Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 January 23

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

Suillus luteus is a bolete fungus common in its native Eurasia and widely introduced elsewhere. English names such as "slippery jack" refer to the brown cap, which is slimy in wet conditions. The mushrooms are edible, though not highly regarded, and are often eaten in soups, stews or fried dishes. The fungus grows in coniferous forests in its native range, and pine plantations where introduced. It forms symbiotic associations with living trees by enveloping the underground roots. The fungus produces spore-bearing mushrooms above ground in summer and autumn. The cap often has a distinctive conical shape before flattening with age. Instead of gills, the underside of the cap has pores with tubes extending downward that allow mature spores to escape. The pore surface is yellow, and covered by a membranous partial veil when young. The stalk is pale with small dots near the top. It bears a distinctive ring that is tinged brown to violet on the underside. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

Tansy beetle

... that the rare tansy beetle (example pictured) survives at Acaster South Ings, a Site of Special Scientific Interest near York, England?
... that Baya Jurquet organized demonstrations by female prisoners in France in the 1950s?
... that when Eureka Iron & Steel Works produced the first steel rails in the United States in 1865, it marked the beginning of the American steel industry?
... that Infection, the first Venezuelan zombie film, has been banned in the country despite horror being a popular genre there?
... that Wanjira Mathai aims to continue the work of her mother, Nobel Peace Prize–winning environmentalist Wangari Maathai, by restoring 12.6 million acres (5.1 million hectares) of Kenyan land by 2030?
... that leaks by Miami radio stations WMJX and WHYI-FM forced the release date for the new Bee Gees album Spirits Having Flown to be brought forward?
... that despite Charles Jones already having a reputation for ineptitude and dishonesty, he was awarded the contract to dig the longest canal tunnel in England?
... that the City of San Francisco considers its United Nations Plaza eligible for landmark status due to its historical connection to the LGBTQ movement?

In the news

Coronaviruses viewed under an electron microscope

In China, a new strain of coronavirus (examples pictured) infects more than five hundred people, killing at least seventeen.
Mikhail Mishustin is appointed Prime Minister of Russia following the resignation of Dmitry Medvedev and his cabinet.
Scientists announce that presolar stardust grains in the Murchison meteorite formed five to seven billion years ago, and are the oldest solid material found on Earth to date.

On this day

January 23

Artist's interpretation of the tram chase after the Tottenham Outrage

1570 – James Hamilton killed James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, in the first recorded assassination of a head of government using a firearm.
1870 – American Indian Wars: The United States Army massacred a friendly band of Piegan Blackfeet in the Montana Territory, resulting in about 200 deaths, mostly of women, children and elderly men.
1909 – Two Jewish Latvian immigrants committed an armed robbery in Tottenham, London, and led police on a two-hour tram chase (illustration shown), ending in the perpetrators' suicides and increased anti-immigrant sentiment in the city.
1942 – World War II: Japan began its invasion of the island of New Britain in the Australian Territory of New Guinea.
1993 – The first version of Mosaic, created by Marc Andreessen and Eric Bina, was released, becoming the first popular web browser and Gopher client.

Mary Ward (b. 1585) · Johann Wilhelm Ritter (d. 1810) · Guida Maria (b. 1950)

More anniversaries:

Today's featured picture

This picture shows a United States Navy recruitment poster from 1917, based on a cartoon by William Allen Rogers (1854–1931) published in the New York Herald during World War I. It shows a personified Germany wading through a sea of dead bodies, with the slogan "Only the Navy Can Stop This" below the drawing, presumably a reference to the U-boat campaign and the sinking of civilian ships such as the Lusitania.

Rogers was a self-taught artist and began submitting political cartoons to Midwestern newspapers during his teens. He was employed for twenty-five years by Harper's Weekly to illustrate the magazine's editorials; this was followed by daily contributions of political cartoons to the New York Herald for twenty years.

Poster credit: William Allen Rogers; restored by Adam Cuerden

Recently featured:

Other areas of Wikipedia

Community portal – Bulletin board, projects, resources and activities covering a wide range of Wikipedia areas.
Help desk – Ask questions about using Wikipedia.
Local embassy – For Wikipedia-related communication in languages other than English.
Reference desk – Serving as virtual librarians, Wikipedia volunteers tackle your questions on a wide range of subjects.
Site news – Announcements, updates, articles and press releases on Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation.
Village pump – For discussions about Wikipedia itself, including areas for technical issues and policies.