Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 May 17

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Frank Matcham (22 November 1854 – 17 May 1920) was an English theatre architect and designer. Matcham was best known for his work in London, under Moss Empires, which included the designs of the Hippodrome (1900), Hackney Empire (1901), Coliseum (1903), Palladium (1910), and the Victoria Palace (1911). During his 40-year career, he was responsible for the design and construction of over 90 theatres and the redesign and refurbishment of a further 80 throughout the United Kingdom. According to the dramatist Alan Bennett, there was a Matcham theatre in every corner of the UK. Matcham's use of cantilevers for the galleries allowed him to discontinue the use of columns, which would otherwise obstruct the audience's view of the stage. The auditorium decorations were often mixed with Tudor strap-work, Louis XIV detail, Anglo-Indian motifs, naval and military insignia, rococo panels, classical statuary, and baroque columns. (Full article...)

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In the news

COVID-19 pandemic

Iranian frigate Jamaran

The Iranian Navy frigate Jamaran (pictured) accidentally strikes the Iranian support vessel Konarak with a missile, killing nineteen sailors.
A gas leak in Andhra Pradesh, India, kills thirteen people and injures over a thousand others.
Astronomers announce the discovery of the first black hole located in a star system visible to the naked eye.

On this day

May 17: Galician Literature Day in Galicia, Spain

Coco Chanel

1590 – Anne of Denmark was crowned queen consort of Scotland in a ceremony at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh.
1642 – The Société Notre-Dame de Montréal founded Fort Ville-Marie, a permanent mission that eventually grew into the Canadian city of Montreal.
1947 – After renegotiating a contract with the makers of her signature Chanel No. 5 perfume, Coco Chanel (pictured) received a share of wartime profits from its sale, making her one of the richest women in the world.
2000 – Following the killing of two English football fans by Galatasaray supporters in the previous month, British and Turkish hooligans rioted on the day of the UEFA Cup Final in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Mary, Queen of Hungary (d. 1395)
Caroline of Brunswick (b. 1768)
B. S. Chandrasekhar (b. 1945)

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Today's featured picture

Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend (1674–1738), was an English Whig statesman. He directed British foreign policy for more than a decade in close collaboration with his brother-in-law, Prime Minister Robert Walpole. Often known as "Turnip Townshend" because of his strong interest in farming turnips and his role in the British Agricultural Revolution, he was married twice and had nine sons, one of whom died in infancy, and three daughters.

This picture is an oil-on-canvas portrait of Townshend, depicted in the robes and insignia of the Order of the Garter with a full-bottomed wig. It is attributed to Irish artist Charles Jervas, having been painted around 1724, and is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Painting credit: Charles Jervas (attributed)

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