Wikipedia:Main Page history/2012 February 20

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Today's featured article
Texas Tech University is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and originally known as Texas Technological College, it is the leading institution of the Texas Tech University System and has the seventh largest student body in the state of Texas. With 1,839 acres (7.44 km²), it has the second largest contiguous campus in the United States and is the only school in Texas to house an undergraduate institution, law school, and medical school at the same location. The university offers degrees in more than 150 courses of study through 13 colleges and hosts 60 research centers and institutes. The Carnegie Foundation classifies Texas Tech as having "high research activity". The Texas Tech Red Raiders are charter members of the Big 12 Conference and compete in Division I for all varsity sports. (more...) Recently featured: New York State Route 28 – Baldwin of Forde – Abbas Kiarostami Archive – By email – More featured articles...
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From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that the Great Mosque of Central Java (pictured) has six hydraulic umbrellas to represent the six tenets of iman? ... that Douglas W. Owsley of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History has overseen the forensic examination of over 10,000 human remains from over an 8,000-year time span? ... that György Zala's statue of the Archangel Gabriel won a "Grand Prix" at the Paris Exhibition of 1900? ... that the Ordovician age bivalve Villicumia has overlapping teeth seen in few other bivalves? ... that although the Treaty of Wallingford in 1153 required Roger de Bussy to give up Oxford Castle to King Henry II of England, it is not clear if de Bussy had control of the castle? ... that Lawyers for Liberty of Malaysia are trying to save Hamza Kashgari from being executed in Saudi Arabia for three allegedly blasphemous tweets? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
Christian Wulff At least 44 people are killed during a riot in a prison in Apodaca, Mexico. Caesar Must Die wins the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. President of Germany Christian Wulff (pictured) resigns following allegations of corruption during his tenure as Prime Minister of Lower Saxony. A fire at a prison in Comayagua, Honduras, kills more than 380 people. Indonesian airline Lion Air orders 230 aircraft from Boeing in a US$22.4 billion deal, a commercial aviation record. In its maiden flight, ESA's Vega rocket successfully launches LARES and eight other satellites. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
February 20: Shrove Monday (Western Christianity, 2012); Family Day in various regions of Canada (2012); Washington's Birthday/Presidents' Day in the United States (2012) 1472 – James III of Scotland officially annexed Orkney and Shetland from Christian I of Denmark as part of a dowry payment Christian owed after his daughter Margaret married James. 1943 – A fissure opened in a cornfield in the Mexican state of Michoacán and turned into the cinder cone volcano Parícutin (pictured), growing 424 m (1,391 ft) in eight years. 1988 – The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast voted to secede from Azerbaijan and join Armenia, triggering the Nagorno-Karabakh War. 1998 – At the age of 15, American figure skater Tara Lipinski became the youngest gold medal winner in the history of the Winter Olympic Games. 2010 – Severe flooding and mudslides on the island of Madeira, Portugal, killed 42 people. More anniversaries: February 19 – February 20 – February 21 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now February 20, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured list

Candidates on the American version of The Apprentice compete to become Donald Trump's apprentice, as determined by Trump and his boardroom associates. The series first broadcast in 2004, and eleven complete seasons have aired on NBC; Season 12 premieres on February 20, 2012. Each season, competitors are progressively eliminated based on their performance during an assigned task. After each task, the winning team receives a reward, while the losing team faces a boardroom showdown in order to determine which team member should be fired, and therefore eliminated from the show. Trump hires one of the finalists to be his apprentice. Starting with Season 7, celebrities participated as a way to revitalize the series, with the winners donating their proceeds to charity. Seasons in which celebrities compete are branded as The Celebrity Apprentice. Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth is the only person to have competed in multiple seasons; she appeared in both Season 1 and Season 7. The youngest competitors include Jessie Connors and Chris Shelton, who appeared on the show at age 21. At age 75, Joan Rivers (pictured) of Season 8 was the oldest candidate to both appear on the show and win the competition. (more...)

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Morchella elata is one of three edible fungus species known as the "black morel". It grows in small groups on soil in forests in North America and Europe. The fruiting body grows 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 in) tall, with an ovoid or conical head.

Photo: Dan Molter

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