Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 September 16

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

Kevin Beattie (18 December 1953 – 16 September 2018) was an English footballer. Born into poverty, he played at both professional and international levels, mostly as a centre-half. He spent the majority of his playing career at Ipswich Town, with whom he won both the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup. He was named the inaugural Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year at the end of the 1972–73 season. He suffered a variety of injuries, and his playing career included some controversy, such as when he went missing when selected for England's under-23 team. After retiring from playing, he descended into alcohol abuse before finding a new career in later life as a football commentator on television and radio. Beattie has been called Ipswich Town's best ever player by many pundits and polls. Former Ipswich (and later England) manager Bobby Robson called him the best England player he had seen. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know...

Chrysler Building

... that Art Deco architecture of New York City was typified by the use of new metals, such as the stainless steel and aluminum of the Chrysler Building (pictured)?
... that Kazuo Wada spent decades building his parents' grocery store into the multinational retailer Yaohan, but became almost penniless after it went bankrupt during the 1997 Asian financial crisis?
... that in 1991, the Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples became Canada's first national parish for indigenous people?
... that John Howland established the United States' first full-time pediatric department at the Johns Hopkins Hospital?
... that after the Siege of Ghent, the victorious commander, the Duke of Marlborough, claimed the garrison was so numerous that it took their army "from ten in the morning till seven at night" to evacuate the town?
... that 2016 Paralympics para-rowing gold medalist Roman Polianskyi started experiencing symptoms of Strumpell disease at the age of ten?
... that clover grass used to grow in the Pacific Ocean, but has not been seen there since a severe storm in 1996?
... that surgeon Sir James Dundas-Grant conducted his own orchestra?

In the news

Artist's impression of K2-18b orbiting red dwarf K2-18

The FIBA Basketball World Cup concludes, with Spain defeating Argentina in the final.
Drone attacks on two major oil facilities force Saudi Arabia to cut more than half of its oil production.
Astronomers announce the detection of water in the atmosphere of exoplanet K2-18b (artist's impression shown), the first such discovery for an exoplanet in the habitable zone around a star.

On this day

September 16: Malaysia Day (1963)

Italian tanks during Italy's invasion of Egypt

1776 – American Revolutionary War: American colonists defeated British troops at the Battle of Harlem Heights on the island of Manhattan.
1940 – Second World War: Italy captured the town of Sidi Barrani, but its invasion of Egypt (Italian tanks pictured) progressed no further.
1961 – The United States' National Hurricane Research Project sought to weaken Hurricane Esther by seeding it with silver iodide, leading to the establishment of Project Stormfury.
1979 – Eight people escaped from East Germany to the West in a home-made hot air balloon.
2013 – A lone gunman fatally shot twelve people and injured three others in a mass shooting at the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, D.C.

Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (d. 1736) · Louis XVIII (d. 1824) · Katie Melua (b. 1984)

More anniversaries:

From today's featured list

Bill Woodfull

In cricket, the phrase "carrying the bat" refers to a situation in which an opening batsman remains not out at the end of an innings where all the 10 wickets have fallen; the other 10 players in the team have all been dismissed. It may also be used in situations where one or more of these players are unable to bat due to retiring out or causes like injury or illness, and the remaining players are dismissed. A rare feat, this has happened only 69 times in international cricket spanning all three formats—Tests, One Day Internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is). In Tests, South African Bernard Tancred was the first cricketer to carry the bat; he made 26 runs in his team's total of 47 against England in 1889. In 1933, Bill Woodfull (pictured) of Australia set a new record by becoming the first player to perform this feat twice in Tests. Apart from Woodfull, five other cricketers have performed this feat more than once in their in Test careers. (Full list...)

Recently featured:

Today's featured picture

The Iranian toman is a superunit of the official currency of Iran, the rial. One toman is equivalent to ten rials. Although the rial is the official currency, Iranians use the toman in everyday life.

This picture shows a ten-toman gold coin dated AH 1314 (c. 1896), depicting Mozaffar ad-Din, shah of the Qajar dynasty, on the obverse.

Coin credit: Tehran Mint; photographed by the National Numismatic Collection

Recently featured:

Other areas of Wikipedia

Community portal – Bulletin board, projects, resources and activities covering a wide range of Wikipedia areas.
Help desk – Ask questions about using Wikipedia.
Local embassy – For Wikipedia-related communication in languages other than English.
Reference desk – Serving as virtual librarians, Wikipedia volunteers tackle your questions on a wide range of subjects.
Site news – Announcements, updates, articles and press releases on Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation.
Village pump – For discussions about Wikipedia itself, including areas for technical issues and policies.