Wikipedia:Main Page history/2017 November 9

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From today's featured article

Joaquim José Inácio, Viscount of Inhaúma, (1808–1869) was a naval officer, politician and monarchist of the Empire of Brazil. After Brazilian independence in 1822, he enlisted in the armada (navy) and participated in the subduing of secessionist rebellions, including the Confederation of the Equator. He helped quell a military mutiny in 1831 and saw action in the Sabinada rebellion (1837–1838) and the Ragamuffin War (1840–1844). In 1849 he was given command of the fleet that was instrumental in subduing the Praieira revolt, the last rebellion in imperial Brazil. Inhaúma entered politics in 1861 as a member of the Conservative Party, serving first as navy minister and then as agriculture minister; the first professional firefighter corps in Brazil was formed during his tenure. In late 1866 he was appointed commander-in-chief of the fleet engaged in the Paraguayan War, and achieved the rank of admiral. Although historical works have not given much coverage to Inhaúma, some historians regard him among the greatest of the Brazilian navy officers. (Full article...)

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... that Anna Marguerite McCann, the first female American underwater archaeologist, published the earliest research on deep-sea shipwrecks?
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... that Minori Suzuki beat 8,000 others who auditioned for the role of Freyja Wion in the anime series Macross Delta?
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In the news

Mohammad bin Salman

The Paradise Papers—more than 13 million financial documents relating to offshore investment—are leaked.
In Sutherland Springs, Texas, United States, 26 people are killed and 20 others are injured in a mass shooting at a Baptist church.
In the midst of reforms by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (pictured), more than 40 senior Saudi princes and ministers are arrested on corruption charges.
In baseball, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks defeat the Yokohama DeNA BayStars to win the Japan Series.
The Tapanuli orangutan is identified as a new species of great ape.
At least 32 people are killed and more than 90 others are injured in an explosion at a coal-fired power plant in Uttar Pradesh, India.

On this day...

November 9: Arba'een/Arba'een Pilgrimage (Shia Islam, 2017); Inventors' Day in Austria, Germany and Switzerland; Muhammad Iqbal's Day in Pakistan

USS Alligator

1822 – USS Alligator (pictured) engaged three piratical schooners off the coast of Cuba in one of the West Indies anti-piracy operations of the United States.
1914 – World War I: In the Cocos Islands, the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney sank SMS Emden, the last active Central Powers warship in the Indian Ocean.
1938 – Kristallnacht began as SA stormtroopers and civilians destroyed and ransacked Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues in Germany and Austria, resulting in at least 90 deaths and the deportation of over 30,000 others to concentration camps.
1989 – Günter Schabowski mistakenly announced the immediate opening of the inner German border, causing the fall of Berlin Wall that night.
2016 – A tram derailed in Croydon, United Kingdom, killing seven people.

Shrimad Rajchandra (b. 1867) · Neville Chamberlain (d. 1940) · Dylan Thomas (d. 1953)

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Today's featured picture

Pampus is an artificial island and late 19th-century sea fort located in the IJmeer near Amsterdam. Together with the artillery battery on the lighthouse island near Durgerdam and the battery at the Diemer seawall, Pampus protected the entrance to IJ Bay and the harbour of Amsterdam. It now belongs to the municipality of Gooise Meren and is open to visitors.

Photograph: Johan Bakker

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