Wikipedia:Main Page history/2021 April 16

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From today's featured article

Much of Persuasion was filmed in Bath locations such as Bath Street.

Persuasion is a 1995 period-drama film directed by Roger Michell and based on Jane Austen's 1817 novel of the same name. Amanda Root stars as protagonist Anne Elliot, while Ciarán Hinds plays her romantic interest, Frederick Wentworth. The film, adapted by the writer Nick Dear, is set in 19th-century England, eight years after Anne was persuaded to reject Wentworth's marriage proposal. Persuasion follows the two as they become reacquainted, while other characters try to interfere. Persuasion was shot chronologically, allowing Root to portray Anne's emotional development. The BBC, the original producer, later partnered with the US WGBH Boston and the French Millesime. This released a larger budget and allowed filming in locations including Lyme Regis and Bath (location pictured). Costume designer Alexandra Byrne produced clothing that appeared "lived-in", winning a BAFTA for her work. The film aired on 16 April 1995 on BBC Two and Sony released the film in US cinemas on 27 September 1995. Persuasion received generally positive reviews, with many praising Root's performance. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

A train of the Aoimori Railway arriving at Kominato Station

... that trees keep the trains (pictured) running at Kominato Station?
... that the combined no-hitter at the Los Angeles Angels' memorial game for Tyler Skaggs was the first combined no-hitter in California since the day Skaggs was born?
... that a prototype of Octogeddon was submitted to a Ludum Dare contest before being developed into an official video game?
... that Julia Letlow won the special election for a seat in the United States House of Representatives after her husband died from COVID-19 before he could be sworn into office?
... that the San Diego Trolley passes through the James R. Mills Building?
... that Gianluigi Colalucci is credited with restoring the "dazzling splendour" of both the Sistine Chapel ceiling and Michelangelo's The Last Judgment?
... that concrete bus shelters in Canberra, Australia, now considered an icon of the city, were initially labelled as "lunatic" by a reporter for The Canberra Times?
... that the critically endangered chestnut-capped piha is locally known as the "little herdsman of Antioquia" because its call sounds like the whistles made by horsemen herding cattle?

In the news

Guillermo Lasso

Guillermo Lasso (pictured) is elected President of Ecuador.
At the British Academy Film Awards, Nomadland wins four awards, including Best Film.
In golf, Hideki Matsuyama wins the Masters Tournament.
In horse racing, Minella Times wins the Grand National, with Rachael Blackmore becoming the first female jockey to win in the race's 182-year history.
The volcano La Soufrière erupts in Saint Vincent, forcing the evacuation of around 20,000 people.

On this day

April 16

MV Sewol

1799 – French Revolutionary Wars: Severely outnumbered French forces repulsed an Ottoman attack at the Battle of Mount Tabor in present-day Israel.
1847 – New Zealand Wars: A minor Māori chief was accidentally shot by a junior British Army officer in the settlement of Whanganui on New Zealand's North Island, triggering the Whanganui campaign.
1917 – Vladimir Lenin returned to Petrograd from Switzerland, where he joined the Bolshevik movement in Russia.
1963 – In response to an open letter written by white clergymen, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote the Letter from Birmingham Jail in defence of the strategy of nonviolent resistance against racism.
2014 – The ferry MV Sewol (pictured) sank off Donggeochado, South Korea, killing 304 of 476 passengers on board, most of whom were students from Danwon High School.

Frederick I, Duke of Austria (d. 1198)
John Millington Synge (b. 1871)
Johnnie Lewis (b. 1946)

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The beautiful demoiselle, one of the most common Odonata species in Slovenia

The Odonata species of Slovenia include 72 species of dragonflies and damselflies for which reliable records exist from the present territory of Slovenia. Odonata species from the territory of the present-day Slovenia were systematically studied by the naturalists Johann Weikhard von Valvasor and Giovanni Antonio Scopoli as early as the 17th and 18th century; however, the first systematic compendium was only published in the 1960s by the Slovene zoologist Boštjan Kiauta. The distribution of Odonata in Slovenia is now fairly well known by international standards, with Slovenia having been one of the first European countries for which a full account of faunistic data (an "atlas") was published. The number of species represents almost exactly half of the European species, and is comparable for example with the number of species of Germany and Spain, both much larger countries. The highly diverse odonate fauna of Slovenia is attributed to the position of the country on the junction of several ecoregions where many species reach the border of their distribution. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

Charles J. Folger (April 16, 1818 – September 4, 1884) was an American lawyer and politician. He was a Republican member of the New York State Senate from 1862 to 1869, serving as president pro tempore for four years. In 1870, he was elected one of the first judges of the re-organized New York Court of Appeals. He became the chief judge, but resigned in 1881 to serve as United States Secretary of the Treasury.

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

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