Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 September 24

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From today's featured article

The Edmontosaurus mummy in the American Museum of Natural History is an exceptionally well-preserved fossil of a dinosaur, the first found to include a skeleton encased in skin impressions; almost two-thirds of the skin is preserved. Discovered in 1908 in the United States near Lusk, Wyoming, it is ascribed to the species Edmontosaurus annectens, a hadrosaurid (duck-billed dinosaur). It was discovered lying on its back, its neck twisted backwards and its forelimbs outstretched. After dehydration and burial of the carcass, bacteria consolidated the surrounding sediments, resulting in its excellent preservation. Skin impressions found in between the fingers were once interpreted as evidence for an aquatic lifestyle. The mummy was found by fossil hunter Charles Hazelius Sternberg and his three sons in the Lance Formation. Although Sternberg was working under contract to the British Museum of Natural History, Henry Fairfield Osborn managed to secure the mummy for the American museum. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Jawaharlal Nehru and his sister Nan

... that the book Before Freedom contains 38 years of letters from Jawaharlal Nehru to his sister Nan (both pictured), including some he wrote while imprisoned during India's fight for independence?
... that in 1822 John Henry Wishart gave the first description in English of type 2 neurofibromatosis?
... that some protesters have described "Glory to Hong Kong" as the unofficial national anthem of Hong Kong?
... that with his appointment to head the 12th Submarine Squadron, Rear-Admiral Andrei Volozhinsky commanded nearly 14 percent of strategic Russian warheads and 63 percent of Russia's naval strategic nuclear forces?
... that the Georgetown University School of Dentistry was established during Jerome Daugherty's tenure as university president?
... that Tove Lo wrote the plot for the music video of her song "Timebomb", inspired by the "kind of love that can't last forever because it isn't allowed to or it's not socially accepted"?
... that National Route 280 was of defensive importance to the Japanese, who feared a Russian incursion into Ezo?
... that American writer Jan Fortune was born in the back of a post office in Wellington, Texas?

In the news

Climate change protesters in Sydney, Australia

Climate strikes take place in 150 countries (protesters in Sydney pictured) as part of the Fridays for Future protests.
The FIBA Basketball World Cup concludes, with Spain defeating Argentina in the final.
In Gaelic football, the All-Ireland Championship concludes, with Dublin defeating Kerry in the final.
Drone attacks on two major oil facilities force Saudi Arabia to cut more than half of its oil production.

On this day

September 24: Independence Day in Guinea-Bissau (1973); Heritage Day in South Africa

Cathay Pacific Boeing 777

1841 – Raja Muda Hashim, uncle of the sultan of Brunei, granted Sarawak to British adventurer James Brooke.
1869 – Jay Gould, James Fisk and other speculators plotted but failed to control the gold market in the U.S., causing gold prices to plummet on "Black Friday".
1911 – His Majesty's Airship No. 1, Britain's first rigid airship, was wrecked by strong winds before her maiden flight at Barrow-in-Furness.
1946 – Cathay Pacific (aircraft pictured), the de facto international flag carrier of Hong Kong, was founded by Roy Farrell and Sydney de Kantzow.
1975 – Dougal Haston and Doug Scott on the Southwest Face expedition became the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest by ascending one of its faces.

Gao Pian (d. 887) · Jan Karol Chodkiewicz (d. 1621) · Linda McCartney (b. 1941)

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Today's featured picture

Portsmouth Cathedral, officially known as the Cathedral Church of St Thomas of Canterbury, is an Anglican cathedral church in Portsmouth, England. It is the cathedral of the Diocese of Portsmouth and the seat of the bishop of Portsmouth. The cruciform building was constructed in the Romanesque style on land donated by Norman lord Jean de Gisors in the 1180s and dedicated to Saint Thomas Becket, who was martyred around ten years earlier. It was made a cathedral upon the establishment of the Diocese of Portsmouth, which was split from the Diocese of Winchester in 1927, after which it was extended in a "Neo-Byzantine" style by Charles Nicholson.

This picture shows the cathedral's chancel, which, along with the transepts, are the only remaining sections of the original medieval building. The baptismal font, made to a ninth-century Greek design, is placed in the centre.

Photograph credit: David Iliff

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