Wikipedia:Main Page history/2021 August 23

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From today's featured article

Edvard August Vainio (1853–1929) was a Finnish lichenologist. His early works on the lichens of Lapland, his three-volume monograph on the lichen genus Cladonia, and, in particular, his study of the classification and form and structure of lichens in Brazil made Vainio renowned internationally. Vainio's earliest works dealt with phytogeography—elucidating and enumerating flora and its distribution—in the Finnish language. In these publications he demonstrated an attention to detail and thoroughness that became characteristic of his later work. Vainio described about 1700 new taxa, and published more than 100 scientific works. He made significant scientific collections of lichens, and while a herbarium curator at the University of Helsinki and the University of Turku he catalogued and processed other collections from all over the world. He has been called the Father of Brazilian Lichenology and the Grand Old Man of Lichenology. (Full article...)

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Detail of a 13th-century French miniature

... that Queen Maria Comnena (pictured) abducted her daughter and coerced her into divorcing to place her on the throne of Jerusalem?
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... that Geoffrey Guy's company GW Pharmaceuticals was the first to obtain regulatory approval for a medicine based on cannabis?
... that University of Toronto professor Hermann Boeschenstein published two novels during his lifetime, 56 years apart?

... that the Taylor Swift song "London Boy" features a spoken-word intro by English actor Idris Elba?
... that the black-and-red broadbill lays eggs in three color morphs?
... that Donald Mastick accidentally swallowed plutonium in August 1944, and his breath became radioactive?
... that the finale of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 31 sees a gradual "return to life" and ends with a "passionate" and "heroic" coda?

In the news

Taliban fighters in Kabul

Ismail Sabri Yaakob is appointed as Prime Minister by the King of Malaysia.
Hakainde Hichilema is elected President of Zambia.
The Afghan government collapses as the capital city of Kabul falls to the Taliban offensive (fighters pictured).
A 7.2-magnitude earthquake in Haiti kills more than 2,200 people.

On this day

August 23: Black Ribbon Day

Dogs of the Southern Cross Expedition

1514 – Ottoman forces defeated the Safavids at the Battle of Chaldiran, gaining control of eastern Anatolia and northern Iraq.
1898 – The Southern Cross Expedition (dogsled team pictured), the first British venture of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, departed London.
1929 – Palestine riots: Arabs began attacking Jews in Hebron, killing more than sixty people in two days.
1944 – King Michael dismissed the pro-Axis government of General Ion Antonescu, placing Romania on the side of the Allies for the remainder of World War II.
2011 – A 5.8 M_W earthquake struck the Piedmont region of Virginia, and was felt by more people than any other quake in U.S. history.

Ebussuud Efendi (d. 1574)
Minna Craucher (b. 1891)
Keith Moon (b. 1946)

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From today's featured list

Bilingual Welsh and English sign at Pontypridd County Court

County Court venues in England and Wales date back to the County Courts Act 1846, which received Royal Assent on 28 August 1846 and was brought into force on 15 March 1847. England and Wales (with the exception of the City of London, which was outside the scope of the Act) were divided into 60 circuits, with a total of 491 county courts within these circuits. Lord Cottenham, then Lord Chancellor, wanted everyone to be within seven miles (11 km) of a court, and the final scheme came close to that aim. The system of 60 circuits was abolished in 1970. Over time, while new courts have been opened in various locations, there has been an overall reduction in the number of locations where a county court is held. From 22 April 2014, the Crime and Courts Act 2013 replaced the previous system of county courts for different localities with one County Court that operates throughout England and Wales, sitting in multiple locations simultaneously. In July 2015, further proposals to close nineteen County Court venues were announced. (Full list...)

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The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is a semi-retired American single-seat, twin-engine stealth and attack aircraft that was developed by Lockheed's secretive Skunk Works division and operated by the United States Air Force. Its maiden flight took place in 1981, and it was the first operational aircraft to be designed around stealth technology. This F-117 was photographed flying over Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

Photograph credit: Aaron Allmon II

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