Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 January 14

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From today's featured article

Roxy Ann Peak is a 3,576-foot-tall (1,090 m) mountain in the Western Cascade Range in the U.S. state of Oregon. Composed of several geologic layers, the peak is mostly of volcanic origin and dates roughly to the early Oligocene, 30–35 million years ago. It is primarily covered by oak savanna and open grassland on its lower slopes, and mixed coniferous forest on its upper slopes and summit. Despite the peak's relatively small topographic prominence of 753 feet (230 m), it rises 2,200 feet (670 m) above Medford and is the city's most important open space reserve and recreational resource. Roxy Ann Peak was originally settled 8,000 to 10,000 years ago by ancestors of the native Latgawa tribe. In the early 1850s, a sudden influx of non-indigenous settlers led to the Rogue River Wars. The peak was named after one of its first landowners, Roxy Ann Bowen, in the late 1850s. In 1937, the 1,740-acre (700 ha) Prescott Park was created on the peak's upper slopes and summit. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Sposobny in 1982

... that the Soviet destroyer Sposobny (pictured) was designed to survive a nuclear explosion?
... that Portugal international footballer Melissa Antunes teaches at a university and started a sports agency?
... that some forms of ginbuna carp asexually reproduce via gynogenesis, in which the male sperm contributes no genetic material but is still required for egg development?
... that the biologist Denis G. Lillie drew cartoons of his colleagues on the 1910–1913 Terra Nova Expedition?
... that after 250 laps, second place at the 2001 Harrah's 500, a CART race, was determined by a photo finish in which Dario Franchitti beat Michel Jourdain Jr. by 2 inches (51 mm)?
... that in 1960, Sirimavo Bandaranaike became the first woman elected as a non-hereditary head of government in modern history?
... that the founder of Bieling Architekten mainly designed churches, while his two sons now focus on commercial projects?
... that before becoming a United States Marine Corps mascot, Jiggs II won a blue ribbon at the 1926 Westminster Dog Show?

In the news

Juan Guaidó

In Venezuela, Juan Guaidó (pictured) and the National Assembly declare incumbent president Nicolás Maduro's victory in the May 2018 election invalid, and start the process of attempting to remove him.
Félix Tshisekedi is declared the winner of the presidential election in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Eight soldiers are arrested and two are killed after a failed coup attempt to oust Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba.
Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople grants autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in the ongoing schism within Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

On this day

January 14: Coming of Age Day in Japan (2019); National Forest Conservation Day in Thailand; Ratification Day in the United States (1784)

Fire on USS Enterprise

1301 – The Árpád dynasty, which had ruled Hungary since the late 9th century, ended with the death of King Andrew III.
1724 – Philip V, the first Bourbon ruler of Spain, abdicated in favor of his eldest son Louis.
1900 – Giacomo Puccini's opera Tosca, based on the play La Tosca by French dramatist Victorien Sardou, premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome.
1939 – Norway claimed Queen Maud Land in Antarctica as a dependent territory.
1969 – A major fire and series of explosions broke out aboard the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (pictured), killing 28 sailors, injuring 314, and destroying 15 aircraft.

Ladislaus II of Hungary (d. 1163) · Berthe Morisot (b. 1841) · Steven Soderbergh (b. 1963)

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From today's featured list

Helmut Kohl

The Chancellor of Germany is the political leader of Germany and the head of the federal government. The office holder is responsible for selecting all other members of the government and chairing cabinet meetings. The office was created in the North German Confederation in 1867, when Otto von Bismarck became the first Chancellor. With the unification of Germany and establishment of the German Empire in 1871, the Confederation evolved into a German nation-state and the office became known as the Chancellor of Germany. Originally, the Chancellor was only responsible to the Emperor. This changed with the constitutional reform in 1918, when the Parliament was given the right to dismiss the Chancellor. Under the 1919 Weimar Constitution the Chancellors were appointed by the directly elected President, but were responsible to Parliament. The constitution was set aside during the 1933–1945 Nazi dictatorship. The 1949 Basic Law made the Chancellor the most important office in West Germany, while diminishing the role of the President. (Full list...)

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Gentiana acaulis, also known as the stemless gentian, is a species of flowering plant in the family Gentianaceae. It is native to central and southern Europe, from Spain east to the Balkans, growing in mountainous regions such as the Alps and Pyrenees. It is a perennial plant, growing up to a height of 10 centimetres (3.9 in) tall and forming a "mat" up to 50 centimetres (20 in) wide. The leaves are evergreen, and can be lanceolate, elliptical or obovate. The trumpet-shaped terminal flowers are blue with olive-green spotted longitudinal throats. A depiction of the Gentiana acaulis flower can be seen on the obverse side of the one cent Austrian euro coin.

Photograph: Petar Milošević

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