Wikipedia:Main Page history/2014 April 27

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From today's featured article

The Trocaz Pigeon is a pigeon endemic to the island of Madeira. It is a mainly grey bird with a pinkish breast; its silvery neck patch and lack of white wing markings distinguish it from its close relative and probable ancestor, the Common Wood Pigeon. It is about 40–45 cm (16–18 in) long with a 68–74 cm (27–29 in) wingspan. Its call is a characteristic six-note cooing, weaker and lower-pitched than that of the Wood Pigeon. Despite its bulky, long-tailed appearance, it has a fast, direct flight. A scarce resident breeder in laurisilva forests, it lays one white egg in a flimsy twig nest. It was formally described in 1829 by Karl Heineken, a German medical doctor and ornithologist, who recognised it as different from the now-extinct local form of the Common Wood Pigeon. Its numbers fell sharply after human colonisation of the Madeira archipelago, and it vanished altogether from Porto Santo Island. The major cause of its population decline was habitat loss from forest clearance, but hunting and nest predation by introduced rats were also contributory factors. Protection of forests and a ban on hunting have enabled numbers to increase, and the species is no longer considered endangered. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

... that Vassar College students living in Raymond House (pictured) were able to receive $115 off their annual bills in exchange for housekeeping duties?
... that Bulgarian footballer Mihail Lozanov, nicknamed The Tank, captained FC Bayern Munich in the 1930s and reportedly shattered the crossbar with a powerful shot?
... that The Music of Grand Theft Auto V features an original score composed by a team of producers for the video game Grand Theft Auto V?
... that Ty Glaser shadowed a surgical team at Whipps Cross University Hospital to help her prepare for her role as Gemma Wilde on Holby City?
... that the Easter hymn "Gelobt sei Gott im höchsten Thron" was written in 1531, but is known with the 1609 dancing tune by Melchior Vulpius?
... that in 1944, gun-wielding models launched fashion designer Robert Piguet's debut fragrance Bandit?

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In the news

The Catholic Church canonizes Popes John XXIII and John Paul II.
Kryptodrakon is classified as the oldest pterodactyloid discovered to date.
A train derails in Katanga, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing at least 48 people.
More than 230 female students are declared missing after a mass kidnapping in Borno State, Nigeria.
At the Boston Marathon, American Meb Keflezighi wins the men's race and Kenyan Rita Jeptoo (pictured) wins the women's race.
An avalanche on Mount Everest kills sixteen Nepalese guides.

Ongoing: Ukrainian unrest – MV Sewol
Recent deaths: Rubin "Hurricane" Carter

On this day...

April 27: Divine Mercy Sunday (Roman Catholicism, 2014); Yom HaShoah begins at sunset in Israel (2014)

629 – Shahrbaraz usurped the throne of the Sasanian Empire from Ardashir III, but was himself deposed only forty days later.
1521 – Filipino natives led by chieftain Lapu-Lapu (statue pictured) killed Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and more than forty Spanish soldiers at the Battle of Mactan.
1865 – An explosion destroyed the steamboat SS Sultana on the Mississippi River, killing an estimated 1,800 of the 2,400 passengers.
1961 – Milton Margai took office as the first Prime Minister of Sierra Leone upon the nation's independence from the United Kingdom.
2005 – The Airbus A380, the largest passenger airliner in the world, made its maiden flight from Toulouse, France.

More anniversaries: April 26 – April 27 – April 28

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It is now April 27, 2014 (UTC) – Reload this page

Today's featured picture

An overhead view of Skylab, the United States' first space station, in Earth orbit as photographed from the Skylab 4 Command and Service Modules. Skylab 4 was the last mission to Skylab and brought back its final crew; this photograph was the last one taken of the station before the mission re-entered Earth's atmosphere and disintegrated in 1979.

Photograph: NASA

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