Wikipedia:Main Page history/2011 June 8

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Today's featured article
Phil Hartman in character as Chick Hazard, Private Eye, c. 1978 Phil Hartman (1948–1998) was a Canadian-born American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and graphic artist. Born in Brantford, Ontario, Hartman and his family immigrated to the United States when he was ten. After graduating from California State University, Northridge with a degree in graphic arts, he designed album covers for bands such as Poco and America. Hartman joined the comedy group The Groundlings in 1975 and there helped comedian Paul Reubens develop his character Pee-wee Herman. Hartman co-wrote the screenplay for the film Pee-wee's Big Adventure and made recurring appearances on Reubens' show Pee-wee's Playhouse. Hartman became well-known in the late 1980s when he joined the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. He won fame for his impressions, particularly of President Bill Clinton, and stayed on the show for eight seasons. In 1995, after scrapping plans for his own variety show, he starred as Bill McNeal in the NBC sitcom NewsRadio. On May 28, 1998, Hartman was shot and killed by his wife while he slept in their California home. In the weeks following his death, Hartman was celebrated in a wave of tributes. Dan Snierson of Entertainment Weekly opined that Hartman was "the last person you'd expect to read about in lurid headlines in your morning paper ... a decidedly regular guy, beloved by everyone he worked with". (more...) Recently featured: Providence, Rhode Island – Arular – Logarithm Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that the Leipzig University Library (pictured) houses 43 leaves of the Codex Sinaiticus? ... that Muhammad Al-Saqr won an International Press Freedom Award for his work as a journalist before becoming chairman of the Arab Parliament? ... that Hamill, an upcoming biographical film about deaf mixed martial artist Matt Hamill, will use sporadic sound and incomplete subtitles? ... that during his tenure as mayor of Minden, Louisiana, Connell Fort worked to rid his city of mosquitoes, laid natural gas lines, and built the municipal sewerage system? ... that the Royal Australian Air Force's No. 1 Long Range Flight was formed to compete in the 1953 London to Christchurch air race? ... that Joseph Wright of Derby's painting of Miravan's revulsion as he breaks open a tomb is based on a story retold by John Gilbert Cooper? ... that a live performance of the French translation of Kafka's Soup included a sung recipe for onion tart? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
RSA SecurID SID800 Security firm RSA announces that a breach in its SecurID authentication system will necessitate the replacement of almost 40 million electronic tokens (example pictured). Nikola Gruevski, Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia, is re-elected for a third consecutive term in office. Israeli forces open fire on demonstrators trying to cross the Syrian–Golan Heights border, producing the deadliest clash in the Golan since 1973. NATO begins employing attack helicopters for the first time in air operations over Libya. In tennis, Li Na wins the women's singles and Rafael Nadal wins the men's singles at the French Open. Chile's Puyehue volcano erupts, forcing 3,500 people to evacuate. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh is injured in an attack on the presidential palace and transported to a Saudi Arabia hospital for treatment. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
June 8: Shavuot (Judaism, 2011); World Ocean Day 793 – Scandinavian Vikings destroyed the abbey at Lindisfarne, Northumbria, England, to begin the Viking Age. 1776 – American Revolutionary War: British forces defeated the Continental Army at the Battle of Trois-Rivières, the last major battle fought on Quebec soil that was part of the American colonists' invasion of Quebec. 1949 – Nineteen Eighty-Four, a dystopian political novel by English writer George Orwell about life in the fictional totalitarian government of Oceania, was first published. 2004 – the first transit of Venus since 1882 takes place (pictured). 2008 – A Japanese man drove a truck into a crowd of pedestrians in the Akihabara district of Tokyo, then proceeded to stab at least 12 people with a dagger before being apprehended. More anniversaries: June 7 – June 8 – June 9 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now June 8, 2011 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

The sketch for the frontispiece to Original Stories from Real Life, the only complete work of children's literature by 18th-century British feminist Mary Wollstonecraft. The book was first published by Joseph Johnson in 1788; a second, illustrated edition, with engravings by William Blake based on his own drawings, was released in 1791 and remained in print for around a quarter of a century. The book begins with a frame story, which sketches out the education of two young girls by their maternal teacher Mrs. Mason, followed by a series of didactic tales. Wollstonecraft employed the burgeoning genre of children's literature to promote the education of women and an emerging middle-class ideology. She argued that women could be rational adults if educated properly as children (not a widely held belief in the 18th century).

Artist: William Blake; Restoration: Lise Broer

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