Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 August 1

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From today's featured article

Mudhoney vocalist Mark Arm in 2007

"Touch Me I'm Sick" is a song by the American alternative rock band Mudhoney. It was recorded in March 1988 at Seattle's Reciprocal Recording studio with producer Jack Endino and lead vocals by Mark Arm (pictured). The song was released as Mudhoney's debut single by independent record label Sub Pop on August 1, 1988, with "Sweet Young Thing Ain't Sweet No More" as the B-side. "Touch Me I'm Sick" has darkly humorous lyrics with a sarcastic take on issues including disease and violent sex. When it was first released, the song was a hit on college radio. Its heavily distorted and fuzzy guitars, snarling vocals, blunt bass line and energetic drumming contributed to a dirty sound that influenced many local musicians, and helped develop the nascent Seattle grunge scene. According to AllMusic, "the song's raw, primal energy made it an instant anthem which still stands as one of [grunge's] all-time classics". A staple of Mudhoney's live shows, it remains the band's most recognizable song. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Wilhelmine and Heinrich Lübke with Queen Sirikit of Thailand

... that Wilhelmine Lübke (pictured, center), who joined her husband, President of West Germany Heinrich Lübke, on more than 50 state visits, was fluent in English, French, Spanish, Italian, and Russian?
... that the Uptown Hudson Tubes in New York City were constructed with sharp curves to avoid the demolition of preexisting basements?
... that Zhang Xu played a major role in developing fiber-optic communication in China?
... that many residents who were relocated prior to the filling of Lake Kossou were able to return to their land when the reservoir failed to reach full capacity?
... that American historian Pamela Nadell traced the origins of the first agitations for a female rabbi to a short story published in 1889?
... that Assam Petro-Chemicals became the first Indian company to sell methanol as cooking fuel?
... that the first episode of the first Doctor Who series had to be rerecorded because the TARDIS doors would not close?
... that Japanese pool player Naoyuki Ōi once responded to a question asked at a press conference with lyrics from the comedy song "Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen"?
... that the Mongols were advised to invade Sakhalin island in 1273 by marching across the frozen Strait of Tartary?

In the news

Egan Bernal

A prison riot in Altamira, Brazil, leaves 57 people dead.
In cycling, Colombian Egan Bernal (pictured) becomes the first Latin American to win the Tour de France.
Incumbent President of Tunisia Beji Caid Essebsi dies at the age of 92, and Mohamed Ennaceur is named as his interim replacement.
In a European heat wave, national all-time temperature records are broken in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom.
Theresa May is succeeded by Boris Johnson as the leader of the Conservative Party and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

On this day

August 1: Lughnasadh/Imbolc (Gaels and neopagans in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, respectively)

Herman Melville

527 – Upon the death of Justin I, his nephew and adopted son Justinian I became the sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire.
1842 – Three days of rioting erupted after a parade in Philadelphia, celebrating the end of slavery in the West Indies, was attacked by a mob.
1971 – The Concert for Bangladesh, a pair of benefit concerts organised by Ravi Shankar and George Harrison for refugees of the Bangladesh genocide, was held at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, New York.
1984 – Commercial peat-cutters discovered the preserved bog body of a man, called Lindow Man, at Lindow Moss, Cheshire, North West England.
2009 – A shooting at the Israeli LGBT Association building in Tel Aviv resulted in the deaths of two people.

Adhemar of Le Puy (d. 1098) · Herman Melville (pictured, b. 1819) · Kurmanbek Bakiyev (b. 1949)

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Today's featured picture

The underside of a Melitaea didyma butterfly. Also known as the spotted fritillary or the red-band fritillary, the species is in the family Nymphalidae. It is a medium-sized butterfly with a wingspan reaching 35–50 mm (1.4–2.0 in). The overside of the wings is a bright orange-brown with dark brown markings arranged in rows, which are quite variable in quantity and size. Sometimes the colour of the females is a duller orange, shaded with grey-green. The underside of the wings is chequered pale yellow and pale orange. It is found in southern and central Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East, central Asia and Siberia.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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