Wikipedia:Main Page history/2021 December 10b

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From today's featured article

A literacy class for African-American prisoners in 1937

Prison education is any educational activity that occurs inside prison. Courses can include basic literacy programs, secondary school equivalency programs, vocational education and tertiary education. The history of and current practices in prison education vary greatly among countries. Staff and budget shortages, a lack of educational resources and computers, and the transfer of prisoners between facilities are common barriers. Studies consistently show that education in prison is an effective way of reducing the rates of recidivism, which saves the expense of future prison sentences. In the US, every dollar spent on prison education saves taxpayers four to five dollars. Despite the benefits of prison education programs, rates of education within prisons remain low in many countries, and attempts to increase the rate of and funding for prison education have been opposed. Opponents argue that prison education is a waste of money and that prisoners are not deserving of the benefit. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Head of a Bear

... that a Post-it Note–sized drawing (pictured) by Leonardo da Vinci sold for £8.8 million in 2021?
... that Grace Meigs Crowder found that pregnancy and childbirth were a common cause of death in the early 1900s for American women who were aged under 45?
... that the popularity of "10 Minutes" by Korean singer Lee Hyori led to 2003 being dubbed the "year of Hyori" by domestic media?
... that some members of the Kushner family objected after Jared invoked their grandparents' resistance in Nazi-occupied Poland to support his denial of Donald Trump's alleged antisemitism?
... that David Whiting was nicknamed "Golden Boy" by Henry Grunwald, "Preppy" by Candice Bergen, and "Whiz Kid" by Sarah Miles?
... that the title of Taylor Swift's 2008 album Fearless reflects Swift's attitude to embrace hardships in love and life?
... that Paddy Fox recruited so many people from County Durham to the British Army that they became known locally as "Pad's Army"?
... that super weaners may be "milk thieves" or "double mother-sucklers"?

In the news

Bipin Rawat

A truck crash kills more than 50 people, mostly Guatemalans and Hondurans, in Chiapas, Mexico.
Chief of the Defence Staff of India Bipin Rawat (pictured) and 12 others die in a helicopter crash.
A coalition government led by newly elected Chancellor Olaf Scholz is formed in Germany.
A prison fire kills at least 38 inmates and injures over 69 others in Gitega, Burundi.

On this day

December 10: Human Rights Day

The original brown dog statue

1684 – Edmond Halley presented the paper De motu corporum in gyrum, containing Isaac Newton's derivation of Kepler's laws from his theory of gravity, to the Royal Society.
1768 – The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica was released in Edinburgh.
1907 – During the Brown Dog affair, protesters marched through London and then clashed with police officers in Trafalgar Square over the existence of a memorial (pictured) for animals that had been vivisected.
1941 – Second World War: Imperial Japanese Navy torpedo bombers sank the Royal Navy capital ships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse east of Malaya.
1979 – The Kuomintang dictatorship of Taiwan arrested a large number of opposition leaders who had organized pro-democracy demonstrations, an incident credited with ending the party's rule in 2000.

Ignatius Behnam Hadloyo (d. 1454)
Isaac Beeckman (b. 1588)
Jasuben Shilpi (b. 1948)

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From today's featured list

Graham Gooch

Former cricketer Graham Gooch scored centuries (100 or more runs in a single innings) in Test and One Day International (ODI) matches on twenty and eight occasions respectively, in an international career spanning nearly two decades for England. He is one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation; through a first-class career spanning from 1973 until 2000, he became the most prolific run scorer of all time with 67,057. Gooch is one of 25 players in history to have scored over 100 first-class centuries. He scored his first Test century with 123 against the West Indies at Lord's in June 1980. Gooch's highest Test score is 333, which he made in the first innings against India in 1990. His first ODI century came in August 1980. Scoring 108, and making an opening partnership of 154 with Geoffrey Boycott, Gooch's innings led England to a 47-run victory over Australia at Edgbaston. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

Ubu Roi is a play by the French writer Alfred Jarry, first performed in Paris on December 10, 1896, at the Nouveau-Théâtre. Considered to be a wild, bizarre and comic play, significant for the way it overturns cultural rules, norms and conventions, it is now seen by some to have opened the door for what became known as modernism in the 20th century. This illustration by Jarry was included in the programme for the play's premiere.

Illustration credit: Alfred Jarry; restored by Adam Cuerden

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