Wikipedia:Main Page history/2016 April 27

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Menkauhor Kaiu was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Old Kingdom period, the seventh ruler of the Fifth Dynasty in the 25th or 24th century BC. He ruled for possibly eight or nine years, following king Nyuserre Ini, and was succeeded by Djedkare Isesi. Although Menkauhor is well attested by historical sources, few artefacts from his reign have survived; less is known about him than about most Fifth Dynasty pharaohs, and no offspring of his have been identified. Khentkaus III may have been Menkauhor's mother, as indicated by discoveries in her tomb in 2015. Beyond the construction of monuments, the only known activity dated to his reign is an expedition to the copper and turquoise mines in Sinai. He ordered the construction of a sun temple, the last ever to be built, called the Akhet-Ra ("The Horizon of Ra"). Known from inscriptions found in the tombs of its priests, this temple is yet to be located. Menkauhor was buried in Saqqara in a small pyramid named Netjer-Isut Menkauhor ("The Divine Places of Menkauhor"). Known today as the Headless Pyramid, the ruin had been lost under shifting sands until its rediscovery in 2008. (Full article...)

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A refurbished Kawasaki C151 train

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In the news

Hillsborough memorial

In the UK, following a second inquest, the jury reaches a verdict of unlawful killing in respect of the 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster (memorial pictured) in 1989.
Kenyans Eliud Kipchoge and Jemima Sumgong win the men's and women's London Marathon, respectively.
Scientists announce the discovery of an extensive reef system near the Amazon River, covering an estimated 3,600 square miles (9,300 km²).
Idriss Déby is elected to a fifth term as President of Chad.
American singer and songwriter Prince dies at the age of 57.
At least 64 people are killed and more than 340 others injured in an attack in Kabul, Afghanistan.

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On this day...

April 27: Freedom Day in South Africa (1994); King's Day in the Netherlands

Für Elise

1521 – Filipino natives led by chieftain Lapu-Lapu killed Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and more than forty Spanish soldiers at the Battle of Mactan.
1667 – John Milton, blind and impoverished, sold the copyright of Paradise Lost for £10.
1810 – Ludwig van Beethoven composed his "Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor", better known as "Für Elise" (audio featured), one of his most popular compositions.
1941 – Boris Kidrič and Edvard Kardelj founded the Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation, the main anti-fascist Slovene civil resistance and political organization.
1993 – Members of the Zambia national football team were killed in a plane crash en route to play a 1994 World Cup qualifying match against Senegal.

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Americae Sive Quartae Orbis Partis Nova Et Exactissima Descriptio is an ornate geographical map of the Americas made in 1562 by Spanish cartographer Diego Gutiérrez and Flemish artist Hieronymus Cock. The map encompasses the eastern coast of North America, the whole of Central and South America, and parts of the western coasts of Europe and Africa. This is the earliest scale wall map of the New World and the first to use the name "California". Two extant copies are known.

Map: Diego Gutiérrez and Hieronymus Cock

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