Wikipedia:Main Page history/2013 December 16

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

Adelaide Anne Procter (1825–1864) was a British poet and philanthropist. She worked for unemployed women and the homeless, and was actively involved with feminist groups and journals. Procter's literary career began when she was a teenager; her poems were primarily published in Charles Dickens's periodicals Household Words and All the Year Round and later appeared in book form. Her charity work and her conversion to Roman Catholicism appear to have strongly influenced her poetry, which deals mostly with such subjects as homelessness, poverty, and "fallen women". Procter was the favourite poet of Queen Victoria. Her poetry went through numerous editions in the 19th century; Coventry Patmore called her the most popular poet of the day, after Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Nonetheless, by the early 20th century her reputation had diminished. The few modern critics who have given her work attention argue that her work is significant, in part for what it reveals about how Victorian women expressed otherwise repressed feelings. Procter never married, and some of her poetry has prompted speculation that she was a lesbian. She died of tuberculosis at the age of 38. (Full article...)

Recently featured: Battle of Arawe – New York State Route 28N – Giant eland

Archive – By email – More featured articles...

Did you know...

From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

... that hōchōdō (庖丁道^?, the way of the cleaver) is a traditional Japanese culinary art form of filleting a fish or fowl without touching it with one's hands (demonstration pictured)?
... that the British destroyer HMS Beagle rescued 600 survivors of the ocean liner Lancastria, sunk by German aircraft during the evacuation of St. Nazaire on 17 June 1940?
... that the first mass protests against prostitution of children were led by ECPAT in the 1990s?
... that Subir Banerjee, who played Apu in Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali (1955), never acted in any film afterwards?
... that The King's Hall, Herne Bay, England, was designed by F.W.J. Palmer?
... that it took four years after giving a 1999 four-star rating award for New York Post restaurant critic Steve Cuozzo to award his next four-star rating?
... that Edge referred to Deathrow as a substance-less and "contrived clone" of the 1990 Speedball 2?

Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news

Chang'e 3, carrying the Yutu rover, becomes the first spacecraft to land on the Moon since 1976.
North Korean media announce the execution of senior government official Jang Sung-taek.
Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Quader Molla is executed for war crimes committed during the Bangladeshi War of Independence.
Uruguay becomes the first country in the world to legalize the cultivation, sale, and use of cannabis.
An exoplanet, HD 106906 b, is discovered with the most distant orbit around a single star, farther than thought possible.
The World Trade Organization unanimously adopts the Bali Package, aimed at liberalizing world trade.

Recent deaths: Peter O'Toole

More current events...

On this day...

December 16: Kingdom Day in Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands, and Sint Maarten (1954); National Day in Bahrain; Victory Day in Bangladesh and India (1971)

1689 – The Parliament of England adopted the Bill of Rights, declaring that Englishmen possessed certain positive civil and political rights.
1773 – To prevent the unloading of tea that was taxed without their consent under the Tea Act, a group of colonists destroyed it (pictured) by throwing it into Boston Harbor.
1938 – Adolf Hitler instituted the Cross of Honour of the German Mother as an order of merit for Imperial German women.
1960 – Two airliners collided in mid-air in heavy clouds over Staten Island, New York City, killing 134 people.
1997 – "Dennō Senshi Porygon", an episode of the Japanese television series Pokémon, induced epileptic seizures in 685 children.

More anniversaries: December 15 – December 16 – December 17

Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries

It is now December 16, 2013 (UTC) – Reload this page

From today's featured list

The Mayor of Pichilemu is an elected politician who is the head of the executive branch of government of the commune of Pichilemu, Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region, Chile. The mayor presides over the local city council, composed of six members, and serves as the civic representative of the commune. The mayor is popularly elected in a municipal election, by simple majority. The office is held for a four-year term without term limits. Forty different individuals, including acting mayors, have held the office of mayor since the commune of Pichilemu was created in December 1891. José María Caro Martínez (pictured), elected in 1894, was the inaugural mayor of the commune, and served for almost four consecutive terms, interrupted by his resignation in 1905. The current mayor is Socialist Roberto Córdova; he was first elected in an extraordinary city council election to fill an unexpired term on 1 September 2009. Córdova was re-elected to a full term on 28 October 2012, due to end on 6 December 2016. (Full list...)

Recently featured: Army groups of the National Revolutionary Army – X-Men video games – Italian orders of knighthood

Archive – More featured lists...

Today's featured picture

Two Cuban acrobats on the Chinese pole, performing at Grenoble. Chinese poles are vertical poles on which circus performers climb, slide down and hold poses. The poles are generally between 3 and 9 metres (10 and 30 ft) in height and approximately 5 to 8 cm (2 to 3 inches) in diameter.

Photo: Ludovic Péron

Recently featured: Starfish diagram – Olive Whistler – Kallima inachus

Archive – More featured pictures...

Other areas of Wikipedia

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