Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 May 3

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From today's featured article

Catopsbaatar was a rodent-like mammal in the order Multituberculata that lived in what is now Mongolia during the Late Cretaceous epoch, about 72 million years ago. The first fossils were collected in the early 1970s, and the species received its own genus (Catopsbaatar, Greek and Mongolian for 'visible hero') in 1994. Five skulls, one molar, and one skeleton with a skull are known. The skull of Catopsbaatar was up to 70 mm (2.8 in) long, heavy-set and wide, with the zygomatic arches strongly expanded to the sides. The ankles had spurs like those of the male platypus and echidna, but apparently without the platypus's venom canal. The spurs of Catopsbaatar and other Mesozoic mammals may have been used for protection against theropod dinosaurs and other predators. Like other members of its order, this species probably gave live birth, and the presence of hair indicates it was warmblooded. Its fossils were found in the Red Beds of Hermiin Tsav and the Barun Goyot Formation in Mongolia. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Feed sack dress in the Smithsonian collection

... that an estimated 3 million women and children in the United States were wearing clothing made from feed sacks (example pictured) at any given time during World War II?
... that racing driver Justin Wilson entered the 2003 Formula One World Championship through an investment programme listed on the London Stock Exchange?
... that the Romans besieged Lilybaeum for nine years without capturing the Carthaginian city?
... that the Prohibition Party considered Horace Greeley for the presidential nomination at its first national convention, but rejected him because he was not supportive enough of women's suffrage?
... that India developed nuclear power when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was prime minister?
... that "Democracy Manifest" is a top Australian viral video and meme?
... that Richard Curzon inherited Kedleston Hall and a recently created peerage from his Uncle George?
... that in the song "LA Monster", Kanye West claims that Los Angeles lets Satan run the city's streets?

In the news

Coronavirus pandemic

Netanyahu and Gantz

Canada bans the sale of assault-style firearms after a mass killing in Nova Scotia leaves twenty-two victims dead.
After seventeen months of stalemate, the Likud and Blue and White parties reach an agreement for Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz (pictured) to share power in Israel.
In the South Korean legislative election, the ruling Democratic Party and their allies increase their majority in the National Assembly.

On this day

May 3: World Press Freedom Day; Constitution Memorial Day in Japan (1947); Constitution Day in Poland (1791)

Cap Arcona shortly after being attacked

1481 – The largest of a series of earthquakes struck the island of Rhodes, causing an estimated 30,000 casualties.
1616 – The Treaty of Loudun was signed, ending a war that originally began as a power struggle for the French throne.
1920 – Russian Civil War: Relying on Red Army troops in neighboring Azerbaijan, the Bolsheviks attempted to stage a coup d'etat in Georgia.
1945 – Second World War: The German ocean liner Cap Arcona (pictured), afloat in the Bay of Lübeck with thousands of concentration camp survivors on board, was attacked and sunk by the Royal Air Force.
1960 – The Off-Broadway show The Fantasticks premiered, eventually becoming the world's longest-running musical, with 17,162 performances across 42 years.

Béla IV of Hungary (d. 1270)
Eppa Rixey (b. 1891)
John O'Connor (d. 2000)

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Today's featured picture

The rufous-headed ground roller (Atelornis crossleyi) is a forest bird endemic to Madagascar. It is a distinctively coloured bird, about 25 cm (10 in) in length. Seen here in Ranomafana National Park, it is a secretive bird that stays deep in the forest, feeding on the ground on ants, cockroaches and beetles. It nests in a burrow in an earth bank. The species is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as near threatened because it is hunted for food although it is present in a number of protected areas, and the forests in which it lives are threatened by slash-and-burn cultivation.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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