Wikipedia:Main Page history/2017 December 8

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From today's featured article

Ian Johnson (8 December 1917 – 9 October 1998) was an Australian cricketer who played 45 Test matches as a slow off-break bowler between 1946 and 1956. He was on Don Bradman's Invincibles team, which went undefeated on their tour of England in 1948. Johnson captured 109 Test wickets at an average of 29.19 runs per wicket and as a lower order batsman made 1,000 runs at an average of 22.92 runs per dismissal. He captained the Australian team in 17 Tests, winning seven and losing five, including two consecutive losses in the Ashes series against England. Urbane, well-spoken and popular with his opponents and the public, he was seen by his teammates as a disciplinarian, and his natural optimism was often seen as naive. After retirement, Johnson worked for a time as a sports commentator, and covered the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. In 1957 he was appointed Secretary of the Melbourne Cricket Club, remaining in the role for 26 years. In 1982 he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to cricket. (Full article...)

Part of the Australian cricket team in England in 1948 series, one of Wikipedia's featured topics.

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Did you know...

Marcus Beck

... that Marcus Beck (pictured) added Joseph Lister's antiseptic techniques to surgical textbooks after seeing soldiers die of infection in the Franco-Prussian War?
... that Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in New York City hosted two world's fairs?
... that Irish hockey umpire Carole Metchette was forced to retire from umpiring for being too old, despite having the highest fitness test results of any international umpire?
... that the rhinoceros beetle genus Cyclocephala already had over 200 species when C. nodanotherwon ("not another one") was described in 1992?
... that Regina Mañe Ela was the only female member of Severo Moto Nsá's Equatorial Guinean government-in-exile?
... that the Fengtian clique's Zhili Army included, besides professional soldiers, surrendered enemies, provincial militiamen, bandits, and martial artists?
... that Manka Dhingra's election to the Washington State Senate gave Democrats complete control of the state's government?
... that the Temagami Iron Range takes jasper in iron past snakes and turtles?

In the news

Cyclone Ockhi

The Parliament of Australia passes legislation to allow same-sex marriage.
Halszkaraptor, a duck-like dinosaur genus thought to have been semiaquatic, is described from a Mongolian fossil.
U.S. President Donald Trump announces that the United States recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
Cyclone Ockhi (satellite image shown) strikes India and Sri Lanka, killing at least 39 people and leaving hundreds of others missing.
The International Olympic Committee bans Russia from competing at the 2018 Winter Olympics, following investigation into doping at the 2014 Games.

On this day...

December 8: Rōhatsu in Japan

Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A major, Allegretto movement

1432 – The first battle of the Lithuanian Civil War between the forces of Švitrigaila and of Sigismund Kęstutaitis was fought near what is now the town of Ashmyany.
1813 – Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 (audio featured) premiered in Vienna, conducted by the composer himself.
1971 – Indo-Pakistani War: Following their successful attack three days earlier, a small Indian Navy strike force attacked the Port of Karachi again and created a de facto blockade.
1987 – A man shot and killed eight people at the Australia Post building in Melbourne, before jumping to his death.
2009 – Bombings carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq in Baghdad, Iraq, killed at least 127 people and injured 448.

Adolph Menzel (b. 1815) · George Boole (d. 1864) · John Banville (b. 1945)

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From today's featured list

Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Chapala

The 2015 North Indian Ocean cyclone season was a below-average tropical cyclone season which featured the highest number of deaths since the 2010 season. Despite inactivity in the Bay of Bengal caused by the ongoing El Niño, the season produced an above-average number of tropical cyclones in the Arabian Sea. The first storm of the season, Ashobaa, formed on 7 June, while the final storm of the season, Megh, ultimately dissipated on 10 November. A total of twelve depressions were recorded, of which nine intensified into deep depressions. Of these nine, a total of four further strengthened into cyclonic storms, while two attained their peaks as extremely severe cyclonic storms. In late July and early August, Cyclonic Storm Komen resulted in between 187–280 deaths in northeastern India, Bangladesh and Myanmar due to torrential rains as it slowly moved through the region. In early November, Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Chapala (pictured), the strongest storm of the season, became the first recorded tropical cyclone to produce hurricane-force winds in Yemen. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

Martin Ryckaert (bap. 1587 – 1631) was a Flemish painter known for his small, usually imaginary landscapes in an Italianate style. Born to the Ryckaert family in Antwerp, he is believed to have studied under his father David Ryckaert I and later Tobias Verhaecht. In 1611, he was registered as a "painter with one arm" at the Guild of Saint Luke in Antwerp, where he was also active in the local chamber of rhetoric.

This painting of Ryckaert as a king was completed by Anthony van Dyck, reportedly a close friend, between 1627 and 1632. It now hangs at the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain.

Painting: Anthony van Dyck

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