Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 August 3

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From today's featured article

B. sessilis var. cordata

Banksia sessilis is a large shrub or small tree in the family Proteaceae. First collected and described by Robert Brown in the early 19th century, the species grows widely throughout southwest Western Australia. It has prickly dark green leaves and dome-shaped cream-yellow flowerheads. Flowering from winter through to late spring, it provides a key source of food—both the nectar and the insects it attracts—for honeyeaters in the cooler months, and species diversity is reduced in areas where the plant does not occur. Several species of honeyeater, some species of native bee, and the European honey bee seek out and consume the nectar, while the long-billed black cockatoo and Australian ringneck eat the seed. The life cycle of B. sessilis is adapted to regular bushfires. Killed by fire and regenerating by seed afterwards, each shrub generally produces many flowerheads and a massive amount of seed. The species can recolonise disturbed areas, and may grow in thickets. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Konnie Huq

... that Konnie Huq (pictured) presented a mockumentary called Konnie's Great British Wee?
... that after Port Vale F.C. were liquidated in 1907, a local church team took on the name and returned to the Football League by October 1919?
... that as president of Georgetown University, Edward B. Bunn ended a 20-year hiatus on construction by opening eight new buildings?
... that Sinai Park House was used by monks to rest after undergoing bloodletting procedures?
... that Lin-Manuel Miranda's idea for improvisational hip-hop comedy musical group Freestyle Love Supreme originated during rehearsal breaks for the musical In the Heights?
... that the proposed African Medicines Agency would regulate not just modern medicine and medical equipment, but also traditional medicine?
... that David F. Gantt was the first and only black person elected to the New York State Assembly from Monroe County, New York?
... that after a fisherman crashed into a volcano, it was named after him?

In the news

COVID-19 pandemic

Najib Razak

Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak (pictured) is found guilty on all seven charges in the first trial related to the 1MDB scandal.
A series of attacks over disputed farmland in Darfur, Sudan, leaves more than eighty people dead and several villages destroyed.
Three individuals are arrested for involvement with a security breach at Twitter that resulted in many prominent accounts promoting a bitcoin scam.

On this day

August 3: Raksha Bandhan (Hinduism, 2020)

Jesse Owens in the long jump at the 1936 Olympics

1857 – Indian Rebellion: An eight-day siege by a force of more than 10,000 against a fortified outbuilding occupied by 68 British troops ended when a relief party dispersed the besiegers.
1936 – African-American athlete Jesse Owens (pictured) won the first of his four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics, dashing Nazi leaders' hopes of Aryan domination at the games.
1940 – World War II: Italian forces began a conquest of British Somaliland, capturing the region in 16 days.
2005 – Former mayor of Tehran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took office as the sixth president of Iran.

Stanley Baldwin (b. 1867)
Frumka Płotnicka (d. 1943)
Mary Musa (d. 2015)

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General George Washington at Trenton

The Battle of Trenton was fought on December 26, 1776, during the campaign for New Jersey of the American Revolutionary War. In a surprise attack, the Continental Army led by George Washington (pictured) attacked the winter quarters of a brigade composed primarily of German troops from Hesse-Kassel in Trenton, New Jersey. The Hessian brigade was under the command of Colonel Johann Rall; he died of wounds sustained in the battle, and about two thirds of his men were taken prisoner. It was the first major victory after a long string of defeats that had resulted in the loss of New York City, and was a significant boost to American morale. Most of the German brigade comprised three Hessian regiments: those of Rall, von Lossberg, and von Knyphausen. The remainder of the brigade consisted of artillery corps attached to each regiment, a detachment of Jäger, and a small company of British dragoons. The attacking American army consisted of units from the Continental Army, including companies of its artillery, and a few companies of militia. (Full list...)

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Reine is a fishing village located on the island of Moskenesøya in the Lofoten archipelago in northern Norway, serving as the administrative centre for the municipality of Moskenes, Nordland. A trading post was established here in 1743, and the village was a centre for the local fishing industry, with a fleet of boats and facilities for fish processing and marketing. In December 1941, part of Reine was burnt by the Germans in reprisal for Operation Anklet, a raid on the islands of Lofoten by British troops, who occupied the area for two days before withdrawing because of lack of air support.

Photograph credit: Simo Räsänen

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