Wikipedia:Main Page history/2017 December 23

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From today's featured article

Mortimer Wheeler (1890–1976) was a British archaeologist and army officer who served as Director of the National Museum of Wales and the London Museum, headed the Archaeological Survey of India, and wrote twenty-four books on archaeology. He argued that excavation and the recording of stratigraphic context required an increasingly scientific and methodical approach, developing the "Wheeler Method". In 1934, he established the Institute of Archaeology as part of the federal University of London, becoming its Honorary Director and overseeing excavations of the Roman sites at Lydney Park and Verulamium and the Iron Age hill fort of Maiden Castle. During World War II, he rose to the rank of brigadier, serving in the North African Campaign and the Allied invasion of Italy. In India, he oversaw excavations of sites at Harappa, Arikamedu, and Brahmagiri. In later life, his popular books, cruise ship lectures, and appearances on radio and television, particularly the BBC series Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?, helped to bring archaeology to a mass audience. Appointed Honorary Secretary of the British Academy, he raised large sums of money for archaeological projects. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Female M. chomskyi

... that Megachile chomskyi (pictured), a species of bee named after the linguist Noam Chomsky, has a tongue that is more than half the length of its body?
... that NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Chad Finchum began racing go-karts at age 7, logging more than 200 wins by age 13?
... that in 2015, the Indian army motorcycle acrobatic team performed for the Chinese army at Daulat Beg Oldi, one of five Border Personnel Meeting points?
... that the asteroid 11441 Anadiego was named after Ana Teresa Diego, an Argentine student activist who was forcibly disappeared?
... that Poydras Street hosts many of New Orleans' tallest and historic buildings, including 930 Poydras, the first residential high-rise constructed in the city after Hurricane Katrina?
... that Daniel Rump closely modeled the beginning of his Advent song "Der Morgenstern ist aufgedrungen" after a Tagelied, a wake-up call for lovers?
... that E. Ann Hoefly was responsible for 180 United States Air Force medical facilities?
... that temples on Mount Mian in Shanxi, China, observe an annual Cold Food Festival?

In the news

Carles Puigdemont

In the Catalan election, pro-independence parties, spearheaded by the exiled Carles Puigdemont (pictured), secure a majority.
Sebastián Piñera is elected President of Chile for a second time.
In the United States, an Amtrak Cascades passenger train derails in DuPont, Washington, killing three people and injuring more than seventy others.
Incumbent Juan Orlando Hernández is declared the winner of the Honduran presidential election, with the Organization of American States calling for a new vote amidst widespread irregularities.

On this day...

December 23: Night of the Radishes in Oaxaca City, Mexico; The Emperor's Birthday in Japan; Festivus

Flooding in Toowoomba

1793 – French Revolution: The Royalist counterrevolutionary army was decisively defeated in the Battle of Savenay, although fighting continued in the War in the Vendée for years afterward.
1876 – The Great Powers convened the Constantinople Conference to discuss political reforms both in Bosnia and in the Ottoman territories with a majority Bulgarian population.
1919 – The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 was enacted, lifting most of the existing common-law restrictions on women in the United Kingdom.
1957 – Ian Craig of Australia became the youngest Test cricket captain in history.
2010 – A monsoonal trough brought torrential rain to Queensland, causing massive flooding (pictured) that killed 38 people and caused A$2.38 billion in damage.

Pamheiba (b. 1690) · Jean-François Champollion (b. 1790) · P. V. Narasimha Rao (d. 2004)

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Today's featured picture

Cheomseongdae is an astronomical observatory in Gyeongju, South Korea. It is the oldest surviving astronomical observatory in Asia. It was constructed in the 7th century in the kingdom of Silla. Cheomseongdae was designated as South Korea's 31st national treasure in 1962. Modeled on Baekje's Jeomseongdae, which now exists only in historical records, Cheomseongdae influenced the construction of a Japanese observatory in 675, and Duke Zhou's observatory in China in 723.

Photograph: Matt and Nayoung Wilson

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