Wikipedia:Main Page history/2011 May 8

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Today's featured article
House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie), an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton‑Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey. The show's premise originated with Paul Attanasio, while David Shore, who is credited as creator, was primarily responsible for the conception of the title character. It is largely filmed in Century City. House often clashes with his fellow physicians, including his own diagnostic team, because many of his hypotheses about patients' illnesses are based on subtle or controversial insights. His flouting of hospital rules and procedures frequently runs him afoul of his boss (and, later, girlfriend), hospital administrator and Dean of Medicine Dr. Lisa Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein). House's only true friend is Dr. James Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard), head of the Department of Oncology. Critically acclaimed for much of its run, House maintains high viewer ratings. Distributed to 66 countries, House was the most watched television program in the world in 2008. (more...) Recently featured: Stanley Green – Aaliyah – William Garrow Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest articles: ... that the former St John the Evangelist's Church in Chichester was designed according to such extreme Low Church principles that the altar (pictured) resembles "a kind of kitchen table"? ... that Captain Władysław Raginis is known as a modern Leonidas for facing Nazi German forces which outnumbered the Poles 40:1 at the Battle of Wizna? ... that Bach set the theme of the Good Shepherd in his cantata for the second Sunday after Easter, Du Hirte Israel, höre, BWV 104, as a pastorale, a trio of oboes playing triplets to pedal points? ... that Lisa Head was the second British servicewoman killed on active service in the War in Afghanistan since 2001? ... that the Rabboni was the first regular tugboat to work the bar at the mouth of the Columbia River? ... that after soprano Gianna Galli's opera career ended at the age of 40 due to problems with her vocal cords, she had a second successful career as a talent manager of singers in Italy? ... that Phaeacius, a very lazy jumping spider, waits motionless until prey walks almost into its jaws? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
Spanish golfer Seve Ballesteros dies after a three-year battle with cancer. Voters in the United Kingdom reject the alternative vote system for future parliamentary elections. Experimental data gathered by the Gravity Probe B satellite (pictured) confirm two aspects of the general theory of relativity published by Albert Einstein in 1916. Claude Choules, the last surviving combatant of World War I, dies at the age of 110. Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is killed by U.S. forces at his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Syrian unrest – Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
May 8: Mother's Day in several countries (2011); Victory in Europe Day 1541 – The expedition led by Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto (pictured) became the first documented Europeans to reach the Mississippi River. 1882 – U.S. President Chester A. Arthur signed the Chinese Exclusion Act into law, implementing a ban on Chinese immigration to the United States that eventually lasted for over 60 years until the 1943 Magnuson Act. 1927 – Attempting to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight from Paris to New York, French warheroes Charles Nungesser and Francois Coli disappeared after taking off aboard The White Bird biplane. 1945 – A parade to celebrate the end of World War II in Sétif, Algeria, ended in French gendarmes firing on rioters and killings of French settlers. 1963 – In Huế, South Vietnam, soldiers of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam opened fire into a crowd of Buddhists protesting against a government ban on the flying of the Buddhist flag on Vesākha, killing nine and sparking the Buddhist crisis. More anniversaries: May 7 – May 8 – May 9 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now May 8, 2011 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

Hermann Vezin in the title role of Dan'l Druce, Blacksmith, an 1876 play by W. S. Gilbert. In the story, Druce begins as a miser and drunkard whose wife has left him. Two army deserters find shelter at his house, but they rob him and abandon a baby girl there. Many years later, Druce has become a blacksmith, and the two men return to try to claim the girl. The play, written during a period when Gilbert was writing his best plays, was a success, running for about 100 performances and enjoying tours and several revivals.

Artist: Francis S. Walker; Engraving: Brothers Dalziel
Restoration: Adam Cuerden

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