Wikipedia:Main Page history/2021 September 2

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From today's featured article

The Indian roller is a bird of the family Coraciidae. It is 30–34 cm (12–13 in) long with a wingspan of 65–74 cm (26–29 in) and weighs 166–176 g (5.9–6.2 oz). The face and throat are pinkish, the head and back are brown, and the rump is blue. The brightly contrasting light and dark blue markings on the wings and tail are prominent in flight. The sexes appear similar. It occurs widely from West Asia to the Indian subcontinent. Often found perched on roadside trees and wires, it is common in open grassland and scrub forest habitats, and has adapted well to human-modified landscapes. It mainly feeds on insects, especially beetles. The species is best known for the aerobatic displays of males during the breeding season. Adult males and females form pair bonds, raising the young together. The female lays three to five eggs in a cavity or crevice, lined with a mat of straw or feathers. It is the state bird of three Indian states. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

British Club building in Bangkok, 1912

... that following World War II, members of Bangkok's British Club were able to reclaim their building (pictured) thanks to a mortgage that helped preserve its land deeds?
... that Joachim Werzlau composed the music for the DEFA films Naked Among Wolves and Jacob the Liar?
... that the name of the robot Jet Alone, which first appeared in the Neon Genesis Evangelion episode "A Human Work", is a reference to Jet Jaguar (also known as Red Alone) from Godzilla vs. Megalon?
... that Franc Pinter, a para-shooter from Slovenia, competes at his eighth Summer Paralympic Games in Tokyo?
... that Singapore's Nicoll Highway MRT station had to be relocated as a result of a 2004 tunnel collapse near the station?
... that when Texas radio station KNUE was sold to another station in 1982, the new owners added a second story to their newly constructed studios to accommodate the addition?
... that more than 400 millimetres (16 in) of rain was recorded in northern Turkey on 11 August 2021, causing catastrophic flooding?
... that Fatykha Aitova agreed to marry her husband on the condition that he help her construct a school?

In the news

Paralympics opening ceremony

Amid evacuations from Afghanistan, a suicide bombing kills at least 182 people at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.
The Summer Paralympics open (ceremony pictured) in Tokyo, Japan.
Ismail Sabri Yaakob is appointed as prime minister by the King of Malaysia.
Hakainde Hichilema is elected President of Zambia.
A 7.2-magnitude earthquake in Haiti kills more than 2,200 people.

On this day

September 2: National Day in Vietnam (1945)

Japanese foreign minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signing the Instrument of Surrender

47 BC – Caesarion, a possible son of Julius Caesar, became the last king of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt, ruling jointly with his mother Cleopatra.
1792 – French Revolution: Due to an overwhelming fear that foreign armies would attack Paris and prisoners would revolt, revolutionaries began the summary execution of more than a thousand prisoners.
1885 – White miners in Rock Springs, Wyoming, attacked Chinese-American immigrants, killing at least 28 Chinese miners and causing approximately $150,000 in property damage.
1945 – On the deck of the U.S. Navy battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay, representatives from the Empire of Japan and the Allied powers signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender (pictured), formally ending World War II.
2011 – Bad weather caused a Chilean Air Force aircraft to crash into the Pacific Ocean, killing all 21 people on board.

Constantius III (d. 421)
Jean Victor Marie Moreau (d. 1813)
Carlos Valderrama (b. 1961)

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Today's featured picture

Liliʻuokalani (September 2, 1838 – November 11, 1917) was the only queen regnant and the last sovereign monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom. She ascended to the throne on January 29, 1891, nine days after the death of her brother King Kalākaua. During her reign, she attempted to draft a new constitution in 1893 that would restore the power of the monarchy and the voting rights of the economically disenfranchised. Threatened by her attempts to abrogate the 1887 Bayonet Constitution, pro-American elements in Hawaii overthrew the monarchy on January 17, 1893. She was placed under house arrest, was forced to abdicate the Hawaiian throne and lived the rest of her life as a private citizen. This photograph of Liliʻuokalani was signed by the queen herself and addressed to Josephus Daniels, United States Secretary of the Navy.

Photograph credit: James J. Williams; restored by Adam Cuerden

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