Wikipedia:Main Page history/2011 July 25

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Bust of emperor Maximian

Maximian (c. 250 – c. 310) was Roman Emperor from 285 to 305. He was Caesar from 285 to 286, then Augustus from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his co-emperor and superior, Diocletian, whose political brain complemented Maximian's military brawn. Maximian established his residence at Trier but spent most of his time on campaign. From 285 to 288, he fought against Germanic tribes along the Rhine frontier. After Carausius's rebellion in Northern Gaul was put down in 296, Maximian moved south to combat piracy near Hispania and Berber incursions in Mauretania. When these campaigns concluded, he returned to Rome in 299 to receive a triumph. After several years of leisure, he retired as Augustus at Diocletian's request in 305. However, he took up the title once again the following year, joining his son Maxentius in rebellion. After a failed leadership challenge in 307, Maximian fled to the court of Constantine in Trier. At the Council of Carnuntum in November 308, Diocletian forced Maximian to once again renounce his imperial claim. In early 310, Maximian attempted to seize Constantine's title while the emperor was on campaign on the Rhine. Few supported him, and he was captured by Constantine. He committed suicide later that year on Constantine's orders. (more...)

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From Wikipedia's newest content:

St Mary and All Saints Church, Great Budworth exterior

  • ... that St Mary and All Saints' Church (pictured) in Great Budworth is considered by architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner to be "one of the most satisfactory Perpendicular churches in Cheshire"?
  • ... that All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes is author Maya Angelou's recounting of her years spent in Accra, Ghana, in the early 1960s?
  • ... that in his campaign against the Malli in India, Alexander the Great was seriously injured and nearly died?
  • ... that Clarence Crum's 15.43 earned run average was the worst on the 1918 Boston Braves?
  • ... that the adjacent Big Jacks Creek Wilderness and Little Jacks Creek Wilderness in Idaho have been designated as wild rivers?
  • ... that Duquesne University president Vernon F. Gallagher once composed an operetta and learned Slovak on his own?
  • ... that despite being a boxing-themed short film, the Duke of Chicago was criticized for being "slow-paced and seemingly a lot longer than its fifty-nine minutes"?
  • ... that baobab ice cream is a feature of Angolan cuisine?
  • In the news

  • In cycling, Cadel Evans (pictured) becomes the first Australian to win the Tour de France.
  • Thousands of protesters encounter violence while marching toward the Egyptian Ministry of Defense in Cairo.
  • Singer Amy Winehouse is found dead at her London home.
  • Two high-speed trains collide and derail near Wenzhou, China, killing at least 43 people.
  • Two attacks in Norway—a bombing in Oslo and a shooting on Utøya—result in over 90 deaths.
  • Space Shuttle Atlantis concludes its final mission, ending the thirty-year Space Shuttle program.
  • Goran Hadžić is detained in Serbia, becoming the last of 161 people indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to be arrested.
  • On this day...

    July 25: Commonwealth Constitution Day in Puerto Rico (1952)

    Corinth Canal

  • 1261Alexios Strategopoulos led the Nicaean forces of Michael VIII Palaiologos to recapture Constantinople, re-establish the Byzantine Empire, and end the Latin Empire.
  • 1722Samuel Shute, Governor of Massachusetts, declared war on the Abenaki people to begin Dummer's War.
  • 1893 – The Corinth Canal (pictured), connecting the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf through the narrow Isthmus of Corinth in the Aegean Sea, opened to sea traffic.
  • 1978 – Two Puerto Rican pro-independence activists were killed by police at Cerro Maravilla in Villalba.
  • 2000Air France Concorde Flight 4590, en route from Paris to New York City, crashed in Gonesse, France, killing all 100 passengers and nine crew members, as well as four people on the ground.
  • More anniversaries: July 24July 25July 26

    It is now July 25, 2011 (UTC) – Refresh this page

    Today's featured list

    Simple drawing of the human body, emphasizing the human liver

    The infectious disease hepatitis C is caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV), which affects the liver (location pictured) and is transmitted by blood-to-blood contact. Some of the people diagnosed with the disease have made this known to help raise awareness about hepatitis C and to encourage more people to get tested for the disease. Although HCV was not discovered until April 1989, an estimated 170 million people worldwide are infected by the virus. It is the leading cause of liver transplant in the United States; 8,000–10,000 people die each year in the US from the disease. No vaccine is available at this time. The symptoms of infection can be medically managed when the disease is diagnosed early, and a proportion of patients can be cleared of the virus by a course of anti-viral medicines. The symptoms of HCV infection, especially in its early stages, can be mild enough to conceal the fact of the disease; thus, some people do not seek treatment. As Live Aid founder Bob Geldof states, "Stigma, shame and fear can suffocate awareness. These barriers prevent people from getting tested, receiving treatment, and clearing themselves of this disease". The World Health Assembly has designated 28 July as World Hepatitis Day, in order to raise awareness and understanding of HCV, as well as hepatitis B. (more...)

    Today's featured picture

    Crib Goch, Wales

    Crib Goch is an arête in Snowdonia national park, Wales, reaching 923 m (3,028 ft) above mean sea level. It is a popular destination for mountaineering, but even experienced climbers have suffered fatalities on it. It is also the wettest spot in the United Kingdom, with an average of 4,473 millimetres (176.1 in) rainfall a year over the past 30 years.

    Photo: David Iliff

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