Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 July 15

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

No. 37 Squadron C-130E Hercules

No. 37 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) medium tactical airlift squadron. It operates Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules aircraft from RAAF Base Richmond, New South Wales. The squadron has seen active service flying transport aircraft during World War II, the Vietnam War, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the military intervention against ISIL. It has also supported Australian operations in Somalia, East Timor, Bali, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines. The squadron was formed at RAAF Station Laverton, Victoria, in July 1943 and became part of No. 86 (Transport) Wing in 1946, but was disbanded two years later. In response to Australia's air transport needs during the Vietnam War, the squadron was re-formed in February 1966, equipped with the C-130E Hercules (pictured). It converted to the C-130J model in 1999. No. 37 Squadron came under the control of a re-formed No. 86 Wing from 1987 until 2010, when it was transferred to No. 84 Wing. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

Qibla observation by shadows

... that today at 09:27 UTC, the direction to Mecca can be determined by looking at the shadow cast by a stick (diagram pictured)?
... that Ōyama Sutematsu was eleven years old when she was sent with the Iwakura Mission to receive an American education on behalf of Japan?
... that the district attorney of Fulton County, Georgia, sued the U.S. Department of Justice after it refused to cooperate with his investigation of the shooting of Jamarion Robinson?
... that "Island Home" is the anthem of Jersey, but has been disliked and sometimes substituted with a song that mentions France?
... that in order to write his novel Mr. Monster, Dan Wells researched the offender profiling and embalming processes?
... that brewer Claude Watney was one of several Old Etonians involved in the motor trade in Edwardian London?
... that the chancery of the Philippine embassy in Buenos Aires was previously a house, a hotel, and a retirement home?
... that Bruce Jay Friedman described his first marriage as having "crumbled like an old graham cracker"?

In the news

COVID-19 pandemic

NEOWISE seen from San Francisco

Comet NEOWISE (pictured) is visible to the naked eye in the Northern Hemisphere.
In the Singaporean general election, the People's Action Party retains its supermajority with Lee Hsien Loong remaining as the country's prime minister.
Bulgaria and Croatia join the European Exchange Rate Mechanism 2, the first major step in their adoption of the euro.
A bus plunges into a reservoir in Anshun, China, killing 21 people and injuring 16.

On this day

July 15: Tax Day in the United States (2020)

Rosetta Stone

1799 – French soldiers uncovered the Rosetta Stone (pictured) in Fort Julien, near the Egyptian port city of Rashid.
1815 – Aboard HMS Bellerophon, Napoleon surrendered to Royal Navy Captain Frederick Lewis Maitland to finally end the Napoleonic Wars.
1966 – Vietnam War: The United States and South Vietnam began Operation Hastings to push the North Vietnamese out of the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone.
1983 – Armenian extremist organization ASALA bombed the Turkish Airlines check-in counter at Orly Airport, killing 8 and injuring 55, as part of its campaign for the recognition of and reparations for the Armenian Genocide.
2016 – Organized as the Peace at Home Council, a faction in the Turkish Armed Forces attempted a coup d'état against the government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Joan Beaufort, Queen of Scots (d. 1445)
Vilfredo Pareto (b. 1848)
Betty Wagoner (b. 1930)

More anniversaries:

Today's featured picture

The Shag Rocks are a group of six small islets in the southern Atlantic Ocean, 240 km (150 mi) west of the island of South Georgia and 1,000 km (620 mi) southeast of the Falkland Islands. The islets, the tallest of which reaches 75 m (246 ft), are administered by the United Kingdom as part of the overseas territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Largely devoid of vegetation, the bare rock is covered by a layer of guano deposited by the large numbers of South Georgia shags that nest there. The shags are the only breeding bird on the islets, but the relatively shallow waters surrounding the rocks, part of the continental shelf, are feeding grounds for many other species of seabird. In this photograph of the islets, an iceberg can be seen in the distance at left.

Photograph credit: Andrew Shiva

Recently featured:

Other areas of Wikipedia

Community portal – Bulletin board, projects, resources and activities covering a wide range of Wikipedia areas.
Help desk – Ask questions about using Wikipedia.
Local embassy – For Wikipedia-related communication in languages other than English.
Reference desk – Serving as virtual librarians, Wikipedia volunteers tackle your questions on a wide range of subjects.
Site news – Announcements, updates, articles and press releases on Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation.
Village pump – For discussions about Wikipedia itself, including areas for technical issues and policies.