Wikipedia:Main Page history/2021 February 15

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From today's featured article

Prussian grenadiers overrunning Saxon forces during the Battle of Hohenfriedberg

The Silesian Wars were a series of three wars fought between Prussia (under King Frederick the Great) and Austria (under Archduchess Maria Theresa) for control of the Central European region of Silesia (now in south-west Poland). The First (1740–1742) and Second Silesian Wars (1744–1745) formed parts of the War of the Austrian Succession, in which Prussia was one member of an anti-Austrian coalition. The Third Silesian War (1756–1763) was one theatre of the global Seven Years' War, in which Austria led a coalition aiming to seize Prussian territory. All three ended in Prussian victories, and their overall territorial result was Austria's cession of the majority of Silesia to Prussia, which emerged from the Silesian Wars as a new European great power. Austria's defeat by a lesser German power significantly damaged its prestige. The conflict foreshadowed a century-long Austria–Prussia rivalry for hegemony over the German-speaking peoples. (This article is part of a featured topic: Silesian Wars.)

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Did you know ...

Puppet show at Expo 67

... that Micheline Legendre organized Canada's first puppetry festival (pictured) in conjunction with the 1967 World Expo in Montreal?
... that London-based dream-pop duo Still Corners' album The Last Exit paints a picture of open-road Americana?
... that the administrator of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Mimie Wood, correctly predicted that she would be replaced by five people upon retirement?
... that Stalin considered invading the island of Hokkaido in northern Japan in the last days of World War II?
... that Utah radio stations KSUB and KSUB-FM both suffered tower collapses before going on air—39 years apart?
... that Austrian stamp collector Adolf Passer sold most of his collection to concentrate on wooing his future wife?
... that the Bedouin emirs of the Turabay dynasty presided over nearly a century of peace and prosperity in northern Palestine?
... that Helen Dettweiler cofounded the LPGA, was a cryptographer and B-17 pilot during World War II, and became the first female broadcaster in baseball?

In the news

Carlos Menem in 1995

Former President of Argentina Carlos Menem (pictured) dies at the age of 90.
Former President Donald Trump is acquitted by the United States Senate in his second impeachment trial.
Mario Draghi becomes Prime Minister of Italy, leading a national unity government after the resignation of Giuseppe Conte.
The spacecraft Hope, from the United Arab Emirates, and Tianwen-1, from China, separately reach Mars orbit.

On this day

February 15: Shrove Monday (Western Christianity, 2021); National Flag of Canada Day (1965) and Family Day in Canada (2021); Statehood Day in Serbia (1804); Washington's Birthday / Presidents' Day in the United States (2021)

Footage of the Chelyabinsk meteor

1796 – French Revolutionary Wars: The Invasion of Ceylon ended with Johan van Angelbeek, the Batavian governor of the island, surrendering Colombo to British forces.
1823 – James McBrien made the first official discovery of gold in Australia at Fish River in New South Wales.
1961 – All 72 people on board Sabena Flight 548, including the entire U.S. figure-skating team, and one person on the ground were killed when the aircraft crashed on approach to Brussels Airport.
2013 – A previously undetected meteor exploded (video featured) over Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia; the resulting shock wave injured about 1,500 people.

William Ufford, 2nd Earl of Suffolk (d. 1382)
Charles Lewis Tiffany (b. 1812)
Willy Vandersteen (b. 1913)

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From today's featured list

Alicia Vikander

Swedish actress Alicia Vikander's awards include an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role, and a Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress. Vikander earned those honours for her 2014 portrayal of Danish painter Gerda Wegener, the wife of transgender pioneer Lili Elbe. In 2011, Vikander received the Shooting Stars Award from the Berlin International Film Festival. Vikander starred as wartime nurse Vera Brittain in the 2014 drama Testament of Youth, for which she was nominated at the British Independent Film Awards. The following year Vikander appeared as an android in the psychological thriller Ex Machina, for which she received awards in the Best Supporting Actress category from the Chicago Film Critics Association, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Toronto Film Critics Association, and Vancouver Film Critics Circle. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

Wat Xieng Thong is a Buddhist temple on the northern tip of the peninsula of Luang Prabang, Laos. Built between 1559 and 1560 by King Setthathirath, it is one of the most important Lao monasteries, and remains a significant monument to the spirit of religion, royalty and traditional art. The temple was spared damage during the sacking of the city in 1887, because the Black Flag leader, Đèo Văn Trị, had studied there as a monk in his early life and used it as his headquarters.

Photograph credit: Basile Morin

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