Wikipedia:Main Page history/2015 August 27

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From today's featured article

Jim Thome (born 1970) played Major League Baseball for 22 years, starting with the Cleveland Indians in 1991 and joining the Philadelphia Phillies in 2002. Traded to the Chicago White Sox before the 2006 season, he won the American League Comeback Player of the Year Award that year. After back pain limited him to being a designated hitter, he had stints with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins, Indians and Phillies before ending his career with the Baltimore Orioles. A prolific power hitter, Thome hit 612 home runs during his career—the seventh-most of all time. He was a member of five All-Star teams and won a Silver Slugger Award in 1996. One of his trademarks was his unique batting stance, pointing the bat at right field before the pitcher threw, something he first saw in the film The Natural. He was known for his consistent positive attitude and gregarious personality. An active philanthropist during his playing career, he was honored with two Marvin Miller Man of the Year Awards and a Lou Gehrig Memorial Award. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Portrait of Henry Hoʻolulu Pitman

... that Henry Hoʻolulu Pitman (pictured), the son of a Hawaiian high chiefess, fought in the American Civil War and was imprisoned in the Confederate Libby Prison?
... that the collared tuco-tuco is rather secretive, emerging only briefly from the entrance to its burrow to forage?
... that Calvin McCarty played for Team Canada in the 2001 Big League World Series before playing over eight seasons in the Canadian Football League?
... that the amir al-hajj supervised the funding and supply of the annual Hajj pilgrim caravan to Mecca and Medina, and its protection from Bedouin raiders?
... that The Allman Brothers Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995?
... that after the death of Argentine president Raúl Alfonsín, hundreds of people held a candlelight vigil outside of his house?
... that the anime adaptation of the Fushigi na Somera-chan manga was originally announced as an April Fools' Day joke?
... that Banksy described his Dismaland as a "family theme park unsuitable for children"?

In the news

Okanogan Complex fire

Wildfires across the U.S. state of Washington, including the largest in the state's history (pictured), destroy more than 200 homes and burn 920 square miles (2,400 km²).
The ancient Temple of Baalshamin in Palmyra is destroyed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
At least 11 people are killed when a Hawker Hunter crashes onto a busy road during an airshow in Shoreham-by-Sea, UK.
A bomb explosion in Bangkok, Thailand, kills 20 people and injures more than 120 others.
In golf, Jason Day wins the PGA Championship.

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On this day...

August 27: Independence Day in Moldova (1991)

Moscow's Ostankino Tower burning

1810 – Napoleonic Wars: The French Navy defeated the Royal Navy, preventing them from taking the harbour of Grand Port on Île de la Passe.
1832 – Black Hawk, leader of the Sauk tribe of Native Americans, surrendered to US authorities, ending the Black Hawk War.
1928 – Over sixty nations signed the Kellogg–Briand Pact, renouncing war as an instrument of national policy.
1957 – The Constitution of Malaya came into force, three days before the Federation of Malaya achieved formal independence from the United Kingdom.
2000 – Moscow's Ostankino Tower caught fire (pictured), killing four people and disrupting television and radio signals around the city.

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Today's featured picture

The blue-winged pitta (Pitta moluccensis) is a passerine bird in the family Pittidae native to Australia and Southeast Asia. This small bird, measuring 180 to 205 mm (7.1–8.1 in) in length, is found in a variety of habitats to an altitude of 800 m (2500 ft).

Photograph: JJ Harrison

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