Wikipedia:Main Page history/2014 February 16

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From today's featured article

Cabbage is a leafy green or purple biennial plant, grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is closely related to other cole crops, such as broccoli, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts. Cabbage heads generally range from 1 to 8 pounds (0.5 to 4 kg), and can be green, purple and white. Smooth-leafed firm-headed green cabbages are the most common, with smooth-leafed red and crinkle-leafed savoy cabbages of both colors seen more rarely. Although the exact history of cabbage is uncertain, it had become a prominent part of European cuisine by the Middle Ages. Cabbages are prepared in many different ways for eating. They can be pickled for dishes such as sauerkraut, steamed, stewed, sautéed, braised, or eaten raw. Cabbage is a good source of beta-carotene, vitamin C and fiber. Cabbage plants are prone to several nutrient deficiencies, as well as multiple pests, bacteria and fungal diseases. World production of cabbage and other brassicas for 2011 was almost 69 million metric tons (68 million long tons; 75 million short tons). Almost half of these crops were grown in China, where Chinese cabbage is the most popular Brassica vegetable. (Full article...)

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From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

... that Sydney Leroux (pictured) represented Canada before deciding to play for the United States women's national soccer team?
... that the word "agnosticism" was coined by biologist Thomas Henry Huxley?
... that after being destroyed by air strikes in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, Bhuj Airport was rebuilt by a group of 300 women in 72 hours?
... that a narrow valley extending across the southern tip of Vancouver Island and past Victoria marks the Leech River Fault, a major geotectonic boundary where the Siletzia terrane dives under Vancouver Island?
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In the news

Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam (pictured) announces the formation of a new government.
The genome of a 12,500-year-old Clovis culture infant is sequenced, clarifying the origin of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
At least 76 people are killed when a military plane crashes in Algeria.
In a national referendum, Swiss voters approve re-imposing quotas on immigration from European Union countries.
The earliest human footprints outside Africa are discovered in the United Kingdom.

Recent deaths: Tom Finney – Sid Caesar – Stuart Hall

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On this day...

February 16: Statehood Day in Lithuania (1918)

1270 – Livonian Crusade: In the Battle of Karuse, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania achieved a decisive victory over the Livonian Order on the frozen surface of the Baltic Sea.
1804 – United States Navy Lieutenant Stephen Decatur led a raid to destroy the captured USS Philadelphia (pictured) in Tripoli, denying her use to the Barbary States in the First Barbary War.
1943 – Second World War: Norwegian commandos trained by the British Special Operations Executive destroyed a factory to prevent the German nuclear energy project from acquiring heavy water.
1977 – Archbishop Janani Luwum of the Church of Uganda, a leading voice against the regime of Idi Amin, was arrested for treason and murdered the next day.
2005 – The Kyoto Protocol, an amendment to the international treaty on climate change, entered into force.

More anniversaries: February 15 – February 16 – February 17

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Today's featured picture

A 1901 illustration for "Break, Break, Break", an elegy by Lord Tennyson written in 1835 for his friend Arthur Hallam, who had died two years previously. Written during a period of relative isolation at Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire, the poem uses minimalistic terms and forgoes decorative aspects. In his biography of Tennyson, Michael Thorn describes it as "one of the great short lyrics".

Illustration: William Edward Frank Britten; restoration: Adam Cuerden

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