Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 December 1

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From today's featured article

Banksia marginata, the silver banksia, is a species of tree or woody shrub found throughout much of southeastern Australia. It ranges from the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia to north of Armidale, New South Wales, and across Tasmania and the islands of Bass Strait. It grows in various habitats, including Eucalyptus forest, scrub, heathland and moorland. B. marginata varies widely in habit, ranging from a small shrub, 20 cm (7.9 in) high, to a large tree, 12 m (40 ft) tall. Its narrow leaves are linear. Its yellow flower spikes appear in late summer, eventually fading to brown and then grey and developing woody follicles bearing the winged seeds. Many species of bird, in particular honeyeaters, forage at the flower spikes, as do native and European honeybees. Although the silver banksia has been used for timber, it is most commonly seen as a garden plant, with dwarf forms being commercially propagated and sold. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

The Farthing Pie House in 1780

... that for a halfpenny fare, children could ride on a small chariot drawn by four muzzled mastiffs to the Farthing Pie House (pictured)?
... that Yang Enze, who built China's first fiber-optic communication system approved for practical use, taught until the age of 99?
... that after development builds of the cancelled video game Lego Bionicle: The Legend of Mata Nui leaked online, Bionicle fans created a video game development studio to complete the game?
... that Kathrin Göring portrayed both Fricka and Waltraute in Der Ring in Minden, and a critic called her scene in Götterdämmerung a highlight, noting her dramatic mezzo-soprano and intense acting?
... that WXXX's broadcast license was challenged in the 1970s because the station employed no African Americans in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, a city that was 30 percent black?
... that research on pain in fish by Victoria Braithwaite resulted in new rules in the UK, Europe, and Canada to make fisheries more humane?
... that string quartet Well-Strung has performed "Chelsea's Mom", a reimagining of "Stacy's Mom", for Hillary Clinton?
... that the chirps of the snowy tree cricket can be used to estimate the approximate temperature in Fahrenheit?

In the news

Dresden Castle

An earthquake in northwestern Albania kills at least 50 people and injures more than 900 others.
Several hundred diamonds and jewelled items are stolen from the Green Vault museum at Dresden Castle (pictured) in Germany.
In Canadian football, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to win the Grey Cup.
Klaus Iohannis of the National Liberal Party is re-elected as President of Romania in a runoff election.

On this day

December 1: World AIDS Day

Juan Lavalle

1828 – Returning to Buenos Aires with troops who fought in the Cisplatine War, Juan Lavalle (pictured) deposed provincial governor Manuel Dorrego, reigniting the Argentine Civil Wars.
1923 – The Gleno Dam in the Italian province of Bergamo failed due to poor workmanship, flooding the downstream valley and killing at least 356 people.
1959 – Twelve countries signed the Antarctic Treaty, the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War, banning military activity in the Antarctic and setting the continent aside as a scientific preserve.
1966 – The first Gävle goat, a Swedish Yule goat tradition, was constructed in Gävle and then burned to the ground on New Year's Eve.
1991 – More than 92 percent of Ukrainian voters approved their country's independence as declared on 24 August.

9th Dalai Lama (b. 1805) · Jeni Bojilova-Pateva (b. 1878) · J. B. S. Haldane (d. 1964)

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Today's featured picture

The black-chested snake eagle (Circaetus pectoralis) is a large African bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It resembles other snake eagles and was formerly considered conspecific with the short-toed and Beaudouin's snake eagles, to which it is closely related. As well as feeding on snakes, which may be swallowed while still alive, it feeds on lizards, small mammals, frogs and insects. It typically perches in an elevated position ready to swoop silently to capture its prey, before returning to its perch to eat.

This picture shows a black-chested snake eagle swallowing a snake, photographed in Awash National Park, Ethiopia.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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