Wikipedia:Main Page history/2021 September 20b

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From today's featured article

William IV (1765–1837) was King of Britain and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death on 20 June 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded his elder brother George IV, becoming the last king and penultimate monarch of Britain's House of Hanover. William served in the Royal Navy in his youth, and was later nicknamed the "Sailor King". As his two older brothers died without leaving legitimate issue, he inherited the throne when he was 64 years old. His reign saw several reforms: the poor law was updated, child labour restricted, slavery abolished in nearly all of the British Empire, and the British electoral system refashioned by the Reform Act 1832. Although William did not engage in politics during his reign as much as earlier kings, he was the last British monarch to appoint a prime minister against the will of Parliament. He granted his German kingdom a short-lived liberal constitution. William was succeeded by his niece Victoria in Britain and his brother Ernest Augustus in Hanover. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

"Daisy"

... that Monique Corzilius did not realize that she was the girl featured in the famous "Daisy" advertisement (pictured) until the 2000s, when she searched for the commercial on the Internet?
... that Victorian post office official William Rundell also collected stamps in his spare time, acquiring 48 copies of the "Sydney view" stamps of New South Wales?
... that the butterfly rare skipper was only known from five rivers in the United States until sometime in the 1980s?
... that John Henry Dunn resigned from the Executive Council of Upper Canada only three weeks after his appointment, throwing away a post he had sought for 16 years, on a matter of political principle?
... that the Lithuanian town of Lyduvėnai had one of the world's largest wooden bridges?
... that the construction of the Erawan Hotel was delayed by so many mishaps that a shrine to Brahma was built to ward off ill fortune?
... that Hakan Akkaya became Turkey's first wheelchair fencer in 2013?
... that the Green Guerillas threw "seed grenades" into abandoned lots in New York City?

In the news

Abdelaziz Bouteflika

Former President of Algeria Abdelaziz Bouteflika (pictured) dies at the age of 84.
SpaceX launches Inspiration4, the first all-civilian orbital spaceflight.
The United States, United Kingdom and Australia sign a security pact that will provide Australia with nuclear submarines.
British tennis player Emma Raducanu wins the US Open, becoming the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam title.
In Gaelic football, Tyrone win the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, defeating Mayo in the final.

On this day

September 20

Satellite image of Hurricane Irene

1066 – Harald III of Norway and his English ally Tostig Godwinson defeated the northern earls Edwin and Morcar at the Battle of Fulford near York.
1792 – The French Army achieved its first major victory in the War of the First Coalition at the Battle of Valmy.
1971 – Hurricane Irene (satellite image pictured) moved into the Pacific Ocean from the Atlantic, making it the first actively tracked tropical cyclone to do so.
1977 – A series of celestial phenomena of disputed nature was observed in the western Soviet Union, Finland and Denmark.
2011 – The United States military ended its "don't ask, don't tell" policy, consequently allowing gay and lesbian people to serve openly.

Maurice Benyovszky (b. 1746)
John Patteson (d. 1871)
Erich Hartmann (d. 1993)

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From today's featured list

Arkansas highlighted on a map of the United States

Arkansas has participated in 46 United States presidential elections since the state's admission to the Union in June 1836. In the realigning 1860 presidential election, Arkansas was one of the ten slave states that did not provide ballot access to the Republican nominee Abraham Lincoln. Subsequently, John C. Breckinridge won the state by a comfortable margin, becoming the first third party candidate to win Arkansas. Soon after this election, Arkansas seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy. Following the secession, it did not participate in the 1864 presidential election. After the Civil War, Arkansas was readmitted to the Union in 1868. In the 1872 presidential election, all six of Arkansas's electoral votes were invalidated due to various irregularities including allegations of electoral fraud. Until 1964, Arkansas was considered a stronghold state for the Democratic Party, as it consistently won Arkansas by huge margins; however, recent political realignment led to the dominance of the Republican Party. In the 1968 presidential election, American Independent Party candidate George Wallace became the second third-party presidential candidate to win Arkansas. The Republican Party has won Arkansas in ten of the last fourteen elections. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

The Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) is a species of rhinoceros that once ranged across the entire northern part of the Indian subcontinent. As a result of habitat destruction and climatic changes, its range was gradually reduced such that, by the 19th century, it survived only in southern Nepal, northern Uttar Pradesh, northern Bihar, northern West Bengal, and in the Brahmaputra Valley in Assam. The species's range has since shrunk further, and its habitat is surrounded by human-dominated landscapes, so that in many areas, it occurs in cultivated areas, pastures, and secondary forests. It is currently listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List. This adult male Indian rhinoceros was photographed on the banks of the Gandaki River in Nepal.

Photograph credit: Charles James Sharp

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