Atrus can create links to other worlds, called Ages, by writing descriptive books. In Exile, Atrus has created a link for the D'ni to rebuild their civilization. When the book is stolen, the player pursues the thief to reclaim it. Presto Studios sought to develop a diverse and logical approach to puzzles and Ages, and worked to make the villain sympathetically multifaceted. Despite selling more than one million copies in the first year of release, Exile fared worse commercially than Myst and Riven, which had sold more than 10 million copies combined. (Full article...)

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

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Did you know...

King's Cross Metropolitan in 1862

... that King's Cross Thameslink railway station, then known as King's Cross Metropolitan (pictured), was one of the initial seven stations on London's first underground line?
... that Japanese singer Alisa Takigawa's debut song "Season" was originally a demo that was not intended to be her debut release?
... that 53,034 people attended the 2019 AFL Women's Grand Final, a record for a standalone women's sporting event in Australia?
... that in the first successful kidney transplant in the UK, the surgeon James Ross harvested the kidney which was transplanted into the donor's twin brother?
... that the murder of American musician Dimebag Darrell occurred on the 24th anniversary of the murder of John Lennon?
... that the mecha dieselpunk art of Polish painter Jakub Różalski has inspired a board game, a video game, a short film, and a book anthology?
... that when Syracuse University outbid the Prussian government to purchase the Ranke Library in 1887, The New York Times called the collection "probably the rarest historical one ever owned by any one"?
... that Noel Marshall directed and starred with his family in Roar, promoted as "the most dangerous movie ever made" for its many on-set injuries to the cast and crew working with more than 100 big cats?

In the news

Judd Trump

Judd Trump (pictured) wins the World Snooker Championship, defeating John Higgins in the final.
Aeroflot Flight 1492 crash lands and bursts into flames at Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow, killing 41 of the 78 people on board.
In horse racing, Country House wins the Kentucky Derby after Maximum Security, which crossed the line first, is disqualified for interference.
Cyclone Fani hits India and Bangladesh, killing at least 56 people.

On this day

May 8: World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day; Yom HaZikaron in Israel (2019); Miguel Hidalgo's Birthday in Mexico; Parents' Day in South Korea

Sketch of the Versailles rail accident

1842 – A train derailed and caught fire (pictured) in Paris, killing between 52 and 200 people.
1927 – French aviators Charles Nungesser and François Coli aboard the biplane L'Oiseau Blanc, attempting to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight, took off from Paris for New York, only to disappear before arrival.
1942 – World War II: The Axis launched a major counteroffensive, turning the tide of the Battle of the Kerch Peninsula.
1963 – In Huế, South Vietnam, soldiers opened fire into a crowd of Buddhists protesting against a government ban on the flying of the Buddhist flag on Vesākha, killing nine and sparking the Buddhist crisis.
1972 – Four members of Black September hijacked Sabena Flight 571 to demand the release of 315 convicted Palestinian terrorists.

Edward Foxe (d. 1538) · Jacques Heim (b. 1899) · Ethel D. Allen (b. 1929)

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Today's featured picture

The Japanese yen (denoted by the ¥ symbol) is the official currency of Japan. It is the third most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar and the euro; it is also widely used as a reserve currency. The concept of the yen was a component of the Meiji government's modernization program of Japan's economy, which postulated the pursuit of a uniform currency throughout the country, modelled after the European decimal currency system. Before the Meiji Restoration, Japan's feudal fiefs all issued their own money, hansatsu, in an array of incompatible denominations. The New Currency Act of 1871 did away with these and established the yen. The Bank of Japan was later founded in 1882 and given a monopoly on controlling the money supply.

This picture shows the obverse (top) and reverse (bottom) sides of a one-yen banknote of the Meiji era constitutional monarchy, dated 1873, which was the second year of issue for yen banknotes. The banknote was engraved and printed by the Continental Bank Note Company (later part of the American Bank Note Company) of New York and is now in the National Numismatic Collection of the National Museum of American History, part of the Smithsonian Institution.

Banknote credit: Continental Bank Note Company

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