Wikipedia:Main Page history/2022 October 25
From today's featured article
The second battle of Cape Finisterre was a naval encounter fought on 25 October 1747 during the War of the Austrian Succession. A British fleet of fourteen ships of the line commanded by Rear-Admiral Edward Hawke (depicted) intercepted a French convoy of 250 merchant ships protected by eight ships of the line commanded by Vice Admiral Henri-François des Herbiers. When the two forces sighted each other, Herbiers attempted to draw the British warships towards him. In this he was successful and the British enveloped the rear of the French line and brought superior numbers to bear on the French vessels one at a time. Six of the French warships were captured, along with 4,000 of their seamen. Of the 250 merchant ships, only 7 were captured. The British victory isolated the French colonies from supply and reinforcement. The war ended the following year and France recovered its colonial losses in return for withdrawing from its gains in the Austrian Netherlands. (Full article...)
Did you know ...
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- ... that the level of detail in medieval depictions of firebugs (example pictured) has been cited as evidence that the Master of the Brussels Initials "knew the bug in nature"?
- ... that Taylor Swift got in touch with Gary Lightbody, with whom she collaborated on the song "The Last Time", through Ed Sheeran?
- ... that the Lithuanian-Belorussian Soviet Republic exchanged 13 detained German diplomats for 24 jailed leaders of the Kaunas Soviet of Workers Deputies?
- ... that the Missa primi toni octo vocum was written for double choir by the Italian composer Stefano Bernardi in 1630 for Salzburg Cathedral when he was the music director there?
- ... that Betty Hall introduced a New Hampshire bill that would have petitioned the United States Congress to impeach George W. Bush?
- ... that Tony DeLuca was the longest-serving member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives at the time of his death?
- ... that Tropical Storm Hermine in September 2022 produced record-breaking rainfall in the Canary Islands amounting to more than 20 times the monthly average?
- ... that according to one historian, James S. Rains made a "significant contribution to the Confederate war effort" by getting drunk?
In the news
- Rishi Sunak (pictured) succeeds Liz Truss as Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
- Xi Jinping is named General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party for a third term after the conclusion of the Party Congress.
- Ulf Kristersson is elected Prime Minister of Sweden following a four-party agreement.
- Hurricane Julia leaves more than 90 people dead across South and Central America.
On this day
- 1864 – American Civil War: During Price's Missouri Expedition, Union troops defeated Sterling Price's Confederate army in three successive battles: Marais des Cygnes, Mine Creek, and Marmiton River.
- 1932 – George Lansbury (pictured) became the leader of the opposition British Labour Party.
- 1950 – The People's Volunteer Army ambushed the South Korean II Corps at the Battle of Onjong, and elsewhere engaged the 1st Infantry Division at the Battle of Unsan, marking China's entry into the Korean War.
- 2001 – Windows XP, one of the most popular and widely used versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system, was released for retail sale.
- 2010 – Mount Merapi in Central Java, Indonesia, began an increasingly violent series of eruptions that lasted over a month.
- Catherine of Bosnia (d. 1478)
- Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti (b. 1900)
- Antonin Raymond (d. 1976)
Today's featured picture
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The Old Royal Naval College is the architectural centrepiece of Maritime Greenwich, a World Heritage Site in Greenwich, London, described by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as the "finest and most dramatically sited architectural and landscape ensemble in the British Isles". The buildings were originally constructed to serve as the Royal Hospital for Seamen at Greenwich, now generally known as Greenwich Hospital, which was chartered by King William III and Queen Mary II on 25 October 1694, designed by Christopher Wren, and built between 1696 and 1712. The hospital closed in 1869. Between 1873 and 1998 it housed the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. This panoramic photograph depicts the two buildings of the Old Royal Naval College viewed from across the River Thames, with the Queen's House visible in the background in between. Photograph credit: Colin
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