Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 February 6

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From today's featured article

SMS Zähringen was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Wittelsbach class of the Imperial German Navy. She was laid down in November 1899 and completed October 1902. She and her sister ships—Wittelsbach, Wettin, Schwaben and Mecklenburg—were armed with a main battery of four 24 cm (9.4 in) guns and had a top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph). These and the other ships of I Squadron underwent extensive annual training, as well as making goodwill visits to foreign countries. Zähringen was decommissioned in September 1910 as dreadnought battleships began to enter service and she saw little activity until the start of World War I in 1914. Zähringen saw limited duty in the Baltic Sea and played a minor role in the Battle of the Gulf of Riga. The ship was withdrawn from active service in late 1915 due to crew shortages and the threat from British submarines. After the war, she was converted into a radio-controlled target ship. (Full article...)

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Umayyad Mosque, c. 1895

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... that Mollie Hughes is the youngest woman to ski solo to the South Pole?
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... that although author Lao She declared his satirical novel Cat Country a failure, it has been translated into at least six languages?
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... that there have been 49 captains in the Big Bash League?
... that American missionary Vernon Andy Anderson noted that those accused of witchcraft in the Belgian Congo were likely to be women over 55 and subject to murder by vigilantes?
... that the final of the 2020 Masters snooker tournament was interrupted by a "whoopee cushion" device?

In the news

Donald Trump

The United States Senate votes to acquit President Donald Trump (pictured) of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
The Malawian Constitutional Court annuls the results of the 2019 general election which re-elected President Peter Mutharika, ordering a fresh election.
At the British Academy Film Awards, 1917 wins Best Film, along with six other awards.
In American football, the Kansas City Chiefs defeat the San Francisco 49ers to win the Super Bowl.

On this day

February 6: Sámi National Day (Sámi people, 1917); Waitangi Day in New Zealand (1840); Ronald Reagan Day in California and Wisconsin (2011)

Shipyard workers on strike in Seattle

1806 – Napoleonic Wars: Squadrons of British and French ships of the line engaged in battle in the Caribbean Sea, resulting in the capture or destruction of all five French ships.
1840 – British representatives and Māori chiefs first signed the Treaty of Waitangi, widely regarded as the founding document of New Zealand.
1919 – More than 65,000 workers in Seattle began a five-day general strike (pictured) to gain higher wages after two years of U.S. World War I wage controls.
1987 – Mary Gaudron became the first woman to be appointed a justice of the High Court of Australia.
2000 – Second Chechen War: Russian forces captured Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, from the separatist Chechen government following a siege and assault that devastated the city.

Donnchad Midi (d. 797) · Aldus Manutius (d. 1515) · Zsa Zsa Gabor (b. 1917)

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Today's featured picture

The Indian vulture (Gyps indicus) is an Old World vulture native to India, Pakistan and Nepal. It has been listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2002. The cause of the catastrophic reduction in their numbers has been identified to be the use by farmers of the veterinary drug diclofenac, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug which extends an animal's working life, but makes its carcase toxic to vultures if the drug was recently administered. The Indian government has banned the use of the drug, and it is hoped that the vultures will stage a comeback.

This photograph shows a group of Indian vultures nesting on a tower of Chaturbhuj Temple in Orchha, Madhya Pradesh.

Photograph credit: Yann Forget; edited by Samsara and Christian Ferrer

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