Wikipedia:Main Page history/2016 February 22

Welcome to Wikipedia,
5,086,409 articles in English

From today's featured article

Banksia aemula

Banksia aemula, commonly known as the wallum banksia, is a shrub of the family Proteaceae. Found from Bundaberg south to Sydney on the Australian east coast, it is encountered as a shrub or a tree up to 8 m (26 ft) tall in coastal heath on deep sandy soil known as Wallum. It has wrinkled orange bark and shiny green serrated leaves, with green-yellow flower spikes, called inflorescences, appearing in autumn. The flower spikes turn grey as they age and large grey follicles appear. B. aemula resprouts from its woody lignotuber after bushfires. Aemula, Latin for "similar", comes from its resemblance to the closely related Banksia serrata. First described by the botanist Robert Brown in the early 19th century, it was known for many years in New South Wales as Banksia serratifolia. This name, originally coined by Richard Anthony Salisbury, proved invalid, and since 1981 Banksia aemula has been accepted as the scientific name. A wide array of mammals, invertebrates, and birds, particularly honeyeaters, visit the inflorescences and are instrumental in pollination. It is grown as a garden plant, but less commonly than B. serrata. (Full article...)

Did you know...

Kashmir papier-mâché with paint and gold leaf
Kashmir papier-mâché with paint and gold leaf

In the news

Cyclone Winston on February 20
Cyclone Winston on February 20

On this day...

February 22: Feast of Cathedra Petri (Catholicism)

Shukri al-Quwatli
Shukri al-Quwatli

From today's featured list

Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev

The 22nd Presidium of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union lasted from 1961 to 1966. A member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was a member of the nomenklatura, the country's de facto ruling class. Nikita Khrushchev (pictured) chaired the Presidium from 1955 to 1964; Leonid Brezhnev succeeded him that year and chaired until 1982. In contrast to full members, candidate members of the Presidium could not vote during Presidium sessions. It was normal that a full member of the Presidium had previously served as a candidate member, but this was not always the case. During the period, 23 people held seats in the Presidium: 14 full members and 9 candidate members. The Central Committee was, according to sovietologists Merle Fainsod and Jerry F. Hough, elected unanimously at the 22nd Party Congress (17–31 October 1961). The 22nd Central Committee in turn elected the Politburo unanimously. (Full list...)

Today's featured picture

Darwinius

Darwinius is a genus of strepsirrhine primates from the middle Eocene epoch. The only known fossil, a juvenile female named Ida, was discovered in 1983 in the Messel pit, Germany. After the amateur excavation the fossil was divided into a slab and partial counterslab, which were sold separately and not reassembled until 2007. Two years later, the species was formally described.

Photograph: Jens L. Franzen, Philip D. Gingerich, Jörg Habersetzer1, Jørn H. Hurum, Wighart von Koenigswald, B. Holly Smith

Other areas of Wikipedia

  • Community portal – Bulletin board, projects, resources and activities covering a wide range of Wikipedia areas.
  • Help desk – Ask questions about using Wikipedia.
  • Local embassy – For Wikipedia-related communication in languages other than English.
  • Reference desk – Serving as virtual librarians, Wikipedia volunteers tackle your questions on a wide range of subjects.
  • Site news – Announcements, updates, articles and press releases on Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation.
  • Village pump – For discussions about Wikipedia itself, including areas for technical issues and policies.

Wikipedia's sister projects

Wikipedia is hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization that also hosts a range of other projects: