Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 November 2

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From today's featured article

McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft have flown in Australian service since 1984. In 1981, 75 "A" and "B" variants of the F/A-18 were purchased for the Royal Australian Air Force to replace Dassault Mirage III fighters. Hornets were part of the Australian contribution to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, flying patrols and close air support sorties to assist coalition ground forces. They provided security for the American air base at Diego Garcia in late 2001 and early 2002, in addition to their domestic protection duties. Between 2015 and 2017 Hornets were deployed to the Middle East and struck Islamic State targets as part of Operation Okra. Hornets are now at risk of being outclassed by other fighters and air-defence systems, and will leave Australian service entirely in the early 2020s. Four Hornets have been destroyed in flying accidents, two were transferred to Canada in 2019 and several others have been retired. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Mother Poulard in front of her restaurant

... that an omelette created by Mother Poulard (pictured) is one of the major tourist attractions in Mont-Saint-Michel, France?
... that today's 2019 Rugby World Cup Final between England and South Africa is a rematch of the 2007 final?
... that Thomas Sturgis was a prisoner of war in the American Civil War, a prominent cattle grower, and New York City Fire Commissioner?
... that a 1945 ordinance by the Cebu City Council was the first to regulate cockfighting venues in the Philippines?
... that in The Book of Gutsy Women, the mother-and-daughter authors feature, among others, the 17th-century nun Juana Inés de la Cruz and climate activist Greta Thunberg?
... that Canadian SoundCloud rapper bbno$ became interested in music after suffering a back injury that prevented him from pursuing his dreams as a competitive swimmer?
... that the All Blacks were once defeated by Rhodesia, a non-test rugby playing country?
... that Kurt Rackow and his soldiers were trapped for hours during the Battle of Verdun, even though their comrades were just 20 ft (6 m) away?

In the news

Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja

A fire on a passenger train near Liaquatpur, Pakistan, kills at least 75 people.
In baseball, the Washington Nationals defeat the Houston Astros to win the World Series.
In motor racing, Estonians Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja (both pictured) win the World Rally Championship.
At least 67 people are killed in protests and inter-ethnic clashes in Ethiopia's Oromia Region and surrounding areas.

On this day

November 2

An emu killed by Australian soldiers

619 – Emperor Gaozu allowed the assassination of a khagan of the Western Turkic Khaganate by Eastern Turkic rivals, one of the earliest events in the Tang campaigns against the Western Turks.
1932 – The Australian military began a "war against emus" (soldier with dead emu pictured), flightless native birds blamed for widespread damage to crops in Western Australia.
1949 – The Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference ended with the Netherlands agreeing to transfer sovereignty of the Dutch East Indies to the United States of Indonesia.
1959 – American intellectual Charles Van Doren caused a national scandal when he admitted that he had foreknowledge of the questions and answers when he appeared on the television quiz show Twenty-One.

Bettisia Gozzadini (d. 1261) · Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (b. 1699) · Hélène de Pourtalès (d. 1945)

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Today's featured picture

The nilgai or blue bull (Boselaphus tragocamelus) is the largest Asian antelope and is endemic to the Indian subcontinent. The sole member of the genus Boselaphus, the species was described and given its binomial name by German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas in 1766. The nilgai stands 1–1.5 metres (3.3–4.9 ft) at the shoulder; males weigh 109–288 kilograms (240–635 lb), and the lighter females 100–213 kilograms (220–470 lb). A sturdy thin-legged antelope, the nilgai is characterised by a sloping back, a deep neck with a white patch on the throat, a short crest of hair along the neck terminating in a tuft, and white facial spots. A column of pendant coarse hair hangs from the dewlap ridge below the white patch. Sexual dimorphism is prominent – while females and juveniles are orange to tawny, adult males have a bluish-grey coat. Only males possess horns, which are 15–24 centimetres (5.9–9.4 in) in length.

This picture shows a male nilgai in a potato field at Jamtra, in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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