Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 April 16

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From today's featured article

Courbet was the lead ship of her class of four dreadnought battleships, the first ones built for the French Navy. In World War I, after helping to sink the Austro-Hungarian protected cruiser SMS Zenta in August 1914, she provided cover for the Otranto Barrage that blockaded the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the Adriatic Sea, and often served as a flagship. Although upgraded several times before World War II, by the 1930s she was no longer considered to be a first-line battleship and spent much of that decade as a gunnery training ship. A few weeks after the German invasion of France on 10 May 1940, Courbet was hastily reactivated. She supported Allied troops in the defence of Cherbourg during mid-June. As part of Operation Catapult, she was seized in Portsmouth by British forces on 3 July and was turned over to the Free French a week later. She was used as a stationary anti-aircraft battery and as an accommodation ship there. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Chatham shag

... that the scientific name of the Chatham shag (pictured) commemorates a former Governor of New Zealand?
... that Satish Namdeo Ghormade has served as commanding officer of a guided missile frigate, a submarine rescue vessel, and a minesweeper?
... that at the 2019 Tour Championship snooker tournament the first-round match between Neil Robertson and Mark Selby, played over 17 frames, was decided by the final black?
... that, inspired at the age of five by her football-playing brother, Dilan Ağgül became a footballer in Germany and later played for the Turkey women's national team?
... that the tragic early life of the visual-novel character Kiritsugu Emiya was written by Gen Urobuchi as a prequel to Fate/stay night, which has a happy ending?
... that Heinz Hoppe performed as a lyric tenor at the Hamburg State Opera, including world premieres, but became popular for operetta recordings and television shows?
... that more than one million people are buried on Hart Island, the potter's field for New York City?
... that Ram Singh Malam designed and decorated the Palace of Mirrors and its pleasure hall?

In the news

Notre-Dame Cathedral
on fire

A fire heavily damages Notre-Dame Cathedral (pictured) in Paris.
The Scaled Composites Stratolaunch, the largest aircraft by wingspan, makes its maiden flight.
Beresheet becomes the first private mission to reach the Moon, but crashes during an attempted landing.
Omar al-Bashir is deposed as President of Sudan in a coup d'état after nearly 30 years in office, amidst mass protests against his government.

On this day

April 16: Education and Sharing Day in the United States (2019)

Bernard Baruch

1520 – Citizens of Toledo, Castile, who were opposed to the rule of the foreign-born Charles V, rose up in revolt when the royal government attempted to unseat radical city councilors.
1862 – Slavery in Washington, D.C., ended when the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act became law.
1919 – Polish–Soviet War: The Polish army launched the Vilna offensive to capture Vilnius (now in Lithuania) from the Red Army.
1947 – American financier and presidential adviser Bernard Baruch (pictured) first described the post–World War II tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States as a "cold war".
2014 – The South Korean ferry MV Sewol sank 1.5 km (0.93 mi) offshore of Donggeochado, Jindo County, with around 300 of the 476 onboard killed.

John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (d. 1375) · Francisco Goya (d. 1828) · Jane Manning James (d. 1908)

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Today's featured picture

The collared whitestart (Myioborus torquatus), also known as the collared redstart, is a tropical New World warbler endemic to the mountains of Costa Rica and western-central Panama. It is common at heights between 1500 m and the timberline in mossy mountain forests, ravines, second growth, and adjacent pastures. The collared whitestart is around 13 centimetres (5 in) in length with a weight of 10.5 grams (0.4 oz). It has a chestnut crown bordered with black, and a black forehead. The rest of the upperparts are slaty black, and the tail is black with white edges. The face and underparts are bright yellow, with a black band across the breast.

Photograph: Simon Pierre Barrette

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