Wikipedia:Main Page history/2016 August 21

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

Justice Miller

United States v. Kagama was a United States Supreme Court case that upheld the constitutionality of the Major Crimes Act of 1885, which gave jurisdiction to the federal courts in certain cases involving Native Americans. Kagama, a Yurok, was accused of murdering another Yurok on an Indian reservation. His case was selected by the Department of Justice as a test case for the Act. The court opinion, authored by Justice Samuel Freeman Miller (pictured), confirmed the authority of Congress over Indian affairs. Plenary power over Indian tribes, supposedly granted to the U.S. Congress by the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, was not deemed necessary to reach the decision; instead, the Court found the power in the tribe's status as a dependent domestic nation. In the year following the decision, Congress passed the Dawes Act, intended to force assimilation and weaken tribal sovereignty. The case has been criticized by legal scholars as drawing on powers that are not granted to Congress by the Constitution. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know...

Crane fly with wings and halteres

... that flies (crane fly pictured) have a single pair of wings for flight, the hind wings being modified into tiny gyroscopic organs known as "halteres"?
... that Javier Guerrero García is considered a potential contender for the Institutional Revolutionary Party nomination for Governor of Coahuila in 2017?
... that the Guinness World Records listed Madonna under the category of Most Costume Changes in a Film, for wearing 85 dresses in Evita?
... that "MARB" at Brigham Young University is named after agronomist Thomas L. Martin?
... that The Verge identified "Don't talk to me or my son ever again" as the "meme of the summer" of 2016?
... that Dan Bibby scored the golden point for Great Britain in their recent Olympic rugby sevens quarter-final?
... that in order to secure the crown for her sons, the Dioclean queen Jaquinta of Bari had a brother-in-law beheaded, another blinded and castrated, a nephew poisoned and another beheaded?

In the news

Airlander 10

The Airlander 10 hybrid airship (pictured), which is 92 metres (302 ft) long, makes its maiden civilian flight.
A wildfire in the U.S. state of California displaces more than 82,000 residents, burns more than 30,000 acres (120 sq. km) and threatens at least 34,500 structures.
The China National Space Administration successfully launches Quantum Experiments at Space Scale, the first spacecraft capable of quantum key distribution.
Edgar Lungu is re-elected President of Zambia.
In eSports, The International Dota 2 championships conclude with Wings Gaming defeating Digital Chaos in the final.

On this day...

August 21: Youth Day and King Mohammed's Birthday in Morocco; Ninoy Aquino Day in the Philippines

Lake Nyos, Cameroon

1680 – Several tribes of Pueblo Indians captured the town of Santa Fe in Nuevo México.
1831 – Nat Turner led a slave revolt in Southampton County, Virginia, US; it was suppressed about 48 hours later.
1944 – Second World War: A combined Canadian–Polish force captured the strategically important town of Falaise, France, in the final offensive of the Battle of Normandy.
1969 – An Australian tourist set the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on fire, a major catalyst of the formation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
1986 – A limnic eruption of a cloud of carbon dioxide from Lake Nyos (pictured) in Cameroon killed up to 1,700 people and 3,500 livestock in nearby villages.

More anniversaries:

Today's featured picture

Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe is a large oil on canvas painting by Édouard Manet created in 1862 and 1863. It depicts a female nude and a scantily dressed female bather on a picnic with two fully dressed men in a rural setting. Rejected by the Salon jury of 1863, Manet seized the opportunity to exhibit this and two other paintings in the 1863 Salon des Refusés, where the painting sparked public notoriety and controversy. The piece is now in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

Painting: Edouard Manet

Recently featured:

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.