Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 March 17

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From today's featured article

William F. Raynolds (March 17, 1820 – October 18, 1894) was an explorer, engineer and army officer who served in the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War. He oversaw the construction of numerous lighthouses; at least six of them are still standing and in use. During the occupation of Mexico in 1848, Raynolds led a party that was the first to summit Pico de Orizaba, the highest mountain in Mexico and believed at that time to be the highest in North America. In 1859, Raynolds was placed in charge of the first government-sponsored expedition into the Yellowstone region. Heavy snowpack prevented the expedition from reaching the Yellowstone Plateau, forcing them to cross Union Pass in the Wind River Range. The expedition then entered Jackson Hole and surveyed the Teton Range, now within Grand Teton National Park. Raynolds retired from the army in 1884 with the rank of colonel after a 40-year career. (Full article...)

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Emerson Emory

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In the news

Coronavirus pandemic

Reported cases of COVID-19 by country as of 13 March 2020

The World Health Organization recognises the coronavirus outbreak (map pictured) as a pandemic.
In cricket, the Women's T20 World Cup concludes with Australia defeating India in the final.
Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara win the Pritzker Architecture Prize.

On this day

March 17: Saint Patrick's Day (Christianity)

Effigy of Edward the Black Prince in Canterbury Cathedral

1337 – Edward the Black Prince (effigy pictured) was created Duke of Cornwall, becoming the first duke in English history.
1776 – American Revolutionary War: The 11‑month Siege of Boston ended with the evacuation of the city's British garrison.
1950 – Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory announced the synthesis of californium, a radioactive transuranium element.
1988 – Eritrean War of Independence: Eritrean People's Liberation Front troops encircled Ethiopian forces in the Battle of Afabet, gaining a decisive victory three days later.
2000 – Hundreds of followers of the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God, a Ugandan sect, died in a mass murder committed by its leaders.

Gertrude of Nivelles (d. 659) · Menno van Coehoorn (d. 1704) · Stormy Daniels (b. 1979)

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Today's featured picture

The cliff flycatcher (Hirundinea ferruginea) is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. Native to South America, it is found among mountain crags, cliffs and gorges. It is also found, particularly in the south of its range, around buildings in cities, where window sills and facades provide a form of artificial cliff. About 18.5 cm (7.3 in) in length, its rufous colouring and behaviour are distinctive. It has a wide beak and long pointed wings, resembling those of a swallow. The overparts are dusky brown, with a distinctive rufous rump and tail base. The tips of the wing feathers are dark, but the remaining parts are cinnamon-rufous, and are exposed in flight. The underparts are pale cinnamon-rufous, with some grey speckling on the throat.

This picture shows a cliff flycatcher photographed in the municipality of Pindamonhangaba, in the Brazilian state of São Paulo.

Photograph credit: Claudney Neves

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