Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 April 30

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From today's featured article

Isopogon anemonifolius is a shrub of the family Proteaceae which is native to eastern New South Wales in Australia. It occurs naturally in woodland, open forest, and heathland on sandstone soils. Described in 1796 by Richard Salisbury, I. anemonifolius usually ranges between 1 and 1.5 metres (3 ¹⁄₄ and 5 feet) in height, generally being smaller in exposed heathland. Its leaves are divided and narrow, though broader than those of the related Isopogon anethifolius, and have a purplish tinge during the cooler months. The yellow flowers appear during late spring or early summer and are displayed prominently. They are followed by round grey cones, which give the plant its common name drumsticks. The small hairy seeds are found in the old flower parts. A long-lived plant (up to 60 years), I. anemonifolius resprouts from its woody base after bushfire. It grows readily in the garden if located in a sunny or partly shaded spot with sandy soil and good drainage. (Full article...)

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In the news

Coronavirus pandemic

Netanyahu and Gantz

After seventeen months of stalemate, the Likud and Blue and White parties reach an agreement for Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz (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 30: Reunification Day in Vietnam (1975)

Faustina Kowalska

313 – Civil wars of the Tetrarchy: An outnumbered army led by Roman emperor Licinius defeated his rival Maximinus II's forces at the Battle of Tzirallum.
1598 – King Henry IV of France issued the Edict of Nantes, granting freedom of religion to the Huguenots.
1927 – The Federal Industrial Institute for Women opened near Alderson, West Virginia, as the first federal prison for women in the United States.
1945 – World War II: As Allied forces closed in on Berlin, Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide in the Führerbunker one day after their marriage.
2000 – Faustina Kowalska (portrait shown), a Polish nun whose apparitions of Jesus inspired the Catholic devotion to the Divine Mercy, was canonized by Pope John Paul II.

Jean-Baptiste de La Salle (b. 1651)
Dadasaheb Phalke (b. 1870)
Kirsten Dunst (b. 1982)

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Today's featured picture

The presidency of George Washington began on April 30, 1789, when he took office after the 1788–89 election, the United States' first quadrennial presidential election. He was unanimously re-elected in the 1792 presidential election. Having chosen to retire after two terms, he was succeeded by his vice president, John Adams of the Federalist Party, in 1797.

This picture is a line engraving of Washington, produced around 1902 by the Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) as part of a BEP presentation album of the first 26 presidents, which was reportedly given to Treasury Secretary Lyman J. Gage. Similar portraits of Washington have been used on designs for the $1 bill.

Engraving credit: Bureau of Engraving and Printing; restored by Andrew Shiva

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