Wikipedia:Main Page history/2016 November 9

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From today's featured article

William Howard Taft (1857–1930) was the 27th President of the United States (1909–1913) and the 10th Chief Justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft initially served as a state and federal judge, and as governor of the Philippines beginning in 1900. In 1904 Theodore Roosevelt made him Secretary of War. Taft declined repeated offers to become a Supreme Court justice. He was Roosevelt's hand-picked successor in 1908, and easily defeated William Jennings Bryan for the presidency. In the White House, he focused on the Far East more than Europe, and repeatedly intervened in Latin America. Taft was allied with the conservative wing of the Republican Party, while Roosevelt became more liberal after 1909. Roosevelt unsuccessfully challenged Taft for renomination in 1912, then bolted the party and ran as a third-party candidate. The split in the Republican vote left Taft with little chance of re-election, and he lost to Woodrow Wilson, winning only Utah and Vermont. In 1921 Taft was appointed Chief Justice, and served until a month before his death. He posted a conservative record, and reformed the court's administration. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Inès de Bourgoing

... that nurse Inès de Bourgoing (pictured) was named Honorary Corporal of the Foreign Legion after she established a convalescent hospital in Morocco and a retirement center in France for French soldiers?
... that athletes from more than 50 countries who had a prior doping offence were allowed to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics?
... that John J. Horn supported New Jersey's proposed Illegal Alien Employment Prohibition Act, stating "illegal aliens holding jobs represent more than half of our total unemployed"?
... that no official conservation measures are in place to protect the critically endangered Iris cedreti, endemic to Lebanon?
... that in the Battle of Kharistan in 737, the Umayyads caught the Turgesh khagan off guard with only a fraction of his army, and secured a victory that saved Arab rule in Central Asia?
... that the Zimbabwean prophetess Mai Chaza, who called herself a messenger from God, was regarded by her followers as an African reappearance of Christ?
... that the Peak Farmland theory predicts that global acreage of farmland will decrease, even as the world population grows?
... that Katsura Hoshino says she comes up with most of the ideas for the manga series D.Gray-man after falling asleep in her bath?

In the news

Donald Trump

Donald Trump (pictured) wins the United States presidential election, while Republicans retain control of the House and the Senate.
India demonetizes 500 and 1000 rupee bank notes to fight black money issues.
In baseball, the Chicago Cubs defeat the Cleveland Indians to win the World Series for the first time since 1908.
In baseball, the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters defeat the Hiroshima Toyo Carp to win the Japan Series.
Yazidi human rights activists Nadia Murad and Lamiya Aji Bashar win the Sakharov Prize.

On this day...

November 9: Inventors' Day in Austria, Germany and Switzerland; Independence Day in Cambodia (1953); Muhammad Iqbal's Day in Pakistan

Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès

1799 – The coup of 18 Brumaire led by Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès (pictured) and Napoleon deposed the French government, replacing the Directory with the Consulate.
1822 – USS Alligator engaged three piratical schooners off the coast of Cuba in one of the West Indies anti-piracy operations of the United States.
1938 – Kristallnacht began as SA stormtroopers and civilians destroyed and ransacked Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues in Germany and Austria, resulting in at least 90 deaths and the deportation of over 25,000 others to concentration camps.
1998 – With the passing of the Human Rights Act, the European Convention on Human Rights was incorporated into United Kingdom law.
2005 – The European Space Agency launched the Venus Express mission, the first long-term observation of the Venusian atmosphere.

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Today's featured picture

Niagara Falls, from the American Side is a painting by the American artist Frederic Edwin Church (1826–1900). Completed in 1867, and based on preliminary sketches made by the artist at Niagara Falls and on a sepia photograph, it is the third of a series of paintings Church made of this famous landmark. The painting is now in the collection of the Scottish National Gallery.

Painting: Frederic Edwin Church

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