Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 December 11

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From today's featured article

Albert Brooks

"You Only Move Twice" is the second episode of the eighth season of The Simpsons, an American animated sitcom. Directed by Mike B. Anderson and written by John Swartzwelder based on a story idea by Greg Daniels, it first aired on the Fox network on November 3, 1996. In the episode, the family moves to a new town, Cypress Creek, and Homer's friendly new boss turns out to be a supervillain. Bart, Lisa, and Marge each have secondary storylines. The episode title is a reference to the James Bond film You Only Live Twice, and many elements of the episode parody the Bond films, with a character modeled after Bond making a brief appearance. Albert Brooks (pictured), in his fourth appearance on The Simpsons, guest stars as the voice of Homer's new boss. The episode was very well received by critics. IGN named "You Only Move Twice" the best episode of the eighth season and Albert Brooks as one of the best guest stars in the history of the show. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Jelly Donut by Merryll Saylan

... that Merryll Saylan helped pioneer the application of color and the use of secondary materials in woodturning art (example pictured)?
... that a moth is being used in biological pest control of the sugarcane planthopper?
... that Chinese economist Zhang Peigang's dissertation was translated into Spanish and used as a university textbook in Latin America in the 1950s, but was not published in Chinese until 1984?
... that American rapper Gucci Mane recorded Trap Back as his "comeback mixtape"?
... that A Stanislaw Lem Reader showcases the work of one of the most widely read science fiction writers, including interviews on the relation of literature to philosophy and science?
... that Educational Media Foundation's 2006 acquisition of WSMU-FM marked the "first major foray" by Christian FM broadcasting into New England?
... that Colleen Barrett, the first female president of a major airline, appeared in patriotic advertisements for Southwest Airlines after the September 11 attacks?
... that Tell Qudadi, a buried Iron Age era fortress, was unknowingly used as the site of a military stronghold during World War I?

In the news

Whakaari/White Island

In New Zealand, the Whakaari/White Island volcano (pictured) erupts, killing at least six people and injuring many others.
The World Anti-Doping Agency bans Russia from participating in major international sporting events for four years due to doping violations.
A factory fire in Delhi, India, kills at least forty-three people and injures more than fifty others.
In India, the four suspects in the Hyderabad gang rape case are shot dead by the police.

On this day

December 11

Workers clearing rubble in Cork following the fires

1886 – The London-based football club Arsenal, then known as Dial Square, played their first match on the Isle of Dogs.
1899 – Second Boer War: In the Battle of Magersfontein, Boers defeated British forces trying to relieve the Siege of Kimberley.
1920 – Irish War of Independence: Following an Irish Republican Army ambush of a British Auxiliary patrol in Cork, British forces burned and looted numerous buildings in the city (aftermath pictured).
1998 – With the pilot believed to have been suffering from spatial disorientation, Thai Airways Flight 261 crashed in a rice paddy on its landing attempt at Surat Thani airport, resulting in 101 deaths.
2006 – The first action in the Mexican Drug War began as President Felipe Calderón ordered Mexican soldiers and Federal Police units into the state of Michoacán.

Al-Fath ibn Khaqan (d. 861) · George Mason (b. 1725) · Marco Pierre White (b. 1961)

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Today's featured picture

The Japanese government-issued Philippine peso was a form of fiat money issued in the Philippines by the Japanese government during World War II as part of its occupation of the archipelago. The first issue in 1942 had notes valued at 1, 5, 10 and 50 centavos, and 1, 5 and 10 pesos. A new series of peso denominations were issued in 1943, and hyperinflation resulted in a further issue in 1944, with the higher value notes of 100 and 500 pesos being added.

This picture shows the obverse (top) and reverse (bottom) sides of a 1000-peso note that was issued in 1945, shortly before the country was liberated by Allied troops. The banknote is in the National Numismatic Collection of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.

Banknote credit: Empire of Japan; photographed by Andrew Shiva

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