Wikipedia:Main Page history/2023 September 18
From today's featured article
Rod Steiger (1925–2002) was an American actor, noted for his portrayal of offbeat, often volatile and crazed characters. He is closely associated with the art of method acting, embodying the characters he played, which at times led to clashes with directors and co-stars. He starred with Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront (1954), playing Charley, the mobster brother of Brando's character. He played the title character Sol Nazerman in The Pawnbroker (1964), and an opportunistic Russian politician in David Lean's Doctor Zhivago (1965). Steiger won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Mississippi police chief Bill Gillespie opposite Sidney Poitier in the film In the Heat of the Night (1967). During the 1970s, Steiger turned to European productions in his search for more demanding roles. He portrayed Napoleon in Waterloo (1970) and a Mexican bandit in Sergio Leone's Duck, You Sucker! (1971). He ended the decade playing a disturbed priest in The Amityville Horror (1979). (Full article...)
Did you know ...
- ... that one way to tell the African dusky flycatcher apart from the ashy flycatcher (example pictured) is that the former is "cuter"?
- ... that scholarly study of the poetry of Kishvari, one of the most important Azerbaijani poets of the 15th and 16th centuries, only started in 1928?
- ... that the George S. Bowdoin Stable has variously served as a garage, private residence, art gallery, cultural center, and office?
- ... that in 2018, breast surgeon Liz O'Riordan arrived for her breast cancer treatment dressed as Mrs Incredible?
- ... that in season three of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Oliver personally forgave nearly $15 million of medical debt for 9,000 Americans?
- ... that E. F. Bleiler conducted research for Science-Fiction: The Gernsback Years by reading all 1,835 stories published in science fiction magazines between 1926 and 1936?
- ... that the Buffalo Sabres drafted a fictional player in the 1974 National Hockey League Amateur Draft?
- ... that the Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center station has a Hook, Line, and Sinker?
In the news
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- Evika Siliņa (pictured) takes office as Prime Minister of Latvia.
- In Hanoi, Vietnam, a fire at an apartment building kills at least 56 people.
- The FIBA Basketball World Cup concludes with Germany defeating Serbia in the final.
- Storm Daniel causes flooding around the central Mediterranean and the collapse of two dams in Libya, leaving thousands of people dead.
On this day
- AD 96 – Nerva, the first of the "Five Good Emperors" of ancient Rome, came to power following the assassination of his predecessor Domitian.
- 1809 – The second Theatre Royal, Covent Garden (interior pictured), opened in London after the original was destroyed by fire.
- 1875 – The Indianola hurricane dissipated over Mississippi after killing around eight hundred people in Texas.
- 1961 – An aircraft crashed near Ndola in Northern Rhodesia, resulting in the deaths of United Nations secretary-general Dag Hammarskjöld and 15 others on board.
- 1981 – While posing as an aristocrat, Belgian serial killer Nestor Pirotte murdered an antiques dealer in Brussels, for which crime he was sentenced to death.
- Trajan (b. AD 53)
- Liu Sheng (d. 958)
- Betty Cantor-Jackson (b. 1948)
- Jimi Hendrix (d. 1970)
From today's featured list
From May 4 to May 6, 2007, 132 tornadoes touched down across seven states in the Central United States. Collectively, the tornadoes killed 14 people, injured 90 others, and left behind $264.7 million in damage. The most destructive events took place on May 4, when an intense supercell thunderstorm produced a family of 22 tornadoes in central Kansas, one of which inflicted EF5 damage across the small town of Greensburg (aftermath pictured). Ninety-two tornadoes touched down across the country on May 5, with twenty-five in South Dakota, including one EF3 tornado and five EF2 tornadoes. Activity subsided on May 6, with only brief, weak tornadoes over rural areas in the Plains region. (Full list...)
Today's featured picture
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Haliotis kamtschatkana, also known as the northern abalone or pinto abalone, is a species of large sea snail in the family Haliotidae, the abalones. It is found in kelp beds and in rocky areas in the northeast Pacific Ocean, from Salisbury Sound, Alaska, along the coasts of Canada and the United States to Baja California, Mexico. Its distribution also includes Korea. The pinto abalone has an adult shell size of approximately 8 cm (3.1 in) but can occasionally grow as large as 15 cm (5.9 in). The rather thin shell is flattened and ear-shaped. The surface is covered with uneven spiral cords, often almost obsolete, and strongly elevated undulations or lumps. This image shows five views of a H. kamtschatkana shell found in Baja California. Photograph credit: H. Zell
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