Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 April 26b

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From today's featured article

Sonja Morgenstern skating a compulsory figure

Compulsory figures were formerly a segment of figure skating, from which the sport derives its name. Requiring skaters to trace precise circles while completing difficult turns and edges, these exercises made up 60 percent of the total score at most competitions around the world until 1947. The simple figure-eight shape was executed by connecting two circles; other figures included the three turn, the counter turn, the rocker turn, the bracket turn, and the loop. Compulsory figures steadily declined in importance, and in 1990 the International Skating Union voted to discontinue them as a part of competitions. Although few skaters continue to practice them, some skaters and coaches continue to use them to develop alignment, core strength, body control, and discipline. Since 2015, the World Figure Sport Society has conducted festivals and competitions of compulsory figures, endorsed by the Ice Skating Institute. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

World's oldest postcard (1840)

... that the world's oldest postcard (pictured), mailed in 1840, was designed as a practical joke to mock postal clerks?
... that Milagros Benet de Mewton, a US citizen, fought for women's suffrage to be extended to Puerto Rico because the 19th Amendment did not apply to US unincorporated territories?
... that the Darmstädter Ferienkurse ('Darmstadt Summer Courses') were initiated in 1946 to reconnect German contemporary music to the international scene after the genre's suppression by the Nazis?
... that George Insole pioneered the introduction and early success of South Wales steam coal in the London and international markets?
... that among those commemorated by the East Knoyle War Memorial are three brothers who died in the First World War, twelve soldiers killed in the Second, and one killed by friendly fire in the Iraq War?
... that Robert Molyneux established the first parochial school in the United States in 1782?
... that Hatherton Flush, a Site of Special Scientific Interest in Hatherton, supports an abundance of orchids, including the marsh helleborine, which is rare in Cheshire?
... that actor Ranveer Singh was slapped 21 times while filming the music video for "Ude Dil Befikre"?
... that punk pioneer band X's 2020 album Alphabetland, released on the 40th anniversary of their debut album Los Angeles, was the first featuring the original lineup in 35 years?

In the news

Coronavirus pandemic

Netanyahu and Gantz (left and right respectively)

After seventeen months of stalemate, the Likud and Blue and White parties reach an agreement for Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz (both pictured) to share power in Israel.
A mass shooting in Nova Scotia, Canada, leaves twenty-two victims dead.
In the South Korean legislative election, the ruling Democratic Party and their allies increase their majority in the National Assembly.

On this day

April 26: World Intellectual Property Day

Statue of Sybil Ludington

1478 – In a conspiracy to replace the Medici family as rulers of the Republic of Florence, the Pazzi family attacked Lorenzo de' Medici and killed his brother Giuliano during Mass.
1944 – World War II: U.S. Navy submarines began attacks on Japan's Take Ichi convoy as it sailed in waters between Taiwan and the Philippines, eventually sinking four vessels and killing more than 4,000 troops.
1970 – The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) came into being when the WIPO Convention entered into force.
2007 – Controversy surrounding the relocation of the Bronze Soldier of Tallinn, a Soviet Red Army World War II memorial in Tallinn, Estonia, erupted into mass protests and riots.

Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily (b. 1782)
Srinivasa Ramanujan (d. 1920)
Giorgio Moroder (b. 1940)

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Today's featured picture

Nototropis falcatus is a species of amphipod crustacean found in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and North Sea, where it lives on the seabed. Growing to a length of about 7 mm (0.3 in), the third pereiopod or thoracic leg is particularly stout, and has a curved propodus (penultimate joint) and a powerful dactylus (claw). It can swim using its abdominal legs and orienting itself on its side, and can also burrow in the soft substrate. The species probably feeds by grazing on plant material and consuming detritus.

This picture shows an N. falcatus individual collected at a dredge disposal site off Zeebrugge, Belgium.

Photograph credit: Hans Hillewaert

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