Wikipedia:Main Page history/2018 April 8

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Withypool Stone Circle is a Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age ring of thirty small gritstones near the village of Withypool, in Exmoor in the south-western English county of Somerset. It is one of many stone circles built across Britain, Ireland and Brittany as part of a megalithic tradition between 3300 and 900 BCE. Archaeologists speculate that they may be prehistoric religious sites with supernatural associations. Although many monuments were built on Exmoor during the Bronze Age, only one other stone circle survives in this area, at Porlock. The Withypool ring sits in an area of heathland on the south-western slope of Withypool Hill. It is about 36.4 metres (119 feet 5 inches) in diameter. There may originally have been around 100 stones; there are conspicuous gaps on the northern and western sides of the monument. The site was rediscovered in 1898 and surveyed by the archaeologist Harold St George Gray in 1905. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

A Petrel carried by a P2V Neptune aircraft

... that aerial torpedo-carrying missiles developed for the US Navy under Project Kingfisher included the Petrel (pictured), Diver, Grebe, and Puffin?
... that violinist David Frühwirth played music from the interwar period for violin and piano at the Salzburg Festival and on a recording titled Trails of Creativity?
... that the passage of a bill exempting Washington state legislators from the state's Public Records Act prompted The Seattle Times to publish its first front-page editorial in 110 years?
... that Ariel Pink is frequently cited as the "godfather" of chillwave and hypnagogic pop?
... that the Franco-German University facilitates the cooperation of over 180 universities and colleges across international borders?
... that Mike Marjama overcame an eating disorder to make it to Major League Baseball?
... that the Battle of Głębokie during the Polish–Soviet War was both a tactical victory and a strategic defeat for the Soviet side?
... that a person of interest in Jamie Fraley's disappearance 10 years ago today was later found dead of heat stroke in the trunk of his ex-girlfriend's car?

In the news

Commonwealth Games athletes' village

A crash involving a bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos junior ice hockey team kills 15 people in Saskatchewan, Canada.
The Commonwealth Games open in the Gold Coast, Australia (athletes' village pictured).
Astronomers report the discovery of MACS J1149 Lensed Star 1, nicknamed Icarus, the farthest known star at 9 billion light-years away.
In American college basketball, the NCAA Division I Men's Championship concludes with Villanova defeating Michigan.

On this day...

April 8

Capture of Princesa

876 – Forces of the Abbasid Caliphate decisively defeated those of the Saffarid emir Ya'qub ibn Laith, forcing the latter to halt his advance into Iraq.
1740 – War of the Austrian Succession: The Royal Navy captured the Spanish ship of the line Princesa (pictured) and mustered her into British service.
1943 – Otto and Elise Hampel were executed in Berlin for their resistance activities against the Third Reich.
1968 – BOAC Flight 712 had an engine fire shortly after take-off from London Heathrow, leading to the deaths of five people on board, including flight attendant Jane Harrison, who was later awarded a posthumous George Cross for heroism.
2008 – On board Soyuz TMA-12, Yi So-yeon became the first Korean person to go into space.

Thomas of Tolentino (d. 1321) · Mary Stuart (b. 1605) · Betty Ford (b. 1918)

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Jeeves is a fictional character in a series of comedic short stories and novels by English author P. G. Wodehouse, in which he is depicted as the highly competent valet of a wealthy and idle young Londoner named Bertie Wooster. First appearing in the short story "Extricating Young Gussie" in 1915, Jeeves continued to feature in Wodehouse's work until his last completed novel, Aunts Aren't Gentlemen (1974). He also appeared in numerous films and television series, portrayed by such actors as Arthur Treacher, Michael Aldridge, Dennis Price, and Stephen Fry. The name and character of Jeeves have come to be identified with the quintessential valet or butler.

Illustration: Unknown; restoration: Adam Cuerden

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