Wikipedia:Main Page history/2011 April 19

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

Today's featured article
Design 1047 was a series of plans for a class of Dutch battlecruisers prior to the Second World War. The ships were intended to counter a perceived threat posed by Imperial Japanese aggression to the Dutch colonies in the East Indies. The 1047s were shaped by the need to be able to fight their way through a fleet composed of heavy and light cruisers, and smaller destroyers. It was hoped that this capability would allow the battlecruisers to act as a fleet in being. A preliminary plan was drawn up without foreign assistance, but as the Royal Netherlands Navy had not previously designed a modern capital ship, and the only information available on modern designs came from public literature and editions of Jane's Fighting Ships, it was missing many of the post-First World War advances in warship technology. With assistance from Germany, a new design was formulated by February 1940. A visit to Italy prompted a rethink of the internal subdivision, which led to a set of drawings dated 19 April 1940. This is the last known design produced prior to Germany's invasion and occupation of the Netherlands. The ships were never constructed. (more...) Recently featured: Doolittle – Thomcord – Me and Juliet Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest articles: ... that Elizabeth J. Feinler (pictured), better known as "Jake", ran the Network Information Center of the Internet until 1989? ... that five members of the popular Irish band The Miami Showband were shot in an ambush by the Ulster Volunteer Force at a bogus military checkpoint in Northern Ireland? ... that after the California Court of Appeal treated a teenager's letter as a formal appeal, Presiding Justice Daniel J. Kremer wrote a unanimous opinion overturning the boy's speeding ticket fine? ... that angry residents burned down a toll booth on the west end of Perkiomen Bridge in 1867, and another on the east end in 1872? ... that Ash-sha'ab yurid isqat an-nizam (The people want the fall of the regime) was the most common slogan in graffiti during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution? ... that, to raise money for the all-black high school where he was principal, Charles W. Cansler sometimes held demonstrations of his ability to calculate large columns of numbers faster than adding machines? ... that new Police Commissioner of New Zealand Peter Marshall held off an invasion of his home by 13 people in the Solomon Islands with a ceremonial sword? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
Jyrki Katainen The National Coalition Party, led by Jyrki Katainen (pictured), win a plurality in the Finnish parliamentary election. An Egyptian court orders the dissolution of the former ruling National Democratic Party of Hosni Mubarak as part of overall political reform. States of emergency are declared in several areas across the southern United States after at least 45 people are killed in a large tornado outbreak. Former Croatian general Ante Gotovina is sentenced to 24 years in prison after being found guilty of war crimes during Operation Storm. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
April 19: Feast of Saint Alphege (Western Christianity) 1012 – After refusing to allow himself to be ransomed for his freedom by his Viking captors, Alphege (pictured) was beaten to death by a mob in Greenwich, now a suburb of London, the first Archbishop of Canterbury to die a violent death. 1782 – The States-General of the Dutch Republic received John Adams, and the house he had purchased in the Hague became the first United States embassy. 1943 – The Holocaust: Nazi troops entered the Warsaw Ghetto to round up the remaining Jews, sparking the first mass uprising in Poland against the Nazi occupation. 1984 – Scottish-born composer Peter Dodds McCormick's "Advance Australia Fair", a patriotic song that was first performed in 1878, officially replaced "God Save the Queen" as Australia's national anthem. 1995 – A car bomb destroyed much of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US, killing 168 people and injuring over 800 others. More anniversaries: April 18 – April 19 – April 20 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now April 19, 2011 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

A Hamatsa shaman from 1914. The Hamatsa are one of four secret societies among the Kwakwaka'wakw, an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest coast, who live mainly in Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia. The Hamatsa practice a cannibalistic ritual, but it is unknown if it is in a literal sense or merely symbolic.

Photo: Edward S. Curtis; Restoration: Lise Broer

Recently featured: Admiralty Extension – The poilu's holiday – Indian Palm Squirrel

Archive – More featured pictures...

Other areas of Wikipedia

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