Wikipedia:Main Page history/2016 December 6

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From today's featured article

Amanita ocreata, one of the death angels or destroying angels, is a deadly fungus native to California and the North American Pacific Northwest. The large fruiting bodies (mushrooms) generally appear in spring, associating with oak trees. The stalk, ring, gills and volva are white, and the cap may be white or ochre, often developing a brownish centre. It can resemble the edible springtime amanita (A. velosa), coccora (A. lanei) or stubble rosegill (Volvariella speciosa), but is similar in toxicity to the death cap (A. phalloides) and to the destroying angels of Europe (A. virosa) and eastern North America (A. bisporigera). Its principal toxic constituent, α-amanitin, damages the liver and kidneys, and has no known antidote. The initial gastrointestinal symptoms, including abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting, subside after two or three days. Ongoing damage to internal organs can cause jaundice, diarrhea, delirium, seizures, coma, and in many cases, death from liver failure 6 to 16 days after ingestion. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Performance of e-baby

... that Jane Caferella's play e-baby (Ensemble Theatre performance pictured) was called "a very rare theatrical beast", as it explores the visceral experience of two women joined by gestational surrogacy?
... that Thomas of Tolentino was martyred for discussing his religious beliefs during a medieval domestic violence case in India?
... that the criollista novel Carazamba may be seen as an allegory of the incorporation of the remote Petén Department into the Guatemalan nation?
... that U.S. Representative-elect Stephanie Murphy and her family left Vietnam when she was six months old, and were rescued by the U.S. Navy?
... that Guinea-Bissau's participation at the 2012 Summer Paralympics was the country's first at a Paralympic Games?
... that the philosopher Gary Varner has argued that all beings, including plants, have morally considerable interests?
... that the future Roosevelt station in Seattle plans to incorporate a preserved Streamline Moderne facade from a music shop that was demolished for its construction?
... that the hairy-breasted barbet has been observed to remove wings and legs from insects by bashing them on branches?

In the news

Alexander Van der Bellen

Prime Minister of New Zealand John Key announces his resignation.
Alexander Van der Bellen (pictured) wins the Austrian presidential election in a re-run of the second round.
A fire at a warehouse rave in Oakland, California, kills at least 36 people.
Adama Barrow wins the Gambian presidential election, triggering the first change in leader for 22 years.
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry announces official names for recently discovered superheavy elements nihonium (113), moscovium (115), tennessine (117), and oganesson (118).
Following the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Maha Vajiralongkorn is proclaimed King of Thailand.

On this day...

December 6: Independence Day in Finland (1917)

Bust of Béla I of Hungary

1060 – Béla I the Champion (bust pictured) was crowned King of Hungary.
1865 – Slavery in the United States was officially abolished when the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified.
1956 – At the Melbourne Olympics, 14-year-old swimmer Sandra Morgan became the youngest Australian to win an Olympic gold medal.
1982 – The Irish National Liberation Army exploded a time bomb in Ballykelly, Northern Ireland, killing eleven British Army soldiers and six civilians.
2005 – An Iranian Air Force C-130 military transport aircraft crashed into a ten-floor apartment building in a residential area of Tehran, killing over 100 people.

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Today's featured picture

The Gilt-bronze Maitreya in Meditation is a gilt-bronze statue of what is believed to be the Maitreya, the future Buddha, in a semi-seated contemplative pose. The statue, which is thought to come from Silla, is 93.5 centimetres (36.8 in) in height. It is considered one of the finest Buddhist sculptures ever produced and now housed at the National Museum of Korea. Insured for an estimated 50 billion won, the statue is also the most expensive National Treasure of Korea.

Photograph: National Museum of Korea

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